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Thursday, September 13, 2018

Boxy Girls Riley review

Another new line, one that I know next to nothing about.  I first saw the Boxy Girls at Wal-Mart around the beginning of June, and at first I was put off a bit by them.  "That doll has a square head and square eyes," I thought, but then I looked closer.  Since boxes are the theme of this line it would make sense for the dolls to have square heads and square eyes, though I still think it looks weird.  These dolls remind me of giant My Mini MixiQ's, in fact, with their bright colors and square themes.  Anywho, Boxy Girls (not to be confused with Moxie Girlz) are made by a toy company that I've never heard of called Jay@Play, and according to the sources I've read they're apparently strictly a Wal-Mart thing...here in the States, anyway.  There are four multiracial characters named Willa, Brooklyn, Riley, and Nomi, and their emphasis is on the oh-so-original concept of...shopping.  BUT...they put a new spin on it, with the emphasis being on online shopping and the excitement that comes with receiving and opening a package, something that I relate to quite well.  My character is Riley, and when I picked her up she was the only doll my Wal-Mart had.  That usually bodes trouble for a doll line, but let's have a closer look.  Here's what Riley looks like in her box; believe it or not, she was the last one Malden's Wal-Mart had.
Riley is my favorite of the bunch, though all four of these dolls have attributes that I like.  Blonde-haired Willa is a little hippie, while Brooklyn sports an adorable watermelon-print dress.  Noni is probably my least favorite of the bunch due to her pink dress, but she's still cute enough that I wouldn't have turned my nose up at her.  It would've been hard to go wrong with any of these, but I'm happy that Riley was the one available.

I don't usually offer commentary on doll packaging unless it's super-easy or super-hard to get into, but these dolls extend the box theme to...well, to the box!  The back of the box reveals some information about the contents of the box, and a brief, somewhat generic profile for Riley.  She loves music and New York City.  Brrr...just thinking of NYC makes me shiver; even in summer and early fall I tend to associate the Big Apple with ice and snow and cold.
The left side of the box (Riley's right) has a few labels that one might see on a real shipping box, labels that I've seen many a time on real packages.
The right side of the box (Riley's left) shows an illustration of Riley herself, plus a shipping label.
This shipping label reveals...that Riley lives in NASHVILLE???  What's with her obsession with NYC, then?  Why go north when you live in the south?  LOL, of course I'm a little biased since I live in the south myself.  Not the deep south, mind y'all, but south enough that I say "y'all" on a regular basis.  I personally have no desire whatsoever to see New York City myself, but I've been told that rural parts of New York State are stunning during certain parts of the year so I could dig visiting the state.  I guess since Riley is a city slicker already it would make sense for her to shoot for another city, just as a country girl like myself would feel more at home in another rural area.

