Barbie Barbie Made to Move Doll

(Wife): We have four Made to Move Barbies: Blue top (brunette yoga), Purple top (Asian yoga), Pink top (blonde yoga) and the tan / dark-haired soccer Made to Move Barbie. This review is for the Blue top (brunette) doll specifically, as well as for the Made to Move dolls in general. Intro / General info on the Made to Move dolls I love the Made to Move line of Barbies, and so does our daughter. I love how they can wear either flat shoes or high heels (or a combination thereof) and standard Barbie clothes (more or less, although Spandex-like materials work best, I'm learning). I love all the poses these dolls can do. They are basically great dolls, don't get me wrong. Brunette-specific (Blue top) What I don't care so much for with the brunette (Blue top) is that while you might like her wavy hair, it's actually the least manageable of the dolls we have. I imagine that the tan-complexioned one (Orange top) may have a similar problem, although I'm not sure, since we don't have that one. The ones with straight hair that you can pull back into a ponytail have hair that is reasonably easy to manage, so long as it is not too gluey. (Read up on Mattel's "glue head" Barbies, if you don't know about that.) Our brunette (Blue top) does not appear to be a "glue head", but our "glue heads" among our Made to Move dolls have not had really bad glue issues. (I suspect that all three remaining dolls may be "glue heads". Not a major issue for us so far -- they have not been anywhere nearly as bad as our 2010 Camping Fun Skipper / Chelsea set. Wow, our Skipper had one clump of gluey / greasy, gross hair. Even then, as I separated the hair strands and as we played with the dolls, the glue became largely a non-issue over time.) Note: While our brunette may not be a "glue head", her perm hasn't stayed that well, so she'll sometimes get a little bit of a bald patch above her forehead, when the hair doesn't fall just right. This is another reason why I recommend the straight-haired dolls. (We don't have any dolls with buns or pinned-up hair. That may possibly also work well.) Yoga vs. soccer Made to Move (tan complexion) Another factor to consider: Our soccer player Made to Move doll (tan / dark hair version) has soft / flexible hands. Our yoga dolls for I suppose obvious reasons do not, and that does help them do head stands. When I can get them to balance right, yes, I can get them to do head stands - and also a crab walk-type position. So, I guess different hands for different functions. Just FYI. More general info on the Made to Move dolls These dolls are not the most aesthetically-pleasing, when compared to old-school Barbies. But what they lose in looks, they absolutely gain in ability. So, I just ignore the not-so-attractive aspects of the joints. These dolls cannot pull their legs into a fetal-type position, but they can do a lot more than any Barbies I've ever seen. I mean, c'mon, sitting on a floor cross-legged? (Ironically, the yoga dolls did not come with Barbie yoga mats. Still nice dolls, though.) I'll admit: I haven't let my daughter use these dolls in water. I think that the Fashionista-type dolls would be better-suited for a pool party, in all honesty. It's just a lot of joints that could get water in them -- and that could mean mold later on. I don't know. Just something to consider. Bottom line: The Made to Move Barbie dolls are the type of Barbie dolls I wanted as a kid about 25 years ago. Despite head / hair issues -- and for that matter, shortcomings in terms of aesthetics and probably less user-friendliness for pool parties -- I think they are awesome. I would definitely recommend adding at least one to a Barbie collection. I would just recommend the ones with more manageable hair, that's all. "Help me! I'm looking for a fair-complexioned brunette Barbie doll!" One final note: If you are looking for a fair-complexioned brunette, I personally had a hard time finding one. The Made to Move soccer player that we got was a dark brunette with basically a tan complexion, which was a close approximation. Alternately, there are the Purple top and Light blue top yoga Barbies -- and the skateboarding Barbie, I'd imagine -- that might also approximate. That's the best I know, anyway.