Bratz x JimmyPaul Pride Roxxi and Nevra 2-Pack: A Lookin' Bratz Review!
Hey Angelz!
Ever since the first pictures of the Bratz x JimmyPaul Pride 2-Pack leaked back in May, social media has been in a frenzy with opinions about this collab! Some people dislike the dolls, while others have grown to love them. I felt like I couldn’t fully form an opinion till I saw more of the dolls and got to experience them firsthand, and I am so excited that MGA Entertainment gifted me the dolls (with a fancy PR box and all!) and wanted to give y’all a detailed review of Nevra and Roxxi! Want the full scoop on the first-ever same-sex couple fashion dolls? Keep reading for a detailed review on the Bratz x JimmyPaul Roxxi and Nevra dolls, plus tons of pictures and tea on the brand’s history with LGBT+ dolls!
THE PACKAGING
One of the most eye-catching parts of the Bratz x JimmyPaul collaboration is the packaging! While the PR box and notecard will not be available for purchase, I do want to point out how special it was to receive this box and the experience of opening it. The dolls came encased in a large cardboard box (pictured in the gallery) with the Bratz and JimmyPaul logos with colorful sixties-esque psychedelic floral artwork in each corner, which plays into the aesthetic of the doll packaging. The floral design incorporates the colors of the 2018 inclusive redesign of the LGBTQ+ rainbow flag, featuring the typical ROYGBIV colors along with Black, Brown, and trans colors. As I opened the box, there was a notecard (also pictured in the gallery) and rainbow-themed tissue paper that revealed the two-pack when opened.
The doll box keeps in line with the classic Bratz trapezoid shape, but feels luxury. Roxxi and Nevra are stood on top of a cardboard piece wearing original JimmyPaul outfits with picket signs in their hands that read “Where do I even start?! Ugh… I can’t even think straight” and “Queer & Unapologetic”. Roxxi and Nevra are holding hands to signify their romantic relationship, and come with two blister packs that hold their additional accessories.
On the corner and all around the box are the same sixties-inspired floral designs that are featured on the PR box, which is also included on the ribbon handle attached to the box. The back of the box features this floral design along with 2004/2005-type artwork of Roxxi and Nevra wearing their JimmyPaul fits, with a description that reads “Roxxi & Nevra are steppin’ out and comin’ out at the Stilesville pride rally! These girlfriendz with a passion for fashion are fighting for and celebrating love in all forms.” The artwork also features Roxxi and Nevra’s icons to represent their “Spice” and “Queen Bee” nicknames.
Something that makes this packaging unique is that it gives collectors the option to switch the side of the packaging in which the dolls are displayed, allowing them to expand the box display in which the dolls are the center of a large floral rainbow. This is truly a unique package and it made me want to keep the dolls in the box, but I can’t resist unboxing a set of new Bratz dolls!
the dolls, fashions, ‘n’ faces
I need to be honest. As pictures of Roxxi and Nevra started to leak in May, I truly did not know how I felt about these dolls. The pictures were very bad quality, to be fair. But, something was throwing me off a bit! Now that I have experienced the dolls in-person, I am in love with them! Roxxi has a smokey eye look with a classic deep red lipstick that matches well with the lesbian flag colors incorporated into her look, while Nevra wears a bisexual-themed pink, purple, and blue eyeshadow look with shimmery purple lipstick; if you weren’t previously aware, Roxxi is confirmed to be a lesbian and Nevra is confirmed to be bisexual based off their coming out post from 2020. Roxxi’s face screening reminds me of Wild Life Safari Fianna’s screening, so there is a chance that her face-up was based on her; however, I am not sure if Nevra’s face is based off a previously-used screening. For some reason, Nevra’s face reminds me of Treasures Cloe/Sasha or Twiins (First Edition) Roxxi’s screening but with the closed mouth mold? Roxxi has dark brown hair with lesbian flag peekaboo highlights, which consist of various shades of pink and orange with a white streak in the middle. Nevra has curly brown hair, which are partially put up in pigtails. One quip I have about both Roxxi and Nevra’s hair is that I wish they used a different hair blend for them. It would have been nice if Roxxi had more red-toned hair with black streaks in the parting like her other dolls, and if Nevra had a brown-blonde blend like her previous dolls.
