No, Barbie and the Rockers were born of corporate espionage. Mattel found out about Jem, and they made Barbie and the Rockers and they beat Jem to market.
It just seems like that. I love Jem. But Jem came from the Darci doll line from Kenner. And Darci copied Dramatic, Living Barbie. Look it up. Hasbro bought the body sculpt from Kenner. But Mattel made the articulation first. Those are the facts. It just looks suspicious because they went to market so fast and they admitted to trying to copy Jem. But when you actually boil it down Barbie did it first. I loved Jem, and I loved Darci and I loved photo fashion Barbie and P.J. But the Dramatic, Living Barbie came out in 1969 and Darcy came out in 1977 or 78.
I wonder if Spectra was influenced by Hajime Sorayama’s art. His book “Sexy Robot” came out in 1983 and his illustrations were published in Playboy before that. As a kid of the 80’s, I remember seeing his chrome pinups at my local comic book store.
As a child of the 80s and a consumer of fantasy space toys. I will personally say that the Challenger disaster had no effect on me purchasing toys. It was sad but we were like first graders so we didn’t focus on the tragedy like you think we did. So it had no effect on us purchasing space toys. Spectra came and went so fast with little promotion. And if you weren’t a spoiled, you only got what you could get with your allowance. So you were not buying every single doll line out there. Only the ones that you were into. Some of us liked Barbies, MLPs,Cabbage Patches, Rainbow 🌈 Brights, Jem and the Holograms, Strawberry Shortcakes, She-ra’s, Lady Lovely Locks, Cherry Merry Muffins , or Care Bears. Nothing else really stands out, at least not majorly for me anyways. But I will say I loved the video and had no idea of Aurora dolls even existed. I loved your hair and makeup too btw!
my aunt is in her mid 40s and still to this day is absolutely obsessed with jem and the holograms. she still has her jem dolls from when she was a kid and she still watches the TV show from time to time. she made me watch the show with her as a kid too
The only reason spectra failed was there was no dollhouse for them !! Its doll suicide to have a doll line with no dollhouse for them ! Especially in the 80s !!!!
I think it'd be nice if something similar to this was done in this day and age, at least as a collector doll. I really like my shiny/glittery stuff, but I don't have the energy to track down any of the Spectra/Aurora dolls myself ^^;
Omg I’d forgotten all about Spectra until I saw this! Lol. We had that doll. I remember her clothes and her shiny pink metal skin. I loved how shiny she was. I don’t remember any of the other dolls from her line or the Aurora one, though. But I was very young back then. This was an interesting walk down memory lane. Also, I will die on the hill that Jem was amazing. Both the cartoon and the dolls. Whoever did the vocals in Jem’s songs was impressive. I only vaguely remember Barbie and the Rockers, though. 😅
I remember very well the spectra dolls. They were available in my home country, france. When i was little I LOVED anything shinny or with neon colors, because you know, that was the 80's. Unfortunately i have never had any of these dolls, i'm not sure why. It was very nice to hear the story of spectra. I've never heard of the Aurora dolls. btw i love your look in this video ! exactly like a 80's doll ^^
I’m so happy I found this video, I love the Spectra line! I ordered a lot of very used spectra dolls not too long ago and there was an Aurora doll in there. I didn’t know what it was, I thought it was the previous owners weird hybrid creation. Glad to know otherwise 😅
I remember these! I had two Spectras, though I don’t know which ones at this point. I found them at a weird little no-name toy store in this indoor flea market-esque place my parents & I went to every weekend. They had a lot of oddball, less popular toys, including these. Which were already a few years old when I found them, probably late 80s/early 90s. I forgot they even existed until very recently! I remember loving that they were jointed, & easy to pose.
Hill's was like Target with a food court and mini pet section. They had the best Toy selection outside of the toy stores that used to exist. This video was amazing....I never knew Aurora existed!
Its SO COOL seeing how history repeats itself and how much of doll history really is throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks. As I was watching this I was reminded of Novi Stars which is such a similar concept to this but modern! The reason it didn’t sell well was also the gimmicky aspect of it if I remember correctly. I think Aurora/Spectra were ahead of its time but so ahead that even the most current version of it didn’t stick lol. But I honestly think the retro future metal bodied gals with sparkly jewel eyes would do so much better these days especially with the rise of adult collectors!
