REVIEW: Unicorn Academy Figure/Unicorn Valentina & Layla

SHE'S HERE. 

It should be no surprise that Valentina was my fave from that initial Unicorn Academy episode/movie. I'm not sure she'll retain that position, but I wouldn't be surprised. I always like the more antagonistic yet still not fully evil characters. And her orange/red/black color scheme is amazing. 

She knows she's the prettiest. 

I like how the hair conveys movement on these figures. They did a good job with most of them.

Cinder is a stunner. 

And his mane and tail colors are gorgeous. 

Yeah, definitely the best set for me. 

And poor Layla is the worst set. 

I want to like her, but they ruined her with those hideous glasses.

Was there really no better way to do this? Really? They're bigger than her forehead! 

They're also supposed to be a much darker blue, and her lips are a more natural tone. NOT light pink!

Glacier is sadly not exempt from my criticism, because she's boring. 

She's not awful. She's just not nearly as interesting with her pale color scheme and dull saddle. I think she needed to be pearly. 

The need for Rory and Storm (my fave unicorn) is strong. Why not include him in the figures? Come on. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

REVIEW: Unicorn Academy Dolls Isabel

Amazon brought the rest of my Unicorn Academy stuff! 

Let's start with the third doll: Isabel. 

She's gorgeous. I love her face. 

Honestly, I've only watched the first special, not the entire show. I do want to sit down and watch the rest of the episodes very soon. Possibly after work tomorrow. But I wasn't really happy with Spin Master choosing Isabel as the third doll, because really, it should have been Layla. Layla definitely felt like a bigger presence in that initial storyline. 

Now that she's in hand though, I'm not holding that against Isabel. 

Love her jacket. 

Now unlike Sophia, Spin Master gave Isabel a fully separate jacket and shirt. I have no idea why this is. 

She looks great with or without it. 

I'm pretty sure Isabel is the same body as Ava, but I didn't undress them both to be sure. (I'm working in less than 8 hours and need to get to bed soon.)

All three together. 

They better make my Valentina!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

REVIEW: Insta Poodles

I found these in Walmart and had to grab a cup, then ended up ordering five more. 

I was expecting a single figure more like a Mixling or LPS, but they're tiny, squishy little poodles. Kinda like Squinkies.

So they come with chopsticks and a little rubber piece to keep them together so kids can easily pluck the poodles from the cup. 

You lift out the yellow stand and remove the instructions and checklist. 

Then you fill the cup and wait for the white "noodles" to fizz away. The poodles and accessory piece will float to the top. 

Each cup has one accessory. These are the same soft rubber as the poodles. 

Then there's a playset piece. These have a spot on the roof where the dog can sit and one inside the door so a dog can peek through the window. 

The playsets are adorable, but the lack of variation is really my only complaint about this line. I ended up with five of the pink boutique and one yellow poodle palace. 

Here are all the dogs. 

You get five per cup and they're completely random. 

Pepper (red)

Millie (yellow)

Daisy (orange)

Abby (purple hair)

Mochi

Shelby (lavender)

Pearl (white/light pink)

Cookie (dark purple with party hat)

Coco (pink purse)

Raindrop (rainbow headband)

Fluffy (pink and blue)

Luna (left)

Gigi (pink/white)

Crystal (right)

Kiki (white/light blue)

Starlette (star glasses)

Bubbles (bubblegum)

My set. 

I have these extra items. 

Extra poodles on the extra items. 

1 Millie, 2 Pearl, 1 Gigi

2 Bubbles, 2 Shelby, 1 Mochi, 1 Fluffy, 2 Raindrop, 1 Coco

I would love to trade for Belle, Goldie and Lolly, the three I'm missing. I'd also be happy to trade for any extra accessories (even doubles) or the two playsets I'm missing. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

REVIEW: Unicorn Academy Figure/Unicorn Sophia, Ava & Isabel

As with the dolls, Walmart doesn't have all five figure sets. Layla and Valentina aren't there yet. I'm hoping these missing products will be added. They didn't have any of the larger unicorns either.

The packaging on these is open. 

Leaf is awesome. Definitely my fave of the three unicorns. 

Isabel! Love her colors. 

Once again, each set has a curry comb. 

These are quite small, but still very detailed. 

The manes and tails are the same excellent hair the dolls have. 

The bridles and saddles are a soft, pliable rubber. 

There is also a light-up Wildstar set, but I picked the basic one. 

The figures are very detailed. No elbow joint, but they don't really need one. They hold the reins fine. 

The lower leg can be twisted side to side to help with the feet going into the stirrups. 

I can't tell you how much I love Leaf. I may end up with the big version. 

Child me would have LOVED these. 

Gorgeous saddle.

The flowing part of Ava's mint top is a soft rubber that's pliable like the saddles, so she sits with ease. 

I'm not sure what it is about this exact color combo that I like. But I do.

There are loops on the reins so the hands can fit easily into them and hold on. 

I like the pink swirl on River's saddle. 

And Isabel is great. I'm really excited for her doll now. 

Excellent figures. I think fans of the show will have a blast playing with these. I know I would have. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

REVIEW: Unicorn Academy Dolls Sophia & Ava

Walmart has some of the new Unicorn Academy toys available. They were a little more expensive than Amazon, but I was ordering other things, too, and figured why not? 

For the dolls, they only had Sophia and Ava. No Isabel and no Masquerade Sophia. 

They're smaller than I expected. The listings say 9.5", so I should have expected this, but I don't pay attention to details like that. 

Not the easiest to open, but not the worst either. I really wish they'd stop strapping down dolls' hair though. Maybe use string instead? 

Each doll comes with a curry comb. 

The hair on these is gorgeous. Lovely colors, very shiny, soft and silky. These curls aren't a bit dry at the end!

I'm leaving Ava's bangs tied down. 

She's so cute!

I know people complained about the outfits, but they're really not that bad. The belt on Sophia's pants is sewn on, which is fine with me. I hate when belts don't sit right. My only complaint is that her top and jacket are one piece. They could have done better than that. 

Ava's outfit is perfect. Some people would say they should have done two shirts, but I think this is far easier to put on. The pink top and the top of the mint top are a bit separated, too, which helps them feel separate. 

There was probably some complaining about the printed pants, but did you really expect embroidery or something? There's a time when you just have to accept the reality of doll production and not some crazy entitled fantasy of a million details. 

Quick look at the lovely hair. 

Different body types. 

I did not remove the rubber gloves. They're pretty thin and fit really nicely on the hands, but I don't want to risk ripping anything. 

They do not have articulated wrists, but that hasn't stopped me from loving a ton of other dolls and it won't stop me from loving these. 

Overall, I think these are beautiful dolls that capture the show characters quite well. I hope they do well enough that I get my Valentina!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.