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.

I'm not sure what the original suggested retail price for this L.O.L. calendar was, but Amazon has it listed for over $50 right now, which is ridiculous.  I paid $13.50 on eBay, with free shipping, which is the least I've spent on any of the calendars in this review series so far.

Regular L.O.L. Surprise balls cost between $8 and $10 these days, so paying $13.50 for a single doll with a lot of extras feels more than fair.

I knew that the calendar contained a single doll with a lot of extras right away, because the packaging is pretty clear:

It says "unbox looks for every day."

I'm glad that this is spelled out right at the start, because if I'd been hoping for several different dolls (or a new doll every day), I'd have been very disappointed.

There is the implication that I might find a whole new outfit every day, though, and that's misleading.

The cover of the calendar is fairly appealing, with bright colors and a shop window scene, but it's so much better when you open up the front flaps:

Wow!

Look at that!  We finally have a proper advent calendar scene.

I mean, it's not a romantic outdoor winter setting, like the old paper calendars, but it's highly detailed and fun to look at.  And some of the numbers are very well concealed!

This is gonna be good.

The big side flaps don't have any numbers on them, but on the right side there's a large perforated area:

I carefully tore along the perforations and found a huge paper credit card:

Strange.

This gives the name of the doll (Makeover Babe 2.0), and has a small picture of her:

Incidentally, the original Makeover Babe was an ultra rare doll from the DIY Glitter Factory Playset:

The original Makeover Babe.

She's cute, but I don't like her white lipstick.

I'm intrigued by the glitter playset she came with, but it looks like it would make a huge mess:

And be terrible for the environment.

I felt pretty sure that Makeover Babe 2.0 would be hiding behind door number one, but you never know.

Door number one is certainly large enough to hide a doll:

How many other numbers can you find in this scene?

Sure enough!  It's the doll:

Enclosed within a paper bag.

Makeover Babe 2.0 (can we call her MB, please?) comes in white painted underwear, with an instruction sheet that reveals her to be a spitter:

Better than a pee-er, I guess.

She's similar to the original Makeover Babe, but has purple streaks in her hair, blue eyes, some white heart-shaped freckles on her face, and red lips (thank goodness):

Her molded hair is braided in the back and has two high buns on top:

Those large yellow hoop earrings are not removable, which is unfortunate.  They look good, but they get in the way a lot.

This girl needs some clothes!  Maybe door number two will help us out:

This took me a minute to find!

There's definitely an outfit inside:

The clothing came mounted on a plastic body-shaped shell, and includes both a top and a skirt:

Here's MB modeling her new outfit:

The skirt was a little hard to push on, but the style is cute and the purple shades sort of match MB's hair.  Sort of.

Door number three was easier to find, and has a picture of shoes on it:

I wonder if this means that we'll find shoes inside?  The size of the door is certainly right for a pair of shoes.

This item was wrapped in tissue paper, so I didn't immediately know what I'd gotten:

Shoes or no shoes?

It's an adorable pair of bunny slippers!

I was worried that doors with smaller accessories, like shoes, would be disappointing.  But these shoes are cute enough to be a good surprise.

They don't quite match the style or the colors in the outfit that we have, but they look good with MB's hair:

The number four is printed over a drawing of a necklace, so I'm thinking that the next door will have a necklace behind it:

Whatever it is, it's wrapped in tissue paper:

It's a necklace!

Like a locket?

The necklace doesn't fit over the outfit very well--it sticks out in a gravity-defying way:

But the chain matches the printed detail on the skirt.

I'm actually not too happy that the pictures on the flaps telegraph what kind of surprise will be behind each door.  That takes away some of the fun.  But at least we don't know exactly what each item will look like.

Also, some of the doors have pictures that aren't very specific, like number five, which has wrapped boxes and bags:

Those could be anything!

Right away, I could see that we got some glasses here:

They're purple cat eye glasses with silver painted frames:

These glasses fit very tightly over MB's head and were hard to get on.  They also have a defect in the plastic of one lens, which is distracting:

They don't fit her eyes very well, either.

That was the least fun surprise so far.  In fact, both the necklace and the glasses are a little ho-hum.  I was glad that I could open more flaps right away and not have to wait an entire day for a better surprise.

Number six was well camouflaged against a circular sofa:

Somehow I doubt that there's a sofa behind this door.

