The company behind Lottie dolls has always been a great friend to this little blog of mine and I’m always appreciative of the samples they send for review. So, before I start, I wanted to extend a huge thank you to the fine folks behind the Lottie brand! Lottie and friends laid low for much of 2016, with promises of brand new dolls, and, guys, they delivered! I am very excited about the new Lottie, Finn and Friends dolls on the market for 2017 and think you will be, too! So, that being said, let’s get on with the review.

In July, I received samples of four of Lottie’s newest releases, plus two outfits. Up for review today is Wildlife Photographer Mia, one of Lottie’s new friends!

Mia has dark skin and textured dark brown hair. I love how thick and crimped it is! It’s rooted in a way that you could still style it, if you wanted.

As usual, Mia has an outfit that features a lot of separates. That’s one of the reasons I think Lottie dolls are totally worth their price. Mia wears a vinyl rain jacket, or a mack, as they’d say in England. It’s bright red. I love it! Beneath that is a long sleeve shirt with a ladybug graphic, jeans and, to finish the look, polka dotted boots (or wellies). Mia’s jacket has a real hood, meaning it fits her head, though it may be a struggle getting all her hair in it.

Her face is super cute. Mia’s eyes are a mix between Lottie and Finn’s. She has a curious side glance to her brown almond eyes. One thing I really love about the face on Mia are the thick eyebrows. They look great!

Mia wears a red cochlear implant in her ear. Cochlear Implants are “electronic medical device that replaces the function of the damaged inner ear. Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain.” You may have gathered this by now, but she wears this because Lottie partnered with the #ToyLikeMe Campaign. I personally love that companies are striving to incorporate small details like this into their dolls and hope more companies will start surprising us with these additions.

Mia has the same body as Lottie, so her posing is the same, as well. She stands solidly and has shoulder and hips joints that allow movement, both up and out. She has click knees, too. As we know from past releases, she does not have any elbow articulation.

One thing the Lottie brand is really good at is accessorizing.  Mia comes with a blue hat, blue shoulder bag and, my favorite accessory, a camera. The camera is lacking a strap, so it’s hard for Mia to hold it without a rubber band around her hand and the camera. You can easily store the camera in the blue bag, though, as that has a velcro fastener on it. Mia also comes with her school paper, which features pictures from Lottie’s photo contest.

Sold separately is the cute Bee Yourself outfit, which features dungarees, a shirt and wellies. This outfit is adorable, modeled here by Mia. The colors are really pretty together and the bee graphic on the overalls is too cute. The outfit’s separates, like Mia’s boxed look, are fastened with velcro.

You can order these directly from the Lottie website, as well as at select brick and mortar stores. (If your favorite mom and pop toy store doesn’t stock Lottie yet, but you’d like them to, it never hurts to ask if that shop will consider adding Lottie to their store shelves. Maybe they just missed this amazing brand!) Since the Lottie brand takes pride in being inspired by real kids, they do a lot of fun competitions, like their Outfit Design Contest. Definitely something to suggest to the creative kiddo’s around you!

I’ll be back with more Lottie soon, but in the meantime, let me know what you think of these two releases! What’s your favorite thing about Mia? Share your thoughts in the comment area!

A while back, I asked readers to help me purchase the reproduction Gui-Gui doll from Estrela, produced in honor of the company’s 80th anniversary. (Also reproduced for this anniversary was Falcon, which may interest GI Joe collectors!) Within a few days, we received an e-mail from a reader who said she could help. Thanks to the aid of this kind reader, we were successfully able to get a reproduction Gui-Gui into the United States. (In record time, I might add! It only took a few days to arrive from Brazil to Illinois!)

Gui-Gui, also known as Giggles in the States, is a special doll for my mom. She has a pretty large number of Giggles and desperately wanted to get her hands on this one. Gui-Gui’s were produced in Brazil far longer than they ever were in the United States by Ideal and varied in style. Because of that, this release was very exciting for her. It had been years since she’d been able to open a brand new, in box Giggles. They can be pretty pricey. So, as you can imagine, the idea of opening a new, in box Gui-Gui that worked was too good to pass up!

You can see my mom’s excitement in the box opening video above!

Estrela’s anniversary Gui-Giu is adorable. I love how they didn’t make any changes to the original molds. Gui-Gui’s red lips are more pronounced than Giggles thin, coral lips. Her brows are darker, too. The biggest difference is Gui-Gui’s eye color. US Giggles tend to have grey eyes, where Gui-Gui’s have much brighter eyes. In this case, Gui-Gui’s eyes are a pretty blue. And, of course, there’s the hair style. Gui-Gui has a head full of two tone blonde waves. The whole look is adorable.

To hear Gui-Gui giggle, be sure to watch the video embedded earlier in the post. In that video, we also show off all the other Giggles that live in our collections.

So, there’s a closer look at Gui-Gui, released in honor of Estrela’s 80th year. I love how true she is to the original releases and how unique she looks to our US Giggles. I can’t wait to see what they release for their 90th anniversary! What do you think of her? Did you successfully order one for yourself? Let me know in the comment area!

Estate sales around my house are never super exciting. Rarely do they have any items that would fit into my doll collection. However, we recently found one that did. So much so that the actual sale was called “The Doll House”. The estate belonged to a couple that seemed like they had to have been lifelong collectors. With no children of their own, their estate was passed to a family member, who most likely had no interest in keeping the hundreds (probably thousands) of dolls that filled the couple’s home.

I didn’t expect to find anything at the sale, to be honest. The collector mostly concentrated on older bisque and french dolls. But, of course, it’s me, so inevitably, I left with something, or somethings.

Grandma and Grandpa troll, made by Thomas Dam, were the first two items I picked up. They’re about 14″ tall. Prior to this, I had never seen an elderly looking troll! The molds have wrinkles and everything. They were just too cute to not pick up.

I usually don’t pick up Cabbage Patch Kids at sales or second hand shops. I am perfectly content with the Cabbage Patch Kids I have. I couldn’t pass up these two soft sculpture Little People, though! They’re from somewhere between 1978-1980, judging by the tag. Meaning, these two Little People were made before the Cabbage Patch Kids even existed. It’s always been a goal of mine to make it to Babyland General to get a soft sculpture doll for myself. Picking these guys up for $8.00 seemed like a no brainer. Even with the less than flattering beginnings of the Little People/Cabbage Patch Kids line, I’m very happy with my purchases.

