Mini Lalas & Liv on sale at Target

Just a quick post here (to be followed - hopefully very soon - by a longer one!) to note that I stopped at Target last night (for non-toy purposes! honest!) and noticed that the mini lalas are on sale for $3.99. Normally they are $5.99, so that's a $2 savings. Which is pretty good in my opinion, so I bought all the ones I don't already have. Except for Peanut. I wanted her too, but somehow in the world of crazy rationalizations, spending $20 seemed ok (it's a nice round number and all) but $24.00 seemed like too much. I thought maybe I'd rather have the ferris wheel version of Peanut (if only because that gives me an excuse to buy the ferris wheel... >.>) instead. But odds are even that I might go buy her later. I might have just picked up a couple and bought the rest later (somehow distributing my purchases makes me feel less guilty...), but this Target actually had all of the minis thanks to a recent restock, and most Targets around here do not. I didn't want to chance not being able to find one later. They *used* to have the easter Lala at this Target as well, but those are all gone. I assume those would also be on sale for $3.99, which would have had me kicking myself for buying them already - you know, if there were any still there! As it is, I'm just as glad I got them.

Also on sale this week is the Liv stuff. The outfit sets are $7.99 now, rather than $9.99. This matches the price I just saw in K-Mart. I was already mildly kicking myself that I just bought the raincoat for $9.99 when I saw it in K-Mart. But the stupid thing had been out of stock for so long, I didn't realize it was suddenly going to be everywhere - and ON SALE! I guess you win some, you lose some. I am not sure if I will take advantage of this sale to buy any of the other outfits or not. $8 is a much more reasonable price, but I'm trying to 'save up' for Anime Boston at the end of the month (not so much saving as figuring I'll spend money there and it would be best if I didn't go crazy elsewhere...). The Moonlight Dance dolls are also on sale for $10. That's not bad at all either, tho I am surprised they still have so many of those. I feel like they should properly be on clearance instead of on sale, but I think they were Target exclusives, so maybe they don't have a fixed length of time they'll be on sale for. I'm waiting for the Alice in Wonderland dolls to go on some sort of sale, because I think those are the only ones I want to buy to swipe outfits from...

Lalas and MLPs

I don't think there is anything too amazing or new in this set of pictures, so I'm going to try to breeze through this post a lot faster than my last one.

I've been on a quest to find myself a Spots, which I don't think is going to happen at this point, but I keep looking. So I've been seeing a lot of the Lalaloopsy aisle at various stores. I still have not seen even one Patch Treasurechest, but I have seen the 'twins' in their new single-doll packaging. I guess this is good, it was pretty expensive to try to buy them both together, but a little bit I think it's a shame to "split them up".

That said, I tend to think if I ever bought one of them it would be Berry. I just like her outfit a lot better... Well, that's not entirely true. The overalls on Sunny are actually really cute, it's just that the dresses are easier to share with other types of dolls, I think, so it might be better to get Berry. I probably won't though, simply because I don't want all of the big lalas, so I'm trying to concentrate on getting the ones that are most different from each other. Berry looks a bit like Crumbs, since they both have pink hair. Plus, how can I not want a doll that makes pancakes? XD



As you can see on the packaging, I guess the twins are Toys R Us exclusives. I'd say that makes sense, since I don't ever see them at Target, but I see hardly any of these at Target. It is rare for them to have more than 1 or 2 dolls there at a time...



I always love the back of the box illustrations - they are so cute! Lucky whoever gets to set these pictures up too, I bet that's really fun!



Here's Sunny too. I do find her orange hair and little chick pet quite adorable!



It looks like Sunny is billed as an early riser tho, so maybe she's not the doll for me... ;P



The closest I've been able to get to Patch is the little picture on the back of the box. Ah well!



I always love the handle designs. I wish I could do some sort of crafty thing with them...

The other Lala news is, of course, the mini Easter Lala that is a Target exclusive. Pictures of these have been floating around flickr, but in case you haven't seen her:



(I really should've taken a better photo...)



The little origin stories they give them are so cute and funny!

These are a bit hard to locate in the store, but I was able to pick up one for me and a friend. (I will do out of box photos soon). The only problem is that all of the ones I saw had some paint imperfections...



They aren't super-obvious in the photo, but then again they are probably even less obvious in person, unless you have your nose right up to it. The biggest problem is that they ended up with circles around their eyes. Which is sort of funny in a character wearing pjs, actually... XD

I also did finally take my Blossom out of her box. She's been hanging out on my floor in her box for over a month now I think... ^^; I tried to do a nice springlike photo for her tho!



In addition to the Lalas, for whatever reason I took photos of just about all of the MLP stuff that they had in stock... I think it started because I noticed a whole bunch of stuff that made me laugh, and then just went on from there.

The most interesting thing to me is the 'hot air balloon'.



