Volks Dollfie Dream vs. Mattel Teen Trends: A Comparison Between Two Articulated Vinyl Dolls

(Originally written on November 26, 2005. Last updated on August 4, 2009.)

IMPORTANT UPDATE 1: Mattel has discontinued the Teen Trends line since I wrote this article but one can still find them for sale on eBay. In 2009 Mattel released dolls based on the main female characters from the Disney movie High School: The Musical 3 and, according to what I've read on a few doll boards, these dolls use the same bodies as the Teen Trends dolls. So some of the Teen Trends information on this page would probably apply to the newer High School: The Musical 3 dolls as well. (Disclosure alert: I've seen the newer dolls in the stores but I currently don't own one mainly because I'm really not a fan of the High School: The Musical movies.)

IMPORTANT UPDATE 2: I used the original Volks Dollfie Dream body in this comparison. Since I purchased my doll in 2004, Volks has come out with a new version of the Dollfie Dream body where the internal stringing is replaced with an internal skeleton that's similar to the one that's used in a Dollfie Plus and I understand that, as a result of the change, the new body is far more poseable than the original. (I currently don't own the newer Dollfie Dream doll.) In addition, Volks no longer supplies a default head with the new Dollfie Dream body--now you have to purchase the head separately. You may want to remember this as you read the rest of this story.

In 2004 Volks released the 22-inch Dollfie Dream, which is a vinyl ball-jointed doll that is not only cheaper than the same-sized resin ball-jointed Super Dollfie but also has a more mature body than even the SD-13 (which is supposed to replicate the body of a girl who's at least 13 years old).

In 2005 Mattel released the 17-inch Teen Trends, which is a highly articulated vinyl doll that is priced cheaper than the Dollfie Dream and is much easier to find in stores than the Volks doll. People who want a big articulated doll but are tired of waiting to scrape together enough money to buy an Asian ball-jointed doll and/or waiting for a certain sold-out doll to come back in stock may be tempted to go for a Mattel Teen Trends doll instead.

Is a Mattel Teen Trends doll an adequate yet cheaper substitute for an Asian ball-jointed doll? To find out, I tested a Teen Trends doll against a Volks Dollfie Dream and posted the results below. What you do with the information regarding future doll purchases is up to you.

Name and Location of the Dolls' Manufacturers: Dollfie Dream is manufactured by Volks, located in Kyoto, Japan. Teen Trends is manufactured by Mattel, located in El Segundo, California, U.S.A.

Where the Dolls Were Manufactured: Dollfie Dream was manufactered at Volks' own factory in Kyoto, Japan. Teen Trends was manufactured at an unnamed factory in Indonesia (based on the "Made in Indonesia" statement in small print both on the doll's box and on the back of the doll's body).

Can the User Create New Unique Characters Without Company Permission?: Yes for the Dollfie Dream. Volks sells a separate unfinished kit (including a nude body and an unpainted bald head) where the owner can customize a unique doll character and create a separate personality to his/her own heart's content. If the owner doesn't like the default head that comes with the Dollfie Dream, he/she can even purchase a differently designed head separately (such as one with eye holes so the person can put in acrylic or glass eyes instead of painting eyes on the default head) and attach that to the body. In contrast, Mattel does not sell unfinished Teen Trends kits. You can only purchase a finished Teen Trends doll.

Can the Dolls be Customized?: Yes. Not only can Dollfie Dream owners customize a new doll from scratch using a blank body but Volks also allows (and even courages) customizing the already formed characters of Candy, Mirai, Femi, Cheryl, and characters based on Japanese anime (such as Evangelion) by adding/subtracting make-up, changing wigs, changing heads, etc. Mattel does allow customizing of the Teen Trends doll but it's more limited. Each doll comes with hair gel and other hair accessories that the owner can use to fix up the doll's hair. The doll also comes with fashion decals that can be used to customize the clothes. And if you're tired of your doll's current outfit, you can purchase more Teen Trends outfits that are sold separately. However, the hair is pre-rooted and is very long so putting wigs on those dolls would be more of a challenge than a Dollfie Dream (which generally wears a wig but is bald underneath). Plus changing heads or other body parts are far more difficult to pull off on a Teen Trends doll than a Dollfie Dream since the Teen Trends body parts have more of a tight fit (to ensure that little kids don't rip the body parts off the doll)

Vinyl Quality: High on both dolls. The coloring is consistent and seems very nice on both dolls. The Teen Trends vinyl initially had this chemical smell that went away in a few days. (It was only noticeable when I held the doll very close to my face.) I don't recall my Dollfie Dream having any kind of chemical smell at all.

