Bratz Head Gamez by MGA Entertainment

If you've been tuning in since the beginning of this head-swapping saga, you might remember that I originally planned to review the Moxie Girlz Magic Hair dolls from 2009, but then discovered that there was an even earlier (and more famous) MGA line with removable heads: the Bratz Head Gamez girls.

I considered doing a review that included both Bratz and Moxie Girlz, but decided to keep things simple and just focus on Bratz.  The Moxie Girlz were never super tempting to me, but I did enjoy Kellen and her pooping unicorn and the tiny, adorable $3 Moxie Girlz Friends (a few of which I still have).  I much prefer the larger and more articulated Moxie Teenz.  Too bad those dolls never had a head-swapping variant!

I might do a really quick post on the Magic Hair Moxie Girlz at some point in the future, especially if there's interest, but today's going to be all about Bratz:

Bratz Head Gamez Yasmin by MGA Entertainment (2005).

Pop 'n Swap Polly Pocket by Mattel

It's time for some more head-swapping!  If you're new to the blog and happen to like dolls whose heads pop off, then feel free to check out the other reviews in this series.  Incidentally, if you also like doll dissections, there have been a few of those over the years, too.

In terms of head-swappers, I'm leaving the heavy hitters (Bratz and My Scene) for last--to build some suspense.  But this week's girls, Pop 'n Swap Polly Pocket and friends, are pretty cool in their own right.  Not only can they swap heads, but they can trade torsos and legs, too!

Pop 'n Swap Polly Pocket by Mattel, 2008.

Surprise Swap Tweens (and Tots!) by MGA Entertainment

I'm in the middle of another mini series right now, and this time it's all about dolls with swappable heads.  I started the series by talking about Mattel's Swappin' Styles Fashionistas, and today I'll be looking at MGA's Surprise Swap Tweens line.  There's no rational order to these reviews, unfortunately.  I probably should have approached the dolls chronologically, but I'm always tweaking what's in each review and waiting for things to arrive in the mail, so broad scale organization doesn't tend to work for me.

Also, several of you had excellent suggestions for head-swapping doll lines that weren't on my radar (thank you!), so I might have to slot in a few more reviews than I'd originally planned.  I love the unpredictability of this type of series, though.  It's like a chose your own adventure novel or something.

Today's review is a good example of the chaos, because only when I was uploading pictures of the Tweens dolls did I discover that there are Surprise Swap Tots as well.  These are versions of the classic 3-inch L.O.L. Surprise dolls, and they look interesting.  So I had to hustle to include them at the last minute.  But most of this review will focus on the head-swapping Tweens:

Surprise Swap Tweens by MGA Entertainment, $29.99.

Barbie Swappin' Styles Fashionistas by Mattel

I've been thinking about dolls with swappable heads for a few weeks.  It's a strange thing to think about, granted, but I feel like I have some good reasons.  First and foremost, Lena is getting married at some point this year (they haven't chosen a date yet), and I know she'll want some fancy up-do for that occasion.  Frankly, I wish I could just swap her head with one that already has a fancy up-do.  Don't tell her I said that, though!

The other reason I have swappable heads on my mind is that they keep popping up in my life.  For example, as I was getting some of my older dolls out of storage, I found a My Scene Swappin' Styles set that I never took out of the box.  I should probably do that.  Also, MGA recently came out with a line of Tweens dolls with interchangeable heads, and those reminded me of the Moxie Girlz Magic Hair dolls and their predecessors, the Bratz Head Gamez crew from 2005.  And of course there are the Swappin' Styles Fashionistas from 2010.  I've already done a brief review of these Fashionistas, but something popped up on eBay a month or two ago that got me excited about them all over again.  More about that in a sec.

With all of these thoughts of head-swappers on my mind, I figured I'd do a mini series to highlight each of the four types of doll that are on my radar: My Scene Swappin' Styles, Tweens Surprise Swap, Bratz Head Gamez, and the stars of today's review, the Swappin' Styles Fashionistas:

Swappin' Styles Fashionista Sweetie...with an extra head (2010).

