Sunday Surprise: Meow Planet Blind Box Cats!

I don't know how much attention anyone pays to my backdrop.  It's not meant to attract attention, but be a neutral setting to show off dolls.  However, over the years, my grey backdrop has become a bit of a hallmark for this site, even though it's not always the most complimentary color for every doll.  I used grey foam board for several years early on, and then in April of 2014, I finally purchased a big roll of professional backdrop paper.  I think my Maru and Friends Savannah review was the first to use this upgraded prop.  

My routine over the years has been to use a section of the roll until the paper starts to look dirty and creased, and then I'll cut that part off and roll out a fresh section.  Last week, when I was getting ready to begin a new photo session, I noticed that the paper was starting to get dirty and creased again.  So, I cut off the damaged paper and started to unroll a new section...and the roll ran out.  I was left with only a short rectangle of paper, which was not enough to cover my whole photography table.  Three things happened after that: first, I felt a little sad.  I mean, that same roll of paper has lasted me almost a decade, and has seen me through almost 300 reviews.  It even followed me on the move from Maine to New Jersey.  It felt like an old friend.

The second thing that happened is that I had to order a new backdrop.  And third, while I was waiting for the new paper to arrive, I had to change my review strategy.  With only a small rectangle of background available, I could only review very small dolls that would easily fit within the confines of the remaining backdrop.  I dug through my stash and found some five-inch blind box cats that I purchased a little while ago.  They're called Meow Planet, and this is Ruby from that series:

Meow Planet Ruby, $14.00.

Live Action The Little Mermaid Ariel by Mattel

Thank you to everyone who wished me well with my arm injury!  The cuts are healing slowly and of course the scars will have good anecdotal value.  I'm getting so bad at replying to comments, but I always read them and truly love hearing everyone else's thoughts, tips, and advice.  Thank you for taking the time to contribute.

It's been a week since I saw the new live action The Little Mermaid movie, and I'm still riding high on the experience...or I'm still singing Part of Your World in my head every thirty seconds, anyway.  I've also really enjoyed seeing clips of Halle Bailey interacting with her fans over the past week.  She seems like a very kind person.  One story I didn't tell during the last review is that I sat next to a little Black girl at the movie, and at the end, she and her mom applauded and cheered loudly.  Then, the little girl left the theatre grinning from ear-to-ear and waving to everyone.  I don't honestly know why she was waving, but I like to believe that this Ariel, and this movie, made her feel beautiful and special--like a princess.

After thoroughly enjoying Shop Disney's Ariel doll in my last review, I'm here today to take a closer look at an equivalent doll in the Mattel lineup: Deluxe Ariel:

Live Action The Little Mermaid Deluxe Ariel by Mattel, $45.00.

Live Action The Little Mermaid Ariel by Disney

Okay, so I know that Disney live action remake movies are not everyone's cup of tea.  I have a few of the naysayers in my own family--and I agree with some of their points.  For example, I'll happily admit that some of the autotune singing in Beauty and the Beast is cringey.  Still, I can't help but get wrapped up in the excitement of seeing these beloved stories re-told.  I mean, there could be a new movie version of Cinderella every year and I would not object.  But because of my mixed feelings about re-makes, as the release date for the live action Little Mermaid came closer and closer, I wasn't sure how excited I would be.  Finally, last week, I took a minute to find a trailer online.  I watched it, riveted, with tears in my eyes.  When I heard the snippet from Halle Bailey's rendition of Part of Your World, I straight-up cried...and I knew exactly how excited I was about this movie: very excited.  Very.

I wasn't quite excited enough to head to the theaters on Friday night, release day, but I was there first thing Saturday morning.  The movie is incredible.  In fact, I think it's the best live action re-make so far (even considering my Cinderella bias).  Halle Bailey is luminous, Melissa McCarthy is brilliant as Ursula, and I love Daveed Diggs' take on Sebastian.  In addition, the hair animation is mind-boggling, and the underwater scenes are immersive...and breathtaking.  I think my husband will love this movie simply because of the diversity of sea life that's depicted during Under the Sea.  I feel like the end dragged on for too long and was a bit awkward, but that's a small complaint.  The movie as a whole was magical and I can't wait to see it again.

