Cupcake Surprise review

Today's post is a bit of a companion post to yesterday's, given these dolls' vague resemblance to a Southern belle.  A little over a year ago I reviewed Tonka's version of Cupcakes, and at the end of that review I bemoaned the fact that Emco (a toy group that I know absolutely nothing about) had done a rerelease.  I was upset that I'd let the rehash of a childhood favorite get past me, but as it turns out I needn't have griped, because Cupcake Surprise dolls are now appearing in the local stores.  I thought at first that these were Emco's creations since they look alike, but the box says "Haschel Toys," a group that I've never heard of.  Patience has never been a strong point of mine...and self-control hasn't either, because I got one!

The name is a little different, but the concept and the design are the same.  Outwardly this is a toy cupcake, but take off the hat and flip the skirt inside out, and you've got a cute little doll.

Like the original Tonka dolls, these have assorted scents, but there does not appear to be as wide a range as there was when I was a little kid.  I don't remember how wide the range was back then, but the current line has six:  strawberry, vanilla, grape, chocolate, lemon, and caramel.

The average Tonka Cupcakes wave had about four characters, while Haschel's wave has twelve.  They appear to have ditched the goofy flavor-themed names in favor of regular names that little girls are often named.

Okay, I take that back:  I haven't met a little kid named Esther in years, and the name Liza appears to be on the slide as well, but at least these dolls aren't named goofy things like Taffy and Beri.

If I could've had my choice from any of the twelve, I'd have chosen a green or a blue cupcake, but since I didn't see either option I chose this pretty yellow one.

Folks commonly associate the flavor of lemon with the color yellow, the obvious reason being that lemons are yellow, and indeed this doll smells like lemon.  Or she's supposed to; the scent reminds me more of citronella candles than it does the fruit that goes into my favorite beverage.  I've been on a lemonade kick lately for reasons I'll probably never know.  Maybe my vitamin C is low.  Anyway, the citronella scent faded within a few short days, as compared to Beri's blueberry scent, which while faint, can still be detected after almost thirty years.

Having perused Ghost of the Doll's website, I was not expecting a lot of similarities between my Tonka doll and the current doll, so when I pulled off the packaging I was in for a surprise.  The Haschel doll's top is a very similar mold to Beri Blue's, if a little smaller.  The plastic color and the decorations are different (orange and white sprinkles versus blueberries and purple sprinkles), but the shape is the same.

The attachment mode is the same too; both hats attach to their respective doll with a thick strand of elastic.

Having looked at the back of the box and matched colors to characters, I think I grabbed a Jenny.  And...

...yep, it's Jenny!  Apparently this is the only doll of color in the series, which surprised me.  Modern-day doll lines usually do a pretty good job of representing all races, so to see just one black doll in this bunch surprised me.  But then again, the Jenny shown on Ghost of the Doll's Emco page is white, so maybe all the characters come in two different forms?  Or maybe Haschel decided to mix it up a bit?  Anyway, Jenny has some similarities to my old doll Beri, but she's also quite different.  Here's how the two compare visually.

Beri has her sneaky little smile and snarky little eyebrows, while Jenny looks innocent and a little vacant.  Her eyes are very different from Beri's.

Jenny has big brown (off-center) eyes with short black lashes and a thin band of pink eyeshadow.  PINK???  Her clothes aren't pink!  The shadow doesn't match a stitch Jenny is wearing, and they make her look a little bleary-eyed, like she's been crying or tripping or deprived of sleep.  Her eyebrows are maroon (???) and don't have much personality either, though I'm glad Jenny doesn't have the resting rascal face that Beri possesses.  These eyes are very difficult to photograph, by the way.  They're flat and shiny and thus catch light like mad.  The mouth is better, being a nice dark pink shade with some little teeth painted in.  The cheeks are blushed with a similar shade of pink.

If y'all wish me to be perfectly honest, I can't say that I relate very well with either of these faces, but I prefer Beri's slightly devious expression to Jenny's blank innocence.  I think Jenny needs to be wary around Beri; goodness only knows what sort of mischief Beri could cause with an unsuspecting dupe for her partner in crime.

Ooops, I forgot hair!  Jenny has wavy dark brown hair that is pulled back into a simple ponytail.  The fibers are very soft and smooth, not stiff like some dolls' hair.  It's a little stringy in places, but nothing that a good washing won't cure.

Compare that to Beri's long, blonde, occasionally hard to manage hair.

Hair award goes to Jenny's simple, easy-to-manage tresses.

Now to the dress.  Beri's dress isn't really a dress so much, but a painted bodice and a skirt that is a separate piece.  Jenny on the other hand...Jenny is wearing a full dress, bodice and skirt and all.

This dress reminds me a little of the dress that Princess Tiana dolls often wear, being light green and gold.  The material is cheap sateen with a fair amount of drape, and the gold panel in the front has gilded leaves and vines painted on.

The neckline is not particularly well done, slanting off to one side.  This is only obvious when Jenny wears the dress (or Beri in this case); off her it can't be seen.

The sleeves are decorated with wide bands of stiff polka-dotted tulle, and the skirt has little panels on the sides made out of this same fabric.  The left panel loves to pop up and look silly at inopportune times, but I got it to behave this time.

The back of the dress is plain and fastens with a strip of Velcro.

The inside is fairly well finished, though the bodice does have some annoying loose threads.

Part of Beri's dress is painted on, so she and Jenny can't share clothes all the way.  Here's what it looks like when they do share clothes.

That looks better than I thought it would, at least in Jenny's case.  The waistband of Beri's skirt is high enough that it can make a believable strapless dress.  By contrast, Jenny's dress is ill-fitting on Beri; the lopsided bodice is very obvious, and it makes Beri's painted bodice more visible.  So surprisingly, I like Beri's half-dress better.  The painted bodice looks less bulky, and since it IS painted it avoids sewing gaffes like Jenny's uneven neckline.

When disrobed Jenny looks like this.  Her upper half is a lovely dark brown shade, but I do wish she had a painted bodice like Beri does.  LOL, bet y'all never dreamed I'd say that, as much as I've fussed about molded Barbie clothes in the past!  Anywho, this is what Jenny looks like under her dress.

Her arms are made of soft vinyl and can move up and down.  Like Beri, her arms move in tandem with each other; it's either both arms up or both arms down for this gal.

Jenny's neck can turn from side to side too, just like Beri's.

Posing is a tie.  Neither Jenny nor Beri have much to offer in that department.

 So, to sum it up, I'm delighted to see these Cupcake dolls back in stores, introducing a creative old idea to a new generation of kiddies.  However, in terms of quality and appearance I think Beri is the superior doll.  Her face has more personality, she feels more sturdy, and her simple half-dress is free of sewing foibles.  The scented gimmick worked out better for Beri too; she still smells faintly of blueberries (even after a hairwash), while Jenny's scent has largely faded.  Jenny is a cute doll with nice her hair and eye-catching colors, but she lacks Beri's mischievous personality and her lopsided bodice suggests problems with Haschel's quality control.  So if you're searching for a toy for a kid, either one of these will do quite well, but if you're a collector looking to reign in an old memory, I'd stick to the old Tonka/Kenner dolls.

Blessings,
RagingMoon1987