Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Winx Club Believix "Bloom" Doll by Jakks Pacific

I was at Toys R Us the other day, as I often am, checking out the new dolls.  As I was walking from the La Dee Da section back to the Monster High section, I saw a doll I'd never noticed before.  I was immediately drawn to her sweet face, her highly articulated body and her bright red hair.  These are three things I love to see in a doll.  So, I was standing there in the aisle inspecting this cute new doll when a whole group of Toys R Us employees bustled past with determination--clearly on a mission.  One of them stopped, halting the whole group behind him, looked at me and shouted, "There!  She has the last one!"  I went all deer-in-the-headlights and pointed to myself questioningly, wondering if I should put the doll down and run.  Most of the employees looked at me, looked at the doll, and then slouched defeatedly back to the cash registers.  One kind soul stayed behind to explain that I was holding the last Winx Club doll in the store, that none of the stores in the area have any left, and that "some lady" keeps calling and asking them to search the store and put all available dolls on hold for her.  He earnestly recommended that I not put the doll down lest someone grab it away from me.  Seriously?   I clutched the box closer to my chest and said, "oh, really?  So...these are, uh, popular with the kids?"  He smiled at me and shook his head, "you have no idea.  I guess there's a show or something."

Well.  This was an excellent Toy Box Philosopher moment.  I was dying to learn the whole story behind these dolls and their show.  I plunked down $20 for the doll and skipped out of the store, feeling like I had the last Winx Club doll on the planet and that I must be the luckiest person alive.  I came home to do a little research, and it turns out that these dolls are not, in fact, impossible to find.  You can get Bloom on Amazon for three dollars more than what I paid (with free shipping).  The other characters are a bit more expensive.  I think I might have picked the least popular doll in the group, but that's okay because I love her red hair.  Here's Bloom, my Winx Club fairy:

Winx Club Believix "Bloom."
First of all, try to say "Winx Club Bloom Believix (by Jakks)" five times fast...or type it for that matter.  Jeez.  The Winx Club name is cute, but the Believix part seems a little cheesy.  I guess the "x" on the end is a theme for these dolls, though, because an earlier version of the dolls (made by Mattel) was called "Enchantix."

Ok, but I'm rushing ahead.  Let me back up and tell you what I know about the Winx Club.  It is a group of fairy friends who have special magical powers called "winx."  The story was introduced as an Italian TV show in 2004, but has since gone through some English language iterations, most recently a Nickelodeon version that began airing in 2011.  There have also been two Italian feature length movies (with American voice versions).  I am guessing that it's the newer Nickelodeon show that is causing excitement for the dolls, but based on the clips I watched on You Tube, the earlier 4Kids Entertainment version of the cartoon seems more appealing.  From what I saw, it struck me as kind-of Pokemon meets Avatar meets something with fairies.  Overall, this show seems to be a big success and has lasted almost a decade. 

Winx-Club-Believix-Bloom

The picture on the box doesn't really look that much like the animation in the TV show, but more like the character in the movies.  I actually think Bloom looks a bit creepy on the box:

Resistance is futile.
Just one more piece of trivia and then I'll stop...Mattel actually made several waves of Winx Club dolls between 2004 and 2009.  They are cute, and seem to have bendy limbs instead of jointed articulation.

On the back of Bloom's box, you can see the full array of dolls available in this line: Aisha, Tecna, Flora, Musa, Stella and Bloom.  Bloom is the only name that doesn't end with an "a."



This picture of Bloom is better than the one on the front of the box.  The caption says that she is the fairy of the "Dragon Flame."  I don't know what that means, exactly, but I love dragons so it seems like a good thing.


I obsessively read all of the packaging when I have a new kind of doll in my hands, so I'll show you one more caption from the box that seems a tad cultish:

You will be assimilated.
The box has a perforated panel on the back, just like the one on the La Dee Da box.  I really don't understand its purpose:

To get a preview of all of the plastic and tape that's holding your doll hostage?
The panel doesn't help with doll extraction at all.  From what I can tell, the only way to get the doll out of the box is to cut or rip about 10 plastic tabs all along the sides of the box.  It's a hassle, and it hurts my fingers.


