Sunday Surprise: A Cabbage Patch Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  I couldn't resist the urge to post another Sunday Surprise on this particular day, which tends to be full of its own fun surprises.  I'm sure there are fun things in store at my house, but right now the only surprise I've gotten is that my youngest's flight from the West Coast got delayed and delayed...and then canceled.  The cold weather is certainly bungling things up for people all over the country.  I hope all of you are safe and warm and have gotten where you need to go.  If not, maybe you need a few little surprises to hold you over.

As you might remember, I love Cabbage Patch Kid dolls, mostly because they tend to come with surprise names.  These hidden names have tantalized me since I was a little kid.  I don't know what it is about a mystery name that I find so appealing--maybe it's just that I love names and I love surprises, so putting the two together is double the fun?  

In any case, one of my Patreon friends knows how much I enjoy Cabbage Patch Kids and their names, so she wrote to me in September to alert me to the fact that there are some newly-released Newborn Surprise babies available, and these have mystery names--and also mystery eye colors!

Cabbage Patch Kid Tiny Newborn Surprise by Jazwares, $24.99.

Sunday Surprise: Penny's Box Natural Wonderland Antu Dolls!

Twitter is a bit of a disaster these days, so I hate to even mention it here on the blog, but I kind-of have to for this post, because without Twitter, I never would have known about the dolls I'm featuring.  I should mention, though, for anyone who is fleeing the Twitter chaos, that I've started an account at Mastodon.  I'll put everything that I post on Twitter on Mastadon, too.  Here's the link, which you can also find over on the right side bar -->

I joined Twitter so that I'd have a way to announce when I'd written a new review, and it's worked fine for that, but after following a bunch of people, I realize that it's also a great platform for learning about new dolls and appreciating talented artists.  In fact, it's maybe too good of a platform for learning about new dolls.  I feel like every time I log in these days, I end up buying something.  

Today's review was inspired by a Twitter friend from New Zealand, surprise-yawns, who introduced me to Penny's Box and their whole range of adorable blind box BJD-style dolls.  I find it mind-blowing that you can get a fully-articulated, adorable little elastic-strung doll in a blind box format...for about twenty bucks.  Sounds too good to be true, right?  Let's find out.

Box photo from Penny's Box Natural Wonderland Antu, $22.

Savage Baby Rubber Joint Dolls by Monst

This post is a good example of how it can take me almost a year to complete a doll review.  Way back in March, in the comments section of the Nendoroid Little Red Riding Hood review, Breanne suggested that I look at Monst dolls.  I knew nothing about this brand, but because of the name, I assumed that the dolls had something to do with Monsters.  That assumption was way off.  In fact, they are adorable, highly articulated child dolls from China.

A few days after reading Breanne's suggestion, I purchased two Monst dolls.  They can be found at AliExpress, and cost between $30 and $50, depending on the character and the vendor.  My dolls arrived within a week or two...and then sat around for a few months while I was busy with other things.  In October, I thought I was ready to write the review, so I de-boxed the dolls and took some photos of them...and then realized I wanted to add one more doll to my analysis.  So I ordered that doll and waited for her to arrive, and then took some more pictures.  Finally, today, I have all of the dolls and photos I need, and I'm ready to share these cuties with you.  Thank you for the suggestion, Breanne!  I had a very good time with this review.

Monst doll, $30.99 without shoes.

Dream Ella Extra Iconic Mini Dolls by MGA Entertainment

Well!  This has been an interesting few weeks.  Unfortunately, when life gets interesting around here, there are longer breaks between posts--sorry.  The biggest thing that happened was that I had to move my youngest to the opposite coast (I'm trying not to take it personally that Washington is about the farthest you can get from New Jersey while still being in the same country).  That was both physically and emotionally exhausting, as you might imagine.  But then when I got home, I was so tired that my brain stopped functioning and I managed to get conned by an online scam (the kind of thing I thought I'd never in a million years fall for), and so I had to cancel all of my credit cards, shut down PayPal, and do ten other things that I don't even remember.  All I can say is that if anyone tells you to download software onto your computer in order to fix a PayPal problem (or any other problem)...don't do it.  Duh.  Big mistake.

What wasn't a big mistake was deciding to investigate a new mini doll that I found during one of my random online searches about a month ago.  The dolls are from MGA Entertainment's Dream Ella line and are called Extra Iconic Minis.  Despite the fact that MGA dolls take up about 20% of the toy aisle space at stores like my local Target, I have yet to see the Iconic Minis anywhere in person--only online.  But they've only been out since October.

