New Kitty Surprise by Just Play

Once again, I got sidetracked from another review I am writing because of a routine stop at Toys R Us.  I don't regularly check the stuffed animal section at this store, but the other day there were no new dolls to look at, and so I wandered into some less-frequented aisles.  To my amazement, I saw three pink boxes with Kitty Surprise plush inside!  I absolutely love surprises, and so this is one of my favorite toys of all time.

The "Surprise" line of stuffed toys started way back in the early 1990s with vinyl-faced plush dogs, cats, ponies, bears and bunnies that came with an undisclosed number of babies in their bellies.  The original animals were released by Hasbro.  Playskool (a division of Hasbro) re-introduced the line in 2005 with a few changes.  The new animals (only cats, dogs and rabbits this time) did not have vinyl faces and resembled more typical stuffed toys.  A couple of years ago, I looked at some of the Puppy Surprise toys that were made by Playskool in 2005.  Those toys didn't last long on the market, and so when they were discontinued, I figured we had heard the last of this brand.

As it turns out, the line has now been turned over to Just Play (whose Doc McStuffins doll I recently reviewed), and the design has gone back to a vinyl-faced version similar to that of the original toys.  So far, there are only dogs and cats in this new collection.  I found several of the cats at my local Toys R Us, and thought the pink and white kitty, "Snow," was especially cute:

Kitty Surprise "Snow," by Just Play, $24.99.

The animals come in cardboard window boxes that resemble the disposable pet carriers you can get at the shelter or at the vet's office:

Looks like this cat is only available at Toys R Us. 

The decorations on the box seem designed to make me crazy with curiosity:

So many questions!  I need answers!!

The Playskool mommies only held a maximum of four babies, so the possibility of five is an increase.  The variety of options is so exciting--there can be boys or girls, sets of twins, sleeping babies...and there's occasionally a runt!  

I have to say, though, that the picture of the babies on the back of the box is a little funny.  It kinda looks like the kittens have flat flipper feet:

The cartoon cats on the back of the box remind me of characters from the 1970 Disney movie, The Aristocats:

The back of the box has pictures of the three different mother cats that are available.  None of them has a heart-shaped spot on her face (like the cartoon).  In fact, they all have the same basic spot pattern on their faces:

I like Snow and Maple (the calico) best.

Judging by the already-inflated prices on eBay and Amazon, the calico cat is the most sought-after one in the group right now.  I like her realistic coloring next to the abundance of pink in the other options, and I am very curious about what color her babies might be...but I've always had a soft spot for white cats.

The sides of the box have paw print cutouts with no plastic covering--so Snow can breathe:

The bottom of the box credits the distributor (Just Play) and the copyright holder (Ed Kaplan).  I searched for some history on the trademark of this brand, but couldn't find much information.  Ed Kaplan held the rights for the 2005 toys, too, so I suppose the distributor has just been changed.

The odds of getting more than three babies is 1 in 4:

Snow is attached to a cardboard backdrop that slides out of the pet carrier box:

Her head is attached to the cardboard with a plastic tie:

And two thin cable ties attach her to the bottom of the box:

The cable ties run through two small loops of ribbon on the cat's body.

It is very easy to get Snow out of her packaging.  The box would make a nice accessory for play, and is also almost completely recyclable.

Snow is sitting in a crouched position with her head turned to one side.  

It looks like she has a very full belly!

She has a tail made out of long white fur over a thick stuffed base.  She also has matching tufts of long white fur on her head and chest.

The hair on the top of Snow's head is gathered together and sewn into a pink bow.  Some of my cat's hair got left out of the bow and sticks off to one side:

Snow's fabric collar is sewn to her body and has a pink glittery plastic tag with "KS" written in gold on the front:

This cat has a white face with an asymmetrical fuzzy-edged pink patch on the left side:

Snow has baby blue eyes with pink and purple accents.  I find that the purple rim around these eyes makes Snow a little sickly.  Also, I wish the shape of the pupils was more feline:

They're very rounded.

Here's a real blue-eyed cat for comparison:

Snow has a bright red tongue sticking out.  Cats pant when they're hot or stressed, but this behavior is much less common in cats than it is in dogs.  Do you know any cats who walk around with their tongues hanging out?

I don't.

Snow has upright ears that are lined with a pink satiny fabric:

The idea of a stuffed animal having a vinyl face is strange to me.  The shape of the face on this cat is nicely done, but Snow looks like she's wearing a thick hoodie sweatshirt--or a mask.  I find the plastic face especially odd-looking from the side:

It reminds me of monkeys and Monchhichis.

