Lalaloopsy Newborns and New Minis

Here is the Lalaloopsy review post I've been trying to finish all week! :}  Thanks for your patience, everyone.  (I've decided to postpone my weekly Kickstarter Shout-Out post until tomorrow so that this post has some time to itself on the blog without sharing the spotlight.) ;)

There are lots of fun new releases for Lalaloopsy that are just hitting the store shelves.  The mini Valentine's Day Target Exclusive should start showing up soon, and I've also heard that the Lalaloopsy Tinies are going to be released with "hair" similar to the Lalaloopsy Ponies' hair.  There are also new Mini Littles Sets (the Lalaloopsy minis with their little sisters or brothers), and a new large stretchy-haired styling doll.  Keep your eyes peeled the next time you go to the store, Lalaloopsy fans! ;)  

For this post, we're going to take a look at the newest line up of Mini Lalaloopsies and also a brand new line, the Lalaloopsy Newborns.

These were found by my mom at Toys R Us a couple of weeks ago.  This week, I saw them at my local Target for the first time, too.

We'll start with the minis.  As you can see, the packaging has changed rather dramatically.  It is smaller and flatter, and the dolls now come with only a pet and one accessory instead of several.  The good news is, it's also made them cheaper!  Each of these dolls retailed for $4.99 instead of the more customary $5.99-$6.99.

Let's take a look at each one individually. :)

We'll start with Queenie Red Heart.  As you might guess, she is modeled after the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.

Here's the back of her package.  I think it's interesting that the back of the packages now features a photo of the large version of the dolls.  Maybe that's to get girls interested in the bigger dolls too?

Here's a closer look at her bio.  Fun fact: Queenie and I share the same birthday. ;)

The dolls I'm reviewing belong to my mom's collection, but I decided to get my own Queenie when I found her at Target earlier this week.  Here she is with her red rose tree and her pet flamingo.

I already had Wacky Hatter and Alice from the earlier sets.  I think Queenie looks great with them. ;)  I love her heart-shaped cheek blush, too, which you can see best in this picture.

  

Next up is Candle Piece o' Cake.  This little gal is so cute.  She'd be a perfect cake topper for a birthday cake. :)

Here's the back of her package...

...and her info.

Next up is Frost I.C. Cone.  She makes me want a snow cone! ;)

Frost's packaging from the back...

...and her bio.

The last one from the newest mini series is Sweetie Candy Ribbon.  Sweetie reminds me a lot of the new large stretchy-haired doll coming from MGA, Whirly Stretchy Locks.  You can see the commercial for her HERE.  It will be interesting to see how the hair works.  When I watched the commercial, all I could think of was how quickly Little Gal would be able to destroy her hair. :}  I think we'll stick to Sweetie for Little Gal. ;)

Here's the back of Sweetie's package...

...and her personal info.

Since I had one of the older packages on hand, I thought it would be useful to compare how things have changed over the years.  On the left is "Blossom's a Busy Bee" from Series 2.  You can see that Blossom has a potted flower, a honey pot, and a honey dipper along with her pet butterfly.

The other major difference between the old packaging and the new is that the old packages used to turn into little houses for the Lalaloopsies.  I think this was a really cute idea, but I wonder if all the other moms out there felt like I did and got tired of storing a ton of little cardboard houses everywhere. ;)  There comes a point when you just can't keep all of the packaging.  It's almost a relief that we don't have to anymore.  Still, I think it was a great concept, and my girls still have a lot of their Lalaloopsy houses.  (I finally got overwhelmed and got rid of mine.)

Here's the side view of Sweetie's box to compare the differences.

Now that we've seen the fun new minis, let's take a look at the newest line from Lalaloopsy: the Lalaloopsy Newborns.

The Newborns have very cute packaging, shaped like a little bassinet.  They retail for $7.99.  Each baby has a personality description instead of a name.  This is the "Sweet and Tart" baby.  Just like the other Lalaloopsy lines, her box states that she is for "Ages 4 to 104". ;)

Her expression is so cute. :)

She even has little freckles on what would be her nose...if she had one. ;) 

Here are a few more package details:

The back of the package has a cute little adoption certificate and a picture of all of the other dolls in the series.

