By Sophia-Joelle McDowell

When was the last time you played with dolls? For Mikaela Moody, the answer is pretty recently.

Moody, who has over 100 Bratz dolls to her name, is all about play. And after moving to Los Angeles in 2014 to pursue an acting career, Moody, now 27, is a self-proclaimed Life sized Bratz doll. 

Moody continues to act here and there (you may recognize her from the popular short inspirational Dhar Mann videos), but you’re more likely to find her making her own videos and posting them online. First it was cooking videos on TikTok, but as she lost interest in posting cooking content, Moody found herself creating videos that scratched a more nostalgic itch.

“I started making videos about restoring the Bratz and the minis and everything and it kind of took off right away. I just kept doing it,” explained Moody. “The internet and I have been having a lot of fun together!”

We spoke with Moody about her transition from tasty bites to Bratz dolls and the importance of embracing your inner child.

Tell me about your journey with Bratz.

I grew up with Bratz. I know 2004 was a big year for me with Bratz because I definitely had a bunch of Sun-Kissed Summer dolls, I had a Formal Funk one, and the Tokyo A Go-Go sushi bar came out that year, which is like the number one thing I want to have again, because I had it as a kid. 

I got rid of all my childhood Bratz. I’m not sure how old I was, but some lady took advantage of me at a yard sale my family was having and I sold all my Bratz to her for $10. I really didn’t think about Bratz again until 2021, when I started seeing Bratz photography on Instagram, and I was like, I think I want a Bratz doll. 

I told my mom and she instantly started sending me eBay listings. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my mom has a collection of in-box Barbies. Then my Bubby, may she rest in peace, collected porcelain dolls. She had like the walls of her bedroom lined with shelves and shelves of porcelain dolls. So it kind of runs in the family, I guess. 

I ended up getting some Bratz for the holidays from my ex I was dating at the time, and then from my parents, and I got a few for myself. The collection has grown a lot since then. I can’t do anything casually.

After you began making content, did you find yourself connecting with lots of other collectors online? 

Oh, absolutely. I didn’t really know about the Bratz collector community before. I mean, I probably discovered it and saw some of the pictures. I used to share them on my personal page on Instagram. 

I decided to make a separate page to post about Bratz (@themoodybratz) because I knew with my original page, people weren’t there for that or interested in that. 

There’s so many other people out there who are like in my age group, born in the 90s or early 2000s. They’re out there collecting and they also love it. They geek out over the little minis and like the faces on the Bratz and all of that stuff. I think it’s a pretty nice community. I think there was some drama when the Pride Bratz came out with some people bullying the designers, but I wasn’t a part of that. 

I don’t like to look into the drama, I’m just there to have fun with my dolls and share and encourage other people to give it a try if they’re thinking about it, because that’s kind of how it started. I was just like, I think I want one so I can take pictures of it myself, and now it’s turned into this whole empire basically. It’s cool! I have met people I’m friends with in real life now because of making my videos about this, like my last three friends are Instagram or TikTok mutual’s and now I’ve gotten to meet them in person.

Your Instagram bio says give into that urge to buy yourself toys. Do you feel like giving into this urge, purchasing dolls and setting up rooms and scenes and things like that, has healed your inner child in some way? 

Oh, definitely. I mean, I don’t feel like personally, my inner child needs much healing, because like my parents bought me Bratz when I was a kid, so for me, I guess it’s more of embracing my inner child. Sometimes I look at it, I think about what I do with my videos and how big it’s become and how many people send me messages and comments about like, the excitement, you know, they feel it too, and they’ve got themselves Bratz, because if they see my videos, they love watching my videos. 

If little me could see this she would love it, she would be so obsessed, because I’ve always loved miniatures, and I’ve always loved Bratz. It’s just cool to tap back into that joy, because play for adult women is not there as much as it is for adult men. Lot’s of men have their man caves, and they play with their video games. It’s not as equally accepted I would say for women to have their play. 

I don’t roleplay with my dolls. I mean, that’s cool if that’s how you do and you’re collecting. That’s the cool thing about it, you get to do whatever you want with it, and whatever feels right for you, and whatever makes you happy. So when people ask me, what’s a must have doll, the must have doll is the doll that you feel like you must have. 

I get so much joy just setting up my little scenes and I love making videos about it too. I support it. Embrace your inner child, give it to that urge. It’s a lot of fun. You’re not hurting anybody. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. You know?

