Monday, October 14, 2013

Lala-Pony-Palooza Month: Lalaloopsy Crumbs Sugar Cookie Review

Okay, we've had a week of My Little Pony fun...now it's on to some Lalaloopsy fun! :)

I thought I would start with a review of one of the regular or "traditional"-sized Lalaloopsies.  Unfortunately, this review won't be quite as extensive as some of my others since I've never purchased a big Lalaloopsy brand new.  Actually, now that I think about it, Middle Gal did purchase one brand new on her birthday trip last year.  For some reason, though, she didn't want to wait to open it until I'd gotten extensive pictures for a blog review. ;)

Today we'll be reviewing Crumbs Sugar Cookie:


Some of you may remember that last Christmas, the only thing Middle Gal wanted was a Lalaloopsy doll.  At this point in time, I wasn't really a fan of the Lalaloopsies.  I didn't know much about them and they didn't appeal to me at first.  Part of this was due to unfortunate timing.  When the Lalaloopsy (or Bitty Buttons, as they were originally called) dolls first came out, it was about a year after the "Coraline" movie was released.  I did not see or read Coraline (and have no interest in doing so), but seeing the preview and reading the online review was enough to creep me out.  So when I saw little smiling dolls with button eyes, that's all I could think of. :}

I managed to resist them for the first couple years of their release, but when Middle Gal kept talking about how much she wanted one, I started doing a little more research.  The more I learned about the dolls, the more impressed I was.  I loved the fact that they were sweet little rag dolls with cute clothing and innocent pastimes.  They brought to mind stories like Raggedy Ann and Andy.

The story behind the Lalaloopsies is that they are rag dolls that magically came to life when their last stitch was sewn.  Each doll has a name that relates to their personality or habits, and is said to be sewn from material that fits with their theme.  They also have a birthday (the day they were sewn) that reflects their personality.


For example, Crumbs Sugar Cookie loves to bake sweet treats for all of her friends.  She was sewn on National Cookie Day from pieces of a baking apron.  

Each of the Lalaloopsy characters has a similar backstory, which is one of the first things that impressed me about them.  I love it when toy companies go the extra mile to give their dolls something unique.  As I was doing my research, I had fun just reading through all of the profiles on the Lalas. :)

Now that I had the background on the dolls, I saw them with new eyes.  I knew with their sweet, childlike themes and fun clothing, pets and accessories, they'd be a great addition to our doll family here at the Never Grow Up house. :)  When my mom and I found Crumbs at Goodwill for $2.99 and her pet mouse for 49 cents, I was thrilled.  It was wonderful to find Middle Gal the gift she really wanted for such an amazing price. :)

So now that we have a bit of background, let's get on to the review! :)

The traditional Lalaloopsies are made entirely of plastic.  They move at the head, shoulders, and hips.  Their heads can turn from side to side and also rock from side to side, almost like a bobble-head (but without the spring).  Their arms can move back and forth, all around, and out to the side. 

Their legs can move back and forth but not side to side.  Their feet and shoes are molded in such a way that their toes turn inward.  

Side note here:  I discovered shortly after I purchased Crumbs that these were not her original shoes.  (I believe these ones belong to Jewel Sparkles.)  Crumbs' usual shoes are a pair of pink lace-up boots/high tops.

Even though the dolls are made of plastic, they have eyes that look like buttons, hair that looks like yarn, and smiles that are stitched on, giving them the appearance of a rag doll.

The back of Crumbs' head is marked "TM & [copyright sign] 2009 MGA Entertainment".

Crumbs' adorable yellow gingham dress has Velcro closure in the back and is very easy to remove.

Here she is without her clothing.

She has painted on underwear and a little x "stitched" into her tummy for a belly button.

She has quite a few identifying marks on her back...

...and even more on the seat of her underwear.  The 12-4 is her birthday, December 4th, National Cookie Day. :)  

This answered another of my questions.  I wondered as I was reading through the doll profiles if they just made up random days to fit the dolls' personalities.  The answer was no.  They actually used real holidays, national days, and birthdays (such as Henry Ford's birthday for Ace Fender Bender) for their dolls' birthdays.  (You can Google "When is National Cookie Day?" and December 4th will come up.) ;)

Crumbs has a pet mouse that thankfully happened to be in Goodwill at the same time she was. ;)  As you can see, he (or she?) also has a stitched appearance, from the pretend button eyes to the threaded look around his/her edges.

Crumbs' shoes...or I guess I should say Jewel's shoes...are really cute.

They even have an "R" and an "L" on them so little girls can tell which shoe goes on which foot (and practice learning "left" and "right" at the same time). :)

The shoes and socks are molded together and come off of Crumbs' feet fairly easily (there is a slit in the plastic in the back to make removal easier).

Her feet are a little funny looking without her shoes, though. :}

The traditional Lalaloopsies are right around 12 inches tall from head to toe (some are a little taller depending on their hairstyle).  Here is Crumbs next to Emma, one of my American Girl dolls, for comparison. 

