Monster High Ghoul-To-Bat Draculaura Doll

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Monster High dolls are ever popular with their grown up looks and quirky features. Draculaura is perfect for this time of year with Halloween on it’s way and she has a special lever on the front of her dress that allows her to transform her skirt into bat wings.

draculaura She has a pretty pink dress that she wears when being a normal ghoul with a full, fancy skirt covered in hearts and bat wings. Her hair is black with pink highlights and comes in a high ponytail. I like the pink heart detail on her cheek. She also has pink high heeled shoes which are removable although stay on quite firmly during play.

draculaura-2 The centerpiece of her bodice is in fact a plastic lever that can be simply pulled down to reveal a more vampy looking dress as well as lifting her outer skirt to create bat wings. This feature works really well and is easy to do. The wings feel sturdy once in place and gives her a new feature, being able to fly which allows children to further their imaginative play and hold her up, pretending she is flying through the sky. draculaura-3 I think this doll is well made, she has limbs that can be bent and moved during play aswell as her transforming feature. The clothes also look good and the whole doll appears durable and of a good quality.

Both my children have enjoyed playing with Draculaura from Monster High and have had fun integrating her alongside other dolls and toys we already have. They have created a lot of fun play scenes and particularly love using her to fly through the air to move around so her dress has had a lot of conversions to bat wings which has kept them entertained! draculaura-4

This is just one of many of the fabulous Monster High dolls and they are well worth checking out if your children are fans, as they are well made, durable and have lots of fun, quirky features and endless play value.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

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The Original Stretch Armstrong – Review

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Fiona Martin

The Orginal Stretch Armstrong is an iconic child’s toy from the 1970’s that has been brought back to life for children of today. The toy can be pulled and stretched in all sorts of ways up to 4 times it’s original size. You can even tie his arms and legs into knots and twist him up, knowing that he will always revert back to his original form afterwards. 06028 Stretch Armstrong ABS2

The doll itself is 30cm tall and he looks rather chunky. The first thing I noticed when I removed him from the box is how heavy he is, more so than I was expecting. He also feels rather strange, with soft maleable limbs that almost feel like rubbery putty. The children were intrigued and couldn’t wait to try him out.

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He’s initially quite tough to stretch, but once you know what you are up against you know to give him a good hard pull and his limbs extend. I was amazed how tall and skinny he got but as soon as you let go, he just pings back into shape.

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Here’s daddy and Miss M seeing how tall and skinny they can make him.

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Once they got started they couldn’t stop and had fun contorting poor Stretch Armstrong into all sorts of poses. It became a bit of a challenge to see what they could do next with him.

stretch armstrong 2 Finally they wrapped him all up and he stayed in position without any assistance, but as soon as you start unwrapping his limbs they full straight back into shape.

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The toy proved to be fun and certainly very different from other toys we’ve tried so was captured the children’s imagination as to what we could do with him. If you fancy trying out The Original Stretch Armstrong, he can be purchased from Character Online.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

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Monster High Designer Boo-Tique Frankie Stein Doll Review

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Monster High Designer Boo-Tique Frankie Stein Doll is the latest doll in the Monster High range from Mattel featuring Frankie, along with four dresses to design and decorate. It also comes with pens, stencils and stickers to use along with your creative flair to come up with some new dresses for Frankie.

8 yr old Miss M was keen to have a go at customising the dresses. You get four including the one Frankie is wearing and they are all slightly different in design and of various colours. Miss M was off so I let her get on with it and was keen to see what she came up with when she had finished.

Miss M designed four great dresses, I think she did a brilliant job and most of all she had great fun doing it. She even decorated the backs so they are double sided designs. The dresses each come with a cardboard hanger which is useful when colouring on them, but also are fun when playing with them and helping Frankie choose an outfit to wear. The only think I’ll say is that the dress Frankie comes wearing has velcro down the back which the other three don’t but hopefully with a little practice Miss M will get the hang of them.

Overall this is a fun doll with the added bonus of getting to design her dresses as well as playing with her. The dresses are pretty standard so would fit any other dolls from the Monster High range you already had.

I think Frankie looks great in all her new customised outfits and this is a great toy for a child to play with that adds another dimension with the designing rather than just being a doll!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

Barbie Rock ‘n Royals Doll – Review

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Fiona Martin

Barbie Rock ‘n Royals is the latest Barbie movie to be released which we watched last week and it kept both children glued to the screen, so Miss M was thrilled when the Courtney Barbie doll from Mattel arrived for her to try out. Courtney is the main star of the film, a royal princess who ends up getting mixed up when she goes to attend Camp Royalty but ends up at Camp Pop. She embraces her time at the camp and learns to become a pop singer which is reflected in this doll, who’s outfit can be changed instantly from princess to pop star by lifting the dolls arm!

Courtney is beautifully dressed in a pretty pink princess outfit, tiara and silver shoes and when you push her arm down her body spins around to show a rock star outfit of a glitzy pink, black and silver dress and top. She has long bright pink hair and holds a pink microphone. To transform her back, simply lift her arm up and she twists back.

