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List Price: $49.99
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program My daughter has had a Barbie horse before and it did not work very well, which is why I was very skeptical about this horse, but we decided to give her a try. I've very glad that we did!
PROS:
The horse actually walks!! Unlike the previous horse we had, this horse actually walks beautifully! It walks perfectly on the wood or linoleum floor, and it does walk on carpet, but nowhere near as well as when it's on a flat service.
Controlling the horse! Controlling the horse is extremely cool as Barbie does it all! Raise her hand all the way up to make the horse walk. Put the hand straight out and the horse will stop. Put her hand all the way down and the horse bows! And here's the really cool part it doesn't matter if Barbie is in front of the horse (as she is in most pics), or RIDING the horse as long as she's in close proximity the horse obeys her!
The Barbie is very pretty and has nice hair. The hat that comes with the Barbie is a nice little touch!
The bridle comes off! With a little bit of work you can take the horse's bridal off, which makes her that more realistic.
Barbie stays on! Due to the clip that goes around Barbie's waist, she stays on her horse even when she bows!
CONS:
The horse's tail really bothered my daughter as it is plastic. The mane is a very soft, regular hair (although the front part of the mane is plastic, I'm assuming that it has something to do with controlling the horse), but the tail is completely plastic. Why didn't they make the tail out of the same hair the mane is made out of?
Barbie's pants can not be removed. The jacket/top piece can come off, as can the boots, but the pink pants stay on permanently.
VERDICT:
Overall the Barbie and Her Sisters in a Pony Train and Ride Horse Playset is a great set. The horse works absolutely beautifully and the Barbie is, of course, stunning. We don't know how long the batteries last yet, but she has definitely gotten a lot of use, especially since we have the Barbie and Her Sisters in a Pony Tale RV Vehicle as well!
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I have a horse-loving six year old, and she hasn't stopped playing with this. The pony moves at the doll's command (lift arm = move forward, for example), and to my daughter's delight, it even works when Barbie is riding her white steed. Love it!
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program My young daughters like Barbies and my oldest has shown an interest in horses lately. I thought that this Barbie set was going to be a big hit, and it was. However, the novelty of the remote didn't last more than a few days. Don't get me wrong, my girls still play with the toy at least a few times per week, but they don't have any interest in using the remote function. And I'm assuming the remote control is what makes this set so expensive.
So far, the horse has held up well and seems pretty durable, but I'm just not completely sold on whether kids will find the limited interactivity to be fun for very long. Also, in order for the horse to walk and do its tricks, it needs to be on a hard surface. Households with plush carpets need not apply here, unless you want your kids playing on the kitchen or bathroom floor.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I'm always a little hesitant about dolls and toys that have extra joints for mobility. In the Barbie line, in particular, added articulation usually doesn't add much to playability but seriously detracts from product appearance. I was quite pleasantly surprised, however, at how the articulated joints in this Barbie are fairly seamless. That is, you can see them, but because the clothes are built onto the doll, it doesn't look bad. The horse's articulated joints are just shy of ugly, but worth having in exchange for the walking feature.
Just out of the box, I feared we had a dud. I looked at the box and quickly determined that batteries were included in the package, so we thought we could get right to playing. I was about ready to determine that our horse was a dud when I re-read the box and realized that the doll's batteries are included, but you will need to have 4 AAA batteries to take advantage of the horse and Barbie's remote features. Fortunately, we buy batteries in bulk. Once we got our batteries in place, my daughter and I really enjoyed the action features of Barbie and her horse.
I was prepared for some wobbliness and having to re-seat Barbie several times when we started. But Barbie has not fallen off her horse once since we've opened the box. Likewise, we haven't had to do anything at all to stabilize the horse. It's designed so that it bows, walks, and stands quite easily. The horse responds quickly and accurately to the signals that my daughter sends by raising, lowering, or straightening Barbie's arm.
And on top of this being just a really great Barbie playset, the packaging was incredibly (by Mattel standards) easy to open! All said, this is one of the better Barbie dolls we've acquired in quite some time.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program As a longtime Barbie collector, I've noticed Mattel is now making Barbie more "action oriented" and her sets are more "gimmicky". For example, there was the digital camera photo fashion Barbie, with the camera installed inside Barbie's torso.
This Barbie, like others in similarly made "action" sets, is not meant to be displayed separately from the set in which she appears, which is a shame. In other words, you can't remove her from the set and dress her like a regular doll. Though you can remove her jacket, helmet and boots, her legs aren't normal Barbie legs they're fully jointed and hot pink in color, as her jodhpurs are literally painted on her. The necklace she wears is also permanent, as it's set in her neck.
For me, the best part of this set is how you can control the horse's movements by using Barbie: raise and lower her arm, and the horse moves according to the implied command it can walk, stop or bow. Very cute, and the wireless function allows you to do so at a distance. When Barbie rides the horse, the animal will move choppily forward after you gently press a spot on her head. I think a child of 6-10 will enjoy playing with this. Moreover, the horse goes into a "sleep" mode when it hasn't been used for awhile, which is nice since it preserves battery power.
However, the weak points for me are the (a) limited usefulness of the doll apart from the set (b) the high price and (c) the overall cheap quality of the plastic, which is drenched in pink and red. I think $50 is a lot for what is basically a doll and a motion-operated horse, which doesn't even come with batteries.
Also, Mattel keeps drenching all their contemporary Barbies in shades of pink, mauve and red. I own a Barbie with a much more realistic riding outfit (red jacket, white jodhpurs, and black helmut) and wish Mattel would stop using the same colors over and over it must be cheaper to do so.
While I believe this set will be entertaining for the little ones, once the wireless function breaks down and the horse can no longer move, it will be of little use for display, since it's not as aesthetically pleasing as other Barbie sets I've seen. But then I'm biased toward the older models for little children, the novelty of using Barbie to make a horse move will definitely attract them.
