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...
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