Toy Treats (Barbie Fashionistas, AG Mega Bloks, and My Little Pony)

Over the past couple of months, I've added a few random things to my toy collection and don't really have enough photos for a full-blown blog post. I thought I'd go ahead and combine the pics for a random toy-themed post. ;)

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First up, last month I FINALLY got the "Crazy for Coral" Barbie Fashionista doll I pre-ordered in February. 

Coral is one of the Petite dolls.

I was surprised by how long her hair was. It's much shorter in the stock photo. I don't mind the extra length, though. :)

She appears to have the current Skipper face mold.

This picture is a little blurry, but shows the length of her hair from the back. 

And one artsy shot, just because. ;)

My mom stopped at Toys R Us in April, and while there was able to pick up this Barbie Fashionistas pamphlet.

The first couple of pages show a group shot of the dolls and explain some of the changes made to the Barbie lineup. 

What I like best about the pamphlet is that it gives the release month for each of the dolls. 

Even though these ones say June, I've already seen "So Sporty" at my local Target. I didn't get her because I couldn't quite justify the $19.99 price tag for a doll with basic articulation, even with the extra outfits and the fun, curvy body.

"Pizza Pizzazz" was at Target, too. :)

So, those of you interested in both a collector's checklist and handy information about the release dates of your favorite Fashionistas might want to stop by Toys R Us and see if they have any of these pamphlets left. :)

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Back in February, when photos and videos from the Toy Fair were turning up, we got some news about the upcoming American Girl playsets by Mega Bloks. So far, my family's only had success finding them at Toys R Us, but I believe they are supposed to make their way to other stores in the future. 

When they first showed up at Toys R Us last month, my mom snagged some of the individual dolls, Saige's Art Studio, and Grace's Pastry Cart. I didn't do review photos of either of the bigger sets, but I did take a look one of the individual dolls, just to give you an idea of what they're like. 

This doll is #1 from Series 1. She has long, blonde hair, green eyes, and kind of olive/fair skin. Each of the individual dolls come with a stand and an extra accessory, such as a skirt or hair. This particular doll comes with extra hair in black.

A closer look at the packaging: 

The back of the package.

There are eight individual dolls in Series 1, shown on the pamphlet here (included inside the packaging).

The other side shows you how to put your doll together/take her apart, and how you can mix and match her with other dolls.

A closer look.

Here is my doll out of the package with her hair and stand.

Her feet fit perfectly on the bumps of the stand.

Her hair is removable.

She has a hole in the top of her head...

...and a peg on each of her hairpieces that fits inside the hole.

Here she is with her darker hair.

The level of detail and flexibility on these little dolls is really something. They can move at the head, shoulders, wrists, waist, and knees.

Here are a few more examples of her articulation: 

They can be pulled almost completely apart for mix and match fun. (Kind of a creepy picture, though!) ;)

The Mega Bloks dolls make perfect mini dolls for regular AGs, like Charlie here.

The bigger dolls can hold them in their hands.

I was surprised to see the size difference between the Lego Friends (pictured on the left) and the AG Mega Bloks (pictured on the right). Before seeing them together, I had assumed they would be the same.

Although I didn't do detailed review photos of my mom's bigger sets, I did take a couple of individual pictures.

Here is Saige's Art Studio (with an extra friend stopping by for a visit)...

...and here is Grace's Pastry Cart. 

I think this is a very clever move for American Girl. Producing mini AG dolls in Mega Bloks form will make AG affordable and more accessible to the masses. I also think the use of past Girl of the Year dolls is brilliant. Most of us couldn't afford Grace's Bakery, but we can get Grace's Pastry Cart. ;) I hope to see them release items from other GOTY characters in the future, such as Jess and Mia.

The individual dolls are priced at $3.99 each. Grace's Pastry Cart was $9.99, and Saige's Art Studio was $19.99. Unfortunately, the bigger sets are pretty pricey (but still cheaper than they'd be at full scale). ;) You can check out all of the currently available AG Mega Bloks items on Toys R Us' website HERE.

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To wrap things up, today I popped into Barnes and Noble and found a little treasure to take home. ;) 

For the past several months, I've been eyeing THIS retro mini Firefly set there, tempted to purchase her. However, I was concerned by the less-than-stellar stock image on the back of the box (you can see the image when you click the link). Firefly's face mold looked all wrong, and there was no way for me to open the box before purchase.

Then, today I found a mini Glory with a much more convincing stock photo on the back, so I decided to take a chance and buy her. I'm so glad I did. :)

Being my typical, nerdy, little girl self when it comes to ponies, I could NOT wait until I got home to open her, so I took a few shots of the box in the car. ;) Here's the front of her little box...

...and here's the back.

And here is the adorable, PERFECT little replica of one of the ponies of my childhood. Isn't she darling?

Here she is from the other side.

She also came with a little mini book.

Once I got home, I decided to do things "properly" and get better pics. ;)

The box: 

Glory, her comb, and her book. (I love that she comes with her comb, too. It looks just like the ones the original ponies used to come with.)

The book is super cute.

It includes new illustrations and captions in a retro style:

And also photos of original packaging art from the 1980s:

It was so much fun seeing some of these images again! :)

So let's take a closer look at little Glory.

Here she is, free from packaging. As you can see, her head is a slightly different shade of white than her body. This was definitely more noticeable in photos than in real life.

I can't get over how close this little face looks to the original!

She even has her original sparkly cutie marks (unfortunately with a bit of rubbing on one section).

Here she is from all sides: 

My only real complaint is the craziness and extra length of her mane. 

Unlike the original ponies of this era, Glory's head can turn. :)

Here she is next to my full-sized Glory. Original Glory was a thrift store rescue, so she looks quite dingy next to her miniature counterpart. ;) Didn't they do a great job capturing the original look, though?

What I love most about these ponies is that they are the PERFECT size for my AG and other 18 inch dolls. :D Now my 18 inch girls can have some of the same ponies I did! :)

Glory rests perfectly in Emma's hand.

The scale is pretty close to accurate, too. here's my original Glory in my hand...

...compared to little Glory in Emma's hand. Not bad, right? :)

I decided something needed to be done about little Glory's wild mane, so I wet it down, wrapped it around one leg, and held it in place with a hair band. I'll leave it in for a few hours and see if that helps tame her hair some. ;)

The mini MLPs are currently at Barnes and Noble for $9.95 each. Well worth the price, I feel, for such an accurate little replica of my childhood friends. ;) These would make great gifts for MLP fans and collectors or doll collectors who want vintage ponies for their dolls. :)

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That's all for now, folks! I'll be sharing a little more this week if I can, before I head off for a mini writing retreat over the weekend. :) Talk to you all again soon. :)