Barbie doll stars as Liana in the lastest show Barbie and the Diamond Castle! Liana and Alexa are best friends who share everything, including their love of singing! While walking through the forest, the girls find a magical mirror! As they clean the mirror and sing, a girl named Melody appears in the mirror! Melody tells the girls about the secret of the Diamond Castle, home of all music! Three musical muses once resided there until one evil muse, Lydia, tried to take the castle for herself! Liana is dressed in an everyday dress which magically transforms into a sparkling ball gown with the turn of a key! She becomes a princess of music! Her necklace lights-up as her dress changes! She sings two wonderful songs! Barbie Liana Singing Doll is a great way to encourage roleplay and develop an interest in music! Please note: only one Barbie supplied!

Another Singing Barbie Doll.., 20 Nov 2008
We bought this for our daughter's 5th birthday along with Princess Liana's partner doll, Alexa. Why 2? simply that the price had almost halved and they sing in tandem so thought we would get both.
The build quality is the usual Barbie doll quality and will withstand medium play. The shoes are awful and do not stay on, the tiara is flimsy, but otherwise pretty good. We have resorted to using blue tack in the shoes to keep them on and much better now!
The famous transforming dress: at the back of the doll is a plastic pink "clockwork" type key. You turn the key and the left and right front panels of her dress lift up and swoosh round to reveal the glittey lining panels, creating a new outfit. It is fairly successful, certainly my 5 yr old thinks it is "incredible" but I wonder about how well the mechanism will last. The dress is very stiff with plastic bits in the hem of the panel which does help to keep the panels stiff and hold their shape well. We had to realign part of our doll's dress with a few careful tugs and bending as the doll kept flashing her knickers (to the amusement of her elder sister and the upset of the doll's owner!) The downside to this is that it makes the doll feel very awkward and a little stiff when a child holds her - especially with the bulky key sticking out of her back! Not the end of the world, but not the same as the regular Barbie dolls when a child is playing. The turning of the key also switches off the music if wished - nice to be able to cut the song short if the phone rings or trying to get the dolls to sing in sync and keep wanting to restart.

The music: same quality of sound as previous Barbies, it is ok. You can hear the words to sing along and the volume is pretty loud. As an adult I would expect a little better sound quality for the price of the toy, but my daughters seem not to notice or care about that side of it! The doll sings two songs from the movie. The singing is activated by a button on her hand. She alternates the two songs. While the doll singing solo is ok, really it is designed as a duet to sing in tandem with her partner doll, Alexa. Liana's part does sound better as a solo doll than Alexa so if you are only intending to purchase one doll, I suggest considering this one over her purple friend. The idea of the button in the hands is that if you press their hands together they will sing together. Only partly successful, we often found one would start singing and have to start all over. It is suprisingly tricky to sync them exactly and my daughter resorts to lying them flat on the floor and taking a deep breath, pressing one with each hand! Not quite the simple "hold hands and sing" method as suggested by the advert!

So, all in all, I still think the doll is expensive at current prices but no doubt the price will drop further before Christmas. It is a pretty doll and will appeal to all Barbie doll loving children. Out of the two Princesses from the Parbie Diamond Castle, this one is better as a stand alone singing doll as the music does sound more convincing than Alexa. The dress is a bit gimmicky but kids will love it anyway.

