Spring Break with Lena: Lori Dolls by Battat

Are you ready for another day of virtual spring break with me and Lena?  I hope so!  The Lori dolls that we'll be talking about today feel a bit like old friends.  I reviewed these dolls back in 2014 before they were given the Lori name, and then again in 2015.  They made some other brief appearances over the years, too, most notably in a random post about Our Generation accessories.  The thing about old friends, though, is that sometimes you forget to check in for a while and things change!

One of the things that has changed about the Lori brand, at least where I live, is that they aren't sold in Target stores anymore--just online.  In fact, the online selection at Target is pretty minimal, and Amazon appears to be the primary retailer now.  This is too bad, because I always found the Lori characters to be an appealing, affordable option to browse in the toy aisle.

But what about the dolls themselves?  Let's take a look:

Jessa's Camp Set Lori doll by Battat, $16.95.

The Tale of Two Shannons--a Guest Review!

Hi, I'm the artist formerly known as Lurkins!  I've been collecting 18" dolls since I cleaned out my attic in 2014 and rediscovered my American Girl doll, Felicity, and her spectacular Pleasant Company-era accessories.  That was also when, whilst looking up the impressive variety of 18" dolls that had sprung up in the intervening decades, I discovered the Toy Box Philosopher, and I've been an addict ever since.  My Felicity is so old that if she were a human she could rent a car.  She's since been joined by Pita, a Karito Kid; Taryn and Alexi, Maplelea girls; Zoe, a Newberry doll; Raven, a Maru and Friends special edition (and a gift); Clara, the exact Gotz Happy Kid featured on this blog back in 2018; Sabrina, a My Twinn who was featured here as well; several Our Generation dolls and a whole host of Journey Girls...and it's still growing.  A collection that once fit into two boxes can now barely fit into one room.  But I guess that's how doll collecting usually works!  (The author laughs nervously.)

Today I'm going to compare a pair of deluxe camping-themed 18" Shannon dolls from Battat's Our Generation line, but before I dive into things, I'm going to give a little background information on a subject I spent way too much time researching: face molds!  There doesn't seem to be a proper face mold guide, probably since Our Generation is considered a bargain alternative to American Girl, and thus not worthy of serious collecting.  If you want to know what American Girl doll has what face mold, you'll have no trouble looking it up.  But so far as I can discern, there's no "collectors' guide" for Our Generation.  In fact, most of what I know about the history of this toy brand arose from this very blog.  

We begin!

Our Generation's Old Shannon (left) and New Shannon (right) with shirts swapped. $34.99 each.

The Glitter Girls by Battat

I can't believe January is almost over.  Wow.  It doesn't feel much like January, though, because right now I'm in California with my youngest son, doing more college stuff.  We're about as geographically far away from Maine as a person can get in the United States.  I'm trying not to take it personally that this is one of the places my kid wants to live next year.  I have to admit that the weather is unreal.

I have a few moments here at the hotel while he's running around doing things, so I figured I'd try to sneak in some time to share Battat's new Glitter Girl dolls with you!

I haven't actually seen these dolls on the shelves yet, although I've heard that they've been spotted in Target stores elsewhere in the country.  Battat is the company that makes Our Generation dolls, which are offered as an inexpensive alternative to American Girl.  The Glitter Girls are not part of the Our Generation line, but they're Battat's answer to the American Girl WellieWishers.  Like the WellieWishers, the Glitter Girls are 14-inch, all-vinyl play dolls that come with whimsical mix-and-match clothing.  One of the most appealing things about the Glitter Girls is that they cost $19.99 each, so it's possible to purchase three of them for the price of a single WellieWisher.  That's exactly what I did.

Glitter Girls Poppy, by Battat ($19.99).

More Our Generation Accessories (Featuring Maru and Friends Mini Pals)!

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone's 2018 is off to a great start.  Here in Maine, we've already had a bomb cyclone storm and a lot of nights well below negative 10 degrees...so that's been fun.  There are several new dolls that I'm eager to review this year, though, and that will keep me plenty busy on cold or snowed-in days.