Price Paid in U.S. Dollars: $180 for the unfinished Version 1 Dollfie Dream body. $40 for the Teen Trends doll—including default outfit, carrying case, hair gel, hair accessories, fashion decals, a "Look Book", and doll stand.

What You Get for the Money: The unfinished Dollfie Dream kit comes with a nude body (already assembled) and blank bald head. The completed characters (like Femi, Cheryl, Candy, Mirai, etc.) all come with one default wig, a painted head, and one outfit but they are much more expensive than the unfinished Dollfie Dream kit. The Teen Trends doll comes finished and assembled (including faceup and rooted hair) with one outfit, hair gel, booklet, a few fashion decals, a plastic doll stand, and some hairpieces. The box the Teen Trends doll comes in also doubles as a carrying case, which is great from an environmental point of view because that box would be less likely to make its way to a landfill.

Here are the photo comparisons.

Kianna's face is very attractive, well painted, and full of detail. I know it's hard to see in this photo, but if you were to look closely at Kianna's eyebrows, you would see individually painted hairs. She has full painted pouty lips but they don't overpower the face the way that the lips on the Bratz dolls do. Her ears are already pierced and she wears earrings.

Unlike most of the Asian ball-jointed dolls, the Teen Trends dolls all have pre-rooted hair that is already cut and styled. Kianna's hair is mostly brown except for a few streaks of blonde hair mixed in. The various strands of hair are arranged at the top in a criss-cross fashion. The only major flaw is that the front of her hair feels very stiff like someone had sprayed several layers of hair spray on top of the hair and let it dry that way. The back of her hair feels as soft as some of the ball-jointed doll wigs. I understand that something was needed to keept Kianna's unique hairstyle in place in the front. I only wished that Mattel had explored other alternatives that didn't leave the front of Kianna's hair very stiff to the touch.

Kianna comes with a default outfit that's full of incredible details. Note the zipper on her pants leg (which actually works) and the stitches and laces on the boots.

The biggest surprise about the Teen Trends doll is how incredibly poseable she is. Like many Asian ball-jointed dolls, the Teen Trends dolls can kneel on their own, bend their elbows, and raise their arms high.

A Teen Trends doll stands next to a Dollfie Dream. At 17 inches, the Teen Trends doll is an inch taller than Volks Mini Super Dollfie and her body is slightly more mature than the Mini Super Dollfies. However, the Dollfie Dream not only has a body that's much more mature than a Teen Trends doll but she is also far more anatomically correct as well. If you look closely at the above photo, you'll see that the Teen Trends doll has seven points of articulation (at the neck, shoulders, elbows, thighs, and knees) while the Dollfie Dream has 14 points of articulation (at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, thighs, knees, and ankles).

Here's a view of both dolls from the back. The Teen Trends doll stands at 17 inches tall while the Dollfie Dream stands at 22 inches tall. As you can see, the Dollfie Dream's back has more muscular details than the Teen Trends doll's back.

Here's a close-up of both dolls' legs. If you look at the knees, you'll see how similar looking their joints are. You can also see the details of both dolls' feet, which includes toenails.

The backs of their legs show further the similarities between both dolls' knee joints, which are both ball-shaped.

If you pull apart the Dollfie Dream's leg, you'll see the ball joints at both the thighs and knees. You'll also see that the two leg pieces are strung together with elastic.

If you do the same to a Teen Trends' leg, you'll see some surprises. Like the Dollfie Dream, the leg pieces are strung together with elastic. The thigh joint has more of a tube-shaped joint than an actual ball-joint but the knee joint is definitely a ball-joint. Unlike the Dollfie Dream, the Teen Trends doll does not have an ankle joint.

Here is a Dollfie Dream arm. She has a strung ball-joint at the shoulder but her elbow and wrist joints are ball-shaped joints that are interlocked together rather than strung together.

Here are pictures of a Teen Trends arm. She has a strung tube-shaped joint at the shoulder and a strung ball-joint at the elbow. Unlike the Dollfie Dream, the Teen Trends doll does not have a wrist joint.

