Vi and Va Dolls by MGA Entertainment

Lately I have been scanning the shelves of the local stores, eagerly looking for any sign of the 2015 Bratz dolls by MGA Entertainment.  While I've yet to see anything new from Bratz, MGA did debut a completely different doll line back in January.  Several of you have been noticing these dolls in the stores and asking if I would write a review.  I am extremely happy to do this review because the newcomers look quite different from most other dolls on the shelves right now--and I am always excited to see something truly new.

The doll brand is called "Vi and Va," which is short for "Viviana and Valentina." The brand name also sounds like the word viva, which means "live" or "long live" in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.  Viviana and Valentina are a pair of teenaged sisters who are also close friends.  The other dolls in the line are the sisters' two cousins, Roxxi and Felicia--who are also friends.  MGA's website does not have a huge amount of backstory about these characters, but I get the sense that the girls are Latina and that the line is meant to center around close families.

The dolls are only available at Target right now, where they have been relatively easy to find for the past few months.  All four of the characters were in stock (and on sale) when I went shopping.  There were also a few fashion packs and a Birthday Celebration set with both Vi and Va.  I chose the redheaded Vi doll and also her green-eyed, blonde-haired cousin, Felicia.  I thought these two offered a nice contrast and would be fun to review together:

Viviana (left) and Felicia (right) by MGA Entertainment, $16.99 each.

Bratzillaz Dolls "Angelica Sound" and "Illiana Honesty"

I have been noticing that Bratz and Bratzillaz dolls are not being restocked at my local Target and Walmart (Toys R Us is still getting a few...) but Tina was the first person who explained to me what is going on.  Apparently, MGA plans to take a year-long Bratz hiatus in 2014, during which time they will remove their products from the shelves in the United States and revamp the brand for a 2015 re-release.  This is similar to what the company did after the big lawsuit with Mattel in 2010, but apparently the quality and sales of the dolls have not been up to standard since that time.

I think the original announcement of this news is the article written over at Bratz Boulevard.  It's a great article with an optimistic long-term perspective, but it leaves me with some head-scratchers.  First of all, it doesn't seem like a real hiatus if the dolls are are still being developed and sold in other countries.  Does that mean that there will be some new Bratz dolls in other parts of the world, but they'll just be harder to get in the United States...perhaps with higher shipping costs?  There's some equity here, given that the situation is usually reversed.  The other thing that doesn't make sense to me is that quality is being cited as a reason for the re-invention of the brand.  I don't know much about Bratz dolls, but I have quite a few Bratzillaz, and while the quality of these dolls was not great at first (Meygana's hair...ugh!), I have seen steady improvement over the last few years.

After hearing about MGA's decision, I'll admit that I did a bit of panicked Bratzillaz hoarding.  I went to Amazon and ordered a few dolls from the Back to Magic series and a few from the Witchy Princesses line (they're all on sale!).  All of my new dolls impressed me from inside their boxes.  It was actually quite difficult to choose a single doll to review, so I decided to show you a doll from each group.  Here are Angelica Sound (from the Witchy Princesses, $12.95) and Illiana Honesty (from Back to Magic, $13.98):

Bratzillaz, "Angelica Sound" (L) and "Illiana Honesty" (R).

Fianna Fins...Finally!

I'll try to keep this quick because I have already reviewed Meygana Broomstick from the Bratzillaz Midnight Beach collection.  At the end of that review, my feeling was that while I wasn't too interested in getting any of the other main characters in creepy glow-in-the-dark alien-green, if I ever saw Fianna Fins, I might consider getting her.  Well, that review was back in December, and I haven't seen a single Fianna in stores until now.  That's a long time to wait, but this is actually a great time to buy Fianna.  All of the Bratzillaz are on sale at Target.  Last week the sale price for the Midnight Beach dolls was $10.48, now they're just over $7.  In fact, Bratzillaz dolls seem to be on clearance at many of the local stores, making me wonder about the future success of this line.

Bratzillaz Fianna Fins and Ripple.

Bratzillaz "Switch-A-Witch" Set

Ever since Chloe mentioned the new Bratzillaz "Switch-A-Witch" sets in the comments of the talking Merida review, I have been watching for them at my local stores.  I guess it's time to admit that I have become a bit of Bratzillaz fan...which is unexpected.  Also, I am fascinated by MGA's blatant copy of the Create-A-Monster idea.  It's shameless.  Not only is the concept nearly identical to that of Mattel's Monster High mix-and-match line, but even the packaging looks the same.  I found my Switch-A-Witch set at Target, right next to the Create-A-Monster sets, and it would have been easy for someone to get confused between the two.  One notable difference on the day I was shopping was that the witches were on sale ($19.99 down from $29.99) while the Monster High sets were not ($26.99).

