Moxie Girlz "Friends" Mini Dolls by MGA Entertainment

On the same day I found my Our Generation mini dolls, I also saw the new (Target exclusive) Moxie Girlz minis for the first time.  It was a mini doll kind of a day, I guess.  The Battat minis grabbed the spotlight, but I wanted to show you some of the Moxie minis, too.  These dolls are pretty cute, but what really impresses me about them is their price.  They are $2.99 each, which is hard to beat.  I think Walmart's Sparkle Girlz are less expensive at just under $2.50, but I can't think of much else.  Even some of those blind bag foil-wrapped toys cost more than this.

Today, I will review Tally (the redhead...of course), and compare her to Neve and Amorie:

Moxie Girlz Friends mini dolls, $2.99.

Mega Bloks Barbie's "Pet Shop" vs. Lego Friends' "Heartlake Pet Salon"...a Comparison Review!

My kids have always loved Legos.  My youngest son is particularly passionate about these toys, and has built some impressive models over the years.  We've also owned a certain number of Mega Bloks sets--the most memorable ones being from the Dragons series.  While my kids were never as happy with the design of Mega Bloks' actual building blocks, we were all amazed by the realism of the dragon figures, and my eldest son played with his Mega Bloks dragon hoard for years.  Despite my family's passion for building, I rarely talk about this kind of toy here on the blog.  I did a short post way back when the Lego Friends were first introduced, but nothing since then.

Despite the atypical subject of this review, it was actually inspired by a doll.  I was browsing the aisles of Walmart when I came across a display of Mega Bloks Barbie mini figures.  These tiny 2.5 inch dolls are packaged in single lipstick-sized boxes and cost under $3 each.  I've seen these Barbie figures before--or at least seen the place on the shelf where they should be--but usually the display is mostly empty and not very appealing.  On this particular day, the display was almost completely full, with six different varieties of doll in stock.  I was struck by how fun the range of dolls was: there were several versions of Barbie, two Ken dolls, and a Nikki.  There was even a Barbie with pink hair!  Since the aisles were packed with out-of-school kids begging their reluctant parents for a new toy, I was also struck by how clever this individual packaging is.  For kids over four, these mini figures offer a cute, articulated Barbie figure that costs less than than a latte.

I scooped up a few of these mini dolls, thinking that they would offer a fun, quick, mid-week review of what seemed like a nice, detailed, portable little Barbie doll:

Mega Bloks Barbie figure.

Life in the Dreamhouse "Raquelle"--A Guest Review!

Back when I reviewed Life in the Dreamhouse Midge, I mentioned that my second favorite doll in this series is Raquelle.  Raquelle has a smirky half-smile that gives her a unique (strong!) personality among the Barbie lineup.  My fondness for Raquelle made me especially happy to hear from Kayleigh, a fellow doll collector who was interested in writing a guest review of this doll.

Kayleigh has a wide range of doll interests--most of which overlap with my own.  She enjoys Barbie, Monster High, Ever After High, Disney Store dolls, Bratzillaz, J-Dolls, and Moxie Teenz.  Life in the Dreamhouse Raquelle is her all-time favorite doll.

Kayleigh's wonderfully thorough review of Raquelle includes a comparison to the 2012 Raquelle "Clutch" Fashionista doll.  I'd like to thank Kayleigh for all of her hard work and enthusiasm, and turn the rest of the post over to her!

Life in the Dreamhouse "Raquelle" (redressed).

Dorothy & Toto from "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return"

The animated movie, Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return premiered on May 9th and is getting perplexingly polarized reviews--people either love it or hate it.  I watched the trailer, but probably won't see this movie myself since it seems to be intended for a pretty young crowd.  I do have a general fondness for the original Wizard of Oz movie, though, based on our family's tradition of watching this classic every year when it aired on television.  I always forgot from year to year that the movie starts in black and white and then bursts into color once Dorothy gets to Oz.  For some reason, that effect was perpetually magical to me.  Anyway--because of this fondness, I always stop to look at Wizard of Oz merchandise at the toy stores.  A few weeks ago at Toys R Us, I noticed a brand new group of attractive-looking Dorothy dolls and stopped to investigate.  Seeing these dolls is actually how I first learned about Legends of Oz.  The new dolls are made by Bandai, and are designed to resemble the animated Dorothy from the movie.

