Na! Na! Na! Surprise review

LEAP DAY, Y'ALL!!!  I've never gotten to do a post on Leap Day!  That said...this is another box opening/blind bag review.  My posts of that stripe are not usually popular, but...my blog, my rules.  Since I'm running out of vintage things to look at I'll be throwing some more modern stuff in, and this will be the case today.  I like kawaii items, as past Barbie posts have insinuated, so when I saw the Na! Na! Na! Surprise dolls advertised I thought "Yep, that's for me."  Na! Na! Na! Surprise takes the award for the dumbest name I've ever heard, as it implies absolutely NOTHING about the contents of the package (L.O.L. at least STANDS for something!), but it made for a cute commercial.  Indeed, I walked around the library for several days chanting the jingle...or singing "Hush," which has copious na-na-na's in the chorus.  NexJen hypothesizes that the name was created to make the rest of us come up with songs that had "na-na-na" in the lyrics...and surprisingly enough that's an easy thing to do!  "Hush" is the first one I come up with since I'm an avowed classic rock fan, but NexJen came up with some modern ones too.  Anyway, when a toy jingle makes me randomly break out in song (especially while at work), then I know I've gotta see what it's all about.  Na! Na! Na! Surprises are another product from MGA Entertainment, and they're a little different from most of the blind bag dolls I've done in the past, in that they're...cloth.  They all have names, birthdays, and brief phrases that give us a look at their personalities.  They all also have animal hats that I love, and each has a small identifying symbol, presumably to keep one from paying twenty bucks a pop for duplicates.

Top row, left to right:
Roxy Foxy.  Yep, another MGA doll named "Roxy!"  Birthday is January 1st, statement is "I don't just dress, I impress."  Hat is a fox, identifying mark is a triangle.
Aubrey Heart.  Birthday is April 12th, statement is "Just some bunny who luvs lookin' fabulous."  Hat is a pink bunny, identifying mark is (fittingly) a heart.
Sarah Snuggles.  Birthday is March 21st, statement is "My cuteness is too much to bear."  Hat is a bear, identifying mark is a circle.

Bottom row, left to right:
C.J. Cuddles.  Birthday is September 12, statement is "Here to win.  Hear me roar."  Hat is a tiger, identifying mark is a diamond.  BOY DOLL!!!  Selah!
Minna Moody.  Birthday is May 24th, statement is "I don't wanna talk about it."  Hat is a black sheep (again, fitting), identifying mark is a square.
Britney Sparkles.  Birthday is August 13th, statement is "Just a girl, reaching for the stars."  Hat is a unicorn, identifying mark is a four-pointed star.

UPDATE, 3/4/2020:  Series 2 is already hitting store shelves!  Froggy has a full set over at her YouTube channel if y'all wish to take a gander.

C'mon, y'all knew there'd be at least one unicorn in there!  There isn't a loser in the bunch, but I like flame-haired Roxy and grumpy Minna the best.  I also like C.J. because boy doll, that's why.  Boy dolls, as I've discussed in the past, are oft underrepresented in the dolly world.  Minna is a little scantily clad and thus may bother some parents, but for the most part these look pretty tame, especially when compared to the Bratz!  They come with these goofy plush pom-poms that match their hat; those, I believe, are supposed to hang off of a purse or backpack.  I love purse baubles, so I'm excited about that.  Here's what Na! Na! Na! Surprises come packaged in, a pink plastic shell with a shiny, opaque front and a transparent back.

The back has a brief list of the items inside.

Wait a minute, is that a DISPOSABLE package?  That's semi-new.  I've reviewed L.O.L. Surprises, Hairdorables, and Blume, and I own (but have not reviewed) an L.O.L. O.M.G. doll and a Capsule Chix figure, and all of them have packages that are presumably meant to be kept.  Of course I doubt that everyone actually DID keep the packages, meaning that the waste on blind bag toys is pretty high.  Capsule Chix are the worst in this category for two reasons.  One, the box is meant to be a capsule dispenser, not a home like L.O.L. pods and Blume flowerpots are, or a runway like O.M.G. and Hairdorables.  It can be reused, but what's the point once one knows what the capsules contain?  Two, the boxes are huge and the dolls contained within are tiny.  Here's how my Nixie compares to her box.

To give y'all an idea of a Capsule Chix's size, here she is with Glori and Longlocks.

Yep, Nixie is smaller than a Dawn doll, but she came in a box that could easily hold two Barbie Fashionistas.