On the Cabbage Patch Kids shelf was also this girl. I wasn’t sure if she was a Xavier Roberts soft sculpture, but she was cute, so she came home with me, too. It turned out that she was not from Babyland General. She’s a custom Cabbage Patch Kid from 1984, crafted by Janet Waters (edition number 720/1000).

Upon googling, I didn’t learn anything about Janet, other than she worked on a lot of Cabbage Patch Kids. eBay is littered with her work, calling it by the name TJ Tots. All her kids seem to have very unique eyes, when compared to Xavier Roberts soft sculptures. I would love to know more about her, if you have any information.

Last, I picked up these two chairs. They’re perfect for SD sized dolls.

My mom picked up a few goodies, too, including a reproduction Lenci, a My Size Barbie, two bisque dolls in need of TLC and a 27″ composition Shirley Temple from the 30’s. Half of these were purchased on 1/2 price day.

The redhead is a bisque doll with an adorable expression. She needs some work on her arms, as the previous owner may have tried to repair her and didn’t do a wonderful job. This doll isn’t marked anything but “made in Germany”.

The doll below has eyes. They just decided to fall into her head after bringing her home. She’s the first of the dolls to go to Dr. Noreen for restoration. She’s marked “Alt, Beck & Gottschalk”.

Watch the videos here:

Prices were good at the estate sale, which is one reason we were able to pick up these great new additions to our collection. What do you think of these finds? Have you found anything cool recently? Share your thoughts in the comment area!

Cabbage Patch Kids Little Sprouts are new miniature kids, babies and pets to collect! With 120 different characters, Little Sprouts plays on the ‘blind bag’ trend that has swept the toy industry. There are a number of ways to collect. Besides single packs enclosed in plastic green cabbages, you can buy these in both four and eight pack sets. These are miniatures and, by nature, are very small and not appropriate for kids under 3. Kids are 1.2″. Babies are 1″. Pets are .75″. Some accessories are even smaller than the pets.

The eight pack includes two Kids, two Babies, one mystery pet and three accessories. The four pack includes one Kid, one Baby, one pet and a mystery accessory. Single packs come with one Kid figure or one Baby and pet. Figures can stand or sit. Because of how they’re put together, figures who are in pants/shorts can be pulled apart. Kids in skirts don’t seem to do that.

Available at most major retailers, Cabbage Patch Kids Little Sprouts are definitely something to look into if you are a fan of miniatures or, of course, Cabbage Patch Kids! Check out Wicked Cool Toys site to see all their CPK releases or follow the iconic brand on social media.

What do you think of Little Sprouts? Share your thoughts in the comment area!

Sent for review recently was Consuelo, one of the recently re-released Hearts for Hearts Girls. (Read about Rahel here.) Consuelo hails from Mexico City, Mexico. The way she’s trying to help her world is by solving the hunger problem that plagues her city.

As you may know, Hearts for Hearts Girls are 14″ tall and made of vinyl. They have limited articulation in their shoulders and hips. Of course, their neck turns, as well. These dolls are made of a nice, smooth vinyl. The best feature on Hearts for Hearts Girls have to be their eyes. Each doll has inset eyes that make their pretty faces stand out among other doll lines.

Consuelo’s outfit is a mix of colorful greens, blues and pinks. She wears a cute green top, paired with a blue skirt, pink ballet flats, earrings and three bracelets. Consuelo’s collar is decorated with cute printed flowers.

Consuelo has a head of soft, black hair that is nicely rooted. To accent her simple side part, she wears a pink ribbon and flower headband.

Watch the video review below

You can find Hearts for Hearts Girls at your local Target, as well as other locations. One dollar of the purchase price is donated to World Vision. What do you think of Consuelo? Share your thoughts in the comment area.

The good folks behind the “quintessentially British” doll line Lottie were kind enough to send me a box of samples recently. You’ve seen Mia. Here are two more: Always Artsy Lottie and Birthday Girl Sophia.

Always Artsy Lottie is very cute (and I’m not just saying that because she looks similar to myself). She has a rooted short brown bob and brown eyes done in the usual Lottie style. She wears a simpler outfit than most in the line, which consists of a long sleeve shirt with pink stripes, blue pants, blue shoes, a yellow polka-dotted scarf and a blue beret.

Always Artsy Lottie comes with some fantastic accessories, including three ‘paint’ cans, an artist palate and paintbrush (with thumb holes), an easel and some completed works of art. The easel is a great accessory. And one of my favorite touches? The cardboard artwork included with this doll feature pictures that actual kids drew and submitted to various Lottie competitions.

Birthday Girl Sophia introduces us to Lottie’s kid sister! Because she has the same body as Lottie and friends, Sophia can fit all of cute looks worn by the other dolls in the line. Birthday Girl Sophia wears an outfit perfect for a party. Her long sleeve shirt has a cupcake decoration and is paired with a stylish silver tutu and striped leggings. She has a fancy pink drawstring purse that can go across her body, over her shoulder or worn like a backpack. (Not pictured, sorry!) Converse style shoes complete the look.

Her extra accessories are doll sized paper cards: a party invitation, birthday card and thank you card. Sophia has long golden blonde hair, no bangs. It looks great with the blue eyes and pale skin.

You can watch the video reviews below, including Junior Reporter Sammi.

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Lottie and friends. These releases are no exception. You can get your own Lottie online or at various mom and pop stores. Like them on Facebook or Instagram to stay up to date with Lottie’s competitions and promotions! What do you think of Always Artsy Lottie and Birthday Girl Sophia? Share your thoughts below!

Very few doll lines have lasted my entire life. Off the top of my head, I can think of only two: Barbie and Cabbage Patch Kids. This post will focus on Cabbage Patch Kids! My mom and I decided it was prime time to show you all the Cabbage Patch Kids in our collections. (We were cleaning and figured, why not!) When researching, it dawned on me that the Cabbage Patch Kids brand has been brought to life by seven different companies over the years. Remarkably, they haven’t changed as much as you’d expect as they were handed down from company to company. That’s an amazing feat!

