Chou Chou Birdies by Zapf Creation

I have reviewed several Zapf Creation dolls in the last year, including Little Princess Cinderella and Best Friend Sam--the toddler doll I found in Edinburgh.  Zapf is better know for their baby dolls, though, including the popular Baby Annabell, Baby Born and Baby Chou Chou lines.

The name "Chou Chou" comes from a French term of endearment.  The Zapf site says it means "darling," but I always thought it meant "cabbage."  The Chou Chou babies I have seen in the past have either been 8 inch mini dolls or more realistically-sized 19 inch babies.  To me, the most fascinating Chou Chou on the Zapf website is "My First Tooth," a baby who cries and goes red in the cheeks until you give her a binky, at which point she giggles and "grows" two bottom teeth.  The teeth are hysterically large, and (at least in pictures) make the baby look like she has a ferocious underbite.  Her crying and laughing sounds are very lifelike, though.

A few weeks ago at Toys R Us, I noticed a new line of 5 inch Chou Chou dolls called the "Chou Chou Birdies."  This is a visually appealing group of mini dolls that appears to be exclusive to Toys R Us.  The collection includes six plastic baby dolls, each dressed in her own owl-themed outfit and accompanied by a plastic owl figure.  The dolls cost $9.99 each:

Chou Chou Birdies "Jacky" (left) and "Candy" (right).

Review Fusion #1

I have been getting quite a lot of guest review requests these past few weeks for some reason, which is really wonderful.  I love how guest reviews can change my feelings about certain dolls (I bought my first Bratz!), how they can help encourage me to write a review that I had been putting off, or how they simply remind me of the fact that dolls make people happy for so many different reasons.

The problem with these guest review requests (as those who have emailed me know too well...) is that I am painfully slow to get things organized and published, and the waiting times are getting long.  In an attempt to lessen this problem, I have decided to combine guest reviews together into occasional "Review Fusion" posts.  This should allow me to share more perspectives while still doing my own reviews each week.

I have also received some amazingly gorgeous single photographs by email over the years, and have been looking for a good way to share a few of those with you.  My plan is to start each Review Fusion volume with a beautiful photo, and then move into the actual reviews after the jump.

I knew exactly which photo to share first: this is a Pullip doll, "Nanette," posed in front of the Great Wall of China.  This amazing picture was taken by LagoonaLicious, author of the Skelita Calaveras review from last year:

"Nanette."  Photo by LagoonaLicious.

Mooshka "Fairy Tales" Mini Doll by MGA Entertainment

I have admired the Mooshka cloth dolls ever since I first saw them at Target last summer.  They have a wholesome, sweet appearance that sets them apart from most of the other dolls found at big-box stores.  Mooshka dolls would fit nicely in a smaller, locally owned toy shop.  Surprisingly, these cloth girls are credited to the toy goliath, MGA Entertainment--through their partnership with Zapf Creation.

I always stop to check in on the Mooshka dolls when I am at Target, and during my last visit I was delighted to see a few newcomers to the collection.  The new wave of dolls is called Fairy Tales (a common theme these days...) and features four of the larger cloth girls (Ina, Casia, Sonia and Palia) dressed up in princess, fairy, or mermaid outfits.  The Fairy Tales collection also includes six mini figures, and these are the dolls that I found the most tempting.  The mini dolls have a lot of features in common with Lalaloopsy minis, but they are not made out of bright plastic.  In fact, at first glance, I assumed they were made out of wood.  Also, each mini Mooshka doll has a piece of her wardrobe that is made out of fabric.  At $7.99 each, I couldn't resist buying a few of these newcomers to see what they look like up close.

Here's Fairy Tales Ina and her owl companion:

Mooshka Fairy Tales mini doll, "Ina."

Monster High "Clawdeen Wolf" Pen

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone welcomed 2014 safely and merrily.  I thought I would start this year of reviews by sharing something small and fun that I found at Toys R Us the other day.  As many of you know, I love miniature things.  One of my dreams is to have a big Victorian dollhouse (like the ones I saw in Arizona...) filled with all kinds of wonderful, detailed tiny accessories.  I also get a huge kick out of small versions of larger dolls, so I'm a softy for things like the American Girl mini dolls, the old Liv Happy Meal toys, Annette Himstedt's club Kleine dolls, and mini Pullip and Blythe dolls.

When I first glimpsed the Monster High pens at Toys R Us, I have to say, I got pretty excited.  I wasn't even aware of these toys, so it was a big surprise to see them hanging there on the shelf.  After doing some reading online, I discovered that these pens have actually been available in Europe since 2012.  Perhaps they've been for sale in the United States, too, but I had never seen anything like them here in Maine.  Initially, I assumed that the dolls were miniature figurines, and I was slightly disappointed to learn that they are ball point pens (I imagine myself getting ink everywhere...).  However, when I saw that they are dressed like the first wave Monster High dolls, my enthusiasm was renewed.  First wave Clawdeen Wolf is my favorite Monster High doll, and I love the idea of having a miniature version of her--pen or not.

First wave Clawdeen Wolf and Clawdeen Wolf the pen.