Target's exclusive Fairy two-pack for 2010

This thing with exclusive Barbie® dolls at Target is starting to get out of hand. In the last month I've seen five new exclusive items that showed up after the Christmas stuff. (BottledBarbie told me there's also a sixth one I haven't seen yet.) I don't remember Target ever having this many exclusives in such a short period of time! None of them are holiday-themed, either - there will probably also be some stuff for Valentine's Day, too.

Last year's Target fairy two-pack

So, let's start with that thing thing up there. It's a gift set with two fairy dolls. Target had a two-pack set like this last year that paired the mainline pink and blue 2008/2009 basic fairy dolls and included a child-size wand. The new set comes with a child-size necklace.

The interesting thing about this year's set is that the dolls aren't the current basic fairies - they're actually altered versions of the Barbie Mariposa™ Rayla™ and Rayna™ dolls from 2007/2008, although the box doesn't mention their names. (Or anything else about them - it's just generic Fairy-Tastic Princess™ packaging.)

The original Barbie® Mariposa™ Rayla® and Rayna® dolls

The dolls are almost exactly the same. They have the same bodies with the same molded-on clothes, although the color schemes have been changed a bit. (The cool-looking dark accents were changed to pastel colors.) They also have the same hairstyles - just without the color-change streaks - and their faces are exactly the same.

The original dolls had a change-around skirt feature. Although the Target dolls' skirts are made from the same patterns (using non-printed fabrics), that "feature" isn't mentioned here. Also, the wings don't have any painted detail at all, and, like the hair, their color-change feature was omitted.

By the way - since the current basic fairy dolls have extra-large heads, they look completely bizarre next to Target's unusually-small-headed fairies.

Doll Diary 13 January 2010