This process also completely ruins the cardboard perforated panel.  Am I missing something here?  Please tell me if I am.  It really seems like they put a lot of effort into designing an accessible package, and yet I had to rip into this thing like a hyena:

Snarl.
Here's Bloom, free of most of the plastic packaging:


There's a little membership card in there, which I think will give you access to some of the features at the Winx online site that are not available to commoners.


All of the plastic and tape that you could see through the perforated panel on the back of the box had to be cut in order to extricate Bloom.  In addition, she had several plastic ties anchoring her solidly against the cardboard backdrop.  It's not very good packaging, but I've seen worse.  Here's what's in the box:

Bloom, her wings, her comb an a membership card.  No stand.
She does not come with a stand and she can not stand on her own:

Furthermore, her legs look warped and bendy.
Look at her sweet face:

Winx-Believix-Bloom-Doll

Her hair is stitched to her outfit in two places:


Be careful snipping these threads.  They are very tightly sewn and hard to snip without catching the fabric.


She's wearing a blue iridescent cheerleader outfit with pink tulle accents.

Eeek!  That's a short skirt!
I won't discuss the style of the outfit at great length.  I never cared much what my dolls were wearing when I was a kid, and I certainly wasn't trying to dress like them.  Most of my dolls got stuck in Dorothy's gingham dress or the Sunshine Family's farm clothes.  Still, this is a very skimpy outfit (even for a fairy) and some parents might be troubled by it.

She has very long, wavy bright red hair.  I love the color, especially with the royal blue in the outfit.  The hair style has two curled tendrils that hang down around her face, and then some twisted strands ornamenting the back:

Winx-Believix-Bloom-Doll


The brush works well to comb out her hair, taking with it a fair number of shedding strands:


After having just reviewed the Disney Store's Rapunzel, this hair looks pretty awful.  It looks like the kind of hair that will end up in tangled clumps.  Those ends, in particular, are very coarse and frizzy.  Thankfully, I have learned the art of boiling hair, so Bloom will have to undergo some "spa treatment."
  
Scary hair.
Bloom comes with a pair of detachable plastic wings.  They are transparent with blue and pink designs printed on them.  The edges of the wings are lined in blue glitter.  The glitter is glued onto the wings pretty well, I have about five pieces on my face and there's a little bit scattered around everywhere this doll has been, but it's not bad at all.


The wing unit comes in three pieces.  There's a central pink connector with two hinged attachment points for the wings themselves.  The hinged attachment allows the wings to move freely in a convincing, synchronized fluttering motion.  It's pretty neat.  The pink connector inserts into a hole in the back of the doll:

The hole is in the shape of the Winx symbol...cute and effective.
The two wings snap onto the pink piece.  It's not a very secure connection and one of the wings falls off all the time.  I'm not sure why they didn't just permanently connect the wings to that pink piece at the factory.


The wings look very nice--the size is perfect, and very dramatic.

Winx-Believix-Bloom-Doll


Here's the big problem with the wings: the doll is positioned in the box like this, with her head turned to one side and her hair falling over her left shoulder:

Winx-Believix-Bloom-Doll

If you face the doll's head to the front, with her hair down her back, the mass of hair has to be wedged in between the two wings:


This makes the wings fall off, and also completely inhibits the fluttering movement.  The only way the doll can flutter is if her head is off to the side...and then she can't see where she's fluttering!  Also, with the hair wedged between the wings, she can't move her head much.

I believix we have a problem here.
Her face is really sweet, though, and I like it even better than the faces of the cartoon characters.  She reminds me of Ariel from The Little Mermaid (probably just because of the hair):


She has wide-set bright blue eyes and natural face paint:


There's a bit of glitter above each eye, but on my doll it's much more noticeable on the right side of her face:



The weakest part of this doll's head mold is her profile.  There's no sculptural definition around her eyes, and they are set pretty far apart, so in profile they look flat and oddly shaped.  In a way, though, it makes her look more otherworldly...like a fairy should look.