I've been meaning to review Mattel's new Barbie Extra mini dolls, and so my grand plan here is to look at the Iconic Minis today, and then compare them to Mattel's minis in a future review.  I love mini dolls, so I'm pretty excited about this little series!

Dream Ella Extra Iconic Mini doll by MGA Entertainment, $14.99.

FailFix Dolls by Moose Toys

You know how it is when you're looking at a doll on Amazon and then the search formula suggests six more things you might like?  And then you click on those things and get even more suggestions?  I follow these suggestion chains all of the time, and for me, they tend to devolve quickly into the weeds of knockoff dolls, huge outfit sets, or things I've already bought.  However, the other day a FailFix doll popped up as a suggestion, and her outlandish face and hair stopped me in my tracks.  I quickly pulled up all of the FailFix dolls I could find.  The characters look hilariously stressed out, and have all of their accessories tangled up in their hair.  The faces made me laugh out loud, and pretty much without exception, any doll who can make me laugh is going to end up in my shopping cart.

The idea behind this line is that you can fix the doll's "failed" hair and makeup to make them look better.  The chaotic hair can be untangled and brushed, and the stressed-out face plate can be removed to reveal a calmer visage.  The makeover element would have been more than enough to tempt me (I love a good makeover!), but what's even better is that the FailFix girls are essentially surprise dolls--with one of their actual faces being the mystery!  I don't think I've ever bought a doll without knowing what their face looks like.

Because of the surprise element, I probably should have waited and published this as a Sunday Surprise post, but I got impatient.  Really impatient.  In fact, I can't remember the last time I was so excited to get a doll out of her box!  I needed to see what was behind that silly face:

FailFix SlayItDJ by Moose Toys, $19.99.

I'm a Wow Dolls by I'm a Girly

When I interrupted my 14-inch comparison series to look at the Honey Bee Acres general store, I figured I'd get right back to the 14-inchers within a week.  But then the DALL-E thing came along, and then I felt like watching Encanto, which led to those reviews, and then more new Monster High dolls were released...and then I adopted an old deaf dog.  So many distractions.  But here we are, seven reviews and more than a month later, and I'm finally back with another 14-inch doll to show you!

This is the sixth doll in the series, and I only have one more left.  I need to finish up so that I can move these girls out of the house.  They're smaller than 18-inch dolls, for sure, but they still take up a lot of space!  I have plans to do a similar series in the 18-inch scale, but--due to space constraints--it'll include fewer comparisons.

I was inspired to write this review back in February when I looked at the 18-inch I'm a Girly dolls.  For me, the big draw with those girls was how ridiculously inexpensive they were on Amazon (between $7.99 and $19.99).  Incidentally, a few of the dolls have increased in price over the last few months, but there are still some good bargains to be found.  At $34.99, the 14-inch dolls are more expensive than their larger cousins--at least with the Amazon prices.

The smaller dolls are called I'm a Wow, which is a more appealing name than I'm a Girly, to me, but it's still an odd brand name.  In fact, the title of this review is a tongue twister that confuses the heck out of me!  Thankfully, this particular I'm a Wow doll has a name, so we can just call her Ava.  Hi, Ava:

I'm a Wow doll, Ava, by I'm a Girly, $34.99.

G3 Frankie Stein from Monster High

I already wrote an in-depth review of the new Monster High dolls, but I know there's a lot of interest in the individual characters, so I decided to do a short(er) follow-up with the fabulously freaky Frankie Stein!

G3 Frankie Stein from Monster High, $24.99.

Creepy Baby Doll by Spirit Halloween

Happy Halloween!  I know I posted a review very recently, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to do a little something on this spooky day...

Creepy Baby Doll from Spirit Halloween, $26.99.

Encanto Mirabel doll from the Disney Store

I always try to avoid writing reviews that take three days to read.  I really do.  I have mixed success with this, though (the Monster High review coulda been shorter...), but thankfully the Encanto Mirabel dolls that I want to compare happen to fit nicely into separate reviews.  So this entry is basically the second part of my previous review, which focused on Mirabel dolls from Jakks Pacific.  Today I'll look at the Disney Store's 11-inch Mirabel and see how she compares.

