Hey Mean Girlz!

What a year it has been for Bratz fans! With breaks in between their Winter/Spring and Summer/Fall releases, Bratz finally dropped one of their major Fall releases this past October: the Bratz x Mean Girls collection. But, like with any Bratz release in recent history, the Mean Girls launch received less-than-enthused feedback from fans and consumers for unexpected reasons.

Having debuted in 2001 and experiencing some of its peak popularity in the mid-2000s, the Bratz brand makes perfect sense to base a collection off the 2004 cult classic film Mean Girls—but did this collection experience the success it truly deserved, or did fans get burned during this launch due to its inaccessibility? There are a lot of thoughts to be had about the Bratz x Mean Girls collection, and the online Bratz community has especially been vocal about what has now become a controversial release for the brand. This release may have been destined for controversy since before its launch, having been accidentally leaked by one of MGA’s licensing partners this past May and again by MGA Entertainment CEO Isaac Larian in late August. This collection had all the potential to catapult Bratz back into high status in the toy industry—truthfully, it probably still could despite the unfortunate circumstances that came with the launch.

I was fortunate enough to receive the PR kit for the Bratz x Mean Girls dolls, though I have admittedly not wanted to post much about the collab post-launch. After some time to sit with the collection and the response that MGA Entertainment has received, I want to share my own thoughts about the dolls and rollout.

Hey Angelz!

The time has finally come… after seven years, the Bratz have made their playline comeback with their newest line: Alwayz Bratz! And when I say playline comeback, I mean completely brand-new designs of the core four characters at the playline price point, which we haven’t seen since 2016’s Instapets. So, what’s the big deal about Bratz having new playline and why is this comeback so important? If you’re wondering that, then this is the article for you!

If you haven't kept up with Bratz news in the past few years, then here’s a brief rundown of what’s happened in the Bratz world that has led to this moment! Bratz was discontinued in 2016 after a failed reboot that started the year prior, leading the brand to go on an indefinite hiatus until Fall 2018 when the Hayden Williams-designed Bratz Collector line was released. The brand would go silent on social media for a year until its ninteenth anniversary in May 2020, just a week after the launch of none other than LookinBratz.com! The Bratz brand was focused on coming back via licensed clothing and lifestyle collaborations with various companies before re-entering the doll market with reproductions of its debut line in May 2021 in time for the brand’s twentieth anniversary. Since then, the brand’s doll lineup has consisted primarily of reproductions (20 Yearz/Series 1 and its successors Series 2 and Series 3, Rock Angelz, Girls Nite Out, Pretty ‘N’ Punk), designer and celebrity collabs (GCDS, JimmyPaul, Cult Gaia, Mowalola, Kylie Jenner), and one-off collector dolls (Holiday Felicia, Sweet Heart Meygan, the Tweevils). 2024 seems to be ushering in a revamped era for Bratz, with its lead Spring releases consisting of Bratz Babyz reproductions and, of course, Alwayz Bratz. We had a taste of new playline with the release of Pretty ‘N’ Punk Sasha last year, but we haven’t had a full new playline release since 2016.

Our first peek at Alwayz Bratz was in June 2023 when a Brazilian influencer received a PR package from an international MGA Entertainment office with a postcard featuring an early version of the Alwayz artwork—at this time, it was unknown what this artwork was for. Shortly after, the artwork was featured at MGA’s booth at the Las Vegas Licensing Expo. In late September, Target inventory listings confirmed that the core four would be released as part of a new collection titled “Alwayz Bratz” named after the brand’s latest short-form animated series; at New York Toy Fair later that month, updated versions of Yasmin and Cloe’s artwork were featured at one of their distributor’s booths. On Halloween, we got our first look at the actual Alwayz dolls; then, by December, the dolls slowly started making their way to Walmart stores across the United States.

A lot has led up to this moment, but that is the Bratztory behind it in a nutshell! Now, wondering what’s the tea on the Alwayz Bratz dolls? The Bratz team at MGA Entertainment was kind enough to send me the full set of the Alwayz Bratz collection! Keep reading for a detailed review on the brand-new Alwayz Bratz dolls, including tons of pictures plus details on the dolls’ fashions, faces, and accessories!