Another Singing Barbie Doll.., 20 Nov 2008
We bought this for our daughter's 5th birthday along with Princess Liana's partner doll, Alexa. Why 2? simply that the price had almost halved and they sing in tandem so thought we would get both.
The build quality is the usual Barbie doll quality and will withstand medium play. The shoes are awful and do not stay on, the tiara is flimsy, but otherwise pretty good. We have resorted to using blue tack in the shoes to keep them on and much better now!
The famous transforming dress: at the back of the doll is a plastic pink "clockwork" type key. You turn the key and the left and right front panels of her dress lift up and swoosh round to reveal the glittey lining panels, creating a new outfit. It is fairly successful, certainly my 5 yr old thinks it is "incredible" but I wonder about how well the mechanism will last. The dress is very stiff with plastic bits in the hem of the panel which does help to keep the panels stiff and hold their shape well. We had to realign part of our doll's dress with a few careful tugs and bending as the doll kept flashing her knickers (to the amusement of her elder sister and the upset of the doll's owner!) The downside to this is that it makes the doll feel very awkward and a little stiff when a child holds her - especially with the bulky key sticking out of her back! Not the end of the world, but not the same as the regular Barbie dolls when a child is playing. The turning of the key also switches off the music if wished - nice to be able to cut the song short if the phone rings or trying to get the dolls to sing in sync and keep wanting to restart.

The music: same quality of sound as previous Barbies, it is ok. You can hear the words to sing along and the volume is pretty loud. As an adult I would expect a little better sound quality for the price of the toy, but my daughters seem not to notice or care about that side of it! The doll sings two songs from the movie. The singing is activated by a button on her hand. She alternates the two songs. While the doll singing solo is ok, really it is designed as a duet to sing in tandem with her partner doll, Alexa. Liana's part does sound better as a solo doll than Alexa so if you are only intending to purchase one doll, I suggest considering this one over her purple friend. The idea of the button in the hands is that if you press their hands together they will sing together. Only partly successful, we often found one would start singing and have to start all over. It is suprisingly tricky to sync them exactly and my daughter resorts to lying them flat on the floor and taking a deep breath, pressing one with each hand! Not quite the simple "hold hands and sing" method as suggested by the advert!

So, all in all, I still think the doll is expensive at current prices but no doubt the price will drop further before Christmas. It is a pretty doll and will appeal to all Barbie doll loving children. Out of the two Princesses from the Parbie Diamond Castle, this one is better as a stand alone singing doll as the music does sound more convincing than Alexa. The dress is a bit gimmicky but kids will love it anyway.

Charlie and Lola dolls- great!, 14 Oct 2008
Got these for my daughter for christmas and they look great. I had been warned they were small but they were not as small as I had thought.
Great size for my 2 year old to handle.

I have had a play for myself, and though they do not say much I am sure that my daughter is going to love them.

Good price as well as they are at least £15.00 in the shops by me

OKAY ...BUT EXPECTED BETTER FROM A WELL KNOWN BRAND, 29 Jun 2008
THESE TOYS ARE FROM GOLDEN BEAR - THEY'RE GOOD, IF YOU HAVE A CHARLIE AND LOLA FAN, WHICH I DO! THEY ONLY SAY ONE PHRASE EACH - CHARLIE SAYS "I HAVE THIS LITTLE SISTER LOLA SHE IS SMALL AND VERY FUNNY", LOLA SAYS "IM NOT SMALL IM BIG"....AND THTAS IT ...I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED THEM TO SAY MORE PHRASES FOR THE PRICE. THE BATTERIES ARE IRREPLACEABLE (LAST 6 MONTHS) AND THEIR CLOTHES ARE FIXED, THE SOUND DEVICE IS ALSO TOO HARD TO PRESS FOR A 3 YEAR OLD. OKAY BUT COULD HAVE DONE BETTER

These toys are a hit!, 18 Nov 2007
I bought these dolls/toys for my son who is now 20 mths and absolutely loves watching Charlie and Lola. (He has loved them since he figured out the TV had moving pictures). These dolls are durable, as they have withstood a 20 mth old pulling and dragging them everywhere. My one complaint is that they only say one phrase each: Charlie says "I have this little sister Lola, she is small and very funny" and Lola says "I'm not small I am big". It would be nice if some more phrases where added, but since I am not a toddler, it doesn't really matter. I didn't buy them for eduacational reasons, i bought them because i knew he would love to just play with them. Thankfully my instinct was right, my son loves them, they go everywhere with us and when its time for his tv hour, he gets his Charlie and Lola dolls and they watch too.

