Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Mystery of a 2012 Target Halloween Chelsea

Want to see the Halloween Chelseas for this year? First, there is a blonde Chelsea, dressed as a ghost this year. Then there is this red-haired Chelsea who resembles Kitsie. She's dressed as a witch. Now the third Chelsea in this group ... whoa ... she has black hair. Hey, she looks like Ms. Leo's newest dolly Delia. This cutie is dressed as a spider. But wait - she looks Asian American! Is 2012 the year that Mattel issues their first Asian American Chelsea?

Okay, I clapped, too. I wonder if an Asian American Halloween Barbie will follow? Yay, Mattel! Go Mattel .... Or maybe this Chelsea is Barbie's biracial half-sister? Or is this Chelsea an adopted sibling? What do you think?


9 comments:

Vanessa said...

So this post has me a little confused. Do you mean is this the first year for Asian HALLOWEEN Chelsie? I have a couple of Asian Chelseas from 2011.

D7ana said...

I wondered if this Halloween Chelsea was the first Asian American Chelsea. I have seen other Asian American friends of Chelsea - like Renee and Delia - but I was not aware that there were Asian American Chelseas. (Just occurred to me that if the child is a friend of Chelsea's then she would be Asian American rather than "Asian.")

So this Halloween Chelsea is not the first Asian American Chelsea? I need to get caught up on my Mattel kiddies ;-P

Thanks for letting me know, Vanessa!

Georgia Girl said...

I have seen them and they are pretty! I purchased the Asian one mostly because of the pink and black but more so because her hair is in a little puff. She is the cutest little thing. : ) They have a Halloween Barbie. The is pretty. She is blonde dressed in pink, black and white.

Vanessa said...

Well I'm still not sure. What makes the doll Asian Chelsea vs an Asian friend of Chelsea? Still confused. Aren't they all friends of Chelsea? Isn't the only REAL Chelsea doll is the blond one? Sort of like Barbie. Even though we call them all Barbie, they are all friends of Barbie. When I refer to a doll that isn't Blonde being a Chelsea doll, I refer mainly to the size of the doll. I call all the dolls that aren't in the SIS line Chelsea dolls. Still confused.

D7ana said...

Hi Vicky and Vanessa!

@Vicky - oh she is cute. Lucky you! I haven't been to Target or seen her at any of my Targets.

@Vanessa - Renee and Delia have their names on their boxes. So they are friends of Chelsea. But this Halloween Chelsea-sized doll only has "Chelsea" on the box. That's why I felt confused as to how she fit into the Barbie world.

With the AA versions of some Barbie dolls being "Black Barbie," they have a corresponding "Black Chelsea." Like the Pancake Chef Barbie - you can get the blonde pair or the black pair. Even though most of us collectors and enthusiasts consider the blonde one to be the "real Barbie" - for marketing purposes, Mattel labels some dolls "black Barbies." Other times, they call the black doll "Nikki" or "Christie" or "Grace."

It is confusing. Because we "match" the blonde Chelsea with the blonde Barbie as sisters, but how are we to connect the Asian American Chelsea to the blonde Barbie?

Is the Asian American Chelsea NOT connected to the blonde Barbie but related to an Asian American Barbie? And since this is a Halloween doll, can we expect a matching Asian American Halloween Barbie for this Chelsea?

Or is this Asian American Chelsea a half-sister to blonde Barbie? That would be a closer (blood wise) connection than the Colored Francie connection. (Remember how that freaked people out years ago?)

Or is this Asian American Chelsea an adopted sister to blonde Barbie? White parents have adopted children of other races. So that's possible - although it could bring some interesting conversations about interracial and possibly intercultural adoption.

So I threw the query out to see what others thought.

Muff said...

D7ana, from Mattel, are the Kelly kids your favorite to collect. Do you have more of them than adult Barbies???

Carrickters said...

Wow, D7ana, now you have me thoroughly confused. But seriously, do you expect Mattel to be that logical? The dolls are very cute, especially the black-haired Chelsea. They probably won't be available in toy stores here so Ebay looks like a very good option even with postage costs.

Vanessa said...

Oh you are just going by what Mattel put on a Halloween box? Mistake #1. To me this doll is still a friend of Chelsea's, as with all the non blonde Chelsea dolls. They are all friends. We will refer to them as Chelseas, just as we refer to all the Barbies regardless of race, as Barbie. When I use Barbie and Chelsea like that, I am referring to the trademark, not the actual doll name. I would believe that Mattel is referring to the trademark, too. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

D7ana said...

Hi Muff, Carrickters, and Vanessa!

@Muff - gee, I never considered the count of Kelly/Chelsea/friends. There are a lot of them here. I'll have to check and come back ;-)

@Carrickters - Mattel and logical should not be in the same sentence, lol. The dolls are adorable. I hope that they reach Australia, but you know better than I the likelihood of that happening ;(

@Vanessa - yes, I was going by what Mattel printed on their boxes, lol. I understand what you mean about Mattel referring to the trademark as opposed to the doll's specific identity. Mattel: small doll that size belongs under the Chelsea category. Stamp box "Chelsea". Sigh. Love the little tykes though. (Ummm that's the Chelseas formerly Kellys.)