Before I do anything else this year, I want to finish up an idea from 2017: looking at Our Generation accessories and seeing how well they fit the Maru and Friends Mini Pal dolls.  Today I'll de-box the Our Generation School Band play set, the It Seams Perfect sewing set, and the Retro Records items.  On hand to help me with this review are Mini Pals Savannah and Raven...and also American Girl Eliza, to model the things that are way too big for the Minis:

American Girl Eliza wearing Our Generation retro headphones.

Our Generation Science Accessories

I had a hard time figuring out what to review this week.  At Maricha's request, I tried to review a Fingerlings monkey (they seem easier to find now), but my studio set-up doesn't work well for reviewing interactive items.  The monkey I bought is cute, but mechanized toys are not really my thing, so I took a few pictures and now she's on her way to a gently used toy drive for the holidays.  Sorry, Maricha!

I also contemplated reviewing two of my new Maru and Friends Mini Pals (Raven and Halle), but I just did a Mini Pal review recently, so that didn't seem like the right choice, either.

Then, a comment on the Create Your Own American Girl doll review caught my eye.  Lurkins wanted to know more about Our Generation Suyin (she's the doll who modeled Eliza's glasses).  Is she as cute as she looks in the promotional pictures?  Is her hair terrible?  I've had Suyin and a few other Our Generation dolls for several months now, and have never quite been motivated enough to build a whole review around them.  Lurkins' question and some of the new Our Generation accessories finally gave me the inspiration I needed to figure out today's review.

This review will actually be a mishmash of all the ideas I mentioned above.  I'll look mostly at the Our Generation Science Lab set, but I'll also give a quick rundown of my thoughts about a few Our Generation dolls, I'll offer a peek at a Fingerlings monkey...and I'll even show off two of my Mini Pal friends:

Maru and Friends Mini Pal, Chad, with Our Generation Science Lab set ($29.99).

Photo Mission! (With a Mini Review of Posea Reef)

It's been a bit of a rocky start to the new year for me.  Family distractions caused me to take a step back and look closely at the blog.  When I first started blogging, I read an article describing how it can take, on average, five years of hard work before it's clear whether or not a new blog will be successful.  That seemed reasonable, and so I promised myself that I'd get to work and not worry too much about success (whatever that means) until at least four years had passed.  Now, four years later, I find myself wondering about the success of my blogging approach.

There are so many things I love about this blog--things that I consider a huge success.  First of all, I love to photograph dolls and write about them.  And, there's an incredible selection of amazing dolls out there to review.  I feel like the proverbial kid in a candy shop most days.  In addition, I get a lot of visitors or "page hits" (the brass rings of blogging) and am about to hit the 6,000,000 mark, which is unbelievable.  I also love you guys.  I'd wager that few blogs have such an amazing, kind, insightful audience.  But the bottom line is really all about...well, the bottom line.  The harsh reality is that this blog is losing money.  Lots of money.  Breaking even would be one thing, but losing money is starting to be bad.  This could be my fault, or just the way blogs are these days.  I don't know.  But I can no longer pretend that this is my job.  It's kind-of the opposite.

I like blogging too much to give it up completely, but my approach definitely has to change.  While I figure out what all of this means, I thought I would publish the wonderful contributions from the last Photo Mission.  I asked to see pictures of the interesting dolls for sale in your part of the world.  I added my own photographs to this post and will also include two short reviews.  One of the reviews is of a doll that I found during the Photo Mission: Monster High's new mermaid, Posea Reef. Snapping pictures of Posea on the store shelf was not enough--I wanted to get a closer look at her:

Monster High Posea Reef, $19.99.

Lori Dolls and Accessories from Our Generation

I got temporarily swallowed up by the pandemonium of school, but now life has begun to settle back into a familiar rhythm.  I did manage to make a few changes to the blog last week that you might have already noticed: there's a tab menu at the top of the site that has a few little additions.  In particular, I'd like to point out the "Photo Mission!" tab.  These photo requests will change from time to time, and I hope they'll provide an easy way for anyone to contribute to a review, add an opinion, or maybe even share a website link.  The first mission is for Ever After High pictures (of any kind!) and these will be published next week as part of a larger review.  Thank you to those who have already contributed!  It's so fun to get pictures in my inbox.