I am not a big fan of the Create-A-Monster sets.  I had an afternoon of fun with the Create-A-Monster Design Lab, but was disappointed by the Werewolf & Dragon starter set.  I thought it was short-sighted for the starter sets to include two heads but only one torso (Mattel has fixed that with their newer sets).  Also, the wig was awful and I didn't end up creating any dolls I wanted to keep.  So, I was very curious to see if MGA could take this fantastic idea and actually make a fun toy that preserves some of the critical elements of Bratzillaz charm.  We'll see.

Pieces from the Switch-A-Witch Style 1 set

Bratzillaz "Magic Night Out" Meygana

I reviewed Midnight Beach Meygana Broomstix very recently, so you might think that I'd take a break from the Bratzillaz line for a while.  The thing is, at the end of the Midnight Beach review I said, "If MGA produces another wave of dolls with normal skin and nice hair, I'd be very interested." Well.  It's almost like MGA read my mind.  I am very interested in this new doll:

New "Magic Night Out" Meygana (boxed) with original Meygana (left)
and Midnight Beach Meygana (right).

Bratzillaz Update: Midnight Beach "Meygana Broomstix"

After my Yasmina Clairvoya review,  I figured that I would never buy another Bratzillaz.  There were just too many disappointments with that doll.  However, when I was at Walmart the other day, I noticed a new line of Bratzillaz called the "Midnight Beach" collection, and my curiosity got the best of me.  First and foremost, I wanted to know if they had fixed the hair with the new Meygana.  Remember how terrible the first Meygana's hair was?  This Meygana's hair is different:

Midnight Beach Meygana, $19.99.

The Monster High "Coffin Bean" vs. The Bratzillaz "Cafe Zap" Playset

As the holiday season approaches, there are a lot of choices to be made in the play doll market.  The shelves here in Maine are well-stocked with plenty of temptations.  You could buy a Robecca Steam Monster High doll, or bring home any of the five Bratzillaz witches.  You could have some mix and match fun with a creative Cutie Pops doll or stick with the more fashion-forward La Dee Da line.  Perhaps an articulated Winx Club fairy is perfect for your house, or maybe you'd rather just grab some clearance Liv dolls while they're still around.  Even after you settle on the right doll, the accessories present a whole new array of choices.  While some accessories, like the new La Dee Da outfits, will only work for the dolls they are designed to fit, other accessory lines are interchangeable.  Perhaps the Novi Stars' cosmic companions like to hang out with your Mystixx vampires?  Just because you have a Monster High posse doesn't mean that you can't buy them a Barbie car.  A Disney Store Rapunzel can hang out in Hayden's house just as easily as she can lurk the halls of Monster High.

Both Mattel and MGA have released coffee shop playsets for 12" dolls in the past few months.  Mattel introduced the "Coffin Bean" set for Monster High dolls in April, and MGA's "Cafe Zap" for Bratzillaz hit the shelves about a month ago.  I have been searching for the perfect chair to display my 12" dolls, but I haven't had a lot of success.  I tried a Barbie chair (from an overpriced kitchen set) but it was way too flimsy and slippery.  I was delighted to see that the two new cafe sets each have nice looking seating options and figured I'd offer up a comparison review while continuing my quest for a nice, sturdy chair.

Monster High "Coffin Bean" and Bratzillaz "Cafe Zap."

Bratzillaz "Yasmina Clairvoya" Doll

I reviewed a Bratzillaz doll pretty recently (Meygana Broomstix), but Meygana's hair was such a disaster, I decided that it might be worth looking at another one of these newcomers before passing my final judgement on the line.  Also, I am experimenting with some different backgrounds for my pictures, and this doll works really well with my new favorite grey background.  Let me know what you think.

The other thing I want to mention before I get started is that I seem to have 99 followers.  This is really exciting for me!  I think that when our group gets to 100, there should be another giveaway, which is the only way I can think of to party online.  I also think that at least part of the giveaway should be open to the first 100 followers only.  Not to be snobby and exclusive or anything, but just as a way of saying "thank you" and celebrating you awesome first 100 followers.  There will probably be a giveaway for non-followers, too, just to be fair.  I'm still working on the details...and I still need one more follower (no pressure).

In the meantime, here is the second Bratzillaz doll I bought, Yasmina Clairvoya:

"Yasmina Clairvoya" Bratzillaz doll.