Bratz Holiday Felicia: A Lookin' Bratz Review!
Hey Angelz!
If you’ve been keeping up with the latest Bratz news with Lookin’ Bratz on social media and LookinBratz.com, then you’ll recall that these past few weeks have been full of news about upcoming Bratz dolls! The start of this news cycle began with the reveal of the new Bratz Holiday Felicia doll, and now I’m excited to share that the Bratz team at MGA Entertainment has sent me a Holiday Felicia! If you want to see a detailed review on the upcoming Bratz Holiday Felicia doll, including tons of pictures, then keep on reading!
THE PACKAGING
The new Bratz Holiday Felicia doll comes in a unique gem-shaped box, which is a bit reminiscent of the Bratz Forever Diamondz boxes but not quite the same. On the packaging itself is a gold Bratz logo with a new Holiday logo underneath it, as well as Felicia’s artwork in the bottom right corner. It should be noted that Felicia’s artwork is an updated version of Holiday Trinity’s artwork from 2006. The packaging also features the 20 Yearz logo designed by Mar Cantos and Felicia’s name above her artwork. Inside the box is Felicia, of course, displayed on her trapezoid-base stand and set behind an iridescent background with sparkles and confetti imagery. Felicia also comes with a classic star-shaped brush and an exclusive Cult Gaia bracelet with Bratz typeface, Cult Gaia, and 20 Yearz charms. The bracelet comes packaged in a felt pink display.
The back of Felicia’s box features the same backdrop as the front of her box, with Felicia’s artwork being enlarged and the logos surrounding her. A notable difference between this release and most other Bratz releases is the exclusion of the phrase “The Girls with a Passion for Fashion!”; it is unknown if this was intentional or just overlooked during the production process. Also, the plastic of Felicia’s box seems to have this iridescence to it; it is not super noticeable, but definitely one of the first things I noticed when I first held her box in my hands. The packaging is a beautiful display of the doll and bracelet, and I probably would have left her in the box had I not been super excited to hold the actual doll in my hands! I would also like to note that the box is huge (probably one of the biggest boxes I’ve seen a Bratz doll packaged in), so definitely make sure you have enough room to display her if you intend on keeping her boxed up.
THE DOLL, FASHION, ‘N’ FACE
Considering that Holiday Felicia is one of the first dolls released this year to not be a reproduction, alongside the GCDS dolls released yesterday, it is interesting to see how the doll itself holds up as a completely new release.
Back in February 2021, listings for three new reproductions coming out for the Bratz 20th Anniversary were posted on Amazon. One of these listings included a reproduction of Holiday Trinity, which confused many fans as she is not considered a fan-favorite release. Then, in September 2021, a listing for Holiday Felicia was posted on a Polish shopping site. Fans assumed that MGA would be replacing Trinity with Felicia, which was confirmed mid-November 2021 when her stock pictures were posted on Amazon. This also comes as no surprise as Felicia has been heavily featured on the Bratz social media pages since their comeback started in May 2020, and she has since become the host of the Talking Bratz series on TikTok.
Because Felicia replaced Trinity in this release, a lot of Trinity’s pieces were re-colored for Felicia except for the doll itself. For example, Felicia’s dress is an altered and re-colored version of Trinity’s original pink dress. Felicia is dressed in a two-piece yellow gown with glittery floral accents. Unlike Trinity’s original dress, Felicia’s dress does not have an additional top attached underneath her main top and is a two-piece (the top and skirt are separated) whereas Trinity’s dress was a single piece. Trinity originally comes with a scarf wrap (not pictured as I do not own it), while Felicia comes with a faux-fur wrap to match her dress. Both Trinity and Felicia come with the same shoe mold in different colors and skintones. I do not have Trinity’s earrings, but I can tell that Felicia’s earrings use the same mold. Trinity and Felicia also have similar purses, but in different colors. I bought Trinity in used condition earlier this year, so I am not sure if this is a product of her being secondhand, but Trinity’s dress feels less “full” compared to Felicia’s. Felicia’s dress is beautifully fluffed out, giving her a luxurious look when she is displayed in it.