Bandai's initial release of Legends of Oz toys includes three different 11" Dorothy dolls ($16.99-$24.99), a larger scale 15" child Dorothy ($19.99), and two sets of small secondary character figurines ($11.99 per set).  I was drawn to these toys not just because of their association with the Wizard of Oz, but because all of the dolls have very sweet faces.  I decided to review the 11" Dorothy that comes with a Toto companion, since this particular doll is in the middle of the price range and I am a fan of Cairn terriers (note: Dorothy can't actually hold Toto on her own):

"Dorothy & Toto" by Bandai, $19.99.

Anna and Elsa Knockoff Dolls From China

I have to admit that I am still obsessed with the global Frozen doll shortage, and I spend a certain amount of time every week checking the Disney Store inventory and browsing secondary market sales online.  EBay prices on these dolls have come down a little bit since my last Frozen doll review, but it can still cost $40 for the Disney Store Classic Elsa doll, and closer to $70 for an Anna and Elsa pair.  

While I was browsing eBay a few weeks ago, I noticed a two-doll set of Anna and Elsa selling for $18 with free shipping.  This is actually lower than the original Disney Store retail price for this sister set.  On closer inspection of the dolls, however, I realized that they are not authentic Disney Store dolls, but rather knockoffs selling directly from China.  They did look like reasonable imitations, though, complete with a high level of articulation.  Because I am inexplicably fascinated by cheap knockoffs, and because I noticed that a lot of people seem to be purchasing and bidding on these dolls, I figured it might be a good idea to do a quick review.

Counterfeit Elsa and Anna dolls from China.

Licca-chan and Miki-chan by Takara

Ever since I first reviewed Lottie dolls last January, many of you have suggested that I take a look at Licca-chan, a beloved 8 inch Japanese fashion doll that has a lot in common with Lottie.  Licca-chan has been around for much, much longer than Lottie, though.  Licca was first manufactured by Takara in 1967.  By 2007, the company had sold over 53 million Licca dolls, and they continue to sell about 1 million dolls per year.  Takara merged with Tomy in 2006, and so now the Licca franchise is credited to Takara-Tomy.  Licca-chan is often compared to Barbie in terms of her longevity and overwhelming popularity.

It was difficult to choose a Licca-chan doll for review.  I knew I would not be able to make any sweeping statements about the doll line by looking at a single doll--any more than I could judge the entire Barbie empire by just reviewing Midge.  So, I chose a doll that I felt would make a good comparison to the Lottie dolls I own...and then I added in a little Miki-chan toddler, because I found her too cute to resist:

"Kindergarten Teacher" Licca-chan and "Kindergarten" Miki-chan.

"Life in the Dreamhouse" Midge and "Happy Family" Midge by Mattel

Midge is one of a series of seven new Barbie dolls based on characters from the Life in the Dreamhouse online computer animated series.  The show is in its fifth season and can be watched free of charge at Barbie.com.  I watched several episodes before I started writing this review.  The frantic pace of the show took a little while for me to get used to, and the plots are hit or miss, but I found the series surprisingly entertaining.  For me, Midge and Raquelle are especially fun to watch (I love Midge's snorting giggle!).  What's funny is that even before I watched any Life in the Dreamhouse webisodes, Midge and Raquelle were the two dolls that appealed to me the most.

Mattel introduced the Midge Hadley character in 1963 as a way to offset Barbie's sexy image and give her a more well-rounded personal life.  Midge is Barbie's best friend from their fictional hometown of Willows, Wisconsin.  The first Midge doll was introduced over 50 years ago, but versions of this character have been relatively scarce through those years.  There were several reproduction vintage Midge dolls made during the last decade, but Life in the Dreamhouse Midge is the first modern version of this character to be offered since the controversial (often pregnant) Happy Family Midge was discontinued 10 years ago.  A fun, picture-heavy history of Midge dolls can be found here.

In this review, I will look at the new Life in the Dreamhouse Midge doll, but I'll also take a trip back in time to de-box the 2003 pregnant Happy Family Midge so that we can see how both the appearance and the backstory of this endearing character have changed.

Life in the Dreamhouse Midge (2013), Happy Family Midge with baby (2003).