Okay, that box isn't big enough for Arlo and Violet, but it would probably accommodate two modern-day Skipper dolls.  That picture does not properly capture how either doll looks, by the way; Arlo is a hottie and Violet has the sweetest face.

Cute couple, eh what?  Anyway, Capsule Chix come in multiple pieces, with one or two pieces contained in one capsule, and in order to assemble the doll one has to treat her box like a gashapon machine.  It was a cute concept, but the prices were outrageous for a tiny doll in a big, complicated box, and once you've got the doll out of the box, what is the point of disassembling her and putting her through there again?  Nixie is cute and all, but I feel like I wasted my money on her.  She has a few other perks and pitfalls, so if y'all want a closer look at her, say the word and I can throw a review together.

"I am not a crook."

Hopefully I will not have the same regrets with my Na! Na! Na! Surprise!  He/she is packaged in this shiny pink package with some information on the front, but I was most interested in this round little sticker with the identifying mark. 

The mark is a triangle, meaning that the doll inside should be Roxy Foxy.  Kinda kills the surprise, but I don't hate that result.  I did say that Roxy and Minna were my two favorites, after all.  This will also help parents (and collectors) avoid the spending of multiple Jacksons for duplicate dolls.  Anyway, I understand one has to squeeze this package to get it open...but first I have to get the plastic shell off!  I didn't know there'd be a need for scissors during this box opening, but...maybe there won't be.  There's a spot that says "push here."

I pushed, alright...and I pushed and pushed and pushed until the whole top of the package crumpled in.  Then the seam split and I was able to pull the package apart with brute force.  If any of y'all have kids I'd recommend that they have help with this part, as it requires a little bit of hand strength.  The plastic seam was also a little sharp, though not as sharp as the cut edges of Zapf Baby Surprise pods.  Upon pulling the plastic away I was left with this.

Looks like one of those Mylar balloons that people get when they have a birthday or if they've been in the hospital.  It's emblazoned with animals and with the identifying symbols, and it has some instructions on the top.

Hmmm...insert straw, inflate, peel something, squeeze the balloon, and THEN tear it???  Why not just freaking tear it???  Anyway, here's the straw, made out of cardboard.

I doubt I'll be using that, so I just skipped to step 3 and peeled away a paper tab at the top of the bag.  That reveals a chamber with confetti in it.

I like confetti, but I DON'T like having to sweep up a huge mess, especially one that I created through my own silliness.  So to avoid that lovely chore I just dumped that stuff into the trash.  I will note, however, that the confetti also has the shapes of animals and the dolls' identifying symbols, so MGA thought this out pretty well.  If any of y'all have crafty kids in your households this confetti will work well with collages or scrapbooks.

So I skipped all the steps and tore the bag open assuming I'd have everything in plain view, but to my delight, even when the bag is popped the doll is still concealed.

The pom pom bag is a fox, further confirming that this doll is indeed Roxy Foxy.  Her clothes and shoes are packaged separately, and I fail to see the point of that since I already know who I'm getting.  The characters always wear the same outfits, so once I know who I'm getting that kinda kills the surprise element of the clothes.  The pom pom is nice, though, very soft and fuzzy on the outside...but it's also firm to the touch.  It doesn't feel like a doll is concealed in there...

...and this is why.  The pom unzips and reveals a large plastic shell.  Said shell was taped together, so I had to very carefully cut that stuff apart...

...and Roxy is free!  I do wish MGA had just dressed her and put her inside the fox purse, but...but nothing, really.  I wish she'd come out of there dressed.  As I said above, there's really no sense in separately packaging the clothes since all Roxy dolls wear the same dress.  Here's how she looks fully dressed.

Now that Roxy is free it's time to review her!  Roxy is about seven inches from head to toe, close in size to a doll that I reviewed once and now tend to forget, Emerald the Enchanting Witch.  I also threw in Whimzee, my Moondreamers doll.  These three will definitely NOT be sharing clothes.

Roxy is also comparable in height to her fellow MGA compadres Sila Clops and Malie Tasker.  They won't be sharing clothes either due to differing measurements.

In other words, she's a small doll.  A small doll with a ton of hair and a big dumb tag sticking out of her hat.

Purple Monkfish would call this "princess-length hair," and all of the Na! Na! Na! dolls have it except for C.J.  Roxy is the only girl with straight hair, and as I noted above it's an unnatural but eye-catching shade of flame red.  The fibers are not fishing-wire coarse like later Bratz hair was, but it's not as nice as Betsy Bubblegum's hair was.  It's smooth and soft, but it's also got a mind of its own and needs frequent smoothing, and given the time of year it also gets staticky.

