New Arrivals Part I: Barbie City Shine Red (Lea)

Doll Pre-orders are starting to make their way home. Barbie Collector took the City Shine dolls off of backorder a couple weeks sooner than expected, which was nice. I ordered two of them because with my quarterly BFC reward it was like buy-1-get-1-free. At first, I thought I might keep two. Once I had them both in-hand, I decided one was enough. Especially with the size of my collection right now. :-/  Below are a couple photos of the ladies and a quasi-review/first impressions. 

I was very excited for the City Shine Lea doll. Short hair isn't that common for Barbie dolls. As for the fashion, these 80's inspired looks aren't my style. Of the 4 City Shine dolls, I tolerate like hers the best though. Red is one of my favorite colors for raven haired dolls. Leggings can be re-purposed; I see these getting good use. Not sure about that top--yet. The clutch is nicely done with two colors; the purse fiend in me is happy. Earrings are a great style but too large.  Shoes are a style I don't like; they'll go in the eBay bag.

City Shine Lea has side-glancing eyes. This may turn into a big issue for collectors; "wonky eye" is already such a problem in the lower-cost Barbie lines. Of my two girls, I'm still not sure if the 2nd is OK or not. On the plus side, the rooted eyelashes were good.

Her hair was in need of trimming in the back where strands were missed. Long bits of cut hair were also stuck to her part and forehead. You can really see this with the doll on the right. All this was fixed with careful removal and a pair of (sharp!) fingernail clippers.I still want to take a sponge brush to her hair; remove some of the gel and shape it a bit. 

My first impression of the doll in-hand is like but not love. I'll see how I feel after redressing her. That hair... <3