Brand New "Friends" LEGO...For Girls.

When I first heard that the LEGO company was coming out with a new line of building sets for girls, I was indignant.  I found myself thinking, Why on Earth do girls need separate LEGO sets? I'm a girl, and I have always just played with regular LEGO sets!  I turned out fine!!  But really, if you think about it, LEGO has changed a lot from when I was a kid.  I used to have this huge bin of bricks and I would just build whatever I wanted--usually houses and house-cars (don't ask...), and then play with whatever I built for hours.  

These days, although you can still just buy a big tub of random blocks, LEGO (especially at the intermediate building skill level) is most often purchased in very specifically-themed building sets.  Many of these themes cater more to boys than to girls.  Now--please don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting for a second that girls don't like Ninjago (that's what my niece wanted for Christmas) or shouldn't like Ninjago (my niece is way cool), but probably more boys like Ninjago than girls.  Similar things could be said of Batman, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Dinosaurs, Super Heroes, Alien Conquest, Hero Factory, Bionicles...you get the idea.  *Maybe* girls could use some different LEGO choices.  Maybe.

Keeping an open mind, I headed out to Target to see what these new things look like.  Well...they look like they are for girls.  Here's what one of the $9.99 Friends LEGO sets looks like:

A Review of LittleMissMatched Uptown Girl by Tonner Toys

LittleMissMatched is a New York-based company that got its start by producing mismatched socks.  The company and its products are all about fun, creativity and individual style.  There have been LittleMissMatched dolls for a while, but they were $13 cloth dolls (very cute).

I became interested in LittleMissMatched when I heard the announcement that the Tonner Doll Company, who makes my favorite doll, acquired the license to produce LittleMissMatched dolls under the umbrella of their brand new "Tonner Toys" label.

There are four Tonner Toys LMM dolls: Sporty, Uptown, Rock 'n' Roll and Artsy.  It's funny because they sell for $40 on the LittleMissMatched website, but they are $26.99 at Toys 'R' Us and FAO Schwarz.  I haven't seen them for sale anywhere else yet...not even Amazon.

I searched the aisles of Toy 'R' Us for a LMM doll.  I had to come back a few times because the few dolls that were in stock had very visible and disappointing face paint flaws or facial marks.  I finally found an Uptown doll that looked perfect, and was on sale, so I grabbed her:

LittleMissMatched Uptown Girl

Cinderella and Cami by The Tonner Doll Company

The Tonner Doll Company was started in 1991 by fashion designer Robert Tonner.  Today, Tonner makes a huge variety of dolls, from his signature fashion designer character, Tyler Wentworth, to popular fiction characters like Edward Cullen and Harry Potter, to action heroes and fairy tale princesses.  There's no way I could even come close to giving you a worthy overview of Tonner dolls in one post.   I am sure they will crop up on this blog again and again, though.

What I can do, is tell you the story of my absolute favorite Tonner doll...or actually, just my favorite doll.  Period.  In 2006, Tonner debuted his 16" Cinderella collection, consisting of Cinderella herself, the two stepsisters, Euphemia and Hortencia, and the Fairy Godmother. I think I knew instantly when I saw the promo pictures of Cinderella that, financially speaking, this was a doll who was going to spell serious trouble for me over the years.  I was right.  Cinderella is my absolute favorite fairy tale character of all time, and this doll captures what I think she should look like perfectly:

Basic Cinderella by Robert Tonner, $59.99 (2006).

A Short Review of Squishables

Squishables are: "Giant, round, fuzzy stuffed animals.  Hug them. TM" (from the website).   That's a pretty perfect description.  The thing is, it is almost impossible to walk past one and not hug it, as we've discovered at my house.  Let me tell you how I found out about these adorable toys.

It is a Christmas tradition in my house to have one large, unwrapped stuffed animal under the tree on Christmas morning.  Santa has always done this, and it adds to the excitement and magic of the morning...and it gives the kids something to look at while my husband and I sleep a bit longer.  The thing is, my eldest son is 14 years old now and has, suddenly, entered the realm of "young adult."  In other words, he no longer gets super-excited about stuffed animals.

My younger son, however, is a big fan of sticking with tradition, and also a fan of video games, so his "stuffed animal" this year was easy to choose: the Portal 2 Plush Turret with Sound, found at our favorite store, Think Geek.  I am a stickler for being fair and equal, though, and so I was really struggling with what to do for my older child.  Then, two days before Christmas, I walked into a local toy store and saw this:

Liv Dolls by Spin Master

Spin Master makes a lot of cool, trendy toys like Bakugan, Tech Deck and Zoobles.  My kids were really into Bakugan a few years ago, and I have to admit, I think they are pretty neat little engineering wonders.  However, I think that Spin Master's greatest accomplishment in the last few years has been the production of the Liv doll.

Liv dolls are ~12-inch tall, highly articulated plastic dolls with changeable wigs and inset eyes.  Several other doll companies have made mass-market play dolls with changeable wigs at this point, but as far as I know, Liv was the first girl on the block to have one.  You can find Liv dolls at all of the big department stores for $15- $20.  They are often on sale for less.  Target, Walmart and Toys 'R' Us have had exclusive editions.  FAO Schwarz carries them now, too.

There are 6 Liv characters; Sophie, Daniela, Alexis and Katie (the original four), Hayden (who joined in 2010) and Jake (the only guy so far).  They all have different physical features, but I will talk about that later.  Here is Katie from the "It's My Nature" wave:

A Review of the Muppet Show Swedish Kitchen Play Set by Palisades

Speaking of diorama play sets, I have to show you this exceptional one.  I feel a little bad mentioning it because it is very hard to find these days.  You could pick it up on eBay for $100-$250, but it originally retailed for $34.99 and at that price, it had people in awe.

I think it was released in around 2003 because my kids were tiny.  I got it for them, along with the less-amazing "Pigs in Space" set (which, incidentally, you can get EASILY and for its original retail or less).  Now, having survived being played with, moved around, and stashed in the garage for the last nearly decade, the kitchen is a display piece in our living room.

This set has so much detail, it is incredible.  I cleared out all of the accessories so that you can see the bare kitchen:

Palisades Swedish Kitchen Playset