Disney Descendants: Rise of Red Dolls by Mattel

I'm back with the second installment of my two-part Disney Descendants series!  And I have to admit that this is the review I've been looking forward to the most.  All of the dolls that I'm going to talk about today are from the fourth live action Descendants movie, Rise of Red.  This movie has all of the same sound overproduction issues as the first three, but it features Brandy Norwood as Cinderella and Paolo Montalban as Prince Charming.  The casting is important to me because those are the same actors who played Cinderella and the Prince in the 1997 Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella--a film I have always adored.

Another reason that Brandy is special to me is that I was fortunate enough to see her on Broadway when she appeared for a brief stint as Roxie in Chicago.  I think that was back in 2017, and we had front row seats.  I might have already gushed about that experience here on the blog, but for good reason: it was unforgettable, and the closest I've ever gotten to meeting Cinderella in real life!

Knowing all of that, imagine my delight when I discovered that not only had Brandy reprised her role as Cinderella in Rise of Red, but Mattel had made a doll of that character!  And the doll looks quite a bit like Brandy herself:

Rise of Red Cinderella by Mattel ($29.99).

Disney Descendants Anniversary Mal Doll by Mattel

I have to say, a lot of my review inspiration lately has been driven by nostalgia.  I think it's because I'm still in the process of updating the List of All Reviews page, which involves going back through each of my old posts, tidying up dead links, enlarging some of the photos, and general housekeeping stuff like that.  And of course every third or fourth review, I'm like, "ooh!  Those dolls were fun! I should get them out and play with them again."  And sometimes I'm like, "ooh!  I loved that doll!  Why on earth did I ever sell her?"  And then I go to eBay and try to re-purchase the same doll.  It's really bad...but ever so predictable.  I should probably talk to my therapist about it.

Anyway, as I sifted through my 2015 reviews, I was reminded of the Hasbro dolls from the Descendants movie.  Do you remember those dolls?  They have funny caricature faces and bad hair.  I realized that, despite having written two reviews of the dolls, I never actually watched the movie!  And now, more than ten years later, there are three more live action Descendants movies with a fourth slated for 2026.  There are also a ton of new dolls, now being made by Mattel.

After discovering all of this, I purchased a bunch of the new dolls and watched all of the movies.  My favorite movie is the most recent: Rise of Red.  I like it because it includes Cinderella, played by none other than Brandy Norwood!  Like, the same Brandy who starred in the wonderful 1997 Cinderella movie!  Eeeee!  The prince is played by the same actor, too, which is incredible.  So, anyway, I'm going to focus on the dolls from that movie for the most part, but I want to start by taking a look at Mattel's Anniversary Mal doll, so that we can compare her to the Hasbro Mal that I reviewed back in 2015:

Disney Descendants Anniversary Mal doll by Mattel, $24.99.

Sweet Sisters and Cotti Motti by Orange Toys

It was a tough winter, wasn't it?  I'm struck by that as I sit here in the sun, with signs of spring finally bursting out all around.  It's easier to be optimistic in the spring, I think, and there's a lot that I'm grateful for, despite all of the chaos and evil in the world right now.  Most notably, I forgot to tell you that one of my kids got married last month!  So now we have a wonderful new daughter-in-law.  And we have a new dog in the mix, too: a twelve-year-old deaf Maltese named Norman.  I also dodged a possible cancer diagnosis, so I'm feeling thankful for my health.  On the doll front, I have a very special baby doll that I ordered five months ago who's finally on her way to me...and a whole project series that I have in mind to complement that doll.  So that's all pretty exciting.

I'm excited about the dolls that I have to share with you today, too, although there were some disappointments that I didn't anticipate.  You might remember back during my Lucky Doggy review, I was browsing the Orange Toys website and fell in love with their Sweet Sisters line of cloth dolls.  I ordered way too many of those dolls, and in the process discovered the Cotti Motti plush animals, also from Orange Toys, who can share clothing with the Sweet Sisters!  So I had to buy a few Cotti Motti characters, too.  Obviously.

In today's review, I'll focus mostly on the Sweet Sisters dolls, but I'll also take a peek at two Cotti Motti animals:

Sweet Sisters Sunny (left) and Cotti Motti Daphne (right) by Orange Toys.

