A Review of BFC Ink Pen Pal Doll "Britt" by MGA Entertainment

I have paused in my shopping to look at the BFC (Best Friends Club) Ink dolls on a number of occasions.  I even bought one of the extra outfits to see if it would fit my Lorifina doll (it did...kind-of). It wasn't until I started thinking about the charitable doll series of posts (here and here) that I considered reviewing one of the BFC Ink dolls.  Pondering the questions surrounding how charitable donations might impact a doll's price and quality made me brainstorm a list of 14"-22" play dolls that don't have an association with a charity to use as an outgroup in my investigation.  BFC Ink dolls made this list and appeal to me in particular because of their high level of articulation. The original BFC Ink dolls cost about $30, which would have been comparable to the Hearts 4 Hearts dolls, but I was happy to discover a newer and less expensive version of these dolls to examine.

The Pen Pal line of BFC Ink dolls were released late last year.  These dolls retail for $19.99.  In theory, they can be found at Target, Walmart, K-Mart and Toys R Us, however, as far as I can tell all BFC Ink dolls have disappeared from Toys R Us.  I actually haven't seen any of the Pen Pal dolls at my local Target or Walmart, either, but they can be purchased at Target.com (where they are called "Moxie Pen Pals" for some reason).  *Update 8/26/13: these dolls have been discontinued.

The Pen Pal dolls each represent a different country.  These dolls are meant to be the pen pals of the original club dolls.  There are 5 Pen Pal dolls: Britt (England), Carmen (Mexico), Nicolette (France), Elsa (Sweden) and Lily (South Africa).  I like Britt's combination of dark hair and blue eyes, so I ordered her.

BFC Ink Pen Pal Britt.

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).

The Glitter Girls by Battat

I can't believe January is almost over.  Wow.  It doesn't feel much like January, though, because right now I'm in California with my youngest son, doing more college stuff.  We're about as geographically far away from Maine as a person can get in the United States.  I'm trying not to take it personally that this is one of the places my kid wants to live next year.  I have to admit that the weather is unreal.

I have a few moments here at the hotel while he's running around doing things, so I figured I'd try to sneak in some time to share Battat's new Glitter Girl dolls with you!

I haven't actually seen these dolls on the shelves yet, although I've heard that they've been spotted in Target stores elsewhere in the country.  Battat is the company that makes Our Generation dolls, which are offered as an inexpensive alternative to American Girl.  The Glitter Girls are not part of the Our Generation line, but they're Battat's answer to the American Girl WellieWishers.  Like the WellieWishers, the Glitter Girls are 14-inch, all-vinyl play dolls that come with whimsical mix-and-match clothing.  One of the most appealing things about the Glitter Girls is that they cost $19.99 each, so it's possible to purchase three of them for the price of a single WellieWisher.  That's exactly what I did.

Glitter Girls Poppy, by Battat ($19.99).

Boombox Battle! L.O.L. Surprise vs. American Girl

Is anyone in the mood to go back to the 1980s for a toy boombox battle?  I hope so!  During my research for Part One of the L.O.L. Surprise catch-up review series, I got irrationally intrigued by the L.O.L. Remix dolls that have packaging which combines to make a plastic boombox.  I'm a huge fan of the 80s and have really fond memories of boomboxes, so I'm always tempted by this type of vintage, nostalgia toy.  I was shocked, however, to discover that in order to assemble the three sets necessary to make the L.O.L. boombox, you have to shell out around $50 ($44.97, ~$51 with batteries).

Most of us would think hard about a $50 purchase, but it's so easy to spend that much (or more) on a few smaller items.  Blind bag toys are especially good at tempting people to buy more, because there's always a collection to complete or a highly-desirable but hard-to-find toy in the mix.  But if you know ahead of time that you're going to end up spending $50 on a specific assortment of blind bag toys, you have options.  Maybe there's something else for that price that you or your kids would rather have.  But what is comparable to a freakin' L.O.L. boombox? 

It just so happens that for the last few months I've been drooling over another boombox toy that costs $50: Courtney's Sleepover Accessory Set from American Girl.  This toy doesn't offer a perfect comparison because, unlike L.O.L. Surprise, there are no dolls included in the set.  But it offers an excellent way to put the Remix toys into some context.  It also pits the two biggest toy companies in the country (MGA Entertainment and Mattel) against each other.  What could be more fun?  

