Advent Calendar #6: 3D-Printed Animals from Crafts3Dcom

All of the advent calendars that I've looked at so far have been mass-produced items by big, well-established toy companies.  Those tend to be the calendars that are most relevant to the doll world.  However, I didn't want to let this entire series go by without featuring something a bit off the beaten path.

Since I've been thinking a lot about advent calendars over the last few months, I also hunted down a special calendar for each of my kids.  The one I chose for my eldest is from an Etsy store called Crafts3Dcom, and has a 3D printed dragon behind each door.  This concept was so appealing that I bought a second calendar to show off here on the blog:

Petra with dragons from a Crafts3Dcom advent calendar.

Advent Calendar #5: Playmobil from the Brandstätter Group

It turns out that a really good way to make Christmas arrive quickly is to write advent calendar reviews every few days!  I can't believe that the 25th is already less than a week away.  But I'll continue this series all of the way through the end of December, so I can pack in as many calendars as possible.

Today's choice is a Playmobil advent calendar.  This was a last-minute addition to my list, and at $35, one of the more expensive calendars in the mix.  But it's added a lot of holiday cheer to my house, so I'm really glad I included it:

Pieces from the 2022 Playmobil advent calendar.

Advent Calendar #4: Polly Pocket by Mattel

I hope everybody is enjoying the advent calendar series so far!  I'm not producing reviews quite as quickly as I'd hoped, or at least not quickly enough to open all of the calendars before the 25th, but as someone who's always saying she wants to write shorter, more frequent reviews, this is excellent practice.

There's no real rhyme or reason to the order that I'm opening these calendars, but I noticed that I'd featured two MGA products in a row (L.O.L. Surprise and Mini Bratz) so it's probably time to give Mattel a chance.

I actually have two Mattel calendars in mind for this series, and the first one I'll be looking at is the 2024 Polly Pocket advent calendar, which includes the super-tiny 1.25 inch version of Polly:

Polly Pocket from the 2024 advent calendar by Mattel. 

Advent Calendar #3: L.O.L. Surprise by MGA Entertainment

I haven't talked too much about L.O.L. Surprise dolls since they first came out in 2016, but from what I can tell, the toys are still going strong.  At Target, there's still an entire half of an aisle that's dominated by these little surprise ball characters and the larger OMG dolls that followed them.  Granted, the Miniverse toys have recently started to take over, but there's never a shortage of L.O.L. varieties.

So, the third advent calendar that I'm going to look at this month is focused on a cute L.O.L. doll and her expansive wardrobe.

If you're new to this advent calendar mini series, you can read about my motivations and expectations here, and see the second calendar here.

Makeover Babe 2.0 from the 2023 L.O.L. Surprise advent calendar.

Advent Calendar #2: Mini Bratz by MGA Entertainment

For the second advent calendar, I figured I should show you the one that started this whole idea: the Mini Bratz calendar from 2023 that Lurkins suggested to me.

I've had bit of experience with Mini Bratz dolls, but have never featured them here on the blog.  I really love their size (good for Lena), their detailed features, and their intricate, re-usable packaging.  Lena and I were both excited to get a calendar filled with these little gems!

Lena holding her favorite Mini Bratz doll from the 2023 advent calendar.

Advent Calendar #1: Mini Brands by Zuru

It's December!  So now I can dig in and start this advent calendar feature that I've been dreaming about.  I have about ten calendars that I'd like to open throughout the month, but with the way I ramble on and the number of pictures I insisted on taking, I can't promise that I'll get through all of them before the 31st, let alone the 25th.  But I'm sure going to try!

I stumbled onto this idea when a Patreon friend, Lurkins, linked me to an eBay auction for the Bratz mini calendar.  Lurkins thought that Lena might appreciate the minis for her doll collection, and the price was excellent at around $15.  So, I purchased the Bratz calendar and then got curious and searched around to see what other doll and toy-themed advent calendars I could find.  Turns out, there are a lot!

So this month, I'm going to walk you through as many of the calendars as I can, starting with the Zuru Mini Brands advent from 2024:

Lena with a toy from the Zuru Mini Brands advent calendar.

Barbie Dream Besties by Mattel

Well, November is almost over and December is shaping up to be either a busy month for the blog or a bust.  Let me explain.  I've been on an advent calendar kick for the last few weeks, finding myself amazed and overwhelmed by the diversity and complexity of the current choices.  So I wanted to do an advent calendar feature all throughout the month of December, and I bought about ten calendars (maybe a few more than that...) for the occasion.

But one of my kids has to be in the hospital at the beginning of December, and I want to be as helpful and present as I can.  So a lot of the month will be spent traveling across the country and being a mom.  That will either give me a lot of time for the blog (since I have a few weeks off from my animal shelter job), no time at all, or something in the middle.  We'll see.

As I wait for December and whatever it might bring, I have some time to chat with you about one of Mattel's newest playline releases, the Barbie Dream Besties:

Barbie Dream Besties Brooklyn (left) and Teresa (right), $19.99.