I can't say much about rooting or styling because Roxy's hat is sewn on, a point proven if one flips the hem of the hat over and looks veeeeeery closely at her hairline.

As a result Roxy wears most of her hair loose, though she does have one segment sewn back on the right side of her face.  This simulates a left side part.

Na! Na! Na! dolls have printed faces.

This hearkens back to another soft doll that MGA once made, Mooshka.  I don't know whatever became of my Mooshka doll Karia, but here's a reused picture of her face.

Seriously, I have the box, but no Karia inside the box!  Go figure, she's around somewhere.  Here's what their faces look like next to each other.  They don't have too many similarities but there are a few.

Both dolls have printed faces with big colorful eyes and soft pink mouths, and they both have red hair with side parts, though that's likely a coincidence more than anything.  However, since Roxy is a fashion doll she's got a bit more detail, plus something that no Mooshka doll had:  a vinyl skull.  I can't show this very well, but instead of being stuffed full of fiber like the Mooshka dolls, Roxy has a solid head (plus the flat profile that all MGA dolls have).

I can depress it a little if I press down on the top of her head, but for the most part this head is pretty firm.

Now to the features.  Roxy's eyes are the most prominent part of her face, and they are a lovely shade of green.

When viewed up close the texture of the fabric washes the colors out a little, but trust me:  Roxy's eyes are a pretty color.  Roxy and C.J. are the only two Na! Na! Na! dolls without blue eyes, by the way, which surprised me a little.  Sarah Snuggles has a slightly darker skin tone than the other dolls, which would've been complimented nicely by brown or amber eyes.  Granted, her eyes are a different shade of blue (they have more of a violet tone), they still fall under the blue category.  I like Roxy's green eyes a lot though, as they compliment her bright hair nicely.  Oddly, the eyes have no shadow.  I say "oddly" because MGA dolls usually have heavily made-up eyes.

Roxy's nose and mouth are printed too, and the details are blurry when viewed up close.  At a normal distance they don't look this kooky.

Roxy's nose is centered on a slight protuberance on her face, so it sticks out a little like one's nose should, though not as much as the print style would have one believe.  It's a cute little nose without freckles or printed details (C.J. has a bandage on his nose).  The mouth is sort of an intermediate color between peach and rose, and it's printed in a Mona Lisa-esque expression (C.J. has more of a smile).  Either way it's a pretty little mouth, one that can convey a number of emotions.  Like the eyes and the nose it's printed on straight.  I do wonder, though...were these faces printed first and then placed on the vinyl head, or were they printed on AFTER the material was placed?  I'm inclined to believe the latter since that would be less labor-intensive, but I'd love to know for sure.

Before I go on, I'd like to compare Roxy briefly to my My Child doll, Morgan.  Morgan also has a fabric-over-vinyl head, and her expression reminds me a little of Roxy's.  In this next picture poor Morgan's biggest fault is on full display.

The wrinkles are par for the course with My Child dolls, but they sure do make Morgan look grumpy!  I wonder if sagging fabric will ever become a problem for Roxy?  I hope not!  Morgan's wrinkles are repairable, but I do hope that Roxy won't have to face that problem down the road.

Now let's look at Roxy's body.

Na! Na! Na! dolls have cute little bodies that are not sexualized, despite the printed-on undergarments and some of the fashions suggesting that these dolls are not small children.  They have pear-shaped bodies with no molded boobies or anything like that.  The bodies are cloth over a solid frame, just like the head.

I can depress Roxy's tummy a little when I squeeze it, but like her head it doesn't have a lot of give.  The joints are where things get interesting, as most of the cloth-bodied dolls I own don't have honest-to-God joints.  They have gusseted hips and shoulders, and their limbs dangle...just like a rag doll's limbs should.  My only exceptions are Morgan, who is jointed, and Olivia Hope, Chelsea, and C.C., all of whom have internal wires.  Now I can add Roxy to that list, as she has joints at her neck, hips, and shoulders.  They only rotate, and the joints take a fair amount of hand strength to manipulate, but it can be done.  The range of motion is limited, though; due to the cut of her hips, Roxy can't sit, and she can't do the greatest splits either.

She can be placed in a convincing walking position, though...

...and she can turn her head...

...and she can wave or hold her hair back, whichever way you want to interpret this position.

Roxy's arms and legs are constructed the same as her torso and head, with a layer of cloth over a solid foundation.  The legs have a little bit of bend at the knee, but they do not hold a pose.

Her arms have no give at all, but they do have little fingers stitched into the hands.

That surprised me a bit, as her stubby little feet have no toes stitched in.

