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.

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.

Photo Mission! (With a Mini Review of Posea Reef)

It's been a bit of a rocky start to the new year for me.  Family distractions caused me to take a step back and look closely at the blog.  When I first started blogging, I read an article describing how it can take, on average, five years of hard work before it's clear whether or not a new blog will be successful.  That seemed reasonable, and so I promised myself that I'd get to work and not worry too much about success (whatever that means) until at least four years had passed.  Now, four years later, I find myself wondering about the success of my blogging approach.

There are so many things I love about this blog--things that I consider a huge success.  First of all, I love to photograph dolls and write about them.  And, there's an incredible selection of amazing dolls out there to review.  I feel like the proverbial kid in a candy shop most days.  In addition, I get a lot of visitors or "page hits" (the brass rings of blogging) and am about to hit the 6,000,000 mark, which is unbelievable.  I also love you guys.  I'd wager that few blogs have such an amazing, kind, insightful audience.  But the bottom line is really all about...well, the bottom line.  The harsh reality is that this blog is losing money.  Lots of money.  Breaking even would be one thing, but losing money is starting to be bad.  This could be my fault, or just the way blogs are these days.  I don't know.  But I can no longer pretend that this is my job.  It's kind-of the opposite.

I like blogging too much to give it up completely, but my approach definitely has to change.  While I figure out what all of this means, I thought I would publish the wonderful contributions from the last Photo Mission.  I asked to see pictures of the interesting dolls for sale in your part of the world.  I added my own photographs to this post and will also include two short reviews.  One of the reviews is of a doll that I found during the Photo Mission: Monster High's new mermaid, Posea Reef. Snapping pictures of Posea on the store shelf was not enough--I wanted to get a closer look at her:

Monster High Posea Reef, $19.99.

Ever After High's Dexter Charming and Adora's 18-inch Kayla--A Joint Review!

I feel especially fortunate to have such a fun mix of guest reviews this week because I seem to have come down with my first nasty cold of the season.  Blah.  That's the only thing I don't like about fall--the return of sickness.  But the timing really worked out perfectly.  My two guests, Grace and Dot, have put together wonderful, complimentary reviews that required practically no effort on my part.  These two have also lifted my spirits with their contagious enthusiasm, energy and humor.  So, a big thank-you to Grace for sharing her handsome Dexter Charming with us, and to Dot for her very special review of Adora's 18-inch Kayla doll.

To start things off, I'd like to introduce Grace, a fellow doll enthusiast and accomplished seamstress.  Grace's creativity shines on her own blog, Doll Dimensions. Grace designed her blog to be a place where people can find tutorials for doll items that will expand their play and collecting dimensions.  This blog features makeovers, sewing ideas, reviews and even (my personal favorite) a showcase of Grace's own version of Cinderella (Ginger Ella).  I think this Dexter Charming review captures the spirit of the Doll Dimensions blog really well.  Tell us more about your handsome guy, Grace!

Hey everyone!!!  I'm super, super excited to be doing this guest review!!  I love Emily's blog, and her reviews and photos are my absolute favorites.  Today I'll be reviewing a very handsome fellow by the name of Dexter Charming!  I absolutely LOVE Dexter (don't tell anyone, but I think that I like him better than Ken ;) )!  Unfortunately, I was only able to get my hands on the second edition (re-release) of Dexter, so he is missing some of his accessories.  However, I was able to replicate some of the missing ones, and I'll share how I did it at the end of this post.

When they heard that Dexter's review was today, several of the girls stopped by to say hello:

Hey, everyone!

Ever After High Explosion!

This post will mark a bittersweet crossroads for the blog.  On the bitter side, I'm no longer accepting new full-length guest reviews, and so today's guest review will be among the last of its kind (there are just a few more reviews waiting in my inbox).  The sweet part is that it will be the very first time I get to show off some wonderful Photo Mission pictures--a new way to share everyone's photographs and thoughts here on the blog.  And in the midst of all this, I've included my own mini review.  So...there's a lot going on here today!  I think it's fun to have so many voices and talents in one review, and I can't think of a better doll line to accommodate this than the creative and whimsical Ever After High.

