The Sylvanian Families Water Mill Bakery--a Quick Look.

One of the very first toys I reviewed was the Li'l Woodzeez Tickle Your Taste Buds Bakery.  Ever since I found that delightful and inexpensive diorama playset at Target, I have had a heightened interest in the Li'l Woodzeez and their more expensive counterparts, the Calico Critters.  After I wrote the comparison review of the two different brands of toy animals, it occurred to me that the Calico Critters might have their own bakery playset...and it might be awesome.  While there doesn't seem to be a Calico Critters bakery set sold in North America, there is a Sylvanian Families bakery set available in Europe, and I found a used one on eBay.  It looks like you can also buy a version of the set at the Sylvanian Families website for 40 pounds (about $60 dollars).  It's called the Water Mill Bakery and it does, in fact, look awesome:

Sylvanian Families "Water Mill Bakery."

A Review of Hayden's House...as the Last of the Liv Dolls Leave the Shelves.

For a few months now, there have been whispers that Spin Master is shutting down production of the Liv doll.  A friend on Flickr warned me about this a while ago, and it was confirmed on Dana's blog last week.  Now, even Wikipedia reports the sad news (although I read Wikipedia with a skeptical eye).

This decision is surely based on low profits, so my question is--why weren't Liv dolls more successful?  Well, I want to hear your thoughts on this, but here are mine for starters.  First of all, the beauty of Liv dolls is that they are highly customizable.  In theory, you could buy just one Liv doll and then change her wig and outfit every day for endless new looks.  At most, it seems like you might want one of each character, and then you could focus your spending on accessories and new wigs.  Two problems with this from a marketing standpoint--first, people don't feel the need to buy very many dolls, which is good for buyers but bad for business.  Second, Spin Master didn't make enough outfits, wigs and accessories for these smaller items to carry people's enthusiasm or turn a profit on their own.

My second thought is related to the first.  The earlier waves of Liv dolls were all very similar.  Except for different outfits and wigs (and some small changes in face shape and eye color) the dolls were almost identical.  This contributed to consumers feeling that they didn't need every single doll that came out.  In addition, I can imagine some resentment in people who felt like they had to buy a whole new duplicate doll just to get a cute outfit or wig.  Spin Master seems to have tried to remedy the sameness in their dolls by making some drastic changes to the most recent doll's bodies.  In my opinion, these changes were a big mistake.  The Twist and Dance dolls' gimmicky bodies are virtually impossible to play with, and the Liv for Color and Brites dolls, while not awful, have definitely lost the Liv magic.

My last hypothesis is much simpler--Monster High dolls came out right after Liv and these creative and seemingly rare creatures stole everyone's attention and allowance.

So.  Whatever the reasons, the news is sad.  The silver lining is that Liv merchandise is on clearance everywhere and I am taking advantage.  I have always wanted the Toys R Us exclusive Hayden's house:

Hayden's house playset

A Review of the Muppet Show Swedish Kitchen Play Set by Palisades

Speaking of diorama play sets, I have to show you this exceptional one.  I feel a little bad mentioning it because it is very hard to find these days.  You could pick it up on eBay for $100-$250, but it originally retailed for $34.99 and at that price, it had people in awe.

I think it was released in around 2003 because my kids were tiny.  I got it for them, along with the less-amazing "Pigs in Space" set (which, incidentally, you can get easily and for its original retail or less).  Now, having survived being played with, moved around, and stashed in the garage for the last nearly decade, the kitchen is a display piece in our living room.

This set has so much detail, it is incredible.  I cleared out all of the accessories so that you can see the bare kitchen:

Palisades Swedish Kitchen Playset

Li'l Woodzeez Honeysuckle Hollow General Store and Tickle Your Taste Buds Bakery

First things first, what are Li'l Woodzeez?  They are similar to the Calico Critters in that they are flocked and dressed families of upright-walking animals.  From just looking at them in the store, I can tell you that Woodzeez are slightly bigger than Calico Critters and less expensive ($9.99 vs. $19.99).  You can get Li'l Woodzeez at Target and also on Amazon, but beware of the often way-inflated prices for these sets on Amazon.

I can't really recommend the Li'l Woodzeez themselves at this point.  I glanced at them briefly and thought the turtle family was cute, but overall there wasn't much variety to grab my attention with these little guys.  I am tempted to purchase a Calico Critter and review those cuties, though.

What did cause me to pause my toy aisle lurking was this:

Honeysuckle Hollow General Store, $19.99.