Ever After High "Madeline Hatter" by Mattel: A Guest Review!

It is very exciting to see the new doll lines hitting the shelves so early in the summer!  Ever After High dolls are already in stock at some Justice stores (not here in Maine quite yet...) and the Pinkie Cooper line seems to have made its debut in Great Britain.  I have dolls from both of these lines on their way to me (she says, pacing in front of the mailbox...), but in the meantime, I am super-lucky that a fellow blogger has offered to share her impressions of Madeline Hatter (a Rebel) with all of us.  I will step in and represent the Royals after I have a closer look at Apple White next week (Update: here's the review!).  For now, though, I am absolutely delighted to introduce my guest reviewer, AJ, and her gorgeous Maddie Hatter:

Ever After High Madeline Hatter.

Now, I will turn the rest of this post over to AJ.  Take it away, girl!

Monster High 13 Wishes "Haunt the Casbah" Clawdeen Wolf

After a long dry spell in doll releases, there were a ton of new Monster High dolls at Toys R Us last week.  Many of the 13 Wishes dolls were in stock, as were the Ghoulia/Cleo and Heath/Abbey two-pack sets.  My first instinct was to grab 13 Wishes Lagoona (because of her bright yellow hair, and because she comes with Neptuna in a purse-bowl) and Twyla (because she's a new character with the shorter body mold).  But then I put Twyla back because I don't really think she's very interesting and I'm not wild about her face.  I grabbed Ghoulia's two-pack because of that periodic table dress.  Eeep!  That is the best piece of Monster High clothing I have ever seen.  I eventually put that set back, too, though, because while the dress is amazing, the dolls don't look that different from dolls I already have.  The Heath and Abbey set was tempting because Heath is a new character (and a guy) and I don't have an Abbey doll out of her box yet, but Heath looks a little plain to me.  He doesn't have a lot of detail in his face or hair.  The deluxe 13 Wishes characters (Draculara, Frankie and Clawdeen) appeared to be the most interesting of all the new dolls, and among these three beauties, I find Clawdeen to be the prettiest.  I think Clawdeen is simply my favorite character--she always stands out to me with her dark skin and elegantly threatening claws.

13 Wishes Clawdeen Wolf, $29.99 at Toys R Us.

Lala-Oopsie Sea Horse "Sunstar" by MGA Entertainment

I have to admit that I have a fairly lukewarm reaction to full-sized Lalaloopsy dolls.  I enjoy looking at them in the stores, and some of the fairy tale dolls are super-sweet, but I have no desire to own any more of these oversized plastic characters.  The Lalaloopsy mini dolls and the Lala-Oopsie horses, on the other hand, are a completely different story.  The mini dolls have clever themes and adorable faces, and they come in small manageable packages, and the dolls are a size that is very easy to display and collect.  The Lala-Oopsie horses, despite their obvious resemblance to My Little Pony figures, are wonderful little toys (and pretty good dancers).

Because of my fondness for the Lala-Oopsie horses and minis, I have gotten into the habit of stopping by the Lalaloopsy aisle in Target and Walmart every now and then, just to see who is there and if perhaps there is a tempting sale. The other day at Walmart, I found an unexpected little cutie: a Lala-Oopsie Sea Horse.  There was only one left, an orange unicorn named "Sunstar," but she probably would have been my first choice anyway.  I love the color orange.

I figured that before I leave the Virgin Islands, I should give you a peek at Sunstar in her natural habitat:

Lala-Oopsie Sea Horse, "Sunstar."

The "Rapunzel" and "Mother Gothel" Disney Store Dolls for 2013

Simultaneous to the wonderful Twice Upon a Year sale (thank you for the tip, Astroasis!), the Disney Store updated their site with the 2013 princesses.  If it weren't for Kate's comment about this release in the Our Generation review, I wouldn't have noticed in time to bring a few of these new dolls with me on vacation.  Because of the big sale, all of the classic princesses (including the new ones) were $10 each.  I've said this before, but I'll say it again--I've yet to find any other doll on the market that can deliver equivalent quality for this price.  Assuming, of course, that the quality of Disney Store princesses hasn't changed much since last year.

