REVIEW: Barbie Dream Besties ZIA

Well, that is one terrible boxed photo. I took this a couple nights ago when I was tired from work, but wanted to open Zia. And it shows. 

Honestly, I'm being slow at getting back into my review groove. I've still got a lot going on in life and my focus hasn't been on this stuff in a long time. I'm going to work at getting back into it, but it may take time. 

Also honestly, I sold several of my Dream Besties. I only kept Renee, Teresa and my redressed Daisy. I thought I was done with the line, but Zia. Instant favorite.  

A little bit about her. 

I have not watched the show, so I really know nothing about how these characters are being handled. 

Her accessories. 

The book is my favorite, but I also love the magic wand phone. 

Super cute. 

So the first thing I did was wash her hair. I wasn't sure how it would work with the rainbow bangs, but I couldn't stand the flat, shellacked bangs. They actually came out decent. Obviously, if you want the focus of her to be the rainbow, then leave the bangs alone, but this works fine for me. 

Also, you all know I am the short hair queen and get very upset when companies have an animated character with short hair, only to give the doll another foot in hair length. 

Welp, not this time. Have you seen Zia's animated hair? It's hideous. This is a huge improvement. 

I love her outfit. The contrast of the cutesy sweater and little lace socks with the vinyl skirt and black combat boots is great. 

I wasn't sure on this sweater but in person I love it. 

I would totally wear these. 

Not the socks, but the boots. 

She is so adorable. 

By far my fave from the line and one of my favorite purchases from this year. I might even get another to leave her bangs untouched. Then I could get this one a custom black band tee and take the socks off. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

FLASHBACK REVIEW: Tonner Toys City Girls

 

I know I reviewed Billy here before, but I got some new City Girls pieces, so here she is again as a reminder. 

Tonner Toys was a branch of Robert Tonner's empire designed to introduce younger girls to the world of collector dolls. They were "beginning collector" dolls. They had height similar to typical Tonner lines, but were far more durable and affordable. 

This is Billy, AKA Taxi Billy.

This one is Color Block Astor. I used to have her back when they came out. 

The biggest flaw of these dolls is the materials used. The poor things practically have each body part a different skintone, and their legs warp really easily in the packaging.

I've had Astor for a while now, but Brook-Lynn I just got a few days ago. I bought a lot of two boxed outfits plus her for only $39. I would have paid that for a single outfit, so excellent deal. 

The hair on these girls is okay. One unfortunate side effect of this review location is that every single out of place hair shows up really well. Alas. 

Brook-Lynn was one of two basic dolls that came in lace undies, a robe, and heels. 

Ah, the fashions. I've wanted the Cape Town outfit for ages, and I still want the third fashion pack very badly. That one's my fave. The Networking dress wasn't on my want list, but neither was Brook-Lynn, so it all works out in her favor. 

My pants are still covered in glitter from those stockings. 

Stockings went on easily and the shoes even went on pretty easily. A minor struggle with getting the back part to unroll itself and stand up once they were on, but I was really worried about ripping the stockings and that did not happen. 

The quality here is quite nice. 

The little bolero is pretty cute. 

Their hands pop off, so that's how you get the bracelets on. 

Billy gets Cape Town. 

The jeans are a super soft material, but were a little hard to get on because they're that tight. 

Shirt was easy to get on. 

The boots I really expected a fight. I remember struggling with Billy's black ones, but those were going on over the black tights. These went on very easily. Billy will always have to wear boots. Her feet are stained from her tights. 

Ugh, apologies for the blurry. My camera was losing battery. 

I am not as big a fan of this as I thought. 

Should it look this shapeless? I guess it does look this way on the back of the box, but her hair is over her shoulder, so maybe that helps. 

Aha, okay, if Billy just gestures dramatically all the time, then I like the cape.

I'm happy to finally have some more pieces. I definitely need the Gray Haze fashion and I'll likely get Houston at some point. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

REVIEW: Boss Fight Strawberry Shortcake SOUR GRAPES

 
I thought I'd reviewed Boss Fight's Lime Chiffon, but I guess I didn't? I dunno. Anyway, I got my hands on Sour Grapes and she is fabulous. 

The biggest detractor of this line is the price, so I'm really picky about who I get. Sour Grapes and the Pieman, who I skipped, are $46. 

Don't get me wrong, there's quality here and a lot of pieces, but that's still a lot. 

