Sunday Surprise: FlipaZoo Flip Box Surprise by Jay at Play!

I feel like my Sunday Surprise options are always at an extreme: either in short supply or overflowing.  Currently I'm experiencing the overflowing scenario!  I already have two things that I want to review, and another great reader suggestion that I'm in the process of tracking down.  But despite all of this, I couldn't resist something new I saw at Walmart!  I don't actually think it's super-new–as in just released–but it's new to me.

I don't go to Walmart much anymore, mostly because the toy department seems to be shrinking. That might be the only reason I noticed these surprise toys, though.  They were in the stuffed animal aisle, which I don't usually spend much time in, but last week I wandered through because I'd quickly run out of other things to look at.

The toy I found is called a FlipaZoo.  There are many varieties of these "flippable" stuffed toys, but the ones that caught my eye are called Flip Box Surprise:

Flip Box Surprise dog from FlipaZoo.

Teen Version Hermione Granger by Star Ace

My youngest son is really interested in movies, so we've been watching a lot of films in the last few months, mostly when we're traveling for some type of college-related trip.  We tend to alternate between me introducing him to a classic romantic comedy (like When Harry Met Sally) and him showing me something new and noteworthy (like Get Out).  Because of his enthusiasm, I find myself thinking about movies a lot these days.  One of my favorite movie series is the Harry Potter octet.  I enjoy these movies because I like the story and the characters, of course, but also because my family watched them (many times!) when the kids were younger.

With all of this on my mind, I guess it's no surprise that I chose a movie-related doll to review this week, specifically, Star Ace's Teen Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  This is a doll that I preordered back in September of 2016, about half a year after I wrote a review of Star Ace's Sorcerer's Stone Hermione.  My positive experience with the first Star Ace Hermione doll made me very excited and optimistic about this version (especially because Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite of the eight Harry Potter movies) but the reality did not turn out to be what I expected.

1:6 scale Teen Version Hermione Granger by Star Ace, $239.99.

Sunday Surprise: Surprizamals and L.O.L. Confetti Pop!

It's been a while since I've done a Sunday Surprise post, and during that time–not surprisingly–MGA Entertainment has released yet another group of L.O.L. Surprise dolls!  They're called Confetti Pop and they sound pretty awesome.

I've had a bit of L.O.L Surprise overload lately, so I wasn't really planning on reviewing any more of these toys, but the Confetti dolls have a few new tricks up their sleeves that I really wanted to see for myself.

I didn't want to make this review all about the L.O.L. dolls, though, so I decided to include another ball-enclosed surprise toy: Surprizamals by the Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Company.  I've accumulated four Surprizamal balls over the past year and have only opened one of them.  I'm eager to open the rest!  To start things off, here's my opened Surprizamal dog, Pam, with the (disappointing) L.O.L. dolls from my last review:

A L.O.L. Series 3 Pet, a Surprizamal, and a L.O.L. Glitter Series doll.

AZIAM Girlz

The AZIAM Girlz are highly-articulated 12-inch play dolls that are designed around a yoga theme.  The brand name confused me at first, but it's a play on the phrase as I am...with a "z" instead of an "s."  I'm not usually a fan of gimmicky spellings like this (MGA Entertainment exhausted the novelty a long time ago with their Bratz, Bratzillaz, Moxie Girlz, Moxie Teenz, Li'l Angelz, etc).  However, in this case it works because I suspect an "s" would have caused the brand to be pronounced more like ass-ee-am instead of as I am.

I knew nothing about the AZIAM Girlz until a few weeks ago when I stumbled across them during a search of Target.com for the Glitter Girls.  I have not seen these dolls in an actual Target store, but they're listed on the website and also available at aziamgirlz.com.  Target's site had only three AZIAM Girlz available, and these were listed alongside the Zeenie Dollz (there's that "z" again...and again).  At first I assumed that the AZIAM Girlz were made by the same company as the Zeenies (they look a bit alike) but J. Stanley and I were discussing this and don't actually think the two brands have anything in common beyond a vague resemblance.

