Hey, Ghouliette here! It’s the holiday season, and I’m a sucker for winter- and holiday-themed toys and dolls. This year, LOL Surprise does not disappoint. The 2021 limited edition Holiday Surprise and Winter Chill Dolls have dropped, and I just had to pick them up (see what I did there?).
When I reviewed my first LOL Surprise Doll in 2017, I concluded, and I quote: “LOL Surprises are cute, but I bought mine more out of curiosity than with the intent to collect them.” Famous last words, to be sure, because twenty-three LOL Surprise Dolls later, I am fully entrenched in the LOL Surprise phenomenon.
The first few series of LOL Surprise Dolls were rather complicated to open. The 7 surprises came in a plastic ball ensconced in five layers of plastic to peel off, followed by five compartments to open, one for each individually wrapped surprise (not including the sticker and the hint). These days, LOL Surprise Dolls are much easier to open. The plastic ball has only two layers of plastic to peel off, and the ball comes in two halves. The Winter Chill series features six dolls. The Holiday Surprise Series feature only two characters, Sleigh Babe and Tinsel. Like the 2020 Halloween dolls or the 2021 Year of the Ox doll and pet, you know which Holiday Surprise doll you are getting, since an illustration of it is featured on the outer packaging. Does that defeat the purpose behind the concept of LOL Surprise Dolls? Well, yes. Does it make it any less fun to open each doll? No!
Let’s start with the Holiday Surprise Dolls. Sleigh Babe is giving me Santa-Claus-meets-Gwen-Stefani vibes.
Sleigh Babe has white hair like Santa, pulled back into a ponytail. Her white opera gloves, red pantsuit set, and fascinator hat are a hip, feminized version of Santa’s suit. Even her bottle looks like a Santa suit.
Tinsel is a Christmas tree personified.
Her green-tinsel beehive hairdo looks like a Christmas tree, and her pink and gold crinoline dress mirrors a Christmas tree skirt. She comes with a glittery pink and gold bottle and the matching star-shaped sunglasses are like the star that tops the Christmas treeTinsel certainly lives up to her name – she sparkles. Her beehive hairdo reminds me of the girls from The B-52s.
I purchased three Winter Chill series dolls. Fortunately, I didn’t get any duplicates.
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The three Winter Chill Dolls I got are Precious, SPF Q.T., and Treasure. I really wanted SPF Q.T. because I love her freckles and that she comes with earmuffs. According to the accompanying Collector’s Guide leaflet, Treasure is Rare, and Precious is Ultra-Rare. In four years of collecting LOL Surprise dolls, I never got any of the rare ones until now.
The Winter Chill dolls this year have caused a controversy of sorts. The 2021 Winter Chill dolls are re-releases of the 2020 Holiday Present Surprise series. The ”holiday present surprise” was a tiny elf doll in a tiny gift box. The 2021 dolls don’t come with the elves, but MGA Entertainment, along with some retailers, such as Walmart, used last year’s photos and product descriptions that still included the elves to promote this year’s dolls. When collectors purchased them this year, they were disappointed to discover the elves were not included. One reviewer on the official LOL Surprise website wrote “Thanks LOL for making my three year old cry.” Yikes!
The official LOL Surprise website subsequently replaced the old photos with new ones that removed the elf. The official reply from MGA Entertainment to the negative reviews was as follows:
“The images for this item were incorrect. We have updated the images on the website to reflect that this item does not come with an elf. Please contact us through our website form to discuss your order. Thank you.”
As of today, Walmart.com is still using the photos and the description featuring the elf. They’re charging $16.99 for them. Interestingly, there are no reviews posted for the Winter Chill dolls on the Walmart page for them, which makes me wonder if they removed them because of negative reviews.
The packaging for the Winter Chill and the Holiday Surprise dolls doubles as a Christmas ornament. The doll can be displayed inside (the front half is clear), and then the ball can be hung by an attached ribbon on the Christmas tree.
I purchased both LOL Surprise Holiday Surprise Dolls from lolsurprise.com for $10.99 each. I bought the Winter Chill dolls from my local Target, but they’re also available at lolsurprise.com for $10.99 each. Not surprisingly, they have taken center stage on my Christmas tree.
This past year, like last year, has been challenging for us all. We hope 2022 will be a better year for all of us, and that everyone is happy and healthy. We really appreciate every one of our readers and fellow doll-collectors. Merry Christmas from Ghouliette and Ghoulia13!
Dollsville, USA 