Let's look at the outfit in more detail:


The majority of the outfit is made out of a blue iridescent vinyl material.  There are several accents made out of pink tulle and a matching light pink mesh fabric.


The top has blue stitching all around the edges, but the blue material doesn't seem to require a hem.  It closes in the back with velcro:


The skirt has some pink stitching, which looks great, and a velcro closure.  It also has one of those plastic "thong" strips to prevent the skirt from riding up on the waist.


Bloom is wearing pink knee high stockings and blue high heeled shoes.  Look at how warped the lower part of her legs is...a familiar problem this week.


The stockings are always falling down because there's no rubbery ring or elastic or anything to hold them up at the top.


The pink of the stockings and the blue in the shoes are very different shades from the pink and blue in the skirt and top.


The shoes are simple and functional, with the Winx symbol on the bottom:


Underneath the clothes, Bloom has a highly articulated body that is made out of a combination of hard plastic and bendable vinyl.  Her head is a little bit large, but nowhere near as big as a La Dee Da doll's head or even a Liv doll's head.  She has skinny arms and incredibly long and spindly legs:

Spaghetti legs.
From what I can tell, her arms, hands and lower legs are bendable.  It's unfortunate that her lower legs are so warped.  It looks silly and makes it impossible for her to stand.  The warping makes the legs tend towards a crossed position, which actually looks ok (even though the tibia doesn't bend like that):


She has 11 points of articulation (neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees).  The range of motion in some of these joints is not great.  For example, her neck doesn't have any up and down motion and her elbows can't bend past about a 120 degree angle:


Both the elbow and the knee joints can bend a little bit in the wrong direction, too, giving her the potential to strike some unusual poses:

Winx-Believix-Bloom-Doll
Look at the angle of her knees!
She can also strike some great realistic poses, including both kinds of split:



And a nice normal (modest) sitting position:


She has some very slight rotational movement in her knees, and so she can tuck her feet off to one side when she sits.



Her torso is very long and skinny and reminds me a bit of a Monster High doll, without the dramatic sway back.


In fact, she's quite a bit taller and wider than a Monster High doll.  Here she is with a lineup of the usual suspects:

New Rapunzel, Fashionista Barbie, Banana Legs, Monster High Clawdeen, Liv Katie
Despite the dolls looking fairly similar in size from a distance, there's not a lot of potential for clothes sharing.  Bloom is too large for Monster High clothes and too skinny for the other dolls' clothes.  Clawdeen can wear Bloom's skirt:


But the top gapes open at the chest and is too loose around the neck:



Bloom can wear the Disney clothes (and Barbie clothes) but they're too big for her.  From a distance this dress looks ok, but it's loose around the neck:



Monster High clothes are way too tight:

In Skultimate Roller Maze Lagoona's dress.

One good fit I found was that Liv can wear Bloom's shoes.  They're a tad too big, but it's convincing:


It's tricky to get Bloom re-dressed.  The sleeves of her top are pretty tight for her splayed fingers:


Also, the outfit is showing some signs of wear...with just one redressing session.  Notice the stitching around the neckline:


Look at the side seam and the frayed bottom edge of the shirt:


Also, the seams of the sleeves turn inside out when you redress her, and this looks messy:


Here are some of Bloom's more awkward poses:

This looks fine...except for the legs.
Banana legs.

Winx-Club-Believix-Bloom

And here are some of her better poses:

Winx-Believix-Bloom-Doll

Winx-Believix-Bloom-Doll

I even felt inspired to take her outside for a few pictures...since she's a fairy and everything:

Winx-Believix-Bloom-Doll

Bottom line?  I know the Winx Club dolls are popular (if the Toys R Us in Maine is any indication).    It's not hard to understand this instant success--the dolls portray characters from a popular TV show that has lasted nearly a decade.  Fans of the show who collected the Mattel dolls have been waiting since 2009 for a replacement.  Without having followed any of the shows myself, I can't fully appreciate this component of the doll's virtues.  I do understand that for a fan who has grown attached to Bloom's character over the years, this doll will hold a special, emotional appeal.