Tea with Lena: Mini Brands Fill the Fridge vs. Miniverse Real Brands

This review might feel a little repetitive with the last one (Miniverse Spaces), but maybe we can think of it as a companion piece or something?  I'm including it because while I was looking at the Spaces sets, Lena got interested...and a little irritated that I hadn't included her.  She doesn't fit into the Spaces or Rolife rooms, obviously, but she likes talking about anything food or kitchen-related, so she felt like I was invading her turf.  Fair enough.

By way of an apology, I offered to let Lena talk about another group of food-themed toys that have been on my radar.  In fact, she gets to talk about two different food-themed toys today: Zuru's Mini Brands Fill the Fridge sets and MGA Entertainment's Miniverse Real Brands.  The two are extremely similar--in name and in concept.  Both brands have surprise balls with brand-name food miniatures inside.  Zuru's Fill the Fridge line also has an actual fridge that Lena will be looking at.

Lena's goal here will be to see which group of surprise ball food items is best at actually filling a fridge!  I've said too much already at this point, so I'll turn things over to Lena:

Lena with Mini Brands Fill the Fridge and Miniverse Real Brands items.

Miniverse Make it Mini Spaces by MGA Entertainment

It was so nice to hear your reactions to the My Twinn repaints that I've been working on!  Thank you so much for the encouragement.  Bolstered by your kind words, I've launched into another restoration.  I'll probably list the dolls on eBay at some point, since my Etsy store is hard to maintain.  Or, rather, it's hard to keep my Etsy store stocked, and there's nothing more depressing than an empty storefront!

I've definitely been in a project mood lately, though.  Perhaps it's because I have leftover energy from thinking that we'd be moving?  That was certainly taking up a lot of my creative brain.  So now I'm filling the void with any little project that I can get my hands on.  That's been fun, I guess, but it interferes with me actually sitting down at my computer and typing up a review.  But here I am doing it, finally.

Today's review was inspired by my recent project-seeking behavior.  I've reviewed Miniverse Make it Mini items several times on this blog, so they don't necessarily need any more commentary.  However, the new Spaces line is very similar to the Rolife Super Creator kits that I enjoy, in that both products are diorama-like rooms that need to be assembled.  There are also surprise Spaces capsules with furniture that needs to be built.  I was definitely in the mood for some building, so I decided to check it all out.

Chelsea in a Miniverse Make it Mini Spaces room ($19.99).

Quick Look: Some Doll Restorations

I know I published a review recently, but I wanted to squeeze in one more little thing before the end of the month.  This'll give me a chance to slow down and chat a little, which feels hard during a conventional review.  Those get long enough as it is.

First of all, as I'm sure you noticed, I'm back to the grey backdrop.  White was interesting.  The photos I took of Cupid Asteria look nice and clean for the most part, but I had to turn the exposure on my camera way up to keep everything from being dark and drab.  Even then, the background looks light grey in most pictures.  Light grey is fine, but I don't understand how professional photographers get that super-white background!  I couldn't do it with my current set-up.  Another thing is that I feel like colors don't pop against white like they do with grey.  Furthermore, every single piece of dust and glitter was really obvious.  So while the grey gives me headaches sometimes, I guess it's the best option for now...so I'll stop complaining.

Also, for whatever it's worth, we've put the house hunt on hold.  It feels like a bad time to move for many reasons--mostly because everything is so expensive.  It's safer to hunker down and appreciate the roof over our heads and all of the good things that New Jersey has to offer.  It'll certainly be easier to keep blogging if I'm not packing up my entire house again!  And I've gotten back into painting dolls, so it'd be a shame to uproot that operation just as I'm gaining some traction.  

In fact, painting dolls is what I want to talk about today!  There are four dolls that I've been working on for the last few weeks, and I'd love to share them with you.  Everybody loves a good makeover, right?

My Twinn Kate from 2011...who desperately needs a makeover.

