I think that hairdorables were one of the first signs that nature was healing. Even though they were surprise toys, they still had hair and fabric clothing.

"Kids wanted to develop intense gambling addictions" - the way I cackled 😂

It still bewilders me that DC Superhero girls didn't just recreate fashions from the comics, they had 70+ years worth of fashion AND themes to work with. Easily could have gotten the true comic nerds with that.

This is utterly unrelated to the video but as a guy whose dad recently threw away a good chunk of my doll collection, it's so nice to see your plethora of dolls behind you. It feels good to see another guy who's into dolls and isn't ashamed of it, even if other people are.

I did not stop collecting during "The Dark Ages," I just stopped collecting play line dolls. This is when I started to acquire some higher end stuff like Tonner and Integrity. I'm glad the play doll market is starting to be appealing again. I love being able to walk into a Walmart and grab a decent doll.

When I saw these unicorn that make slime a few years ago, I genuinely felt bad thinking someone could get a repeat one since it was a surprise doll, and they were expensive too...

I’d argue that the dark ages actually started in 2014 with the decline of quality of several brands , bratz EAH MH Barbie etc and encapsulates the reboots as well

Poopsies slime surprise era was just unbearable

I have to wonder if the fall of Toys R Us helped usher in the dark age doll period. Fashion dolls are relatively expensive to produce, in comparison to action figures, so perhaps when toy companies saw a major toy retailer go down, they wanted to nip back costs even more than usual.

Enchantimals truly are the Satan's Gravy of fashion dolls. I remember when things were getting weird around that time, and Poopsies came out, I was amazed at how such a dumpy concept could have such a high quality, and wished they would make them into fashion dolls. When they came out with Rainbow High, I was so stoked, it was like prayers answered. It's hilarious to think we have Poopsie and Rainbow Surprise to thank for Rainbow High. Now if only they would make Fantasy Friends into Fantasy High...

This era really gave us only 3 doll face types:

Long ago the toy companies lived in perfect harmony

10:36

Mattel really pulled a thanos click and obliterated the entire play line doll market

Project mc2 deserved better. Their fashion was sooo good. They really captured the 2014-16 era of fashion which MH completely missed.

I find it interesting that no one has mentioned how Mattel losing the Disney Princess license affected things in 2014, but especially how it affected the rest of their brands from that point on. The MH reboot was the most obvious result of the Disney money disappearing in 2016, but you could see how it affected things with Mattel's pivot to "girl power" brands happened beforehand including EAH's slogan changing to "Princesses are Powerful".

As a general blind box collector, I can totally understand how LOL Surprise exploded and changed the market like it did even if I personally don't like them. Idk WHAT they're putting in blind boxes to make them so addicting, but once you start, you're a goner. Blind box mania is REAL. 😭

I was 11 when monster high got rebooted and the dark ages of dolls came about. The sad thing is when all the high quality dolls began disappearing and when I couldn't find a new doll in toy aisles that interested me I simply assumed I was too grown up for dolls at that point and it made me embarrassed of ever having dolls in the first place. As a kid I simply moved on to Shopkins because that's what every other kid was doing, and I would hide my box of dolls anytime I had anyone over. I'm glad I at least saved the majority of my dolls now that I'm back into collecting at age 18 and have been collecting for a few years now.

I loved you how went into how 'The Dark Ages' is a misnomer on your doll video. As a history fan, it was unexpected and delightful

Okay um as a historian the little bit you put in there about the "dark ages" made me so indescribably happy