In terms of the quality of the doll, she has several distracting flaws.  Her hair is thick and very frizzy at the ends, which makes it prone to tangling.  I had too many dolls with this type of hair as a kid.  It's heartbreaking to have a beautiful doll with terrible hair.  Also, Bloom's lower legs are made of a bendable vinyl, and in the case of my doll, this vinyl is torqued into an unnatural position that makes it hard for her to stand.  She is highly articulated, but the range of motion in her elbows and neck is not optimal, and her knee joints overextend into an odd bowed position.  I am not a fan of Bloom's outfit.  It is at bit too Lolita for my taste, and it shows some early warning signs of not being able to hold up well over time.  Last, while the wings are a fun and dramatic feature, they fall off too easily, and the doll's hair completely interferes with the awesome fluttering motion. She also can't move her head much with the wings in place.  I am so tempted to give this doll a short haircut (like the Tecna character).  This would quickly solve two of her major problems.

Note: I boiled and cut Bloom's hair for a significant improvement.  Boiling alone was not enough...the ends were still really tangled.


The positive things about this doll are the very things that attracted me to her in the store.  She has an  innocent, lovely fairy face.  She looks approachable and friendly.  The color and thickness of her hair are great.  I also like the style of her hair--it's simple and combable, but it has the fancy-looking twists in the back to keep it from being plain.  The wings are a great accessory, and one of the most interesting features of the doll.  I appreciate that the wings are so big and movable.  When the hair is out of the way, the wings have a very realistic fluttering motion that adds to the doll's personality.  You know me well enough by now to know that I love to see a $20 play doll with this level of articulation.  The articulation isn't perfect, but the doll can strike a lot of poses and sits beautifully.  Last, as I said before, this doll would be a great companion or display item for a person who enjoys the popular TV show.

Summary:
Age Level
4-15 (per the box) I agree, with maybe the adjustment of 5-20 based on the timeline of the TV show.
Value
$20 seems slightly high, especially when you look at what you get for under $20 from Disney and Monster High.
Quality
The doll is highly articulated.  She has thick, rooted hair, but the hair has coarse ends and is prone to tangles. Her clothes are scant and simply constructed--might not wear well. Nice face paint.
Packaging
Lots of plastic, takes a fair amount of effort to get the doll out.  The doll’s position in the box has deformed her legs and left marks on her hands.
Collectable?
No.  This is a play doll...although some of the older Mattel dolls are fetching good prices on eBay right now.
Versatility
Her face is very friendly and versatile.  The fairy wings are removable, so she can be a normal girl, too.  She can’t share a lot of clothes with other doll lines.
Overall
Conflicted.  There are a lot of flaws that prevent this doll from earning my unreserved recommendation.  She has a ton of potential, but needs a little work.

Winx-Believix-Bloom-Doll

51 comments:

  1. I saw these dolls @TRU when I bought my Bratzilla. I had this beauty in my hands but I talked myself out of buying her. Thanks for the great review. I was a fan of the cartoon but haven't watched it in years.

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    1. It looks like a pretty good show! I have to say I'm tempted to go back to You Tube and watch some more...
      :)

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    2. I love Winx club its the best thing that ever happened to me and Bloom is my favorite I've been wishing for a Winx doll for years. Did you know there was 7 seasons (soon will be 8 in 2018) and each season has 26 episodes

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  2. I have found one or two of the Older Winx Doll. One I found at the Flea Market,and another at the Thrift Store.

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    1. OOH!!!!!!!!!!! r u willing to say which ones and/or possibly sell?

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  3. ! Their making them articulated now? I like the older faces better though, Techna was my favorite. :)

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  4. Hello from Spain: the cartoon series Winx Club also issued in my country. It was a series with many followers. Never saw that program. I did not know they were so in demand these dolls in America. In Spain I think were not very successful. I did not buy any of the Winx. Thank you for your very detailed study of the doll. Keep in touch

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    1. I get the sense that American collectors are glad to have a doll that is sold in the States--I think Mattel sold the older dolls abroad, but not here. I might be wrong about that, though. I wonder if fans of the show will be happy with this version? We'll see!

