Cave Club Dolls by Mattel

Well, I guess it's clear at this point that the blog migration didn't work.  It worked in the sense that all of the data (including the comments and links!) got transferred from here to WordPress.  That seemed pretty magical to me.  But it didn't work because none of the pictures were aligned correctly, any picture with a caption was huge, I couldn't edit photos in old posts anymore, new photos took ten years to upload...and the list goes on.  I could tell you the whole story some day if you're interested.  The upshot is that it would have taken me literally over a year to correct all ~43,000 images by hand, so I bailed and came back to Blogger where it's safe and familiar, and (most) things work.

However, the commenting problems here are real and I'm trying to fix that.  I've found a workaround for myself that might help some of you--especially if you're using Safari: if you go to your Safari settings, select Preferences, then select Privacy, you should see a way to change the "cross-site tracking" configuration.  When I did this, I was suddenly able to comment again--and lots of other little things about the site are working better for me, too.  So give that a try if you feel like it, and please let me know if you have any success.

One of the reasons that the migration was so frustrating to me is that it took several full days away from my time with dolls.  I have a huge list of interesting things that I want to share with you, and I hate falling behind.  So let's forget about technical stuff as much as possible for right now and get back to the fun!  Today's fun is in the form of a quirky little collection of dolls that I discovered about two months ago.  The line is called Cave Club and is made by Mattel:

Mattel's Cave Club doll, Lumina ($14.99).

Articulation Update: The Biggers Luxury Marilyn

I'm back with another articulation update!  This is a follow-up to my review of The Biggers by Berjuan.  Those little elfin cuties won my heart, but they have very simple articulation.  About half way through writing that review, I learned that Berjuan also produced a limited release of four highly-articulated Biggers dolls!  Of course I ordered one of the articulated characters right away, and she finished her long journey from Spain about two weeks ago.

The original Biggers dolls all have original names and costumes and are meant to represent mystical creatures that live secretly among us, thriving on laughter and happiness.  The four limited edition Biggers dolls are not like this at all.  Instead, they're modeled after celebrity characters: Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Frida Kahlo, and Marilyn Monroe.  This is a strangely arbitrary group of celebrities.  Or is it?  The only thing that really links them together is that they faced untimely, drug-related deaths.  That theme is a far cry from sprites who flit around and thrive on laughter and happiness.

I was so excited about the prospect of additional articulation that I didn't pay too much attention to the macabre tone of this collection when I was ordering my doll.  Perhaps I should have seen the dead celebrity theme as foreshadowing?  Instead, I waffled back and forth briefly between Frida and Marilyn and then happily settled on Marilyn because she seemed like the most versatile of the bunch:

The Biggers Luxury Doll Marilyn, €105.95 (~$120).

Articulation Update: Rainbow High Jett Dawson

Happy New Year!  Cheers!  Here's hoping that the first few hours of 2022 have treated you well.  For me, the year is starting with an attempted migration to WordPress.  As some of you might have noticed, I suddenly stopped being able to comment on this blog about a week ago and can only manage to comment if I'm using Chrome (I typically use Safari).  I'd love to know how many other people are having this problem--but of course, if you are, you can't tell me because you can't comment!  In any case, WordPress is a superior blog platform for many reasons, and I've been meaning to migrate for years.  So please excuse any issues over the coming weeks as I figure out how to move this behemoth.  It shouldn't cause any change or disruption to how you access the site.

The best thing about 2022 for me so far is that, because of you, I managed to reach my end-of-year goal of 30 Patrons over on Patreon!  Woo hoo!  Thank you so much!  I'm incredibly grateful for all of the support and enthusiasm, and it's been fun to connect with more people over on that site.

The beginning of a new year is a great time to tie up loose ends, so I figured in the next week or so I'd deliver on some of the update reviews that I promised in previous posts.  In my first Rainbow High review, I mentioned that Jett Dawson has more points of articulation than the other Rainbow High dolls.  Today I'm going take a quick look at Jett and see how much those extra joints add to the appeal of this brand.

Rainbow High Jett Dawson, $57.99.

Lottie in Manhattan

One of the fantastic things about where we live in New Jersey is that we're only about an hour away from Manhattan by train.  For most of my life, trips to the Big Apple were a rare, special occasion.  Now it's possible to go to there for a day trip...which is exactly what we did a few weeks ago!  

The day before our trip, my husband said, "you should bring a doll with you to photograph for the blog!" because that's how awesome he is.  I can't believe I didn't come up with that idea myself, but I've gotten out of some of my old habits.  I immediately started to think about what a good travel companion doll would be.