It's also fun to get new doll alerts in my inbox.  For example, I received an email from Nadine a week or so ago, telling me about a whole new line of dolls by Battat.  The line is called "Lori" and includes a variety of 6-inch dolls (formerly the Our Generation mini dolls) along with several outfits and accessories.  I was so excited to hear about these dolls because I'm a pretty big fan of the Our Generation minis...and of the Battat company in general.  The strange thing was, I had been to Target the very same day that Nadine emailed me, but hadn't seen any sign of the Lori dolls.  I made a few more trips to Target that week (three or four...) and was finally rewarded towards the end of last week when my Target stocked the new collection.  I think some of the items sold out quickly, but there were still about six different doll characters, a few outfits, four furniture sets, and even a two-room wooden dollhouse.

In this review I will show you one of the new Lori doll sets ("Bryn and Blaze") and also take a quick look at the "Loft to Love" Lori dollhouse.  I chose the Bryn doll because she has...wait for it...brilliant red hair:

Lori doll "Bryn" by Battat, $15.99.

Barbie Becky "I'm the School Photographer" and Fin Fun Mermaid Tails--A Joint Review!

I think this is surely the most unusual combination of reviews that I have ever posted together, but there's a neat connection--you'll see.  First, I'm delighted to welcome my friend Feerie B. Wolfie from France who offered to review a rare wheelchair doll for the blog: Barbie's Becky, "I'm the School Photographer" (from 1998).  Feerie is a blogger, toy collector and doll customization artist.  Her site (with the awesome name Dollzenstein) reviews old toys from her childhood.  The blog is posted in both French and English, which is really helpful.

I was thrilled to get Feerie's review offer for several reasons.  First, I love working with doll enthusiasts from other parts of the world.  In my opinion, these collaborations are one of the best things about the internet.  Also, it's nice to see a character with a disability incorporated into the Barbie empire.  The other neat thing about Feerie's review is that it's quite rare to see a wheelchair in this scale.  From what I've read, most collectors looking for an accurate 1:6 wheelchair use one of Becky's chairs, the chair from Drastic Plastic's Franklin D. Roosevelt figure...or simply make their own.  I'm particularly fond of this version of Becky's wheelchair because it isn't pink and it's quite realistic:

Barbie Becky "I'm the School Photographer," 1998.

Every Girl "Maia" by Paola Reina America

You might remember that about a year ago the Spanish doll company Paola Reina expanded to include a distributor in America.  At that time, I jumped on the opportunity to review two of the new dolls--Marta, a 23.6-inch Las Reinas de Paola beauty, and Amor, a smaller 15.7-inch Soy Tu cutie.  As much fun as I had choosing and reviewing Amor and Marta, I remember wishing that there had been a group of 18-inch dolls to choose from.  I really like collecting 18-inch dolls and making comparisons between the ever-increasing number of options in this popular scale.  Also, with all of the outfits and accessories available for this size of play doll, it makes a lot of strategic sense for a company to have an 18-inch option available--especially a company like Paola Reina that is already manufacturing such an impressive range of doll sizes and styles.

Well, someone at Paola Reina must have had similar thoughts way before I did, because this year a new collection of 18-inch Every Girl dolls was added to the Paola Reina America family.  Right now, the Every Girl collection has five dolls--including a little boy named Unai.  As tempted as I was to have a boy in my 18-inch doll collection, I couldn't resist the redheaded Maia and her nautical-themed dress.  As the weather in Maine gets warmer and warmer, my thoughts turn increasingly to the ocean...and little Maia fits perfectly with this frame of mind:

Every Girl "Maia" doll by Paola Reina, $104.99 CDN (~$85 USD).

