MONTH IN REVIEW: November 2019

Man, I can't believe 2019 is almost over. What a crazy year.

I'm not planning on any new arrivals over the next 2 days, so let's get into this November review.

Anke was my first bear of the month, but definitely not the last!

I love her pretty honey-colored fur and how it looks with the white. I have two similar bears on layaway. Dan is blue and white and Jill is pink and white. I'm hoping to get both home before the end of the year, but it might be January.

The little darling on the left is one of my early Christmas gifts from Mom. I named him Khons after the Egyptian moon god. I saw him on Facebook, fell in love and was lucky enough to catch him in stock. (Especially because someone else was after him, too!)

The same artist made Axy, who I bought way back in January 2016.

I'm so thrilled I got this girl! Snapdragon is a very limited mohair piece that was only offered to Best Friends Club members. I'm still paying her off, but I think there's only one remaining payment. I'm so thankful for Afterpay, because it's the only way I could afford Sparks and now Snapdragon, too.

She is absolutely incredible though. The detailing on her is just gorgeous.

Leonie was an unplanned buy from an awesome stockist that I've gotten several great deals from. She's one I only recently started liking and then she just happened to turn up from my American friend, so I grabbed her right up.

She's on the wobblier side of wobble jointed, but she's still awesome. Soft and cuddly!

There is a lovely local artist couple, Fourth Branch Studios, that create the most darling little porcelain creatures. I bought the little guy on the right last year during the holiday fair at the ag center, and this year, Mom and I both adopted some newbies. Mom got the big goblin at the back! She just loves him. And I got the little dragon and blep yeti.

I picked up Nopetopus at the same holiday fair. I saw those eyes and knew he needed to come home with me. And I'm glad I found him, because his creator went on and on about how she didn't like him and couldn't believe someone was buying him and she'd never make another one and blah blah blah. Er, maybe not the best sales technique, lady?

I will buy all your judgy plushies. I swear I will.

I took advantage of Killstar's really early Black Friday promotion to grab a coat I'd had my eye on, a ring, and Gate Keeper.

His name is Zuul, because of course it is.

I've been wanting to reread my Little House series books and who better to read them with than Charlotte, Laura's beloved ragdoll?

We'll end with my bear shipment that arrived yesterday.

Tiny 8.5" Caramel is a super exclusive little guy that I think might be sold out worldwide.

He's so petite and adorable!

And he's the first bear in my collection to be my birthday twin. All of them from I forget which year forward have tags that say what day they were made and Caramel is the first to share my birthday.

Beautiful, lush purple Errol is just fantastic. I can't wait to choose his green brother, Flynn!

Grumbleweed is a fabulous plush dragon that is almost every bit as detailed as mohair Snapdragon.

He's SO soft, too! I can't believe how soft his fur is. And he's a cuddler like Snapdragon, too. They're not super heavily stuffed, so they're squishy.

Grumbleweed, little Seraphina and Snapdragon presiding over the mythical beasts shelf. Sparks is peeking over their heads and Oona the unicorn is seated behind Grumbleweed. She's more visible as you walk into my bedroom, because you can see the side of the shelf that way.

Last but not least is this enormous guy. At 21.5", Bryce is my second largest Charlie Bear! I have a handful that are 21", but only Bertha is bigger than Bryce at 25".

Bryce was one I fell for after seeing owner pics. There's just something about him. I think it's the eyes.

He and Jason share a shelf and both of them give me the eyes. They're trouble!

REVIEW: Dragons & Beasties Figures

You guys know I love all means of unnatural creatures. So I kept seeing these little guys pop up in suggested ads on Facebook.

I clicked and looked at one. Then another would appear. Repeat. Repeat.

Finally, I gave in and ordered 5 of the 6 figures on the Hot Topic website. They were doing Buy 1, Get 1 Half Off and it included all the figures but one.

These figures are part of the Dragons & Beasties line. The line itself is much more expansive (I'll put a link at the bottom), but Hot Topic seems to get the best figures.

