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)

Once Upon a Zombie Rapunzel by WowWee

First of all, I'd like to thank Natalie for telling me about the Once Upon a Zombie dolls.  Not only have I really enjoyed looking at this new line, but the dolls serve as an interesting contrast to the Fairy Tale High dolls I reviewed the other day.  Despite the bounty of fairy princess dolls saturating the market, this is the only series in which the all of the characters are undead.

I am a big fan of wholesome, beautiful, happy-ending fairy tale princesses that aren't even the slightest bit dead, and yet I love watching The Walking Dead, and I enjoy playing video games like The Last of Us and Plants vs. Zombies.  So, I guess I have to admit that I've fallen under the spell of the recent mainstream zombie craze.  I prefer zombie scenarios where there's a cure (as in Warm Bodies) but I'm also interested in the pseudo-science behind all of these stories, and I enjoy the challenge of imagining the moral dilemmas and survival tactics that such a horrific apocalypse might provoke.

I never would have though that portraying beloved princess characters as zombies would be a good idea.  And yet, right after Natalie's tip, I rushed to one of my favorite online stores (Think Geek) to see these dolls...and it was fascination at first sight.  These spooky princesses have inset eyes, blueish grey skin, lots of articulation, and tattered royal gowns that fit the theme of the character they are depicting.  Somehow these dolls are silly, lovely, tragic and creepy all at the same time:

Once Upon a Zombie "Zombie Rapunzel."
$24.99 at Think Geek.

Fairy Tale High "Teen Rapunzel" by S-K Victory

Fairy Tale High (known as "Fairy Tale Academy" at the 2013 Toy Fair launch) is yet another brand of 12-inch play doll that is using the fairy tale princess theme.  Fairy Tale High's angle is that all of the princesses are modern teenagers attending the same school of performing arts.  At least it's not fashion school.

The number of dolls that have something to do with princesses or fairy tales this year is shockingly high.  I can count about nine different doll lines: The current Disney Store and Mattel versions of the Disney Princesses, La Dee Da Fairy Tale Dance, Cutie Pops Crown Cuties, Ever After High, Monster High Scary Tales, Once Upon a Zombie and Fairy Tale High.  And I guess I could also include the Bratzillaz Witchy Princesses, but they don't really look much different from the normal Bratzillaz.  Anyway, it's out of control.  The question is, do we need all of these different princess characters?  I mean, which ones are offering something truly unique?

I have been reluctant to review this particular doll because when she arrived in the mail, her face was a disappointment.  I don't find anything appealing about her facial screening or her expression, and I tend not to review dolls that I know I won't like.  Some recent conversations in the comments section and pictures on Flickr inspired me to reconsider.  I decided that she was worth de-boxing, if only so that I could reference her as I review some of the princess dolls I am more excited about.  Rapunzel cost me $17.99 at Toys R Us:

Fairy Tale High "Teen Rapunzel," by S-K Victory.