My guest reviewer today is Cory, who--like so many of my guest reviewers--is one of the most patient and lovely people in the world.  She first emailed me about a possible guest review back in May, so you can see when she started this review and how long she's been waiting for me to get my act together to publish it.  Cory is a hard-working college student and a budding doll reviewer.  She collects Ever After High dolls and will show you two of those dolls today: Bunny Blanc and Sugar-Coated Madeline Hatter.

To accompany Cory's double review I have the pleasure of sharing five Photo Mission shots with you.  Big thanks to Amanda, Kirsty, Val, Jessica and MyLittleMegara for these wonderful contributions.  Mission accomplished!  I've photographed my own newest Ever After High girl, Way Too Wonderland's Kitty Cheshire, to add to the mix:

Ever After High's Way Too Wonderland Kitty Cheshire.

An Ever After High Repaint Tutorial by Charlotte of Milklegs Dolls

I have been looking forward to this post for a long time.  My guest today is Charlotte--a talented doll artist from the United Kingdom who specializes in customization.  Charlotte mixes and matches bodies and heads (Azone bodies with Licca-chan heads is a favorite of hers...) and also repaints a variety of dolls ranging from Obitsu to Monster High.  You can see her work on Instagram and also on Tumblr.  Charlotte and I started communicating over a year ago, at which point she had a ton of great ideas for a customization-themed guest review.  My favorite idea of hers was that she share some of the techniques behind her beautiful repaints.  Well...as it happened, Charlotte got busy earning a degree and I got busy playing with dolls, and it ended up taking a year to pull this post together.

That all worked out for the best, though, because Charlotte has gotten even more accomplished over the last year, and has actually opened an Etsy shop (Milklegs Dolls) through which I was able to purchase a few of her repainted Monster High and Ever After High dolls.  So, in this post Charlotte will walk us through her repainting process and then I will share some pictures of my two exquisite Milklegs girls.

Ever After High Briar Beauty and Monster High Frights, Camera, Action! Clawdeen Wolf.
Repainted by Charlotte of Milklegs Dolls.

Disney Descendants "Signature Mal" Doll by Hasbro

The Disney Channel is releasing a movie at the end of the month called Descendants.  This show is set in a modern-day imaginary kingdom and focuses on the offspring of famous Disney characters.  Re-imagining fairy tales has been an extremely popular theme these past few years--both in the movie/television world (Maleficent, Cinderella, Snow White and the Huntsman, Once Upon a Time, etc.) and in the doll world (Ever After High, Once Upon a Zombie, Fairy Tale High, Tonner's Re-Imagination line...and probably a few that I'm forgetting).  It's especially noteworthy how similar the Descendants premise is to the the inspiration behind Ever After High.

The Descendants movie plot centers around Ben, who is the son of Belle and the Beast.  The teenaged prince decides to invite several of the villain's kids (who have grown up banished on the Isle of the Lost) to attend his fancy prep school...and then--if I am judging from the trailer correctly--promptly falls in love with one of them.  The villain kids feel torn between the wishes of their evil parents and a growing fondness for Ben and his royal friends.  Several things about this whole set-up are confusing to me (do all of the fairy tale characters live in the same kingdom?  Are they all the same age?  Why does Ben get to be the leader?  Didn't most of the villains die before they got to reproduce?) but I'm willing to wait and see if everything is explained in the actual movie.

I thought that the 11-inch Descendants fashion dolls were being released just before the movie (on July 20th), so I pre-ordered a few of them and was eagerly anticipating their arrival.  However, last weekend I was visiting a Toys R Us store up north and found four of the dolls already in stock!  This was a nice surprise, so I jumped on the chance to do a review of one of the characters I didn't pre-order--who actually seems like she might be the star of the whole movie: Mal, the daughter of Maleficent.

Disney Descendants "Signature Mal" doll, $19.99.

"Through the Woods" Ashlynn Ella--A Guest Review!

I am so thrilled to have my friend Muzzy as a guest reviewer this week. You might know Muzzy from her lovely comments here on the blog.  I am especially grateful to Muzzy because not only did she choose to review a character that I am very fond of (Ashlynn Ella!), but the timing of her contribution is perfect.  I could not be more grateful to have a helping hand this week (a helping foot would be awesome, too...) but also, this is the first week of the Cinderella movie (I haven't seen it yet...the agony!) and so a review of Cinderella's daughter seems highly appropriate.

