Quick Look: Moodles by Sunny Days Entertainment

Happy New Year!  As one of my New Year's resolutions, I decided to add a different kind of review to the mix.  I'm going to call these new reviews Quick Looks, and the idea is pretty simple: once or twice a month, I'll post something shorter than normal.  This will offer a faster reading experience for you, and a better turnaround time for me.  I also think it'll encourage reviews of products that I might not normally consider--simpler dolls and toys, or maybe little projects and updates that I want to share.

My original intent was to limit myself to only fifty photos for each of these reviews, and call the series Fifty Photo Friday or something like that.  But the reality is that a specific photo limit is too prohibitive.  As an example, I tried to keep today's review to only fifty photos and ended up needing sixty five.  That's not bad for me, though, considering that my typical reviews have about two hundred pictures.  

To kick off the Quick Look concept, here are sixty five photos of some very silly and unusual little dolls called Moodles:

Moodles Zoey by Sunny Days Entertainment, $24.99.

Maplelea & Me by Maplelea Girls

I'm here in the nick of time to finish out December (and 2025!) with one last 18-inch doll review.  This time, I'll be looking at a Maplelea doll, which isn't something I've done since my Saila Qilavvaq review in 2014.  It's certainly past time for me to check in with this brand and see what's new.

This is sort-of an addition to my advent calendar series, but I had to cheat because there's no official Maplelea advent calendar.  I wish there was, because I feel like this company would do an outstanding job with the design and execution of such a thing.  Maybe they'll consider it for the future?  I'd certainly buy something like that.  For now, I found a cute handmade calendar that I'll share with you at the end of the review.  Mostly, though, this post will be all about Maplelea & Me KMF43:

Maplelea & Me KMF43 ($115).

Merry Christmas From Lena and Ian!

Lena asked me the other day if she could do a quick blog post for the holidays.  I think she's worried that she's put her professional life on hold for too long--but I'll let her explain what's been going on around here.  I'm going to take the day off!

Christmas 2025.

The American Girl Advent Calendar

It's time for the third installment of the advent calendar series!  For those who may have missed the previous reviews, I started by looking at a My Life As doll and her calendar, then enjoyed some time with an Our Generation girl and her calendar.  Of those two, the Our Generation experience was more rewarding.  However, I've yet to look at the behemoth of the 18-inch doll market: American Girl.

My last American Girl doll review was the Girls From Many Lands post that I wrote in 2024.  However, those dolls aren't conventional American Girl dolls, so maybe it doesn't count.  Before that, I looked at Gwynn Tan in 2022.  Gwynn is a 14-inch doll, though, so maybe she doesn't count, either?  I think the last classic, 18-inch American Girl doll that I reviewed was Eliza, way back in 2017.  She was a Create Your Own American Girl, who I ordered when that concept first launched.

I decided to mirror my experience from eight years ago, and so another Create Your Own doll will join me as we look at the 2025 American Girl calendar:

Create Your Own American Girl doll ($275).