Unfortunately, even when Disney has a hit with these remake movies, the accompanying dolls aren't necessarily good.  The Disney Store's interpretations of Belle and Cinderella were strange, and ultimately disappointing.  This time around, both Mattel and Disney have released a collection of The Little Mermaid dolls, and the promotional photos look very promising.  So, today I'll review the Disney Store's version of Ariel, and next time I'll compare and contrast her to Mattel's deluxe Ariel doll.  And I'll tell you right up front: I am even more excited about these dolls than I was about the movie trailer:

Live Action The Little Mermaid Ariel doll by Disney, $34.99.

Vintage Space-Themed dolls! Spectra by Mattel and Lustra by Tonka

I feel like there are tons of new dolls coming out these days.  There's the constant stream of new Monster High releases that I was talking about last time, but also all of the live action Little Mermaid dolls (many of which look awesome!), new Barbie dolls in anticipation of that movie, some Jakks Pacific ily 4EVER characters, new My Little Pony figures...and that's not even mentioning the higher-priced offerings like the new Integrity dolls, the new Carpatina girl, the new American Girl of the Year, or the articulated Maru and Friends Mini Pals (who I fear have the same body as my Biggers Marilyn).  And that's just what I could think of off the top of my head!

When I get overwhelmed by trying to keep up with new releases, it can be calming to take a break and look to the past--which is what I decided to do this week.  I discovered Mattel's Spectra dolls during one of my random eBay hunts about a year ago, and was immediately captivated by their metallic-looking bodies and wacky hair and outfits.  These space-themed dolls were produced for only one year starting in late 1986, so they can't have been very popular in their time.  However, they were apparently popular enough to attract a copycat, which was Tonka's 1987 Aurora line.  In this review, I'll take a look at Mattel's Spectra and then compare her to Lustra, who is one of the dolls from the Aurora lineup.

Spectra doll by Mattel, 1986.

Monster High Ghouluxe Ghoulia Yelps by Mattel

One of the really fun things about blogging is that when I have a few hundred pictures to sort and edit, I tend to watch a lot of television.  Lately, that has meant blasting through Netflix's Queen Charlotte, which is a Bridgerton prequel.  I never miss Bridgerton content because I have a long and happy history of reading Julia Quinn's work.  In fact, one of her novels, An Offer From a Gentleman, is one of my top Cinderella stories of all time.  Why am I saying all of this?  Because I want to put something out there, just in case any of the big doll companies happen to visit (Mattel?): could we have some 1:6 Bridgerton fashion dolls, please?  With all of those beautiful gowns and decadent hair--and all of the wonderful diversity?  Pretty please?  I will buy all of them.

But I'm not here to talk about Bridgerton, even though it's been on my mind lately.  The past week has been a whirlwind, with a few trips keeping me busy, and so I thought I'd review something short and sweet to get back into the groove.  I also wanted to review something relatively uncomplicated because Tears of the Kingdom comes out tomorrow and I need to clear my weekend for that.  I'll make you the same promise that I made my husband: I'll try not to completely drop off the face of the Earth as I re-enter Hyrule.  Mind you, I said "try."  So, anyway, what review topic is short, sweet, and relatively uncomplicated?  One of my all-time favorite brands, of course: Monster High.

I recently joined Mattel's Fang Club, and it's been very damaging for my budget.  It feels like every other week the company releases another limited Monster High doll.  And not only that, but now I get emails notifying me of other special releases, too.  So, last week I bought the new Barbie and Ken set, the week before that it was Monster High's Chucky and Tiffany, and in mid April it was fang-favorite Rochelle Goyle.  But the ghoul who started it all, way back in March, is the star of today's review: Ghouluxe Ghoulia Yelps.

Monster High Ghouluxe Ghoulia Yelps by Mattel, $50.

Sindy, Then and Now

Before I get started today, I want to let you know that I have an Instagram account (finally).  It was easy to set up, in the end, but unfortunately I'm not able to include hyperlinks to individual reviews.  Still, in general, when I post on Instagram, it'll mean that I have a new review published.  Thank you to everybody who has followed so far, and please forgive me while I learn the ropes!