It's another outfit!

I love this outfit.  It's the one that's featured on the front of the box, and for good reason.  The colors are very pretty, and I like the printed knit design:

Now that's a good surprise.

MB looks great in this, although her underwear shows a little bit on top:

She looks so comfy.

I had a fun time tracking down number seven, which is hidden in a pair of sunglasses:

It's not sunglasses inside, though!  It's ear muffs:

Very sneaky, MGA!

These go well with MB's teal sweater outfit, although they can't completely cover her ears because of those pesky earrings:

Can you find number eight?  I had a tough time with this:

It's hidden on the swimsuit mannequin.  So maybe we're going to get a swimsuit?

Sure looks like it.

It's a purple swimsuit with a big green heart on the front:

This style doesn't work very well with MB's bandeau underwear top:

Awkward.

Also, when I took the suit off later on, the thin attachment in front broke:

This wasn't necessarily a dud, but it's one of my least favorites pieces.

Number nine was pretty easy to find:

Based on the picture, I'm betting this'll be more shoes:

Yep!  It's some little translucent purple high-heeled boots, with painted chains across the front:

For some reason this was an underwhelming surprise, too.  The paint job isn't very good, and the boots themselves just aren't very interesting.

They don't go with the bathing suit, but I think they'll match that first outfit well:

Number ten is printed onto a very pretty red dress:

I'd like to get a version of that dress!

It's not a dress inside, though:

It's a cute little floral shirt and shorts set:

These clothes look great on MB--especially with the bunny slippers!

I think it's meant to be pajamas.

The pajama shorts are really hard to put on, though.  They're tight and inflexible.

Number eleven was so hard for me to find.  It's well hidden amongst the feathery pink leaves of a palm tree:

What on earth could this be?

A backpack?

Oh, my gosh.  It's a snorkel!

Incredible.

The snorkel fits well on MB's head, and there's even a little piece that goes into her mouth:

Just like a real snorkel.

This might be the best surprise so far, simply because I've never seen an L.O.L. snorkel before, and was surprised by it!

Where are you hiding, number twelve?  Even after finding this door in real life, I can't find it in the picture:

It's very cleverly hidden on the checkered gift bag:

What could be inside?

It's a sleep mask that matches the pajamas!

That's really sweet:

Yeah, but I can't see anything.

Number thirteen was also very hard to find:

And, just like the picture suggests, there were swim fins behind this door:

They're molded as all one piece, with a single slot for both of MB's feet:

Like a mermaid tail.

These are great:

And would probably go better with the swimsuit.

Number fourteen was easy to find, and the picture suggests that we're getting another dress:

Ooh!  This is a fancy-looking dress:

Very groovy:

Peace, baby.

Fifteen looks like more glasses:

But the shape of the tissue paper bundle isn't quite right:

It's a pair of shoes!

MGA pulled another fast one on us.

The green splotches on these shoes go reasonably well with the psychedelic dress:

Now, despite the picture, I'm not so sure if door number sixteen will have a dress behind it or not:

That's a really cute dress, though.

Haha!  It's not a dress at all!  Things are getting crazy around here:

What could it be?

It's a hair bow:

This fits MB's head well but definitely doesn't go with her current dress!

My eyes hurt.

Number seventeen is printed next to a picture of roller skates.  I'd really like to get some roller skates:

They're not roller skates, they're even better!  It's tall platform shoes like the ones on the J.K. doll I reviewed in 2022:

One of the shoes fell out when I opened the flap.

They're very tall, with translucent pink heels filled with glitter:

These shoes are ready to party!

Suddenly, MB is two inches taller:

Like stilts!

I see you, number eighteen, but nineteen is in this same picture and is much harder to find.  Can you find both numbers?

Door eighteen had another dress:

I love the polka dots on this dress, and the differently-colored tiers of the skirt:

It's like something Spectra would wear.

I think this dress is meant to go with the silver and green speckled shoes:

Door number nineteen had a teddy bear behind it!

This guy is very cute, with some nice details.  I especially like his button eye and the two-toned shading in his body:

It looks like he's made out of snow or ice.

He has a 2020 copyright date on the back of his head:

The bear is about an inch tall, and comes up to MB's waist:

Hello, little bear!

Will number twenty be hiding another dress?