Blythe Float Away Dream by Good Smile Company

This review is getting close to four years overdue!  That could be a new record for me.  You might remember that way back in 2022, I started a Blythe series that was meant to have three parts: an analysis of the imitation Blythe world, a review of a Takara/TOMY Blythe doll, and a review of a Good Smile Company Blythe doll.  But I haven't done the Good Smile Company review...until now.  I got the idea for this series in 2022 because Good Smile Company had recently taken over the manufacturing of Blythe dolls from Takara/TOMY, and there was some concern about whether the new dolls would be as good as the old ones.  That's not really a pressing question anymore.  However, I still wanted to see one of the newer dolls for myself, and I don't like leaving things unfinished.  So I'm going to wrap up the series today.  Better late than never, right?

I was reminded of this series last week because I got a fresh round of threats from This is Blythe, the shop where I purchased my first imitation Blythe doll.  They're back to their email harassment tactics, threatening to sue me for factually relaying my experience.  As far as I know, the First Amendment is still a thing, so I'll hold firm.  But it's depressing because I have never, in my 20+ years of blogging and collecting, encountered such a nasty, vindictive person in the doll world.  Nothing even close.  It's just not who we are as a community.

But I don't want to dwell on that unpleasantness right now.  Dolls are meant to bring joy and amusement--not anger and frustration.  And you've already waited long enough to meet my turquoise-haired Blythe beauty from Good Smile Company, so here she is:

Blythe "Float Away Dream" by Good Smile Company, ~$120.

Cupid Asteria from Monster High

Happy Valentine's Day!  I don't usually write a special post for this particular holiday (not sure why?) but I got a comment on my Lucky Doggy review with a few suggestions for Valentine-themed dolls, and that inspired me!  Besides, I feel a lot of love and gratitude for all of you, so what better way to show it?

I did a big review of the new G3 Monster High dolls when they first came out in 2022, but haven't done a great job of keeping up with all of the subsequent releases.  However, I've enjoyed several of the G3 character interpretations enough to purchase the dolls--with vague intent to review them, but also simply to enjoy them.  My favorites so far have been Venus McFlytrap, Catty Noir, Jinafire Long, and Cupid Asteria.  Can you guess which one from that list gets her time in the spotlight today?

G3 Monster High Cupid Asteria ($24.99)

Shopkins Li'l Secrets by Moose Toys

Thank you so much for all of the words of comfort and affirmation in the last review.  I love this community.  You guys keep me sane.  As if things in the world weren't explosive enough already, Andy and I spent the last week thinking about whether or not we should move to another state.  We'd like to be closer to our kids, and as nice as New Jersey is, it doesn't really feel like home.  So that's a whole thing.  I'm actually on a train right now, headed back to New Jersey after looking at a house that we're considering.

Being on the train gives me an excellent chance to finish up this review, though!  It's been in the works for too long.  Back in November, when I reviewed Polly Pocket, I got an anonymous comment encouraging me to look at the Shopkins Li'l Secrets.  These are discontinued miniature playset toys with the same basic idea as the Polly Pocket compacts--but with a locking mechanism feature on the cover.  Sounds pretty cool, right?  I thought so.  I purchased a few Li'l Secrets sets right after reading that comment, and have been eager to investigate ever since!

Shopkins Li'l Secrets by Moose Toys, 2018.

Winx Club Dolls by Playmates Toys

My country is in a shambles right now, and it can feel hard to do everyday activities.  But I continue to forge ahead with my reviews because it helps me to balance the bad with some good in my life.  I hope the blog offers a retreat for others of you in the United States right now, and for anyone in other countries dealing with the toxic fallout. 

Today I'm going to be looking at the newest Winx Club dolls.  I'm not a lifelong fan of the Winx Club franchise, but I started to appreciate this magical fairy world back in 2012 when I reviewed Believix Bloom by Jakks Pacific.  I became even more invested in 2014, when I compared an Italian Witty Toys Bloom to the dolls from Jakks Pacific.  By now I have a decades-long interest in the evolution of these dolls, and I was particularly excited to see the newest version of Bloom, the spunky redhead who's at the center of the Winx Club stories:

Winx Club Bloom by Playmates Toys, $17.99

Lucky Doggy by Orange Toys

I was so excited earlier this winter when I discovered the Woof & Co. plush dogs at Walmart.  I felt like they were unique and adorable newcomers to the doll market and I gave them a mostly glowing review.  My only complaints were that they have cheap (and sometimes unattractive) clothing, and no head articulation.  And there were a few irritating manufacturing defects as well.  But overall, I was really impressed that Sunny Days Entertainment had come up with such a cool toy.