The adoption certificate leaves a space for the Newborn's name and the date she/he was adopted.  It also gives the Newborn's weight, personality, and what they were made from.

Along with Sweet and Tart, you can choose from Messy (a cupcake-themed baby), Giggly (an ice cream baby), Snuggly (in a kitty costume), Huggy (in a bear outfit), and Sleepy (dressed as a bunny).  So apparently the themes for this line are food and animals. ;)

Here's a look at the side of the packaging.

I think the artwork on the side is just adorable. :)  It's too bad they didn't stick with the plaid pattern for Sweet and Tart's bow.  That would have made her even cuter!

You can open the packaging fairly easily from the side. (I was trying to see if I could open it and still keep the bassinet, especially since it was my mom's doll and I wasn't sure if she'd want the packaging.)  You can technically keep the packaging pretty nice, but if you want to punch out the adoption certificate on the back, you're going to kind of mess up the box anyway. ;)

Here's a look at the inside.  Sweet and Tart is held in place by tape and twist ties.

Her bottle had a soft, fabric tie holding it in place.

It slipped out fairly easily from the two holes in the bottom of the bottle.  I'm pretty sure the holes don't have any other purpose.

It was easy to pop the certificate out without tearing it, which is nice planning on MGA Entertainment's part.  If you have careful children, they should be able to pop it out on their own without any problems.  Smaller kiddos or kiddos who don't know their own strength might need a little help from mom or dad to avoid a ripped certificate. ;)

Here it is, all ready to be filled out!  Shortly after I took these pictures, my mom told me I could go ahead and keep Sweet and Tart, as Mom didn't want to start a new size of Lalaloopsies to collect.  That worked just fine for me! :D  I haven't filled out her certificate yet, but I think I'm going to name her Charity. (Kind of a play on "Cherry".  Hmm, I guess I could just name her plain Cherry, too.  I'll have to think about that.) :)

Here she is out of the package with her bottle.  The more I think about it, the more I like the name Cherry.  I think I'll stick with that. ;)  As you can see from this photo, she sits really well.

Getting her to stand was a little more difficult.  Unfortunately, the leg joints are a little weak compared to the arm joints, at least on this particular doll.  That along with her top heavy head makes it difficult to get her to stay in a standing position.  It is possible, it just takes time and patience.

When standing, Cherry is approximately 5 inches tall, counting the tallest part of her hat.  Without the whipped cream and cherry, she's closer to 4 1/2 inches.

Another look at her sweet little face.  

I didn't get pictures of it, but her head can turn back and forth.  It does not move up and down or at an angle.  Her arms can turn all the way around, but they are rather stiff and the angle is such that I didn't feel comfortable turning them all the way backwards, even though they could.  I felt like if I applied too much pressure, I might break something.

Cherry from the back.  

A closer look at her...pie diaper.  (I don't know, a pie diaper just doesn't sound very comfortable.  It wouldn't be much fun to change, either.) ;)

Just so you have an idea of the size differences, here's a picture of Cherry with a Lalaloopsy Little (Specs Reads-a-Lot, on the far left), a mini Lalaloopsy (Forest Evergreen), and a regular-sized Lalaloopsy (Bea Spells-a-Lot).

She does make the perfectly sized newborn Lalaloopsy baby. :)

So, true confessions here.  I was thrilled when my mom gave me Cherry.  I'd been thinking about getting "Giggly" before Mom let me know, but since Cherry was my favorite, I figured I'd just stick with her.  Until I walked into Target and saw this adorable little face.  Then I decided that Cherry might need someone her own size to play with. ;)  I mean, how can you resist that cute little smile? ;) 

Here's Giggly from the back.

See, look how happy they are to be together? ;)  

And just because, here are a couple of baby selfies:

I still haven't come up with a name for Giggly yet.  Any suggestions?

I'm not going to share any thoughts on the Lalaloopsy minis since I've already reviewed them several times before on the blog.  I did want to go over the pros and cons of the Lalaloopsy Newborns, though.  I'll share my thoughts first, and then we'll get some opinions from the Gals. ;)

Pleasing Qualities: 5 out of 5

  I think this is one of my favorite releases from Lalaloopsy, aside from the Minis and Tinies. :)  They have adorable, cheerful little faces and fun details on their hats and diapers.  They're a great size for little hands to play with, or for taking along in a purse or backpack.  My girls are naturally drawn to baby dolls of any type, and they fell in love with these little cuties the instant they saw them.  I'm looking forward to seeing more from the Newborn line in the future.