I've reviewed a lot of Disney Store dolls over the years, and I've loved many of them, but the dolls started to suffer a decline in quality around six years ago.  At that point I tried to stop myself from making any more Disney Store purchases, for fear of being hugely disappointed.  I caved to temptation a few times after 2016, and I had mixed results. For example, among the live action Beauty and the Beast dolls, Belle was hugely disappointing.  But with the Tangled: The Series dolls, Rapunzel was an amazing surprise!  That Rapunzel left me feeling hopeful, so last year when I re-booted the blog, one of the first things I did was buy a Disney Store Elsa doll.  And guess what?  I was hugely disappointed.  I couldn't even finish her review.  Why can't I learn?

But Mirabel looked promising.  And she looked different enough from the Elsa doll that, against my better judgement, I decided to buy her.  I justified the purchase by telling myself that this was the Disney Store's first attempt at Mirabel, and their first-run dolls are often higher-quality than the later versions.  So here I am--yet again--coming back from a big disappointment to give the Disney Store another chance.  We'll see how it goes.

Encanto Mirabel doll from the Disney Store, $24.99.

Encanto Mirabel Dolls by Jakks Pacific

Well, I missed celebrating the one-year anniversary of the blog re-start.  That's typical.  I can't believe it's already been a year, but I guess the huge pile of dolls in my basement is pretty good evidence.  I need to get more serious about selling the dolls I review--or at least the ones who are worth something more than $20.  And since I've gotten out of the habit of selling dolls right after I finish their reviews, I'll find other ways of letting you know when something is for sale.  I can post on Twitter and Patreon easily, and I'll add a comment to the review of any doll that's about to be for sale.  There's also a gadget on the right side of the blog that will appear when there are items in the shop.

Another thing that's worth celebrating is that I have sixty Patrons already!  Woo hoo!  Thank you so much to that dedicated crew for helping out financially, and also for your inspiring comments, suggestions, and messages.  I could not do this without you.

But that's enough of that!  If I don't get this review written soon, some other new thing will come along to distract me and I'll be even more behind.  I've had three different dolls from the Disney movie Encanto sitting in my workroom for months now, and it's high time that I take a look at them.  Today I'll focus on two Mirabel dolls (and one Antonio doll) by Jakks Pacific, and then in a few days I'll follow up with a comparison to the Disney Store's version of Mirabel.

The Mirabel and Antonio Adventure set by Jakks Pacific, $24.99.

G3 Monster High Dolls by Mattel

I have all of these carefully-laid plans with the blog, I promise I do, but then things keep coming along to derail those plans--often in a delightful way.  Two weeks ago my discovery of the DALL-E image generator threw me off track, and then last week it was the much-anticipated release of the Generation 3 Monster High dolls.  I knew the G3 dolls were coming out in October, and so I showed up at my local Target bright and early on October 1, eagerly scanning the shelves for the familiar logo, but I didn't see any sign of the new dolls.  Then, on October 2, my friend Darcy alerted me to the fact that many of the dolls were available online.  And so I ordered one. OK, two. Alright, most of them.  Oops.  And then, of course, the moment they started to arrive at my house, I had to put aside what I was working on and open them immediately.

Mattel has been very busy over the last few months, trickling out tantalizing Monster High releases like the Haunt Couture collection, the greyscale Reel Drama group (which I love!), and the Boo-riginal Creeproductions of the first wave dolls.  All of these dolls look like the original Monster High characters, with the same body and the same face molds.  So I was surprised to see that the G3 dolls are completely different!  The characters' names and styles are the same, but almost everything else has been changed.

I'll admit that I wasn't too thrilled with some of the promotional photos of the G3 dolls.  I could tell who all of the characters were supposed to be, but they looked too mainstream and cutesy to me.  They weren't weird enough to be the Monster High that I know and love.  But I decided to put my misgivings aside and give them a fair chance.  Things change, right?  The first doll that I bought, and the one who I'll feature in this review, is none other than my favorite Clawdeen Wolf...if you can recognize her:

Generation 3 Monster High Clawdeen Wolf by Mattel, $24.99.

A Variety of DALL-E Dollies

Today started out totally normal for me.  I got up, let the dogs out, grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat down to read the news.  But then an article in the Washington Post completely changed the course of my entire day.  And forgive me in advance, but it's likely to steal all of the free time you thought you had, too.

The article I read was about DALL-E, an artificial intelligence, text-to-image generator that has just become widely available to the public.  A text-to-image generator is software that can use regular text to create an image.  So if I input a phrase like "pencil drawing of a dog," DALL-E will give me several computer-generated images that look like pencil drawings of dogs.  And judging by the Washington Post sample images, I could see that DALL-E is very good at what it does.  The article was focused mainly on how this type of AI can be dangerous--and I can see that angle.  For example, people wanting to make a point could generate fake photographic evidence to claim something happened when it actually didn't.