The majority of our Cabbage Patch Kids are from the Caleco and Hasbro years. It makes sense, as that was the real ‘hey day’ of the brand and I was the target demo for much of those years. Other companies to own the brand included Mattel, Toys R Us, Play Along, Jakks Pacific and finally the current manufacturer, Wicked Cool Toys.

To see our collections, check out the video embedded above. It’s a little long, but we have a lot to show you (though not as many as you’d probably expect). Do you have a Cabbage Patch Kid that is special to you in your collection? What era is your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comment area!

The other day, I stumbled upon a doll review on YouTube for SmartGurlz: the World’s First Coding Robot for Girls. Invented by a mom, Sharmi, who was frustrated with the toys available for her daughter, Nina, SmartGurlz are “friendly self-balancing robots and action dolls that engage and encourage girls to learn to code. Connected via smart phone or tablet, SmartGurlz allows girls 6 and up to immerse themselves in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).” They are currently available online via the SmartGurlz website.

There are two elements to SmartGurlz. First, you have the STEM aspect of the line. The real star of this product is Siggy the Robot. Siggy is a segway, a two-wheeled, self-balancing scooter. You may have seen them being used by mall cops or tourists taking segway tours in major cities.

Siggy can be controlled via an app, available for Apple and Android devices called SugarCoded. Using the app, you can make your Siggy “dance, do tricks, drive in circles and navigate over surfaces inside and out.” Siggy has lights, as well. It’s scaled for most 11″ dolls and can hold about 6 ounces of weight.

The second aspect of this line is doll that comes with Siggy. Eagle eye readers, upon seeing the dolls, will know exactly what caught my interest. The dolls are identical to Chinese Fashion Doll Kurhn! Each Siggy comes with a different rider: Jen, Jun, Zara, Maria and Emma. Each doll has a bio and unique interests. It’s clear to me that they made a deal with the people behind Kurhn when they were working on SmartGurlz, because their faces and articulated bodies look nearly identical to the Kurhn’s that are being released currently. While I like all the dolls, my favorites are Jen, Maria and Emma. Zara is interesting, as I’ve never seen a black Kurhn doll before.

Jun looks identical to my Anniversary dolls. Jen seems pretty basic, too, but she has adorable freckles, which I love! While the dolls seem like a bit of an afterthought when you look at the marketing of SmartGurlz, they are definitely what caught my eye when looking into the line. Kurhn’s are one of my favorite doll lines. (They’re so pretty!) Inside the free app, you’ll find an e-book that will give you a more in-depth look at the doll of your choice.

SmartGurlz are available to buy directly from the website. Zara is a pre-order, which should ship in October. The rest of the girls look like they’re ready to ship! They are currently on sale for $79.99 (regular price $99.99).

What do you think of SmartGurlz? Let us know in the comment area!

Junior Reporter Sammi is a new edition to Lottie family! Sammi is a writer for the Branksea School News, covering all the awesome Sports Day activities. He’s outfitted with all the essentials: a denim blue bag, pen and a yellow notepad (not pictured).

The miniature newspaper Sammi comes with features artwork done by real life Lottie fans! They take their tagline “Inspired by Real Kids” pretty seriously! Can you imagine how cool it would be to know your picture was featured in a real doll prop?

Sammi has dark brown eyes. His dark brown hair looks a little longer than Finn’s. It’s styled differently, too. (Finn has a side part style.) There’s more texture to it, as well, though not as much as we saw with Mia. I think Finn’s eyes are the best feature of his face. They ‘pop’ and look especially great with his thick brows.

As expected with a Lottie doll, Finn wears a well designed outfit full of separates! His shirt is grey with a cool headphone graphic on the front. Over that, he wears a cute yellow vest, which could easily be used on other Lottie dolls and with other Lottie fashions! The look is completed with jeans and red sneakers. He also has a hat, which, honestly, is the one piece that I’m not over the moon about. I don’t think it does much for his look. (You can see it in the video review.) I prefer seeing Sammi’s full head of hair!

Inspired by real kids ideas, the Astro Adventures outfit is one of my favorites from the company. Who wouldn’t want a cool astronaut outfit for their dolls? Check out how cool Sammi looks in this four piece outfit (body suit, boots, under helmet piece, helmet)! The actual helmet comes in two pieces that snap together. It’s sturdy, but be careful with it as you put it on and take it off of your dolls. This outfit fits all Lottie dolls, boys and girls!

Watch the video review below!

If you’re new to the line, be sure to check out my past Lottie reviews. This will be the last one for a while. We may bring one back for review closer to the holiday season! You can buy your own Sammi online or at your local mom and pop store. Be sure to ‘like’ them on FaceBook for instant updates on releases and competitions. What do you think of new friend Sammi or the super cool Astro Adventure outfit? Share your thoughts below!

One of my favorite doll brands from childhood is Magic Nursery. Magic Nursery dolls were produced by Mattel from 1989 through the mid 1990’s. To this day, mint in box dolls go for hundreds of dollars. Why? Because they had a super awesome gimmick. Magic Nursery dolls were packaged in a way that you didn’t know if you were getting a girl, boy or even twins! Their hair was covered up and they wore a robe that, when dropped in water, would dissolve and ‘magically transform’ into an outfit and gender reveal card (“It’s a Boy/Girl/Twins!”). They came in toddlers, babies and animals.

Between my mom and I, we have 17 Magic Nursery dolls. Most of them belong to my mom, actually! We took all our dolls out recently and shot a Collection Close Up video. It’s embedded below.

Here’s a small sampling of some of the dolls in our collection. Below are my twins!

The Christmas babies are some of our favorites, too.

And, of course, you can’t forget the animals. How cute is this bear!

Do you remember Magic Nursery dolls? Do you have any in your collection? Leave your thoughts below!

About a month ago, my mom and I went to an Estate Sale aptly named “The Doll House”. At the sale, my mom bought an Alt, Beck & Gottschalck German bisque doll in need of a little (well, a lot of) TLC. Naturally, we turned to the one and only Dr. Noreen to restore this pre-1930’s bisque doll.

See the video recaps of our Estate Sale finds below!

This bisque doll was owned by a collector/amateur restorer known as Gypsy Gene. This German bisque doll was part of a massive collection that featured many dolls that were in various states of repair. Unfortunately, Gypsy Gene seemed to be guessing on the proper restoration methods, especially when it came to the Alt, Beck & Gottschalck toddler doll we have here.