Maybe not a dress, but it's an outfit of some kind:

This is a long-sleeved shirt and matching shorts, both of which have a neon leopard print:

This outfit clashes with everything!

Maybe we can find some accessories that match better.  Door number twenty one looks like it might be able to offer some different shoes:

These came wrapped in tissue paper:

But definitely match the new outfit!

Phew.

This is a little better:

Her hair doesn't match very well, though.

I wish that this doll had plain white hair like the first Makeover Babe.  While her purple streaks look good with some of the outfits, they don't work with all of them.

Oh, gosh, we're getting very near the end now, aren't we?  It goes by so fast.

Door number twenty two has a picture of a headband with cat ears:

And we got an actual headband with cat ears!

This, aptly, matches the leopard print outfit:

Okay, now we have a cohesive look:

For better or for worse.

Number twenty three was easy to find at the base of the palm tree:

And it's a little water bottle:

This matches the leopard print outfit, too:

MGA went all in with this look.

And now MB can spit if she wants:

I'm ready!

This calendar goes all of the way up to day twenty five, so we still have two more flaps to open.

Twenty four is printed on a stack of boxes, so there's no hint as to what might be hiding in there:

Still no idea...

It's more shoes!

I think these are meant to go with the knitted outfit that I like so much.  They certainly don't go with the leopard print:

Does anything go with the leopard print?

And this is it.  The last door.  Will it hold something extra-special?

What would count as special in a set like this?

It's a dress, and it's bright red, which is very Christmassy:

Okay, so it's not a dress but a skirt and top.  And it has a cheerleader vibe.  The bright red color with all of the hearts and stars definitely feels like a party:

That's a decent finale.

And this outfit, paired with the tall shoes and the hair bow, make for a dramatic and festive final look:

In addition to the final outfit, MB has seven sets of clothes and accessories, although the psychedelic dress doesn't have any accompanying shoes or other items, from what I can tell:

That's a lot of loot.

Finding which items go with which outfit was a bit like finding which box went with each Bratz doll for the last calendar.  In other words, it added another level of fun to the whole experience.

There's the first skirt and top that I opened, along with matching glasses and boots:

And here's the psychedelic dress again:

Bare feet work well here, in the end.

This is one of my favorite looks, with that cute space-age tiered skirt:

And then of course there's the wacky leopard print ensemble:

And the adorable jammies with their matching bunny slippers:

And even though I'm not crazy about the swimsuit, I absolutely adore the snorkel and fins:

Bottom line?  Finally, we got a calendar with a fun scene and some flap numbers that were truly hard to find!  I felt like a kid again, searching for each door as the anticipation for what might be hidden behind it built up in my mind.  It was a very authentic advent calendar experience in that respect.

I didn't really expect to like the surprises as much as I did, either.  Frankly, it sounded a little boring to get only one doll and then a bunch of little outfit pieces, but I really enjoyed some of the clothing items.  Also, building a complete outfit over the course of a few days (even if everything doesn't match) is an entertaining concept.  There were a few times, like when I got the sunglasses or the bland purple boots, where I would have been bummed if that had been my only surprise for the day.  But most of the time I was happy with what I found, and liked working it in with the items I already had.  I also appreciate the variety of items and how it wasn't always clear what would be behind each door.  While some of the surprises were telegraphed by the pictures on the flaps, this wasn't completely reliable, which kept me on my toes.  Finally, while the last surprise was not the most impressive (that distinction goes to Makeover Babe), it was a festive piece that rounded out an impressive and celebratory outfit.

Here are the basics:

Best toy: Makeover Babe 2.0 herself. 

Worst toy: ill-fitting sunglasses with plastic defect

Number of good surprises: 22 (everything except the sunglasses, purple boots, and necklace)

Number of really good surprises: 14 (the doll plus all of the clothing and a few of the accessories)

Excitement rating, out of 10: 8

Aesthetic rating, out of 10: 7

This calendar didn't deliver the most desirable toys for me (I prefer the Bratz minis), but it has definitely been my favorite experience so far, and the one that feels the most like my childhood event calendars.  As entertaining as Makeover Babe and her wardrobe are, I don't think they're worth the $50 that some retailers are charging these days.  But for $13.50, this calendar was a steal, and would be a great way to brighten the holiday season for anyone who's a fan of the enduring L.O.L Surprise brand.

Do you wanna build a snowbear?