So let's check out these two popular $50 boombox-themed toys and see which one comes out on top!

L.O.L. Surprise Remix assortment ($44.97) and Courtney's Sleepover Accessories ($50).

Healthy Roots Gaiana

I've had my eye on the Healthy Roots company since way back in October of 2021 when I started to think about blogging again.  I saw the original Healthy Roots doll, Zoe, at Target and really wanted to buy her, but at that time the $80 price tag was daunting.  Now, a year or so later, and with the help of my generous Patrons, this kind of doll is something I can review.  The great thing is that since I waited for so long, by the time I was ready to buy my doll, there were two new characters in the Healthy Roots lineup: Gaïana and Marisol.

Healthy Roots are 18-inch play dolls with wigged hair in three different realistic curly textures.  The line was created by artist Yelitsa Jean-Charles as a way to help young Black girls feel great about their curls.  The dolls all feature synthetic hair that supposedly looks and behaves just like real hair.  It's even possible to use standard hair care products on these dolls.  I don't have a great track record for dealing with curly doll hair, so I was a little nervous about investigating this brand, but I was also very curious to see if the impressive claims about the hair fiber are true.

The dolls are for sale on the Healthy Roots website for $84.99 plus $15 shipping, or at Target for $79 and free shipping.  I pre-ordered Gaïana from Healthy Roots back in October, and my first impression of her was so good that I immediately grabbed Marisol from Target.  I'll show you a few pictures of Marisol today, but the review will be mostly about Gaïana.  

It might look like Gaïana's photo shoot was in the Caribbean, like the mermaids in my last review, but this is actually back home at the Jersey Shore:

Healthy Roots doll, Gaïana, $84.99.

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.

Hearts 4 Hearts Dolls "Shola" and "Mosi" by Playmates Toys--A Guest Review!

I am excited to present another special review!  This time, my guest writer is Nethilia from the American Girl Outsider blog.  I love Nethilia's writing style and eye for detail.  Her educated, sensitive insights into other cultures are perfectly suited to reviewing these two gorgeous new Hearts 4 Hearts dolls.  Over to you, Neth!

Hey y'all--I'm Nethilia (Neth for short). I've been into dolls, toys, ponies and the like since I was a child. I'm the head administrator and founder of the American Girl Wiki and recently started blogging about the dolls (and fandom around them) at American Girl Outsider. While the main doll focus on my blog is American Girl, I personally collect and display all kinds of dolls and toys ranging from easily found shelf play dolls to limited edition resin ball jointed dolls. 

I tend to focus my collection on dolls of color because, as a woman of color, I feel it's very important to see other cultures properly respected and reflected in dolls--not just for the sake of people's exposure to other cultures outside their own, but so that children worldwide can see themselves reflected in their media (you have no idea how much it meant when The Princess and the Frog came out and a Disney Princess finally looked like me). I feel it's very important that even the smallest things and influences try to accurately reflect the diversity of the world--and that dolls of color aren't just, as I've heard it said, "re-dipped Barbie dolls" with the only sign of diversity being the color of the plastic/resin/vinyl/etc.  So, it makes sense that one of the lines that has really caught my interest is the Hearts 4 Hearts dolls. I fell in love with them soon after the initial release: first getting Nahji and then later adding Lauryce and Rahel to my lineup. When Mosi and Shola were announced at Toy Fair, I knew I was going to get my hands on them the moment they were available:

Hearts 4 Hearts "Mosi" and "Shola."

"Marta" from the Las Reinas de Paola collection by Paola Reina

I know many of you have been curious about which doll I had to set aside during my ridiculously busy week, and so I am thrilled to finally be able to introduce Marta, a 23.6" vinyl play doll from Paola Reina's "Las Reinas de Paola" collection.  With Marta, I feel like I am reviewing a doll from a brand new company, even though Paola Reina has been making play dolls for almost twenty years.  The reason the company feels new is that, up until this year, the Spanish-made Paola Reina dolls were not easily available in North America.  Fortunately, Paola Reina America has been established as the North American distributor for these dolls, and so we will start to see them available for sale in shops all across the continent.  The dolls will also be available directly from the Paola Reina America website soon.