Let’s start with some before images. You’ll notice that this baby was very shiny. Also, she had a lot of damage on her right leg and stomach. Her glass eyes were so loose that upon bringing her home, they promptly fell inside her head. Thankfully, her face, which holds most of the value in these dolls, was the least damaged part of her.

Upon inspecting the doll before her restoration, Dr. Noreen discovered that one of the dolls legs was most likely replaced with a leg from the same era in a similar size. (Gypsy Gene earned a point for choosing a pretty good replacement leg for this Alt, Beck & Gottschalck doll!) Dr. Noreen decided that Gypsy Gene had tried to fix her with heavy resin and enamel, which is why this toddler doll looked so shiny. To fix that, Dr. Noreen had to sand off the old enamel, sand and fill the rough areas and repaint the problem spots with the proper paint. She couldn’t get all the heavy resin off, but the matte paint makes it less noticeable.

Fast forward to the other day when a big box arrived from Dr. Noreen’s Florida based hospital. Inside was this lovely girl! Her leg and stomach look much better. She’s restrung and now can hold her arms up! Her glass eyes have been reset and her red felt mouth has been replaced. Overall, it’s a miraculous transformation!

See the grand unboxing in the video below!

We highly recommend checking out Dr. Noreen’s Doll Hospital if you are in need of doll restoration. You can find her online. Don’t forget to ‘like’ her on Facebook, too, where she posts behind the scenes looks at her patient’s time at the hospital! And in case you missed it, check out the ‘Spotlight’ I did on her here on the blog.

We have two more dolls waiting in the wings to send over to Dr. Noreen, so hopefully, this won’t be the last of the restorations you see here. Until then, what do you think of this transformation? Let us know in the comment area!

I actually bought Disney Parks Attractionistas Holly sometime last year, but am now just getting around to writing about her. She’s no longer available at the Disney Parks, so far as I know, nor is she on DisneyStore.com, but you can still find her on eBay.

The Attractionistas dolls are 12″ vinyl dolls themed around popular Disney Park attractions. The original series had six dolls, with two being added later on (Holly and Briar). I was lucky enough to visit DisneyStore.com one day and see both Holly and Briar on the site.  I am kicking myself for not picking up Brair (themed around Splash Mountain), who was nowhere to be found on the website when I looked again a week later.

Holly is themed around the popular Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The story goes like this: “Classic stars of the silver screen sought rest and relaxation at the Hollywood Tower Hotel during the Golden Age of Hollywood. In 1939, during a gloomy Halloween night, 5 unfortunate hotel patrons were riding in the elevator when a violent storm struck the building… and they were never seen again. Whatever became of them and wherever they may have gone has remained a mystery to this day. The hotel closed down that night and has remained abandoned ever since.”

Holly caught my eye for a few reasons. First, I loved her monotone coloring. Her grey skin, silver eyes and blue-ish grey hair make her look as if she stepped out of an old black and white movie. Holly has a super cute 1940’s inspired hair style that adds to the mood of the doll. She’s very ‘old Hollywood’.

Her fitted red bellhop outfit is the second thing that caught my eye. It’s so cute and looks great with Holly’s coloring. Holly comes with a hat, gloves, shoes and purse. I love her purse’s design. While it doesn’t open, it is shaped like an old film reel tin! It’s very cool. Of course, Holly wears stylish knee-high boots to complete her look.

Terra is Holly’s pet Owl. He’s a solid molded accessory and super cute in his own right! Terra wears a hat that matches Holly’s. Overall, I’m happily surprised to see that Terra wasn’t an afterthought (which happens sometimes with pets).

Attractionistas have mostly hard vinyl bodies. Their legs are made of a more rubber like vinyl, which gives them clickable knees. They can feel a bit weird, but I found Holly to have less sticky legs than my other Attractionistas, Pearl. Her shoulders move up and out and her head turns well. Her hips should have movement, but it’s constricted, as she wears a tight 1940’s era pencil skirt.

Of all the Attractionistas produced, Holly is my favorite, even if the Tower of Terror is a ride that I would never, ever go on! (I don’t do rides that fall great distances! Nope! Never!) You can still find these on eBay and you may be able to find these at Disney Parks (but I suspect they went on clearance a long time ago).

What do you think of Holly? Share your thoughts in the comment area!

My mom and I went to Toys R Us today. The last few visits have been lackluster, with nothing new to show off. However, this time we actually saw some pretty exciting things! You can tell the store is ramping up for Christmas! We’ll start off with the good.

Regal Academy, manufactured by Auldey Toys, is based on an Italian cartoon of the same name. The cartoon has since aired in the US, Canada and other regions. It follows the grandchildren of fairy tale characters. (Something tells me in 20 years, we’ll be seeing series that are based on the great, great, great, great, great grandchildren of popular fairy tale characters!)

The budget dolls have knee joints, but no elbows. The deluxe dolls look to have elbow and knee joints. And then, there’s a singing doll that, you guessed it, sings. She has no elbow articulation. My mom picked up Joy, the granddaughter of LeFrog, for review (doll seen above). Not in the aisles were the two boy dolls. I’m looking forward to seeing them!

Luvabeau is the boy doll in the Luvabella line by Spin Master. Luvabeau is cuter than his female counterpart, I think. This is a doll line that can come off as creepy very easily. I’m interested in seeing how people react to it. At $100.00, it’s a bit pricey, but this baby has a lot of technology inside that allows him to interact with you or your child, as well as learn. (Kind of like a human Furby.) It would take a massive sale or a free sample for me to review him, though. The price is just too high for me!

Mattel’s Kuu Kuu Harujuku finally made it to our store! I think these are pretty cool looking. I like the faces on this doll line and the articulated bodies. My mom picked up one for review. You’ll see it on her channel soon!

Holy Growth Spurt, Batman! Look at this super tall DC Superhero Girls Bat Girl doll from Jakks Pacific! There are other Superhero girls in this size, including Wonder Woman. Not only does she tower above her smaller counterpart (seen on the left of the photo), but she matches Monster High’s Gooliape in height!