The Our Generation "Poseable Morgan Horse" by Battat

Well, this review has been a long time coming!  I purchased the Our Generation Poseable Morgan Horse back in the fall of 2013, right after I wrote my review of the larger Paradise horses.  For one reason after another, this review has been postponed for over a year.  One of the problems is that it's tricky to photograph a large horse like this indoors, and it's also rare to have the right combination of weather conditions to complete an outdoor review (at least here in Maine).  I finally decided to just do the best I could with indoor lights and some pretty soggy outdoor winter weather.

Battat has three varieties of model horse for their 18" play dolls: there are unarticulated large horses, unarticulated foals, and two articulated large horses (the Morgan reviewed here and the pure white Circus Horse).  I wanted to review one of the articulated horses (because that's my thing), and chose the Morgan because he comes with a full Western tack set instead of circus garb.  All of the large horses cost $34.99 (on sale now for $30) and are available at Target.

I still fondly remember the year when there were two large Battat horses peeking out from under the Christmas tree for my own kids.  It's nice to write this review as I think about all of the lucky children who will add one of these impressive creatures to their stable this holiday season.  The question I have been asked a lot recently, though, is which large horse is the best gift choice, the My Life As horses by Paradise or the articulated Our Generation horses?  Let's find out!

Our Generation "Poseable Morgan Horse," $34.99.

Our Generation Retro Doll "Joy" by Battat

At this time of year, I like to walk through the aisles of the toy stores in my area and pick out the dolls and accessories that I think would make the best gifts.  I don't have many doll lovers on my actual shopping list this year, but I still like to see what new items are in stock for the holidays and choose my favorites.  Most of the time I just make a mental note of the items I like best, but this year I purchased a few of my selections so that I could share them with you here on the blog.

I have been keeping a close eye on the 18-inch play dolls that are available near me (Journey Girls, My Life As and Our Generation).  While all of these brands have something new to offer for the holidays, Battat's Our Generation line is by far the most appealing to me.  I feel great about purchasing dolls from this company because I know that they use only recycled and recyclable materials in their packaging, they promote charitable work, and they avoid using harmful chemicals in the production of their dolls.  I also think that the Battat dolls are very attractive and well-made for their reasonable price.  Furthermore, whenever I am visiting my local Target store, the Our Generation section always seems to have the most constant stream of young admirers.

Today I'll show you my favorite new Our Generation doll...along with an outfit set that I thought would go really well with her:

Our Generation Retro Doll "Joy," with pieces from the "Winter Wonder" outfit pack.

BeForever Mini Doll "Kit" by American Girl

Just a few days shy of a year ago today, I reviewed the mini Rebecca and Kit dolls from American Girl.  Little did I know back then that these dolls would be re-designed and re-released within the year.

At the end of August, American Girl released a re-imagined version of their Historical line called BeForever.  This maneuver seems designed to help modern girls feel more connected to characters from the past.  In the advertising, there's a big emphasis on values that transcend generations.  There are also new collections of girls' clothing that incorporate themes from the historical dolls into modern designs.

What does the BeForever change mean for the actual dolls, though?  In the 18" scale, the new dolls are largely the same as the old Historical collection dolls, with a few noteworthy changes.  First of all, two of the characters (Cécile and Marie-Grace) were discontinued.  Another character (Samantha) was brought back from the archives, and all of the re-released girls got new outfits.  I learned early on from many of you that the new versions of the mini dolls had different face molds and full vinyl bodies, so I was especially interested to see these smaller dolls in person.

I ordered BeForever mini Kit and mini Rebecca because I have the older versions of these dolls on hand for comparison.  I also chose these two because they have different face molds--giving me the chance to see two of the new faces.  Rebecca was backordered (she finally arrived today) but Kit shipped right away and is ready for her review:

New BeForever mini Kit (with old mini Kit in the background).

New "My Life As..." Dolls from Walmart

What a week this has been!  I apologize for not being present in the comments section recently, but I have been reading and appreciating every comment--or at least every comment that isn't spam (did you guys see those crazy ones last week?  Whoa).  There have been a few minor changes here on the blog that I'd like to mention.  First, I had to shorten the format of my feed as part of a time-consuming battle against someone stealing my content.  What a drag.  However, on a positive note, I am on Twitter now (@ToyBoxEmily) and am paying attention to my poor neglected Facebook page (about time, right?).  So that's all good.