In terms of fashion, I was also a bit unsure of how to feel when the dolls initially leaked. Experiencing the dolls via pictures as compared to in-person is incredibly different. I was amazed at how the fabrics felt, especially the faux furs. Roxxi has a few different layers, with her most notable layer being a pink pleather lip-print vest and skirt combo. I love the print itself, though I do feel the construction of the vest and skirt to not be flattering with this body; however, that is my own issue with the Bratz bodies and how they fit certain fashions. On her skirt, Roxxi has a plastic chain belt featuring the Bratz logo typeface similar to the Cult Gaia bracelet that originally came with Holiday Felicia last year. I adore the belt buckle detail on the side of Roxxi’s skirt; it adds a little spice to her fit! The skirt also features a heart-shaped pin with the trans flag colors and a pink triangle-shaped pin, the latter having been a badge of shame in Nazi concentration camps before being reclaimed by the LGBT+ community in the 1970s. Underneath Roxxi’s main fit is a cute ringer tee featuring a JimmyPaul logo and purple lip-print underwear. The ringer tee features the colors of the lesbian flag on the sleeves, which is also featured on Roxxi’s socks. The one thing I truly dislike about Roxxi is her boots. I feel like a better shoe mold could have been used and the unpainted details makes the shoes look a bit cheap; not to mention the shoes make Roxxi shorter, thus making her more difficult to position on her stand. If I’m not mistaken, the boot mold appears to be reused from Girlz Really Rock Jade—if not, it’s definitely similar! Roxxi also comes with a hat that is part-fabric and part-plastic, with plastic spikes added to the cap along with lesbian flag and “Girl Power” buttons. One of my favorite “easter eggs” in this collection is the “Roxxi <3 Nevra” written on the bottom side of the cap, which you can see pictured in the gallery. To top everything off, Roxxi wears a rainbow fur shawl in true JimmyPaul fashion.
Nevra, on the other hand, has one of my favorite Bratz outfits to date! Nevra’s overall vibe is very sixties/seventies, and she looks like she could be part of the Funk ‘N’ Glow or Flashback Fever collections. Speaking of Funk ‘N’ Glow, Nevra’s pants features recolored versions of the classic FNG girls’ artwork in bursts of colorful stars. Not only does this detail make these pants one of my favorite Bratz pieces, but the lips on her back pockets are too cute! The mold of Nevra’s belt buckle is recycled from Sweet Heart Meygan, which is surprising considering the GCDS dolls used completely new tooling while there seems to be some reused molds for this release. I also love Nevra’s top, which features the same floral designs from the box. Nevra also comes with a pair of female sex symbol earrings, as well as platform shoes featuring the inclusive LGBT+ flag colors. For some reason, these shoes remind me a bit of Hello My Name Is Raya’s hamburger shoes—but in a good way because those are one of my favorite pairs of Bratz shoes! Nevra’s sun hat is tied with a rainbow ribbon and adorned with buttons representing the intersex, non-binary, and genderfluid flags. Nevra also comes with a disco ball bag, which complements her sixties-inspired look. Similar to Roxxi, Nevra has a large rainbow-themed faux fur coat. The construction of this piece is similar to GCDS Sasha’s faux fur coat.
Like most of the doll releases from Bratz in the past year, the Bratz x JimmyPaul Roxxi and Nevra dolls use the UV printing method to apply their face paint. If you’ve already read my explanation on how Bratz faces are applied, feel free to skip to the next section! If not and you’re interested in learning more, keep on reading! Nearly every Bratz doll between 2001 and 2014, except for a select few, has a face screening that was painted using the “spray” method. The spray method ensures the eyes are elongated across the face for a classic, sultry Bratz look. Between 2015 and 2016 (except for the V Files x Bratz doll), and for the Bratz 20 Yearz Special Edition dolls released last year, the “sticker” method was used to apply the dolls’ faces. The sticker method is hit-or-miss as the 20 Yearz dolls looked beautiful (in most cases), while it played a huge role in the discontinuation of the brand in 2016. A new method was introduced to the Bratz brand with the Rock Angelz reproductions, which is UV printing. UV printing is a more cost-effective method to apply dolls’ faces as spraying seems to be less common in the doll industry these days. Holiday Felicia, the GCDS dolls, Sweet Heart Meygan, and now the JimmyPaul dolls also use the UV printing method, but they do not appear to have most of the same defects that Rock Angelz suffered. One of the downsides to UV printing is that the dolls’ printed facial features have a shine to them and tend to look grainy, and some features have a clear outline that looks sticker-like. In the case of the JimmyPaul dolls, there is a somewhat noticeable quality control issue in which the eyes look visibly printed on. The quality control of the UV printing on the JimmyPaul dolls is not too bad, though I have noticed that my Nevra’s eyes are not properly aligned.