I was fortunate enough to be able to do some early shopping at Paola Reina America, and my dolls were shipped to me directly from Spain.  I think this is the first official perk I have enjoyed as a doll reviewer, and I am extraordinarily grateful.  I must have spent over an hour on the website choosing which dolls to buy, and I probably changed my mind five times.  I ended up with two dolls, and I don't think I they're the ones anyone would have expected me to pick (no redheads!).  Of the two, I want to show you Marta first, because her size and coloring made a very strong impression on me from the moment she came out of her shipping box.

"Marta" from the Paola Reina "Las Reinas de Paola" collection.

My Life As Mini Dolls from Walmart

I was looking around my studio the other day, trying to decide what to review next, and I realized that I have a lot of mini versions of 18-inch play dolls sitting around--some brand new, some that have been here for several months.  The exact same day that I had this realization, I went to Walmart to buy grass seed (our yard is a lifeless mud pit), swung through the toy section...and spotted two of the new My Life As mini dolls.  That's when it hit me that I should do a sequence of shorter reviews showcasing some of these newer minis--a mini series about mini dolls, if you will.

This mini series will include the newest Maru Mini Pals (on their way to me as I type!), a Kidz 'n' Cats mini doll, some of the newer Our Generation minis (and Lori dolls), maybe my mini (and full-sized!) American Girl Melody dolls...and of course the My Life As minis I just discovered.  In fact, I'll start things off with the My Life As minis because they feel really new and exciting to me right now.  Here's my favorite of the bunch:

My Life As a Baker mini doll ($9.88).

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.

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.

More Minis! Part 1: The Funville Sparkle Girlz

I had so much fun reviewing the new Moxie Girlz Friends dolls and the Battat Our Generation minis, that I've stayed focused on smaller dolls for the last week or so--hunting around locally and online to see what else is out there in the 5-10 inch size range.  Locally, I visited Target, Walmart, Toys R Us and the Dollar Store to see what mini dolls are readily available here in my part of the world.  Online, I hunted down some older Battat mini dolls that I learned about while researching the new dolls.  In a two-part mini series, I'll show you my favorite dolls from this search: the Collector's Lane Kids 6-inch dolls by Battat (that'll be Part 2...), and today, the inexpensive line of 4-inch dolls from Walmart called Funville Sparkle Girlz.

There are a few different sizes of Sparkle Girlz.  There are 20-inch play dolls, 12-inch fashion dolls, and 4-inch toddlers.  I was interested in the toddlers for this review, but these smallest Sparkle Girlz are actually quite hard to find around here.  There are four Walmart stores in my immediate area, and I've visited all of them within the last five days.  All of these stores had plenty of the larger dolls, but most had only one kind of mini...or just empty cardboard display cases.  Since these dolls cost $2.47, it's no surprise that they are hard to keep in stock.  At the very last Walmart I visited, I finally found a representative variety of little Sparkle Girlz.

In this post I will show you four different dolls from this series and contrast them to the comparably-priced Moxie Girlz Friends dolls.

Funville Sparkle Girlz "Little Ballerina" mini doll.

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.

Apple White's Fainting Couch for Ever After High--A Guest Review!

I have had several guest posts lately, I know, but I simply couldn't resist sharing this review with you as soon as possible.  Lulu from The Doll Mag offered to showcase the tempting Ever After High Fainting Couch, and not only do I like the look of this toy, I love the Doll Mag.  If you haven't visited that site yet, it's an online blog and magazine with all kinds of doll-related articles, recipes, crafts and activities.  The magazine is expertly assembled, and the blog posts are beautifully done.  Everything at the Doll Mag is bright, colorful and inviting.  Lulu and her sister, Bella, were kind enough to mention my blog in their January Staff Picks, a feature similar to the Doll Diaries' Picks of the Week.  I find summary posts like these very helpful.  I also highly recommend Doll Mag's in-depth look at the American Girl Campus Snack Cart.  That was my absolute favorite toy at the American Girl store in Boston.  Without further delay, here's Lulu to tell you all about Apple White's couch.  Thank you so much, Lulu!

Apple White's Fainting Couch, for Ever After High.

