I liked all of the dolls in different ways, I don't think I would have been unhappy with any of them. I don't collect baby dolls in general anymore, so I'm not sure why babies are so appealing to me in a small scale--and especially with a surprise theme.

More than 24 million BABY born dolls have been sold all over the world since the market launch in 1991. I wish that Marigold had neck articulation, and I wish her mouth and been painted more carefully, but otherwise she's great. I didn't expect Gina to be comparable to the Baby Born kids, especially because of the underwhelming representation of the dolls on the box.The pattern isn't super-clear (and it disappears again when the diaper is dry), but it looks like the "Lilipads" pattern, which means a September birthday. In any case, I've reviewed a few different surprise babies over the years, including Zapf Jolly Dollies and the unrivaled Cabbage Patch Babyland Mini Kids--which are still probably my favorite surprise mini of all. I think Chester and Apollo would make great bath toys, with their ability to drink and pee, but little Chester was still leaking water out of his mouth when I took that picture, above, which was days after I'd fed him. There are little pink bows in the baby's hair, which suggests a girl, but there's no obvious gender reveal moment.

A surprise toy with an option that's clearly better than the rest (maybe even advertised as such) is setting kids up for a *bad* surprise, which is the worst. It used to be relatively hard to find a surprise-themed toy, other than the smaller (inexpensive) blind box assortments. In addition, all three of the accessories played a role in the packaging and are great for enhancing play. The most successful brand play concept of Zapf Creation AG is processes constantly and is enhanced by new, lovingly designed accessories.Careful if you do decide to repaint the skipper babies mouth, when I tried it, it made the plastic around the mouth dull, almost like a matte finish? Little ones will be giddy to find out whether they've got twins or even triplets tucked inside the cuddly swaddle! I must say though that the Baby Born Animal babies are very cute, you were so lucky getting two redheads.