As for the doll itself, I am genuinely impressed with her! Some fans may have mixed feelings about this new Felicia release, but I genuinely find her to be one of the most gorgeous Bratz dolls I have owned and, not that there are many to choose from, my favorite release this year! Many fans are concerned about how faces are being printed on the dolls since the faces on the Rock Angelz reproduction dolls were not well-received back in October of this year.
To give some background of how faces are put on the dolls, nearly every Bratz doll between 2001 and 2014, except for a select few, has a face screening that was painted using the “spray” method. The spray method ensures the eyes are elongated across the face for a classic, sultry Bratz look. Between 2015 and 2016 (except for the V Files x Bratz doll), and for the Bratz 20 Yearz Special Edition dolls released earlier this year, the “sticker” method was used to apply the dolls’ faces. A new method was introduced to the Bratz brand with the Rock Angelz reproductions, which is UV printing. UV printing is a more cost-effective method to apply dolls’ faces as spraying seems to be less common in the doll industry today. Felicia and the GCDS dolls use the UV printing method as well, but they do not appear to have the same defects that Rock Angelz suffered. One of the downsides to UV printing is that the dolls’ printed facial features have a shine to them, and some features have a clear outline that looks sticker-like. Fortunately, Felicia seems to be avoiding any defects from the UV printing method; however, some people have received dolls with misaligned faces. I would like to mention that Felicia’s lashes blend into her eyeshadow and are less defined as a result, but this is something I can live with.
If you do receive a doll with defects that you cannot accept, consider returning or exchanging the doll to the retailer you bought it from or contact MGA’s Customer Service to see if they can assist you.
THE HAIR
Holiday Felicia has gorgeous voluminous curls and bantu knots, being one of the few Black dolls from the brand with a natural hairstyle. Felicia’s hair is a gorgeous blend of premium nylon that reminds me of her hair color blend from her Campfire and Sweet Dreamz Pajama Party releases. Some fans may be concerned that nylon is being used on Bratz instead of saran, but this is nothing to worry about as nylon is a premium hair fiber that is currently being used on sister brands L.O.L. Surprise O.M.G. and Rainbow High. Nylon has often been confused with polypropylene, which is a hair fiber that was used in a majority of lines between 2008-2013. While saran—which has been used on most Bratz released between 2001-2007, 2015-2018, and on the Bratz 20 Yearz Special Edition dolls released earlier this year—is a great hair fiber, nylon can be easily restyled with heated hair tools and is less likely to degrade over time like saran and polypropylene can do. Saran hair is harder to come by in certain colors, so nylon provides a way for consumers to have these hair colors without resorting to using low-grade polypropylene. Nylon hair is also being used on the Rock Angelz and GCDS dolls, so hopefully we see more Bratz dolls with it in the future! As for whether or not Felicia has a hair parting, I will not be taking her hairstyle down so that information is unknown; but, I do feel she may have several potential partings because of how her bantu knot hairstyle is rooted.
THE BODY ‘N’ SKINTONE
Holiday Felicia uses the articulated body introduced in the Collector line from 2018. This body is a hybrid of the original 2001 torso and legs with arms from the Movie dolls from 2007 and hands from the 2013 bodies. I personally do not mind this body and I enjoy the fact that we finally have an articulated body in Felicia’s skintone! Several fans have pointed out that Felicia’s skintone looks lighter in comparison to her original dolls, which I believe may be due to the lighting used in the stock photos. I have taken pictures for comparison, but Holiday Felicia’s skintone looks nearly identical to her Sweet Dreamz doll. Holiday Felicia’s skintone looks slightly lighter in comparison to her Sweet Dreamz counterpart, but this may be due to the matte plastic being used on the newer Bratz bodies as opposed to the shiny bodies used back in the day. I also put Sweet Dreamz Felicia’s shoes on Holiday Felicia, which does show a slight difference between the two skintones.
Another feature to note about Felicia is her head sculpt. The Bratz 20 Yearz Special Edition dolls released earlier this year use the classic 2001 head sculpt, while the rest of this year’s releases use a revised version of the 2001 head sculpt. This revised version is likely used to accommodate the UV printing method that is now being used on the dolls. The head is not too different from the original head sculpt, but is a bit larger in comparison. Dolls using the revised sculpt have a different imprint on the back of their head, which can be seen in the pictures in the gallery.