Spectra was Mattel's attempt to compete with Jem. i never thought about it much. I wanted Spectra back in the 80s but it was costly. i have them all now
I love when you make these videos!! I definitely see what you mean about them maybe being a bit too gimmicky, they were ahead of their time! Which two do you have? I can't quite tell! I think the one with the clear glitter body is the coolest 🤩
I honestly think something like this would do well now a days. Gimmicky dolls seem to be doing super well these days with the likes of Pixlings, those fidget dolls that are all over the place, color reveal barbies, Mermaid Mermaze and even the new Rainbow Highs with their slime gimmick (as much as i hate it lol).
OMG ,i'm french and when i was young m'y mother worked for américan student and i remember ,a us girl came with this gorgeous silver Barbie,WE diden't had this doll's in Europe and i whant her sooo mutch,thé blue sparkely hairs thé blueish silver body,she was amaysing !( WE had totaly hair barbie obviously😊 and i had one thé brunette one ,i remember the smell of thé gel a childwood smell!)
I love Jem. But Jem came from the Darci doll line from Kenner. And Darci copied Dramatic, Living Barbie. Look it up. Hasbro bought the body sculpt from Kenner. But Mattel made the articulation first. Those are the facts. It just looks suspicious because they went to market so fast and they admitted to trying to copy Jem. But when you actually boil it down Barbie did it first. I loved Jem, and I loved Darci and I loved photo fashion Barbie and P.J. But the Dramatic, Living Barbie came out in 1969 and Darcy came out in 1977 or 78.
I think she has the same body as the 90's articulated Barbie. I think the old Mulan dolls from Mattel has the same body. So sneakers and flats from the 90's Barbie should probably fit.
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No, Barbie and the Rockers were born of corporate espionage. Mattel found out about Jem, and they made Barbie and the Rockers and they beat Jem to market.
It just seems like that. I love Jem. But Jem came from the Darci doll line from Kenner. And Darci copied Dramatic, Living Barbie. Look it up. Hasbro bought the body sculpt from Kenner. But Mattel made the articulation first. Those are the facts. It just looks suspicious because they went to market so fast and they admitted to trying to copy Jem. But when you actually boil it down Barbie did it first. I loved Jem, and I loved Darci and I loved photo fashion Barbie and P.J. But the Dramatic, Living Barbie came out in 1969 and Darcy came out in 1977 or 78.
It sure was. Hasbro needs to secretly bring them back
I wonder if Spectra was influenced by Hajime Sorayama’s art. His book “Sexy Robot” came out in 1983 and his illustrations were published in Playboy before that. As a kid of the 80’s, I remember seeing his chrome pinups at my local comic book store.
As a child of the 80s and a consumer of fantasy space toys. I will personally say that the Challenger disaster had no effect on me purchasing toys. It was sad but we were like first graders so we didn’t focus on the tragedy like you think we did. So it had no effect on us purchasing space toys. Spectra came and went so fast with little promotion. And if you weren’t a spoiled, you only got what you could get with your allowance. So you were not buying every single doll line out there. Only the ones that you were into. Some of us liked Barbies, MLPs,Cabbage Patches, Rainbow 🌈 Brights, Jem and the Holograms, Strawberry Shortcakes, She-ra’s, Lady Lovely Locks, Cherry Merry Muffins , or Care Bears. Nothing else really stands out, at least not majorly for me anyways. But I will say I loved the video and had no idea of Aurora dolls even existed. I loved your hair and makeup too btw!
my aunt is in her mid 40s and still to this day is absolutely obsessed with jem and the holograms. she still has her jem dolls from when she was a kid and she still watches the TV show from time to time. she made me watch the show with her as a kid too
The only reason spectra failed was there was no dollhouse for them !!
Its doll suicide to have a doll line with no dollhouse for them !
Especially in the 80s !!!!
Would be cool if Mattel did a reboot of the Spectra doll.
I want my bed to buff my body!! 😂 The history of these dolls is so fascinating! Thanks for the awesome video!
I recognize the aurora doll heads as from the Rose Petal Place line.
I think it'd be nice if something similar to this was done in this day and age, at least as a collector doll. I really like my shiny/glittery stuff, but I don't have the energy to track down any of the Spectra/Aurora dolls myself ^^;
Right? The Novi Stars doll line was sort of similar but didn't sell very well either :( space girls never getting the love they deserve
Omg I’d forgotten all about Spectra until I saw this! Lol. We had that doll. I remember her clothes and her shiny pink metal skin. I loved how shiny she was. I don’t remember any of the other dolls from her line or the Aurora one, though. But I was very young back then. This was an interesting walk down memory lane.