But of course I wasn't interested in DALL-E because I want to create conspiracies or topple governments, I just wanted to see how good this thing is at rendering photographs of dolls.  And it's darn good...at least some of the time:

DALL-E redhead doll in a blue polka dot dress.

The Buzz General Store from Honey Bee Acres

Happy fall, everyone!  It's so funny, because just as the season officially changed, New Jersey went from 90° and oppressively humid to 72° and breezy, with nighttime temperatures that are downright cold.  It's a nice change, but I have whiplash.  The colder temperatures reminded me that we're coming up on the one-year anniversary of this blog's re-awakening!  That's hard for me to believe.  I'll have to think of a fun Sunday Surprise review to honor the date.

In the meantime, you might be surprised to see something that's not a 14-inch doll on the cover today!  Sorry if that's a disappointment to anyone, but I decided to take another little break from the 14-inch comparison series so that I could explore different things.  Way back in January, when I reviewed the Honey Bee Acres figures and compared them to Li'l Woodzeez and Calico Critters, I mentioned that some day I wanted to come back and take a look at the accessories and playsets that are available in that line, which is exactly what I'm going to do today.

Long-time readers of the blog might remember how much I like the Li'l Woodzeez shop-themed playsets, like the Tickle Your Tastebuds Bakery and Honeysuckle Hollow General Store.  Because of my affection for those two toys, I really wanted to look at the equivalent Honey Bee Acres set, which is called The Buzz General Store.  I'll certainly have the Woodzeez sets that I've already reviewed in my head as I look at this toy, but I'll also make some more direct comparisons to newer Li'l Woodzeez sets.  All of that means that this is going to be a long one (shocker), so I'd better get started!

The Buzz General Store from Honey Bee Acres, $19.94.

Articulated Glitter Girls by Battat

I had fun hosting a guest review on the blog again (thank you, Lurkins!).  It felt like the good old days.  It's nice to get somebody else's perspective, and Lurkins chose a topic that wasn't even on my radar.  But I definitely noticed the lack of diversity in Our Generation faces.  In fact, this was one of the bad surprises that greeted me on my first trip back to Target after the hiatus.  I'd assumed that the explosion of new faces we enjoyed in 2017 would persist.  I like that Battat updated their standard face mold, though, and think the new face is pretty.  Lurkins' review even inspired me to order a super-freckly redhead with the new face.  And now I understand how reading this blog can be hazardous to the wallet.  Sorry about that!

The timing of that review was perfect, because it offers a segue to the next episode in my 14-inch doll saga.  Today I'm going to look at the Glitter Girls, which are Battat's version of 14-inch play dolls.  I've actually reviewed these dolls before, but--like the Our Generation crew--they have gone through some big changes in the last four years.

This review will include a comparison between the old Poppy doll that I reviewed in 2018 and the new version of that same character, but the main focus will be on a girl who I thought stood out from the rest of the options: dark-skinned, blue-eyed Odessa:

Glitter Girls Odessa by Battat, $20.99.

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.

Be Bright Dolls by Adora

Happy September!  For the last six years, September in my life has meant helping one or both of my kids move into a new apartment or a new school dorm, always in the blazing heat and up three flights of stairs.  I continued this tradition last week, when I hauled myself to Boston to help my eldest move some of his stuff into a new place...on an uncommonly hot and humid day (but with an elevator!).  We didn't get to play with poop toys on that visit, unfortunately, but it was a still a lot of fun.  September has also often been a month of returning responsibilities and new plans for me.  And I certainly have a lot of plans for the blog this fall, including reviews of some wacky fashion dolls, a few 18-inch American Girl alternatives, and even some creepy stuff for Halloween!  But first I'm excited to get back to my 14-inch doll series.

So far I've reviewed Gwynn Tan by American Girl, the Kindness Club dolls by Madame Alexander, and a Glamour Girlz redhead from the New York Doll Collection.  I have four more dolls to look at in this series, and today's pick is a teal-haired cutie from Adora's Be Bright collection:

Be Bright Alma by Adora, $49.99.

Here's the Poop

How does one introduce a review about poop-themed toys?  I mean, I refuse to just dump such a steaming topic on you with no preamble.  That would eliminate all of the suspense and waste this valuable writing space.  And I don't want to soil my reputation by pinching off my prose or plopping down any old thing.  Expelling words is the whole point of a blog, after all.  But on the other hand, why muck about with a long, constipated introduction when I could just let 'er rip?

