More restock: Lalaloopsy, LPS, MLP, and Disney

This was the third of 3 posts I had planned, but I half wrote it and then didn't get around to finishing it for over a week, so my 'news' is clearly completely dated at this point. Still, I have the pictures and half the writing, so I may as well finish and post!

I guess most of toys in this post would qualify as being for the younger kids - lalaloopsy, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop + Blythe... But I think Lalaloopsy is too adorable to be just for the young'uns, and Blythe (and her new Littlest Pet Shop friends) already has a huge following of adult fans, while I think My Little Pony just hangs on to the kids that played with them long past the point where they are supposed to stop, so they all have their fans beyond their intended age range... ;) That and the fact that *I* find these items adorable makes them worth blogging, right? ;P

Lalaloopsy has come out with a bunch of new stuff following Christmas, which is great for me, because I love it, and great for the company, since I am sure all their stuff sold well running up to christmas, and I bet this stuff will do well too!

First up is, of course, the new minis and the mini playsets. The minis are great because a. anything mini is automatically great in my book and b. they do save space, since the full-size dolls take up quite a bit of shelf space.

Also, the quality and design is great. They are so adorable, and different from anything else I see out there!



Each of the minis comes with a bunch of really adorable accessories. That alone makes them all worth buying to me - I can't resist minis!



The boxes are designed to be reused as little houses for the mini dolls. I like this too, as I hate overpacked toys where you just end up throwing it all out. Too much waste! At least this way the packaging is not just trash. These guys are $6 at Target, which I think is a very reasonable price. So far I've only bought Spots and Mittens, because those are the two big dolls I've been wanting and haven't been able to locate. (Well, I did finally find Mittens, but more about that later)

Here's Spots in her packaging:


and the back, showing her house:


And then there's the playsets:



Isn't it cute how the furniture is made from spools of thread and other random household items? That's such a fun design, esp. since the dolls are supposed to be ragdolls made of old clothes that came to life. That's a charming story for a toy line, and maybe I find it even more charming because I don't feel like many kids now are likely to play with that kind of doll - I somehow feel like parents and grandparents aren't making them anymore - but if we have to use a plastic doll substitute, I love that at least kids will have the idea of those kinds of dolls existing at least. Maybe it will inspire a few real ragdolls!


Each of the playsets comes with a version of one of the dolls wearing a different outfit. So if you buy them all, you'll end up with 'duplicates', but at least they will be dressed differntly. I bought only the Crumbs playset, but I really want to get the regular doll eventually, so she can match the 'big' one I already have.



And then they made a ferris wheel! Brilliant!

In addition the minis, there's two new 'big' girls. I hadn't heard about this prior to running across one of them in the store, so I had that same moment of ridiculous (and probably inappropriate in a grown woman) delight when I saw the new one as I did when I saw my very first Bitty Buttons doll in the store!



That's the new Blossom Flowerpot. THe other new girl is a redheaded ballerina. I did eventually see her, but I didn't get a picture so the photo of the back of the box will have to do. (my target prowling is being curtailed lately by weather)



Here's the whole back of the box too, just for the sake of completeness:


I had to buy her. Blossom Flowerpot is now my very favorite of the lot. I think now that I have her, I may not even want Mittens, and she had previously been my most coveted. I still love Mittens for her blue hair and her cute origins story (I adore any winter/snow-theme dolls), but Blossom has the same skintone, PLUS freckles (I love freckles), PLUS a cuter hairstyle (even if it is not blue... XD), PLUS a better outfit. So... I don't know if I will get Mittens now! I will have to see how widely available she becomes and whether she goes on sale or anything. Sales are always great for justifying unnecessary purchases. XD I'm still after Spots, I think, but that might be it. I wanted to get 3 to be the 3 bears (aka 3 imaginary friends) for my 'goldilocks' pullip (melize, of course!). It's going to be hard to only have 3 tho. I suspect there will be more...

Speaking of cute packaging tho, I have to show the cute handle on her package:


I don't know how reusable this is tho, I don't think the packages are meant to be used as cases. So the handles, however adorable, are really just plastic to end up in the trash, which is unfortunate. I hope I can think of something to do with them, they are really too cute to just throw out!

Even tho I didn't buy 'big' Mittens, mini Mittens is super-adorable - she comes with great accessories. And since it's snowy right now, I thought I'd take her out for some fun.



(production note: making that igloo was hard! The snow didn't pack anymore, so I actually took a chunk that was mostly ice and chipped out the 'interior' on a fence post. Ah, my neighbors all must think I'm crazy....)