The right side of Snow's face (the one without any pink) looks the strangest of all, in part because the vinyl has a vaguely yellowish tinge and doesn't match the pure white of the plush fur: 

Here's Snow next to my son's old Kitty Surprise toy from 2005.  I think he named this particular cat "Snowball," so the two make a nice pair:

I prefer the appearance of the 2005 cat.  This particular toy is fairly worn from years of snuggling, but she has a sweet, soft appearance--and she's much more huggable than the hard-faced newcomer.  Having said that, I do appreciate the nostalgic fun of returning to the original vinyl face design.

I also like the realistic all-white coloring of the older cat.  However, this cat's eyes also have round pupils and purple highlights:

The 2005 Puppy and Kitty Surprise toys came with embroidered marks on their cheeks called "Pretty Patches" (Snowball has a purple heart).  These shapes match equivalent markings on the babies, which is a nice way of remembering who came with who.

Here is one of Snowball's babies:

The babies have stitched facial features (except for the Pretty Patch, which is a decal) and are stuffed tightly enough so that they can stand up:

Snowball only had two babies--twin girls with the exact same markings:

The 2005 version of Kitty Surprise didn't stick around for very long.  I am wondering if this is because of a lukewarm reaction to the soft faces, or maybe just because the kids who had Kitty Surprise in 1990 weren't yet old enough to have children of their own--avoiding the whole nostalgia market.  Now that we're approaching the 15-year anniversary of the original Hasbro toy, it is closer to a good time for Just Play to return to a more classic look.  

Sadly, I don't own any of the original Hasbro Kitty Surprise toys from 1991, but nice examples can still be found on eBay.  Well-kept versions of these toys (that still have their babies) usually go for $30-$50.  

One outstanding example is this tan mother cat with two babies that seem to be in very good condition.  These were sold by "Little Treasures and Bargains," whose owner is beyond lovely and graciously agreed to let me share her vibrant, clear pictures on the blog.  

Vintage Hasbro Kitty Surprise.

This mother cat has a hard mask-like face, but the furry detail under her chin lessens the abruptness of the transition from plush to vinyl.  I love her bright green eyes and facial detail (but she also has her tongue hanging out...).

These kittens have so much expression in their faces!  There is a green-eyed girl (with cat-like pupils) and a blue-eyed boy.  The kittens have full vinyl heads (no hoodies) and bean bag bodies that can stand upright.  I love the long tails on these little guys, and I think the variety in their faces is great.  They make me want to see more Kitty Surprise babies from this era!

Vintage Kitty Surprise babies.

Ok!  Enough chatter!  Let's get down to business here and see how many babies Snow has hiding in that big belly of hers.  Boys or girls?  Sleeping or awake?  Twins?  A runt??  It's finally time to find out!

Snow has a long seam along her midline that closes with white velcro:

Trying not to peek at all of the babies at once, I reached in and pulled out the first kitten.  She instantly got stuck on her mother's velcro seam:

Sticky situation.

I worry about how the velcro might ravage the fabric on the kittens' bodies over time, but this little one came out unscathed:

She's an adorable little sleeping girl.  She has a lot of pink on her body and face, but I think the definitive mark of her gender is the bow around her neck.

Pink bow = girl.

The vinyl head on this baby is precious, but her body is really funny.  She has a stubby little tail and a flat body with flipper-like feet.  Look at the large front legs, in particular:

Half cat, half seal pup?

Here's a public domain picture of a day-old kitten for comparison:

Sleeping, but not flat.

The plush kitten's body is stuffed, but doesn't have any beans in it, so it's very lightweight.  It also isn't stuffed very tightly, so there's not much substance to round out the flat design of the body.  She looks like she's wearing footie pajamas:

Or maybe she's a flying squirrel baby?

This particular kitten has a pure white back and a pastel pink belly.  She also has a matching pastel pink stripe down the top of her head.

Or a pink manta ray baby, perhaps?

The vinyl head is attached to the body with a cable tie.  The head does not rotate.

Now...what about the next kitty?  I knew there would be at least three of them in there, which is awesome.

Here it comes...

It's another sleeping girl!  I got twins.

Déjà vu.

Still cute.

Here's a picture of the twins together. They are very sweet:

The next kitten to emerge had her eyes wide open...

I see you.

This is an awake girl with some differences in her markings.  She has a neon pink underbelly...and a back leg that seems to be missing all of its stuffing.  The uneven stuffing also makes her whole body tip forwards:

The seal pup transformation is complete.