This is Flurry the Snowflake dragon. She is exclusive to Hot Topic. 

Flurry is 3.5 inches tall and she's super detailed. I love her.

I love the tiny tongue sticking out and the gorgeous snowflake wings and the tip on her tail.

She's very reasonably-priced at $9.90. They all are. Right now, the B1G1 sale is over, but all the figures (except that pesky one) are 20% off.

Here's Spark. She's an artist who loves anything "eerie and rainbow."

Spark comes with a paint can dripping with rainbow colors. Her paintbrush can be removed from the can.

And she can hold it!

Spark is 3" tall, as are all the others except Flurry.

The next three are all in a similar style. They have less detailed eyes than Spark and Flurry, but are just as cute.

This is Hugo the young hippogriff, who for some reason loves movies, so he has popcorn with him.

All of these have their tails curled on the same side. (Spark actually does, too, but Flurry's is on the opposite side.)

Then we have little Ember the phoenix chick. She's been practicing her fire-breathing and her bunny toy, Tuggles, has seen some of that action.

Seriously, I love the burnt off ear. So hilarious.

Ember has gorgeous detailing and colors.

And finally, there's Misty the sea dragon. This is actually the one that won me over and got me to buy them all.

Misty comes with a cute little treasure box.

From the side. She's so cute.

So there's a lot more in store for Dragons & Beasties. I'm not sure how many of the products are going to Hot Topic or if some will just be on the regular D&B site.

In mid-late December, there will be a blind box release of 10 gem dragons. These are adorable standing dragons who each hold a gemstone.

Then in late January, they're doing PLUSHIES. You know I'm down for those. Misty the sea dragon and Ember the phoenix are two of them, along with Blaze, who's an adorable blue and purple dragon.

PHOTO CREDITS: Mine

RECOMMENDED LINKS:
https://dragonsandbeasties.com/

NEWS: Hairdorables 18" line

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hairdorables-18-Mystery-Fashion-Doll-Willow/227851646

This was spotted by one of the members of my Hairdorables Facebook group!

Walmart has 18" dolls in the works. No idea if these will be a Walmart exclusive or not.

The price is a very reasonable $34.97.

Each doll comes in a "classic" outfit, has a mystery pair of pajamas, and some hidden accessories.

Willow is the only one with a listing so far, but Noah is also mentioned.

I'm not sure how I feel about these, because look at that picture. She is so stinkin' CUTE! But 18" is ginormous. That's American Girl size. I would have felt better with a more comfortable 14" like Glitter Girls and other lines.

I don't have room for a ton of giant dolls, so I may pick up neither or just one or who knows, maybe both. They would look cute on the top of one of my bookcases.

PHOTO CREDITS: Walmart

REVIEW: Disney Store Ariel & Sisters set

As some of you may know, I'm a sucker for anything involving Ariel's sisters. I don't care for Ariel much. She's possibly my least favorite princess. But I love her sisters! Part of that love comes from the early 90s chapter book series that takes place before the movie. I actually do like Ariel in the books. I just hate the poor decisions she made in the movie.

So I was excited to see another new doll set with the sisters. This first appeared only on Disney Store UK, but finally made it to the US.

We'll take a quick look at the structure of the dolls first, then move on to the individual sisters.

The dolls are about 7" tall. They're visibly jointed at the neck, shoulders and elbows. They also have two joints hidden in their tails!

Andrina (left) is posed with the waist joint in its default place, while Alana has it clicked back. They still can't sit, but the articulation allows for some variety in their posing. There's also a "knee" joint, which can be clicked either forward or backward. Andrina has hers backward and Alana's is forward.

Here's Alana from the back.

Each doll has one fabric accessory.

There is a bit of variation in skintone between the dolls' heads and their bodies. It's more apparent on some than others.

I'm going to start with Ariel to get her out of the way. Heh.