Barbie Dream Besties Update with Daisy and Ken

Back in November, before the whole advent calendar series started, I was looking at Mattel's new Dream Besties.  These dolls have an accompanying YouTube show featuring six friends: Malibu, Teresa, Renee, Brooklyn, Daisy, and Ken.  However, dolls representing two of the characters (Daisy and Ken) were not released with the very first wave of products, so I didn't have them on hand for my initial review.

Because Daisy and Ken are different from the four dolls that I've already reviewed, I didn't feel like I could move on without taking a quick look at them:

Dream Besties Daisy and Ken by Mattel ($19.99 each).

Advent Calendar wrap-up: Lego Princesses, Schleich, and Dirds

Happy New Year!  Before I launch into the regular reviews that I have planned for January, I figured I should close out the advent calendar series by showing you the last three calendars that I have on hand.  I actually only purchased two of these for review, and the third one, Lego's Disney Princess calendar, was an incredibly thoughtful and timely gift from my mother-in-law...who had no idea that I was planning an advent calendar series for the blog!  She knows me very well.

Here are the three remaining calendars:

From left: Lego Disney Princesses, Sky and Ocean building blocks, and Schleich Horse Club.

Advent Calendar #7: Barbie Cutie Reveal by Mattel

It's looking like this will be the last full-length advent calendar review that I'll be able to squeeze in before the end of the month.  But I still have three (four?) calendars that haven't been opened, and I'd love to share them with you, so maybe I'll try to pull together a little summary of the remaining calendars to close out the series.

Today's calendar is from the Barbie Cutie Reveal line, and features a full-size Barbie doll with decent articulation:

Barbie from the 2023 Cutie Reveal advent calendar, $33.99.

Advent Calendar #6: 3D-Printed Animals from Crafts3Dcom

All of the advent calendars that I've looked at so far have been mass-produced items by big, well-established toy companies.  Those tend to be the calendars that are most relevant to the doll world.  However, I didn't want to let this entire series go by without featuring something a bit off the beaten path.

Since I've been thinking a lot about advent calendars over the last few months, I also hunted down a special calendar for each of my kids.  The one I chose for my eldest is from an Etsy store called Crafts3Dcom, and has a 3D printed dragon behind each door.  This concept was so appealing that I bought a second calendar to show off here on the blog:

Petra with dragons from a Crafts3Dcom advent calendar.

Advent Calendar #5: Playmobil from the Brandstätter Group

It turns out that a really good way to make Christmas arrive quickly is to write advent calendar reviews every few days!  I can't believe that the 25th is already less than a week away.  But I'll continue this series all of the way through the end of December, so I can pack in as many calendars as possible.

Today's choice is a Playmobil advent calendar.  This was a last-minute addition to my list, and at $35, one of the more expensive calendars in the mix.  But it's added a lot of holiday cheer to my house, so I'm really glad I included it:

Pieces from the 2022 Playmobil advent calendar.

Advent Calendar #4: Polly Pocket by Mattel

I hope everybody is enjoying the advent calendar series so far!  I'm not producing reviews quite as quickly as I'd hoped, or at least not quickly enough to open all of the calendars before the 25th, but as someone who's always saying she wants to write shorter, more frequent reviews, this is excellent practice.

There's no real rhyme or reason to the order that I'm opening these calendars, but I noticed that I'd featured two MGA products in a row (L.O.L. Surprise and Mini Bratz) so it's probably time to give Mattel a chance.

I actually have two Mattel calendars in mind for this series, and the first one I'll be looking at is the 2024 Polly Pocket advent calendar, which includes the super-tiny 1.25 inch version of Polly:

Polly Pocket from the 2024 advent calendar by Mattel. 

Advent Calendar #3: L.O.L. Surprise by MGA Entertainment

I haven't talked too much about L.O.L. Surprise dolls since they first came out in 2016, but from what I can tell, the toys are still going strong.  At Target, there's still an entire half of an aisle that's dominated by these little surprise ball characters and the larger OMG dolls that followed them.  Granted, the Miniverse toys have recently started to take over, but there's never a shortage of L.O.L. varieties.

So, the third advent calendar that I'm going to look at this month is focused on a cute L.O.L. doll and her expansive wardrobe.

If you're new to this advent calendar mini series, you can read about my motivations and expectations here, and see the second calendar here.

Makeover Babe 2.0 from the 2023 L.O.L. Surprise advent calendar.

