REVIEW: TLS Glitter 'n' Gold JEM

I wasn't as excited for GnG as I was for the Holograms, but in person, she's stunning. 

Stickers, ticket. 

Lanyard

I'm not going to do her Jerrica outfit, because she has the pink hair. But you can see the skirt, comb and pearl shoes here. 

She really has the cutest little face. 

Absolutely gorgeous. Adore her. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

REVIEW: TLS Jem & the Holograms KIMBER

It took three tries, but I finally got a decent Kimber. 

Stickers

Lanyard

Stand, comb and keytar

She's gorgeous. 

I think Aja is still my favorite, but she's a really close second. 

Unlike the vintage doll, she actually gets a shirt. 

I'm not trying to replicate her box art pose.

Yep, lovely. 

I'm happy to finally have all the Holograms together. As much trouble as this company is, I hate to say it, but I really do want them to keep producing these characters. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

REVIEW: TLS Toy Jem & the Holograms SHANA

 

Well, my replacement Shana turned out to be pretty good. Her face paint is still not perfect, but it's not smeared like the first one. I don't know how painting works these days, but it's kinda like her paint was too bubbly and thin. Like there are little spots in it that may have been bubbles? At least she looks mostly good and her lips were printed on correctly. Kimber has a couple flaws, so for the moment, I'm waiting to see what TLS ships me, but if they don't ship soon, I may try another from Amazon. 

Box art. 

Doll Shana has always had her bass, though in the show, she played drums for quite some time. 

Stickers. 

Lanyard.

Bass, stand and comb.

Free from the box!

There's something really cute about this particular one that made me decide to keep her even before I fully checked over her makeup. 

She doesn't feel like show or doll Shana to me, but a new option. 

 With her stuff. 

These dolls are really fun to pose. 

After I finished with Shana, I was very tempted to open Kimber, just because I'd had so much fun with Shana and Aja. But I resisted. 

I'm still a bigger Aja fan, but Shana also has good nostalgia for me. Shana was the first Jem doll I ever saw. My childhood friend Anna got her for her birthday and that's when I knew the dolls existed. I asked for Aja when I got home from the party, and Aja would indeed be my first Jem. 

I hate how the company has handled so many things, yet I do love these dolls, and I really want them to keep going. They just need to make a lot of improvements!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

REVIEW: TLS Toy Jem & the Holograms AJA

Okay, this is going to be a two-part review. 

First, I'm going to look only at the doll. Then I'm going to have a bit to say on the company and how they handled this release. (Spoiler: They did not do well.) 

Aja is my favorite Hologram and she was my first Jem doll when they came out, so I absolutely have to begin with her. 

The boxes on these are so nice. Kinda wish they were the original shape, but I also get why they're not. 

Love the original art on the side. 

Aja comes with her guitar, a stand, a comb, and a lanyard. 

Despite being advertised as having different songs, all the new dolls will play...the same song the Jem doll does. This was something having to do with production numbers. 

I will always love how they did these combs. 

And her guitar is amazing. Heavy and nicely-detailed. 

I would have preferred a second outfit to a lanyard. But at least there's the vintage art. 

Out of the box! My first impression is that she has a gorgeous face and she's definitely Aja, but there's something not quite right. 

Her hair is a good color. I think it's similar to the vintage, though I didn't do a comparison. Maybe when all three are being reviewed. It's not an accurate cut to the show or vintage doll, but it's not awful. It doesn't seem as thin as Jem's, though it's certainly not thick either. I think thin just works better for Aja. And I'm so happy her bangs are up higher! I saw someone else's photos and her bangs totally covered her eyebrows, which I hated. This looks good. 

She has a lovely skintone. 

Her makeup is very light, so she's not the easiest to photograph. Not that I'm the greatest photographer or working in good lighting, but I still had to take several shots for each pose to get one that didn't wash out her face. 

She's worth the struggle though. Such a beautiful face! 

Solved the problem of why she looked so off! 

Her shirt needed to be untucked.

The vintage design is untucked and it's actually also untucked on her promo pics for this doll. 

Looks much better! 

I tried to get her leg up pose from her art without her tipping over. 

She's definitely my favorite of all the ones they've made so far.

LOVE her. 

She's fun to photograph. 

So yeah, that is TLS's Aja. 

She's a fantastic doll and I'm thrilled to finally have her. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

REVIEW: TLS Toy Jem Jerrica & Synergy

My box from TLS finally arrived. I swear, everyone was getting theirs before mine even got shipped. 

We'll start with the Jerrica and Synergy set. 

Like many, I was not happy with the giant price increase in TLS's lines. They used to be affordable, almost too good to be true affordable, but this set cost $120! Pretty insane, considering Jem herself was $24.99 when she came out and she came with a lot of stuff. 

So for $60 each, you're getting a doll in a single outfit with a comb and a stand that plays the same song. All the stands play the same damn song. I miss the days of the cassette tapes with different songs for each character. 