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  5. Have you tried dipping the bent lower legs into boiling water and bending them into a more natural position? I have heard of people having success using that method with bent doll hands.

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    1. I haven't tried that yet, no. Good idea! Hot water is like the miracle cure for so many doll problems! :) wonder if it would also lessen the rubber band marks on her hands...hmm...

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  6. So weird to see these popular again. I was a huge fan of the 4kids show as a kid and had every Winx doll they ever made back then. Wonder if those dolls are worth anything now?

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    1. I bet they are worth something, Brenda! Definitely worth looking into if you don't want to keep them. I'd buy an old one from you to do a comparison review... ;)

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    2. Mint in the box Mattel dolls can go for a fortune on ebay, but loose ones in decent condition can still go for a good price.

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  7. My daughter was a HUGE fan of the first years of the cartoon series. She loved Bloom the best, and Bloom was sort of the main character of the 4kids series. She doesn't have all the pieces, but I was gratified to see that the very first version of Bloom, which she has, was listed at your link as "beyond rare."

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    1. Cool! Your daughter has a treasure on her hands! I was glad to see that Bloom is the main character, since that's the doll I ended up buying. I wonder why this character seems to be the least popular, though, in terms of doll sales? Maybe the new show has a different emphasis. Hm.

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    2. A lot of older fans who are outside the age limit hate Bloom, but the little kids love her.

      The thing is...There's too many Blooms, as opposed to the others. Every Jakks Pacific Winx shipment of 6 has 3 Blooms, 1 Flora, 1 Stella, and 1 other doll. :D

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    3. WOW I have a Mattel Belivix Stella from 2009 How much are they going for

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    4. Believix? They didn't make believix dolls in 2009, they were making the Enchantix ones and all the others at that time. They never released believix ones. Do you have a Simba/Witty Toys Stella?

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  8. Thanks for this thorough review. Anything that I could have wanted to know or never thought of was here. I appreciate that richness of information.

    I missed seeing any of the Winx shows - born too soon, lol - and unlike Jem, I never watched the cartoon so I would not follow them for that reason. However, if I chose to include fairies in my collection, I would consider these dolls. I like your presentation of their articulation; the oddities of their anatomy could be okayed by virtue of their non-human status.

    Again, thanks for an enjoyable read with great photos and fun side comments.

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    1. Thank you so much, Dana! I was born too soon, too. Never too late, though! That's what YouTube is for. :)

      I need to learn more about Jem...

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  9. I would think some Skipper clothes might fit her, though they'd be short. Some old Kelly-sized dresses make interesting tops for Monster High, so playing around with different sizes of clothes can yield fun results. The odd angle of her legs makes me think of digigrade creatures (they walk on their toes). Maybe hacking her with some Monster High inspiration could yield a satyr character?

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    1. You're so creative Elizabeth! I want to see what you'd do with her. You're so right about the knees--they look exactly like satyr knees. Satyrs are creepy though--it'd be a challenge to make her cute! Do you want a Bloom doll with her hair cut so you can play around with that idea?? ;)

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  10. Hey Emily,
    Can you please do some more Winx Dolls please?
    Like the other members of the club.
    I really love you're reviews. Thank you.

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    1. I'll try...I checked Toys R Us last night and they didn't have any of the other ones. I would be interested to see if there's a difference in the faces, etc. I'll keep an eye out. :)
      I'm also looking at reviewing one of the Mattel dolls for comparison--that would be fun!

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    2. There is another version of the Believix doll from Italy and it has more of the real details to the character on the show.
      http://www.tonnellatedigiocattoli.it/item_images/Dolls/Winx%20Club/Dolls%2011%20inch%20tall/winx_bloom_believix.jpg

      And there is a golden version.
      http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dxJw-rYdj1s/T_SCYkjPjHI/AAAAAAAABm4/YxQVKkfcnIk/s1600/7498073846_41a97ef806_o.jpg
      And A Silver version.
      http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DGMridTqGOI/T_SCXd0T9oI/AAAAAAAABmw/NKHDs-XPa7w/s1600/7498043180_6de8470c86_o.jpg
      Ebay sale
      http://tinyurl.com/bloomsilverdollebay
      And A Black and Blue version.
      http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5hiA7iCnQvo/T-hWLHHg85I/AAAAAAAAAY4/1X_NRVFDDp0/s1600/pTRUCA1-12871155dt.jpg
      Ebay
      http://tinyurl.com/bloombluebelivixdoll
      They are quite hard to get, but if you do get you're hands on them. Please do a review.
      And the mattel comparison would be great. Thanks again.