Lots of men still collect baseball cards or they like making their fantasy football teams and things like that, but they’re often the first to tell others, especially women, that their hobbies are stupid or immature. Do you have any thoughts on that? 

I think it’s annoying that that’s how it is. I’m fresh off watching the Barbie movie too, and so thinking about all that. I think it’s getting better. What was the stat last year? That like a quarter of the sales in this industry were made by adults buying toys for themselves. I don’t know. I am in the niche of adult collecting, so I do see a lot of stuff about that, but it’s becoming more normal than ever. I mean, a lot of people have said, you know, they started collecting because they saw me do it. I think it’s changing. I hope it’s changing, especially with the Barbie movie too. I feel like people are, you know, thinking they want to get a doll again. 

For me it’s become a way bigger thing in my life. I think it’s been a very positive thing in my life, and I’m really glad that I decided to get into it. I hope other people decide to give it a try. I want to say having this play in your life, it’s important. 

You have to have something that just makes you excited and happy, and if that’s a piece of plastic, then that’s okay. That’s what’s so funny about them. They are these pieces of plastic, they don’t pay rent, all they do is stand there, but I love them so much, and I would not want them to leave.

As we get older, many people hear that toys are for children and similar comments that maybe forced them to grow up too soon. What’s your advice to those who may be interested in getting back into their roots and back into these toys that they love so much, but are scared of ridicule? 

I think you just have to embrace it. People respect confidence. I have received so little hate in making my content about this. I honestly am surprised, if you take a step back like it’s kind of weird, I guess, to have 100 plus Bratz dolls. Usually when I tell people what I do I say “I’m a content creator…I’m on Tik Tok… I’m on Instagram… I’m on YouTube” and I don’t really say what it is I’m doing unless people want to know more, just because I don’t want to be judged. Most people think it’s cool or have heard of Bratz. 

On the internet it’s very easy for people to hate from behind the screen. I mean, I’ve definitely been on the receiving end of people sending me messages to, you know, like, X myself, because behind the screen, people will be mean. But with this, I’ve only gotten a handful of comments, and a lot of the time people will come to the defense and they’re like,  it’s not cool for you to be mean like that and say things like that, like would you rather worse things be going on? You could be turning to drugs or turning to something harmful to give yourself some joy or some relief from the reality. Turning to dolls, it’s not something that hurts anyone. It’s just fun.

If you put it out there, then you can also find your people. I realized collecting really runs in the family and like my uncles have rooms in their house with a bunch of Coca-Cola memorabilia and sports memorabilia. They both have huge train sets. You never know who’s even in your family who can be into it. 

Beyond collecting dolls, you wear lots of colorful clothes, sequined scarves (hello Hannah Montana), and other expressive accessories. How else do you embrace or take care of your inner child beyond just the dolls? 

Honestly, I do consider myself a lifesize Bratz doll. I love expressing myself through personal style, because, why not? Why not have fun with it? Why not wear stuff that makes you happy? For me, I love colorful stuff and I love stuff that’s a little weird. I consider myself a little bit of an unhinged fashion girly. I’m not super extreme with it because most of the time, but I get a little wacky with it. 

I think it’s fun to experiment and express yourself. Why shouldn’t you wear what makes you feel good? I don’t like basic and I want to say basic and boring, but not to shame anybody who enjoys dressing like that. If that’s what makes you feel good, that’s what you should wear, and that’s what you should do. That’s why I dress the way I dress. 

Actually, I was at a family reunion recently, and I met my seven-year-old cousin for the first time. I was wearing bright pink, huge bell bottoms, my sequin scarf, like a colorful striped little shirt with shiny heart-shaped hair clips and a Hello Kitty necklace and all of that, and she was like “Why are you dressed like that?” I was like, because I can. It’s fun and I like it. Over the weekend of the reunion, she definitely took a liking to me. She liked my pink cowboy hat the next day. 

I’m definitely glad I decided to give in to the urge to buy myself a toy. It’s turned into more than I could have ever expected. It’s okay if you want to try it too. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s not weird. I mean, like, it is weird, but it’s not weird. You know? I am weird. And I embrace that as a positive. Keep spreading the love and the good vibes.

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Photos courtesy of Mikaela Moody, photographed by @shotbyizz