Fairytopia Magical Mermaid Barbie

I have to admit, after seeing the commercials for the new line of Mattel's Fairytopia, I wanted one myself. The story behind Fairytopia is that there are mermaids, fairies, and magical creatures that get the luxury to frolic and play under the sea all day long. The motto of the underwater world is

" If you're pure of heart, kind in spirit and truly believe in your wildest dreams, you will find your way to the faraway world of Fairytopia. There you'll meet magical creatures of your fantasies ." ( This motto can also be found in a pop up booklet that comes standard with all the Fairytopias).

I was hoping my then three year old Barbie fanatic would want a Fairytopia and not turn her nose to it, because Fairytopia certainly doesn't look like your typical Barbie doll. My little one came through for me, and I was as happy as she was to go get one of these magical little creatures.

First let me explain what captured my attention about this particular Barbie. Fairytopia is a very unusual but beautiful looking Barbie. She has the classic Barbie blonde hair, but she isn't "really" a Barbie. She is a mermaid with a detachable lavender fin covered in pretty painted scales . She also comes with a snap on lavender top,a lavender crown, a brush, mirror, and the pop up book ( which is a little story about the Fairytopia world). She just looked so cute and different from the rest of the Barbies, I figured she would be a great addition to my daughter's Barbie friends. So off we to go Wal-mart, the place where most my daughter's toys come from, to find us our very own magical mermaid.

Now onto the good stuff, or shall I say "irritating" stuff. This little Fairytopia girl is one annoying mermaid, and I just don't know what I saw in her. Let me explain. Remember earlier when I said "detachable" fin? Well, this fin is extremely detachable, meaning every time my daughter plays with little Miss Fairytopia her fin falls off. This is turn frustrates my daughter, which in turn frustrates me because I have to attach a fin at least 30 times per day. There came a point when Fairytopis had to hide for awhile because the fin falling off was not bringing out my daughter's good side.

Next, Fairytopia does not have legs. She doesn't have an entire fin that comes off, just the bottom part. After playing with her for quite sometime ( and several bubble baths later), her upper fin started to tear where Fairytopia would bend her knees. Inside you can see ugly white sticks that hold the fin together instead of legs. My daughter is upset because Barbie is legless.

Last, the top the Fairytopia comes with refuses to stay put. I have put this top back on as many times as I have the fin, and it still falls off. I gave up on the top and now we have a topless, finless, legless mermaid. This is a FAR cry from the exotic Fairytopia I saw on the commercials.

As far my final recommendation, one would think I would advise against getting a Fairytopia because of all the problems we have had, but my daughter really does enjoy her. She has played with this Barbie more than any of her other ones, and loves to sing "mermaid" songs to her. So, it's really hard to give a bad recommendation to something so enjoyed by youngster. So my final advice would be, if you can find the patience to deal with a failing top and fin and you don't mind continuously snapping them back on( older children may be able to do this themselves, but not the younger ones) then your child will enjoy Fairytopia.