… well, he ain’t gonna be some silly ninja in this house!
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Posts Tagged ‘east asian’
Takeo – Collector of Swords
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010BB Model 05 Redressed
Sunday, January 17th, 2010
Mattel and the Qing Dynasty
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009The original title for this post was going to be “Someone at Mattel must love the styles of the Qing Dynasty” except that was way too long… sorry if the new title misled anybody 
Anywhooo… I have come to this thought because out of the few dolls Mattel has made of an East Asian Barbie wearing historic Chinese fashions, they have been from the Qing Dynasty – except the new-ish Empress of the Golden Blossom who is in a Tang Dynasty looking style as well as being super expensive – it is funny that out of thousands of years of recorded Chinese history and culture, only the Qing Dynasty has been noticed and that era was only around for about 300 years (ok, less… but almost) AND the rulers were actually sorta invaders in the first place… sort of not because they are part of China but sort of yes because they weren’t of the majority Han Chinese people, well nowadays they are mostly assimilated into the majority Han population…
Anyway, onto the dolly pics – Princess of China SKU# 53368 (official release year 2002) – this doll was actually made in China too in 2001.
Princess of China
Kyori – Flight Pattern SKU# 91230
Thursday, August 20th, 2009I’ve been waiting for an articulated Kyori doll with brown eyes and black hair that I could *afford* to add to my collection. This doll went on sale but she doesn’t have black hair… so medium-dark brown hair will have to do for now…
Kyori - Flight Pattern
Of course, no post is complete without a criticism by yours truly – why does Kyori have to be characterised with that awful Dragon Lady (the Asian version of the Sapphire caricature) stereotype? Why couldn’t she be an average girl next door… you know, like the Perrin sisters?
Related Articles -
- From Dragonlady to White Castle: Asian Americans in film @ Mixed Race America 080512
- Sapphire Caricature @ Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, accessed 090820
Chinese Empress Barbie Doll
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Chinese Empress
Doll – Chinese Empress from the Great Eras Collection SKU# 16708 (1997)
I find this funny, that Mattel would make a doll wearing a costume from the Qing Dynasty… considering that they were invaders in China. Along with the Yuan Dynasty, it doesn’t look like the Great Wall of China did such a good job of keeping the “wild northern tribes” (does this remind anyone of the supposed purpose of Hadrian’s wall in Britain?) out of China… maybe it did a better job keeping the rabbits out hehe. At least with the Empress of the Golden Blossom (yet another over-priced “exotic” doll), Mattel found some Tang Dynasty influence and left the Qing Dynasty styles on the drawing board. As for the Princess of China wearing her Qing styled outfit… guilty of having her too lol.
to keep the rabbits out
bunneh ain't so impressed
