Review (4/5): A slight case of false advertising, but interesting, nonetheless; I'm glad that I ordered these shoes!
THE FACTS: These shoes arrived TODAY (Friday, 9-18-2015), about a MONTH ahead of schedule! Cool! There ARE exactly 10 pairs of them, so I'm not disappointed on THAT score. There are three pink pairs, two green pairs, a silver pair, a red pair, a blue pair, a purple pair, and a black pair, so, with regards to the variety of colors that I received, I am pretty impressed. The PRICE is right, too, so I'll be ordering MORE of these shoes...as soon as I am able to do so, because I DIDN'T receive the one type of shoe that I really, REALLY wanted. :( That's understandable, as the shoes ARE RANDOMLY SELECTED, but I am disappointed, nonetheless.
A NOTE ABOUT THE PRODUCT PHOTO: Okay, so if you click on the second available product photo (The one that has "15 pairs" written on it), you'll see several different types of shoes, from left to right. If I were to give these different types of shoes different, distinguishing "names", they'd read as so (from left to right, top row to bottom row):
* Stars (orange)
* Studs N' Ruffles (pink)
* Studs N' Ruffles (red)
* Bow @ the Back (pink)
* Moon Rocks (red)
* Chandelier (gold)
* Chandelier (pink)
* Ruffles Galore (purple)
* Strappy (pink)
* Latticed Roses (pink)
* Bow @ the Back (yellow)
* Ruffled T-Strap (White)
* Ruffled T-Strap (Blue)
* Ruffled T-Strap (pink)
* Ruffled T-Strap (black)
WHAT DID I RECEIVE? I got ten pairs of shoes, and half of them looked like some of the types that are listed above. There are a red pair of "Studs N' Ruffles" shoes, a pink pair of "Moon Rocks" peep-toe boots, a neon pink pair of "Chandelier" shoes, a silver pair of "Ruffles Galore" shoes, and a pearlescent blue pair of "Latticed Roses" shoes.
The other five pairs are...interesting, but they are NOT pictured on Amazon's product page. They include the following:
* Double Bows N' Studs: A pair of black, multi-strap, chunky heels w/ studs...and two bow accents (one at the top of each shoe, and one towards the peep-toe area.
* Hourglasses and Chains: This pearlescent pair of purple shoes is rather...interesting. Each shoe features scrappy "chains", and the high-top front of each shoe looks roughly like an hourglass. I actually LIKE these shoes, as they look daring and unusual.
* Pointy Toe: These candy pink shoes feature straps, "fabric" accents across the top parts of the shoes, and detailed-looking heels (the very bottom of each heel has a line across it).
* Spaghetti T-Straps: These lime green shoes are rather squishy...and cutesy! They are T-straps, but the T-strap accents are spaghetti thin, for a delicate effect. The heels are detailed-looking (See the description of the above shoes), and the portion of each shoe that creates the peep-toe effect fans out, like a bow, or a swath of fabric.
* Strappy Marshmallow-Toe Bow Pumps: These shoes are FUN shoes, too! They're lime green, just like the Spaghetti T-Straps, but they're really strappy, as in "ballet-style" strappy. Each shoe's strappy section ends in a bow, and the toe of each shoe is rounded, giving these shoes a rather youthful look.
WHO CAN WEAR THESE SHOES? I tried each pair of these shoes on the feet of a 1994 Barbie doll, and then I tried each pair of these shoes on the feet of a My Scene Barbie doll.
The Red Studs N' Ruffles: These shoes can be worn by the 1994 Barbie doll, but you'll have one heck of a time trying to take them off of her. They work well on the My Scene doll.
The Pink Moon Rocks: With regards to these shoes, it's..."smooth sailing" for BOTH dolls!
The Neon Pink Chandeliers: They can be worn by the 1994 doll, but you'll want to utter expletives when you're trying to take them off of her feet. The My Scene doll can wear them, too, but, surprisingly, you'll want to utter expletives when you're trying to take them off of HER feet, TOO.
