MONTH IN REVIEW: December 2016

Shibajuku Girls Yoko and Suki 

Ah, the final month of 2016. At last! What an insane year. 

December began with me acquiring my second Shibajuku Girl. Yoko wanted a friend, so I got her Suki, who quickly got redressed in something Yoko approved of. No other Shibajukus are on the horizon until more come out. The company told me different retailers are getting different assortments. 

Spacepop Day was celebrated December 3rd with me doing reviews of all five dolls. These five grace my coffee table in one of the prime spots. I still think they're gorgeous.

Spacepop Day!

I found new Happy Places Shoppies figures on December 4th, which led to my excitement over the Kirstea doll, which I finally got to review only two days ago. I also hunted down Lippy Lulu, who proved rather hard to find. I located her completely randomly in Booksamillion.

Kalia joins the mermaid gang

Kalia (purple hair) returned home on December 7th. I bought her, Nesia (pink hair) and Tala (green hair) when they first came out many years ago, but sold all three and never bought the second set of three mermaids, all of which I sorely regret. I've been collecting fixer-upper dolls, except for Amarea (blue hair) who I got boxed, for a few years now. I was finally lucky enough to find an almost complete Kalia in excellent condition, so now I only need Coralia!

I was shocked to see Karai in Walmart! I've been wanting her figure ever since her debut on the show and it's pretty ridiculous that it took so long to get her made in human form.

That same night, I bought Wave 4 of Series 1 of the Monster High minis, completing that set. I still don't have the Halloween ones, but I've given up on them. Series 2 hasn't showed up in my area yet either.

Lilydoll Arden

Arden arrived to join the rest of my Lilydoll collection. I'm absolutely thrilled to own her at last! Now we just need to track down Meriel...

Then came the reviews. No pictures for those girls, since you've seen them all here: Attractionistas Holly, Electrified Twyla and Clawdeen, all the LOL Surprises.  

And of course on December 22nd, I posted about American Girl Lea.

I feel you, Branch.

Late December has been a rough month for me, so I purchased Build-a-Bear grumpy Branch from Trolls, even though I haven't seen the movie yet. He seems like my sort of character.

I got a lot of vinyl figures near the end of the month. I had pre-ordered Pop Vinyl Cleo de Nile and the Rock Candy trio of Frankie, Draculaura and Clawdeen, all from Funkos new Monster High ventures. I still don't know why they made Clawdeen orange...

My mom also found me the six DC Superhero Girls minis at Walmart for less than $5 each!

DCSG minis on my corner shelf

I also ordered four of the newest Monster High Mega Bloks characters: Abbey, Nefera, Ari and Twyla (appearing for the second time). Thanks, Mattel Shop for having them in stock during free shipping time!

I've been saddened by the seeming loss of the Monster High vinyl line and was pleased to see some Canadian and Australian sellers carrying new figures. I quickly added Catrine de Mew to my collection. I want the 2.0 Frankie, but I have to ask about her when the seller returns from holiday hiatus.

Vinyl Catrine at last!

I pray this means we will get the promised Jinafire and Operetta someday! And we need Robecca to go with Venus and Rochelle. I'm still annoyed they haven't made a Robecca Mega Bloks figure. She's always last. *grumble*

I did a couple more reviews over the past week, like Aziam Girlz Niyama and Ever After High Archery Club Bunny. I have Aziam Dyana on her way so expect to see her soon!

Cool Critters

One of my favorite etsy shops had a sale, so I was able to get friends for the one I already had. My name for him isn't kid-friendly and I'm trying to keep this blog that way, so let's call him Mr. Seen Some Stuff for now. He's in the middle in the photo here to the left. I love all three of these guys.

Tiny Mal and Evie joined my small Itty Bittys collection. Mom and I had stopped at Halmark to check the after Christmas sales and I left with these two and the last Jem ornament. There are others I like, but I'll check back later for better deals.

After work that same day, I stopped at Walmart and picked up another Gemma Stone, who was on clearance. I got the amethyst to add to my collection of gem Shopkins. No opal, of course. I'm not that lucky!

I was however lucky in another way, because I spotted Champ Bear on the shelves. I can't find images of him or the other three newbies to the line anywhere, so I really did get lucky being one of the first to find him. I'm eager to find the others though, especially Brightheart Raccoon!

December's definitely been a month of ups and downs. I'm ending it on a happy note, because I've really gotten back into my Charlie Bears. I lost an auction for a great deal on a Kaycee Bear and then ended up ordering a different bear, Tango here on the right, to add to my collection in place of the one I'd lost. After that, it was Kekezza and Pepper Pot and Tick Tock, and Smudge is still on his way. I'm hoping to add at least one more bear to my collection (this is referred to as a hug amongst Charlie Bear collectors, but I haven't gotten used to saying that yet) by the end of January!

PHOTO CREDITS: All my stuff.