Sunday Surprise: L.O.L. Glitter Series and Pets!

MGA Entertainment is coming out with new L.O.L. Surprise dolls at a furious rate.  Just as the Lil Sisters began to show up reliably in stores, two new groupings--the Glitter Series and Series 3 Pets--were released.  I have yet to see these newcomers in stores, but, as always, eBay and Amazon vendors are happy to part with their stash for exorbitant prices.

I can't say I'm the biggest fan of these little balled-up surprise dolls, but, judging by the traffic to the other two reviews I've written (Series 1 and Lil Sisters), they are favorites for many of you.  I definitely understand the appeal.  Not only do I love surprise-themed toys in general, but the play potential of the articulated L.O.L girls and their accessories is higher than most blind bag options.

So, today I will share two of each of the new types of L.O.L. Surprise ball with you, and we'll see if MGA has another instant hit on their hands!

Unopened L.O.L. Surprise Pets (left) and Glitter Series (right) balls.

Sunday Surprise: Bratz Lil' Angelz!

Happy Sunday!  Today's post was originally going to be short, but it's morphed into something a bit more substantial.  I'll explain.  What started me on this path was the discovery of a Bratz Lil' Angelz "Secret Surprise" set a few weeks ago.  I flipped out.  I mean, any toy that has both the words "secret" and "surprise" in the same sentence has got to be good.  And this toy looks amazing: it has a small baby doll with a secret gender, a hidden eye color and a hidden hair color.  The set also includes two shrouded pets of unknown species!  Doesn't that sound like fun??  But the other thing that makes this set so great is the fact that I knew nothing about the Bratz Lil' Angelz dolls before I saw it.  I have no idea how these babies escaped my radar, but I absolutely love discovering a new kind of doll.

Immediately after purchasing the Secret Surprise set, I made it my mission to learn more about the Bratz Lil' Angelz.  In doing so, I realized that surprises are a bit of a theme with this line.  I found two other sets (Pet Shop Surprise and Surprise Litter) that involve some kind of hidden feature.  I bought an example of each of these toys to show you today.  So, this post will feature three Bratz Lil' Angelz surprise toys, not just the set I originally bought.

The Bratz Lil' Angelz are all discontinued, but the silver lining is that none of the toys I'll show you today seem particularly expensive or hard to find at the moment.  I have to say, though, I think I got really lucky with the Secret Surprise set.  I found it for $10.24 on eBay, which is close to the original price.  The only other example I've been able to find is a blue version on Amazon for $83.  Yikes.  Of course I'm going to save the Secret Surprise for the very end of the post, but here's a preview of the wonderfully mysterious baby from that set...who looks like he/she might have red hair!

Bratz Lil' Angelz Secret Surprise baby (discontinued).

Mega Bloks Barbie's "Pet Shop" vs. Lego Friends' "Heartlake Pet Salon"...a Comparison Review!

My kids have always loved Legos.  My youngest son is particularly passionate about these toys, and has built some impressive models over the years.  We've also owned a certain number of Mega Bloks sets--the most memorable ones being from the Dragons series.  While my kids were never as happy with the design of Mega Bloks' actual building blocks, we were all amazed by the realism of the dragon figures, and my eldest son played with his Mega Bloks dragon hoard for years.  Despite my family's passion for building, I rarely talk about this kind of toy here on the blog.  I did a short post way back when the Lego Friends were first introduced, but nothing since then.

Despite the atypical subject of this review, it was actually inspired by a doll.  I was browsing the aisles of Walmart when I came across a display of Mega Bloks Barbie mini figures.  These tiny 2.5 inch dolls are packaged in single lipstick-sized boxes and cost under $3 each.  I've seen these Barbie figures before--or at least seen the place on the shelf where they should be--but usually the display is mostly empty and not very appealing.  On this particular day, the display was almost completely full, with six different varieties of doll in stock.  I was struck by how fun the range of dolls was: there were several versions of Barbie, two Ken dolls, and a Nikki.  There was even a Barbie with pink hair!  Since the aisles were packed with out-of-school kids begging their reluctant parents for a new toy, I was also struck by how clever this individual packaging is.  For kids over four, these mini figures offer a cute, articulated Barbie figure that costs less than than a latte.

I scooped up a few of these mini dolls, thinking that they would offer a fun, quick, mid-week review of what seemed like a nice, detailed, portable little Barbie doll:

Mega Bloks Barbie figure.