She has two different heads, four hands, two versions of Dregs (YES), a pile of money, and a jam jar. 

She also has a stand and a basket. 

The stand is not my favorite. She tipped over so many times while waiting for me to have the time to take pictures. It should have been a bit bigger.

Dregs though in his iconic vintage pose. LOVE. 

Oh, and that translucent cape is a separate piece that likes to fall off. 

 Side view. Check out that hair. 

She is stunning. 

I love her. 

I still have my childhood one and she was one of my favorite SSC pieces. 

So is she worth the money? 

Quality-wise, I'd give it a maybe. 

Nostalgia-wise, a definite yes. 

And she smells AMAZING. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

REVIEW: Monster High Potions Crystal Ball Series 1 CHEAT CODES

 

I have been good with Potions and only bought the ones I wanted off eBay/Mercari or used a cheat code to get the couple set I wanted (Clankie). 

But when I saw the new Crystal Ball ones with Heath on Amazon, I decided to go for it. 

The cheat code is at the top of the cardboard circle on the right. I'll post a list at the bottom of this review. 

There are multiple ways you can be spoiled with this series. On the back of the instruction sheet is a card that clearly identifies which character you got. 

So if you see this before you go through the whole process, there's zero surprise. 

The charm is hidden in the top of the crystal ball. That little black round piece pops out and then the pink Skullette pops out and the charm is inside there. Be careful not to forget to get it out!

I didn't do the water reveal, just twisted the ball part off. The stand is in the black base, very visible once you take the crystal ball off. 

I was happy to get three different ones, but sad to not get Heath. 

Still, I'm also glad because I love all three of these and I don't think I would have sought them out if I'd opened up Heath. I would have just been done with the series. But now I want all six. 

Frankie without their hand is SO CUTE! And they have a pink undercut. 

This is also the cutest Laura by far. I love her, even though she really does not want to stay on her stand. 

And I love Clawdeen's hair. She's finally wearing glasses, too. I mean, sunglasses, but still. I'll always hate that they took her glasses away from her when she clearly needed them to see in the show. 

I'll hopefully be back to edit this post on Saturday with new characters. I bought five more. 

Had a bit of a delay. These weren't delivered until Sunday and then I was too busy with work to do anything but open them. But here I am now with the update!

Better view of the cards. 

Lagoona is SO CUTE!

Catty is my least favorite of the six, mostly because I think they made her too small. 

My boy Heath, the entire reason I started buying these. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

CHEAT CODES: 

Each character is 10 apart. 

The order they go in doesn't change. Mine with this last batch were 765, 775, 785, 805 and 815. I did not get a Clawdeen, so she's 795. It's also proven from my first three that Clawdeen is 10 before Frankie. Frankie was 805, so that makes Clawdeen the missing 795. If you have at least two bottles from the same batch, you should be able to figure out who they are.

DRACULAURA

LAGOONA

CATTY

CLAWDEEN

FRANKIE 

HEATH

REVIEW: Wild Manes HALLEY

 
Jakks got a little crazy with their newest Wild Manes character and it certainly isn't because they're enby. It's because you can only buy Halley directly from their website and FedEx, the only shipping option, costs more than the price of the toy! 

Did I pay it anyway because I desperately wanted this black, astronomy-themed horse?

Yes. Yes, I did. 

Back of the box. 

Note the they pronouns.

Good for you, Jakks. 

Here are the cart and all the accessory pieces. 

The obvious best accessory. 

They are STUNNING. 

Shipping was so worth it. 

Yep, worth it. 

I don't have a set place for these yet, so they're in limbo with some of my other lines. But these are the five Wild Manes that I own. Halley is definitely my new fave. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

She-Ra New Additions

 

Not comprehensive reviews by any means, but I wanted to share some pics of my new She-Ra additions. 

This is Masterverse Frosta. I think she's my favorite Frosta ever, even a smidge over the vintage. 

Cartoon Collection She-Ra is really the one that sent me down this rabbit hole, because she's just so darn CUTE. 

Then I had to have Frosta. Also Cartoon Collection. 

And then Cartoon Collection Catra just came out. 

She-Ra is the cutest, but Catra is my favorite. She's awesome. Even though her cat form is way too small, but what do you expect? 

All three of them. These ladies are smaller than the Masterverse figures. 

Can't wait to see who will be next! I love this series!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.