Ariel has the longest, silkiest hair by far. It was heavily gelled in the box and these photographs were taken after I washed the gel out and let her hair dry.

Each character has a distinct face with different variations. Open or closed mouths. Different glances. Different eyebrow positions. Different coloration. All the sisters originally had the same eye color, but they now have different ones, just like their age order is always changing.

Ariel's fabric accessory is a pink flower in her hair, which I've left attached to her head.

Her eyes are a side-glancing dark blue. She has a stripe of orange eyeshadow. She's the only one with a somewhat normal eyebrow position. The others all have one eyebrow raised. Ariel's brows are a light brown. She's one of the four sisters to have an open mouth and she's the only one with this raspberry shade of lipstick.

Aquata's accessory is this giant blue thing like what she wears in her musical number in the movie.

I'm so glad they finally made a new set of dolls that actually look mostly right! I refused to buy the set where they all had the same long hair. Aquata is a good example of how well they did the hair. Her brown hair is back in a ponytail and her bangs are actually curled up. In the animation, they do curl back, so good job on that, Disney.

Aquata has forward-glancing brown eyes with an orange eyeshadow that has a tinge of brown in it. It's less orange than Ariel's. Her closed lips are rosy pink. Her dark brown eyebrows have the left one raised.

Aquata, like the other ponytailed characters, did have a lot of gel in her hair. I washed it out and it came out nicely.

Andrina's fabric accessory is a pink frill that represents whatever the thing is she wears on her head in the movie. I've never known what that is. Is it a shell? Fabric? How does it stay on? Andrina's hair has always been a bit of a mystery, because I'm never sure if she has an updo or if she's short-haired. In the original movie, she looks short-haired, but the pink thing could be covering up a bun.

Anyway, they did good with her hair. She's got a tiny updo in the back and the bangs represent her little spike of bangs well.

Andrina has dark hazel eyes and she's got sort of a blended glance. Her eyeshadow is the same orange tinged with brown that Aquata wears.

Andrina has dark blonde eyebrows with the left raised.

Her lipstick is kind of a brick red color.

Arista, the paler blonde sister, also had a gelled ponytail like Aquata. Hers was really curled though so it washed out a bit wilder. I wish they'd done her bangs better. Arista usually has a big floop of bangs in her face.

She has a pink...thing on her head. They should have given her a cool ponytail holder or something. Hers is easily the worst of the fabric pieces.

Arista also got the short end of the stick in the eyes department. I'm not sure how they thought this worked. And it's even more obvious, because her eyes are really light blue.

Here you can see the raised eyebrow expression a bit better. She has a more distinctly raised eyebrow than Aquata. Her brows are a medium brown, not a dark blonde like Andrina's.

Arista's eyeshadow is a very pale pink and her lips are the same brick red as Andrina's.

Ah, Attina. Attina is my favorite sister, followed very closely by Adella.

She has a short lighter brown updo and her fabric accessory is an orange mesh ruff that somehow approximates the spiky tiara she wears.

Attina has bright green eyes that side glance. Her eyeshadow is a pale purpley-pink.

Her lipstick is the same rosy pink as Aquata's.

Attina has an unusual set of eyebrows, which are medium brown in color. Only two of the girls have them like this. You can see the right brow in this photo and it has a tiny quirk. The other sisters, except one, all have a straighter brow for the one not being raised. I love the expression this gives her!

And here's my second favorite sister!

Adella's fabric accessory is a yellow ruff, which fits her personality perfectly.

She has dark brown hair in a ponytail and a little bit of bangs. Adella in the animation has odd bangs, so I'm glad they toned them down like this.

Adella has side-glancing green eyes like Attina, but Adella's are a bit darker. They share the same purpley-pink eyeshadow color, too.

Adella's lips are brick red, so all the open-mouthed girls except Ariel use this same shade of lipstick. Mine has a tiny paint flaw. Of course it had to be Adella! Argh. I'm going to try to fix it someday.