Her open eyes have bright blue irises with a navy blue border.  She does not have a pink lining in her ears:

Her mouth and nose match the neon pink color of her belly, as do the three tabby stripes on the top of her head:

Lucky me, there was still another baby after this bright-eyed girl!  This little one looks like a boy....

It is!  It's a boy!

Blue ribbon = boy.

This fellow has his head tilted a bit to one side and is sporting the most endearing little lopsided grin.  His eyes are baby blue rimmed with a darker royal blue ring.

SO cute.

His entire body is pure white.  His head is also completely white with no markings--not even a pink lining in his ears.  In fact, even his mouth and nose are drawn in black.  There's no pink anywhere, which is a little extreme.  Boy cats can have pink noses, too.  That would have been ok.

Complete absence of pink = boy.

I think this one looks like a strange little polar bear:

I could hardly believe it when yet another baby spilled out after this little boy!

Don't forget me!

It's another girl, but this one is totally different from either of the other girl designs.  She has open eyes, but she has a pastel pink belly and no markings on her head (she does have pink ears, though).  This kitten has a sewing defect on her left front flipper paw that gives it a small pucker:

I'll call her Nemo.

Here are the two awake girls together:

Notice the differences in the head markings, ears, mouth and nose.

And here are the two plain-headed kittens together (boy and girl):

Different ears, eye colors, mouths and noses.

So...after this experience, it seems like the types of variety in the kittens are as follows:

Gender (color of neck ribbon)

Eye design (awake or asleep)

Eye color

Ear lining color

Mouth/nose color

Head design shape

Head design color

Belly color

...and that's without the options for a runt (which I didn't get).  

That makes for quite a lot of diversity in the babies, which I think is the most entertaining thing about toys like this.

And, apparently some of the Puppy Surprise puppies have "magic" eyes that change from closed to open when you put icy cold water on them.  I'd love to try that!  Tom told me over on Facebook that the eyes don't work very well, though, which is sad.  This reminds me of the Liv for Hair dolls that had nails and makeup which changed color in icy water.  That feature was fun, but the color change didn't last.

Anyway...here is my litter of new kittens meeting the Playskool twins--I think the older twins are a little baffled by this pack of slithering kitties...

Um...they're a little creepy.  Should we run?

While the new kittens definitely have strange bodies, I think the vinyl faces are more expressive (and more cat-like) than the older embroidered faces:

And last, here are a few pictures of Snow with her brood:

*Update: see my Puppy Surprise post for some possible staining problems with the dalmatian dog, Gigi.

Bottom line?  I adore the Kitty Surprise concept and would enjoy just about any incarnation of this clever idea.  I also like that the toy has gone back to its roots with a vinyl-faced design reminiscent of the Hasbro animals from 1991.  Best of all, I like the increase in the average number of expected babies.  Many of the 2005 toys had only two babies, but the Just Play version will never deliver fewer than three...and holds the possibility of five.  That's a pretty big deal for a toy that's designed around the mystery and variety of a collection of hidden babies.

However, not everything about this new version of Kitty Surprise measures up to the appeal of the earlier toys.  Among the adult cats, I like the soft-faced animals from 2005 the best.  These huggable cuties might not have the same realism in their features as the vinyl-faced cats, but they also avoid the awkward plush-vinyl seam and the mask-like faces of the other two versions.  I like the original adult cats from the 1990s second best.  These toys have more detail and variety in their features, distracting attention from the strange face seam.  That leaves the current Kitty Surprise adults as my least favorite.  Don't get me wrong--I like the new cats, I just don't think they've distinguished themselves from their predecessors in any significant way.  They're like simplified re-makes of the originals.

With the kittens, my order of preference is completely different.  Here, I like the 1991 version the best.  I'm pretty sure these kittens have bean bag bodies, and the bodies are nicely-shaped and can stand upright.  The heads on these babies are all vinyl (no mask-like seam) and are very realistic and cute.  I like the newest Just Play kittens second best.  They have ridiculous lightweight flat bodies and flipper-like legs, but the vinyl heads are so sweet that it makes up for the body.  The faces have a lot of personality and will probably inspire neat games and great affection from the kids who own them.  I also like the variety in these kittens--the 2005 babies would often look very similar, but these new youngsters have a good assortment of little things to distinguish them.  Again, even though the 2005 babies are in last place here, I still like them and find their soft embroidered faces appealing in their own way.

Whatever little preferences I might have from one version to the next, I love that Kitty Surprise and Puppy Surprise are on the shelves again--in any form.  This toy offers a lot of initial excitement, for sure, but it also has staying power as a versatile plaything or a beloved snuggling companion.  I can't see myself ever tiring of the irresistible mystery of these classic, wholesome toys.