It lights up and plays music. It's probably about the most ridiculous thing ever, so of course I kind of want it... XD I don't think I can fit something like this into my room tho honestly.

This is also pretty ridiculous, and therefore awesome:


It seems to be basically a remote control car. But you can tell it's for girls 'cause it's pink and has rainbows and PONIES. sigh.
(But I do love that they gave Dash an aviator's scarf. Now if only she had goggles...

This one sort of boggles my mind:


It's a... horse-drawn carriage for a horse? How does that work exactly?

The ponies seem to like carts this year...


But I guess if you are going to give horses accessories, I like that they are things a horse might actually have, rather than the tennis rackets and stuff they were giving them a year or two ago. (how could a horse play tennis? I mean, come on!)

This is not as cute as re-ment, but still pretty cute...





I think I had a photo of that one up before, but oh well. You can admire Fluttershy's out of control hair... XD

Even tho they aren't *all* that horse-like, I like the faces on the smaller size ponies out now a lot better than I like the faces of the slightly bigger ponies that are also out now...



Finally, some sort of giant gift set that I don't recall seeing before...



I ended up buying a Fluttershy, because I think she's my favorite of this lot.



The illustrations on the box are so cute!





Even the illustration on the inside is kind of neat, even though it's difficult to see when the pony is in the box...



Because of the joy of unlimited space when working with a digital camera and a free blogging host (well, flickr hosts the pictures and it's not free, but since I pay for it anyway...) I took photos of the whole catalog insert...





I don't think I've seen any of these light up ponies...





Don't think I've seen the fashion ponies yet either...



I rather like Princess Celestia and her crazy stylized look. I may have to get her eventually too... (And NO! I am NOT going to start collecting MLPs! I'm not!)





Newborn Sweetie Belle kind of scares me. I'll leave her for the little kids...



Then just for random amusing contrast some other 'horse' toys:



Cinderella has a nicer carriage, but she doesn't let the horses ride in it with her...



And then this giant horse is a taxi for a bunch of tiny animals - including what may be a tiny horse? Ah, toys can be so confusing!! ;P

Fashion Doll Odds & Ends

It's been a while since I last posted anything, again. I haven't seen *too* many new things in stores. A few things for Easter, of course, but I must admit the Easter stuff seems kind of boring this year? Some years there are all kinds of sheep and bunnies to want but this year I'm feeling pretty ho hum about it. I'll post up some Easter pictures in my next post. Right now I'm thinking I'll just start with some of the scattered new fashion doll items that I've seen. I have the sense that sometime in the spring there should've been a clearance at Target, but I never saw one. (unless it's still to come?) In fact, my big problem with shopping this year is that stuff sells out before I make up my mind to buy it! I know that's good for the stores, and they've all been "controlling inventory" to make this happen, but it sucks for me. Alas. I have a few "wishlist" items I've been looking for, and I think I'm just too late with them. (Anyone have a spare Lalaloopsy Spots Splatter Splash? Anyone? I was also going to ask for a Twilight Alice, but I just found her in between the first draft of writing this and finishing it now!)

Anyhow, on to the pictures...

There's 5 new Liv dolls that I've seen come out in the past couple of weeks. Apparently these were shown at Toy Fair, but I didn't get in to see them. So they were new to me. They have a "dance" theme again, but unlike the prom dresses from the last round, this round seems to be like an 80s restyle or something. Is breakdancing back in? I totally expect to see these girls out on a piece of cardboard or something.





I quite like her wig. Tho... is it me, or does the way its parted in the first picture make it seem like a different wig? Because I'm not sure this wig would do that?



Hayden seems kind of 70s folk rock here, but I think it's just the headband. On the Liv website she isn't wearing it and fits in with all the other girls...





Some of the Liv outfits I wasn't able to find have been coming back in stock too, which is nice. I was finally able to get the raincoat I wanted. I was sure that one was going to wind up on my "too late!" wishlist too.

Beyond that, if there's anything new with Liv, I haven't seen it yet.

Moving on to Barbe, I've seen a number of new things. Some of them are almost definitely things that were out before that I just hadn't managed to catch in stores, and some of them might actually be brand new, I'm not sure.

In the former camp (probably not new, but I've never seen them), I spotted a bunch of Barbie "I can be" profession dolls. I remember hearing about these last year even, but if they were ever out, I never saw them. Which I am suspecting of being the case if only because they were gone again pretty fast after I saw them.

The one I remember getting all the press was the "geek" Barbie - the computer engineer. I was kind of excited to see her in person and was considering buying her, but... you know, in the end, I didn't think she was that great. The outfit was just weird. Still, it's nice to see Ms. "I hate math" Barbie representing this particular career choice.





The glasses are interesting, but they make me think more of Devo than computer engineers. I think she is wearing a bluetooth headset too. I guess they just decided to give her as many tech devices as they can think of. In which case they probably should've given her a pink iPad instead of a laptop, but oh well.