the hair
Just like most Bratz releases in the past year aside from common variants of the 20 Yearz Special Edition dolls, Roxxi and Nevra have nylon hair. Just like the face printing method section, feel free to skip this section if you’ve already read my explanations on the differences between Bratz hair types! Nylon hair appears to be a new standard for the Bratz brand, as is the case for most MGA doll brands (except for Dream Ella who has been using polypropylene, sorry girl!) since 2019, which is something I fully support. For some context on some of the different hair types used on Bratz, nylon has often been confused with polypropylene, which is a hair fiber that was used in a majority of lines between 2008-2013 and is known for being hard to manage and prone to degrading over time, because of a name mix-up over a decade ago. Saran—which has been used on most Bratz released between 2001-2007, 2015-2018, and on the Bratz 20 Yearz Special Edition dolls (except for some later variants which use nylon) released last year—is a great hair fiber that has always satisfied collectors, though it is prone to yellowing and degrading over time. Nylon is another premium hair type that can be easily restyled with heated hair tools and is less likely to degrade over time like saran and polypropylene can do. Saran hair is harder to come by in certain colors, so nylon provides a way for consumers to have these hair colors without resorting to using low-grade polypropylene. Nylon also tends to feel really nice and oftentimes better than saran, so I hope this is something that stays for most—if not all—future Bratz doll releases. As I mentioned earlier, I do wish the hair blends were different; however, it’s not a dealbreaker for me!
THE BODIES
Just like many of the recent Bratz dolls, the JimmyPaul dolls use the Collector 2018 body. If you don’t know already, this body is a hybrid of the original 2001 torso and legs with arms from the Movie dolls from 2007 and hands from the 2013 bodies. I like this body, but I feel the fashions from this collection are not flattering on this body type. I truly hope MGA considers upgrading the Bratz bodies so that the visions of its designers are better replicated when scaled down to doll form. For example, I do feel like Roxxi’s outfit would be more flattering with a longer torso and legs. I also feel like Nevra’s coat kind of swallows her, which can potentially be remedied with a different body. One good thing about this collab is that this is the first time collectors are getting an articulated body with Nevra’s skin tone! I have included some skintone comparisons of these articulated bodies to previous releases of Roxxi and Nevra in the gallery.
OTHER FEATURES
Unfortunately, these dolls do not come with a poster. However, they do come with a Certificate of Authenticity similar to the GCDS dolls. The JimmyPaul dolls also come with Pride-themed accessories like a megaphone, fan, a classic Bratz water bottle, bracelets, hair clips, a champagne bottle, champagne glasses, and—of course—picket signs. Be careful when removing the picket signs from the packaging as they are glued onto a plastic piece and can rip easily! The dolls also come with stands, though I am not a big fan of them. The dolls come with the trapezoid base stand like Holiday Felicia did, and it does not work well with them as Roxxi is too short for it and it overall limits the way the dolls can be posed. I wish MGA had optioned to use a stand similar to the ones that came with the GCDS dolls.
WHERE TO BUY
If you’re wondering where to buy the Bratz x JimmyPaul dolls, they are available now at online retailers like Amazon (internationally), Target (United States), Walmart (United States), and JimmyPaul’s website (internationally). The dolls will not be sold in physical stores, unless they are returned in-person to Target or Walmart. I am not sure where they will be sold outside of the United States nor will I be able to post about it, but my best advice is to contact local retailers to see if they’ll be selling the JimmyPaul dolls, especially if those retailers sold the 20 Yearz dolls last year! International fans also have the option of checking the retailers listed on MGA Entertainment’s Where To Buy webpage or contacting their international offices for more info. The dolls retail for $79.99 USD.