Also, I will die on the hill that Jem was amazing. Both the cartoon and the dolls. Whoever did the vocals in Jem’s songs was impressive. I only vaguely remember Barbie and the Rockers, though. 😅
I remember very well the spectra dolls. They were available in my home country, france.
When i was little I LOVED anything shinny or with neon colors, because you know, that was the 80's. Unfortunately i have never had any of these dolls, i'm not sure why. It was very nice to hear the story of spectra.
I've never heard of the Aurora dolls.
btw i love your look in this video ! exactly like a 80's doll ^^
Aw thank you so much! It's so cool to hear they had a release outside of the US! Makes me wonder where all they were available!
@@MaryLoveMewI’m actually a 90s baby boy myself
I’m so happy I found this video, I love the Spectra line! I ordered a lot of very used spectra dolls not too long ago and there was an Aurora doll in there. I didn’t know what it was, I thought it was the previous owners weird hybrid creation. Glad to know otherwise 😅
I remember these! I had two Spectras, though I don’t know which ones at this point. I found them at a weird little no-name toy store in this indoor flea market-esque place my parents & I went to every weekend. They had a lot of oddball, less popular toys, including these. Which were already a few years old when I found them, probably late 80s/early 90s. I forgot they even existed until very recently! I remember loving that they were jointed, & easy to pose.
Been obsessed with your channel lately
Hill's was like Target with a food court and mini pet section.
They had the best Toy selection outside of the toy stores that used to exist.
This video was amazing....I never knew Aurora existed!
Its SO COOL seeing how history repeats itself and how much of doll history really is throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks. As I was watching this I was reminded of Novi Stars which is such a similar concept to this but modern! The reason it didn’t sell well was also the gimmicky aspect of it if I remember correctly. I think Aurora/Spectra were ahead of its time but so ahead that even the most current version of it didn’t stick lol. But I honestly think the retro future metal bodied gals with sparkly jewel eyes would do so much better these days especially with the rise of adult collectors!
Spectra was Mattel's attempt to compete with Jem. i never thought about it much. I wanted Spectra back in the 80s but it was costly. i have them all now
Oh my gawd! I thought I was the only person who remembers Spectra!!!
omg your look is everything I want a doll of you!
I love when you make these videos!! I definitely see what you mean about them maybe being a bit too gimmicky, they were ahead of their time! Which two do you have? I can't quite tell! I think the one with the clear glitter body is the coolest 🤩
I have Aurora and Mirra! I should have tried and show more footage of them, but thank you so much!!!
I honestly think something like this would do well now a days. Gimmicky dolls seem to be doing super well these days with the likes of Pixlings, those fidget dolls that are all over the place, color reveal barbies, Mermaid Mermaze and even the new Rainbow Highs with their slime gimmick (as much as i hate it lol).
OMG ,i'm french and when i was young m'y mother worked for américan student and i remember ,a us girl came with this gorgeous silver Barbie,WE diden't had this doll's in Europe and i whant her sooo mutch,thé blue sparkely hairs thé blueish silver body,she was amaysing !( WE had totaly hair barbie obviously😊 and i had one thé brunette one ,i remember the smell of thé gel a childwood smell!)
New fave UA-camr, this is exactly the content I crave! Came over from TikTok!
I remember the Mattel Spectra dolls.
I wanted one when I was little but didn't see them in stores in my area.
I love Jem. But Jem came from the Darci doll line from Kenner. And Darci copied Dramatic, Living Barbie. Look it up. Hasbro bought the body sculpt from Kenner. But Mattel made the articulation first. Those are the facts. It just looks suspicious because they went to market so fast and they admitted to trying to copy Jem. But when you actually boil it down Barbie did it first. I loved Jem, and I loved Darci and I loved photo fashion Barbie and P.J. But the Dramatic, Living Barbie came out in 1969 and Darcy came out in 1977 or 78.
I have one Sprectre doll my cousin gave me. Unfortunately i can find shoes for her feet
I think she has the same body as the 90's articulated Barbie. I think the old Mulan dolls from Mattel has the same body. So sneakers and flats from the 90's Barbie should probably fit.
Hey, beautiful.