Ah yes, with another of my famous tangents out of the way, let me point out that even the top of Riley's box is cute.  It's got faux tape printed on and a tag that hints of surprises inside the box.
Wait a minute...surprises???  I knew that Riley came with cardboard boxes, but I somewhat foolishly assumed that they were just props.  Nope!  Ten points from Hufflepuff for Moony being a dolt.  These little boxes apparently contain items like shoes and such, so this is essentially a doll and blind bag figures wrapped in one package.  This should be popular with blind bag fans.  Let's open up the big box and see what all it has.
Unboxing proved extremely easy (too easy?), though Riley did have one of those God-forsaken plastic tacks sticking out of her head.  It was relatively easy to cut, but I fail to see the point of head tacks with a doll this lightweight.  Miss Emily wisely noted that the larger Monster High dolls, the ones that were Gooliope Jellington's size, did require tacks due to their heads being heavy, but Riley's head isn't anywhere near that heavy so why bother???????  Anyway, here's Riley and her four little boxes.
Riley is eight inches tall and reminds me a little of a Bratz doll with her oversized head.  As a fun aside, notice that I once again got the black-haired girl in the group, just like I did with Jade fifteen years ago.  Hair color and an oversized noggin are all that Jade and Riley really have in common, though.  Riley is a bit on the short side, being smaller than both Bratz and Moxie Girlz (Jade and Sophina are shown).
Riley's big eyes, big head, and bright colors also beg a comparison to the defunct Vi and Va dolls (which I thankfully don't have an example of), to Shopkins Shoppies (which I do have an example of but can't find) and to Li'l Outrageous Littles.  Indeed, Spice and Can-do look like they could be small siblings for Riley.
Riley's hair is black like Jade's and Spice's, but it's a different shade of black, if y'all can believe that.  Black doesn't seem like a color that could come in shades, does it?  Well, black hair does come in shades, a point proven if one looks closely at black cats or at people with very dark hair.  Riley's hair is so black that under the fluorescent Wal-Mart lights it looked dark blue.  In fact, stock photos seem to imply that Riley's hair IS dark blue, but the box illustrations show black hair.  Under my wimpy house lights Riley's hair looks all black, and under my camera's flash the highlights look purple, so go figure on the color there.
The fibers are smooth, but not as soft as Jade's hair or a new Barbie's.  It feels a little stiff and coarse when new out of the box.  Not first-wave-Bratzillaz-level coarse, but coarse enough that every kink and tangle tends to stick around.  It's softer now that I've played with it some, but kinks still like to stick around.  For example, Riley's box art shows her hair hanging loose, but when I got her out of the box her hair was tied back, with two front segments fastened at the nape of her neck.  The rubber band left a good-sized kink in Riley's hair so I've left it tied back.  

Worn over this head is a very cute pair of headphones, perfect for Riley's music-loving persona.  These are made of purple plastic and have cat ears.
The headphones are (unfortunately) attached to Riley's head with plastic tacks.  Why am I not surprised?
Forward now, to this...decidedly unusual face.
Lighting makes quite a difference with these dolls.  A flash removes all shadows and makes Riley look like one of those trashy glamour models that was never taught how to smile (linked picture is rated R for big boobs in small clothes).  When I turn the flash off it's possible to see that Riley is indeed smiling.
These dolls have cute smiles, but they're poorly molded and poorly painted so in most lights the doll looks sullen.  Jay@Play may need to go back to the drawing board with that part of these faces. 

In keeping with the box theme Riley has square-shaped eyes with square-shaped irises in two shades of green.  These eyes are highlighted with purple eyeshadow and black liner, and are topped with chunky dark brown eyebrows.  The eyebrows look a little crude, but their simple lines jive better with the boxy eyes so I won't complain too loudly.
Under close inspection it's easier to see the lines of Riley's mouth.  Her molded smile is very shallow, and the lips don't follow the lines very well.  The top of the upper lip is blurry too, though I guess this is to be expected.  As I discussed in one of my Barbie posts, a new head mold can be very hard to paint.  I like Riley's lip color, by the way; all the other girls got saddled with shades of pink, but Riley got red lips that look nice with her hair.
Not bad for a first-wave doll, though I do wish the smile on that mouth were more obvious.  The colors are eye-catching, and being a green fan I love Riley's eyes.  However, I did read that this face paint is unstable and will come off if the doll gets wet, or the doll will "lose her good looks," as the website puts it.  Wait a minute...say WHAAA???  When's the last time any of y'all heard a warning like that for a doll???  Take that advice with a grain of salt; I read it online, and we all know how reputable (or NOT reputable) a web source can be.  Furthermore, losing one's good looks may just mean that water will mess up the hairstyles.  The phrase "lose her good looks" is pretty vague, but just to be safe I won't be sticking Riley in water.

