Today I visited both Kmart and Target, and there were lots of new toys available so I decided to make a ‘shopping trip’ post for you all! Make yourself a cup of tea and get comfy, this’ll be a long post!
Let’s check out Target first.
Here we have the new Dreamtopia Brush ‘n Sparkle princess. She seems rather ‘cheap’ to me, although at least it’s an original concept!
Over here we have the Club Chelsea dolls. I think the girl with the pigtails is quite cute! If I needed a new friend for Chelsea, I would probably pick her up.
On the top row, we have an assortment of Fashionista Kens. Where are the girls?? It’s strange that they aren’t any. On the second row, we have a bunch of Newborn Pups playsets.
Lots of goodies here! I haven’t seen that Club Chelsea treehouse before; it seems like there’s lots of things to do. There’s a swing, a slide, a table, a kennel and some animal masks. The best thing is that it all folds up for easy storage!
On the right we have the Dolphin Magic Barbie doll + dolphin. I really like the dolphin, and I’m sure the wetsuit and snorkel would come in handy, but I don’t like the doll herself. I think $29 is a bit too expensive!
Below these, we have a purple unicorn with a princess doll. I remember I did a ‘shopping trip’ post quite a while ago, featuring a transparent unicorn that looks almost the same.
Here we have a Dreamtopia fair, who comes with two different sets of wings. I didn’t get to have a close look, but I think that her wings actually move, which is a pretty cool and original feature.
Here we have lots of beach budget dolls. Honestly, I don’t even know why they bother producing these! They’re not even wearing real clothes! (and why put an image from Life in the Dreamhouse if it ended ages ago, and has absolutely nothing to do with the series?)
Next to them, we have the scientist career doll. She’s cute, but I have no use for a scientist.
Then we have a doll + horse set. I really don’t like the horse, it doesn’t look very realistic. I don’t like the doll much, either -if you look closely, her pants are painted on! That seems very cheap to me. And apart from the helmet, there are no accessories!
Over at Kmart, we had a wide array of old and new dolls.
Here we have the baseball player MTM doll. I haven’t seen this doll before, not even online, so that was a nice surprise.
I didn’t really care about buying her, though. Baseball is not at all popular in Australia, I don’t think they even play it on TV!
Here we have two careers dolls, the poster and the cupcake chef. We also have a 2016 Dreamtopia Rainbow mermaid.
Here is the gymnastics coach playset and a style head. I think the playset is cute and there are lots of nice accessories, but it’s not something I would personally use.
I think this Dreamtopia Rainbow Lights mermaid is new -or perhaps it just has different packaging?
New curvy mermaid SPOTTED! I’m very happy about seeing her, it’s nice to finally start getting different body types on fantasy dolls.
So, what do you think? Which is your favourite product? Is there any new 2018 products on your must-have list? Personally, I am really looking forward to seeing the new Dreamtopia dolls -I’m thinking about buying the blue mermaid. I also really want to buy the new Hello Kitty fashion sets!
Maybe we’ll see them in the next shopping trip post! *fingers crossed*
-Holly xx
Barbie Girl's Dreamhouse 
Thanks for taking us along on your Barbie browse! I am still waiting for the Curvy Made to Move dancer to hit my stores. My most sought-after dolls when I am out browsing are the articulated ones, of course. I am bored with the blonde Barbies, so I’m disappointed so many of the made to move line feature the blonde: martial arts, mountain climbing, baton twirling, and now baseball. I did, however, recently purchase the Barbie Divergent collectible, “Tris” doll because, although she is blonde, her face has finer features and she looks different. She’s is beautifully articulated, too. It’s a shame the scientist and so many other career dolls are completely useless in their workplaces…because they have no joints. They can just stand there and look like… Did you ever see that movie from the 90s with Tyra Banks and Lindsay Lohan called “Life-size”? Tyra played a Barbie doll that came to life. Such a good one!
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I haven’t seen that film yet, but I’ve heard about it! I hope to watch it someday -I do love Tyra Banks!
I am really bored with the blonde Barbies too, they all look the same! At least they could give them different toned blonde hair, or a different face mould, or dramatic makeup, or something! I like the Tris doll; the doll from the first film is my favourite, with the longer hair. Although the second one looks nice too!
The career dolls are definitely useless! They would be much better off selling the outfits and some accessories by themselves for cheaper. Then maybe I would buy some, hah!
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Ha ha, agreed!! I hope you can open this link. It’s Tyra as a live doll, at her first job IRL. She thinks she can do anything, because that’s her doll’s credo 🙂 https://youtu.be/DcCFMW9G8ro
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Wow! That’s quite a selection of dolls! Although to be perfectly honest, I would most likely never get any of those, because I really don’t like all those painted on clothes! I remember looking up pictures of the old “Chelsea and Friends” line (or whatever they called it), and the dolls all came with real fabric clothes, and an accessory! I actually have a few of those older dolls. I think one was named Madison and the other Tamika? I think that’s what they were named. I’m not sure.
In my opinion, Mattel could help themselves out greatly if they’d produce dolls with real fabric attire, and maybe a cute accessory like a plastic smartphone (for Fashionistas) or brush (for Dreamtopia) for every doll. Also, articulation definitely helps! I actually liked those rubbery bend n’ snap legs. Or they could try out the articulation from the Style dolls again. Those I definitely have stored around here somewhere! Their articulation was pretty functional, too, if I recall.
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Yeah, the old children dolls were Tamika, Madison, Delia, Kira and Chelsea. Such cuties! I think they are much nicer than the ones nowadays.
I think the reason dolls, like the Dreamtopia line and the Club Chelsea line, have painted on clothes is because they are more “kid-friendly,” and children don’t lose their clothes. Which I think is silly, because what about the children in the early 2000s? Clothes were never painted on then, and nobody had a problem! Or maybe it’s to save money on fabric… 🧐
An accessory would be so good, and hello, creative play! Even something simple would help children create more stories, especially if they don’t have many playsets or furniture.
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Yeah, I really wish Mattel would bring back characters like Madison and Tamika. The dolls currently available don’t come with names as far I know. (Though I don’t personally own any of them.)
I think you’re right about the painted-on clothes. Mattel must assume kids will lose them, but it was only very recently (if I recall correctly), that Mattel decided to paint on clothing for their dolls. In my opinion, it makes everything less functional and harder to find clothing matches. You could always pull on the older Chelsea dresses over the painted tops, but it kinda looks strange. But you are definitely correct about the cost…painted-on is much cheaper for them as a company!
Anyway, I just wanted to thank you again for always replying to everyone’s comments. You’re a very kind person, which isn’t the case with many other bloggers today. You always say something kind and inspiring! And I know this probably sounds weird, but I feel like I’ve really gotten to know you more over the past few months! (Yeah, that may sound really, really strange, I know!)
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Aaaa thank you! Same to you! Other people reading my blog is such an amazing, cool thing to me. I didn’t start this blog so I could become famous or anything, I just wanted to talk about stuff, y’know? XD You are really kind as well!
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