OVERALL THOUGHTZ
Overall, I love the Bratz x JimmyPaul Roxxi and Nevra dolls despite some of my issues with quality control and the stands. Despite those minor issues, the most important part of this launch—in my eyes—is the love that went into this collaboration. If you don’t keep up with JimmyPaul on Instagram, he has posted many messages about how important it was for him to design this collection and what it meant to him. The heart that JimmyPaul has put into this collection shows not only through his statements, but also through the messages attached to this collaboration. From statements like “Queer Liberation” to “A love letter to our chosen family, fallen friends, forgotten fighters, and future lovers”, it is clear that this collection was a labor of love for JimmyPaul. It is disheartening that many people have gone out of their way to harass JimmyPaul because they do not like his designs. It is perfectly okay to not like something, but to harass someone because of it is not okay. Please keep negative comments to yourself and stop harassing the designer. And, please do me a favor and do not send me discourse on why you dislike the dolls. I personally do not care. I enjoy them, and so do many others; just because you dislike them does not mean you have to damper anyone else’s mood. And if you’re not part of the LGBT+ community, I care even less. At the end of the day, the dolls have been produced and there is no turning back on what has been released. This may not be the Pride-themed dolls that many envisioned, but it’s fun and campy! Pride is meant to be loud and in your face. And, if this release is successful, hopefully we will get more LGBT+ dolls from the brand in the future.
Not to mention, this release is a major milestone in fashion doll history. This is the first time a same-sex couple has been produced for a (technically) playline doll brand. Although I wish the dolls had been given a store release rather than being an online exclusive, it is amazing to see the progress being made with inclusivity in toys. I truly hope that this opens a path for MGA and other brands to incorporate LGBT+ characters into their playline doll brands, including L.O.L. Surprise and Rainbow High!
Additionally, some people may disagree with making Roxxi and Nevra a same-sex couple. A little-known fact is that MGA had planned to make Pride-themed dolls back during the 2015 reboot with an expected release date between 2016-2017. This comes from a source who used to work for MGA, though has become mostly public knowledge at this point. Two prototypes of Pride-themed sets were created. One set would have featured Roxxi and Nevra as a couple, and Eitan and Thad as a couple. The sets were deemed too “political” by retailers because—from what I have heard—they were going to come with picket signs similar to what we received with the JimmyPaul dolls. Some people may slam the JimmyPaul release as “rainbow capitalism” to bank off of Pride Month, but I do believe that MGA is putting out a conscious effort to produce thoughtful LGBT+ dolls. And the fact that MGA hired an LGBT+ designer and consistently hires LGBT+ designers says a lot about their commitment to inclusivity.
As a gay man, this release is incredibly important to me because I did not get this representation growing up. Bratz taught me so much about individuality and self-expression, and I would have loved to have seen something like this growing up because it may have helped me in my coming out process. Maybe it wasn’t the best time back then, but I certainly think it is now.
Thank you so much to MGA Entertainment for gifting me the Bratz x JimmyPaul Roxxi and Nevra set! It means the world to me to be included in this launch, and I hope I get the opportunity to be part of future launches.
Also, make sure to check out the Bratz x JimmyPaul clothing collection now available at JimmyPaul.com! There are also cute shirts from the collaboration available at rue21. I ordered two shirts from rue21 as I was unsure about the sizing on JP’s website, and they were on sale too!
Thank you for taking the time to read this detailed review of the Bratz x JimmyPaul dolls and I hope you keep checkin’ out Lookin’ Bratz for more news and reviews in the future! Make sure to check out my YouTube unboxing video for another look at the dolls, and subscribe for more Bratz videos.
Stay tuned to LookinBratz.com for more news on the Girls with a Passion for Fashion, and make sure to check out Lookin’ Bratz on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok for more scorchin’ Bratz content and news!
xoxo