Here are both dolls sitting together. The Dollfie Dream has a waist joint, which enables her to twist her torso to the side. The Teen Trends doll does not have such a joint so she has to use her head to look to the side.

Here are both dolls lying side by side. The Teen Trends doll can raise her arm just a little bit higher when lying down than the Dollfie Dream can.

Here are both dolls in the push-up position. As you can see in the photo, the Teen Trends doll can lift her back legs a little bit higher than the Dollfie Dream.

Here are both dolls with one leg crossed, which both can do pretty well. The original Dollfie Dream body has a harder time sitting up on her own without placing her arms behind her back to keep her body propped up. (This problem has since been corrected in the newer Dollfie Dream bodies.) The Teen Trends doll has no problem with sitting up on her own.

Here are both dolls sitting with their legs apart. The Teen Trends doll has an easier time doing this on her own than the Dollfie Dream, who must use her arms to keep her upper body propped up.

Here are both dolls sitting crossed-legged. The Teen Trends doll has an easier time of doing this than the Dollfie Dream, who mus pop her thighs and knees out of their sockets to do this as well as using her hands to keep her body propped up.

The Bottom Line

Is a Teen Trends doll a ball-jointed doll? Based on what I observed, my answer would be "yes". However there are some Asian ball-jointed doll owners who would disasgree with my answer on the basis that the Teen Trends dolls are made out of vinyl instead of resin. (There is a significant minority of such owners who barely tolerate the inclusion of Asian ball-jointed vinyl dolls like Volks Dollfie Dream and the Obitsu 60 cm dolls among the resin dolls.) Others would question the Teen Trends' lack of nipples and genitailia, despite the fact that the Obitsu 60 cm dolls lack genitailia as well. And many others would nitpick over the fact that the Teen Trends dolls have tube-shaped shoulder and thigh joints instead of ball-shaped joints and how the Teen Trends dolls don't have a waist, wrist, or ankle joints. Even though I personally think that Teen Trends dolls are ball-jointed dolls, there are plenty of others who would strongly disagree with my findings and conclusions.

Is a Teen Trends doll an Asian ball-jointed doll? Technically you could say that a Teen Trends dolls are Asian ball-jointed dolls since they are made in Indonesia. However many Asian ball-jointed doll owners would have an issue with counting a Teen Trends doll among the Asian ball-jointed dolls because of the fact that the Teen Trends dolls were created and distributed by Mattel, which is an American-based company even if they use Asian factories to make their products.

Is a Teen Trends doll a better buy than a typical Asian ball-jointed doll? On the surface, it seems to be since the Teen Trends doll is priced at $40 and includes a default outfit and many accessories including a carrying case. And the dolls are very poseable. But if you're the kind of person who has been pining and saving your hard-earned money for—let's say—Alchemic Lab's Unoa Sist doll, you probably won't be happy in the long-run if you decide to buy a $40 Teen Trends doll in the hopes that the doll will be a cheaper substitute for Sist. You should make your decisions regarding the Teen Trends dolls based on the Teen Trends dolls' own merit and not as a substitute for another more expensive doll.

I would only recommend a Teen Trends doll as a substitue for an Asian ball-jointed doll in very few instances. If you have a young child who keeps on getting her hands on your Asian ball-jointed dolls and you're looking for something that will keep her mind off of trying to grab your resin beauties, a Teen Trends doll would definitely suffice. Or if you are trying to scrimp and save for an Asian ball-jointed doll but it's going to take a long time before you reach your goal and you just want a doll to practice ball-jointed posing on in the meantime or model your original Mini Super Dollfie-sized clothes that you're currently sewing, you may want to go for a Teen Trends doll to tide you over until you save enough money. But those are the only times where I would recommend a Teen Trends as a substitute for an Asian ball-jointed doll.

How about doll bonding with a Teen Trends doll? Many Asian ball-jointed doll owners frequently worry about whether they will properly bond with their dolls. Many times I've seen people sell their dolls because they say that they failed to bond with them. Can one bond with a Teen Trends doll as well as an Asian ball-jointed doll? Yes but only if you select a doll that you are personally attracted to. In other words, if you're the type of person who prefers resin over vinyl or can't stand ultra-feminine fashions yet you purchase a Gabby doll (whose official Mattel character description has her as prefering such outfits), you will be quickly bored and disappointed with your doll.

Volks Dollfie Dream vs. Mattel Teen Trends: A Comparison Between Two Articulated Vinyl Dolls

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