Pixel Stars – The Next Pixel Chix?

My stars! Pixel Stars is an upcoming toy line from Skyrocket that was first discovered at Toy Fair earlier this year [11] [20] [23]. As a 2000s kid, I cannot help but adore this concept because it reminds me a lot of Pixel Chix, a line of interactive toys created from Mattel and aimed at young girls that ran from 2005 to 2008 [10] [21]. Despite the nostalgic reminder, I can see how Pixel Stars seems at least very new at the start of a new decade with some small form of originality. It is interesting enough that the popularity of foldable smartphones might increase later in this new decade for combining the foldability of a flip phone from the 2000s and the functionality of a touchscreen from the 2010s, just as long as many of those fascinating experiments will not fail [32]. Living in a new decade means discovering new things, right? With high hopes for Pixel Stars becoming critically acclaimed with three starlets living large in tiny spaces, I shall go into star-studded detail of what has been revealed about it so far.

This pretty specimen has got me excited for its overall outcome in Autumn 2020. [16]

Its concept reminds me so much of Pixel Chix, an interactive toy line I was a huge fan of back in the second half of the 2000s. [10]

Let us take a look at the designs of the Pixel Stars line. It will come in three colour palettes [29], similar to how the Pixel Chix franchise started with three different houses [10]. I like how the top part of each dreamhouse resembles the front of a house’s exterior with palm trees to bring out a Hollywood vibe. The way you slide the top part the upwards to reveal the screen reminds me of how we would push the top part of a slide phone upwards to see its buttons [11], which would feel quite nostalgic for plenty of our fellow 2000s kids and teens, quite similar to how the design of the handheld portable console, My Life looked and felt like a late 2000s Game Boy Color for young girls [5] [6] [9] [19] [30]. It also somewhat brings out the vibe of an old school Polly Pocket compact set and a Shopkins Lil’ Secrets compact set when it comes to playing with a toy line’s character [17] [18]. Lastly, there is also a sturdy piece of string that a young player to attach a Pixel Stars onto a backpack, making it almost as fashionable as how a Tama-caretaker would have a Tamagotchi attached to a backpack [25].

The design of My Life was quite convincing at the time of its marketing [5] [6] [9] [19] [39]. However, I think the arrow buttons could have been placed slightly to the left and the action buttons could have been placed closer beneath the screen to make the gameplay feel more comfortable for the hands of young players. [6]

As for the Pixel Star dreamhouses, they look quite fashionable on a child’s backpack if the top part that resembles a villa is lowered. [11]

We can see that the toy’s pixelated graphics will be in colour, which is what the in liquid-crystal display screens of each Pixel Chix toy lacked as they only consisted of black outlines. A notable difference is that Pixel Chix consisted of the premise of a 2D girl living in a 3D world as the liquid-display screen would show black outlines of characters and the objects they use in front of colourful backgrounds that were built inside the toy’s exterior [21], even though that aspect was ditched for colourless 2D backgrounds in Fab Life City, possibly the last toy of the franchise ever marketed [4] [14]. I guess that putting colourful pixelated graphics in the liquid-crystal display screen of a Pixel Stars dreamhouse not only provides a vibe from My Life but it also must have been a slight cost-cutting decision. As the game progresses, the player can expand each celebrity’s home with more than thirty rooms, thus providing some motivation for interacting with the toy quite frequently. With appealing choices of colour and adorable animation, the pixelated graphics on each dreamhouse’s screen ought to enhance the quality of the toy line’s gameplay.

Ditching the “2D girl in a 3D world” aspect before the Pixel Chix franchise was discontinued must have caused it to jump the shark to a degree. [14]

But as for the delightfully colourful graphics in Pixel Stars, they can increase the appeal of the upcoming line of interactive dreamhouses, especially when a starlet is being customised. [11]

The premise at least matches the toy line’s name as the player can help three young ladies enrich their ambitions as:

• A celebrity chef [3] [11] [16]
• A fashion icon [3] [11] [16]
• An internet personality [3] [11] [16]

Quite fittingly, the website the internet personality would upload her videos to is called “PixelTube” [16]. Considering how the premise of My Life was set in a life of a teenaged girl at the time of its marketing back in about 2007 [9] [30], I can say that the overall premise of Pixel Stars could be theoretically set in about five years after My Life, even though Pixel Stars is from Skyrocket and My Life was from Flair [5] [6]. Maybe if the first wave of dreamhouses with the Pixel Stars becomes successful in late 2020, there might be a second wave in 2021 that could feature new characters following their dreams as:

• A musician
• A writer
• A sportswoman

I believe a sportswoman career in a Pixel Stars dreamhouse would appeal to tomboys and feminists who wish to keep proving that women can be passionate about and professional at sports too [1]. As for the three careers that will be canon for late 2020, there are enough to suit the premise of a celebrity’s life.