But then again, Roxy is wearing printed-on fishnet tights.  Tights and socks obscure one's toes and make the foot appear rounded, so the lack of stitched toes makes sense here.  In addition to the printed stockings Roxy also has a bra and panties set; this too is printed on, in a shade of red that matches her outfit.  The front of the brassiere has a small bow and a heart-shaped crystal printed on.

To my surprise and delight, the back of the brassiere has a little fastener.  It's printed on of course, but I wasn't expecting it to be there at all!  Good thing Roxy has a way to take that bad boy off when she gets home at night!

Or not, since the danged thing is printed onto her.  Oh Lordy, if I had to LIVE in my brassiere I'd die, and I think a fair chunk of womanhood would agree with me!  LOL, anyway, I usually discuss dolly undergarments at the END of clothes talk, but when one's undergarments are stamped or printed on I guess it only makes sense to lump them in with the body review.  Before I move on to clothes I want to note that while Roxy's fabric is smooth, free of snags, wrinkles, and sewing errors, and did not catch on my fingernails, I still have concerns about its well-being over time.  The fabric feels like the type that pantyhose are made out of, and that means that if not treated carefully the fabric could snag or tear.  This is sometimes a problem with Hot Looks dolls, as I have learned since Chelsea's review.  Chelsea and C.C. are fine, but I did see some Hot Looks dolls with rents in their cloth bodies where the stuffing was sticking out.  Na! Na! Na! dolls are constructed differently from Hot Looks dolls, but just the same...keep sharp objects, Velcro, pets, and destructive younger siblings a mile away from these dolls.  Y'know, just to be safe.  Roxy's body feels pretty tough, but even tough doll bodies can break if mistreated.

Now we can move on to clothes.  All of the Na! Na! Na! Surprises are simply but colorfully dressed, even C.J.  Roxy's outfit consists of mostly red pieces with a few fox-themed items thrown in.

Roxy's hat is not removable, but I didn't discuss it when I talked about her hair so let's start there.

Reminds me a little of my father's old fox-skin hat.  Y'all have no doubt heard of coonskin caps?  Well, on the rare occasions when my father would go black powder rendezvousing in winter he'd wear a fox-skin cap instead, because it covered his ears better than your traditional coonskin cap did.  Daddy got the pelt from a fox freshly killed on the local highway, by the way; he wasn't a big fan of killing animals just for their fur.  Anyway, Roxy's hat is not as elaborate as Daddy's hat was (he used the whole pelt, tail and all), nor is it made out of real fur...or fake fur either, for that matter.  It's made out of soft, orange teddy bear-type plush, just like the pom that Roxy was ensconced in earlier.

It has that stupid tag in the back.

Even though that tag is annoying I haven't cut it off because it has laundering information.  Y'know, just in case Roxy should get dirty.  That said, the hat has black fox ears on it, and the ears are lined with light pink velour.

Dangling off the left ear is a tag, ensconced in its very own tag protector.

Oh my, this takes me back to the Beanie Baby craze, where the tags had to be kept in good shape in order for the toy to be worth something...yeah.  We all saw how well THAT went!!!  But Na! Na! Na! Surprises have tag protectors.  Bust that bad boy open and it has Roxy's name and catchphrase.

This is a cute hat.  I'm a teensy bit sad that it can't come off, but I also understand why MGA sewed it on.  As big and round as Roxy's head is, I doubt a hat would stay in place without help...unless the hat in question is a stocking cap, which this one is not.

Right then.  Roxy's near-nudity is covered by a red A-line dress.

Leave me alone, won't ya leave me alone...LOL, Ruby's Roxy's dress is made of stretchy swimsuit-like fabric, the same fabric that I derided as flimsy in a long-ago post about Lalaloopsy clothes.  MGA Entertainment seems a little TOO fond of this fabric, just like they used to be too fond of nylon hair.  But unlike the skirt on Blossom Flowerpot's swimsuit, this skirt is hemmed.

The neckline is hemmed too, which is more than I can say for the hems on last week's doll, and the hems are protected with a partial layer of red netting.  Unfortunately the sleeves are merely straps of clear elastic, the kind that yellows and/or brittle with time.

The stitches look a little big around the hems, but what can one do with fabric like this???  I'm just glad it's hemmed!  The dress is unadorned for the most part, with the design on the chest being printed on.

I kinda wish those white bits sparkled.  One of the other Na! Na! Na! dolls sparkles, and I think Roxy would've looked cute if she'd sparkled a bit too.  Oh well, I can always add a little sparkle myself...or I can shut face and leave well enough alone.  The back of this dress closes with Velcro, which I don't love since it can snag fabric like this.