There's also 3 new outfit sets, I've heard, but I havent seen them in person yet - a bathing suit, PJs, and a party dress. I will be buying the party dress!

There's been an explosion of mini Blythes too. It's a mini renaissance! ;P There's at least 2 new playsets (includes mini blythe and pets) and then, for the first time, sets that include only the mini Blythe (no pet). Although Blythe is Blythe, and therefore cool, the lalaloopsy dolls have a better appeal for me, being cheaper (mini blythes are $10 alone, or $16+ for the bigger playsets) and coming with the accessories. I don't care for LPS on their own, so that's more like a throwaway than a perk for me.



The one with the headphones is my favorite, I'm sure I'll get her sooner or later!

I did try to get a photo of most of the minis sold on their own, as that is the bulk of the new releases...




This one is my favorite of the singles, tho I like her pet too, so in this instance I wish they were still sold together!



There's some interesting new Disney stuff too. Most intriguing to me is that there are outfit sets for the first time. Yes, they are princess outfits, but still, I like to see them expanding their line. Plus, maybe they'll go on clearance and I can snag some for Halloween costumes for my pullips! XD



sorry these are cell phone photos, so they aren't the best...



I continue to find the Disney Tinkerbell line cute and hard to resist despite not being sure why...

I quite like this doll because she comes in a rainjacket.



I like raincoats almost as much as winter gear. She's a soft doll underneath and I don't know that you could repurpose the coat, but I think she'd be adorable for a little girl.

There were new versions of the fairies themselves to go with this line. They look a little bit 'flowerier'. I have two fairies that I do nothing with, and yet I'm still tempted to buy a couple of the new ones!

And then there's the My Little Ponies. I loved the original ponies, but I haven't been as fond of most of their recent redesigns. They have looked less and less like horses with each go-around, and that bugs me. I like horses, not weird horse-people-creatures! I'm not up on MLP lingo, so know the versions have names, but I don't know what they are. With that disclaimer, I'll mention I absolutely hated the most recent incarnation. However, it looks like there's been yet another design since, and although these don't look like real ponies either, they don't bother me as much. I think they are actually kind of cute in a weird way...



To my uneducated eye, they still look very similar - in fact they might even be the same - and yet somehow they are cuter. Did they tweak something, or am I just losing my mind?

There actually seem to be several different designs going on, so it's mostly the little ones with the playsets that I like, but the ponies based on the cartoon are cute in their weird way too...



And then there's the big ones which are also very different still. I like these too.



Then just a couple of random things. I don't remember if I posted these before, but I think this outfit line is adorable! It's from the girl from Wizards of Waverly place or something, but I don't see much of a connection to the actress or the show. It IS cute tho!



And finally, just these cute dolls from the Hallmark store. They aren't my speed in terms of design, but fairy tale anything is a bit of a weakness and I found myself oddly tempted! I didn't buy any tho! I think they are actually music boxes. Anyway, they were cute, and I wanted to put their photo somewhere.



*phew!* ok, finally done! (I think. I don't know if there's pictures I missed anywhere, but if so, they may just stay lost... ^^;)

oops, no wait, here's one more. There were new Bratz too, but I didn't really take pictures because I've lost track of what is actually new. I did however feel compelled to buy one! I got this one for her cute owl t-shirt, but I have to admit, she's kind of pretty in and of herself...

More January Restock

Ok, I'm gonna try to keep this post a little shorter in the word department, because it's pretty long in the picture department. Not to mention which, I think a lot of this stuff has already made its way onto flickr, so it is not quite as 'newsworthy'. (I'm sorry, btw, that some of the photos are even sadder quality than usual for my store photos, but if you check around flickr, I'm sure you can find better pictures if you see something interesting here that you haven't seen before!)

So, let's start with the Liv dolls. I was happy to see that there are new Liv outfits. They're always nice, or at least interesting, even tho I find them a bit pricey...

Most exciting is that for what I think is the first time there's a boy outfit! I'm sure I'll pick it up eventually, but I didn't yet because I've been a little too much the happy shopper this month. I'll 'save' it for a bit later when I haven't got so many new things to play with... XD



It's pretty bland, but at least it is not pink and it is not some sort of surfer outfit, so that's better than Ken! I don't know how the fit will be for Taeyang tho, I guess that is something to find out. Has anyone tried yet? The other outfit, I think is like a PJ outfit for sleepovers? I'm not quite sure I understand it.