These cute and colorful animals, Squeezoos, are total impulse buys, but how cute are they! I love the design and bright color scheme. So kawaii! They’re from MGA and come in both small and large sized products. The giggling pink bear and the blue elephant are both really big compared to the smaller light up figures.

I could see myself collecting Glimmies from Just Play. They’re tiny, but kind of adorable. Alongside the figures, you can buy play sets!

This Disney Princess Little Kingdom gift set is too expensive, but for the person who has none of the figures, it could make a great Christmas present. I prefer the Little Kingdom line to the fashion dolls coming out of Hasbro.

The DC Toddler dolls have hit stores! I showed them off earlier in my Blogger Bash coverage. I still think they’re the cutest toddler dolls to come out of Jakks Pacific.

This toy puts on quite a show if you ‘test’ it while walking the aisles. We recommend trying it out next time you’re at Toys R Us.

The Toy Box exclusives were in a bin at our local Toys R Us. They’re not toys I would actually buy, though the water art is pretty cool. Mostly, seeing these made me wonder what or how My Ballerina Dolls would have changed had they won the first season of The Toy Box. ABC green lit a second season of the toy based reality show and has made some big changes. Some of which, I might add, I suggested here in a blog post. They cut the (useless) adult mentors out completely and are going with just the kids opinions this time around. Let’s hope they take my other suggestion of choosing a ‘theme’ for each week’s entries, too. It’s not fair to put a doll against a sports toy against a STEM toy.

I love this Project Mc2 doll and it’s theme. I want to make fairy wings for her! I also quite like the purple hair and headpiece. It’s very earthy. MGA did good with this doll release (and product line).

You don’t know how much I want to see FurReal’s Roaring Tyler in action. If he’s anything like Hasbro’s Torch, he’ll be awesome, I’m sure. I wonder if he pounces? How cute would that be? Note to self: Must search videos of him out on YouTube.

So, that’s a lot of good, but alas, there was also some bad in the toy aisles. Unfortunately, all of it comes from Mattel’s Monster High.

Let’s talk about Twyla. Twyla had an awesome ‘oddness’ about her pre-reboot. They seem to have taken out everything that was interesting about her, which makes her look very generic. Her face is bland looking and so un-Twyla-like. Sad. So sad.

No articulation. Cheap looking sibling doll. Enough said.

Finally, this Frankie. She’s just so basic looking. Her outfit isn’t horrible. I also don’t mind the glasses or hair bow (though I wish it were fabric). However, the body is sad and not articulated. Not to mention, haven’t we seen this cafeteria set two or three times now? It was a hard sell with a well articulated doll and you want us to buy it again with a cheaper, blander doll? Sorry, Mattel, I ain’t biting.

So, that’s what I saw while walking the toy aisles. What have you seen in the stores recently? What do you think of the things we saw? Share your thoughts in the comment area!

While at Blogger Bash‘s exclusive ‘Sweet Suite’, I had the pleasure of being introduced to Loretta Boronat and her My Sibling and My Pal dolls. This independent company has been producing high quality 18″ boy dolls with a message for a decade and, by the looks of it, will continue to do so for many years to come!

Let’s break the line down for you. First, we’ll talk about the My Sibling Dolls. This line has a grander cause behind it than just filling the ‘boy doll’ niche. The message of the line is one of awareness. Each doll represents a child who has a sibling with a disability, like Autism or Down Syndrome. To emphasize the point, each doll comes with a simply made booklet with a short story written by Loretta that lets you learn a little more about the doll, his sibling and how they relate to each other. Booklets also include a bit of information on the disability the sibling has and the company’s efforts to “help solve the autism puzzle“.

One thing I really love about this line is that the dolls are prepped and packaged by adult workers with various disabilities through a local US sheltered workshop. Finding a job without a disability can be hard nowadays, let alone finding one when you have a disability like Autism or Down Syndrome. These workers work on everything from dressing your doll, to preparing the booklet, to packaging your doll and prepping it for shipping. They offer training based on one’s skills and “strive to develop more opportunities for these adults, by optimizing their abilities and overlooking the stumbling blocks in the way we design the jobs.” I love this and wish more companies would consider doing this.

Also worth noting is that all the clothing these dolls are outfitted with is made in the USA.  Besides the dressed doll, My Siblings Dolls offers other outfits and accessories, sold separately, including onsie PJ’s, camo pants, basic playwear, sunglasses, shoes and even a doll sized sleeping bag! Not all the small accessories are made in the USA, but the outfits are. There are quite a lot of clothing options available, so if the doll isn’t for you, maybe you’ll see a cute outfit for your custom 18″ boy doll. For dolls, the company offers some customization services. (Learn more about that here.)

For review, I received My Sibling Dolls Andy. Andy was one of the first dolls to be released. He has medium skin, wavy brown hair and brown eyes. As I said, he’s 18″ tall, partially vinyl, partially stuffed. His head, arms and legs are vinyl, while his torso is stuffed. Some dolls with stuffed torso’s are flopsy, but Andy is stuffed very densely. Because of this, he can stand really, really well with or without shoes! (An accomplishment, especially for a doll put together with a stuffed torso!)

Andy has a nicely sculpted face with small details that some other brands might forego. His face looks uniquely ‘boy-ish’. The placement of the features is perfect. I especially love the small details on the lips.

Andy’s hair is rooted and very soft! The style is super cute, too! I love the layered waves. Not all the dolls have this style, you can order dolls with less volume to their hair. So, if this isn’t your preferred style, they most likely have a doll with a hair style you like more.

Andy’s outfit is simple (a two toned t-shirt and jeans) with a blue color scheme. It uses velcro closures for easy changing. Andy wears a hat, which fits well. And his shoes? I love them! I also especially like the Autism Awareness bracelet he wears. (You can order one in adult and children sizes on the website for yourself or your child.)

The second doll sent for review was My Pal for Baseball. The My Pal line is a little more broad in theme. Each doll represents a hobby or cause. There are many to choose from, like World Peace, Autism Awareness, Tennis, School, Going Green, Hanukkah, Christmas, First Eucharist, Giving Thanks and Soccer. For those in a military family, you can also get a My Pal the Patriot doll, which comes in various skin tones/hair styles.

My Pal for Baseball comes in two different ‘looks’. We chose to review the light skin version, with straight brown hair and blue eyes. The body and head are the same as Andy’s. The skin is much lighter than Andy’s medium skin. My Pal for Baseball stands as solidly as Andy does.