I bought two of the dolls that are available at Target: Alanna and Asana (also confusing).  Today I'll do an in-depth review of Alanna, and then take a quick look at Asana towards the end.

AZIAM Girlz Alanna, $26.99.

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).

More Our Generation Accessories (Featuring Maru and Friends Mini Pals)!

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone's 2018 is off to a great start.  Here in Maine, we've already had a bomb cyclone storm and a lot of nights well below negative 10 degrees...so that's been fun.  There are several new dolls that I'm eager to review this year, though, and that will keep me plenty busy on cold or snowed-in days.

Before I do anything else this year, I want to finish up an idea from 2017: looking at Our Generation accessories and seeing how well they fit the Maru and Friends Mini Pal dolls.  Today I'll de-box the Our Generation School Band play set, the It Seams Perfect sewing set, and the Retro Records items.  On hand to help me with this review are Mini Pals Savannah and Raven...and also American Girl Eliza, to model the things that are way too big for the Minis:

American Girl Eliza wearing Our Generation retro headphones.

Merry Christmas!

Well, it's definitely shaping up to be a white Christmas here in Maine.  We have about five inches of new snow...and plenty of wind to blow it all around.  I hope we keep our power!

There's a circus of activity inside the house, too.  The large poodle is wearing bright blue (slightly baggy) underpants to keep him from licking a wound.  This same dog is inexplicably drawn to my son's new pink blob fish slippers and keeps chasing his feet around.  Absorb that visual for a moment.  Meanwhile, the small poodle is trying to starve herself while also gassing everyone in the vicinity with her astonishing flatulence.  I think she's suffering a bout of inflammatory bowl disease, poor thing.  The third dog, afraid of seeming normal, has taken to toppling over every time he barks too loudly--which is often.

On top of all that, my youngest is frantically trying to finish college applications, the pandemonium of which seems to create large piles of stuff around the house.  The other kid has brought all of his belongings back into the house for his month-long break from college...so things are a bit messy and out of control.  Mostly in a good way.

I'm going to share a really quick review with you today because if I don't, Christmas will be over and this cover shot will seem passé:

Decoration on a TOPS Malibu Christmas cracker.

Our Generation Science Accessories

I had a hard time figuring out what to review this week.  At Maricha's request, I tried to review a Fingerlings monkey (they seem easier to find now), but my studio set-up doesn't work well for reviewing interactive items.  The monkey I bought is cute, but mechanized toys are not really my thing, so I took a few pictures and now she's on her way to a gently used toy drive for the holidays.  Sorry, Maricha!

I also contemplated reviewing two of my new Maru and Friends Mini Pals (Raven and Halle), but I just did a Mini Pal review recently, so that didn't seem like the right choice, either.

Then, a comment on the Create Your Own American Girl doll review caught my eye.  Lurkins wanted to know more about Our Generation Suyin (she's the doll who modeled Eliza's glasses).  Is she as cute as she looks in the promotional pictures?  Is her hair terrible?  I've had Suyin and a few other Our Generation dolls for several months now, and have never quite been motivated enough to build a whole review around them.  Lurkins' question and some of the new Our Generation accessories finally gave me the inspiration I needed to figure out today's review.

This review will actually be a mishmash of all the ideas I mentioned above.  I'll look mostly at the Our Generation Science Lab set, but I'll also give a quick rundown of my thoughts about a few Our Generation dolls, I'll offer a peek at a Fingerlings monkey...and I'll even show off two of my Mini Pal friends:

Maru and Friends Mini Pal, Chad, with Our Generation Science Lab set ($29.99).

Create Your Own American Girl

The wait is over!  My Create Your Own American Girl doll, Eliza, arrived two weeks ago (almost exactly on schedule).  I noticed recently that the wait for a similar doll now stretches into May (!) so I guess the concept is faring well in the holiday market.