The same site also warns that Boxy Girls' bodies are delicate, and that actually does have some truth to it.  Riley has a jointed body, and we all know how joints can be delicate.  Let's look at the shape of this first, though.
The proportions of this body are odd.  Riley has a small torso that's at at least the second stage of puberty, plus small arms to match, but her legs are long and thick.  Just thought I'd throw that out there.  Despite being fairly far along in development Riley's torso is not particularly curvaceous.  She's got a nipped in waist, but when viewed from the side she has practically no butt and no bust.  Here it's also possible to see how thick her legs are.
Delicate or no, I'm moderately impressed with the number of joints Riley has.  She has joints at her neck, shoulders, wrists, hips, and knees for a grand total of nine, which is a good number for a doll this size.  Unfortunately the review of joints will get off to a rough start, as the head can do nothing but rotate.
The shoulders are ball-jointed though, and while the arms do not have jointed elbows they are molded into a graceful shape.
That combined with ball-jointed wrists can make for some nice arm positions.
Unfortunately Riley can't put her arms together any closer than this.
No waist joint, but these hip joints are quite nice.  They're ball-jointed like the shoulders are, and thus Riley is capable of holding her legs in quite a few positions.  She can stand with them crossed...
...she can almost do a complete side-split...
...and a front-back split is a cakewalk.
The knees bend to about an eighty-five-degree angle and also rotate some.  Riley can thus sit knock-kneed or cross her legs at the ankles like so.  These joints are thick and feel fairly sturdy, despite what online sources say.
Lastly, and I rarely say this about dolls, but Riley has gorgeous feet.  Doll feet are often sculpted like they were an afterthought, but the molding on Riley's feet is impeccable.  Her ankle bones are even visible.
Compare this to Sophina's feet.  She doesn't even have the suggestion of toes.  For some reason Bratz and Moxie Girlz had flipper feet like this, even though their hands were nicely molded.
For that matter, check Riley's hands too.  The molding isn't bad on them either!
Not a bad little body, though I think it was wise of the company to warn about the potential fragility of these joints.  Riley doesn't feel like she'll break at any moment, and her joints have nice, smooth movement (unlike Raya's joints), but still these ARE doll joints.  Doll joints are weak spots, so treat these with respect per the company's instructions.

Boxy Girls in general are well-dressed, but of the four outfits Riley's is...well, it's interesting, but it's not my favorite.  That title would go to Brooklyn with her watermelon-print dress.  But Riley's getup is eye-catching with its clashing colors and patterns.  It's red, white, and purple and consists of three pieces...well, four if you count each shoe.
The pieces are relatively simple in shape and in stitching, though the dress does have a nice dropped waist.  The straps are made of your usual sateen ribbon loops.
Ah, my favorite print in the world.  POLKA DOTS!!!  These polka dots are purple, though at a distance they can look black like ladybug spots.
The purple print on the shirt and the polka dots on the dress both extend all the way around.
These boots...oh, these boots are like something I'd have worn in a New York second back in high school.  They're lace-up boots in PURPLE, and they've got chunky platform heels.  I haven't shown Riley standing in these without support, but she can do so with no problems.
These boots are the type that would be awful to remove without a slit in the back, so they have a slit in the back.
I can remember a time when slits in the backs of doll shoes were a fairly new thing, but now they seem to be commonplace.  This is not a bad outfit, though.  I don't know if it's cutting-edge style or anything, but it keeps Riley's nakedness covered and it looks darn good with her dark hair and her red lips.  There's nothing super-fancy or super-outstanding about these clothes, but they're nice and the interior is holding together.  If I had any gripes it would be that the Velcro likes to snag.  It's the modern-day non-snag stuff, but it still...snags!  Be careful with that Velcro, kiddos!

Now that that's out of the way, let's look at the contents of these boxes.  They're cute boxes, made of glossy cardboard with shipping labels and handling warnings plastered all over.
Even the top has a "fragile" sticker.
What in blazes is Riley ordering, glass slippers?  As an aside, some of these boxes rattle and some don't, meaning that either some of the contents are soft or they're all different sizes...or both.  Let's open the first box (and I'm picking at random, since all the boxes look alike).  Even the interior of the first box is adorable, being printed with pineapples and the word "cute" in big letters.  The contents are covered with a placard that proclaims "Shop 'til you drop."  I used to live by that motto, once upon a time when I was younger and slimmer and could wear more cute things.
A second placard was below the first, with a cute little note from the Boxy Girl crew.
Beneath that there's a lot of purple "hay," as I like to call it, and something gray.
The gray thing turned out to be...
...a purse.  A purse similar to but a bit more well-executed than the crummy little purses that Mattel produces.  The designs are at least painted, and they're painted in two colors that are special to me:  green (my favorite color) and purple (my sister's favorite color).

