Beauty and the Beast 2017 Funko Mystery Minis! :D

I'm so excited, guys! My mom and aunt went to our local Hot Topic yesterday and discovered these ADORABLE new Funko Mystery Minis:

I may possibly have squealed when they sent me the pictures of the boxes from the store. ;)

The front of the box features Chip and Belle.

Gaston and the Beast are on one side...

...and the Prince (eep!) and the Hot Topic Exclusive Village Belle are on the other. 

The back shows all of the available figures from the Hot Topic packages, including three exclusive figures. (I was a little bummed to see they don't have a Cogsworth, even in the non-Hot Topic boxes. Maybe he'll be a Walgreen's exclusive like Rapunzel.)

My aunt bought four packages, and after she and mom called me and told me about them, I had them pick out two for me. :)

My aunt got Celebration Belle first. Isn't she darling? I LOVE this new dress. 

Celebration Belle from the back, complete with baby's breath in her hair. :)

Next, my aunt got the Hot Topic Exclusive Beast. He's cute, but a little grumpy. ;)

Beast from the back.

She also got the other Beast figure. I like him a lot better. :)

Beast #2 from the back.

Each Beast figure has a little tail in the back that sticks out. The detail on these figures is quite amazing.

My aunt's last figure was another Hot Topic Exclusive, this sweet Village Belle with her book.

Belle from the back.

My first figure was Belle in her yellow dress, holding a rose. The interesting thing was, this actually isn't one of the figures that's supposed to be in the Hot Topic boxes! That's okay, though, because she's my favorite out of all the Belles in their yellow dresses. :)

Belle from the back.

A closer look at some of her details:

I was really excited when I felt my next figure through the plastic, because I thought it might be the Prince. 

Sigh. So close. ;) Gaston is super cute, though, so I can't complain. (And I think Luke Evans is going to be INCREDIBLE in this movie.)

Gaston from the back.

Gaston and Village Belle look really cute together.

And so do Belle and "Happy Beast," as I've dubbed him. ;)

My aunt was really sweet and said she'd be willing to trade or let my buy some of her figures since I'm such a big Beauty and the Beast fan. I decided to trade my Gaston for her Happy Beast, and I also bought her Celebration Belle. I'm hoping to eventually find the Prince, Chip, Mrs. Potts, and Lumiere. And maybe another Village Belle. ;) 

AFTERNOON UPDATE: 

Okay, guys, I just couldn't help myself. :} I stopped by Hot Topic before I picked the girls up from school and picked up three more boxes. 

And would you believe I got just what I was hoping for? :D

LeFou, the Prince, and another Belle in her ball gown.

Well, okay, I wasn't hoping for LeFou, but he's still pretty cute. ;)

LeFou from the back.

And he looks great with Gaston.

"And I've got my sight set on that one."

"The inventor's daughter?"

"She's the one! The lucky girl I'm going to marry." 

I could go on, but I think I'll stop there. ;)

The Belle I got was the other Hot Topic exclusive one. I love the way she's lifting her skirt so elegantly. 

Belle from the back.

She looks great with Mimi's Hot Topic Exclusive Beast.

The one I was most excited about was this guy. I was really hoping to find the Prince! :D

The Prince from the back.

A closer look at that fancy hairdo. ;)

Doesn't he look darling with Belle in her Celebration dress?

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS MOVIE TO COME OUT!!! :D

So my aunt and I have worked it out. I'm going to trade my newest Belle in her ball gown for Mimi's Village Belle, and I'm going to trade LeFou for Belle in her Celebration dress. That means I'll have Happy Beast, Belle in her ball gown with the rose, Village Belle, the Prince, and Belle in her Celebration dress. Mimi will have Hot Topic Exclusive Beast, Hot Topic Exclusive Belle in her ball gown, Gaston, and LeFou.

And crazily, I actually now have all of the figures I wanted. It's unheard of in blind bag land! Normally I get a ton of duplicates! I love how these guys look on my shelf, and I'm so thrilled I got the ones I really wanted without having to buy a ton of them. :)

What do you guys think of the new figures? Will you be adding them to your collections? 

Five Amazing Years and a Special Giveaway

Five years ago today, I sat down and started a simple little post on blogger.com. I never dreamed that this seemingly insignificant choice would lead to an amazing online adventure.

It's hard to believe that Never Grow Up has been going for that long. I've seen many blogs come and go over the years. Even in my readership, I've seen a huge turnover. And I totally get it. Keeping something going for this long is a big commitment.

But even thought it can be overwhelming at times, I love this little corner of the internet I've claimed as my own. I've met some incredible people from all over the world, learned about dolls and toys, added extensively to my collections (sorry, Hubby!), improved in my photography and reviewing skills, and have become much more self sufficient on the computer than I ever thought I would be. ;)

Blogoversaries are always a fun time to look back over some of the milestones from over the years. So let's check them out! :)

In five years, I have:

-Accumulated 451 followers (Incredible! I still remember when my main goal was to hit 100.) :)

-Published 934 posts

-Hit 1,662,319 pageviews

-Hit 296 likes on my Facebook page

-Gathered 1,197 Pinterest followers

-Hit 185 YouTube subscriptions

-Reviewed several new toys offered to me for free review, including Zelfs and a Maru and Friends doll :D

The thing is, none of these amazing milestones would have been possible without all of you, my readers. I've never forgotten that, and I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. (I know it's a cliche, but it does a good job of expressing how I feel.) ;) Thanks for sticking with me all of this time. Thank you for your lovely comments and your emails (I do read them even when I'm horrible at responding to them). :} Thank you for following, "liking", reading, and everything else. I wouldn't be where I am today without all of you. :)