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    3. Wow! Thank you for all of the great links! I have the blue SDCC doll on pre-order, but I hadn't seen the other colors yet! Cool. I'll definitely do a comparison review--I got the ball rolling on that today. ;)

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    4. Awesome! Thanks so much for you're efforts.
      I really appreciate it.

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  11. I saw winx club under pants (for little girls)

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  12. Great review!
    I've been a fan of the Italian version since it started and am happy to see it back in the US (though the 4kids adaption was awful despite having better voice actors compared to Nick)

    I agree with the leg, my Bloom has the same issue. I've had her and Flora for about a week now, and I just love them. I can't tell you the relief I feel for getting the ones I wanted, including the SDCC Blue/Black one.

    I don't know if you saw the "Rock Band" line of these, they're cheaper and don't come with the wings. They're definitely of a lesser quality, their arms don't have articulation in the elbows and wrists. They also don't have that same sweet face that sucked me in to buying the others. There are two definite "fairy forms" that are going to be sold in the future when the new seasons are released, so hopefully they'll improve on the body quality by then!

    Also! Since you were wondering about the wings being detachable from the pink center piece, it's because they have accessory packs that include wings you can change out.

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  13. well i really want a winx doll cuz is one of my favorite shows. let me tell you about the winx club, very popular in europe, i have seen all the four seasons but only in spanish, they have a lot of dolls because they have a lot of desings, and five transformations in four seasons. well the winx club wasn't too famous in america because of 4kids that made some mistakes on the translation so america only had seasons 1-3. winx club also has 2 movies in cgi.so now rainbow has an agreetment with nickelodeon, they made 4 tv movie to summarise the first two seasons and also doubled the season 3, the first movie and now season 4, now winx are having their new dolls now with articulations for america(the dolls in europe use interal wires in the dolls, wich is not pretty clevver cuz the wires broke,and they have already the dolls for season 5) dolls for season 1 and 3 are coming soon also the city girl outfits, and there are other transformations in season 4 and the dolls are not yet released by jakks pacific (exept by bloom sophix). i hope jakks pacific release new dolls with the desings.

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  14. Hello! I'm The Oblivious Prattler (OP for short), the co-owner of a Winx fan blog called "Una di Noi." Great (and very in-depth) review of the Bloom Believix doll! I can't wait to get my hands on one of these myself. I'll need to take a trip to Toys R Us to see if they're on the shelves yet. But now when I get one, I'll know what to expect! :)

    By the way, if there's anything else you wanna know about "Winx Club," feel free to visit the blog. It's a confusing series, what with THREE English versions and lots of differences between them. For example, did you know "winx" was the term for "fairy magic" ONLY in 4Kids's dub? In the original version (the Italian), as well as the other two English dubs, Bloom just made the word up. Differences like this have made it hard to get new and old fans on the same page.

    But it's a charming show, and I think Nickelodeon has done a good job "reviving" it. And it's great to have Winx merchandise in the U.S. again!

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    1. Oh, my goodness--what a beautiful blog! I couldn't get it to open on Chrome, but it runs like a dream on Safari and I wish I'd had it as a reference when I was writing this review! What a cool piece of trivia that the word "winx" was just made up in the original show. I guess new viewers really wanted it to mean something!

      Also--your name is the most awesome online name I have ever heard. Inspirational. :)

      Which version of the show do you think is the best one to start with? I liked the clips of the 4Kids version that I saw on YouTube, but I haven't started watching yet, so I am open to suggestions.

