Styled by Me Barbie is back

Mattel has announced the Styled by Me Barbie order service is "back and more fabulous than ever."

Here's the link where you can play "paper doll" on your computer and see what doll, fashion and accessory combination you would like for the "up to $39.99" price tag.

I didn't poke around on the Styled by Me when it was previously offered, but I do remember the My Design Friend of Barbie in the late 1990s. I ordered two of those dolls - one for me and one for my daughter. I also saved a lot of the doll image jpgs I created as I tried to replicate my mother, sisters and sister-in-law.

My Design was definitely more of interest to the older collector, as compared to Styled by Me which seems very pink box-ish.

Specifically, the range of non-blonde Barbies is extremely limited in Styled by Me. There are nine dolls you can pick from and six of them are blondes. Two are Hispanic or brunette, one is African-American.

The fashion choices are skewed toward the younger doll fans. Yes, today's teens and college-age women do want a cocktail dress or two in their wardrobe. But for every day attire, they are not "princesses." They wear stylish jeans and Ts, business suits, work uniforms. The "tops and bottoms" selections in the Styled by Me collection have a good range, but the dress selections are so-so. Older collectors also would probably appreciate a wedding gown, but the white dress shown is more of a party dress and there are no wedding accessories to pick from.

In comparison, My Design had many more choices on the doll's face, skin color and hair color. The My Design fashions also were more higher-end and detailed.

If you're looking for a birthday gift idea for a little girl, I think this would fit the bill.

But as an adult collector, this is really not my style.