Thursday, November 12

Rainbow Brite gets a Makeover

[Left to Right: Above is Tickled Pink, Rainbow Brite and Moon Glow]
I am a big fan of Rainbow Brite [Since I was 4! much to my father's chagrin], when Care Bears and Transformers were relaunched in the early 2000's, Rainbow Brite had a mild relaunch with new figures still following the old designs. Not much of the color kids were released. And it didn't make much of a splash and it was not made by Mattel, I forget who. Now it has been announced that Playmates will be re-launching it. I like the boots but don't like the dress design for Rainbow Brite or her dress. Or that the other girls look like her. I am not crazy about the space-age looking collar. And Starlite in this line seems to be female. The Sprites look strange, they have elongated bodies an their face skin colors look like that peach Caucasian color.


Their horses are Sunriser, Starlite, and Shimmer. Funny story, Sunriser in the toyline was called Tickled Pink's horse but in the TV series, she was roe on by no one except for once by Rainbow. And Shimmer is a new horse. Funny how none of her 'new' friends are actual Color Kids. Moonglow and Tickled Pink are from the original series but they were not considered Color Kids, Tickled Pink seemed to be so but never officially mentioned to be so. Also strange that Stormer is not included in this line, as she had a horse too. Well, she had no Sprite. She was in charge of the winter and rain. It seems Tickled Pink here is in charge of sunlight. One more criticism is that I don't like how the girls are all white, for a toyline that promotes color, it would be nice to see more color in their skin! In the original series, there was only one African-American girl and she was Indigo.

[The Color Kids with Rainbow Brite]
Each Color Kid including Rainbow an Moon Glow had little helpers called Sprites. Tickled Pink had no official helper Sprite, but now her new sprite is called Twilite. The Star Sprinkles, what they use to use to color the world are now referred to as Color Crystals. And the girls have wands now. Moon Glow's Sprite is still called Nite Sprite. Moon Glow once had pink hair, now her hair is blue. Starlite is referred to as a 'he' on the official site, Twink her sprite is also male but Puppy Brite is now female, he was formerly male. Twink's new name is now Twinkle. I am glad they kept most of the names. I just hope the other Color Kids come soon, especially Stormer and the male kids. As a young boy, I was happy to see boys there too. My mom only let me have the boy figures.

Rainbow Brite
I like the boots but don't like the dress design for Rainbow Brite or her dress. I am not crazy about the space-age looking collar. I do like that all the colors are on her color belt this time but I don't like how there are fewer colors on her arms.

Starlite
I like how his look has remained the same, I don't like how his toy looks female, they kept the same mold for the same three horses. I love how the rainbow color in his hair is blended.

Twink/Twinkle
I don't like how the sprites are elongated but he does look cute. I wish he had more round things on his legs, his arm is fine, but I wish he had real red, not this soft pink-ish red. It is like the toy makers are afraid of using red because it is a quote/un-quote 'boy's color.' And I don't like how his shoes are like Rainbow Brite's shoes. I know it's not going to be the same as it was as I was a kid, but design-wise, I think they did it to stand out, because there is no where else they could go.

Moon Glo / Moon Glow
Moon Glo's name was spelled like this on the show, not toy-wise. I like how they kept the double skirt. I liked the old colors, but I think they had to go with purple to replace colors that the Color Kids had to fill a void. If you look carefully, she has the same hairstyle and same hairband with star in it. I do like the streaks in her hair, makes her look 'hip.'

Nite Sprite
Nite Sprite was Moon Glow's personal sprite, the only sprite on Rainbowland to have crescent moons on his antennae instead of stars. The new one has stars and has a human-like Caucasian color skin like Twink. I like the different shades of purple on his new look. Oh and the eyeballs now has irises!

Tickled Pink
She wasn't the only 'color kid' to have an outfit similar to Rainbow's---As Patty O' Green had one too but Pink had color arms like Rainbow did. So her new outfit looking like Rainbow's is fine, the sun added to her outfit, is obviously to symbolize she is in charge of the sun. I like that her hairstyle is the same. I loved Tickled Pink because I love the color pink!

Sunriser
Major differences is that she has more colors in her hair an ribbons. Her eyes are the same eye color.

[2009: Twinkle, Sunrise, Twilite, Tickled Pink, Nite Sprite, and Moonglow]
The website has a cute little quick flash animation and the song has a bit of the tune of the old song. It is set in the old Rainbowland and Rainbow Brite is a child back at home on Earth when her friends need her from an unseen 'evil princess.' Strawberry Shortcake got re-made for the third time just recently and the Care Bears get re-made every so often. This year even I heard parents wanting to get a Care Bear suit for their child for Halloween. I was five when I got into Rainbow Brite, my niece is now turning 5, I hope the same for her.
Official Website