But, as it often happens, one of you shed a whole new light on the situation.  I got an anonymous comment that the Woof & Co. dogs are basically knockoffs of the European Lucky Doggy line by Orange Toys.  I absolutely hate that I featured the copycats (dupe dogs?) before I even knew about the originals.  Sheesh.  So, as soon as I learned about Lucky Doggy, I rushed over to my trusted European doll source, Dolls and Dolls, and ordered a few of these plush pooches for review:

Lucky Doggy Yoyo by Orange Toys, ~$45.

Quick Look: Moodles by Sunny Days Entertainment

Happy New Year!  As one of my New Year's resolutions, I decided to add a different kind of review to the mix.  I'm going to call these new reviews Quick Looks, and the idea is pretty simple: once or twice a month, I'll post something shorter than normal.  This will offer a faster reading experience for you, and a better turnaround time for me.  I also think it'll encourage reviews of products that I might not normally consider--simpler dolls and toys, or maybe little projects and updates that I want to share.

My original intent was to limit myself to only fifty photos for each of these reviews, and call the series Fifty Photo Friday or something like that.  But the reality is that a specific photo limit is too prohibitive.  As an example, I tried to keep today's review to only fifty photos and ended up needing sixty five.  That's not bad for me, though, considering that my typical reviews have about two hundred pictures.  

To kick off the Quick Look concept, here are sixty five photos of some very silly and unusual little dolls called Moodles:

Moodles Zoey by Sunny Days Entertainment, $24.99.

Maplelea & Me by Maplelea Girls

I'm here in the nick of time to finish out December (and 2025!) with one last 18-inch doll review.  This time, I'll be looking at a Maplelea doll, which isn't something I've done since my Saila Qilavvaq review in 2014.  It's certainly past time for me to check in with this brand and see what's new.

This is sort-of an addition to my advent calendar series, but I had to cheat because there's no official Maplelea advent calendar.  I wish there was, because I feel like this company would do an outstanding job with the design and execution of such a thing.  Maybe they'll consider it for the future?  I'd certainly buy something like that.  For now, I found a cute handmade calendar that I'll share with you at the end of the review.  Mostly, though, this post will be all about Maplelea & Me KMF43:

Maplelea & Me KMF43 ($115).

Merry Christmas From Lena and Ian!

Lena asked me the other day if she could do a quick blog post for the holidays.  I think she's worried that she's put her professional life on hold for too long--but I'll let her explain what's been going on around here.  I'm going to take the day off!

Christmas 2025.

The American Girl Advent Calendar

It's time for the third installment of the advent calendar series!  For those who may have missed the previous reviews, I started by looking at a My Life As doll and her calendar, then enjoyed some time with an Our Generation girl and her calendar.  Of those two, the Our Generation experience was more rewarding.  However, I've yet to look at the behemoth of the 18-inch doll market: American Girl.

My last American Girl doll review was the Girls From Many Lands post that I wrote in 2024.  However, those dolls aren't conventional American Girl dolls, so maybe it doesn't count.  Before that, I looked at Gwynn Tan in 2022.  Gwynn is a 14-inch doll, though, so maybe she doesn't count, either?  I think the last classic, 18-inch American Girl doll that I reviewed was Eliza, way back in 2017.  She was a Create Your Own American Girl, who I ordered when that concept first launched.

I decided to mirror my experience from eight years ago, and so another Create Your Own doll will join me as we look at the 2025 American Girl calendar:

Create Your Own American Girl doll ($275).

The Our Generation Advent Calendar

I'm back with the second in this year's series of advent calendar reviews!  Last week I looked at a new My Life As doll and the advent calendar from that brand, and today I'll be looking at an Our Generation doll and her advent calendar.

I was fortunate to have Lurkins write a guest review about Our Generation dolls in September of 2022, otherwise my last interaction with these toys would have been way back in 2014.  Yikes.  So, big thanks to Lurkins for keeping me reasonably up-to-date.  Still, I was eager to look at a current Our Generation character and see for myself what the quality is like.  Also, this brand has the most accessible advent calendar for 18-inch dolls on the market right now:

Our Generation doll, Aubrie ($23.99).