Holiday Shopping at Target and Toys R Us

With Hanukkah almost over and the Christmas season kicking into full swing, this is a special, hectic time of year.  I love seeing our Main Street come to life with lights, and hearing my kids sing carols out in the cold.  Of course another integral part of this season is shopping, and I am thinking hard about donations and gifts--especially presents for the amazing children in my life.

I hope that the content of this blog is helpful to those of you who are looking for a special doll for someone you love, but many of the dolls I review are hard to find, discontinued, or expensive.  I thought that in honor of this bustling shopping season, I would head out to a few local stores and see what is available for those of us who are just getting started with our gift-hunting now.  I'll show you what I found and give you my top ten list of what I would buy.  I also really hope that you will chime in with what you've found in your part of the world and what you think the best dolls and toys of the season are.  There is also a poll on the right side of the page where you can vote for the doll that you'd most like to see reviewed in more depth.

Today, I am going to focus on Target because it is one of my favorite places to shop and it tends to be well-stocked.  I will also add some comparisons to Toys R Us, my other most frequented big box toy store.  Next week I will visit a smaller, privately-owned toy store.  I'll get things started by showing you one doll I actually did buy: Monster High's new Jane Boolittle, who has the most awesome pet accessory ever:

Monster High "Jane Boolittle" and her pet sloth (Toys R Us, $21.99)

Kurhn Dolls, Part Two: Kurhn 6077 Glamorous Kurhn

This post is a follow-up to my original Kurhn post, below. In other words, my original post was way, way too long and I had to divide it into two parts.

In this review, I will look at a slightly more expensive Kurhn doll, the "Glamorous Kurhn," 6077.  I purchased her on eBay from flyinannalee for $29.10 plus shipping:

Kurhn 6077

Kurhn Dolls Part One: 3029 "Green Restaurant" Playset

Kurhn dolls are 10.6 inch articulated plastic fashion play dolls made by Kurhn Toys Co., Ltd. in Foshan City, China.  They are essentially the Chinese version of a Barbie doll and I'm told that they're even made in the same factory that Mattel uses to manufacture Barbie dolls.

Moni introduced me to Kurhn dolls back in September when I reviewed my first Tangkou doll, Loli.   It's not so easy to find information about these dolls online.  The Kurhn website, for example, seems to be out of date.  I've found three big online sources for purchasing Kurhn dolls.  The first is an eBay seller (flyingannalee) with a huge selection of dolls.  The second store is called ChinaSprout and is a New York based store and an educational resource for Chinese culture.  The third option is an eBay-style marketplace called Aliexpress where I've heard you have to be careful about which vendor you choose.  I bought my items from flyingannalee and was very happy with the prices and service.

There is a huge diversity of available Kurhn dolls.  You can see a great database of these dolls on this blog.  After a lot of deliberation, I chose two Kurhn items: a kitchen play set (I love kitchen playsets...) that includes a very basic doll and also a more elaborate "Glamorous Kurhn" doll with strawberry bonde hair and a fancy party dress.  I will review the kitchen set in this post and the Glamorous Kurhn in the next post.

Kurhn 3029, $38.80 with kitchen set

Bratzillaz "Meygana Broomstix" Doll by MGA Entertainment

Bratz dolls are not really my style.  I can honestly say that I have never walked the aisles of a toy store and been tempted by a Bratz character.  I don't even like the name.  Remember that I am a huge Cinderella fan, and looking at the world through that lens, the Bratz dolls come off a bit like the bratty stepsisters.

Anyway, Bratz dolls first appeared in 2001 and have been dominating an impressive chunk of the fashion doll market ever since.  Mattel and MGA Entertainment have been suing each other back and forth over these dolls since about 2005--MGA claiming that the My Scene dolls are a rip off of Bratz and Mattel claiming that they actually own the rights to Bratz because the Bratz designer allegedly came up with the idea for these dolls while he was working for Mattel.  A third party is suing Mattel and MGA for stealing what he claims is his idea.  Sheesh.  It's a big mess, and for a while there, I remember there was some serious tension among collectors about whether or not Bratz would be permanently pulled from the shelves.