                                          **************************************

I thought it would also be fun to share my "bucket list" for this blog. I've already hit a lot of my previous dreams and goals for Never Grow Up, but it's always good to have a few dreams in your pocket, right? ;) Here are a few that would be incredible for the future:

-Just for fun, hitting 500 followers ;)

-Reviewing a Makie

-Reviewing a Limited Edition Disney Store Doll (Maybe I'll be able to afford one by the time they bring out all of the special Beauty and the Beast dolls in 2017, around the time of the live action movie.) ;)

-Attending a D23 Convention and sharing about it on the blog. :)

-Getting some sort of official partnership/sponsorship...I think. It would be nice to receive free items to keep down the expenses of new dolls and toys. However, independently blogging gives me a freedom to share my honest opinions without worrying about what my sponsoring company would think. I guess I'll think about this one some more. ;) (And really, it's a pretty unrealistic dream at this point anyway.)

-Taking my girls to Disneyland and blogging about it. This isn't exactly blogging related, but it is a family goal within the next few years. I haven't been since I was pregnant with Oldest Gal (it would be really nice to go again and NOT be pregnant). ;) The girls have never gone. And of course, I'd take lots of pics to share with all of you. ;)

-Attending the New York Toy Fair and sharing about it on the blog. :D This is my ultimate bucket list item. I don't know if it will ever happen. New York is very far away, and even though I get free admission to the Toy Fair as a blogger, I do NOT get free airfare, hotel and food. ;) Someday, though, it would be awesome to get to go. :)

I don't know if any of these things will ever happen, but that's okay. This blog has already taken me so much farther than I ever thought it would. Even if nothing else happens, I'm so thankful for all I've experienced already. :)

                                                ********************************

I wanted to think of a fun way to thank you guys for the adventure we've shared together. So, in honor of my blogoversary, I'm doing a special giveaway. I've chosen five items that are the typical types of items I review here on the blog. All five will be given away together as one giveaway prize for one of my readers. :D Here's what the giveaway includes:

(Sorry, everyone. Tess is not part of the giveaway. She just thought I might need someone to help display the giveaway items.) ;)

Here are the items individually:

1. A new Fashion Spree Shopkins pack. This is the "Best Dressed" collection. Shopkins are some of our favorites, so of course they had to be a part of the giveaway. ;) (My favorite one in this set is the cute little camera.)

The back of the package. You'll want to save this since it's the only place that has their names! ;) 

2. Candy-Lou the Candy Zelf from Season 5. I'm sure none of you are surprised that a Zelf made it to this giveaway. ;) The Zelfs were the very first toy line offered to me for free review by a company (without my asking first), so they hold a special place in my heart. Plus, they're super adorable. ;) Candy-Lou is one of the brand new Zelfs that has just been released.

The back of Candy-Lou's package.

3. Mini Lalaloopsy Whirly Stretchy Locks. While I haven't reviewed these recently, the mini Lalaloopsies are another of our favorites here at the Never Grow Up house. We hope you enjoy this one. She's kind of in keeping with the candy theme, too. ;) (This prize was supplied by my mom, who has been a huge supporter, fellow doll hunter, and financial provider for my blog since day one. Thanks, Mom! You're the best.) :)

The back of her package.

4. Our Generation "A Day Fur You" 18 inch doll accessory pack. This blog started out primarily as a place that reviewed 18 inch play dolls, so I wanted to pay homage to that. Sadly, shipping an 18 inch doll worldwide was a bit beyond my budget. ;) So instead, here's a fun little pack for your 18 inch dolls with everything they need for a day at the zoo. It includes a pair of sunglasses, a camera, a package of peanuts, a map of the zoo, a little baggie, and a zoo pamphlet. (This prize was also supplied by my mom.) :)

The back of the package.

5. A Funko Mystery Mini Joy in Bing Bong's wagon (a Hot Topic exclusive). I had to get something Disney in here too, of course. ;) Joy is super cute and looks great on display. Her head turns, too. :)

Joy from the back.

I apologize that Joy is opened, but I wanted to make sure it was the figure I wanted for the giveaway. ;) She will come with her original box...

...which shows concept art of all of the available figures from Hot Topic.

Giveaway Rules:

1. This giveaway is WORLDWIDE and open to ANY of my readers. :) One winner will be drawn at random and will receive all five items.

2. If you are under 18 years of age, please get a parent or guardian's permission to enter. I'll need to get your mailing address, and I want to make sure that's okay with them. :)

3. To enter, please leave a comment below with your name or username AND your email address. (Please don't forget your email address. It makes it so much harder for me to let you know you've won if I can't contact you.) Comments containing email addresses will NOT be published.

4. For an extra entry, you can share this giveaway on any form of social media (your blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.). Please come back and leave another comment, telling me where you shared and leaving a link. Otherwise, I won't know to give you your extra entry.

5. The giveaway will be open until Tuesday, August 4th. On Wednesday, August 5th, I will select the winner and contact them via email. The winner will have ONE WEEK to get back to me with their mailing address. If I haven't heard from them by Wednesday, August 12th, a new winner will be chosen.

Just a side note here. I love publishing your personal comments, but I can't do so if they're in the same comment as your email address. If you would enjoy having your comments published, be sure to leave them separately from your entry comment. If it's not a big deal to you, then you can go ahead and keep your comments all together. ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Thank you again for five wonderful years, my friends. Here's to the next five! :D