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Ginger Tea Dollhouse

@gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social

75 followers 140 following 330 posts

Spotlighting fashion dolls that are Asian & of the Asian diaspora & its related discourse. Sometimes posting about other diverse dolls as well. Always curious about new fashion dolls. *mixed Filipino Aussie woman owned account*

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Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · Jun 9

Any doll collector Redditors who are looking for a safe space on Reddit, please check out:
r/dollcollections
r/DollsForAll
r/TransDollCollectors
r/DollCollecting
r/DollsForever
r/One_Sixth_Scale_World
(There's also r/FashionDolls & r/DollCollector but they may need new mods) #dollsky #reddit

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Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 17h

#dolls #dollsky

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Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 17h

#dolls #dollsky

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 1d

#dollsky #dolls

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 1d

Growing up as a mixed Asian woman in country Australia in the late 90s & 00s, I didn't get see any Kira dolls & barely any Nolee dolls. Both Teresa & Ana made me feel a little bit seen in a time where there wasn't a lot of diverse representation for me. So I wanted to share my love for them here.

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 1d

October 15 marks the last day of #HispanicHeritageMonth & here I have two eras of Barbie's first Latina friend Teresa, Generation Girl's Ana (Barbie's 2nd Latina friend) & Skipper's current Latina friend Anna #dolls #dollsky #barbieteresa #barbieskipper #barbiegenerationgirl #latinadolls #browndolls

Two Mattel Teresa dolls (2007 Chic Teresa (2006 Teresa sculpt) on the left & 2000 Flower Power Teresa (1990 Teresa sculpt) on the left) wearing Barbie 2 pack "Bows" fashion packs with added pink shoulder bag & shoes standing on a brown couch.

One Mattel Anna doll (Skipper First Jobs - Ear Piercer) and one Barbie Generation Girl Ana (1999 Generation Girl First Wave) doll standing in a brown couch.

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Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 3d

As a Barbie collector, I would say Bratz. I can't deny their brand collabs have been great lately. It absolutely has to be all four core ladies - no one left out. Then I'd put Monster High & Barbie second. I'd suggest My Scene as a wildcard but Mattel seems to have no idea what to do with them.

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 4d

Myer & Toyworld as well. I'm in a regional city & I've seen the same Barbies there at my local Myer for months on end. I know there's still some Barbie Looks dolls for $35AUD! My local Toyworlds have older stock, I've seen Barbie Extra dolls & fashion packs for the bigger My First Barbie there.

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 4d

We have dolls at thrift stores in Australia (we called them opportunity shops or "op shops" for short) but usually it's a small (or tiny) selection of dolls that may or may not be in decent shape. Nowhere near the variety that they get in the US.

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 5d

Spring has sprung for Shani! #dollsky #dolls #barbiesky #barbieshani #barbiepink #blackdolls #blackbarbie #diversedolls #dollphotography #dollpic #dollpics #fashiondolls #dollphoto #dollsofbluesky #dollcommunity #dollcollecting #barbiefashionistas #barbie

Shani (2023 Standard Fashion Barbie AA) wearing a black and pink polka dot dress and black and white sunglasses from the Barbie "Pink Polka Dot" fashion pack from 2025.

Shani (Barbie Fashionista 206) wearing a pink dress with white polka dots and a medium pink bangle from the Barbie "Pink Polka Dot" fashion pack from 2025.

Two Shani dolls (2023 Standard Fashion Barbie AA on the left and Barbie Fashionista 206 on the right) standing on a brown windowsill. Both are wearing outfits from the Barbie "Pink Polka Dot" fashion pack from 2025.

Two Shani dolls (2023 Standard Fashion Barbie AA on the right and Barbie Fashionista 206 on the left) standing on a brown windowsill. Both are wearing outfits from the Barbie "Pink Polka Dot" fashion pack from 2025.

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Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 6d

New & secondhand dolls (except for Skipper in the middle, I already had her) wearing a Barbie fashion set (the Millie came with it). I bought it for $20AUD at Kmart Australia. A good buy! #dollsky #barbiesky #barbiemalibu #barbiemillie #barbiekira #barbieskipper #barbiedaisy #clonedoll #clonedolls

Three Mattel Barbie fashion dolls, one Mattel Skipper fashion doll and one Barbie fashion doll clone (second from the left) wearing colourful Mattel Barbie fashions. Left to right: Millie, Kira, Skipper, Barbie fashion doll clone and Daisy.

