Shopkins Season 4 and Shopkins Happy Meal Toys

The Monday before Christmas, I was able to do some last-minute kid-free shopping. I popped into Target (which, as you can probably tell, tends to be the best local place to go for the newest stuff) and found Season 4 Shopkins! :D

I hadn't heard anything about Season 4 online, so it was a complete surprise to see them in the store. I grabbed three twelve-packs to wrap up for the girls, and also grabbed three of the blind bag double packs. (I also assisted a couple of dads who were trying to finish up their shopping and were wondering about Shopkins. It's always fun being an honorary employee.) ;)

  

The packaging is quite different this time around.

The newest additions to the Shopkins figures are the "Petkins," Shopkins that are a combination of household item/food and pet. I seem to remember Polly Pocket doing something similar in their line in the early 2000s. 

A look at the ten visible Shopkins...

...and more box details. As you can see from the picture, you get one Shopkin and one Petkin as your surprise figures.

Another shot of the front...

...and one of the sides. 

Here's the back of the package...

...and some closer details: 

This time around, we have the Ultra Rare "Shimmy Shopkins."

There are also the Limited Edition "Perfume Pretties." I've pretty much resigned my self to the fact that I will never find a Limited Edition Shopkin. I think that's about as likely as my finding and Ultra Rare Zelf. ;)

Since I wrapped these as gifts, I didn't open them right away for review. And as you can imagine, it was a bit difficult to find everyone's Shopkins after the chaos of Christmas morning. ;) But here are some of the Shopkins from all three packs. :)

As usual, the Shopkins come with a "shopping list" so you can check off the ones you have: 

As you can see from the list, the Petkins are obviously the big push this time around. To be perfectly honest, as an adult collector, I don't find the Petkins quite as appealing. The girls, however, think they're adorable, so that's the important thing. I'm not exactly the target market. ;) And really, I don't NEED any more Shopkins anyway. ;)

One really smart thing that Moose Toys has done with each season of Shopkins is to change up the accessories that hold the surprise Shopkins. Season 1 came with blue shopping bags and baskets. Season 2 had purple bags and purple baskets. In Season 3, they redesigned the shopping bags and baskets and gave them new colors. This season, they've switched to these sparkly, see-through cases. 

Each case has a handle on top...

...and a clear plastic front that slides open.

You can put your Shopkins inside for a fun way to display them.

The containers are stackable, so you can add as many stories as you like.

They also changed up the blind bag packs. This time around, the blind bag Shopkins are in crates.

They still come with two figures. They are now wrapped in see-through plastic, so once you open the cardboard covering, you can see which ones you got without having to wait until you open the plastic sacks. 

As I've shared before, the Shopkins make great doll-sized toys.

The crates work pretty well for 18" dolls, too.

And so do the display cases. I was thinking it would be fun to do a set up of a few display cases in one of my doll rooms. ;)

The Shopkins fun doesn't end there! Shopkins are also the current Happy Meal toy at McDonald's. For some reason, my girls and I have been eating at McDonald's more often than usual this past week. ;)

Here's a look at the cute Shopkins art on the Happy Meal box.

And a view of it open. The other sides of the box feature the new weird Happy Meal guy and the current boy toys, "Rabbids." (Kinda creepy looking, in my humble opinion.) ;)

At the top of the box is a punch-out Tiara.

You can wear her as a ring. :)

Here's the toy! :D

This one was marked #1.

Each Shopkin toy comes with a visible Shopkin, a basket or bag, a surprise Shopkin in blue plastic, and a shopping list checklist.

This time around, I got Promy, the pink pumps. I love the fact that the shoes come in pairs at McDonald's. It does make me think they should come with two names, though. Don't you agree? ;)

Promy from the other angles: 

I got a blue shopping basket with this set.

It's much larger than the regular-sized baskets.

Here it is with a normal one for comparison.

You can also get shopping bags in pink or green. These are also much larger than the regular ones (pictured on the left).

Time to open my surprise Shopkin! 

I got Bella La Ball. :) 

I think the dress Shopkins are so cute. I wonder if they'll start doing these in the regular sizes, too?

Bella from the back.

All of the McDonald's Shopkins have the special Shopkins stamp on them.

They also have a square hole in the bottom.

You could probably tell from the size of the Shopkin in my hand, but the McDonald's Shopkins, like their shopping bags, are much larger than regular ones. Here is the adorable Carrie Clutch next to a regular waffle Shopkin (sorry, I don't remember her name). :}

The McDonald's Shopkins list looks just like the regular ones, although there are fewer Shopkins on it: 

As far as I can tell, the rare McDonald's Shopkins are more like the Ultra Rare regular Shopkins, and the Ultra Rare McDonald's ones are like the Limited Edition regular ones.

Which is why I was totally thrilled when I ended up with this adorable cutie:

I normally don't find the super rare ones. It was so fun to open the plastic and find her inside! :)

True confessions: we've been to McDonald's five times this week. Excessive, I know. It's not something we're planning on continuing. Two lunches, two dinners, and one breakfast, if that makes it sound any better. ;) Each of those times we got four toys (one for each of the girls and one for me). Out of that many purchases, we've found one Rare and one Ultra Rare. Just to give you an idea of the odds.

What really impressed me about these Shopkins is their quality. It brings to mind the nicely-made fast food toys from when I was growing up. They're all made of heavy plastic and are pretty well-painted. Some of them could have a little more detail in their coloring, but overall, we're very pleased with them. The blind bag aspect makes it fun, too. :)

So, that's all for now. I hope to get at least one more post in (and catch up on blog comments) before the big hiatus, so you'll hear from me again before I break for the month. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend and a Happy New Year. :) 

Anyone suddenly feeling like McDonald's? ;)