Purple dress is cute but nothing I need probably. The other outfit is strange, but kind of cool. Are those riding breeches tho?

The best outfit, however, is the raincoat!


I have a My Scene raincoat and I really like it. Unfortunately, it is also pink, so even tho in this instance I don't mind pink, I still wish the Liv one were a different color for more variety. Still, that goes on the list of things to buy in the future too... The other outfit is just strange. I guess it is for sailing? Maybe that's what they wear at the yacht club. I dunno - I live near the ocean, but I don't spend much time around boats... (I get seasick! ^^;)

Speaking of the ocean, however, Liv and Moxie have both apparently decided to join in with the retail trend of pretending that now that Christmas is over Summer must be here. Never understood this, it's January and it is so cold here in New England that I can't even *think* about bathing suits without shivering, but whatever.


So here we actually see a Liv boy. (Not so) live and in the (plastic) flesh. Is it just me, or does his head somehow seem more in proportion to his body than the girls' heads do? Anyway, the swim suits on all of them are actually pretty cute, but in addition to being too early to think about swimsuits, I always feel like when you buy them you aren't getting as much for your money! Well, maybe they'll go on sale.


Here's the other two swimsuit dolls I saw.

Moxie, for some reason, is wearing boots to the beach. I really can't figure this out.




Ok, ok. Clearly you are getting two outfits, and the boots go with the casual summer look while the flippers go with the swimsuit. (I still don't quite get the ugg boots in summer thing tho. Seems hot.) I think they look too 'young' to be interesting - those swimsuits seem a little too kid-like even for the age that Moxie dolls look like they are supposed to be. (I can't see anyone older than a toddler wearing them!) The casual looks are cute, but even if I don't understand boots in the summer the fact that the Moxie boots are designed for interchangeable feet and not wearable by other dolls just makes the Moxie stuff way less interesting than the Liv stuff.

Still, I really wish I'd bought the winter sets. I'm really kicking myself for not buying Kellan. She's the only one that never went on clearance and now she's getting pricey! Does anyone have one they want to trade to me? *puppy eyes*

Going back to Liv, here's the other new Liv stuff I spotted - the Alice in Wonderland dolls!

I was quite excited about these when I first heard about them. Seen in person I was not immediately compelled to fork over my cash for one, but I still think they are pretty nice.


Alice and the Red Queen


The White Queen and White Rabbit

As outfits, I probably only like the Alice outfit. As dolls, I think the Red Queen is really cool. I love that they all have streaks in their hair too. Dunno if I will buy any, but I like them.

Additionally, I popped into Kmart since I was in the area and thought they might have something good on clearance (no) or something new and different (not really. Kmart is more the Land That Time Forgot. They still have the Liv outfit multipacks on sale there, and those are so old I had actually just about forgotten those existed! Sort of made me sad - those were the days. Back when you could get better value... And we all had to walk uphill both ways in the snow to get our Liv outfits...)

But anyway, the one thing I hadn't seen before was these bigger accessory packs.

(there was also a skateboarding one). But I have no idea if these are new, or just old ones that I had missed Back in the Day or just plain forgotten...


Oh, going back to Target photos, just sort of thrown in randomly, there weren't many Moxies outside of the beach Moxies, so here's practically the only one I saw:



I don't really know or remember if she is new?

Also randomly, here is the only new Monster High stuff I've seen (although I know others have spotted the Gloom Beach dolls. Here tho it is like wolves attack the display and only leave the Cleo and whatshisname boy duo, because that's all there ever is, and sometimes a random single of something else indicating that there *was* a restock, but it's all gone now...)


Not sure what they are, I guess they light up tho.

I actually ran across a press release at work the other day (I don't work with toys, so it really was something I ran across by accident) that indicates we can look forward to more Monster High electronics...

The products, being developed under a license agreement between Sakar and Mattel, will range from gaming, computer and cell phone accessories to a karaoke machine.

For girls' rooms, Sakar will offer Monster High-branded merchandise such as a light-up message board, room doorbell answering machine, room phone and mini-fridge. In the personal electronics arena, products will include text messengers, wireless intercom sets, earbuds, MP4 and CD players, walkie talkies, digital cameras and digital video recorders. Also on tap are headphones, speakers, flashlights, mousepads, laptop sleeves, Apple iPhone cases, gaming kits and more. All SKUs will incorporate the franchise's pink and black graphic motif and skullette logo.

To me, this is a big yawn - just make more clothes! - but it might appeal to someone out there and I figured I'd throw the info out to whoever might want to know...