This Barbie doll really does feel like she’s stepped right out of the film into your living room, and Miss M loves playing with her and singing along, as she also sings clips of songs from the film as she transforms. You can also play shorter clips of the tunes by pressing the gem button on her necklace without her transforming. The children loved doing this and hearing the songs again and again.

Princess Courtney Barbie has been a much loved Barbie in this house with her pretty pink hair and beautiful outfits. She’s modern but elegant at the same time and I have to say one of my favourite Barbies of Miss M’s collection. She certainly entertains us with her singing after school each day!!

Barbie Rock ‘n Royals has been a big hit with us, I think it always help bring a doll to life when she’s come from a film, as the children already feel like they know her and use their imagination to play out scenes that they remember from the film. So as you can imagine, Courtney has been acting our her princess to pop star transformation lots of times here with us!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the Barbie in order to write the review.

Finn a Boy Doll – Review

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Fiona Martin

Finn is a boy doll made by Arklu, the same people who made the award winning Lottie doll for girls which promotes healthy and realistic body shapes and activities a child would typically do.

We received Kite Flyer Finn along with the Gone Fishing accessory pack for 4yr old Mister B to try out.

Mister B was thrilled with his new Finn doll. At first he was a little confused that a doll could be a boy, but once he grasped that concept and saw the the removable clothes and little accessories, he couldn’t wait to start playing. The doll itself and each outfit pack comes with a complete outfit, shoes and associated accessory. The Kite Flyer set comes with a kite that you can attach the handle to Finn’s hand and the Gone Fishing set has a fishing rod. Both of these accessories really added to the play value and kept Mister B occupied and happy, sending Finn on various adventures.

Finn is a really down to earth character who enjoys traditional activities, making him a perfect role model for young boys today. He’s well made with clothes that are easy to take on and off. It is even easy enough to balance Finn to stand upright on a flat surface. His joints are all moveable allowing for full action play, posing him in various positions which Mister B really enjoyed.

Finn is really different from other boy dolls on the market, free from guns and violence and an ideal role model for little ones, encouraging them to engage in traditional activities. Finn is the male counterpart of the Lottie doll, a girl doll that has a realistic body shape and enjoys child friendly activities. Why not check them out today?

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received Finn in order to write the review.

Princess Alexa Barbie Doll – Review

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Princess Alexa is a newly released Barbie doll along with a range of other Barbie toys, especially for the soon to be released film, Barbie and the Secret Door. The film follows Princess Alexa, a shy princess but during the film she discovers a whole new fairy tale world and along with two magical friends helps to save the kingdom. Other characters include a magical unicorn, mermaid and a fairy.

Miss M’s face lit up when she saw Princess Alexa, she thought the Barbie doll looked beautiful and when I told her about the new film, she can’t wait to go and see it. Princess Alexa is a standard size Barbie with the additional feature that she sings! The dress on her bodice is solid and this flashes coloured lights as she sings. Her skirt is satin like and can be removed. It has some large flexible flowers on it which really help it stand out and look pretty.

The highlight of this Barbie doll for Miss M is most definitely Princess Alexa’s songs. To play the songs you simply press gently down on her arm and a song plays. There are clips of two songs, both of which become quite addictive and we all know the words now after hearing them endlessly each day. Even Miss M’s little brother Mister B joins in, singing along.

See Miss M and Princess Alexa’s songs here:

Miss M has loved playing with the Princess Alexa Barbie doll. She is a beautiful doll with great added features in the songs and lights. We are looking forward to the film Barbie and the Secret door which is released on DVD on 1st September 2014 and it’ll also be screened exclusively in Vue cinemas.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and the Barbie was sent to us in order to write the review.

Sky Dancers Starfly Doll – Review

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Sky Dancers Starfly from Character Toys is a fairy called Airabella who magically flies and twirls in the sky guided by your hand. Aimed at ages 5+, Miss M was the perfect age to try one of these out.

Miss M’s face lit up when she saw the doll and she couldn’t wait to try this out. You do need plenty of room to fly the doll, so we first tried this at my parents house who have a huge empty room at the moment. The dolls comes with a base which requires batteries, you then plug the doll in the base to charge her up. Once charged she will last 10-15 minutes in the air before requiring a recharge.

The Sky Dancer doll does seem quite plasticy and can’t be played with otherwise, but she is quite pretty in design and really appealed to Miss M. To launch her into the air, you simply place her on the base and press the button.

When we tried the Sky Dancer in the air, everyone got quite excited watching her whirl through the air and Miss M was keen to follow her with her hand to guide her around the room. You need to keep you arm straight out to avoid the doll coming near to your face but as you put you hand underneath her she glides higher into the air.

The Sky Dancer is a unique toy, very different to other toys that I’ve seen and one that Miss M has absolutely loved playing, kept her active, her younger brother Mister B has been fascinated watching and my parents were impressed with seeing something a little bit different.

She can seem a little delicate when she falls sometimes, but fingers crossed she’s survived any flying into walls. The doll is a little gimmicky, but on the whole, for the fun, novel value that we’ve had from the doll, I’d say the Sky Dancer is a good interactive toy – it’s nice to try something a bit different. It certainly get’s a big thumbs up from Miss M who loves playing with the Sky Dancer Starfly doll.

Here’s a little video of the Sky Dancer Starfly in action: