What you need to know about LOL Surprise! dolls, plus the best Black Friday deals
Few names are hotter in the world of dolls right now than LOL Surprise. The big-headed, millennial-inspired fashion dolls come with multiple accessories and components, each of which comes individually wrapped.
MGA Entertainment launched LOL Surprise! Dolls in late 2016, using a daring marketing plan and a TV advertising budget of precisely zero. Now that they're entering their fifth holiday season, LOL Surprise dolls are more popular than ever, with featured spots on Amazon's list of hottest toys of 2021 and Walmart's 2021 Top-Rated by Kids Toy List.
CBS Essentials has the lowdown on what makes the dolls so popular, which ones your children want this holiday season and why you should start shopping for them now.
Why LOL Surprise! dolls are so popular
It's not just the gigantic eyes and eye-popping colors that are mesmerizing fans. Each doll is a full-on, multi-layered, unboxing experience -- with a social-media-influencer track record to prove it -- where every little accessory has its own tiny container to open.
"The way we designed the unboxing experience -- the seven layers of surprise -- really kicked off the craze back when we first launched," Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainmen tells CBS Essentials.
Actually, that's only part of why the dolls broke big. The other part was the company's fairly bold -- for 2017, that is -- toy marketing plan. Instead of blowing millions on TV ads that today's kids don't really watch, Larian sent his dolls to pint-sized social media influencers, including Everleigh Soutas, who was 4 in 2017. Her L.O.L. Surprise unboxing video (featuring many exclamations of "soooo cooool!") has since been viewed more than five million times.
"It was a major, major risk," Larian recalled back then. "'Cause nobody's done it before. And everybody said, 'My God, this is gonna fail and this is not gonna work.'"
The world of LOL has expanded dramatically since its early days, and now includes the OG Surprise dolls, LOL! OMG, LOL Tweens, OMG Guys, cars, mansions, LOL Surprise video games and even "LOL Surprise: The Movie," recently a top 10 hit on Netflix.
What you need to know about shopping for LOL dolls this holiday season
This season, Larian anticipates that the hottest items from the LOL Surprise franchise will be the LOL Surprise House of Surprises, LOL Movie Magic Studios and LOL Color Change. Due to supply chain issues, some of the popular dolls and sets are already sold out, forcing the company to meet only about 65 percent of this season's demand, Larian said.
His advice is to start shopping now -- a mantra echoed by shipping and logistics experts worldwide.
"The American consumer's buying strength is so strong and epic that we can't absorb all this cargo into the domestic supply chain," says Gene Seroka, director of the Port of Los Angeles, said in mid-October.
LOL Surprise OMG Movie Magic Studios
This one-and-done gift includes 12 dolls (two OMG, six LOL Surprise, two Pets and two Lil Sisters); more 70 pieces to unbox; and packaging that doubles as a movie studio, with four stages and a green screen.
LOL Surprise OMG Movie Magic Studios, $95 (reduced from $136)
L.O.L. Surprise! Remix Hair Flip Tots: $8
This L.O.L Tots doll includes 15 surprises to unbox, including hair clips, an outfit and even a song. It's the gift that keeps on giving -- and it's half off at Target right now.
L.O.L. Surprise! Remix Hair Flip Tots with Hair Reveal and Music mini figurine, $8 (regularly $16)
LOL Surprise! Color Change Bubbly Surprise
Available in orange and pink, this set involves an LOL Surprise doll and pet, hidden in a heart-shaped bubble that changes color when wet and that doubles as a purse. It also involves kinetic sand and six more fun unboxing opportunities.
LOL Surprise! Color Change Bubbly Surprise, $29
LOL Surprise OMG House of Surprises
Released in August 2021, the L.O.L. Surprise! OMG! House of Surprises wooden dollhouse offers four stories and ten fully furnished rooms for L.O.L. Surprise and OMG dolls to play. A spiral slide, an elevator that hits every floor, light-up fire pit on the rooftop patio, and a swimming pool ready for water are just a few of the mansion's features. Dolls are not included.
LOL Surprise OMG House of Surprises, $159 (reduced from $229)
LOL Surprise OMG Glamper
Released over the summer, the LOL Surprise OMG Glamper multi-tasks as a toy car, house, runway and light-up pool, boasting a whopping 55 pieces to unbox. It fits both LOL Surprise dolls and the larger OMG models, offering places for them to eat, sleep, party and even apply makeup.
LOL Surprise OMG Glamper, $85 (reduced from $100)
LOL Surprise! Tweens Doll
LOL recently released their Tweens line, sized between LOL and OMG dolls. Each of the four Tweens comes with 15 accessories to unbox, and packaging that doubles as a bedroom playset.
LOL Surprise Tweens, $18 (reduced from $20)
LOL Surprise! OMG Moonlight BB
Another recent release from the LOL lineup, OMG Moonlight B.B. offers 20 pieces to unwrap, and a box that transforms into a playset.
LOL OMG Moonlight B.B. $25 (reduced from $28)