Advent Calendar #2: Mini Bratz by MGA Entertainment

For the second advent calendar, I figured I should show you the one that started this whole idea: the Mini Bratz calendar from 2023 that Lurkins suggested to me.

I've had bit of experience with Mini Bratz dolls, but have never featured them here on the blog.  I really love their size (good for Lena), their detailed features, and their intricate, re-usable packaging.  Lena and I were both excited to get a calendar filled with these little gems!

Lena holding her favorite Mini Bratz doll from the 2023 advent calendar.

Advent Calendar #1: Mini Brands by Zuru

It's December!  So now I can dig in and start this advent calendar feature that I've been dreaming about.  I have about ten calendars that I'd like to open throughout the month, but with the way I ramble on and the number of pictures I insisted on taking, I can't promise that I'll get through all of them before the 31st, let alone the 25th.  But I'm sure going to try!

I stumbled onto this idea when a Patreon friend, Lurkins, linked me to an eBay auction for the Bratz mini calendar.  Lurkins thought that Lena might appreciate the minis for her doll collection, and the price was excellent at around $15.  So, I purchased the Bratz calendar and then got curious and searched around to see what other doll and toy-themed advent calendars I could find.  Turns out, there are a lot!

So this month, I'm going to walk you through as many of the calendars as I can, starting with the Zuru Mini Brands advent from 2024:

Lena with a toy from the Zuru Mini Brands advent calendar.

Barbie Dream Besties by Mattel

Well, November is almost over and December is shaping up to be either a busy month for the blog or a bust.  Let me explain.  I've been on an advent calendar kick for the last few weeks, finding myself amazed and overwhelmed by the diversity and complexity of the current choices.  So I wanted to do an advent calendar feature all throughout the month of December, and I bought about ten calendars (maybe a few more than that...) for the occasion.

But one of my kids has to be in the hospital at the beginning of December, and I want to be as helpful and present as I can.  So a lot of the month will be spent traveling across the country and being a mom.  That will either give me a lot of time for the blog (since I have a few weeks off from my animal shelter job), no time at all, or something in the middle.  We'll see.

As I wait for December and whatever it might bring, I have some time to chat with you about one of Mattel's newest playline releases, the Barbie Dream Besties:

Barbie Dream Besties Brooklyn (left) and Teresa (right), $19.99.

Tea with Lena: 1:6 Ultra Corps! Figures by Lanard

There are a lot of things that factor into what review I decide to write next.  First of all, I have a very long queue of dolls that have caught my eye over the years and are just sitting on a shelf, waiting for their turn.  Second, I try to have a bit of an ear to the ground for new items or brands that are being released--even though I'll admit to not being up to speed in that arena.  I'm also always excited to hear about which dolls all of you are noticing and interested in, which certainly influences what I buy.

However, sometimes it's my assistant Lena's priorities or social life that dictate what I do each week, which is exactly what happened this time around.  While I was in the middle of a different review, Lena informed me that Ian's brother Calum was coming to visit all the way from Texas, and so of course I had to drop everything to focus my attention on that.  And I'm glad I did.  For anyone not familiar with Lena's love life, this might be a good time to catch up.

1:6 Ultra Corps! Astronaut by Lanard (discontinued).

Happy Halloween!

 Stay safe and spooky tonight.

Anne Fitzpatrick by Robert Tonner

While I was writing the Ellowyne and Neema review, I spent a lot of time browsing the Virtual Doll Convention (VDC) website--both tracking the Ellowyne and Neema dolls that were available, and also looking at the other types of doll that are offered in that shop.  

In addition to Ellowyne and Neema dolls, VDC sells Amazing Grace, a 16-inch fashion doll who looks like Tonner's Sydney on an RTB-101 body.  They also have some cute exclusive Ruby Red Fashion Friend Siblies.  But the character who really caught my eye is Anne Fitzpatrick.  She's a little girl who's Marley-sized, so about 12 inches tall, with a bright smile and what looks like a lot of joints.

I bought Anne at the same time that I bought Neema, so I thought I'd do a little bonus review of her now, while I'm still in a Robert Tonner kind of mood:

Anne Fitzpatrick by Robert Tonner for VDC, $175.