If your child is a fan, then these would make a great gift for Christmas or a Birthday, as they are priced right and are well made.

Another Singing Barbie Doll.., 20 Nov 2008
We bought this for our daughter's 5th birthday along with Princess Liana's partner doll, Alexa. Why 2? simply that the price had almost halved and they sing in tandem so thought we would get both.
The build quality is the usual Barbie doll quality and will withstand medium play. The shoes are awful and do not stay on, the tiara is flimsy, but otherwise pretty good. We have resorted to using blue tack in the shoes to keep them on and much better now!
The famous transforming dress: at the back of the doll is a plastic pink "clockwork" type key. You turn the key and the left and right front panels of her dress lift up and swoosh round to reveal the glittey lining panels, creating a new outfit. It is fairly successful, certainly my 5 yr old thinks it is "incredible" but I wonder about how well the mechanism will last. The dress is very stiff with plastic bits in the hem of the panel which does help to keep the panels stiff and hold their shape well. We had to realign part of our doll's dress with a few careful tugs and bending as the doll kept flashing her knickers (to the amusement of her elder sister and the upset of the doll's owner!) The downside to this is that it makes the doll feel very awkward and a little stiff when a child holds her - especially with the bulky key sticking out of her back! Not the end of the world, but not the same as the regular Barbie dolls when a child is playing. The turning of the key also switches off the music if wished - nice to be able to cut the song short if the phone rings or trying to get the dolls to sing in sync and keep wanting to restart.

The music: same quality of sound as previous Barbies, it is ok. You can hear the words to sing along and the volume is pretty loud. As an adult I would expect a little better sound quality for the price of the toy, but my daughters seem not to notice or care about that side of it! The doll sings two songs from the movie. The singing is activated by a button on her hand. She alternates the two songs. While the doll singing solo is ok, really it is designed as a duet to sing in tandem with her partner doll, Alexa. Liana's part does sound better as a solo doll than Alexa so if you are only intending to purchase one doll, I suggest considering this one over her purple friend. The idea of the button in the hands is that if you press their hands together they will sing together. Only partly successful, we often found one would start singing and have to start all over. It is suprisingly tricky to sync them exactly and my daughter resorts to lying them flat on the floor and taking a deep breath, pressing one with each hand! Not quite the simple "hold hands and sing" method as suggested by the advert!

So, all in all, I still think the doll is expensive at current prices but no doubt the price will drop further before Christmas. It is a pretty doll and will appeal to all Barbie doll loving children. Out of the two Princesses from the Parbie Diamond Castle, this one is better as a stand alone singing doll as the music does sound more convincing than Alexa. The dress is a bit gimmicky but kids will love it anyway.

Charlie and Lola dolls- great!, 14 Oct 2008
Got these for my daughter for christmas and they look great. I had been warned they were small but they were not as small as I had thought.
Great size for my 2 year old to handle.

I have had a play for myself, and though they do not say much I am sure that my daughter is going to love them.

Good price as well as they are at least £15.00 in the shops by me

OKAY ...BUT EXPECTED BETTER FROM A WELL KNOWN BRAND, 29 Jun 2008
THESE TOYS ARE FROM GOLDEN BEAR - THEY'RE GOOD, IF YOU HAVE A CHARLIE AND LOLA FAN, WHICH I DO! THEY ONLY SAY ONE PHRASE EACH - CHARLIE SAYS "I HAVE THIS LITTLE SISTER LOLA SHE IS SMALL AND VERY FUNNY", LOLA SAYS "IM NOT SMALL IM BIG"....AND THTAS IT ...I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED THEM TO SAY MORE PHRASES FOR THE PRICE. THE BATTERIES ARE IRREPLACEABLE (LAST 6 MONTHS) AND THEIR CLOTHES ARE FIXED, THE SOUND DEVICE IS ALSO TOO HARD TO PRESS FOR A 3 YEAR OLD. OKAY BUT COULD HAVE DONE BETTER