Today is gonna be all about poop.

Toys Я Us at American Dream

I'm having a great time comparing 14-inch dolls (and, thanks to Amy's comment, I've even added another brand to the list!) but I need a little break from the formulaic approach to that series, so the next two reviews will be wildly different.

Today's post might require a bit of background, especially for anyone who is new to this site.  Toys R Us was a huge part of my life back when I first started blogging.  I used to take weekly "research" excursions to the big store in South Portland, Maine (which I'm pretty sure is now a furniture warehouse).  I loved going there.  The variety of merchandise was unmatched, and I felt like I always found some new doll or action figure that fascinated or amused me.  Between that store and the nearby Target, there was practically nothing in the play doll world that I couldn't get my hands on.  I mean, Toys R Us even carried American Girl dolls for a while.

In addition to my routine visits to the Toys R Us in Maine, I also have fond memories of the jaw-dropping flagship store that used to be in Manhattan.  That place was even more impressive than F.A.O. Schwarz, if you ask me.  There was a massive ferris wheel and a freakin' life-sized Tyrannosaurus rex, for goodness sake.  I was heartbroken when Toys R Us closed it doors in 2018.  That marked the end of an era for me, and it took a lot of the fun out of toy shopping.  And of course it was only a few months later that I made some decisions that I assumed would bring this blog to a permanent end as well.

Who could have predicted that four years later I'd be happily blogging again and--wait for it--Toys R Us would be opening new stores?  It's true!  From what I've read, these stores are all going to be smaller boutiques inside Macy's, which is disappointing, but I guess it's still better than nothing.  However, there's one full-sized Toys R Us that's been open for a while: the new flagship store at the American Dream mall.  And the American Dream mall, as luck would have it, is in New Jersey...only an hour away from my house.  So of course I went for a visit.  Do you want to check it out with me?

Toys R Us at American Dream (East Rutherford, New Jersey).

Glamour Girlz by New York Doll Collection

Today's post is the third in a series of six short-ish reviews that will compare some of the 14-inch dolls that are on the market right now.  You can find the other two reviews here and here, or you can click the "14-inch comparisons" label to see all of them together.  After this review, I'm going to take a quick break from the series before returning with the final three brands.

Today's doll is from the New York Doll Collection, which is not a company I'd even heard of until a few months ago.  I was looking at the I'm a Girly dolls on Amazon, and the answer to a clothes-sharing question mentioned this brand.  I immediately did a search to learn more, and the first New York Doll Collection dolls I found were the 14-inch Glamour Girlz.  This company also makes 18-inch dolls, which I may or may not review at some point in the future; I saw them in person recently and was not completely sold on the faces.  But I was eager to buy one of the 14-inch girls because I knew I was going to do this series, and the Glamour Girlz offer one of the less-expensive 14-inch options.

It might shock you to learn that this doll, who I've named Ellery, is the only redheaded character in my 14-inch series!  She represents redheads well, though, with lovely copper hair that--spoilers--is easily her best feature:

Glamour Girlz doll by New York Doll Collection, $30.99.

Kindness Club by Madame Alexander

I mentioned in my Gwynn Tan review that I've gotten a little obsessed with 14-inch dolls lately, and so I decided to write a series of short (for me) reviews featuring this appealing size.  The reviews will be cumulatively comparative...meaning that I'll compare each new doll to all of the ones that came before her.  So I suppose the reviews will get slightly longer as I go.  In any case, my intention is to review six dolls in this series (it was five, but I've already found another brand that looks great).  I might take a few breaks to review some other things, too, otherwise we could be talking about nothing but 14-inch dolls for months!

Today I'm going to review a 14-inch Kindness Club doll by Madame Alexander.  I'm especially excited about her because, as I've mentioned in some of my older reviews, I have a soft spot for the Madame Alexander company.  I didn't have a huge collection of dolls when I was growing up, but many of the ones that I did have were made by this company--including my most cherished childhood companion, Baby Victoria.

The funny thing is, despite my affection for Madame Alexander products, I didn't even realize that they have a line of 14-inch play dolls until about a month ago.  I stumbled upon the Kindness Club girls by chance during an online search for a completely different brand.  I thought the dolls looked lovely in their promotional photos, and this girl (who has a very similar name to mine!) was an early favorite:

Kindness Club Emmi by Madame Alexander, $59.95.