The My Life As Advent Calendar

It's advent calendar time again!  I had a lot of fun last year with this series, but got overly ambitious by opening ten calendars throughout December and part of January.  This year I decided to take a different approach: I'm only going to look at three calendars, each of which is geared towards a specific brand of 18-inch doll.

One of the reasons I chose this approach is that I've been neglecting 18-inch dolls lately.  I can't even remember the last time I reviewed a doll this size.  Part of that is because when we moved to New Jersey from Maine (five years ago now!), I gave away or sold most of my 18-inch dolls.  They take up a lot of space.  I miss them, though, and was eager to add a few back into my collection.

Each of the three reviews this month will take a brief look at an 18-inch doll, and a more in-depth look at her associated calendar.  Does that sound like fun?  I hope so, because I'm ready to kick things off with My Life As Peyton and her 2024 advent calendar:

My Life As Peyton, $29.88.

Polly Pocket Follow-Up: The Modern Playline Compacts

It's been a very restful Thanksgiving week for me here in New Jersey, and I was especially thankful that my son came for a visit and I didn't have to work on the holiday!  I hope that those of you who celebrate had a pleasant time as well.  I was a little stressed to come out of this week realizing that December is upon us, though!  Yikes.  That means I need to start getting my advent calendar series ready.

Between planning the advent calendar reviews and eating a lot of stuffing, I didn't have much time to pull together something new and creative for this week.  So, I decided to tie up loose ends from my last Polly Pocket review.  In that extensive post, I mentioned a few of the playline compact-style sets that are available right now, but I didn't have time to look at any of them in person.  Today I'll make up for that by showing you three of my favorites: the Monster High set, the Care Bears set, and the Hedgehog Cafe:

Polly Pocket in her Hedgehog Cafe from 2020 ($24.99).

Polly Pocket, Then and Now

I've talked about Polly Pocket dolls several times over the years.  The first time was back in 2015, when I reviewed  3.75 inch dolls from 2011 and 2012, and compared them to a Polly Pocket-themed Kinder Surprise egg that my husband generously bought for me.  More recently, I looked at the bizarrely entertaining Pop 'n Swap Pollys from 2008.  My advent calendar feature last December also included a 2024 Polly Pocket set with the smaller 1.25 inch Polly dolls.  Oh--and speaking of advent calendars, I have plans to do another advent mini series this December, but it'll be shorter and more focused than last time.

Anyway, the Polly Pocket advent calendar from last year got me thinking about the original Polly Pocket dolls--you know, the tiny little two centimeter ones that come in compact cases.  I never had any of those sets when I was a kid, and didn't purchase any as an adult collector, either, until just recently.  Today I'm going to be looking at a few sets from the late 80s and early 90s, and comparing them to similar toys from the last few years.  Because Polly Pocket is such a distinct and beloved brand, this review feels long overdue...and it's pretty long, too.  So grab a snack or a drink and settle in.

Various Polly Pocket toys, current and vintage.

Woof & Co. by Sunny Days Entertainment

I feel like I should call the last month or two of my life the Walmart Phase, because a lot of the things that I'm excited about lately are from Walmart.  And I don't shop at Walmart very often.  It all goes back to that tip about the LUV dolls being on sale for $7.50 (which they still are, btw).  While I was investigating that deal, I found about six other doll lines that were either on an irresistible clearance sale or were simply too appealing to ignore.  I really didn't need any fresh ideas for reviews, since I have enough dolls in my basement to last the rest of my life, but this is a good time of year to investigate some affordable dolls and toys that might be appealing to kids.  The Hey Besties that I just talked about would make wonderful holiday gifts, and I think the dolls in today's review would, too.

I hesitate to call the critters in today's review dolls, though.  That hesitation prompted me to look up the official definition of a doll, which is something you'd think I'd have done by now.  According to Merriam-Webster, a doll is "a small-scale figure of a human being used especially as a child's plaything."  So, yeah.  These aren't really dolls, because they're definitely not figures of human beings.  They're dogs:

Woof & Co. Finley, by Sunny Days Entertainment ($29.98).