I'm not terribly impressed with that first box, but at least Riley can hold the purse (sort of), and at least the details are painted.  Second box now.  The top placard is different, featuring a cheery little thought bubble.  A closer perusal of this placard revealed that these top placards are actually stickers.
The lower placard is the same, except for a number at the bottom right corner.  This box is apparently #3, and the first one that I opened was actually #4.  Anyway, #3's contents are wrapped in pink tissue paper...
...and inside the paper is...
...alriiiiiiiight, earrings and a necklace!  These too are plastic, but they have cute designs.  The necklace is blue and is comprised of three "beaded" strands.  It's molded to loop around Riley's neck without any fasteners.
The earrings are silver and contain three stars in graduated sizes.  I'll probably have to cut off Riley's cute headphones to put these in.
As it turned out I didn't need to remove Riley's headphones, as these earrings lay flat enough against her head to not interfere.

Great, box #3 had some good stuff in it.  Now to...whatever number the next box is.  As it turned out this box isn't numbered at all.  It has two stickers, a tube of lipstick and the word "smile."
The box contains blue tissue paper and what appears to be a clip with some hair attached.
A hair extension, most likely, and sure enough, it is.  It's a blue and pink hair extension.
The extension is attached to a plastic blue clip that echoes the star motif found in Riley's earrings.
I'm not terribly impressed with this accessory, as it reminds me of the doll I did during my first review.  Featherageous Jade came with hair extensions like this, and when braided in they looked silly.  As curled up as this extension is, I fear it'll be the same.
Or not!  This actually is not too shabby! 

Alrighty, so I've had one "meh" box, one good box, and one good box hiding behind a "meh" mask.  Last box!  This one contains a heart sticker and a placard with a different message and the number "1" in the corner.  I essentially went in reverse order with these boxes.
Box #1 contains multicolored paper hay and what looks like the sole of a shoe.  A purple shoe.
I hope this means I got the cute purple shoes pictured on the box.  And...
...yep, it's them!  Purple vinyl shoes with little molded studs.  I wish they'd come with the pink socks Riley was wearing on the box.  As much as I like these I think I prefer Riley's stompy purple boots, but that's just personal preference.  What do y'all think?
Actually...take that back.  Riley's boots are more MY style, but the slingbacks show off her pretty feet.  Now I wish her toenails were painted!

Alrighty, we've got Riley examined and the contents of her packages revealed, so that's the end of the line, right?  Wrong answer.  Lose all your money, go directly to jail...I think I'll cut Hufflepuff a little slack this time, since there are plenty of doll lines out there that get no add-ons at all.  Luckily for all of us, Jay@Play does indeed have add-on packages with six more boxes for the opening, and once again I found the last one Wal-Mart had at the time (Dexter Wal-Mart this time). 
Oooo, look!  Polka dots!  LOL, the back of the box gives an idea about what the boxes might hold.
Oooo, look at these two pieces!  I LOVE that dress!  I NEED that dress!!!
Alrighty, here are the boxes.  One is bigger than the others, but otherwise they're the same as the boxes that came with Riley.
Same color patterns, same warning labels, same everything...except for the shipping address.  This lot of boxes is mostly addressed to Riley's friend Brooklyn, who apparently lives in San Fran.
I wonder if all the add-on boxes are labeled like that, or if there's a set specific to each character?  If they're specific to each character it might be wise to make the names a little more obvious, just in case some kid out there is a perfectionist and wants solely Riley's stuff for Riley and so forth.  I give no flying burritos about matching items to characters, but I'm still curious to see if all of these add-on boxes are addressed to Brooklyn.