I will let Muzzy tell you all about this new version of Ashlynn Ella, and then I will hop in at the end to share a few pictures and thoughts about my own new Ever After High doll, Duchess Swan.  Please welcome Muzzy to the blog with her beautiful Ashlynn!

Ever After High's "Through the Woods" Ashlynn Ella.

The Beatrix Girls "Lark" by Popstar Club

The Beatrix Girls are 12 inch dolls that represent a group of four (teenaged?) friends who are in a band together.  Each character sings, plays an instrument, and writes music.  The girls are designed to be role models for young kids because of the talent, determination and hard work that have made their band a huge success.  The Beatrix Girls are manufactured by Popstar Club LLC, a new California-based company that plans to focus on cross-platform products.  The dolls are part of a multi-media world that includes short (live action) webisodes and tracks of pop music.

When I first saw the Beatrix Girls dolls on the shelves at Toys R Us last year, I was turned off by the huge heads and facial expressions on these characters.  Frankly, the combination of wide eyes, angrily-slanted eyebrows and large smiles made these dolls look sinister to me.  However, the body proportions on the Beatrix Girls reminded me of Pullip and Blythe dolls, and I couldn't help but wonder if this brand might be an interesting and inexpensive alternative to some popular large-headed collector dolls.

Over the past year, many of you have encouraged me to take a second look at The Beatrix Girls.  I took your advice, and will admit that by the third or fourth time I saw these dolls in the store, the faces started to seem less angry and more appealing.  However, I was still bothered by the fact that the first release dolls did not come with their instruments (nor were the instruments originally available for separate purchase).  This was an oversight for a doll brand designed around music.  Last May, however, I was able to find a Justice exclusive version of the redheaded character, "Lark," who actually came with her bass guitar.  I decided to purchase this doll for review and paid $24.99 for her through Amazon (where she's now on sale for $20).  Incidentally, all of the newest Beatrix Girl dolls come with instruments, and the instruments have also recently been released in separate accessory sets.  Here's my Lark:

Beatrix Girls "Lark" $24.99.

Princess Malucia from "Barbie and the Secret Door"

Like my previous reviews of the Kitty Surprise toys, this is a post that I didn't plan on writing.  During one of my "research" outings a few days ago, I saw a doll in the Barbie section that stopped me in my tracks.  I'd never seen this particular doll before, and she intrigued me to the point that I put everything else on hold so that I could take a closer look at her.  Judging by other pictures that are cropping up on places like Flickr, I am not alone in my reaction to this character.

Let me back up, though.  The doll I'm talking about is "Princess Malucia," the antagonist in the recently-released Barbie movie, Barbie and the Secret Door.  Why is this doll so interesting?  Well, she's a relatively new Barbie character with a new face, which is newsworthy enough, but the reason I had to buy her is that her face bears a striking resemblance to the Ever After High characters:

Barbie's "Princess Malucia" flanked by Madeline Hatter (left) and Poppy O'Hair (right).

Review Fusion #1

I have been getting quite a lot of guest review requests these past few weeks for some reason, which is really wonderful.  I love how guest reviews can change my feelings about certain dolls (I bought my first Bratz!), how they can help encourage me to write a review that I had been putting off, or how they simply remind me of the fact that dolls make people happy for so many different reasons.

The problem with these guest review requests (as those who have emailed me know too well...) is that I am painfully slow to get things organized and published, and the waiting times are getting long.  In an attempt to lessen this problem, I have decided to combine guest reviews together into occasional "Review Fusion" posts.  This should allow me to share more perspectives while still doing my own reviews each week.

I have also received some amazingly gorgeous single photographs by email over the years, and have been looking for a good way to share a few of those with you.  My plan is to start each Review Fusion volume with a beautiful photo, and then move into the actual reviews after the jump.

I knew exactly which photo to share first: this is a Pullip doll, "Nanette," posed in front of the Great Wall of China.  This amazing picture was taken by LagoonaLicious, author of the Skelita Calaveras review from last year:

"Nanette."  Photo by LagoonaLicious.

Holly O' Hair and Poppy O' Hair by Ever After High

Following up on my earlier review of Hat-Tastic Party Apple White, here's the rest of my Ever After High weekend extravaganza!