His hair is cut in a short boy cut. It arrived a little too perfect for my taste, but after messing with it a bit, it looked very nice. They did a good job on the cut. That can be one of the hardest things to get right on boy dolls.

The baseball outfit is a nice piece, too. There’s a little bit of neck to stuffed body showing, but the color match is good enough that you barely notice.  Again, they use velcro, so it’s easy to take the outfit off/put it back on. Besides the blue uniform top and white pants, you also get a pair of white tennis shoes (not black cleats like the webpage says), a catcher’s mitt (made of fabric) and a cool baseball cap with the My Pal logo on it. It looks very authentic and super cute!

Both dolls have trouble staying in a sitting position. Their hips joints allow them to sit in a straddle, but you’ll probably need to prop them up a bit for them to really stay in a sitting position. Just like the My Sibling line, you’ll get a booklet with various facts and tidbits about the theme of your My Pal doll. In My Pal for Baseball’s case, the booklet included information about the game and the current teams in the league.

Also sent for review were two other items: a suit and doll sized sleeping bag. The suit comes in a variety of fabrics (five!).

Each suit includes a white shirt with tie, suit pants and a suit jacket. The look, from head to toe, looks adorable. My Pal for Baseball looked like he stepped right out of Mad Men when wearing it. Shoes are not included in this outfit.

The sleeping bag is colorful and soft. It’s big enough for at least one doll, if not two. It has an elastic band to fold and wrap the sleeping bag just like you would a normal sized one. The bright colors go hand in hand with the Autism awareness bracelets and other products sold in the online store.

Check out the website to see all the products from this independent doll company. You can also find them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. As a thank you to the company, visit their website and let me know in the comments which doll is your favorite. What do you think of My Sibling and/or My Pal dolls? Share your thoughts in the comment area!

Did you know that one of Madame Alexanders most loved and well-known doll releases, the composition Dionne Quintuplets series from 1935-1939, was based on a real life family? Well, it’s true! The Dionne Quintuplets were the first set of Quintuplets to be born in Canada. The story of their early years is sad and fascinating at the same time.

The Canadian government took the children away from their family and built ‘Quintland’ across from their family’s home. The children grew up in a nursery staffed by doctors and nurses. At certain times throughout the day, spectators could go to the facility and watch the kids play and do other things, like animals in a zoo. The girls couldn’t see the crowd, but they could hear them and knew very well that they were being watched. The story is a fascinating tale. It’s definitely something to look into if you’re bored and want to learn about something new!

Because of the girls popularity, the Dionne’s graced advertising campaigns, souvenirs and, of course, they were eventually made into dolls by the great Madame Alexander Doll Company. Each doll wore a different color dress and a name tag, so you knew which girl your doll was modeled after. The Dionne dolls were sold in various shapes and sizes. Madame Alexander even went so far as to make a composition doctor and nurse doll to care for the miniature sized quints.

I own two Madame Alexander quints and want to eventually add more to my collection. For years, my quints have lived in their faded original outfit or, in the case of the bent leg baby, in a diaper. It’s been on my to-do list to give them a new look, since they’ve already been touched up by the fantastic doll doctor, Dr. Noreen. Finally, I’ve done it. Commissioned from Loll’s Doll Trunk on Etsy, my quints now look quite stylish in their reproduction looks.

For the baby with painted hair, I wanted a romper. Her legs are bent, so they don’t allow her to stand. Instead of dealing with a dress that may not lay right on a sitting doll, this reproduction romper outfit seemed like the way to go. It’s based on this look.

Lolly’s outfits are so well made! She did a wonderful job. They look very close to the original outfits seen in photos of the Dionne quintuplets releases. My standing girl with hair is wearing a dress very similar to the one she has worn most of her life. Her original outfit was faded and very thin. Most likely, it was yellow or pink. I wasn’t crazy about a yellow or pink dress, to be honest, so instead,  I asked Lolly to make a pretty green dress for this quint. The look was based on this image. I think it looks so great on my doll!

One day, I hope to have at least one example of each ‘type’ of quint Madame Alexander produced, along with the nurse and doctor, of course! I have a long way to go, but there’s still a few doll shows left this year, so who know what might happen!

I’m very happy with how these two looks turned out! Thanks a lot, Lolly! Had the Dionne story crossed your path before? What do you think of these looks? Let me know in the comment area.

Casie of BeBe Blythe Company contacted us the other day about an interesting event she’s hosting on Facebook throughout the month of October called Blythe vs Blythe. Blythe vs Blythe is a contest where two Blythe artists go head to head to create a unique doll using the same base model and theme. The event’s theme is Fall. I thought this was a pretty interesting concept and wanted to share it with you, in case you’re interested in watching this unique contest unfold.

Before you get too excited, there is a $10 fee to participate (as a spectator). It covers overhead costs, like raffle prizes, shipping, buying the base dolls, etc. Going into October and through the end of October, Casie has promised that there will be a chance to win small things, making the entrance fee worth it. Just for signing up, you’ll get a free digital gift (a sheet of printable eye chips or a video on carving).

Moving along, the actual competition is against two popular Blythe customizers. Throughout the month of October, they will be posting their progress on their custom doll via a Facebook Group, Blythe vs Blythe. At the end of the month, the members of the facebook page will vote on the winner. The winning doll will be raffled off to one lucky member of the group.

For more information, reach out to Casie. We (Barbee0913 and I) don’t have anything to do with this other than sharing the information with you, so we can’t answer any contest related questions. You can find Casie on Etsy and YouTube, as well as reach out via the event’s FaceBook page. I think Blythe vs Blythe could be a really fun online event and is worth checking out if you’re into Blythe customizing or just like seeing ‘the process’ of making a blank doll truly unique!

The end of September marked the first ever Kane County Doll Show. Hosted on the Kane County Fairgrounds and planned by the people behind the popular Naperville Doll Show, the Kane County Doll Show was an answer to some of the negative opinions of the recent changes to the Chicago Toy Show‘s doll room layout. Because we’re not one to miss a doll show, my mom and I decided to check it out. Having gone to the Naperville show before, we saw many of the same vendors. The new location gave them much more space and the booths were far less cramped than in the Naperville show, which is housed in a hotel meeting room.