I had to peek at Eliza before I started this review, and I noticed something unexpected right off the bat.  For those of you who followed along with Eliza's design process, you'll be expecting to see the "D" (Sonali) face.  Well, that's what I was expecting to see, too, but apparently I ended up picking the "B" (Josefina) face instead.  It's certainly my fault (I was going back and forth between faces a lot that day...) and it's actually a happy accident.  Once I realized that my other new American Girl, Melody Ellison, also has the Sonali face, I regretted picking that same mold for Eliza.  Now I have the face I actually wanted!

It's a really cute face, too:

Create Your Own American Girl doll, Eliza, $200.

Sunday Surprise: L.O.L. Glitter Series and Pets!

MGA Entertainment is coming out with new L.O.L. Surprise dolls at a furious rate.  Just as the Lil Sisters began to show up reliably in stores, two new groupings--the Glitter Series and Series 3 Pets--were released.  I have yet to see these newcomers in stores, but, as always, eBay and Amazon vendors are happy to part with their stash for exorbitant prices.

I can't say I'm the biggest fan of these little balled-up surprise dolls, but, judging by the traffic to the other two reviews I've written (Series 1 and Lil Sisters), they are favorites for many of you.  I definitely understand the appeal.  Not only do I love surprise-themed toys in general, but the play potential of the articulated L.O.L girls and their accessories is higher than most blind bag options.

So, today I will share two of each of the new types of L.O.L. Surprise ball with you, and we'll see if MGA has another instant hit on their hands!

Unopened L.O.L. Surprise Pets (left) and Glitter Series (right) balls.

Pose Skeleton by Re-Ment

A few months ago I got an anonymous comment suggesting that Pose Skeleton, Re-Ment's tiny posable skeletons, would make a fun Halloween review.  I could not have agreed more!  I immediately went to Amazon and ordered several of these highly affordable little figures from Japan.

Then, a few days before Halloween, Maine got hit by a post-tropical depression (a huge storm) and we lost power for most of the week.  That happens quite a lot around here.  Anyway, living without power wasn't too bad for us--no trees came through the roof this time, anyway.  We played a lot of games and read a lot of books, but nothing got done on the blog for a whole week.  I've been playing catch-up ever since.

Now it's closer to Thanksgiving than it is to Halloween, but I'll still share what was supposed to have been my cover shot for October 31st:

Pose Skeleton #3 by Re-Ment, $8.49.

Sunday Surprise: Li'l Secrets by Mattel!

I don't know why, but that last review--the Forces of Destiny dolls--took forever.  I would sit down to work on it first thing every morning, but I'd usually get distracted within minutes.  I think it was partly because the review has so many pictures.  It's also probably because the weather here feels like summer (still) and I want to be outside.  Another distraction is that my youngest son is applying to colleges (how did that happen so fast?) and so we're wrapped up in a turmoil of decisions, deadlines and details.

I thought that perhaps a good counterbalance to the last review would be a quick Sunday Surprise post--better yet, a vintage Sunday Surprise post.  I get a huge thrill from discovering new vintage surprise toys, and it's pure fun to share these discoveries with you guys!

I don't even need to write much of an introduction to this post, because the star of today's review, a Li'l Surprise doll from 1994, describes her mysterious nature better than I ever could.  Quite simply, the girl has secrets in her hair:

Mattel's Li'l Secrets doll (1994).

Forces of Destiny Rey and Leia by Hasbro

Star Wars is everywhere these days.  The Force Awakens still feels relatively new to me, and yet there's another movie coming out this year (The Last Jedi) and there's still a 2016 movie that I haven't seen yet (Rogue One).  When I was a kid, I had to wait three years between each of the original movies.  Now, granted, three years felt like too long to wait, but this recent deluge of media is overwhelming.  And it's not just the movies, either.  There are trailers, video games (Battlefront 2), and even short YouTube cartoons (Forces of Destiny) to fill the time between films.  While the onslaught of Star Wars media might be too much for me to keep up with, I suspect most fans of the franchise are thrilled...I know members of my family are.