One of the reviews I'd been thinking about in the days preceding our trip was a revisit of the Lottie doll line by Arklu.  I've reviewed these dolls already, but that was back in 2013.  The company has come up with some wonderful and diverse new characters in the last few years.  I had several of the most interesting dolls queued up in my shopping cart online, but obviously there was no time to get those shipped before our trip.  So, I went to our local toy store and bought one of the dolls they had in stock.  

This doll ended up being perfect for our trip.  She's called "Walk in the Park," and we got to take her for a walk in the park: Central Park:

Walk in the Park Lottie doll by Arklu, $24.99.

Patron Post: Small Wonder Sweet and Happy Babies by Madame Alexander

One of the things that's happening over on Patreon is that my generous Bear Hug Patrons get to select a doll for me to review!  They also get first refusal to purchase the discounted doll in the shop.  This is a great arrangement from my perspective because it encourages me to look at dolls that I might not notice otherwise.  I have two of these special reviews in the works so far, and this one seemed appropriate right now since we've just been talking about baby dolls.  Once I complete the review requests for my current Bear Hug Patrons, I'll open up that tier to new members.

I have 28 Patrons at the moment, which is just amazing.  I honestly wasn't sure if this experiment would work.  The somewhat random goal that I have in the back of my head right now is to reach 30 Patrons by the end of 2021, so if you're a regular visitor here and have a few bucks per month to spare, please stop by and join the fun! 

For today's Patron Post I'll be taking a look at two play babies from Madame Alexander's Sweet and Happy Baby collection.  This review is made possible by all of my wonderful Patrons, and was requested by Arin Ritchey.

Sweet and Happy Baby by Madame Alexander, $31.99.

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.

B-Kind Dolls by Jada Toys

Finally, after living here for almost a year, I ventured out and found the closest Walmart.  I wanted to check out the Honey Bee Acres toys that many of you have recommended--especially the unicorn! Unfortunately, the first Walmart I visited had barely any toys (so depressing), let alone any of the Honey Bee Acres sets.  It was a pretty big let-down.  So, I went to another Walmart last week (who knew there were so many Walmarts around here?) and struck out again: no Honey Bee Acres.  The second Walmart I visited had more toys on the shelves, though, so at least I had a fun time browsing.

I ended up having to purchase the Honey Bee Acres toys online, but I'm so grateful that I visited these stores, because I found a Walmart-exclusive doll line that I'm incredibly excited about!  These dolls were literally the most attractive toy on the shelves at both of the Walmart stores I visited.

The line is called B-Kind (which I think is a good way to live), the packaging and the dolls are eco-friendly (which I think is really important), the dolls look highly-articulated (an obsession of mine), and each character comes with a D.I.Y. project (I love projects!).  It's basically like Jada Toys was saying, "hey, Emily, we made this doll just for you. What do you think?"

B-Kind doll Brianna by Jada Toys (29.97).

Creatable World by Mattel

Creatable World was introduced in 2019, shortly after I stopped blogging.  I was instantly drawn to the dolls because of their wigs (which remind me of Liv dolls), their manageable size, and their refreshingly gender-neutral presentation.  I almost re-activated the blog briefly back then just to do a review of this ground-breaking line, but I was afraid to fall back into my old bad habits.  I still purchased two of the sets, though (bad habits!) and stored them away.

I would have sworn that I'd donated my Creatable World sets to the Goodwill when we moved last year.  In the blurred flurry of clearing out the house, I let go of a lot of things that I never thought I would be able to part with.  But when I was sorting through some moving boxes a few months ago, I found both of the sets! I guess they made the cut.  It was extra-fun to find these dolls because I couldn't remember exactly which ones I'd chosen, and I love a good surprise!

One of the sets included this lovely individual, who I've named Riley:

Creatable World doll dc-220 by Mattel, $29.99.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a Wildflower doll, Fawn, who I never had the chance to share back when I first got her.  She, Kate, and Tara are among my very favorite dolls.  I hope it will be possible to buy another one of these treasures some day, but the Etsy shop is currently closed.

I hope everyone--whether you celebrate Thanksgiving today or not--is having a great day!  I'm very thankful for all of you. :)

Wildflower doll, Fawn.