Seriously, are snaps that hard to use?  Are they "too expensive"??  What gives???  When I was a little kid snaps were ubiquitous on doll clothes...but they also tended to break because they were the plastic kind.  So I guess I can see the reasoning behind MGA's choice here, but I still don't like it.  Heck, do I like anything?  Let's move on to the other overtly fox-themed item of clothing, the stole.

Faux fur just like the hat and the pom, and colored the same as well.  It's lined with plain white fabric and hooks to Roxy's arms with some more of those elastic straps.

There is a "right" and a "wrong" way to put the stole on, by the way.  I had to play with it a bit before it would lie flat.  When properly placed it mostly covers the decoration on Roxy's dress, so maybe the lack of sparkle there is a good thing, since sparkly surfaces can be quite rough and catch lint like mad.  Roxy's hat and stole don't make a lot of lint, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

The shoes are worthy of note.

Okay, they're just ordinary little red high heels with cute faces on the front, but they...smell nice.  I'm not sure if that's a feature of these dolls, but these shoes smell sweet, like vanilla cookie dough.  The smell does not aggravate my allergies.  I just can't determine if the shoes are supposed to smell this way, or if it's just the smell of chemicals in the plastic and I shouldn't be sniffin' on these shoes!  LOL, regardless, they're cute shoes.  They slip on and off of Roxy's feet and stay put without any fuss, and they have huge platform heels that a number of seventies-era musicians would admire.  Roxy cannot stand on her own, though; her knees are too soft, and I suspect that she's too top-heavy as well.  Dig the faces on these shoes!

It's the tribute from District 5...I mean, it's fox faces!  This little detail reminds me of the pictures I've seen of Felicity Fox, an Enchantimal.  In illustrations Felicity had fox faces on her shoes, but the actual doll did not (to the mild chagrin of some bloggers).  Non sequitur, I know, but I just had to point that out.  The paint job is well done, by the way.  No pixels here!  Definitely not a bad little outfit overall, though as always I have something to gripe about.  The complaint is a relatively small one, as I don't think Velcro and the fabric of the dress will geehaw well with time.  Heck, that Velcro might do a number on Roxy's fabric body, even though it's not super-snaggy like old-school Velcro is.

Sooooo...is Roxy a waste of money like Nixie was?

BAD
*The cost is a bit prohibitive for a small doll like this.  MGA seems to be good at charging out the wazoo for their products, as the L.O.L. Surprises will reveal.
*Hair is long and can tangle, though my doll's hair is mercifully straight.
*Cloth body feels sturdy, but be careful about snags.  Old-style Velcro could really do a number on these bodies.  And...
*ROXY'S DRESS FASTENS WITH VELCRO!!!  What gives???
*Choking hazard, maybe?  The shoes are kind of small.

*There are absolutely ZERO surprises, despite the title saying there are surprises involved. 

GOOD
*Hair is smooth and soft, though I suspect that it's still nylon. 
*I love these faces!  Their eyes are colorful, and their expressions, while a little blank, can convey any emotion a kid wants.
*JOINTED!!!  Not many cloth bodies have that function.
*Just my opinion, but I appreciate the little ID stickers.  Duplicate dolls are still possible, but now they're less likely.
*A boy doll was included in the line!!!
*I didn't play with clothes sharing since Roxy has a unique body, but all of the Na! Na! Na! dolls can share clothes.  The outfits aren't sewn on, with the exception of the hats.

No, Roxy is not a waste of money like Nixie was.  Granted, I don't think she's worth twenty bucks; ten to twelve would've been about right given her size and the fact that her blind bag gimmick can only be used once.  L.O.L. Surprises can at least be re-wrapped with the surprise intact, but not Roxy!  But by and large the price is the only major stumbling block I found...and maybe the hair.  C.J. is the only doll with short hair, and Roxy is the only girl with straight hair, so keeping the hair maintained may prove to be a pain in the posterior over time.  But that's true of a lot of dolls!  I also appreciate the additions of the identifying stickers, as that helps parents and collectors avoid spending another twenty bucks on a duplicate.  Overall I think the Na! Na! Na! Surprises are fun little additions to MGA's world and I hope they won't prove to be a flash in the pan like the Novi Stars were.  I'm hoping that maybe some new clothes, concealed in smaller poms might pop up???  We'll see, I guess!  Just keep in mind that there are no surprises here, despite the name of the line.  None at all.

Happy Leap Day,
RagingMoon1987