Today's review has been a long time coming.  Sindy is an icon of doll history, and has gone through several fascinating transformations since her debut by the Pedigree company in 1963.  I've been getting requests to review Sindy for almost ten years now, starting in 2014 when Robert Tonner was selling his version of the character.  And I've been meaning to purchase some of these dolls for almost that long, but you know how it goes: the budget is limited, new things are always coming out, and other dolls keep stealing my attention.  Also, the Sindy story is a big one to delve into, especially for a newcomer like me.

But a few weeks ago I was reading on Facebook that the most recent incarnation of Sindy, manufactured by Kid Kreations, has been discontinued.  So I figured I should jump down this rabbit hole and try to get up to speed before a whole new version of Sindy changes the landscape yet again.

Kid Kreations Sindy from 2022 (left) and Marx Sindy from 1978 (right).

Barbie Extra Minis and Extra Mini Minis by Mattel

Spring is in full bloom here in New Jersey, which is always a spectacular sight to behold.  The number of flowering trees and bushes in this area is something that never ceases to amaze me.  Some days I feel like I'm walking through a fairy tale world.  The warm weather and beautiful scenery is not great for my productivity, though, since I'd almost always rather be outside!

Still, Lena insisted that I buckle down and finally write my Barbie Extra Mini review.  And she's not wrong to pester: I've been talking about this review since way back in December when I wrote about MGA's equivalent dolls, the Extra Iconic Minis.  The nice thing is, between December and now, Mattel came out with Barbie Extra Mini Minis, so I'll be able to include those dolls in today's review, too.  And before you panic, despite having a lot of miniature dolls to share with you today, I've done my best to keep this post from being insanely long.

Barbie Extra Mini doll #2 by Mattel, $16.99.

The My Twinn Princess Makeovers

I have a complicated and long-term history with My Twinn dolls at this point, which isn't something I would have predicted ten years ago.  In March of 2013, I purchased and reviewed my very first My Twinns.  I had a decent opinion of the dolls back then, but a lot of that had to do with the fact that I found them on a great sale.  I didn't learn much about the history of the brand during that review, nor about the wide range in quality.  My deep dive came a few years later in 2016, when I started the My Twinn Project series.  In those posts, I chronicled my experience with fixing up old, high-quality Denver-era My Twinns, which are much nicer than the dolls I bought in 2013.

My passion for fixing up My Twinns escalated quickly after that, and the dolls started to make more frequent appearances here on the blog...and also started to fill up my house.  I became obsessed with seeking out old dolls with rare faces and skin tones, and the more beat-up they were, the better!  When I decided to take a break from reviewing dolls in 2018, I continued to work on the My Twinns, and even started a separate blog, The My Twin Project Shop, to chronicle my endeavors.  That blog kept me connected to the online doll world, and the dolls gave me a creative outlet and escape during the early, dark days of the pandemic.  It was a bit of a lifeline, frankly.

One of the hardest things about starting this blog up again has been that I no longer have much time to work on My Twinns.  Worse yet, I stopped doing Twinn makeovers before I'd even finished a princess series that was a lot of fun!  So, today I decided to share an overview of my princess project with all of you, and present the last two dolls in the group: the Cinderellas.

Future Cinderella: a Denver-era My Twinn doll with the Lenora face.

Mini Amigas by Paola Reina

The Doll-a-Day project (and also tax season...) kept me from starting a new full-length review this week, so I decided to take the opportunity to pull out the last of my photos from St. John and see if I could make a short post from those.  I took quite a few dolls with me on that trip, most of them for Lena's Spring Break series or the Mermaid reviews, but there were two more stowaways that I've been meaning to share with you.  They are both 8-inch Mini Amigas from Paola Reina, who I purchased last July when I wrote my Las Amigas update.

Mini Amigas David, by Paola Reina, $40.