Star Wars merchandise is everywhere, too.  Hot Toys releases new ultra-realistic sixth scale figures regularly, Hasbro has a variety of The Last Jedi action figures out already, and of course there's always a great assortment of Lego sets.  The toys I'm most interested in these days are Hasbro's highly-articulated 10.5-inch dolls from the Forces of Destiny cartoon series.

In this review I'll look at two of these dolls; Rey and BB-8 from The Force Awakens and Leia and Wicket from Return of the Jedi:

Forces of Destiny "Endor Adventure" Leia, $34.99.

Savannah and Chad Mini Pals by Maru and Friends

We did it!  We met my hurricane relief fundraising goal!  If you look at the banner in the right hand margin, you'll see that (thanks to Jason, Sarah, AliCarmen, and six new anonymous donors) we've now exceeded the $1,000 Bottom Line goal!  This is so amazing.  It's also great that the larger project is over three quarters of the way to its $5,000,000 goal after only 13 days.  I hope that the money will get to where it's needed quickly.  I'll leave the fundraising page and banner up for a while longer, but I won't bug you about it anymore.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you, for all of your support--everything from words of encouragement to money donations.  You guys are the best.

In celebration of this wonderful news, I want to start the week off by sharing two dolls from one of my favorite lines of all time: Maru and Friends' Mini Pals.  I did a thorough review of mini Maru and mini Tanya when I was in Puerto Rico last year, so today I'll just share a picture-heavy overview of another pair of Pals--Chad (the only boy in the collection) and Savannah (the adorable redhead!).  Here's one of my favorite shots of Chad, climbing on the rocky shore of Maine:

Maru and Friends Mini Pal, Chad ($89).

Another Project Mc2 Update!

I'm so grateful and excited to see the donations that have been added to our GlobalGiving page so far!   Wow!!  Big hugs to April, Kelly, Nonna, Katrina, Stephanie, Abigail, Yvette, Elaine, Tischa, and the lovely people who chose to remain anonymous.  Thank you also to everyone who's read my post and encouraged this effort in any way.  I know many of you have already given as much as you can in other ways or to other needy causes.  As promised, while this fundraiser is running I've been working extra-hard on new reviews.  Lately I've been splitting my time between a look at the new Maru and Friends Mini Pals and today's post: an update on the ever-tempting Project Mc² line.

I've reviewed Project Mc² dolls several times already (here and here)--not because they're my favorite doll line or anything, but I guess because I wish they were.  The dolls have so many appealing elements: inset eyes, lots of joints, sweet faces, fun project ideas, and a S.T.E.A.M.-based theme to boot.  They should be the perfect play dolls for me.  In addition, MGA Entertainment is doing a great job of releasing new dolls at regular intervals, so I feel like every time I check in on the collection, there's something fun and unexpected for me to look at.

In fact, I've been buying one or two dolls from each new wave, stashing them away for future use.  At this point I've accumulated five dolls, which feels like more than enough for a crazy-long review.  The five dolls I chose are Ember and McKeyla from the most recent masquerade collection, McKeyla and Bryden from the previous fancy dress group, and--by request--the very first Devon D'Marco doll.  They are a good-looking quintet:

Project Mc² dolls (from left): McKeyla's Glue Tattoos, Bryden's Light-Up Earrings, Devon's Puffy Paint, McKeyla's Lava Lip Gloss, and Ember's Fairy Wings.

Trouble in Paradise

Here in rural Maine we lose power a lot.  I don't know what the national average for power loss is, or anything like that, but when I used to live in New York, we'd lose power for ten minutes every few years.  It was almost fun when it happened--like an unexpected adventure.  In the part of Maine where I live now, the power goes out five to ten times every year.  That's not so terrible on its own, but when a power outage drags on for days...well, that can get pretty bad.  In the winter, we worry about all of our animals getting too cold (especially the birds!).  In the summer we worry about keeping all of the food (and insulin) cold.  At any time of the year, we get crabby when we can't take a shower.  After a week with no power, even the calmest person in our household can start to feel a little desperate.