Other 'strays' that I spotted included this Bratz doll with glow-in-the-dark hair...

I am not sure if she is new, but GiD is always worth noticing!

Also in the process of visiting the other two area targets this weekend to check for clearance items (which, btw, are totally lacking this year. Grumble) I ran across some additional Barbie items. I think some or all of these are Target exclusives?

Barbie takes her turn at the beach (although really I think the beach is a year round thing for her)...


...randomly gets a really ugly poodle (poodles are the dog equivalent of macarons for trendiness lately. I guess being french is in this year/last year)


...and wears a blue dress. (I dunno what the theme here is, but they have this doll in both skintones)


Also, have I made fun of mentioned 'Ultimate Boyfriend' Ken yet?


I'd actually really like to see one of these out of the box, just to see what they do. The shirt is kind of amusing as well...

I also spotted this teacher Barbie. I somehow feel like she and Ultimate Boyfriend Ken need to be a couple. There seems to be a lot of joke value there somehow...



I can't remember the last time I saw Barbie wear glasses (I'm sure it hasn't been as rare as I think it is, but it feels rare), and I kind of like the look. But then at the same time I find myself also being irritated by the teacher = school = nerd = glasses stereotype. Yes glasses and nerds have come a long way, baby but it's still sort of annoying that it's teacher barbie and not some other barbie in the glasses.

And on a whole different note, um... glitter!



As I mentioned, there's practically nothing in the clearance aisle of any interest. I did spy some furniture set multipacks, tho given that this year's furniture wasn't appealing, the big multipacks are not very interesting either.

I also saw this cruise ship on clearance, tho I never saw it on sale normally. I wonder if sometimes these are web exclusives that get returned and end up in the stores? Or maybe I just missed it. Or forgot it - I seriously don't know that I remember everything I see, even when I take photos of it!


I like the aquarium bar. But everything else I don't need!

That's all I got for fashion dolls. I meant to also throw in Bitty Buttons/Lalaloopsy stuff and My Little Pony, but I'll save those for the next post.

Post-Christmas Wrapup and 2011 Restock (so far)

Hi everyone! Did you all have a nice holiday season? As you can see by my lack of posting through the entirity of December, mine kept me pretty busy... (of course, not posting for a month is actually not that shocking for me even when there isn't a holiday involved, but shhh... ;P) Aside from work, some more work, and some more work after that, I kept busy making cookies, looking at the holiday window displays in NYC, and being generally Christmasy. Since this is nominally a website about Pinkys, let's start off with a couple of pictures of my Pinkys visiting NY. (and then we'll go on with the shopping photos, since I know that's really why people read this blog!)

Here's Avril skating at Rockefeller Centre...

...I actually did this as a kid, tho I don't remember it very well. I think I mostly remember it being very crowded, and I wasn't such a good skater - and I'm still not! XD

Mirriam, meanwhile, wanted to look at all the big stores in Times Square...

I think she looks a bit hypnotized by the lights tho - well, it's easy for that to happen... ;)

This poor girl just looks a bit overwhelmed by the city overall - it can definitely be hard to take it all in until you start getting used to where things are!


She needs a name, btw. Avril has always been Avril, and Mirriam picked up her name along with a sibling (Pepe) way back when. But this girl, despite being one of my favorite new releases, has stayed stubbornly nameless. And worse yet, she didn't even come with a name! So... any ideas?

I actually have very few shopping photos from NY - most of the time I spent in NY I was just outside of the stores looking at the window displays. I've been spamming flickr with them for weeks now, but if you stumble across this post later and want to catch up, you can see that set here. It's a big set, and if you go far enough back you'll see last year's photos, but they do awesome work on these windows, so I think it's worth checking out! ;) (and if you are reading this as I publish it, check back in a few days, I have to do the Bergdorf Goodman photos yet and they are my favorites! So cool!)

Ok, so NOW on to the shopping photos! XD

I don't keep up with Barbie news, so mostly I just stumble across new Barbie stuff in the stores. So I was really pleased to see more Barbie Basics accessory sets. I actually have only bought one of these sets because I think Barbie's shoes are actually slightly too tiny for Obitsu'd pullips and my dals don't need to wear such high heels. But I like the idea. The latest sets come with a shirt. I am not sure of the logic of one shirt and 6 pairs of shoes, but whatever, at least they are all nice items! They color coordinate. So first is the gold dressy outfit set:


Next up is a more edgy black and neon set:


The third of the girls' sets is this nice black and silver set. I think it is my favorite of the lot...