Doll-a-Day Collection One

I was going on a walk two weekends ago when for some reason the idea popped into my head to start a Doll-a-Day feature.  This idea appealed to me because it seemed like a good way to tell you a bit about dolls that for one reason or another aren't likely to get full-length reviews of their own--or to share dolls that have been in my collection for a while and have never been showcased here on the blog.  So, for the past week, I've posted a single photograph of a different doll every day, both on Twitter and on Patreon.  These photos did not include any information about the dolls, and people had the opportunity to guess the brand.  There were a lot of accurate guesses!  Now that the week is over, I'm going to reveal what all of the dolls are, and share a bit of information about each--like a mini review.

I have to confess that this idea got a little out-of-control, though--as my ideas often do.  The problem is that even if I share a reduced amount of information on each of the seven dolls, that still adds up to a very long blog post!  So maybe next time I'll only choose five dolls, from Monday through Friday, and then publish the overview on the weekend?  You might have other ideas for how to improve on this concept, too, so please feel free to share your thoughts!

But for now, let's take a closer look at this week's eclectic group of seven dolls:

Doll-a-Day group for April 3-9, 2023.

#SNAPSTAR Dolls by YULU

As an adult, one of the very first play dolls to catch my attention was Spin Master's Liv.  Liv dolls were produced between 2009 and 2012, and have made a lot of appearances here on the blog.  I fell in love with this line because the dolls have great articulation, inset eyes, diverse wardrobes and accessories (including horses!), and a well-designed interchangeable wig system with nice hair fiber.  I still have a large collection of beloved Liv characters in my house, and am always on the lookout for new dolls that remind me of these old favorites.

That's why, when I stumbled upon the SnapStar line during one of my aimless Amazon hunts last summer, I got pretty excited.  At first glance, the SnapStar crew have a lot of similarities to Liv, including inset eyes, good articulation, and interchangeable wigs.  The head shape and face design even bear a striking resemblance to Liv--or they do from a distance, anyway.  

The resemblance to Liv was more than enough to tempt me, but SnapStar dolls also have a photo-editing gimmick that sounded really fun.  The dolls come with a green screen backdrop that can be used in conjunction with a special phone app to create enhanced and altered pictures.  Since I spend all of my time photographing dolls, I was very eager to try out this feature!  In fact, there were so many things that appealed to me about the SnapStar brand, I showed no restraint whatsoever and purchased all of the characters.

#SNAPSTAR Yuki by YULU, $14.99

Unique Eyes Dolls by Giochi Preziosi

Okay, so have you ever looked at a realistic painting of a person, and felt like that person was watching you?  Like their eyes were actually following you as you moved around the room?  The Mona Lisa is a classic example of this; her knowing gaze follows wherever you go.  Well, that's usually a feature of two-dimensional objects.  Our brains perceive the realistic shadows and reflections in the painting as actual near and far points, even though they're only flat on paper.  This means that no matter from what angle we view the painted face, the near and far points remain the same--and so the direction of the gaze remains the same.  Pretty neat, right?

Well, it's much harder to do this kind of thing in three dimensions, since the near and far points of a rounded eye actually do change as we move, but the Italian toy giant Giochi Preziosi appears to have figured it out.  Their Unique Eyes doll line features eyes that actually follow you around the room!  

I'm always on the lookout for something truly new and different in the doll world, and I feel like this brand definitely fits the bill.  I want to throw out a big "thank you" to gothielle, who alerted me to the presence of these fascinating dolls.  Gothielle, you know me well; I've become completely obsessed.

Unique Eyes Amy (left) and Sophia (right) by Giochi Preziosi, variable price.

Spring Break with Lena: Cheap Little AliExpress Knockoff Dolls

Welcome to the last day of virtual spring break here on the blog!  I'm going to end the week by looking at some cute, strange little dolls that are sold on AliExpress.  A lot (but certainly not all) of the products on AliExpress are knockoffs of one kind or another, and today's dolls are no exception.  However, some of the original, copied products still remain a mystery to me.  The nice thing is that you guys make the collective knowledge on this blog impressive, so maybe we'll be able to solve a few mysteries together before the day is over!

