Birthday Stuff: Disney Store Doll, World's Smallest, and Mini Brands Toys

   The weather is absolutely crazy. We had some warmish weather last week. (Not this past week.) I went around without a jacket. The snow had melted, except for where it had been snow plowed into piles the size of glaciers. That takes ages to finally melt. We had rain that melted a bit more snow. Then it got really cold again. We had snow Monday! I was freezing all day and I put my electric blanket on again.  Then we had weather in the 50's Fahrenheit again. Friday night it was 38! My daffodils must be so confused.

  Last week, as I said, it was pretty warm, and Ken and I took one of our 'fun day's, and went to a  nice state park to do some walking, since my doctor says I should do 150 minutes of exercise a week. It was really nice, and I had to take my sweater off. But the melting snow had made it so muddy that our shoes were caked with mud. We tried to walk in the woods, and to the sides of the path when we could, but there was still a lot of slipping and sliding going on, and our shoes and ankles were a mess. 

We walked about two miles. I thought I would be sore because I have done so little for quite a while, but I was fine.

  Since it was my 'birthday week' I celebrated a bit and ate a few things my LPR diet doesn't allow. We had the most delicious lasagna and eggplant parmesan, which we shared so we could both try each of them. I hadn't had tomato sauce in so long! It was WONDERFUL!

   As I said, it was my birthday that week. Ken and Emma got their wires crossed and they BOTH made me a cake! They were both good though, so no harm done. There's still some left. Ken, as usual, spoiled me. I got a new lens for my camera, so no more having to focus manually. Thank goodness! And no more blurred pictures, which you will all appreciate! He also got me a couple of DVD sets and a special edition magazine, which I picked out. He hates that. He thinks everything should be a surprise. I'm just glad I get the things I wanted! He had already given me the Katherine Johnson doll, but on my birthday he treated me to a couple of dolls from The Disney store. I collect Alice things, and had been wanting the doll from the Disney Store. Once I was there, and seeing the dolls in person, I wasn't sure I didn't like the Wendy, (From "Peter Pan".), more. They were on sale if you bought two, so he insisted I get both. That's one Alice down. Someday I hope to get the full sized Animator's Collection Alice. (You can see my mini Animator's Alice HERE.)

  Of the other gifts I got, the others that would interest you all would include the World's Smallest Slinky Dog that Emma got me...

... and with the money Fuzz gifted me with I bought a couple of the new-ish Mini Brands Toys balls. I was excited about these when I saw that they existed, at Hot Topic, on my birthday. (Don't buy them there though. They cost twice as much there as they do at Target or Walmart.) The things I wanted most out of the balls were the carded Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures and the Turtles mask. I got lucky and got the mask!

  But in retrospect I think I won't buy any more of the balls. Not that there aren't some really cute things in there. 

Here are the other things I got.

I would love to have a lot of the things. If a person had the money to spare and had the urge to make a 1/6 scale toy store, these would be great.

 But they're about $7 per ball, a ball which contains 5 things. Every ball uses one of the spaces to give you a shelf, which is too small for a lot of the toys, or a shopping cart, which is not in scale with the toys. (I guess you could use it as a toy too.) 

The shelf.

The cart.

A lot of the toys are actual plastic toys on card, or in little boxes. Those are nice. But far too often you get stuck with something like the JoJo Siwa hair bow,

... or some of the 'toys' that are just a reproduction box with nothing in it, like the 'Ready to Roll', above. While that was one thing with regular Mini Brands, where you might get a product that was basically an empty cardboard box, but usually it was an empty box you couldn't replicate easily with just a home printer because the package was unique,(like with the Breyer's ice cream), with these I just feel like it's not enough for the price.

  I have a bunch of the three items that are on the display boxes. If anybody wants to trade a carded Ninja Turtle figure or a Fingerling for a Rubik's cube, a Rainbocorns egg, or a box of Crayola crayons, let me know.

  One of my other presents was from my sister. She got me something I've been wanting: a DNA test kit. I am anxious to get it sent in! I'll let you know what the results say when I get them back.

