. . . Does Shortpacked have any thoughts on Lalaloopsy dolls? They strike me as Amber’s kind of thing on the grounds that Amber loves the same 80s toys I adore (you can have my MINT Strawberry Shortcake Berry Happy Home when you pry it from my cold dead fingers) and these make me feel like a little kid again – which is a big part of toy collecting, right?

The little story thingy is that they’re magical ragdolls (only not really – they’re vinyl and hard plastic) that come alive and they were all made from a discarded garment of some kind. (A baker’s apron made Crumbs Sugarcookie, the cooking themed doll. An astronaut’s spacesuit made Dot Starlight, the astronomy themed doll.) But they seem to give some people unpleasant flash-backs to Coraline.

And instead of a birthday they have a “Sewn On” day that relates to their theme. Patch Treasurechest’s Sewn On date is September 19th – Talk Like A Pirate Day.