I was tempted to order several of the new princesses.  Cinderella will have to join my collection at some point, of course, and I am also curious to see how the new Merida compares to her first release predecessor.  I am surprised by how tempting I find this year's Snow White doll, too, even though she is my least favorite princess.  I like Snow White much more after watching some of the charming ABC  television series, Once Upon a Time, in which Snow White is a spunky, rebellious character.

Above all, I was anxious to see Disney's ever-changing Rapunzel doll, and so she is the one I purchased first.  She arrived in the mail just in time to stow away in my luggage for our summer trip.  Mother Gothel insisted on coming along as a chaperone:

The Disney Store's "Rapunzel" and "Mother Gothel."

Poppy Parker Fashion Teen "Spring Morning" by Integrity

First of all, Rebecca is running away with the American Girl poll!  The poll closed and I haven't bought a doll yet, so I'll open up the voting for a few more days in case anyone wanted to weigh in but couldn't.  Thank you for helping me with this decision!  Second, I am on vacation, so I am s-l-o-w.  BUT!  There might be some beach blogging later in the week.

It's been a while since I've reviewed a larger fashion doll.  The 16" Poppy Parker "Fashion Teen" line was announced by Integrity in January of 2012 and the dolls started shipping last summer.  So...I am a little late with this, but I wanted to review this doll now for two reasons.  First, I missed out on the 2013 12" Poppys and I thought de-boxing some older Poppy dolls might make me feel better.  Second, the new Integrity 16" Tulabelle line is shipping and I want to be able to compare my Tulabelle to the Fashion Teens.

Integrity specializes in 12" fashion dolls, but seems to be trying to find a niche in the 16" market.  So far, we have seen the release of the AvantGuard dolls, the FR16 line, the larger Poppy Parker teens, and now Tulabelle.  Honestly, I am not sure if any of these dolls have been a huge success.  I have noticed that if you miss the Integrity pre-ordering frenzy and show up late to the party (as I often do) the 12" dolls are mostly sold out, but there are usually plenty of 16" girls to choose from.  All but one of the Poppy Parker Fashion Teen dolls can still be found for sale at their retail price of $150.

Large or small, Integrity offers gorgeous clothes and high quality, so I was pretty excited about de-boxing my behemoth Fashion Teen.  Here is Spring Morning:

Poppy Parker Fashion Teen
 "Spring Morning"

Our Generation "Charlotte" Doll by Battat

I have become much more interested in 18" play dolls recently.  In the comments section of a recent post, Juliet asked me if I own an American Girl doll, and I felt more than a little silly telling her that I do not.  Many of you know that I've thought about this purchase a lot, and I have every intention of reviewing one of these dolls (maybe Rebecca, Saige or Emily?  Will you help me decide in the poll on the right?), but I just can't seem to make it happen.  I think part of the reason is that there are so many amazing American Girl resources out there--Doll Diaries and Never Grow Up being among my favorites.  Those sites make me feel like I already have an American Girl doll, and so I tend to be more interested in investigating other options.

I often refer to the less expensive American Girl imitators when I am discussing the prices of various 18" dolls.  I have mentioned the Springfield Collection, the Journey Girls (Toys R Us) and Our Generation (Target).  I've never actually reviewed one of these brands, though.  The other day while I was browsing at Target, I noticed that the Our Generation girls were on sale for $18.99 (down from $22.99).  That's a pretty good deal.  Not only that, but there was a cute little redhead with bright blue eyes that I had never seen before sitting on the shelf all alone--clearly hoping that I would bring her home.  Meet Charlotte:

Our Generation doll, "Charlotte."
$18.99 on sale at Target.

Monster High "Headless Headmistress Bloodgood"

For the better part of this week, I have been working on a different Monster High review, but I was getting bogged down by too many pictures, mixed opinions and stuff like that.  I took a break to run some errands and check out what's on the shelves at Toys R Us and Walmart...and I am so glad I did.  I knew about the Headless Headmistress, but she had dropped off my radar somehow.  When I saw the shelves of Toys R Us lined with blue horses, I think I squeaked out loud and maybe jumped up and down once or twice.  What made it better is that I was clutching some beloved Toys R Us dollars, so the $42.00 price tag on this set wasn't quite as intimidating as it might have been.  I'll get back to that other Monster High review some day, but for today, I just couldn't wait to get Mistress Bloodgood and her blue steed out of their box:  

Monster High Headless Headmistress Bloodgood and
Nightmare.