There was also Barbie as a news anchor. The box proudly proclaims that girls voted for this, which really makes me wonder what girls were thinking... o.O I thought no one watched the news anymore. Does Katie Couric really have that many fans? Why not forensic scientist? I feel like all there is on tv anymore is NCIS and its ilk. But maybe parents are actually not letting their kids watch that. Which would be a good idea, even if I do think it would be great to see lots of kids wanting to go into that field when they grew up...





Lastly, I saw a Chef. That's not surprising at all, given that if you don't turn the tv on and find a crime show, you will definitely find a cooking show. More kid friendly too I'd suppose. And I'm not really opposed to kids knowing how to cook. I feel like a lot of people my age managed not to learn... (which might explain the celebrity chef thing?) I actually kind of like the outfit on Barbie as a chef. It's probably the cutest of the three. Tho I do like that news camera!



There are more of these, I know, but that was all I saw that seemed new - or at least new to me.

Other stuff I didn't recall running across before included this "Happy Birthday" Barbie...



I dont really like the ball gowns for my dolls, but that dress IS cute!



Jessie from Toy Story Barbie (I know I saw pictures of this from the UK, but I don't know if maybe it's just now getting to be released in the States? Something is odd about that, but I'm not sure what the story is...)



And then lastly, this pink-haired fairy Barbie. She's a Toys R Us exclusive, so even if she's not brand new, that's probably why I didn't spot her until now. She's actually pretty cute...

The most tempting thing I've seen, however, is this Renaissance Faire Barbie. I mean, I don't necessarily have any need for the outfit, but I am just happy knowing that there IS a Ren Faire Barbie. XD





I also found a stash of Twilight's Jane, who I had heard was quite rare. Seeing her pictures I was pretty sure I was going to want her, but then when I saw her in person I started feeling like she wasn't worth the price. The coat is a really cool cut, but it seems to be made from relatively cheap fabric.



And I suspect she is not wearing anything underneath. So if I were going to buy her to rob her for her clothes, I feel like I could do better for my $20. The boots aren't bad tho, really.



She has an interesting face, but I am not sure I actually like it.





So Alice was definitely the best of the lot for me and I'm really kicking myself for not buying her when she was everywhere. It's the same as the second Hello Kitty Barbie. She was everywhere and I kept dragging my feet and I missed her. Sigh. I'm trying to 'learn my lesson' and buy stuff faster, but then at the same time I have TOO. MUCH. STUFF. So I try not to jump and buy everything in case I could really live without it. (I'm like flypaper - once I buy stuff, it sticks with me. There's little chance I'll actually return stuff or resell it, even if I tell myself I will...)

My last round of Barbie line pictures is a few new Ken items. None of them really float my boat, but I'll at least grant that they are somewhat less noxious than other Ken releases have been.

New clothing packs:







More tuxedos. Ken's only real purpose being to marry Barbie in each of her different outfits, I guess. (and go to the beach. >.>)



But here's Ken looking "cool", I guess. It's just sad.

Most of these photos are from TRU, but I also wanted to note that Target has the Barbie Basics stuff on sale this week (so maybe only until tomorrow - sorry for the short notice!). That would be great if any of the Targets near me had a decent selection of these dolls. Oh well. Even at $17 instead of $21 I'm having trouble committing to buying them...) The LPS Blythe with scooter has also been on sale. I'm somehow still not tempted to buy it...

I've also been seeing a ton of new Monster High stuff. Not really new dolls (tho they are finally more reliably in stock. I've even seen a few Ghoulias stick at the store for more than a blink) but just lots of *stuff*. TRU, and even Target, has at least a few purses and wallets and things. Even Claire's had a bunch of stuff like that. Socks and lip gloss wallets. Doesn't send me running for my wallet, but I know there a bunch of folks out there who are much more interested in Monster High that might like some of this stuff.







(These aren't fashion dolls OR Monster High dolls, but they remind me a little of them, and they're cute, so I'm going to shoehorn in this picture of these cute dolls I saw on clearance at TRU. I don't know anything about them, but they are fun and quirky!)



And as a final "fashion doll" add on, I'll post up this picture of some spare outfit for the Disney fairy dolls. I think this is a TRU only thing so far. I actually am really happy that they are doing extra outfits for these dolls (even if they are all, I suppose necessarily, fairy clothing with wings...), and I kind of wanted to snag some for Halloween costumes for my pullips, just because I really find the Disney Fairy dolls strangely cute, but when I went back again they were gone again. I don't like this trend of stuff going out of stock so fast! I ended up with waaaay too much Sanrio stuff, because with that you know if you don't jump on it, it will disappear. Which was fine when Sanrio first sort of came back into my area and there wasn't much of it. But now there's SO much Sanrio stuff, I want to be fussier. Ditto for the toys. But... it's hard to be fussy if you suspect it's all going to disappear immediately!