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 7d

They're beautiful!

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 13d

Not to deny that Japan doesn't have a colourism issue & a xenophobia issue, of course, because it does. But Bratz itself also has colourism & racism issues, as does the MGA CEO himself, Isaac Larian. It's just disappointing all around & there could be multiple groups to blame for this.

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 13d

I have read that before that Sasha has been left out of Bratz lines before & that MGA have released Bratz lines before where there wasn't a doll (whether it was Sasha or a different doll) with a deep skintone. So I could believe that MGA would be just as much to blame in this scenario as Sanrio. /2

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 13d

From what I've read from Bratz fans, it's very possible that Sanrio decided not to include Sasha. However, it's also very possible that MGA may not have submitted an idea for a Hello Kitty Sasha doll in the first place. So it's possible that both Sanrio & MGA could be at fault not just Sanrio. /1

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 14d

Happy to hear that Sasha will get a Hello Kitty doll! But yeah, the fact that she was left out in the first place is upsetting & makes no sense. I think Barbie fans need to apply the same kind of pressure to Mattel to make them produce Hello Kitty dolls of colour!

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Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 14d

Mattel is developing a live action TV series based on "The Marvelous World of Shani"! Shani & her friends Nichelle, Asha & Jamal were launched in 1991 & designed by Kitty Black Perkins, the creator of Black Barbie! #dollsky #blackdolls #blackbarbie #shani #barbieshani
blexmedia.com/mattel-live-...

Mattel Developing Live-Action ‘Shani’ Series With Janine Nabers as Showrunner | Blex Media

blexmedia.com

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Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 14d

I do remember that those plastic robotic dogs were popular. I don't remember seeing them at Kmart but I could believe that Kmart Australia sold them. Thank you! I have one Disney ILY & want to get a friend for her. I hope to get a few more of them.

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 14d

Kmart was launched in Australia initially as joint venture between Kmart US & the Aussie supermarket chain & company Coles. Then Coles purchased Kmart, so then became Aussie owned. The Disney ILY are $50AUD at Disney Store Aus but they have sales sometimes. Amazon has sales sometimes as well.

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Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 14d

They were at Kmart Australia two years ago (I think?) but have since be cancelled from being sold there. Otherwise it's only online on Amazon Australia, Disney Store Australia & independent businesses who sell them. I put together an explainer about our Kmart if you're wondering:

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 14d

Mari is great! Mari hasn't been used since the Lunar New Year trio 2 or 3 years ago, so I would love it if she was the Deluxe Style Asian rare doll. I read that we don't know which doll Raquelle will be the variant for. Since the others have rare variants already, it'll be the Latine or Asian doll.

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 14d

For me, Mattel didn't care about having a Asian-American friend for Barbie at the time that not only accurately depicted Asian people (without people wondering if she "actually" Asian or not) but that represented Asian people & the Asian diaspora in a positive light in a time where there was none.

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 14d

Mattel made it clear that Renee is Chinese-American & that Kira, Mari & Lea were also Asian as well. Also why didn't Barbie have an Asian friend at that time with positive connotations? Why someone like Raquelle? Why didn't Mattel make another Asian-American friend without that kind of baggage? /2

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Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 14d

I totally get it. I'm definitely not saying that you are. Just that a lot of people aren't aware of how things were with Mattel at that time. For me, I never understood why Mattel never loudly & proudly made it clear that Raquelle & Ryan were Asian, if they were, like we see with Renee today. /1

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 14d

Besides, there are so many Asian female & male face sculpts available now that we really don't need permanent "Asian" Raquelle & Ryan dolls anyway. If Raquelle is the face sculpt for the Asian Deluxe Style doll, I'll be disappointed because I would've much preferred Kira, Mari or Lea instead. /7

Ginger Tea Dollhouse @gingerteadollhouse.bsky.social · 14d

If Mattel bring both Raquelle & Ryan back with Asian looking screenings (There's a soon to be released curvy pilot doll with the Raquelle sculpt & an East Asian looking screening on Insta) on a permanent basis, personally I'd be very disappointed given the history. We deserve better than that. /6

Curvy pilot doll with Raquelle face sculpt. Will be released in November. Courtesy of a_plastic_tan_2 on Instagram.