So, my overall thoughts on the traditional Lalaloopsies?  I think they're really cute and the girls enjoy them.  I love the story behind them and their fun clothing, pets, and accessories.  The main complaint I have with them is that their heads are so large that they are extremely top-heavy.  This can make playtime a little frustrating, especially when the girls are trying to set them up.  And like other larger dolls, they do take up a bit of space, so we've decided to limit how many traditional Lalas come stay at our house (especially since displaying or storing them can be difficult with the big-headed issue). :)

The traditional Lalas usually sell for between $26 and $32, depending on the doll and how exclusive it is.  Costco has some of the newer traditional Lalas right now for around $20, which is a great price for them.  I must admit, I've been spoiled with finding them at Goodwill, so I have a hard time paying full price for them. ;)

We love our traditional Lalas, but we love our mini Lalas even better!! ;)  I'll talk about some of our mini Lala collection in the next post, so stay tuned! :)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great review! I have Crumbs, too, but her dress is different than yours. I also have Blossom Flowerpot; I found them both at the same garage sale for $3 each, no pets. I was thrilled to find them, because I think they are cute but I didn't want to pay full price for them. I did buy a good selection of the minis--they are fun, too.

Bella said...

CUTE! I am in love with adorable dolls :) Never too old for them :)

-Belle

The Dolls said...

I was never really interested in Lalaloopsies, Except for the one I won on your blog giveaway, that was an awesome giveaway, and mini lala btw. ;)

The Dolls said...

Commenting again, my Rapunzel doll I ordered came! I'm super happy, thank you so much for answering ally my questions, I love my doll! But, the first time I bent her knee joints, one of her leg joints broke! I'm not the upset, your Robby and my Rapunzel will just have something in common, ;)

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Congrats on your great finds, Cindybin! :) I agree, paying $3 each instead of $20 something each is a lot nicer! ;) We love the minis because they are so cute and small and are easy to take along on trips and things. :)

I agree, Belle: you're never too old for dolls...obviously, since I have so many dolls myself. ;)

Hi The dolls! :) Lalaloopsies will not appeal to everyone, of course. Everyone has different tastes. :) I'm glad you're enjoying the one you won, though. ;)

I'm so sorry to hear about your Rapunzel's leg! :( The Disney Store has an excellent customer service line if you feel like calling them. They're always eager to help when you have a problem with your order, especially when it's defective. I understand if you don't mind, but I'm pretty sure you could get a replacement if you called and explained the situation.

misspiggy=awesome said...

Hi! I like the Lalas. I want a mini one! Guess what? I went into a thrift store today and found the Girl of Today 2000 Urban Outfit without the socks and vest for $10! :D They also had a TON of AG books and an Our Generation (I think) one of those doll seats that hooks onto the table! Now I know where to look for AG stuff. XD
(If you click my name, it's the first outfit you see)

Michele said...

I Love Crumbs Sugar Cookie, she has always been my most favorite of all the Lalaloopsies! I have two versions of the mini ones but, I don't have any of the larger Lalas. I agree they would take up alot of room and they are somewhat pricey, but if I found one at a yard sale or Goodwill for around $3 dollars I would snatch her up and bring her home! Thanks for the review, enjoyed it :)

N said...

I understand your initial disinterest in the dolls - "Coraline" is a little disturbing! Crumbs is pretty cute, and so is her mouse. I can't wait to see the other reviews.

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Congratulations, misspiggy=awesome!! What a great find! :) Those are the best days. ;)

Hi Michele! I really like Crumbs, too. She's got such a sweet little dress and hairstyle. I have a mini Crumbs myself and absolutely love her. Glad you enjoyed the review! :)

Hi N! :) Glad I'm not the only one who found "Coraline" unappealing. :}

So glad you're looking forward to the upcoming posts! :)

Nina said...

I love Lalaloopsies! I have Coral Seashells and Marina Anchors full sized, and countless minis! I didn't like them at first, until I saw them in person. I then added four to my Christmas wish list:)

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Nina! I really love Lalaloopsies, too, especially the minis. Sounds like you have a fun collection! :)

Mark Patraw said...

I purchased Crumb Sugar Cookie's full-sized pet mouse last week, and, looking at your review, I noticed that, while the bodies appear to be the same, the tail on yours is significantly different than the one on mine. Yours is much thinner, and it doesn't look poseable, while mine has a much thicker, ribbed, rubbery one with an internal wire armature so that it can be flexed into different positions. I'm just curious if you know if that was a running change, made by MGA, over time, or if maybe mine came from a special version of the doll or something?

Here are some photos of my Lalaloopsy rodent, if you want to compare:
Crumb Sugar Cookie's Mouse

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Mark! It looks like you ended up with the Mouse that came with the Silly Hair edition of Crumbs Sugar Cookie. Silly Hair Crumbs had hair identical to your mouse's tail that allowed for different silly styles. All of the Silly Hair dolls came with pets that had the same sort of ribbed, rubbery parts, either as tails, ears, or other body parts.

I found a stock photo of Silly Hair Crumbs HERE.

Hope this helps! :)

Mark Patraw said...

Many thanks, that's definitely the information I needed! I was not aware that there was a Silly Hair sub-line of Lalaloopsy dolls. I'm pretty sure I saw one of those in a thrift store one time, but I just assumed that the bendy hair was a one-off thing for that character, not a whole wave of toys, and it never occurred to me that there was a connection with the pets. Whichever one it was, her articulated locks struck me as medusa-like, and they also reminded me of Dr. Octopus's (the Spider-man super villain) mechanical arms. Anyway, thanks again for educating me on this matter!

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

You're welcome! :) I don't really care for the Silly Hair line myself, just because it makes the already top-heavy Lalaloopsy dolls even more difficult to play with and/or display. My three daughters seem to prefer the regular dolls, too. It is interesting seeing all of the different variations of the Lalaloopsy line, though. :)