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    2. Thanks for the compliments! I'm flattered! Although my online name is a nightmare to spell. :P

      As for a good dub to start with, I suggest the "RAI English" one. It aired at the same time as the 4Kids dub, but outside the U.S. (Singapore and Canada, I think). Unlike the 4Kids dub, it kept the original music, scenes, plots, and names (except Aisha, who was still called "Layla"). The script was mostly a direct translation of the Italian.

      Basically, it was a more "faithful" dub.

      The Nick dub has been more "faithful" in general -- especially compared to the 4Kids dub -- but RAI English is still closer to the original.

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    3. Thank you so much! I will look for that one (hadn't heard of it). My niece is here visiting, and I am hoping we can watch some of these together before she has to leave.

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  15. This blog post actually led me to this blog :D
    I'm a huge Winx Club fan, you can ask me anything, I'll give you the answer right away! :D
    I learned about the Jakks Pacific dolls a few days ago.
    As a die-hard Winx Club fan, it's really important to me that new merchandise is high quality.
    I actually really like the Jakks Pacific dolls and I'm glad that Simba no longer is the only company making Winx Club dolls.
    I never liked the Simba dolls, the quality didn't stand out to me and the dolls just have an ugly face :/
    See this link if you want to know what I'm talking about:

    http://www.google.nl/imgres?hl=nl&biw=1024&bih=635&tbm=isch&tbnid=6QJs3SzHCTmhIM:&imgrefurl=http://www.izideal.co.uk/p14629326/winx-love-pet-flora/&docid=rxavR4BqBeyE1M&imgurl=http://images.izideal.com/img/product/14629326/l/uk/winx-love-pet-flora.jpeg&w=600&h=600&ei=B70SUIzABc7a0QXU34GgCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=593&vpy=137&dur=256&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=149&ty=112&sig=113467995797596677493&page=1&tbnh=141&tbnw=139&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:78

    My favorite Winx dolls are the dolls made by Mattel.
    I actually have quite a lot of those, even though they're discontinued.
    I have a lot of second hand dolls from flee markets and the second hand store nearby.
    I also have two Giochi Preziosi Winx Club dolls, one Stella enchantix and one Daphne (Blooms ghost sister)
    I bought them on a flee market, the girl that sold them to me had all the Giochi Preziosi enchantix dolls, the Giochi Preziosi Daphne and a glam magic enchantix mattel doll.
    I really wanted all the Giochi Preziosi dolls but my mom told me to pick two (I was really bummed about this but the wings of the dolls weren't in great condition anyway)
    I left the mattel doll because I already had her and I only picked two dolls as my mum told me to, the mattel doll only was 2,50 euros and could bring 25 euros easily but never mind about that.
    Anyway, my favorite doll that I own (including all my other dolls) is actually a Winx Club glam magic enchantix doll made by mattel, I have four of those and I'm missing two to complete the collection.
    These dolls are ranging in price from 25 to about 200 euros (I know, that's a lot!) Layla (Aisha for you, her name was changed in some countries) and Musa are extremely rare here in the Netherlands, the rest of the dolls aren't so rare here (Bloom, Tecna, Flora, Stella) I'm only missing Flora and Musa.
    So, can you guess which doll might be the 200 euros doll?
    Yep, it's Musa.
    You can see her here:
    http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs45/i/2009/161/4/6/Musa_Doll_and_Stuff_by_winxphantom.jpg

    Part 1 of reply, the reply was too long at first :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Part 2:
    As you may expect from seeing the price, there's no way I could ever afford her, but Flora might be a less expensive option :)

    Here are all the Glam Magic Enchantix dolls made by Mattel:
    http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5463/6909924614_c8d28c4cfe_z.jpg

    And the extra Bloom set (which I don't have but really want, it's really rare here):
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7078/7181016358_c5d889eed8.jpg