Anyway, last week I was working on a different review when I got an email from Nonna (of Mommy's Doll Club).  She told me about the new My Life As dolls at Walmart and asked if I had seen them.  I actually did see these newcomers during my Sparkle Girlz quest, but dismissed them pretty quickly because I wasn't crazy about the new faces at first.  Nonna bought one of the new girls (a redhead!) and made some neat observations, tempting me into purchasing my own doll for a closer look.  At the same store where I bought my doll, I found another exciting My Life As release that I will show off at the end of the review.

I never would have written this review without Nonna's tip, so I want to start the post by having her share some of what she found with her doll (My Life As a Party Planner, redhead), before I review the doll I chose (My Life As a School Girl, brunette).  Thank you so much for the inspiration, Nonna, and congratulations on your beautiful new blog!

New My Life As doll, "School Girl" (left) and older My Life As doll, "Outdoorsy Girl" (right).

More Minis! Part 2: Collector's Lane Kids by Battat

There is a lot of talk and excitement about the American Girl BeForever release.  Personally, I am particularly interested in the new mini dolls, since it seems that they have all-vinyl bodies and different face molds.  These new American Girl dolls, along with Battat's recent Our Generation mini release and the cute little Moxie Girlz sibling dolls, make for a very exciting season for those (like me!) who enjoy smaller dolls.  I have to be patient and wait for my BeForever dolls to arrive, so rather than look at something brand new today, I am going to go back in time and look at Battat's mini doll series from 1999.

While I was writing my review of Battat's newest Our Generation minis, I did several online searches to see what I could learn about the company and its history.  Apparently, Battat has made a few different mini dolls over the years.  In 2011, there were 4-inch Our Generation vinyl dolls with rooted hair.  These minis came packaged with a book and an assortment of accessories.  More than a decade earlier, when the Battat doll line was called "Collector's Lane," there was a group of cloth-bodied 6-inch mini dolls.  Like the current Battat minis, these dolls were made to be little replicas of the concurrent 18-inch characters.  Because of the similarities in construction and size between the new Our Generation minis and the Collector's Lane dolls, I decided it would be fun to see how Battat's smaller dolls have changed over the last fifteen years.

Battat's Collector's Lane Kids mini "Rachel" doll.

More Minis! Part 1: The Funville Sparkle Girlz

I had so much fun reviewing the new Moxie Girlz Friends dolls and the Battat Our Generation minis, that I've stayed focused on smaller dolls for the last week or so--hunting around locally and online to see what else is out there in the 5-10 inch size range.  Locally, I visited Target, Walmart, Toys R Us and the Dollar Store to see what mini dolls are readily available here in my part of the world.  Online, I hunted down some older Battat mini dolls that I learned about while researching the new dolls.  In a two-part mini series, I'll show you my favorite dolls from this search: the Collector's Lane Kids 6-inch dolls by Battat (that'll be Part 2...), and today, the inexpensive line of 4-inch dolls from Walmart called Funville Sparkle Girlz.

There are a few different sizes of Sparkle Girlz.  There are 20-inch play dolls, 12-inch fashion dolls, and 4-inch toddlers.  I was interested in the toddlers for this review, but these smallest Sparkle Girlz are actually quite hard to find around here.  There are four Walmart stores in my immediate area, and I've visited all of them within the last five days.  All of these stores had plenty of the larger dolls, but most had only one kind of mini...or just empty cardboard display cases.  Since these dolls cost $2.47, it's no surprise that they are hard to keep in stock.  At the very last Walmart I visited, I finally found a representative variety of little Sparkle Girlz.

In this post I will show you four different dolls from this series and contrast them to the comparably-priced Moxie Girlz Friends dolls.

Funville Sparkle Girlz "Little Ballerina" mini doll.

Our Generation Mini Dolls by Battat

Yesterday was one of those magical summer days.  The weather was perfect, and my husband took a rare day off of work so we could all have a mini vacation at our favorite ocean beach.  I usually like to bring a doll or two along whenever I go to the beach, so that I can embarrass my children take some photos for the blog.  However, the doll I am reviewing right now is not exactly dressed for the ocean, so I didn't have any obvious doll companions for this adventure.  However, as luck would have it, my kids needed a large tub for their own beach project (don't ask) and so they asked to stop at Target on the way.  Of course I am always happy to stop at Target because it gives me a chance to take a quick run past the dolls.

As I rushed through the toy aisles, I noticed that there were mini dolls in the Our Generation section.  Mini dolls!  I was so surprised to see them, I had to stop and do a double-take. I realize now that there's been some buzz about these dolls for a little while, but I have simply been too busy to notice.  I'm actually glad I didn't know about them ahead of time, because I adore surprises and this was a really great surprise.  In the doll world, there's very little I get more excited about than miniature replicas of larger dolls.  Better yet, one of the minis is Kendra--a redheaded Our Generation doll that I already have in 18" scale.  I scooped up mini Kendra and also Sienna (because she looked really cute) and headed off to the beach...with the perfect doll companions:

Our Generation mini dolls "Sienna" and "Kendra," $9.99 each.

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)

Journey Girls "Dana" by Toys R Us

In my part of the world, there are four inexpensive and readily available 18" play dolls that provide an alternative to the more expensive options like American Girl, My Twinn and Carpatina.  Target offers the Our Generation line by Battat, Walmart sells the My Life As dolls by Madame Alexander, AC Moore has the Springfield Collection girls, and Toys R Us carries the Journey Girls line.   I have reviewed the Our Generation dolls and looked at a My Life doll, and have been eager to see how these dolls compare to the Journey Girls.  When I'm browsing at the store, the Journey Girls always stand out to me because of their vinyl torsos, expressive faces and pretty eyes.

There are seven Journey Girl characters to choose from and they sell for just over $30 each.  I have had my eye on Kelsey (the green-eyed redhead) for a year or two, but it was actually the smiling, bespectacled Dana who finally tempted me to make a purchase:

Journey Girl "Dana," by Geoffrey, LLC (Toys R Us).

Paradise Horses for 18" Dolls

When I was a child, I was much more interested in toy horses than I was in dolls.  I had a massive collection of Breyer model horses, and my friends and I would play elaborate games with our plastic herds, developing little romances (between the horses) and power struggles (between the horses...mostly) that could rival most soap operas.  As an adult, I am more interested in collecting dolls, but horses still elicit a special kind of excitement in me.

I don't know if it's just my warped perspective, but it seems like there are a lot of new play horses on the market these days, and I find myself gravitating towards these toys when I am in the stores.  Many of the horses I've seen come with dolls, but I often feel like the dolls are completely out of scale with their equine companions (the Mattel Disney Princess and Horse sets are a perfect example of this).  I thought it would be fun to launch a series of reviews that examines some of the available horses, with an emphasis on which dolls fit them best.  I won't do these reviews all in a row like I did with the Cutie Pops, but I hope to review six or seven different steeds over the next month or two.

I am going to start by reviewing two of the large 19" Paradise horses.  I have been curious about these toys (and the whole Paradise line) for a while.  The fur-covered, articulated Paradise horses are sold for around $30 at Walmart as part of the Madame Alexander 18" "My Life As..." play doll series, but they are also available in the standard Paradise packaging with no mention of My Life at all.  I was interested to learn whether there's any difference between these separately-marketed versions of the horse.  These horses strike me as a nice alternative to the expensive American Girl horses, and will offer an interesting comparison for my upcoming review of the comparably-priced Our Generation articulated Morgan.

Paradise "Western Pinto"  horse.

Our Generation "Plaid to Meet You" Accessory Set

I was running errands on Wednesday and stopped by the toy aisle at Target just for fun.  I was surprised to see a huge new stash of Our Generation goodies.  There's a new articulated circus horse (beautiful!), tons of outfits, a great selection of shoe packs, and a whole new display of $6.99 accessory sets.  There are some beautiful pictures of these sets over at Doll Diaries, but one set in particular stood out to me.

It looks like this in the box:

"Plaid to Meet You" accessory set.