DC Super Hero Girls Roller Derby Bumblebee

Being opened today is a playline doll from the Roller Derby release of the DC Superhero Girls by Mattel. This doll is the last of the three toys that I picked up at the Samko/Miko warehouse sale in Richmond Hill, ON last month.

I've talked about the action figure versions of the DC Superhero Girls before, but this is my first time picking up one of the fashion doll-type releases.  While the action figures are more in-line with my general tastes, the dolls do have a charm that I think can cross over between both fans of the figures and fans of playline fashion dolls.

The gimmick of the Roller Derby Roller Derby release is that each doll comes with a pair of rollerskates, a helmet, and a sportier version of their standard outfit.  In Bumbee's case this included moulded bright yellow socks, which limits the versatility of the doll but does mean that the socks won't droop with play (which does tend to be an issue with playline - and even some collector - dolls).

The Canadian Tire Wow Catalogue's Toy Section

It's been ages since I've posted now - I'm still staying with my mother as she's recovering from surgery (and thanks to everyone who sent her well-wishes! :)) - I did manage to fit in a holiday in during November (which will soon be highlighted over on Project Evil Bunny), but instead of going home, I cam back to Toronto. And since I'm here, I thought it might be fun to share the toy pages from the annual Canadian Tire Wow Catalogue (90% of which isn't toys, so just a few photos here).  So here they are!

The Front page

A Quick Update

I haven't posted for a month so I thought I'd pop in quickly to say a quick hello. I've been out of town (my mother had surgery last month and I've been staying with her as she recovers), so I haven't had time to post with my usual frequency - and that's aside from the fact that my collection is back home!  I have been trying to keep up with everyone's new posts, although I haven't been able to comment as much as I'd like.

While I'm here, I thought I'd show two new additions of mine. The first are some fast food toys: the McDonald's Happy Meal Toys of the month include figures of the DC Super Hero Girls, and I've picked up two of them, Supergirl and Bumblebee.

Bumblebee and Supergirl: They're not as detailed as the standard figures,
but by fast food toy standards, they're decent.

And then just the other day my mother surprised me with a gift: the new limited run Hudson's Bay Company Barbie!

HBC Barbie. I'm not usually an in-box collector, but I love this
packaging so much that I haven't been able to bring myself to
unbox her yet!

The back of the box.

I probably won't be back to posting regularly until November, but hopefully I'll have the opportunity to squeeze in a retro week post or two.  I hope October is treating you all well! :)

Random Toy of the Day: Batgirl (DC Super Hero Girls)

Since I've already reviewed the Bumblebee figure from this line, I don't have much to say about Batgirl here, but I did want to share a photo of her today.

Batgirl reads Batgirl.

Hard to believe that it's August already - I hope you're all having a good summer (or winter, for the folks in the southern hemisphere)!

Out of the Box: DC Super Hero Girls Bumblebee

The DC Super Hero Girls are a cartoon that involves teenaged versions of heroes and villains from DC comics in a high school setting.  Full disclosure: I haven't watched it, but even so it's been hard to miss the merchandise.  Mattel has put out two versions of the six main characters (Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, Bumblebee, Harley Quinn) - an action figure and a fashion doll (which is being branded as an action doll).

This line seems to be bringing up a lot of the old discussions about the line between dolls and action figures (and about gendered toy marketing), which I'm thinking about making a separate post about, since it's such a huge topic.  But in the meantime, let's take a look at the action figure version of Bumblebee. I'd actually planned on picking up Batgirl, but they'd actually sold out of every other figure at my local store - although they still had all the dolls, which makes me wonder if the figures are benefiting from more of a crossover market.