    Here is also a picture of a doll comparisment, all Winx dolls ever made (one Mattel doll, two kinds Giochi Preziosi dolls and a Simba doll) next to each other, the Jakks Pacific doll is missing here, it's an old picture:

    http://www.google.nl/imgres?num=10&hl=nl&biw=1024&bih=635&tbm=isch&tbnid=9oYZrsKXmbq1BM:&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/venivididolli/3550580435/&docid=dE10VVOxdzslkM&imgurl=http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3330/3550580435_30be4cccf0.jpg&w=500&h=391&ei=NrwSUP_JN8qd0AWqjoHQDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=384&vpy=324&dur=5173&hovh=198&hovw=254&tx=133&ty=114&sig=113467995797596677493&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=185&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0,i:113

    If I had to make a list of my favorite Winx dolls ever made (by company)
    this is what it would look like:

    1. Mattel (I have lots of those)
    2. Jakks Pacific (I have none of those)
    3. Giochi Preziosi, the skinny doll (I have 2 of those)
    4. Simba (I have none of those)
    5 Giochi Preziosi, the thicker, bigger doll (I have none of those)

    I would love to have a Jakks Pacific doll but I've done my research and it seems that Jakks Pacific isn't going to release Winx dolls in the Netherlands, EVER.
    And so, the Jakks Pacific Winx Club doll dream will never come true, bummer :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You could probably buy them online. :)

      Delete
    2. Hmm, maybe you could see if anyone in the US really wants a Simba doll (which can only be found in Europe) and offer to trade said Simba doll for a Jakks Pacific doll? :/ I saw someone who did that...

      Delete
    3. Maybe you could trade with someone in the US. :/ Quite a few people really want certain Simba dolls which can only be found in Europe (and Netherlands) such as the Harmonix dolls or Roxy Believix. Maybe you could give them to someone in return for a Jakks Pacific? I saw two people who did that : D

      Delete
    4. Really? :O I haven't thought about that yet!
      That would be awesome. But I'd have to convince my parents then :/ And I don't know anyone (who I know I can trust) that wants to do that :c
      Thanks for the tip though!

      Delete
  17. Oh, and here are the Giochi Prezios enchantix dolls I was talking about, I have Stella.

    http://api.ning.com/files/sGX0NFXdq0hlWpCVi-il9ChSOuhOsECtHPH-AU0VX7b47n72mqLnjvWLsyZr48Wj78P6vOS0NAYIpMt6njUEySlXsZoniNbj/WINX20BONECA.bmp?width=551&height=469

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nice review on Bloom! I love all your posts and reactions about it!

    also please check my blog!
    http://patriciady11.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  19. I think you got a Bloom with broken wings. I bought a fashion pack that came with extra wings, and they are pretty secure.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Your captions always make me lol, but I especially love the Doctor Who reference! Do you have any of those figures?

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  21. I have bloom harmonix I got her for $11 at Marshall's

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  22. Just a quick question- do you know if Bratz or Bratzillaz clothes would fit on Winx dolls? I wish that "fashion packs" (I don't know if there's another term for this) existed. All they have is "Wing packs" which only have wings and shoes.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I think that Winx Club is a Sailor Moon meets W.I.T.C.H. rather than Pokemon meets Avatar.

    I have a few of these dolls, by Witty Toys.
    I liked the dolls by Mattel but they had been not released in Italy, where we had the extralarge Giochi Preziosi dolls instead.
    I saw the Mattel dolls displayed during a comic convention in Italy but they were not for sale, I found them for sale in Switzerland but I had no money to buy them.
    I was able to get one recently.

    This is most of my Winx doll collection

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/applecandy_mela/24544737196/in/dateposted-public/

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/applecandy_mela/24275602640/in/dateposted-public/

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/applecandy_mela/16541581160/in/album-72157650732642417/

    some dolls are still in boxes.

    The older models were a bit more detailed.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Jakks did a line of dolls that supposedly uses the Winx body called "Zombie Girls". It's presumably a Monster High piggyback with each character having died in a different decade and the premiere versions having full articulation and tombstones for stands. Might be worth checking out.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This is a question, as opposed to a comment: Why are the Winx Club dolls SO expensive nowadays? I go on eBay to look for Bloom dolls (she's my favourite), but her price is so high! As a studious and serious doll collector, can you give any reasons?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Because people are crazy and price-gouge the heck out of anything discontinued on eBay. Leastwise, that's my experience. >_<

      Delete