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.