Ellowyne Wilde (and Neema!) by Robert Tonner

I've lived in New Jersey for four years at this point, and have just recently gotten around to installing some shelves and unpacking the majority of my doll collection.  Pretty lame, right?  But better later than never, I guess, and it's been a fun project.  I've uncovered a few obscure dolls that I forgot I owned, and gone on several feverish basement searches for dolls that I thought I'd lost.  I should do a whole post about that at some point, and maybe show you some of my shelves once they're organized.

My collection is much smaller than it used to be, but there are still quite a few Tonners in the mix--things like Patience, Rapunzel, Déjà Vu, Ella Enchanted, Agatha Primrose (she's one of the ones I forgot about...) and of course the Cinderellas.  It's a close call to say if I have more Tonner dolls or more Monster High dolls.  There are a lot of both.

In any case, as I was admiring my newly-unpacked Tonner collection, it occurred to me that I never got around to adding Ellowyne Wilde to the group--at least not permanently.  I owned an Evangeline Ghastly for a short period of time, who is also from Tonner's Wilde Imagination company, and I briefly had a basic Ellowyne with inset eyes who I couldn't bond with.  So, all these years later, I feel like there's a hole in my collection where Ellowyne should be.

I thought I'd lost my chance to buy an Ellowyne doll at retail price years ago when Tonner discontinued the line, but recently--and somewhat randomly--I discovered that Ellowyne Wilde is back!  In fact, she's been back for almost as long as I've lived in New Jersey.  I love second chances, so today I'll review one of the newer dolls from the Ellowyne Wilde line, and also an older doll, Languid, that I've always coveted and finally purchased:

Ellowyne Wilde Languid, by Robert Tonner for Wilde Imagination (discontinued).

LUV Dolls by Far Out Toys

Life has been even more hectic than usual for me these last few weeks, so my productivity has declined further.  Sorry.  I blame it mostly on the fact that I have eight foster animals in the house right now (yes, eight), and four of them are kittens with underdeveloped brains who make a huge mess and have to be hand-fed.  They're really cute though.  

I've been stealing moments in between my work and feeding kittens to investigate a new brand of fashion doll.  This brand has been on my mind since an anonymous reader mentioned it in the comments section of the Unicorn Academy review.  That was way back in June, which I find slightly hard to wrap my head around.  It feels like last week.

The new brand is called LUV (which reminds me of LIV!) and has been around for about a half a year.  These nine-inch dolls are made by Far Out Toys, which is the company responsible for the Glo-Up Girls.  I couldn't think of any other dolls that this company has produced, so I poked around on their website for a little while.  Apparently there are also a few surprise doll brands, like Squadz Place and Love, Diana under the Far Out Toys umbrella.  The Love, Diana dolls look pretty cute and come in little ice cream cone packages, but I absolutely cannot add anything else to my review queue right now!  So I'll try my best to stay focused on the LUV girls.  Here's Brooke:  

L.U.V. doll, Brooke, by Far Out Toys, $29.97.

Tea with Lena: Barbieland Miniatures and Zuru Mini Brands Create

I was going through the blog archive the other day and noticed that it's coming up on three years since I started reviewing again.  Three years!  The time has flown by for me.  I also noticed that I'm posting way less often than I used to, which is a little depressing.  At this point I have an enormous backlog of dolls that I'm dying to look at!  I always set the goal of writing shorter reviews more frequently, but don't seem to be very good at following through on that--and this week is no exception.

This week is a little different, though.  About a month after I re-started the blog, I asked Lena (Barbie Signature Looks Lina) to join me as an assistant.  Her job was fairly simple back then: stand in and act as a size and body comparison for every doll that I review.  She's done very well with this task, I think, but has started to complain that she's not being used to her full potential.  So, back in January of last year, we dreamed up the Tea with Lena series so that Lena could invite guests into her home and add a new perspective to certain reviews.  This week, rather than hosting a review in her home, Lena asked if she could be on set to help me show off some smaller items that I've been meaning to review for a while: an assortment of BarbieLand mini dolls and two new Zuru Mini Brands toys:

Mini Brands Series 5 ($7.49), Mini Brands Create ($9.99), BarbieLand Cutie Reveal ($2.89), and BarbieLand Color Reveal ($2.99).