There was one small hiccup in the beginning. The usual gates that get shoppers into the parking lot for the fairgrounds were locked, so when we arrived, there were people waiting outside the gate confused. After a while, the show sent someone to help guide us to a very nondescript entrance, with no signing. No one would have known a doll show was going on from outside the actual fair grounds, which was disappointing. The group of us all mentioned this when we finally found the check in desk. The front desk team was a little nonchalant about the ordeal, but it’s not my show, so I’m not going to worry about how many people this may have turned away…

Because one can’t go to a doll show and leave empty handed,  we ended up leaving with a few neat items to add to our collections. Check out our loot below!

This was my first dolly pick up of the day. This 1930’s Dionne Toddler doll was made by Madame Alexander. She’s a fixer-upper, but was priced low enough that I could warrant sending her off for some restoration.

My mom’s first purchase was this adorable Kathe Kruse doll! She’s wanted one of these for a while now and this one was discounted to a price that was too good to refuse. My mom’s favorite feature is that this doll, called Nino, can put his hands in his pockets.

For $30.00, I picked up this sexed Baby Sasha doll (male) with molded ridges that represent eyelids. Not all Baby Sasha’s have these elements to them, which means this is an early Baby Sasha.

Baby Kissy came home with my mother. While she doesn’t work like the seller said, the face, with its chubby cheeks, is very cute. Now, she has three different kinds of Kissy’s.

Aren’t they darling in this group shot?

My Baby Sasha came home with a friend! Well, technically, this black Baby Sasha belongs to my mom. She was on a discount table with a bunch of bisque dolls. This doll is a later Sasha Baby, so there are no ridges above her eyes and she is not sexed. Now, my mom has both the darker skinned version (that was released prior to this) and the lighter skinned doll.

This Dionne baby from Madame Alexander is much bigger than my others. Plus, she’s in great shape with no need for any restoration. Clearly, someone took care of this doll! At her price, she was a steal. Her outfit is most likely reproduction, but that also works in my favor– no need to commission anything!

Last, but not least, my mom picked up this cute Knickerbocker Snow White from 1937 or so. She needs restoration and a new outfit, but the face is very cute.

That’s all our buys at the show. The prices were hard to ignore! Personally, I love this new location for the doll show. The hotel in Naperville is nice, but way too cramped. The only problem I see with this show, at the moment, is that it never seemed like there were a lot of shoppers wandering around. Being used to seeing Chicago Toy Show crowds in that very same room, it was clear that they had less hobbyists in the sales room, at least when we were there. Hopefully, the vendors made enough to come back again.

On a similar note, it would be nice to see some more contemporary sellers there. There were a lot of bisque sellers and older antique’y sort of dolls, but not a lot of Barbie’s or 60’s and 70’s dolls, like Little Miss No Name, Sketchy, Kissy, Giggles, etc. There was one Little Miss No Name, but it was priced way too high and was in dire need of a reroot. I wish sellers would understand that if their doll is crummy shape and they don’t care enough to give it a quick cleaning, they shouldn’t be charging $100 bucks for her.

Have you picked up any awesome things at a show recently? Share your thoughts in the comment area!

A few months back, my mom bought a Blythe doll on eBay. It wasn’t in the best shape. The eye mech was broken, her face up was bland and she was in need of a wig. Thankfully, my mom was able to get the eye mech fixed, so Blythe could change her eye color and position with the tug of a string. She was also able to find the perfect wig for her mocha skinned girl, a dusty pink mohair wig from Natrume. Last order of business? Finding someone to work on the face! Thankfully, finding the perfect face up artist turned out to be amazingly simple.

If you recall, I debuted a Pullip crafted by the super talented Doll Angel last year here on the blog. She was able to capture a moment in my past, being an extra in Divergent. As expected, Doll Angel did an amazing job. At PUDDLE 2017, my mom decided to bring her Blythe along to see if Doll Angel might be willing to take on the challenge of creating a fantastic new face for her doll. She agreed to give it a shot.

After going back and forth with Doll Angel about the look and feel of the doll, colors, etc, this Blythe finally came alive! See the custom face up by Doll Angel below. Spoiler alert– It’s fantastic!

Just like on the Divergent custom she made for me, Doll Angel added a special surprise to this Blythe.

Doll Angel did an amazing job on this custom Blythe. She’s a totally different doll! The pastel colors look so good on the mocha skin. Doll Angel also did some carving, which was a new concept to me. I had no idea that people carved around the noses and lips of these dolls to make them more unique. The outcome of the carving, done around the lips, really makes this girl stand out when compared to what she looked like before. (Unfortunately, we have no before photo, so you’ll have to take my word for it!)

I’m jealous! Now, I want a Blythe for my collection! What do you think of this new and improved Blythe doll? Share your thoughts in the comment area!

It’s been seven years since Monster High changed the doll collecting world. Before Monster High, doll collecting as a hobby wasn’t discussed very often, especially with the younger set. That changed when Monster High hit store shelves. From that gothic line based on the children of monsters and other creatures came a wave of collectors who had never bought a doll in their life, but now found themselves addicted to these ghoul-themed fashion dolls. Of course, I wasn’t part of that ‘awakening’ of sorts, but I do remember the hype that surrounded Monster High’s first few years, especially when the first wave was hitting stores. My mom and I would regularly go from store to store to see what Monster High dolls were on the shelves (if any), trying to get the complete set for our collections. Keep in mind, we were doing this because we liked the dolls, not because we thought they’d be ‘investments’ for the future. (As we’ve seen recently, those that collected for investment purposes are finding it hard to make any sort of profit. This doesn’t surprise me.)

We bought our first two Monster High dolls at a Toys R Us. They had received a handful of dolls. Ever the budget collector, I couldn’t buy them all. In the end, I left with Lagoona. My mom left with Frankie. Those two dolls fueled the purchasing of nearly every doll in every line produced for at least two years, if not longer. I shudder to think how much I spent on Monster High dolls over the years. (Especially since most are sitting in wine boxes due to space issues.) The first few lines were released with rubber band legs, meaning that as they age, they’ll loosen. Eventually, the rubber bands will break and the dolls will fall apart. This happened to my mom’s Deuce. Thankfully, he was later released in a Create a Monster body in later years, so fixing the first wave Deuce shouldn’t be too hard.

