I think the idea is great...girls should have an icon they can grow with to hit topics more there age!

omg why not change dieago! hes not a prescooler? wow~! hes messed up! what about boots?

Again, the industry bows to the ridiculous perceptions society has about females, and the greed objects such as this doll brings to the industry maker. Thanks for letting me have my say, TD:)

The issue here is less about the new Dora and more about why they would change the original Dora. She is perfect now. Why change her? Dora is a preschool icon. She is adored by so many little children and their mothers for the complete mix of positive attributes. When Nickelodeon wanted a boy brand they developed Diego. Why wouldn't they just develop this Tween brand as a cousin or a friend? We saw a need for role models for our Tween daughters and developed the Hip Chicas inspired by Dora and other Latina preschool brands. This option would give girls that grow out of Dora a new set of multicultural role models that are hip, smart, fashionable, yet socially conscious. The result was the five characters we developed and have been hailed for in the press [google: Hip Chicas]. We built an interactive virtual world where the characters guide girls' activities in order to be where Tweens are today. We changed the concept of "HIP", redefining it as to "Help Improve the Planet". When Nickelodeon originally said that Dora would be the new "City Dora" with "adventures in the mall", we became very concerned with the confusion this would cause our daughters, who are more than just shoppers. We would prefer that they had left Dora alone, but wish the people at Nickelodeon the best. Hopefully they will do a better job on this going forward. Hey, maybe one day Dora and her new "four friends" can leave the mall for a while and visit the Hip Chicas @ www.HipChicas.com, so that they can learn how they too can Be Hip! Laz Fuentes, CEO www.hipchicas.com.