Rainbow High Dolls, Part Two: Vanessa Tempo

I'm back, as promised, to follow up on my previous review of Rainbow High dolls.  It's been really fun to read through the comments on the last post.  I love hearing about everyone's personal reactions and interactions with these dolls!  It's also neat to learn that many of the Rainbow High fashions are based on iconic outfits from the real fashion world.  Thank you for this revelation, WigglyWogglyWaffles, I had no idea!  Although Sheryl's outfit did look familiar (Sév filled me in that it's one of Cher's outfits in the movie Clueless).  It'll be fun to look at the dolls through this lens from now on--to see if I can identify any of their copycat fashions.

I'm reviewing a second Rainbow High doll in this post because it's always nice to look at two examples from a certain doll line, just to make sure any flaws or highlights aren't flukes.  I chose one of the newest dolls I could find for this addendum because I figured there'd be some interest in her, and also because she's presumably a good representation of the current level of quality.

Meet Vanessa Tempo:

Rainbow High's Vanessa Tempo, $49.99.

Rainbow High Dolls by MGA Entertainment

One of the things I'm doing over on Patreon is giving my Patrons a chance to weigh in on what review they want to see next.  Two weeks ago, they picked this Rainbow High girl over a different play doll.  The vote was extremely close, though, so the other doll will probably get her review soon.  I'm happy that this review won, because I've been extremely curious about the Rainbow High brand for several months now.

When I was taking a break from doll reviews and putting all of my energy into My Twinn restorations, I rarely visited any kind of toy store.  This is highly unusual for me, since I get a huge amount of happiness from just being around toys.  But something happened about a month before I started writing here again: I was at Target looking for a game in the electronics section, and I found myself wandering into the adjacent toy aisles, unable to resist the pull.

I didn't give all of the toys the scrutiny they deserved on that day, but I did a broad sweep of the doll sections to see what was new.  The one thing I saw that stuck in my head was the Rainbow High collection.  The Rainbow High dolls were displayed opposite the L.O.L. toys, and I found the cohesive color schemes of the Rainbow High characters to be a soothing and attractive contrast to the neon chaos of the L.O.L. shelves.  Each Rainbow High character has clothing and hair that match, and so looking at all of the dolls together is like looking at a big rainbow.  It's very seductive.  And of course I'm always roped in by dolls with interesting eyes and nice articulation.  I almost bought a doll on the spot--I really wanted to see what the articulation was like--but told myself it was silly since I wasn't doing reviews anymore.

As you can imagine, as soon as I decided to write reviews again, the first thing I did was scoot back to Target and buy a Rainbow High doll!  Here's the one I picked:

Rainbow High's Georgia Bloom, $27.99.

Sunday Surprise: Li'l Woodzeez Mini Acorn House and Babeez by Battat!

I can't believe that we're almost a week away from Thanksgiving.  It just won't sink into my brain.  Part of the problem is the weather here in New Jersey.  For example, yesterday I was walking in the sun in a tee shirt, and then a few hours later there was a thunderstorm.  A thunderstorm!  In mid-November!  It still feels so much like summer to me.  It feels like Christmas when I go into Target, though.  The toy aisles are packed with stuff, and holiday trimmings are filling up the rest of the store.  Even though I'm in a perpetual state of confusion about what time of year it is, I've been enjoying my research missions to Target more than usual with all of the new stock!

During one of my recent trips to Target I focused on looking at what surprise-themed toys are available these days.  There are a lot of them!  I picked a few of my favorites to share with you over the coming months, and right at the top of my list is an old favorite: the Li'l Woodzeez.

Li'l Woodzeez continue to stand out to me because of the high cuteness factor and low price.  They're still selling the adorable Tickle Your Tastebuds bakery play set (seemingly unchanged from the one I reviewed in 2012) for the same $20 price.  And I picked up this whole collection of surprises for $11: 

Li'l Woodzeez Mini Acorn House Surprise ($4.99) and two Surprise Babeez ($2.99 each).

Barbie Signature Looks by Mattel: Part Two

I'd like to start with a huge thank you to my very first Patrons!  I am so honored that you would pitch in and help me with my re-invented dream for this blog.  I'm enjoying the Patreon site, and think we can have some fun over there.  For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, I've just launched a new Patreon page where you can pitch in a few bucks per month to help the future of the blog.  It's also a place where you can chat and even help me figure out what to review next.  Please consider joining us!

Today's post is a follow-up to my review of the Barbie Looks male characters.  Some of the background and deeper thoughts about this line can be found in that review.  I still feel regret that I didn't include Model #1 (Nina) in this review, since she's very beautiful and would have added to the fun, but the three characters I bought kept me plenty busy.  They are a delightful and diverse trio:

Barbie Signature Looks dolls from left: Model #2, Model #6, and Model #3.