Maybe you already see where I'm going with this.  I've been thinking a lot about Puerto Rico and the Caribbean lately.  The people there are not only without power, but without their homes, their belongings, their family members, their pets...and, I suspect, increasingly without a feeling of safety or hope.

As I sit here in the comfort of my home, I feel the need to do something to help.  Many of you have urged me to start a Patreon (or similar) site, where you can donate a little money to support the blog.  This is so incredibly generous and kind (it brings tears to my eyes sometimes!) but I've never felt comfortable asking for money.  However, I do feel comfortable with this request: please join my modest fundraising effort to help the residents of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.  The fundraiser will only last a few days, and any amount you can give will be amazing.  About five thousand people visit this site every day, so if each of you pitches just a little, we've done something great.  Please read on if you'd like to know more!

Maru and Friends Mini Pal, Savannah (on the coast of Maine, 2017).

American Girl Create Your Own Clothing

As many of you know, I'm waiting for the arrival of my redheaded Create Your Own American Girl doll, Eliza.  I expect her to ship sometime in mid-November.  When I ordered Eliza back in late August, I also ordered a few custom outfits for her, just to see what the quality is like.  These items all arrived at the beginning of this week and I thought I would quickly show you what they look like in person.

Since Eliza herself can't model these clothes yet, I've asked Keira and Melody to step in and help out:

Design Your Own clothing by American Girl.

Sunday Surprise: Blind Bag Spirit Riding Free Horses!

Before I dive into today's review, I thought I'd mention that my Create Your Own American Girl clothing is on its way (it shipped--as promised--just shy of a month from when I ordered it) and should arrive sometime next week.  I'm excited to see how the outfits look in person!  I still don't expect Eliza herself to arrive until mid November.

In the meantime, I thought this Sunday would be a great time to write a companion piece to my Spirit Riding Free review from last week.  In this post, I'll contrast the blind bag surprise horses that are being offered by Breyer and Just Play.  I also have a few non-mystery Spirit toys that I want to share, including two unexpected Just Play horses that I found at Toys R Us today, and a small horse and rider set from Breyer.

To start things off, here's a sneak peek at one of the Breyer blind bag horses--this is Spirit himself!

Breyer Spirit Riding Free blind bag Stablemate, Spirit.

Spirit Riding Free Toys by Breyer and Just Play

The original Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron movie by DreamWorks came out in 2002--the year my kids were two and four years old.  My four-year-old, in particular, was obsessed with this movie, in part because of the impressive steam engine featured in one of the climactic scenes.  At that time we were all listening to a series of tapes (yes, cassette tapes...) with songs about the construction of the transcontinental railroad, so both boys liked everything that had to do with trains.  Anyway, I loved the movie because of all the horses--and because the horses weren't given silly human voices.  Matt Damon adds a voice to some of Spirit's thoughts, but this is a rare occurrence, used only to forward the plot or explain a complicated scene.  The human protagonist in this movie is a kind-hearted Lakota teenager named Little Creek who yearns to ride Spirit, but knows when to stop trying.  It's a wonderful movie that will always have a special place in my heart.

In May of this year, DreamWorks premiered a new animated series on Netflix called Spirit Riding Free.  Season two of the series was released last week.  Fans of the original movie looked forward to this series with great anticipation, many of us hoping to rekindle the excitement we felt fifteen years ago when we were first introduced to Spirit's Wild West.

Both Just Play and Breyer have released a whole collection of Spirit Riding Free toys, and I will look at several of these in today's review.  I want to start the review by showing you something I bought right after I watched Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, though.  This is Breyer's 2002 model of Spirit himself:

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron Breyer horse model, 2002.

