Barbie Twilight Bella Doll

I liked the overall packaging of the Barbie Bella Twilight doll for the atheistic value but for those who might be doll collectors or are thinking of starting be aware there is nothing all that special about this doll besides having Twilight packaging and one label inside the jacket that says Summit.

Also please be aware that if you intend to remove Bella from the box you have a job ahead of you. It seems she is wrapped up and attached well to the interior cardboard and if you get this as a Christmas gift for a young Twilighter then it will probably take you a while to get her out of the thin plastic box and all the packaging ties, tape and rubber she is attached with. Also be careful when cutting her head from the plastic attaching her to the package so you don’t cut her hair in the process.

This Bella doll has bendable knees but not bendable arms which is a step back in my opinion for Mattel in comparison to the release of the Wonder Woman Pink Label all bendable doll. Be warned: the bendable knees both won’t bend right out of the packaging. Mattel, in a strange move, placed a black carboard wrap around the straight leg of Bella. To free the knee of it’s cardboard prison you need to remove the tape and cardboard carefully after undressing Bella of her jeans. In my case the tape adhesive had attached itself not only to the cardboard but to my doll and I had to clean it off.

Bella’s head moves and rotates easily. A black plastic band acts as a head band for Bella’s dark brown hair and seems to slip and slide easily so you have to keep moving it back into place if you handle the doll out of the package.

(Tip: If for some reason this band breaks just visit the beauty section in a local Wal-mart, Target, Walgreens etc.. and pick up a pack of the plastic Goody hair binders in black to replace it. The band is very similar in type to those.)

There is no Summit identification on the doll body itself to tell you it’s a Twilight Saga item. The stamp on the back of the Barbie Bella head says C 1991 Mattel Inc. The stamp on the middle of the dolls low back says C 1999 Mattel Indonesia then an additional number 2509.

Bella’s head is a soft plastic with glittery pink lips, red brown eye brows, black painted eye lashes and a kind of grayed yellow brown eye color. The cheeks are faintly brushed in a pink tone on the warm cream colored skin tone.

The ears look as if they could take earrings but no jewelry is provided with this doll.

The hands are bent in such a way that when Bella’s arms are posed upwards it almost looks like Bella is performing the ‘Y’ in the dance routine for the ‘YMCA’ song.

Her feet are high heal Barbie feet. To keep the plastic canvas look-a-like shoes on Bella’s feet, Mattel used sticky dots like you would use for scrap booking, similar to ZOTS on each heal. When removed the shoes seem to fit Bella fine and do not seem to fall off when moved around so I am guessing this was to keep it from moving in shipping etc..

Bella has no underclothing. She only comes wearing a pair of jeans and a Bella ‘like’ jacket blue-grey in color with pockets on the front, a gold zipper that you will have to cut the thread for to make usable and a white ribbon sewn inside that says “TM AND C Summit Entertainment, LLC.” with just a folded up flat collar. This white label is the first clue you have that the doll is even associated with Summit besides the packaging itself. If the doll was mixed into other barbies you’d have a hard time defining it as a Twilight associated item.

The jeans are a typical Barbie style jean with no label and two usable pockets in the front like real jeans. In the back the jeans are connected by a navy Velcro closure. The closure does not seem to pop open easily when bending or moving the dolls legs but you can hear the Velcro closure adjusting to the movements you make.

There is a certificate of authenticity included as a novelty I suspect which tells you about the doll and there is a typical Mattel plastic Barbie doll stand. There is nothing special about the stand itself except for the Twilight logo in a gray-blue color rub on over the black base. The bottom of the base says C 1997 Mattel Inc., Indonesia and has four spongy bits to stop the stand from sliding when placed on a desk or table. The resting place for the doll to sit, and I mean sit as to keep Bella on the stand you have to bend both of her knees. She cannot stand on this as the resting rod in clear plastic is not tall enough to accommodate the doll. (I wonder if Mattel was guessing only a small portion of the population would actually try to use this stand verses just keeping the doll in the package.)

Overall the doll is a Barbie doll not a Twilight doll. It’s more of a Halloween costume for Barbie. No significant accessories or jewelry. A little bit disappointing but overall if you have a young Twilighter they will just enjoy it for the novelty it was made to be and love you for making their Christmas.
Rating: 3 / 5

I found my Pink Label Edward Cullen and Bella Swan/Cullen Twilight Edition Barbies at K-Mart. I’m a huge fan of the books and I do like the movies (the screaming psychotic fans, not so much!) well enough. My only real complaint is about the Bella doll because the likeness to Bella herself is lacking. This doesn’t look like Bella made by Mattel. Instead it looks like Barbie with a brown wig and Bella’s clothes. I would have liked it to look more like Bella and less like Barbie. You could literally dress her up in different clothes, heels, a blond wig and you wouldn’t know it was the Bella doll unless you look closely at the eye color.

TheBarbie Twilight Edward Doll on the other hand looks nothing like Ken. Edward shimmers, he is very pale, his eyes are alluring, he’s got that signature James Dean hair and his face is very angled and chiseled like the shadows on the actors face in the movies. He may not be a DEAD (ha ha, get it? vampire… dead… ha) ringer for a Robert look-alike but he passes for a Twilight vampire well enough to satisfy my Twilight heart.

In conclusion, if you’re a Twilight fan who loves the books as well as the movies and you enjoy collecting Twilight memorabilia the dolls are a must have. I intend on buying the Jacob doll to complete my Twilight Pink Label collection!
Rating: 4 / 5

This is a great doll for collectors. My daughter (who plays with Barbies) wanted this doll because she likes the Twilight series – or as much as she knows of it! I felt kinda bad letting her play with it but since that’s what I bought it for, she’s going to play with it. The clothes are better quality than the normal Barbie clothes too.
Rating: 5 / 5