Review of the Lalaloopsy Doll by MGA

The Lalaloopsy dolls have been on the market since 2010, and they have been a hot seller for the last few Christmas seasons. The dolls have a cute concept--they "were once rag dolls that magically came to life when their last stitch was sewn". Also, the dolls are said to take their personalities from the fabrics they are stitched from. Evidently, however, "magically came to life" seems to mean "became plastic," since the only thing that is fabric about these dolls is the small bit of fabric used to make their clothing. The entire, doll, including the torso, is made of hard plastic. Nevertheless, if you don't mind a doll that is completely plastic including the hair, the doll is reasonably priced and designed in a pleasing manner with bright colors and cute packaging.

The particular Lalaloopsy doll I'm using for this review is the Peppy Pom Poms doll that is sold only at Toys 'R Us. The doll has a suggested retail of $25.99. I was immediately charmed by the doll's catch-phrase, on the front of the box, "Sew Magical, Sew Cute." The doll is also said to be for "ages 4 to 104"; the relevant part of tht is that the doll is safe to give to children 4 years old and up.

Originally sold as "Bitty Buttons" dolls when they were introduced in 2010, the manufacturer MGA Entertainment changed their name to "Lalaloopsy" dolls shortly after their introduction (who knows, the original "Bitty Buttons" dolls may be collectors items some day). The dolls were extremenly popular in the 2010 Christmas shopping season, and were very hard to find. Lalaloopsy dolls stand 13 inches tall. They come in a 5-sided box with a cute handle, and they come with a platic non-jointed "pet," some additional cardboard accessories, and a small poster showing off other dolls in the Lalaloopsy line that is stored in the back of the box.

On the bo, there is a button-shaped label that promotes their "3D World at lalaloopsy.com." On the other side of the label are the Lalaloopsy's vital statistics. For Peppy Pom Poms, the doll was swen on "September 9th," sewn from a "cheerleader's uniform," and has a "spirited" personality. Collecting the dolls is clearly promoted, since on the back of the box is a "Collect them all" photo with 20 other Lalaloopsy dolls shown; "collect them all" is also featured on the button label and on the poster.

Overall, I like the concept of the doll very much. I wish that the doll would have been more of a classic rag-doll (in fact, I think the doll could have become a long-selling classic had it been produced more like a rag-doll...perhaps there will someday be a collector's line where the doll's are actually sewn from appropriate fabrics?). The doll's head seemed oversized to an extreme and top-heavy, but I did like the jointing mechanism for the legs that made them a bit "dangly" like a reall rag doll would have. I also like the buttonshaped eyes. and the doll's dress. I am also nbot a huge fan of molded plastic doll hair.

Substantial effort went into creating the distinctively shaped Lalaloopsy packaging. The doll's box is shapped a bit like a house, with five sides. The handle on the box is darling, with two molded-button shapes incorporated into the design. My only complaint about the box is that I could not find a way to not destroy the box when extracting the doll. The doll packaging is like so much doll packaging these days, taped up in multiple places, and the doll held in with multipe ties and holds. Such a cute box; it would be nice to have it easily opened and easily used for doll storage and display.

The Lalaloopsy dolls have a cute web site, Lalaloopsy.com. There is a 3D portion of the web site, as well as an online catalog. There are videos, games, and adaorable graphics. And, as with any self-respectable modern doll, there are also YouTube Videos, a Facebook page, and a Twitter page! Did I mention that a Nintendo 3DS Lalaloopsy game is also on the way (I saw it advertised on the web site). A Lalaloopsy DVD is scheduled to be released in March, 2012, and there is also a line of new, smaller-sized Lalaloopsy dolls. There are already over 50 characters in the Lalaloopsy doll line.