Barbie Basics

The Barbie Basics is a line of collector's edition Barbie dolls. They were created by Mattel designer Bill Greening and were introduced in late 2009 to be officially released in the spring of 2010.

From their name, the dolls are dressed in "basic" clothing that women usually have in their closets. The debut collection featured the best-known fashion staple: the little black dress.

The dolls have the so-called collector-only ModelMuse body sculpt (which is thinner than most Barbie bodies and has impressive details including neck and collarbone sculpting). The posing of the arms varies from doll to doll and some have different stances. All the dolls also have differing head molds, skin tones and ethnicities. The male dolls introduced in Collection 002 feature the MaleMuse body created for the Twilight Edward Cullen doll in 2009. In Collection 002.5, female Basics dolls featured an articulated ModelMuse body.

The dolls are part of the Black Label collection which, unlike some Barbie lines, is for adult collectors only (the minimum age limit is 14).

The first collection (Collection 001) featured 12 dolls wearing different little black dresses and 4 accessory packs (which were sold separately). The second wave of the collection (called Collection 001.5) only featured 4 dolls (though one of them featured a new face sculpt) and showcased little black dresses with pink ribbon accents, along with another 2 new accessory packs. The third wave (Collection Red) was a Target store exclusive which featured 3 dolls wearing little red dresses and a new accessory pack.

Collection 002 debuted in the spring of 2011. In the collection, there are 12 dolls (9 Barbies and 3 Kens) and the theme is jeans and T-shirts. Collection 002.5 was announced to collectors in February 2011 and featured three dolls and two accessory sets. These dolls feature an articulated body, a first for the Basics line. The dolls are dressed in jeans with metallic-finish blouses and earrings. A second version of Collection Red (called 'Collection Red 2') was released with 1 new accessory pack and 3 dolls wearing red shirts and white jeans.

Collection 003, the third and final collection, debuted in the spring of 2012. There are 6 dolls and 2 new accessory packs and the theme is colorful swimsuits.

The featured dolls do not have names, but are numbered instead. Each of the dolls has a different head mold (corresponding to their model number). Some of the molds are popularly used in the Barbie Collector line. Mattel's head molds are usually, but not always, named after the doll/character/line in which they debuted.

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