Oddly enough, the first three Pixel Chix houses only had one interactive character each, who were just clones of the main character with different hairstyle [10]. A demo of Pixel Stars appears to features all three characters in one dreamhouse [11]. But could the player only be able to choose one career at the start before unlocking the other two as the game progresses? [11]

If a second wave of Pixel Stars dreamhouses ought to be established after the first wave sales successfully, a career as a writer would definitely appeal to yours truly. [11]

Remember the good old days when young people did not seem so attached to social media and internet connection? Well, each Pixel Stars dreamhouse will not require any connection to be internet for any features whatsoever, ensuring safety and protection of personal information for young consumers [11] [20] [23]. Despite this, I can see how the premise is still trying to appeal to young girls in 2020 due to an image of a unicorn in one room and how the PixelTube Star career is quite obviously a reference to being a well-known internet personality on YouTube [16]. An electronic toy that does not require internet connection sure saves the irritation of sudden disconnection for when you want to publish a new article on your blog, but the web page would suddenly not let you. Do you know what the best part about the lack of requirement for internet connection is? No adverts that pop up every minute during the gameplay! Jokes aside, it sure would be nice to take a break from reliance on the common features of social media after all of the horrific controversies and offences we had to witness on popular platforms in an emotionally damaging year [12] [13] [27].

Fully ensuring child safety by providing a lack of need for internet connection and refraining from asking for personal information ought to make the product very trustworthy to concerned parents. [20] [23]

It also seems like two Pixel Stars dreamhouses connect and allow two starlets to hang out, quite like how to Pixel Chix houses could connect and allow one girl to visit the other [10]. [11]

More aspects that will make the experience of interacting with any of the dreamhouses more motivating or at least challenging are:

• Over eight-hundred clothing items to collect and customize each celebrity with [11]
• Over four-hundred-and-fifty household items to collect for enriching the rooms in a dreamhouse [11]
• Earning points after completing tasks to buy any of the clothing items and household items [11]
• Taking good care of an adopted pet [11]
• Discovering over forty recipes with the celebrity chef [11] [20] [23]
• Designing over forty clothing items with the fashion icon [11] [20] [23]
• Keeping the internet personality’s video-making legacy fresh with over forty media items [11] [20] [23]

At least some decent challenge put into helping a star’s career and lifestyle gradually evolve will keep the young consumer determined and a good rewards system can maintain motivation into interacting with the dreamhouse quite daily. Reflecting on how I think a second wave of the dreamhouses can feature three more characters with different occupations, helping their careers blossom with various things related to each new character’s passions would make the second wave refreshing, but faithful to the challenging aspects of the gameplay from the first wave.

With many collectibles to gather during almost daily gameplay, Pixel Stars ought to gather a new fandom that would consist of mostly young girls in the early 2020s. [11]

Oh. And let us not forget about a small variety of activities that can help increase the toy line’s appeal in quite an ambitious way, which reminds me of the various activities to do with any of the Pixel Chix gals [10] [21]. [11]

The first half of 2020 has been a dangerous and devastating time for many of us [7] [13] [27]. Nevertheless, I will be more than delighted to see the feedback on Pixel Stars when it is available on toy shop shelves near the end of the second half [11] [28]. The same can apply to our fellow Monster High collectors who are yearning to get their hands on the upcoming Skullector Dolls to bring back memories of collecting the dolls from the Monster High franchise that ran from 2010 to 2017 [2] [8] [15], along with those who remember reviewing and collecting those Sonic the Hedgehog action figures that were made from Jazwares back in the late 2000s and early 2010s shall compare them to the brand new action figures from JAKKS Pacific [22] [24]. I just had to state my thoughts on Pixel Stars because the concept brings back memories of the Pixel Chix days, even though I once thought about a reboot of the Pixel Chix franchise as a mobile app [31]. I believe the overall outcome of Pixel Stars will simply be a combination of My Life and Pixel Chix while other witnesses can see it as a fusion of Polly Pocket and Tamagotchi [3] [11] [16].

Prepare to live large in tiny spaces in Autumn 2020! [3]

Sorry, original Pixel Chix from Mattel… [10]

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