While Lagoona was my first Monster High purchase, my favorites of this line are Frankie, Ghoulia and Holt. Holt being my absolute favorite male doll ever produced for Monster High. Sadly, Holt only had two releases: his amazingly detailed, awesome looking first wave look and a super boring, basic bathing suit doll sold at Justice clothing stores. I often wonder why Mattel only released Holt twice. Was it the hair that was molded to look like fire? Was it the eye brow piercing? What made them shelve this doll pretty much immediately after the first wave? (Yes, he was released again in 2013, but that was probably to appease us collectors who kept asking Mattel where new Holt dolls were!) Alas, we’ll never know.

Ghoulia is and always will be another favorite of mine. Her zombie look was perfectly done, especially when paired with character traits from the webisodes. Her outfit, too, was a true standout of the entire doll series. So many bright layers of clothing that gave her a punk sort of vibe that fit her face and styling perfectly. Her glasses complete the cool look. Ghoulia and Holt were hard dolls to get in the very beginning. They arrived later, along with the two set of Deuce and Cleo, than the rest of the ghouls. My mom and I had the majority of the first wave ghouls before we even spotted Ghoulia and Holt at Toys R Us.

Frankie is a favorite because she was freakishly fabulous from the start. Her face was great and her outfit super fashionable. Plus, as the main character, you kind of had to love Frankie! Frankie is pictured above with the San Diego Comic Con exclusive Black and White Frankie, the first SDCC release for the line. While I picked this up on eBay, a limited number of black and white Frankie’s were sold at Justice. (Later, Mattel released another Black and White Frankie, this one in a bathing suit.) I was disappointed when Mattel didn’t continue to release black and white versions of our favorite ghouls for San Diego Comic Con. I think it would have been pretty cool to see every doll done up in this style.

Cleo and Deuce were the first ever two pack released in the Monster High line. Unlike Holt, Deuce got quite a few releases of the years. The original release of Cleo is still one of my favorites. I think her design really speaks to the character in the web series. This doll has a ‘regalness’ to her.

I was sold on Lagoona, because of her face. While later releases of Lagoona would be disappointing, this release was spot on perfect. Her face was pretty, but still not ‘conventional’. I still love her big, round eyes and freckles.

Clawdeen and Draculaura, to tell you the truth, aren’t my favorite of the dolls. They were both over produced and over hyped. And don’t get me started on Draculaura being the ‘new’ Frankie in the 2016 reboot. (I just— I just can’t.) These original first wave releases of Clawdeen and Draculaura are nice and speak to their characters well, though.

Check out the video above to hear Barbee0913 and I talk about Wave 1! What are your memories of the original wave 1 Monster High releases? Do you remember which Monster High doll was your first purchase? Did you go on ‘hunts’ for the dolls when they were first hitting stores? Share your thoughts in the comment area!

Sunday, my mom and I went to our last doll show of the year, the Chicago Toy Show. Held twice a year, this show is now in its 45th year! At the show, we saw a variety of dolls and toys. Like April’s show, the doll vendors were split between two different buildings. The new layout isn’t helpful to the vendors or shoppers, to be honest. One of the dedicated doll rooms could be easily missed due to lack of signage, so much so that the vendors were commenting on it. Hopefully, the powers that be re-think this new arrangement for April 2018’s show.

But, let’s move along to the fun part of this post– the loot! My mom and I hit the jackpot when it came to deals this time around. My budget was very limited, as a savings account doesn’t build itself (sadly), so I went shopping looking for the best deals I could get. My mom, well, she always looks for deals!

Fluff is Living SKipper’s friend. She was only released once before being shelved, much like Tiff, Skipper’s Pose N Play friend who shared Fluff’s face mold. I only have one Fluff in my collection and it’s not too often you find one in great shape with no melting around the shoulders and hips, so I was very happy to find this doll at a good price.

For $15 we scored the Barbie, Ken and Skipper “Dressin’ up with Mickey, Minnie and Donald” gift set. It was released at Toys R Us for a limited time. I’ve often seen this set online and thought it was pretty cool looking. The Skipper in the “Dressin’ up with Mickey, Minnie and Donald” gift set has purple eyes, which is pretty rare when it comes to eye colors.

One booth had a Skipper Teen Time fashion for $3.00. I picked that up! I’ve just recently started picking up more outfits for my 90’s dolls, as I never got many of them as a kid.

Jetta was $15.00. My Jem collection was in need of a Jetta, so she came home with me. She’s missing her saxophone, but her outfit is pretty much all there.

The last two items I have to show you are not doll related. I’m a fan of big eyed art prints. These two pieces of art were printed on cork. The colors are bright and the graphics are super cute!

My mom was looking for a Baby Giggles and the fates smiled upon her with this $6.00 find! She doesn’t really giggle anymore, but her flirty eyes and head still move side to side when you lift her arm.

Francie is one of my mom’s favorite Barbie dolls. She picked up this cute Francie doll at the show. She even came dressed in a Francie fashion!

We always see a few Donny Osmond dolls at the Chicago Toy Show. This time around, my mom picked one up. She had a Marie, but was looking for a properly priced Donny. This Donny turned out to be only $3.00. Add the Ken outfit she picked up for him to wear and the total was still under $15.00!

We’ve seen this My Child at the same vendors booth for over three shows now. It was about time she went home with someone. After noticing a dirt mark under her chin, my mom haggled this red headed cutie down to a good price. She’s now hanging out with her sister, whom my mom bought a few shows ago.

Another deal was this Ideal composition Shirley Temple. She’s a fixer upper, but how adorable is she?

Thumbelina was hiding in a booth when my mom spotted her. Besides the great price, she still works!

Meet Bunson Bernie. He’s missing some pieces, but is in good shape.

While not everyone is a fan of “Lemonhead” Kelly’s, we are. They made little impact on the Kelly world, so they’re still quite affordable if you see them at shows. They produced them longer in Europe, so some lines were made both in the ‘normal’ pre-lemonhead way and lemonhead style.

Watch the video below to hear us talk about the show and all the things we found! What do you think of these finds? Have you gone to a show recently? Share your thoughts in the comment area!