Our Generation Retro Dolls by Battat

At this time of year, I like to walk through the aisles of the toy stores in my area and pick out the dolls and accessories that I think would make the best gifts.  I don't have many doll lovers on my actual shopping list this year, but I still like to see what new items are in stock for the holidays and choose my favorites.  Most of the time I just make a mental note of the items I like best, but this year I purchased a few of my selections so that I could share them with you here on the blog.

I have been keeping a close eye on the 18-inch play dolls that are available near me (Journey Girls, My Life As and Our Generation).  While all of these brands have something new to offer for the holidays, Battat's Our Generation line is by far the most appealing to me.  I feel great about purchasing dolls from this company because I know that they use only recycled and recyclable materials in their packaging, they promote charitable work, and they avoid using harmful chemicals in the production of their dolls.  I also think that the Battat dolls are very attractive and well-made for their reasonable price.  Furthermore, whenever I am visiting my local Target store, the Our Generation section always seems to have the most constant stream of young admirers.

Today I'll show you my favorite new Our Generation doll...along with an outfit set that I thought would go really well with her:

Our Generation Retro Doll Joy, with pieces from the Winter Wonder outfit pack.

Doll-a-Day Collection One

I was going on a walk two weekends ago when for some reason the idea popped into my head to start a Doll-a-Day feature.  This idea appealed to me because it seemed like a good way to tell you a bit about dolls that for one reason or another aren't likely to get full-length reviews of their own--or to share dolls that have been in my collection for a while and have never been showcased here on the blog.  So, for the past week, I've posted a single photograph of a different doll every day, both on Twitter and on Patreon.  These photos did not include any information about the dolls, and people had the opportunity to guess the brand.  There were a lot of accurate guesses!  Now that the week is over, I'm going to reveal what all of the dolls are, and share a bit of information about each--like a mini review.

I have to confess that this idea got a little out-of-control, though--as my ideas often do.  The problem is that even if I share a reduced amount of information on each of the seven dolls, that still adds up to a very long blog post!  So maybe next time I'll only choose five dolls, from Monday through Friday, and then publish the overview on the weekend?  You might have other ideas for how to improve on this concept, too, so please feel free to share your thoughts!

But for now, let's take a closer look at this week's eclectic group of seven dolls:

Doll-a-Day group for April 3-9, 2023.

Sunday Surprise: Mini Fashion and Real Littles!

I was disappointed that I couldn't quite get last week's review done in time for a Sunday Surprise, so I decided to try really hard to get a quick surprise-themed review done for you today!  

My progress was slowed down a little bit this weekend because I finally hit a breaking point with my work space.  I've been writing reviews almost non-stop since October, and I forgot that if I don't take a day or two every now and then to stop and clean up my mess...well, things can get very out-of-control!  On Friday, when fetching the doll for my next review felt like an obstacle course, a death trap, and a game of hide and seek all wrapped into one, I realized that it was time to pause and clean up.  But now my room is beautiful and clean again and it's such an amazing feeling!

As I was tidying and sorting through my stash, I realized that I'd accumulated two different surprise-themed toys that involve purses or bags of some kind: Mini Fashion by Zuru and Real Littles by Moose Toys.  I thought that these two brands might be fun to compare and contrast.  Lina was excited about this idea because she's been pestering me for months to de-box the Mini Fashion sets.  She knows that they contain high-end purses that might be just her size!

Barbie Lina with a Surprise Mini Fashion ball (Zuru, $9.99).

Sydni by My Salon Doll

One of the neat things about writing my American Girl review back in July is that many of you had suggestions for other similarly-sized dolls that might be fun to look at.  As a relative newcomer to the 18" play doll scene, all of these tips were greatly appreciated.  I followed up on Holly's suggestion to look at My Salon Dolls, the anonymous recommendation of the Vanange line, and Char's enthusiastic endorsement of A Girl for All Time.  I didn't end up keeping the Vanange doll and A Girl for All Time Clementine hasn't arrived yet, so this review will focus on My Salon Doll, Sydni.