Things seem to have calmed a bit on the legal front (after lots of money flew back and forth) and Bratz is alive and well and legally owned by MGA.  I have always been mildly interested in this legal battle (I mean, who wouldn't be?  Two behemoth doll companies locking horns is the doll collector's version of watching the World Series) but as I said, I have never been interested in purchasing a Bratz doll...until last week.  Last week I plunked down $20 for a Bratzillaz doll, and I'll tell you why in a sec.  First, here's a picture of the doll I chose (the redhead, of course):

"Meygana Broomstix" Bratzillaz doll by MGA

The William and Catherine Royal Wedding Barbie set by Mattel

The only dolls that followed me home from Manhattan last weekend are the William and Catherine Barbie dolls that I found at the massive Toys R Us in Times Square. I had seen this set in pictures online and been slightly interested, but never interested enough to shell out the currency necessary to buy them. I don't know if it was seeing them in person that won me over, or that I was caught up in the excitement of the big city, but they seemed like the perfect set to buy at the time--certainly the most special of the numerous Barbie sets that were on display. The problem with getting caught up in a moment is that you loose track of things like the little fact that while I paid $127, this set actually only costs $109 if you buy it online...and I mean if you buy it online at Toys R Us.  So I paid a premium for the experience of buying it at the flagship store, but I guess I am okay with that.  It's a really fun store.

Incidentally, the other Barbie set that kept catching my eye on this trip was the Pillow Talk set with Rock Hudson and Doris Day.  You can get these dolls on Amazon for 40 bucks right now.  If I could remember anything about that movie, I would definitely have purchased this set.  I can only remember Doris Day from the Hitchcock movie, The Man Who Knew Too Much.  Anyway--the dolls look great in real life.

I chose William and Kate because I love the British royal family, I am a sucker for wedding dresses, and because the William doll was grinning at me and I found it kinda irresistible:

William and Catherine Barbie Gold Label set

Toys "R" Us and FAO Schwarz in Manhattan

I am back from a short trip to Manhattan and I'd love to share a few pictures with you while I get unpacked and organized for the next review.  My mom lives in New York City and so we visit every now and then--although nowhere near as often as I wish we did.  When my kids were little, trips to FAO Schwarz and the massive Toys R Us in Times Square were nice rest stops in between more educational outings.  Now that they are older, my boys are more interested in the Apple Store and the jazz scene, but I am still drawn to these two behemoths of toy retail.

I think Times Square is impressive no matter how many times you've seen it or how old you are.  Between the massive screens and billboards, the throngs of fascinating people, and the sidewalk sideshow-like attractions, there's always something unexpected.  On this visit, the scene that had me stopped in my tracks was this:

A Quick Look at Li'L Ones by Ty

Last night I was at a local toy shop buying something for an upcoming review and I discovered this appealing little doll who I had never seen before:

Hello Kitty "Li'l One" doll by Ty

A Quick Review of Fab Faces Kennedy from My Scene Barbie

Oh, man.  I am still giggling over this doll.  This is a very bizarre toy.  Fab Faces dolls are versions of My Scene Barbie that have rubbery faces with changeable expressions.  Their faces actually bend and twist into new shapes.  Sounds pretty interesting, right?   I first learned about the Fab Faces line when they were mentioned in the comments discussion of my Barbie Fashionista review.  The other week, I got an email that reminded me of these dolls and so I went to Amazon.com to see if I could find one for sale.  Indeed, Amazon still has many (if not all) of this line in stock, and there was a Kennedy on clearance for $11.  Sold.  Several of these dolls are expensive on Amazon (Chelsea is $80!), but they can also be found on eBay at more reasonable prices.

My Scene Barbie was introduced by Mattel in 2002 and the Fab Faces line came out in 2006.  I have wanted a My Scene Barbie ever since I saw the episode of Project Runway where the challenge was to design clothes for these dolls (see the winning doll and design here).

Fab Faces Kennedy is not a doll I would have picked for her looks, and she's not anywhere near the prettiest of the My Scene dolls, but she's got significant entertainment value:

My Scene Fab Faces Kennedy

Barbie Basic vs. Integrity Toys Basic Edition (I.T.B.E.) Comparison Review

Mattel and Integrity Toys both offer (or have offered) basic edition 12" fashion dolls in the $20 price range.  While Integrity looks like it might have phased out the ITBE dolls (there were no new releases in 2011 or 2102), there are still a few of the older dolls to be found at various doll shops, and I thought it would be fun to do a comparison review of these two very similar dolls.