And Adella is the other one like Attina with the one quirked eyebrow! Love it! The best expressions on my two favorites. Adella actually is the only one to have her right eyebrow raised.

Last but not least is Alana. She has a fabric ruff like Adella, only hers is pink. I'm not sure why they chose this for her and not something to try to approximate her little pink tiara.

Alana has shorter black hair that's pulled back, but not in her signature short sausage curls.

Alana is super adorable. She's my favorite after Attina and Adella.

Her side-glancing eyes are a lovely periwinkle shade with very light pink eyeshadow.

She's got the same rosy pink lips as Aquata and Attina, so all the closed-mouth girls have the same lipstick shade.

Her dark brown brows are the darkest of the sisters. Adella's are a touch lighter than Alana's. She has her left brow raised, but I think it's the most subtle of the eyebrow raises.

I love this set. It has its limitations and imperfections, but it's still decidedly the best representation of Ariel and her sisters since the pin-up-style Ariel & Her Sisters line from many years ago. The set is currently sold out on Shop Disney, but it is in stock on Amazon for $49.95. I'd recommend ordering it there, because it took the Disney Store a freakin' week just to ship mine out. I love that Amazon Prime is now doing Disney Store items!

PHOTO CREDITS: Mine.

REVIEW: My Little Pony Pony Life Magical Mane Rarity

The pony collector community has been in an uproar the past few days over this new style of toy.

There was an official announcement yesterday that there would be a new show with the G4 (Friendship Is Magic) characters coming in 2020. The animation style is even more exaggerated than the typical G4 style and people are freakin' up in arms.

Now let me tell you something. I've been collecting since I was a kid, when the original ponies came out. I've been in the collecting community every time there's been a new version. And every time it's the same damn thing. People complain about change. That is the true constant in the MLP fandom. "Oh, is there a new version? We're going to hate it."

I guess I'm different in that I don't mind change one bit. I've liked every gen of ponies. (Yes, even G3.5.) I like this one, too.

I pre-ordered all the small ponies on Amazon, except Trixie, who was either already out of stock or had never been in stock. I had the bigger Pinkie in there, too, but cancelled her. I really don't need a lot of bigger ponies.

However, Rarity and Rainbow Dash have been left out of the first release, being replaced by Trixie and a new character called Potion Nova.

So I opted to do something a little out of collecting character and buy the big gimmicky pony. This Magical Mane Rarity is the only one actually in stock right now. She was $21.49, so she's not cheap either.

Rarity comes with a brush with foldable handle, a spray bottle and a little packet filled with 10 mystery accessories. The blind bag craze has even stretched into regular toy accessories now, I guess.

Rarity's mane and tail are connected, so when you pull on one to make it longer, the other shortens.

The white streaks in her hair are white in warmer temps, but if you spray them with cold water, they turn blue. (I like this because the white looks good in her hair and the blue reminds me of Glory.)

Or if she sits outside in the package hub in the cold weather, they're blue. They were blue when I opened the box. Heh.

I like the little furry bits above the hooves. I like the big eyes and cute face.

Her hair is decent condition, though it could be fuller, but with the gimmick, possibly it can't.

The 10 surprises are 3 hairbands, 6 barrettes and a sticker. I presume that's a sticker anyway. Yay for Opal.

I don't mind these because they're good for other dolls. I can always use bands like that because older dolls' hairbands break all the time. And the barrettes are pretty cute.

I don't have all my pony stuff out, but I was able to find these guys to pose with new Rarity to show how huge she is.

I'm looking forward to more from this line. I realized that the reason I like it so much is that it reminds me of the art of Jay Fosgitt, who was my favorite artist on the pony comic. (That I sadly fell behind reading a long time ago.)

Not exactly the same, of course, but there's a similarity.

Yep, bring me on some new style pony toys, Hasbro.

How about Maud in this style? Please?

PHOTO CREDITS: Mine. Comic panels from MLP issue #29.