I first learned about these dolls last summer when we had a silly doll contest over on Patreon.  The idea was for everyone to submit photos of the funniest or most unusual dolls that they could find.  It was an entertaining contest, and a surprising number of the entries were things that I actually wanted to buy!  Case in point, when Amy sent me a photo of these big-eyed AliExpress kids, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist:

Plastic character dolls from AliExpress, $4.95 each.

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.

Spring Break with Lena: B-Kind Mini Dolls by Jada Toys

In the ongoing saga of TBP mobile, I found a fix for the logo and have reverted back to a more mobile-friendly view.  I've also added a search feature to the drop-down menu.  The blog was designed using a laptop view, so it's heavily optimized for that, but it's not 2012 anymore, is it?  Since I'm always on my computer, I've been remiss in making the mobile experience better--sorry.  I will continue to investigate ways to improve.  Thank you for the input--keep it coming!

Anyway, here we are, already on day three of the spring break celebration!  Thank you to everyone who is joining the fun in the comments section--I always love reading what you have to say.  This review will be on the shorter side, since I know the middle of the week can get hectic--or at least it gets hectic around here!

Nothing felt hectic on St. John, though, as Lena and I spent the week welcoming various doll guests to join us for a little chat and some time at the pool.  The guest list has been fairly diverse so far: yesterday Lena got fooled by a Cutie Reveal Chelsea in a toucan suit, and today she's going to meet a young girl named Turquoise Ann who is passionate about saving the ocean.  The face of today's guest might look familiar to you, if you read my earlier B-Kind review, but her size is quite different!

B-Kind mini doll Turquoise Ann by Jada Toys, $9.97.

Spring Break with Lena: Cutie Reveal Chelsea by Mattel

Welcome back!  First things first, I have a quick question to ask: for those of you who read the blog on your phones, how terrible is the new layout?  I haven't been able to find a way to make the new header work with mobile view, so when you see the blog on your phone, you're seeing the laptop view...but small.  I can usually hack my way into getting Blogger to do what I want, but this time I'm stumped.  So I need to figure out which is worse: mobile view with a tiny, pixelated header, or laptop view with smaller text.  Thank you for any input.

But enough about that!  As promised, Lena and I are back for the second day of our spring break celebration!  As some of you know, we visited the beautiful island of St. John back in February, and this week we're going to share four mini reviews from that trip with you!

Our first guest in St. John was the Cutie Reveal Chelsea toucan by Mattel:

Cutie Reveal Chelsea toucan by Mattel, $17.99.

Tea with Lena: Penny's Box Street Series Adou

Before anything else is said, check out the beautiful new logo that Angelica Nyneave made for me!  It took half a day of wrangling with Blogger to figure out how to add this gorgeous art in high-resolution to the header (and I'm still working on the mobile view...) but it was so worth it!  Thank you, Angelica--you are a treasure.

Today, proud to be under such a fancy new header, Lena is back with the second installment of her new series!  In fact, she's going to be working with me all week as we host a little spring break celebration here on the blog.  So, be sure to check in every day to see what's new.

To start things off, Lena invited a guest over to her house who, um, caused a little bit of trouble.  He's from the Penny's Box series of blind box BJDs that I chatted about back in December:

Lena with Penny's Box Adou from the Street Series, $24.99.

Shadow High (And More Rainbow High) Dolls by MGA Entertainment

I did a big review of MGA's Rainbow High line back in November of 2021, with a second part that featured Vanessa Tempo.  And then I did an articulation update with Jett Dawson in early 2022.  So it would seem like I've said enough about the brand at this point, right?  But the thing is, even though I haven't been planning or even thinking about additional Rainbow High reviews, somehow there always seems to be a new doll on the shelf that catches my attention--usually because they're offering something quite different from the dolls I've already reviewed.  And since apparently I'm an incurable doll collector, when I see a new doll that interests me, I buy it.

As you can imagine, this kind of behavior playing out over an entire year has led to a pretty big stack of unopened Rainbow High dolls.  And so today I figured I would finally open up some of those boxes and share four of the new and wonderful characters that this brand has produced:

Rainbow High dolls, clockwise from left: Shanelle Onyx, Zooey Electra, Victoria Whitman, and Meena Fleur.