For the sake of time I'm not going to go over the nitty gritties of the boxes' contents.  I'm just going to open 'em all up and show y'all what's inside.  Ready?
Some of that stuff is hard to see, so from left to right, I got a super-cute top/dress (I'm not yet sure which it is), a pair of purple lace-up boots, a pair of cute black ankle boots, a set of pink headphones, some miscellaneous beauty items, and a purse that is shaped like a little backpack.  I wish the big box had more in it than just those goofy headphones; there was room in there for another dress or some item of clothing.  Also, these purple boots are the exact same pair as the ones Riley already has.
I think I can understand Jay@Play's reasoning here, as it gives some little kid a chance to get fashion items that they might want without having to buy a whole 'nother doll, but for someone who only wants one doll it's a smidge annoying to get a duplicate.  That's the breaks when one likes blind bags, though!  Plus, these purple boots fit my Kuu Kuu Harajuku doll Baby fairly well.  She can't stand up on her own when she's wearing these boots, but she CAN wear them.  They match her purple dress very nicely.
The box second from right held some miscellaneous things, consisting of a tube of lipstick, a gold bracelet, and another hair extension.
I wish the hair colors were different, but at least the clip is cute.  It's a music note, fitting for Riley's music-loving personality.  The bracelet looks like it'll be tricky to get on Riley's thick little wrist, but I'm willing to bet that once it's on it'll stay on.  As for the lipstick...well, I fail to see the point of makeup for a doll that can't hold the makeup up as some sort of prop.  This lipstick is cute, though; it's got nice, bright colors and the tube has a pair of lips molded on, though I had a hard time photographing that.
Not too bad, actually, though I still wish Riley could hold this lipstick or carry it in one of her purses.  Neither of her purses open or hold anything, but that would've been a tall order to make an opening purse and keep it cheap.  Speaking of purses, Riley's new purse is like one I once had, a silver backpack-style purse.
I carried a purse like this all over Fort Massac one time...I think I was about fourteen, and it was great to have a purse I could just wear on my shoulders instead of carrying.  Purses like this are VERY handy, though maybe not the best things if pickpockets are about.  I think that in my sixteen years of going to Fort Massac the authorities caught maybe ONE pickpocketer, but I never let my guard down.  Anywho, this purse has one little touch that my purse did/does not:  a cat zipper pull.
So cute!  Not unlike the baubles that I have hanging off my purse now, in fact.  No lie, I'm soon to be thirty-one, I carry a Vera Bradley purse, and on the handles I carry small stuffed animals and Smooshy Mushy minis.  Tazzle the tiger ended up there too (LOL).  I wanted to use Tazzle as a ball-jointed doll prop, but he looks so much better on my purse!  Anywho, if I'm allowed to have goofy little baubles on my purse then Riley is too.  Indeed, I applaud her, as the cat keychain on her purse suggests she's not afraid to be a kid at heart...or she likes cats...or both, like me.  Not bad accessories overall, but there's a lot of waste going on here!  I kept my boxes and the stuff inside because they'll make cute little props, but I doubt many others will do the same.  I kind of wish everything was wrapped in just tissue paper rather than in little boxes, even though that does take the "Boxy" out of Boxy Girls.  Tissue paper would conceal the items, and it would also be easier to pitch or recycle afterwards.  Plus, it would be easier to open!

Now that I've completed that tangent, a warning is in order for y'all.  I've watched several of these box openings on YouTube, and a lot of them are the same.  Not all of them, mind you, but a lot of them.  If any of y'all are looking for add-on sets, be sure to look VERY CAREFULLY at the boxes and see what name is on them.  I happened to get Brooklyn's set, while Veni Vidi Dolli got Willa's set, a point proven if one looks very, VERY closely at her pictures.  To complicate matters, since the time that I picked up that first box a change has occurred, and now all the boxes say "To My Best Friend" instead of a specific name.  I took a chance with one of these boxes and got...a bunch of duplicates, but then I tried another box and got all this stuff.
Both the duplicate boxes and the boxes with my new stuff are marked "To My Best Friend," so be prepared to get a lot of duplicates while looking for pieces you don't have.  As an aside, that pink princess dress looks more like something Noni would wear (indeed, I think these are intended for Noni), but I have to admit that Riley looks pretty good in it.
Dang, I wish these dolls could tilt their heads!  Those bodies are so dynamic!  As an aside, Riley is obviously a bit too tall for the Hairdorables backdrop that I'm using, but it still looks cute so...there, I guess.  Since both Riley and Dee Dee go heavily on the blind bag theme, here's what they look like together.  Riley is twice Dee Dee's height.
Now I REALLY wish Riley's head could tip.  To get these two to interact convincingly I have to seat Riley, and even then it looks silly.
Maybe they'll be more comfortable on this little ottoman that I've got...
...or in the matching chair.
I really don't think anything can dampen Dee Dee's outlook on life.  She and her Hairdorable comrade Kat are eternally happy, while Riley always looks...eternally bored with everything.  These Boxy Girls faces are unique, but they are NOT engaging.