The Silver Ruffles Galore: They fit relatively well on both dolls, and they're pretty easy to take off of both dolls, too.
The Blue Latticed Roses: They'll fit on the feet of the 1994 doll, but they're a bit of a pain to take off of her feet. They fit well on the My Scene doll, but they're a bit of a pain to take off of HER feet, TOO.
The Black Double Bows & Studs: They're kind of squishy, so they work sort of well with the 1994 doll, and they're REALLY easy to use with the My scene doll!
The Purple Hourglasses & Chains: These are a bit of a pain to use with the 1994 doll, and they don't even look GOOD on her; her feet aren't LONG enough for them! The My Scene doll's feet are long enough for the shoes, but they don't LOOK to be long enough for these shoes, and it's a bit tough to take these shoes off of the My Scene doll's feet, too. All in all, these poor shoes, which SHOULD look exciting, just look WEIRD. Hmmm...
The Pink Pointy Toes: The 1994 Barbie's feet are TOO WIDE for THESE shoes! They work like a CHARM on the feet of the My Scene doll!
The Green Spaghetti T-Straps: Forget trying to use THESE shoes with the 1994 doll! You and your modern Barbie dolls will have to put up a fight to get these squishy little shoes to fit, but they'll fit...You may have to work them into place with your fingernails, though...I don't know...
The Green Strappy Marshmallow-Toe Bow Pumps: The 1994 doll's feet are too wide...The My Scene Barbie can wear these shoes, but you'll have to put up one heck of a FIGHT in order to get them onto her feet; you'll have to put up one heck of a fight when you want to give her a new pair of shoes, too, 'cause these shoes don't come off easily!
THE GOOD: I like the price, the fact that I received a fairly good variety of shoes, the fact that I received 10 pairs of shoes, the fact that the shoes arrived early, and the fact that all of these shoes will at LEAST fit on the modern Barbie dolls!
At least 3 pairs of these shoes will work with the 1994 doll, so if you own older Barbie dolls, and you want to take a chance with this random assortment of shoes, you may be in luck, with regards to being able to provide at least a few of your older Barbie dolls with some new shoes.
Overall, these shoes do NOT feel super oily, super sticky, or super, super cheap. They are fairly cheap, so they feel slightly cheaper than some Barbie shoes, but, overall, they actually feel as though they're pretty decent shoes.
THE BAD: These 10 pairs of shoes DO feel SOMEWHAT cheap, which is less than desirable, but that just means that I wouldn't leave them on a doll's feet for prolonged stretches of time. I don't know weather or not they would stain a doll's feet...OR her outfits!
The way that the purple shoes look is a bit of a disappointment, but you might like them more than I do. I am a bit upset about the little black stains that are ingrained into the plastic of the pointy-toed shoes, making them look less than cool. The blue shoes won't stand, but that's just because of their design. I DON'T like the fact that it's physically difficult to use some of these shoes.
THE UGLY: The little green shoes have extra pieces of plastic still attached to them, and the larger green shoes won't even stand, due NOT to their design, but to the fact that their soles feature lumpy protrusions of plastic; it's also distressing to note that the strap on one of those shoes is already broken! I may just toss these two pairs, due to the fact that they don't really fit on any dolls, anyway. Maybe I'll try to dress Skipper in them...?
RECOMMENDATIONS: As with ANY Barbie shoes, I wouldn't recommend these to any child who's under the age of about 3, or so, as they are rather small; of course, THIS assortment contains some rather large, chunky shoes, so a 3-year-old SHOULD be able to be fairly safe...as long as they're not allowed to play with the small plastic bag that the shoes arrive in.
I would also recommend these shoes to ANY Barbie fan who is sick and tired of plain Barbie pumps, tall, boring boots, and cutesy, uninteresting little shoes. This assortment of shoes is for the Barbie enthusiast who really wants Barbie to look more interesting, unusual, and...WILD!
IN CONCLUSION: Gosh darn it! I still want those shoes with the bows at the back! LOL! Other than that, though, I have few complaints about this assortment of cool, unusual shoes!