Not The Last of My Illness,But The Last of My Christmas Presents:Disney Descendants Ally of Auradon Prep

  I know I promised this post 'in a day or two' quite a while ago. I'm still having some problems,pounding heart and feeling crappy. I do feel a bit better every day,but every time I think I feel much better, I have another spell. I thought my bad tooth might be causing the heart problems, (That is a thing.) I had a dentist appointment Friday, and the only thing wrong with my tooth is that is has a crack in it. So there goes that idea. I'm back where I started,and causing more heart problems by worrying about my problem. My appointment with the Cardiologist is February 1st.
  In  any case, back to my happy place.
  The only real doll I got for Christmas was this girl.

Is Disney embarrassed to be ripping off Ever After High?

Her box has a rabbit in the design.



I have to say, the box was easy to get into.(It took me a minute to figure out which side to open,but once I did,it was all go.)  It's got one piece of tape on the side. After that was dealt with the box opened easily and the insert slid out. Getting her off the insert was another story though. She was attached with a plethora of elastics and T-ended plastic thingies.

 

The elastics were so tight they were a little hard to remove without cutting them. (Hey. They come in handy,ok?) The worst thing though,was that blob of glue at the top.

It was hard to pull off, but it had to be removed to get to the things holding her hair to the insert. Her head was held to the insert so tightly that there was no chance of cutting the her loose from the front without cutting her hair.

I can't believe I'm out!

I have seen plenty of Disney Descendants dolls, but I only found out there was an Alice related one a couple of months ago. As you may know,I collect Alice dolls and stuff. You can see some of my other Alice dolls HERE, HERE,HERE,HERE,HERE,HERE,and HERE. (Hmm. I have posted more Alice dolls than I thought.)

She's actually supposed to be Alice's daughter.

She is recognizably related though. She's got the striped tights...

Alice did not wear the striped stockings in the original John Tenniel illustrations for "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". She did wear them in his illustrations for the sequel,"Through the Looking Glass,and What Alice Found There".

I thought they were cottony,but they're nylon.

Her shoes have big pink bows.

She has an Alice blue dress, although it is modernized.

Her belt is plastic and it is removeable.
 

She has her black 'Alice band' in her hair,except it's not a whole head band, just a bow on the top of her head.

It's actually a comb,but for some odd reason they don't have it in her hair. It's tied down to her head with elastic that goes all the way under her chin.

Good view of her bow earrings.

And of course the blonde hair,although she has blue streaks in hers.

She also has a watch,since the White Rabbit's watch figures prominently in the book.

It's a wrist watch, but it has a 'chain' on the band to make it sort of pocket watch related.

And there is a larger watch. It's actually a purse, and it has rabbit ears!

 

I was glad to see that her purse does actually open. I hate it when doll purses are just a solid hunk of plastic.

The purse has a paper rabbit inside.
 

I thought it might be a sticker for kids to really use, but it seems to be just a paper bunny. That's a waste. For one thing, what do you do with it? And we already got the same bunny, only a different colour and  slightly larger, on the box insert just above the watch. You can see it in the picture above of the watch in the box. For another thing, there are so many other things from the Alice books that would have made good accessories,which she could have carried in her purse. I know she's supposed to be Alice's daughter, and not Alice, and I don't know what's going on in the Disney Descendants series,but off the top of my head,they could have used: gloves,a fan (Both are things the White Rabbit carried.), a tea cake that says 'eat me',(Staying away from the bottle,which might be seen as encouraging kids to drink alcohol or strange,unidentified things in bottles.), a tiny deck of cards,(That would be great!),or a mirror,(Referencing "Through the Looking Glass".). Things that they also could have used as accessory besides a purse: a cat,(Dinah or The Cheshire Cat), a rabbit, a pig,a flamingo,a hedge hog,a tea set,a tiny chess set,etc.
   She is jointed at the neck,shoulders, elbows,wrists,hips,and knees.

She can tilt her head up and to the sides.

Her arms are pretty flexible. She can actually touch her head,as you saw above. However,she can't use that head tilting and arm posing to at all appear to look at her watch.

I know there's a watch out there somewhere.

 Her knees bend too. But she seems strangely stiff and unposable. I think it's because she lacks a waist joint. Her body is one stiff piece of plastic.