Silliness over, on to clothes sharing.  I initially assumed that Riley would be slim enough to share clothes with the Monster High troop and my handful of Ever After High dolls, but having seen them together I've realized that that scenario probably won't pan out.
Indeed, Riley proved to be too short in the torso to wear either Clawdeen's bathing suit or Justine's dress.  If she'd had more boobage she could've made Justine's pretty yellow frock work, but she doesn't, and the bodice slides down.
When the tables are turned, the results are different.  I made a wise decision picking two dark dolls as the red pops against their skin/plastic, but that proved merely to be a bonus.
Since both Clawdeen and Justine have longer legs and torsos than Riley Boxy Girls clothing is relegated to being used as blouses rather than dresses.  Luckily, I just so happen to have a new pair of jeggings that I hadn't yet used, so I paired them with Riley's dress and shirt and...well, y'all see the results.  The dress doesn't fit Clawdeen as well as I'd like it to since her hips are so narrow, but Justine wears it well.  I love how it matches Justine's lipstick too.

Since Bratz dolls of all eras have relatively small bodies I decided to drag some of them out.  I threw Sophina in too, but her torso is so wide I don't think I'll bother trying to cram her into Riley's clothes.
With Sophina eliminated, that leaves Riley against an early Meygan (circa 2002), Style It! Nadine (2011), and Study Abroad Raya (2015).  Sheesh, has it been that long already since we had that last wave of Bratz dolls???
Get ready for a few more surprises, y'all!  Riley doesn't share clothes with the early dolls well, even though I was able to jam Meygan into her clothes.  Meygan's clothes are too big and too long for Riley, and even though I WAS able to dress Meygan the clothes are tight.
Riley's cute star blouse/dress fits Meygan, though.  It's too short to serve as a dress, but it makes a fabulous hippie top.
Nadine hails from 2011, and she and Riley can't share clothes either.  Nadine's body is wider than Meygan's, and even though it looks like Riley's clothes fit her they're not fastened in the back.  Furthermore, Nadine's oversized sweater drowns Riley, and her shorts are too big.
Lastly, Raya.  Reboot Bratz tops fit Riley's small chest fairly well but not perfectly, and the pants are too roomy around the waist.  I was able to get them over Riley's feet, though (these pants are a bit tight, thus I wasn't expecting to get them up).  As for Raya, she can wear Riley's stock outfit, even though the shoulder straps want to slip off.
Final verdict here?  Bratz clothes are out for the most part, though later Bratz can wear some Boxy Girl things.

Just for grins I threw Pepper Parson into the mix.
I already know from Miss Emily's review of Willa that this should work...
...and it does!  The other two dresses fit too, but they could both do with some leggings...ESPECIALLY that star top!
Lastly, I'm going to try a pair of dolls that I didn't think of trying until the last minute.  Malie Tasker has a short torso just like Riley does, and Pix E. Flutters' dress has fit almost everyone I try it on.
Riley can't wear Malie's dress (too tight AND too short), but unsurprisingly she can wear Pix's dress...as can nearly all my dolls of this size.
When the tables are turned the exact opposite is true.  Riley's roomy star top fits Pix's teardrop-shaped body, but the pink dress and Riley's stock outfit do not.
As for Malie. the star top and Riley's stock outfit both fit (albeit imperfectly), but the bodice of the pink dress is too big.
I think MGA Entertainment was WAY too hasty in pulling the plug on the Lalaloopsy Girls line, as those clothes are so versatile it's almost comical.  I never dreamed that their dresses would fit any other doll, as specialized as the Lalaloopsy Girls' bodies are.

