"Meet the Art Squad — the dolls that come with their own DIY style, plus a cool craft that encourages kids to be their best, boldest selves!"Cool! So, do they come with Xacto knives, hot glue guns, and spray paint?
Errr... no. Although three of the four characters are involved with crafts using paint (and "Lady T" seems designed to encourage young taggers
aka vandals), the "cool crafts" appear to consist of "fabric markers" (yeah -- like kids will content themselves with coloring on the doll clothes) and water-based inks and paints. And then there's the outlier girl, the true rebel of the group, who... hold your breath...
strings beads!Actually, I've never had any bead-stringing skills, myself, and I'm a little bit envious, even of little kids, who can weave cool "friendship bracelets," let alone make, like, intricate Native American beadwork pieces and stuff.
The Art Squad is kind of a cool concept, and maybe they will inspire kids (or... some of us who stretch the definition of kids) to try new crafts, but... for twenty-five bucks, I could just buy myself a bead-stringing kit, huh? Or a set of colored
permanent markers? Or a
hot melt glue gun!To me, the faces are reminiscent of vintage Troll Dolls.
Or of Broadway actress
Carol Channing.
Currently available exclusively at the CAMP stores linked above, the Art Squad by Just Play Toys is available for pre-order at Amazon and the line is scheduled for an August roll-out at Target stores.
The primary online media presence for the Art Squad appears to be at TikTok, but there is also an account at Instagram:
@ArtSquad_Official