But yes, that's right, I did say of the *girls' sets*. Which means there is a boys' set! This is really exciting, because Ken wears the worst clothes in the universe, and there are not enough other outfits out there. So when I saw this Ken set I had to immediately buy it!

Or, rather, I should say I *tried* to buy it. For whatever reason, Target started stocking up all the new toys without the prices being in the system. So when I took it to the register they couldn't ring it up. Since I was in a hurry and the store was really busy, I just told the clerk I'd come back another time. I went back to another store several days later figuring they'd've straightened this glitch out, but nope! I told them what price I thought it should be ($14.99) but by the time the supervisor came over and lalala, somehow they wound up deciding to charge me only $5.99! Score! So now even if all the shoes don't fit (and I'll update on that later) I won't feel bad.

Looking at the back of the box, you can see the new Basics Ken, who is apparently taking his style tips from a whole different set of magazines than regular Ken. XD

He has two friends, as you can see by the Barbie Basics Collection 2.0 page on the Barbie Collectors website.

I guess the them for Collection 2.0 is jeans. Aside from being more of a jeans sort of girl than a 'little black dress' sort of girl, from what few dolls of the new collection I saw in stores this is a nice collection - the jeans looked really nicely made. I didn't buy any of the dolls to see up close, but I may have to! I have liked a lot of the Barbie Basics dolls' faces, but I haven't felt like paying money for them, since I only sort of 'incidentally' collect Barbies. But since these have the perk of coming with those nice jeans... well, maybe!

Here are some of the "jeans dolls" that I saw on my shopping trips:




By my third Target run they had neatened up the display, but half the dolls were gone! I have been shopping mostly at the Target in Watertown since coming back from Christmas because they always seem to get the new toys first, but if I have some time this weekend, I'll be scoping out the other two Somerville area stores. (I *was* going to be taking another trip to NY to see a cool exhibit on Japanese fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NY this weekend, but nooooooo.... instead I'm hanging out at home with my laptop thanks to winter weather. Oh well, that's the way it goes!)

Er, speaking of Japanese fashion, I also got to see in person the new "Japan" Barbie and Ken. Somewhere or other I did see preview photos for these. They are pretty cool!

I actually forget what the price was (if it was even on there), but I might have to pick up at least the Barbie - that outfit is pretty nice!

I also saw this "Happy Birthday Ken" Barbie:

Can you believe Ken is 50? I can't! Do you suppose he will join AARP?

My only other Ken sighting was this Fashionista guy, but I saw him before Christmas, and I don't think he's so new. Still, I do think he's at least a little bit more of a normal guy than a lot of Ken releases!


I saw one other Collector-level Barbie at TRU also, this Beverly Hillbillies Barbie.

I don't know that I've ever even watched the show, so I'm not excited for the character or anything, but I do like the hairstyle on this doll!

It looks like they are also doing a few other TV characters - Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie, and Krystle and Alexis from Dynasty. I guess I could be nostalgic for Jeannie since I did watch that show (in reruns?) as a kid, but I don't much care for that outfit now. Dynasty I think I was just too young for and have no nostalgia for at all. Krystle is kinda neat tho...

As I was saying earlier, I don't really look for Barbie news, so I am scanning this "what's new" page for the first time as I type this and I am interested to note that there is a "steampunk barbie". I guess steampunk really did finally hit the big time if there's a barbie sporting that style - even if she is a $100 collector's doll that hardly anyone is likely to ever see. I don't actually think she is very steampunk looking myself (except for the goggles, I suppose), but she's kinda cool...

As far as 'regular' playline Barbies, I was much less impressed. Not too much new stuff so far, but there were a couple of outfit sets. Which are laaaame. They seem to feature uniforms. I think I didn't even take pictures of everything I saw, but there was a repeat of the flight attendant uniform in another color, and stuff like that. What annoys me is that they are not complete outfits.

Look carefully and you see that some of the pieces are just cardboard! Boo!!

I think there's new furniture too, but it's pretty similar to the previous furniture sets so I wouldn't swear to it, and it's kind of ugly so I have no incentive to care.


I'm not usually one for Princess stuff, but the new Princess dolls were sort of the only thing I liked...

Maybe it's just the teasets that the dolls come with. I can never resist a cute teacup or teapot!

There were more of these, but I was running out of memory card space and attention span, so that's it for now.

I have more pictures of Liv and Moxie and Lalaloopsy, but I'll do those tomorrow. I've been very wordy here for some reason and this is enough for one day!