Holly and Poppy O'Hair are Ever After High characters meant to be the twin daughters of Rapunzel.  Rapunzel is one of my all-time favorite fairy tale princesses (second only to Cinderella...) so that made this set desirable no matter what, but the extra-wonderful thing about these twins is that they have red hair.  One of the girls, Holly, follows in her mother's footsteps and has really long red hair.

What I think is interesting here is that the original Rapunzel story ends with the prince climbing the tower only to find that Rapunzel is gone.  He doesn't reunite with Rapunzel until years later, when he finds her in the forest--wandering around with her twins.  These twins are a boy and a girl, but I like how the twin Ever After High dolls give a subtle nod to the Grimm brothers' tale.

Right now, the Holly and Poppy set is hard to find (*update: in stock at Target.com!).  I was fortunate enough to get one from Amazon before the regular stock sold out.  I paid $34.99, but the secondary vendors have marked them up to $70.  I'm sure they will come back in stock, as there haven't really been any consistently rare Ever After High dolls so far.

Ever After High's Holly O'Hair and Poppy O'Hair,  $34.99.

Hat-Tastic Party Apple White and Clothing from Fable's End Emporium

Mattel has been busy lately.  Not only are the first Freaky Fusion and Zombie Shake Monster High dolls on the shelves, but there are several exciting new Ever After High releases, too.  As if Pinocchio's wonderfully wooden daughter Cedar wasn't enough, both the Hat-Tastic Party lineup and Rapunzel's twins have recently started appearing online and in stores.

Initially, I intended to review only Hat-Tastic Apple White this week, because a friend gave me some wonderful custom clothes that I thought would look great on her.  However, in the midst of that review, my Holly and Poppy O'Hair arrived, and I couldn't wait to get them out of their box!

With all of these new Ever After High dolls to review, this was originally a massive, 250-picture post that included Apple, her new clothes, and both of the red-headed O'Hair twins, but I decided to break that beast of a review into two parts--which I will publish in rapid succession.  First, here's the lovely Hat-Tastic Apple White:

Ever After High's Hat-Tastic Party Apple White.

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.

Ever After High "Cerise Hood"

This review is meant as a companion to my C.A. Cupid review.  I couldn't decide between Cerise and Cupid when I was browsing all of the new Ever After High dolls at the store, so I decided to get both of them and pass on the newer Monster High dolls--at least for now.  I would say that, in general, I am much more of a Monster High fan, but I guess the newness of the Ever After High line still intrigues me.  I am curious to see how this line will evolve.

Cerise really stood out from the crowd at the store.  Her face mold is completely new and she has exotic coloring, with light brown vinyl and vivid grey-blue eyes:

Ever After High "Cerise Hood."

Ever After High "C.A. Cupid"

While I was doing my "research" at Target the other day, I noticed a ton of new Monster High and Ever After High dolls.  The Monster High additions were from the "Frights, Camera, Action" series and also from a new group called "Sweet Screams" that I had never seen before.  The Ever After High additions included Cupid, a new "Getting Fairest" Maddie Hatter and Apple White, and the highly anticipated Cerise Hood.  I was going to choose one new Ever After High doll (Cupid) and one new Monster High doll (Sweet Screams Frankie--she's crazy-fancy and fun), but the Ever After High girls were really hard to resist, and so I left with two of them: C.A. Cupid and Cerise Hood.  I will review both of these dolls in two posts.

I was probably most excited about the appearance of Cupid, because she is the crossover link between Monster High and Ever After High.  I have been wondering how Mattel would handle the re-introduction of this character.  As excited as I am about Cupid, though, I'll tell you right now that Cerise Hood outshines her promotional pictures and seems, at first glance, to be the most unique doll in this line to date.  Cerise's review will come soon, but for now, here's the lovely Chariclo Arganthone Cupid:

Ever After High's new C.A. Cupid doll.

Holiday Shopping at Target and Toys R Us

With Hanukkah almost over and the Christmas season kicking into full swing, this is a special, hectic time of year.  I love seeing our Main Street come to life with lights, and hearing my kids sing carols out in the cold.  Of course another integral part of this season is shopping, and I am thinking hard about donations and gifts--especially presents for the amazing children in my life.

