Snow Crow Studio Dolls

I spend a fair amount of time every week browsing on Etsy.  There are so many talented artists displaying their work on that site, and I love getting lost in the dizzying diversity and creativity of the offerings.  Over the years I've found amazing doll clothes, jewelry, paintings, miniature food, stuffed animals, haunted dolls, baby dolls, and especially art dolls.  Every once in a while, I come across a doll artist who leaves me borderline obsessed.  On those occasions, I like to showcase that artist and their work here on the blog.  It's a nice break from all of the mass-produced items that I typically review.

My latest obsession began in August of last year, when a random Patreon contest alerted me to the presence of the marvelously melancholy paper clay dolls from Snow Crow Studio:

14-inch paper clay girl from Snow Crow Studio.

Monster High's G3 Abbey Bominable--A Guest Review!

In an attempt to balance out the novella-like Enchantimals post from last week, this week I'm going to feature two short and sweet posts, one of which is a guest review!  I've been getting a lot of guest review requests recently, and I love guest reviews!  I feel like it's refreshing to have new voices and opinions here on the blog.  But for my own time management reasons, I have to limit the number of guest authors.  So at least for now, I'm only accepting guest reviews from my Patrons, with the exception of anyone who has already contacted me (you know who you are).  My wonderful Patrons don't get enough thanks for their support, so this is another small thing I can do.

Today's author, Morgan, is a long-time TBP reader and Monster High enthusiast.  Morgan offered to do a quick review of G3 Abbey Bominable, which was music to my ears!  Abbey has been super-popular and very hard to find at retail price, and so she feels like a doll that I should feature.  But I have so many other dolls that I want to talk about, I don't have much time for another G3 Monster High character.  I will say, for anyone who's interested in purchasing Abbey, that she can be pre-ordered at Entertainment Earth for $24.99, so don't get sucked into the sky-high prices on eBay and Amazon.

Morgan needed some de-boxing photos for this review, so I took my own Abbey out of her box, which was really fun.  I'll chime in at the end with a few quick thoughts and pictures, but for the most part this review is all in Morgan's hands.  Take it away, Morgan!

Monster High G3 Abbey Bominable, $24.99.

Revisiting Mattel's Enchantimals

You might be surprised to see an Enchantimal review here today, since I reviewed the line when they first came out in 2017.  But I have a few reasons for revisiting this brand.  First of all, I've been reminiscing a lot about dolls from the early days of this blog--especially my older Monster High and Ever After High characters.  I blame this nostalgia on the re-emergence of Monster High and the rumors that occasionally swirl around about an Ever After High re-boot.  As I was searching the internet for photos of my Ever After High favorites (like Holly O'Hair and Ashlynn Ella) I came across Enchantimal pictures, too.  I'd forgotten how similar the Enchantimal and Ever After High faces are!

Seeing those photos sent me into a deep-dive on Amazon and eBay, where I was amazed to see how much the Enchantimal brand has expanded over the last six years.  Not only are there a ton of different animals now, but there are also male characters, larger animal companions, a few eight-inch and twelve-inch dolls, some smaller four-inch dolls, and even a few surprise-themed sets.  

My internet searches also revealed that the Enchantimals are still being made.  I assumed that they were discontinued at this point, but no: there are new dolls for 2023.  Can you believe that Ever After High only lasted four years, and yet the little Enchantimals have been around for six years and counting?  It's crazy!  My initial review didn't make me think that they had much staying power, but I was clearly wrong.  So it's time to take a second look.  I'm very curious to see how the brand has changed since my last assessment.

Enchantimals Felicity and Feana Fox by Mattel, $16.99.

More Barbie Movie Dolls!

Here we are at the end of Barbie Month.  The time flew by for me!  But this has been one of the most fun months of blogging that I've ever had.  Not only was there a ton for me to learn about Barbie, but the range of dolls I got to play with was awesome.  And the movie has united so many people with its joyful exuberance!  I've heard only positive things about it--and from a really wide range of people.

I've been tracking all of the Barbie movie dolls since they were released, and it's been interesting to watch the sales patterns.  Cowgirl Barbie sold out very quickly, but the other options were available for quite a long time.  Then, suddenly, in the ten days since the movie premiered, most of the dolls have completely sold out.  I think Denim Ken is the only character left at Mattel Creations, and the big box stores only have Basic Ken and Gloria...and I would not count on that to last.  So with new buyers facing secondary market prices that are leaning towards $200, it's important to know what these dolls are like in person.

I knew there was never going to be time for me to review all of the Barbie movie dolls.  In fact, I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to squeeze this review in by the end of July--especially since this past week happened to overlap with a mini vacation that my husband and I have been planning since February.  But it all worked out and I'm here to finish up the month by showing you three of the Barbie Signature dolls that I bought:

Barbie movie Signature dolls, from left: Disco Barbie, Gloria, and President Barbie. $50 each.