Disney's Rapunzel from Tangled: The Series

Over the years, I've chronicled my increasing frustration with the Disney Store and its Classic Princess dolls.  My problem with the company centers primarily around their inability to design functional and durable knee joints.  That was not a huge deal back when the dolls cost $13, but now that the prices have crept up and the limbs have gotten more fragile...I think it's a big deal.  In fact, I was so exasperated with this trend that I decided to stop reviewing Disney Store dolls altogether.  But--as many of you know--I made an exception to that rule when the live action Belle doll was released last spring.  My love for the Belle character inspired me to try and take a fresh-eyed look at the doll.  Sadly, even when I ignored Belle's predictably bad knees, she still disappointed me in other ways.  I figured that review would surely mark my last Disney Store purchase.  Wrong again!

Back in May, during my Bratz Secret Date review, Sév and Dmitry encouraged me to consider the Disney Store's 10.5-inch Tangled:The Series version of Rapunzel.  They told me that this doll has a completely new body, with--wait for it--a new knee joint design.  I've literally been waiting five years to write those words.  Not only that, but it's a Rapunzel doll, and I love Rapunzel even more than I love Belle.  So, I broke my promise to myself one more time and bought another Disney Store doll:

The Disney Store's Rapunzel from Tangled: The Series, $19.95.

Waiting for Eliza

As many of you have probably heard, American Girl debuted their Create Your Own doll feature early this month.  This is an online program that allows kids (of any age...) to design their own dolls and clothing from a wide range of options.  It's similar to My Twinn's old BFF customization tool, but it offers more variety.  I think the addition of this option to the American Girl lineup is a brilliant move by Mattel.  Not only is the website super-fun and easy to use (I spent the better part of a day playing around with it) but it allows kids (and doll reviewers) to have pretty much exactly the doll they want.  This is great because it will eliminate the inevitable disappointment that accompanies each year's new doll releases.  This year, if you don't see the doll you want, you can design him or her yourself!

I designed a custom doll who I've named Eliza.  Eliza has a few backordered features, and so she won't arrive until mid November.  I figured that while I'm waiting for Eliza to arrive, I could walk you through some of my experiences with the Create Your Own program.  That way, we can all wait together to see if the final product lives up to our expectations.

I didn't want to publish a post filled with nothing but screenshots, though, so I decided that I'd also use this opportunity to share an American Girl doll that I purchased back in April; the new 1960s BeForever character, Melody Ellison:

BeForever Melody Ellison by American Girl, $115.

Enchantimals by Mattel

Today I'm going to review Mattel's newest sensation, the six-inch tall, animal-like Enchantimals.  I came across these little dolls almost by accident a few weeks ago while I was researching the new Monster High Family line (which also includes several six-inch animal-like characters).

Instead of leaping right in and introducing the Enchantimals, I though maybe I'd change things up and try to describe what it's like here in my house as I type up these reviews.  First of all, there are animals everywhere.  I usually have my chronically flatulent mini poodle, Zelda, curled up on my right side and my mutt, Pants, cuddled as close as Zelda will let him get.  A parakeet cage sits immediately to my left, and this houses our two male birds: Bundy and Griffin.  Griffin is always very interested in what I'm doing.  His favorite activity is to "help" me type (in other words, to sit on the keyboard and pull up on the computer's keys with his beak...pooping on my track pad as he works) but when I don't let him do this, he sits in his cage and looks over my shoulder, offering helpful chirps (or squawks) when he feels they're necessary.

While all of this is going on, my youngest (now 17) is practicing the piano about ten feet away from me.  I say this like it's always happening...because it is.  In fact, a few of you might have noticed those sounds in the background of my WuvLuv videos.  I enjoy listening to the piano while I work, I do, but the problem is that my ancient dog, Padawan, imagines himself an excellent jazz singer.  So, he's often accompanying the music with his geriatric howl.  Better still, all three of the parakeets tend to sing (or squawk, depending on whether or not they like the song...) to the music as well.

So, basically, everything I do is set against a background of piano music, animal noises, and pet interference companionship.  This can be distracting some days, sure, but today--as I review an animal-themed doll line--it feels totally natural.  Speaking of nature, I'll start things off by showing you one of my Enchantimals (Felicity Fox) outside enjoying the brilliant colors of summer:

Enchantimals Felicity Fox by Mattel, $7.99.