That said, I am thrilled to have an actual Jerrica. I thought Jem coming with an outfit she couldn't actually wear was pretty silly. 

And having her in the cartoon version of the outfit while Jem came with the doll version was genius. 

Jerrica is really cute. Her only real flaw is that her head is a bit lighter than her body, though it doesn't photograph as drastic as it is in real life. Still, it's not the worst mismatch I've ever seen. 

Synergy is stunning! 

I'm having a bit of a struggle getting used to the body though. I don't hate this body at all, but a skintight outfit is not the most flattering thing for it. 

The outfit is very well made. 

Her face is just gorgeous. I love how they did the eyes and she has a great jaw shape. 

Her hair is a bit thin and it's definitely 80s wild, though I wish it was a bit thicker. 

Overall, this is a great set, but not for $120. Maybe like $60 or $75? 

Being a big Jem fan though, I had to have it. 

Those combs are really well done. I love them.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

REVIEW: TLS Toy's Jem!

So I've had her for about a week and I'm finally getting around to finishing this review. It didn't help to have a holiday weekend in there, but I've also just been lazy. 

A lot of people have already posted her, but if you don't know, TLS Toy has brought Jem back to the shelves. She's currently only at Walmart for $24.97 but will eventually be in other places. Walmart has not been handling this well, as the only way to get her has been to have her in stock nearby. I've not once seen her in stock for general shipping. I managed to get one from my farthest Walmart and then two more for international friends. I'm really thrilled that demand for her is this high, because that should mean we get more characters, but at the same time, they need to make her easier to get. 

While I like the box, I do think they could have replicated the original. That would have been cooler. 

I'll get this out of the way first. TLS is not my favorite company. I have a firm love/hate relationship with them. I think they make quality products for fair prices, but I don't like their release schedule at all. They still haven't finished the Rainbow Brite and Strawberry Shortcake lines we first saw ages ago, yet they keep producing the hard to find mini figures that are mostly sold at Five Below. They make important characters rare chase figures. And I think they've dipped their hands into too many things at once. 

Honestly, I'm just cranky I don't have Indigo and Lala Orange yet, and I'm mad I'll never get a Canary Yellow figure. 

Anyway, Jem box is cool but could have been cooler. 

I'm not going to open everything. It's been done by others, so I'll keep things neatly boxed. 

I love the stickers on the side and I'm pleased they include the Misfits. 

Their songs ARE better. 

The tray behind the doll holds the stand, the Jerrica beret and dress, a card, and the useless lanyard. 

My biggest complaint about this doll is that they wasted money on junk like the lanyard and paper goods instead of giving us a Jerrica head. What is the point of giving her the outfit if she can't be Jerrica? The whole point of Jem is that she's a SECRET. Not much of a secret with all that pink hair as the only option. 

The stand is damn cool though. It plays part of the theme song and can be either a normal stand or a microphone. 

The doll needed big time hair help. This is after a trip to the salon.

Her hair is silky and lovely, but it's also way too thin. 

The body articulation is pretty great, though she's not the best at sitting. Mine almost lost her right leg when I tried, so I popped it back into place and gave up. 

I honestly can't tell if her proportions are slightly off or if I only think that because I'm not used to dolls with regular-sized heads and actual boobs. This is more what Elvira needed, Mattel. Come on. 

From the back. 

I didn't do a size comparison, because others have, but she is tall and she is HEAVY. 

There is some staining from the dress. Don't be surprised if you see this. 

The clothing materials are excellent. These are some of the softest doll stockings I've ever had and they're easy to put on. Ah, the old childhood days of struggling to get stockings on the vinyl click-knee Barbie legs. Do not miss that. 

 

Likewise, the dress is the softest metallic fabric I have ever felt. 

I wish it cinched in a bit more at the waist but that's a nitpick.

With the belt and shoes on.

A lot of people complained because the dress is too dark. It is definitely darker than it should be, but my bigger complaint is that they could have made the shoes metallic pink and didn't. They look pretty flat with the flash of the rest of the outfit. 

Her bangs make it hard to get a good pic of her face. 

But she is very pretty. 

There we go. 

Overall...

PROS:

-It's amazing to see Jem back again and I'm glad she's selling well.

-Excellent price.

-Body is mostly well-constructed and very articulated. Mostly feels sturdy. I like the proportions. 

-Clothing materials are excellent. 

-Stand is excellent. 

-Hair is soft.

-Love the sculpted earrings. 

CONS: 

-NO JERRICA OPTION! 

-Dress staining.

-Thin hair.

-Can't sit very well.

-Shoes should have been metallic like the original. 

-Dress could be lighter pink, but eh. Not a huge deal.  

I'm eagerly looking forward to the next releases. I'm hoping they do them in pairs so we get a Hologram and a Misfit at the same time. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.