I hope that the content of this blog is helpful to those of you who are looking for a special doll for someone you love, but many of the dolls I review are hard to find, discontinued, or expensive.  I thought that in honor of this bustling shopping season, I would head out to a few local stores and see what is available for those of us who are just getting started with our gift-hunting now.  I'll show you what I found and give you my top ten list of what I would buy.  I also really hope that you will chime in with what you've found in your part of the world and what you think the best dolls and toys of the season are.  There is also a poll on the right side of the page where you can vote for the doll that you'd most like to see reviewed in more depth.

Today, I am going to focus on Target because it is one of my favorite places to shop and it tends to be well-stocked.  I will also add some comparisons to Toys R Us, my other most frequented big box toy store.  Next week I will visit a smaller, privately-owned toy store.  I'll get things started by showing you one doll I actually did buy: Monster High's new Jane Boolittle, who has the most awesome pet accessory ever:

Monster High "Jane Boolittle" and her pet sloth (Toys R Us, $21.99)

Ever After High "Ashlynn Ella and Hunter Huntsman" Set

I reviewed Ever After High's Apple White doll back in July, and while I wanted to be super-enthusiastic about her, she left me feeling underwhelmed.  Her round head and plain features were not as pretty as I had hoped, and her outfit was nowhere near as creative as it could have been.  On top of that, many of you reported that there are widespread problems with the facial screening on these dolls, leaving some of them unacceptably wonky-eyed.

Despite these issues, Apple has enough good qualities that I was cautiously optimistic about the arrival of my favorite Ever After High character--Cinderella's daughter, Ashlynn Ella.  When the first pictures of Ashlynn were released, I was disappointed to see that she comes in another short generic princess dress.  I was hoping for something more original.  On the other hand, I was thrilled to see that Ashlynn comes with the first male doll in the Ever After High lineup, Hunter Huntsman, who is the son of...you guessed it, the Huntsman:

Ever After High "Ashlynn Ella and Hunter Huntsman."

Fairy Tale High "Teen Rapunzel" by S-K Victory

Fairy Tale High (known as "Fairy Tale Academy" at the 2013 Toy Fair launch) is yet another brand of 12-inch play doll that is using the fairy tale princess theme.  Fairy Tale High's angle is that all of the princesses are modern teenagers attending the same school of performing arts.  At least it's not fashion school.

The number of dolls that have something to do with princesses or fairy tales this year is shockingly high.  I can count about nine different doll lines: The current Disney Store and Mattel versions of the Disney Princesses, La Dee Da Fairy Tale Dance, Cutie Pops Crown Cuties, Ever After High, Monster High Scary Tales, Once Upon a Zombie and Fairy Tale High.  And I guess I could also include the Bratzillaz Witchy Princesses, but they don't really look much different from the normal Bratzillaz.  Anyway, it's out of control.  The question is, do we need all of these different princess characters?  I mean, which ones are offering something truly unique?

I have been reluctant to review this particular doll because when she arrived in the mail, her face was a disappointment.  I don't find anything appealing about her facial screening or her expression, and I tend not to review dolls that I know I won't like.  Some recent conversations in the comments section and pictures on Flickr inspired me to reconsider.  I decided that she was worth de-boxing, if only so that I could reference her as I review some of the princess dolls I am more excited about.  Rapunzel cost me $17.99 at Toys R Us:

Fairy Tale High "Teen Rapunzel," by S-K Victory.

Ever After High "Apple White" by Mattel

I don't like to be too repetitive, but ever since AJ's wonderful guest review of Madeline Hatter, I have been even more excited to get a look at my favorite of the first four Ever After High dolls, Apple White.  

While I was in Boston visiting the American Girl store, I took a few minutes to pop into the Natick Mall to see if they had a Justice store.  Sure enough, there was a Justice (and just about every other store on the planet) and several of the Ever After girls were in stock.  There's something funny going on with the prices of these dolls, though, because they're marked $36 (which can't possibly be the normal retail price...) but everything in Justice is 40% right now, so the price ends up being around $21, which is perfectly reasonable.  I assume and hope that when these dolls appear in other stores, they will cost $20.

Ever After High doll, "Apple White."