Posability: 4.5 out of 5

   These dolls have somewhat limited posability, but in my opinion, they don't really need to be super posable.  I think they'll be cuddled more than judged for their articulation. ;)  I did deduct half a point from the posability score because I would love to see MGA Entertainment come up with slightly stronger leg joints in the future so that the Newborns have an easier time standing.  That being said, this did not seem to be a big issue for my girls when they played with the dolls.  The younger two didn't even try to make them stand up, and Oldest Gal only did because I pointed it out to her (I wanted to see what she thought).  Even after I drew her attention to the difficulties, it didn't seem to bother her too much.  So maybe I'm just being a picky collector.  Thankfully, the Newborns sit very nicely, so that works well for those of you, like myself, who like to display our dolls, and for the kiddos who like to play with them, too.

Playability: 5 out of 5

   These have great playability!  They were very appealing to all three girls and fit nicely in their hands.  As I mentioned before, the dolls are a great size for carrying along on a playdate or a car ride.  They work well with the other Lalaloopsy lines, too, which my girls will appreciate.  I can already imagine the Lalaloopsy families that will be formed if my girls get their own Newborn dolls. ;)

Price: 5 out of 5

   The $7.99 price tag is very consistent with other Lalaloopsy pricing, and while I'd love to see them maybe even a dollar less, I don't think the price is outrageous.

Thoughts from the Gals: 

  (Just to let you guys know, we kept the reviews to four sentences for each girl this time around since it was so close to bedtime.  This was a bit of a challenge for my wordy, expressive daughters, but I thought they pulled it off quite nicely.  I also found it amusing that Oldest Gal incorporated the use of semicolons and colons to help extend her limited sentences. ;)  I added two extra questions for each girl to answer as well.  Enjoy!) :)

Oldest Gal (age 10):

   First thing I want to say is these dolls are adorable: their faces are cutsie-wootsie (tee hee), their hats are "sew" cute, and their posability, wow!  Their legs are loose but they hold their position well, and their arms are kind of stiff, but still posable.  Their diapers are very creative.  The funny thing is, they're top heavy and can't stand up (kind of like some kids their age). :D  These dolls are the ideal gift to any Lalaloopsy lover.  

Would you recommend these dolls?

   I would, but I would make sure that your child (or you) is careful with the legs; they can't go back too far.  The arms I wouldn't try to move too quickly, because they are slightly stiff and just might break.  

If you could create a new line of dolls for Lalaloopsy, what would you make?

   I would probably do a series of Mini Lalaloopsies from different countries, complete with cute outfits and adorable accessories.

Middle Gal (age 8): 

   I just adore these adorable little baby dolls.  As for playtime, there's an upside and a downside.  The upside is that they are very flexible, but on the other hand, the downside is that the arms and legs can't move very far backwards.  The price is a little spendy, but otherwise I think they're the best toys that the Lalaloopsy company has made.  

Would you recommend these dolls?

   For careful children, yes, but I probably would not recommend them for children under four, unless they're, like, the model careful child.  

If you could create a new line of dolls for Lalaloopsy, what would you make?

  I would make cats, dogs, kittens, and puppies.  I think if they made them the right size for the big Lalaloopsies, and released some for the mini Lalaloopsies, that would be AMAZING (at least, from my point of view).

Little Gal (age 6):

   I like their cute freckles.  And I like how they're dressed up as things like ice cream, cake, and cherry pie and kittens and stuff.  I like their cute little smiles.  And I like how some of them have little clothespins in their diapers.

Would you recommend these dolls?

   Yes!  A thousand yeses! 

If you could create a new line of dolls for Lalaloopsy, what would you make?

   I would make them as adults.  Mommy and Daddy and Baby Lalaloopsies.  With a house, too.

I hope you enjoyed this look at the newest Lalaloopsy arrivals.  Will any of you be adding them to your Lalaloopsy collection?