 She's not my favourite of my Alice dolls. For one thing, she has too much of a bland Barbie smile.(I have mentioned before that I prefer my Alice's to look a bit grouchy,like the original illustrations. Even bored is a better look than being so cheery.) She is a nice addition to my Alice collection though.

   After so much time between posts, I do actually have another post you'll be seeing in a day or two. See you next time.

Doll-a-Day 2017 #87:Disney Animator's Collection Mini Doll Playset Alice in Wonderland

  It's a chilly, rainy day today. I am staying inside for this one.Today we're finally getting around to a doll I got for my birthday almost 3 weeks ago. She's mini Alice, from the Disney Animator's Collection.

She comes in this nice plastic case...which won't stay closed.

There is a clear plastic insert inside, and everything is held to it by stretchy plastic ties.

 I love the large 16" Disney Animator's dolls. These little ones aren't all as cute as the big ones, but I like a lot of them. Alice is one I do like.

The mini animator's dolls are 5" tall.

They have slightly different faces from the big dolls. The cheeks are more prominent, for one thing.

Her hair is a solid block.

And she still has plastic ties in her head.

There is so much gunk in her hair that it's a solid piece. I can't imagine how kids would be able to play with this hair.

She's wearing her 'Alice band'.

The hair band became very popular after 'Alice' wore one in Through the Looking Glass. It became known as an 'Alice band'.

I collect Alice things anyway. I have several versions of the Alice books,with different illustrators,(Although my favourites are the original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel.),Alice glasses,(The kind you drink out of.), an Alice mug,Alice Christmas ornaments,and,of course, Alice dolls. You may have seen some of my Alice books and dolls during my 'Alice Week', part of the first Doll-A-Day year in 2014. You can go to the beginning of that 'Week' HERE.

 The mini Animator's Alice has articulation at the neck,shoulders,and hips and knees.

Her legs are white plastic.

Alice's shoes and dress are removable.

The apron is part of the dress.

Alice comes with the White Rabbit...

...the Red Queen...

Testy looking character,isn't she? It made for one hilarious outtake from the photo session:

Very testy!

But Why is she tinier than Alice?

I don't know why, but she's really ticked off about it.

She must have had the stuff Alice did that made her shrink.

...the rose bush from the Queen's garden...

Surprise! The flowers are colour changing! Clever and fitting feature.

...and the paint brush for painting the white roses red...

It's a sponge. Warm water changes the roses from white to...a weird purple colour?

The brush has a little handle on it so she can actually hold it. Of course, Alice didn't paint the roses.

Stupidly I put it in her hand backwards at first.

That's better.

...the flamingo for using as a croquet mallet...

...and a hedgehog for using as the croquet ball...

The flamenco is sparkly.

...(I'm not cruel. That's what the Red Queen and her guests were playing with in the book.)...

*GULP*

...a hairbrush...

Yeah right. Like she could get that brush through that hair.

...and the Cheshire Cat.

He's very sparkly.

I have said before that I'm not big on the Disney version of Alice. I'm really critical of movies made from the Alice books. None of them meet up to my expectations,so the Disney one isn't singled out. I do think they made Alice way too sweet.Alice was a somewhat disagreeable kid in the books.The original illustrations actually make her look quite grouchy.

To be fair, in this picture she was being attacked by live cards.

And the character got pretty fed up with several of the characters and situations she had to face. She wasn't shy about letting it be known either. She was particularly annoyed by the Mad Hatter and Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee,and the queen herself. (And who wouldn't have been?)

And now for a recent mystery. We got this Alice a few months ago-after Christmas I'm sure. She had been marked down to $10. When we were at the Disney Store a few weeks ago they were all gone,however they did have the 16" Alice Animator's doll. Since then,the 16" doll has disappeared from the stores and skyrocketed in value. It now sells for over $100! What is the deal with this doll?! She was a new doll,and then she vanished. When we went to the Disney Store yesterday we looked for the 16" doll. Ken even asked the girl at the counter if they had her. She said,"No. Not yet." Not yet?! What?! You HAD her! Maybe that means they are going to get them again soon. If they do,I'm nabbing one.


Check back tomorrow to see if the weather cooperates enough for me to show you my last birthday doll.