THE BRACELET AND OTHER FEATURES
Exclusive Bratz x Cult Gaia Bracelet
As mentioned before, Holiday Felicia is packaged with an exclusive bracelet from fashion house Cult Gaia. The bracelet is made of what appears to be gold metal and measures at about eight inches. The bracelet is definitely made for an adult wrist, though it was a tight fit on mine; to be fair, I have a large wrist. I personally love the bracelet and think it is a cute add-on to Felicia! Cult Gaia is owned by Jasmin Larian—the Bratz brand director, inspiration behind Yasmin, and MGA Entertainment CEO Isaac Larian’s daughter—so seeing her fashion brand collide with Bratz, another brand she helped bring to life, is exciting! It is suspected that more Bratz x Cult Gaia collabs will be coming up as Jasmin teased several fashion and accessory pieces earlier this year.
As for other features of this release, there is nothing else other than what has been discussed in this article. Felicia does not come with a poster or instruction manual.
WHERE TO Buy AND RELEASE DATE
Most of you are probably wondering where you can score your own Holiday Felicia. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a set release date for Felicia. But, it seems that Felicia will be released in batches throughout the month of December and hopefully more will come out eventually. There has been a toy shortage this year due to supply chain issues, which has been holding up a lot of doll releases including Bratz.
Any information and links I have are included in my What We Know So Far blog post for Holiday Felicia. MGA and Bratz have yet to formally announce Holiday Felicia as of this article’s publication, but the pre-order date on Amazon suggested a release date of December 20th while the pre-order date on Target suggested a release date of December 13th. Some Canadian fans have already received their dolls through GameStop/EB Games pre-orders. I encourage everyone looking to buy Holiday Felicia to be as patient as possible because all doll releases have been affected by the pandemic. I also recommend not giving in to buying from second-hand sellers as they tend to charge absurdly high prices, which is unfortunately common with previous Felicia releases as she is sought after by many fans. I am hopeful that this release will help make Felicia more accessible to Bratz fans who truly want her, and that resellers do not spoil this release for us. Her retail price is $54.99 USD, so keep that in mind when you are shopping for her!
As for whether or not Felicia will be released internationally, she will be available on Amazon and possibly at some of the retailers where the 20 Yearz Special Edition dolls were released throughout this year. I will no longer be reporting on where the dolls are being sold internationally, so make sure to do your own research. International fans also have the option of checking the retailers listed on MGA Entertainment’s Where To Buy webpage or contact their international offices for more info.
OVERALL THOUGHTZ
Overall, I am in love with the new Holiday Felicia and I think it’s about time MGA shows more love for her! She has to be one of my favorite dolls this year, and possibly even overall. It’s super exciting to see MGA releasing new Bratz dolls rather than reproductions, which I still love but new releases mean that there is potential for even more new Bratz in the future!
Bratz Sweet Dreamz Felicia, Babyz Felicia (unreleased factory sample), and Holiday Felicia
I am a bit skeptical of the UV printing method being used on the new dolls, but I am personally open to them continuing to use it if they can perfect the screenings. Holiday Felicia (and the GCDS dolls, but I do not own those yet) is a step in the right direction for the Bratz brand and shows that the UV printing method is improving. Felicia is the first Black character in the Bratz brand to receive a collector’s edition holiday-themed doll, which makes her even more special. This is definitely a piece of Bratztory that Bratz fans should consider getting!
Thank you to the Bratz team at MGA Entertainment for sending me Holiday Felicia! I hope to provide more in-depth reviews on new Bratz products in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to read this in-depth review of Holiday Felicia and I hope you keep checkin’ out Lookin’ Bratz for more news and reviews in the future! Maybe I’ll do a Bratz x GCDS review? Stay tuned!
Stay tuned to LookinBratz.com for more news on the Girls with a Passion for Fashion, and make sure to check out Lookin’ Bratz on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok for more scorchin’ Bratz content and news! I’ll also be posting more pictures and videos of Holiday Felicia throughout the month on all of my social media platforms, so look forward to that!
xoxo