Barbie Basics were first released in spring of 2010.  The original line included 12 dolls, all wearing a different simple black dress.  I thought the promotional pictures for this line were awesome.  Subsequent releases have included some dolls wearing red dresses (exclusive to Target), dolls modeling jeans and tee shirts, and, most recently, a small collection of dolls sporting swimsuits.

Integrity released their ITBE line in 2009.  The original collection had 6 dolls modeling a diversity of dress styles in an array of colors with no apparent unifying theme.  The second collection, "Roma 2010," has only 5 dolls and features fashions inspired by friends traveling together to Rome.

I wanted to compare two dolls that resembled each other in terms of hair, coloring and outfit, so rather than choosing my favorite dolls from these lines, I selected Barbie Basic Model 09 (from the first collection) and the ITBE Roma doll "Desirable" from 2010.  Both dolls are caucasian with blonde hair and bangs, and both are wearing little black dresses.

ITBE Desirable and Barbie Basic Model 09

A Review of Stardoll Fashion Dolls by Mattel

I was not even aware of Stardoll until February, when I saw the Mattel Stardoll fashion dolls on the Angelic Dreamz website (back when I was picking my birthday doll).  At that time, the "Bonjour Bizou" doll caught my attention with her red hair and orange ruched skirt.  But let me back up for a second in case you haven't heard of Stardoll, either.

Stardoll is a Swedish-based company with a virtual paper doll website.  The company was started in 2004 and has since rocketed to significant popularity.  Stardoll boasts over 100 million unique users on their site to date.  Back in 2004, Stardoll was called Paperdoll Heaven.  PaperdollHeaven.com is still a functioning website that is separate from the main Stardoll site.   It is pretty fun, although I can't personally say how it compares to the original 2004 site.  On this website, you can dress a huge number of dolls (including celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Justin Bieber and Milla Jovovich) or even brush and dress an animated virtual horse (my personal favorite).  There's a page where you can design your own birthday cake...and this is awesome, too, but it makes me hungry.

The Stardoll website has some of the same dressing games as Paperdoll Heaven, but also has many additional features, including social clubs, shops and games that allow you to design your own clothing for the virtual dolls.  I'll talk a little more about the Stardoll site in a bit.

Late last year, Mattel and Stardoll joined forces and Mattel released a line of Barbie-sized dolls modeled after the Stardoll concept.  These dolls come with virtual money that can be spent on the Stardoll website.  Here's the "Fallen Angel" Mattel doll:

Fallen Angel Stardoll

Easter Shopping? Chelsea Cuteness at Target

I am in the middle of writing another post, but I wanted to really quickly show you what I found at Target today--Chelsea dolls with bunny ear headbands!   They're on sale for $4.99 in the special Easter section:

A Review of Ken's "My Cool Mini" Mini Cooper Car

While I was on my birthday trip a few weeks ago, I saw Ken's Mini Cooper at a Target store in New York.  I didn't buy it then because, although it looked nice, it also seemed big and expensive ($29.99).  After I got home, I kept thinking about it and all of its shiny redness.   I don't own a Ken doll, but I could imagine my Monster High girls having an awesome road trip in that car.   I love real Mini Coopers, which has a lot to do with the awesome movie, The Italian Job.  If you've never seen that movie, check it out and then afterwards, try not to like Mini Coopers.  I'd be thrilled to own a real Mini Cooper except for two things: my family wouldn't fit in it, and I'm in love with my 20-year-old Camry.  So anyway, after I got home from that trip I caved and bought Ken's Mini Cooper online using some of my hard-earned Toys R Us dollars.  Here it is:

Ken's Mini Cooper

Some Friends for Barbie's Sister Chelsea

I was so charmed by the cuteness of Chelsea, that I decided to buy a few of her friends.  I was especially interested in the chameleon and hamster pets, because those seem a bit more exotic than the bunny, dog and cat.  I am also one of those people who loves a surprise.  I get insanely curious when I can't see something about a toy until I open it up.  The hamster and chameleon pets can't be seen very well through the boxes, so they were kind-of irresistible to me.  By the way, I also like cereal boxes with toys in them and toy capsule vending machines.  Those kinds of things.

So, I bought Viveca with her chameleon pet: