Sunday Surprise: Baby Born Surprise Mini Babies (and more)!

Happy Sunday!  I have officially lived in New Jersey for one year today!  And I'm so much happier than I was on this day last year.  Last year I drove seven hours from Maine in my tiny Prius packed full with all of the remaining belongings from our old house, plus four stressed-out dogs and two small cats.  It was a long journey!  But here I am sitting on my couch typing up a surprise review, which, if you'd asked me a year ago, is not something I ever thought would happen again.

I really like surprise toys, and I especially like surprise mini babies.  I don't collect baby dolls in general anymore, so I'm not sure why babies are so appealing to me in a small scale--and especially with a surprise theme.  Maybe it's because babies bring several surprises with them in real life?  Or perhaps it's just because mini babies are great little toys, either on their own as something to nurture, or as a fun new addition to a doll family.

In any case, I've reviewed a few different surprise babies over the years, including Zapf Jolly Dollies and the unrivaled Cabbage Patch Babyland Mini Kids--which are still probably my favorite surprise mini of all.  But I wanted to see what kinds of mini babies are available on the market today, so I focused on this theme during one of my Target missions.  The first surprise baby toy I found was this one, by Zapf and MGA Entertainment:

Baby Born Surprise Mini Babies, $9.99.

Sunday Surprise: Happy Easter!

For more than a decade, Easter has started (bright and early!) in my house with an egg hunt and an epic treasure hunt.  I used to spend all Saturday making clues for the hunt...clues that my dynamic treasure hunting duo would solve in under an hour (baskets of candy are powerful motivators, I guess).  This year, with one kid off at college and the other with a new-found love for sleeping in on Sunday mornings...well, Easter is off to a quieter start.

I overcompensated for this change by trying to pack way too many things into today's Sunday Surprise.  I have an odd mix of surprise-themed things to share with you: some Li'l Woodzeez blind bag bobblehead figures, a matryoshka nesting doll (with a mystery number of smaller dolls inside!) and some vintage Holly Jolly baby-filled eggs by Zapf Creation.

Matryoshka doll by Yankelus.

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's 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).

Best Friend Sam by Zapf Creation

The most special doll that I found on my trip to Edinburgh was Best Friend Sam, a Zapf play doll sold at Smyths for £22.99 (just under $40).  Sam is 63cm (24.8") tall and scaled like a toddler.  This doll is special to me because his size is uncommon, he's not sold in the United States, and his face has very Zapf-like features--calling to mind the gorgeous older German-made Zapf artist dolls.  What I like best about this sandy-haired rascal, though, is that he reminds me of my own wonderful son when he was younger.  I can't think of a better doll to share with you on Mothers' Day.  Here's little Sam:

Best Friend Sam (£22.99) by Zapf Creation.