My Salon Dolls are designed by a small Utah-based company and manufactured in China.  The special thing about these dolls is that they have micro-rooted human hair.  The commercial on the My Salon Doll website advertises that the dolls can "tolerate any hair product that would be found in a regular salon."  The dolls are also described as being bathtub-safe.  In my experience with human hair doll wigs, the only problem with them is that they get dusty and dry.  This doll's design appears to have eliminated those problems by making it safe and easy to wash and condition the hair.  I love this idea and was very curious see what these dolls are like in person.  The dolls are listed at around $130, but were on sale for $107 when I purchased mine--and are still on sale now.  There weren't many dolls to choose from back in July, so I picked Sydni, who is the horse-lover in the group, and was also the only available doll who looked like she had reddish hair.

My Salon Doll, "Sydni."

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Figures by Hot Toys: A Guest Review!

I have collected and reviewed a few action figures in the past year, but am still a huge noob in this arena.  I really like my Walking Dead Daryl Dixon figure, but he's not very articulated.  My Phicen Seamless figure is the most beautifully articulated doll I have ever owned...but she's not super durable.  I'm still on the hunt for a happy medium in the action figure world: realism, articulation and durability all in one.  I've had my eye on the 1:6 scale figures from Hot Toys for a while--especially the gorgeous redheaded Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.  Despite my growing curiosity, I've had a hard time getting myself to plunk down the funds necessary to look at one of these Hot Toys figures up close.

As luck would have it, I got an email a few months ago from Gwen, who was hoping to review not just one...and not two...but three Hot Toys figures!  Of course I couldn't resist the wonderful opportunity to get another perspective on the quality of these collectibles.  Gwen is primarily an American Girl collector, but her tastes have wandered into the action figure realm.  It's fun for me to encounter someone who appreciates dolls at such different ends of the spectrum.  I used to assume that doll collectors mostly stayed loyal to one particular brand or type.  On the contrary, I'm frequently impressed by the combination of styles and sizes of doll that people enjoy.  This diversity is yet another one of the amazing things about the doll collecting hobby.  Anyway, Gwen is an absolute delight to work with and has done a fantastic job of reviewing three dolls in one post.  She did such a good job, in fact, that about half way through formatting her review, I broke down and pre-ordered my very own Black Widow figure from Hot Toys.  Finally!  Thank you for helping me make this momentous decision, Gwen.  My Black Widow review will have to wait for fall, but let's not wait another second to have Gwen tell us all about her three handsome men.  Over to you, Gwen!

Hello everyone! I'm Gwen, and while I usually spend my time blogging about American Girl, historic food and my attempts to cook it, I'm here today to talk to you about these action figures from Hot Toys that came out in conjunction with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. With the Hot Toys figures for Avengers: Age of Ultron almost all released and available for pre-order, I thought people might be interested in hearing some thoughts about these pricey-but-cool looking figures, and Emily was kind enough to let me take the chance to do so!

The Captain America: The Winter Soldier Captain America and Steve Rogers Set by Hot Toys, $339.99.

Sunday Surprise: Magic Nursery Toddlers by Mattel!

My goodness, Sundays come around quickly, don't they?  This used to feel like a bad thing because Sunday symbolizes the dwindling weekend.  While Saturday morning is filled with possibilities, Sunday morning is time to clean the bird cages, vacuum the dog hair, and get ready for another week of work.  Sundays have transformed a bit in my mind recently, though.  I have a new-found appreciation for Sunday because this is the day when my son calls home from college...and also because it's the day when I get to look at another surprise doll!

The Sweet e.Baby that I reviewed during the last Sunday Surprise had a secret gender and a secret name hidden with a CD...technology that was new enough in 1999 to feel magical.  In 1990, about a decade before the Sweet e.Baby, Mattel came up with a doll whose gender was hidden within another seemingly-magical concoction: a dissolving hospital gown.  Yes, that's right--a gown that completely disintegrates in water to reveal the gender announcement (and a new outfit).  Mattel called these babies Magic Nursery dolls.

The idea might sound far-fetched, but it was wildly popular.  My parents should thank their lucky stars that I was not a child of the 90s, because this kind of toy would have been completely irresistible to me.  It's even irresistible to me now, almost thirty years later, when unopened Magic Nursery dolls--with all of their surprises still hidden--can cost a small fortune.

Magic Nursery Toddler doll by Mattel (1990).