Barbie on the Go Track Sets

(Mattel $29.99)

Barbie has taken a new direction for 2017. She’s no longer just heading for the mall. Yes, a miniature size Barbie is busy and about town—getting the car to the carwash, dropping packages at the Post Office and going to the carnival where she rides a pony. Barbie on the Go sets are miniature settings with tracks—call them Barbie’s answer to all those tracks sets for boys. We tested the smallest one, the Post Office with a package drop that Barbie rides around on a motorized scooter. It’s a 15-piece set that needs to be assembled by an adult and requires one AAA battery to power her scooter (open from the top to load). The Barbie Car Wash with car (pictured above) and Carnival set with pony also come with one vehicle and a mini Barbie. The latter are larger and come with more elaborate settings. (Mini Barbie and a vehicle also come in multicultural choices and can be bought separately and added to block settings or playhouses, if you don’t want to go for the track set. )These are not very elaborate settings, but they are closest to a small Hot Wheels setting for girls and can be connected to make a larger setting. Okay, we know a lot of girls would just as soon have a Hot Wheels track set, but it’s good to know that Barbie can ride a horse, a scooter, and a car and go somewhere other than shopping. Call it a small motorized move forward, we hope.

Marked 4-8, but we think most 4s will have trouble trying to get Barbie on and off the pony and fitting the track together. Unlike wooden tracks, these have cute heart shaped fittings that make them somewhat harder to snap together.