In lieu of a good/bad section I'm going to list the main problems I found with this line.  If this doll line were mine I'd make three major changes:
1) Make the dolls' smiles a bit more friendly.
2) Make it easier to avoid duplicates with the add-on packs.  I'd do this by leaving one piece unwrapped and the rest wrapped, so kids could get something different each time but still be surprised with the wrapped stuff.  Either that or create more options, like two outfit sets per character or somesuch like that.
3) Cut back on the waste!  I kept the boxes and the internal stuffing because they make great props, but how many little kids are just going to toss those little boxes in the trash after they're open?  And of course the packaging that Riley herself came in serves no use whatsoever.   

Those are the main problems that I see with this line, and I had started to wonder if said problems were starting to catch up with the line, as the dolls were not being restocked in local stores.  My mistake, because now the local stores have a trillion of them.  Now...that being said, I can't say that Riley impressed me as much as last week's Hairdorables did.  Oh sure, Riley's a nice enough doll, but for me the add-ons weren't anywhere near as special or interesting as the items that came with the Hairdorables.  I mean, I got a bunch of makeup that Riley can't hold or carry or do ANYTHING with!  And with there only being four sets to look for that greatly increases the risk of duplicates.  I've bought three add-on boxes so far, and two of them were the same danged set with the same danged stuff.  I got lucky with the third box, but the risk of duplicates is WAY too high for me to consider shooting for the other sets that I don't have.  My verdict?  If Riley or one of the other Boxy Girls caught your eye I'd say it's okay to go out and get one, and maybe ONE of the add-on sets, but don't sink too much money into this line.  Stick with the Hairdorables or the Li'l Outrageous Littles, both of whom run less of a risk of duplicates and hold more of a surprise factor.  If you do insist on getting one of these dolls, DON'T ORDER FROM THE WEBSITE!!!  Facebook's page is littered with complaints about customer service and purchased items never showing up, so if you want a Boxy Girl go to Wal-Mart and get one.  The ones who DO have a doll seem to like them (notice that one of the positive reviews is my own), but the number of disgruntled customers is high.  So if you want one of these just wait and buy one in person.

Best regards,
RagingMoon1987

2 comments:

  1. The Boxy Girls are obviously from Planet Cubey, the same planet that Rolie Polie Olie's best friend Billy Bevel comes from. ;)

    If you were worried about Riley losing her face paint, you might think about trying some clear matte spray to seal it. You could also use that to seal toenail paint on if you decide to give Riley some. Before you did that, I would look into what kind of plastic Riley is made out of, and what types of sealant would work well with it, of course.

    Outfit and accessory sets, what a novel concept! /sarc I wish other companies would get on board with that idea. I'd even take blind boxes if it meant getting some nice clothes and new accessories. My Wal-Mart has loads of those dolls too. A lot of customer complaints right at the start does not bode well for the future of the line, though if Jay@Play takes the complaints seriously and makes changes, there's hope.

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    Replies
    1. Li'l Outrageous Littles are doing blind box outfits, if you can believe that. They're super-cute little outfits...if you can get around the fact that they're packaged in wads of JELLY!!! Seriously, what is with toy companies these days??? Even cutesy stuff has to have an ick factor nowadays.

      I didn't think of covering Riley's face with sealant. Stupid of me, being a ball-jointed doll collector. THEY use sealant. LOL, excellent idea!

      I need to check out Rolie Polie Olie's little chap. Lordy, it's been years since I even thought of Rolie Polie Olie. LOL, I was thinking of Minecraft and Funko Pop figures when I put this review together, believe it or not. Funko Pop figures always look so boxy!

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