These toys are a hit!, 18 Nov 2007
I bought these dolls/toys for my son who is now 20 mths and absolutely loves watching Charlie and Lola. (He has loved them since he figured out the TV had moving pictures). These dolls are durable, as they have withstood a 20 mth old pulling and dragging them everywhere. My one complaint is that they only say one phrase each: Charlie says "I have this little sister Lola, she is small and very funny" and Lola says "I'm not small I am big". It would be nice if some more phrases where added, but since I am not a toddler, it doesn't really matter. I didn't buy them for eduacational reasons, i bought them because i knew he would love to just play with them. Thankfully my instinct was right, my son loves them, they go everywhere with us and when its time for his tv hour, he gets his Charlie and Lola dolls and they watch too.

If your child is a fan, then these would make a great gift for Christmas or a Birthday, as they are priced right and are well made.

Yes - another singing Barbie doll.., 20 Nov 2008
My daughter pleaded and pleaded with us to buy the two main Barbie dolls from Barbie Diamond Castle. Seeing as the price finally dropped a bit (and it was her birthday) we relented. Normally we would have insisted on choosing one but as these clevely work as a pair, we purchased both.
The actual barbie doll is of the usual Barbie build quality - pretty good and withstands medium play level. The plastic tiara did snap when our 5 yr old tried to "pull" it out of her hair (thanks to those clear elastic bands trying to keep it in place) and would recommend a little adult supervision for younger children if they wish to restyle the hair. One main complaint: the shoes are a disaster. They will not stay on - pick the doll up and off flies the shoes, every time. They are not the usual slightly rubbery ones, they are hard plastic ones. A little tip: we have popped a small blob of blue tack in each one and squished them down. Much better now!

Her magical transforming dress is pretty and my daughter thought the changing bit is "amazing" - in reality the outer part of the skirt has a drawstring ribbon sewn in a third of the way down, opening at the back with a plastic "pull". So, when you pull on the ribbon at the back, the outer skirt is pulled tight, ballooning the top bit and revealing the glittery underskirt lining. Sounds complicated when written down, but in fact, very simple and I grudgingly admit, reasonably effective.

Now for the "music". She sings two songs from the movie. While she can sing alone, it is fairly obvious it is part of a duet and really works best with her Barbie doll friend. One of her Barbie hands has a little push down button in the palm, when pressed she sings. The idea is that if you own both dolls you can make them hold hands, pressing the buttons simultaneously, and make them sing in harmony and at the correct time. This is a better idea that the last Barbie duo singing dolls where you had to press the buttons on their backs, but still suprisingly tricky. We found it very hit and miss, more often than not only one doll would start singing, and now my daughter puts them on the floor and presses them each herself. The actual sound quality is as average as all the other dolls. Not great but ok: you can hear the words clearly enough and it is a decent volume. Thankfully, there is an off button in the form of a big button that also lights up her necklace. So, if you get out of sync and trying to get both dolls to sing the same song, not too painful to listen to!

So, from an adult's perspective, this is just another barbie doll with a pre-recorded set of 2 tunes and a little light up button, making it very expensive in comparison to other barbies. However, for my 5 yr old who has played and played with them, they are beautiful, sparkly, wonderful singers and her new best friends..

A saloon car designed to accommodate a Sylvanian family. The car comes complete with 2 removable baby car seats and a removable pretend hamper in the boot which can be opened. Figures not included. 4 Years +

Baby Annabell is just like a real baby with realistic features and she now reacts to your voice! When you talk to Baby Annabell she turns her head to the left or the right depending on where your voice is coming from. She babbles, gurgles and sucks on her dummy. When she drinks from the water-filled bottle she makes sucking sounds and slowly opens and closes her eyes. Once she has finished drinking, she burps and falls asleep. If she is woken by noise she cries - and real tears roll down her cheeks but singing soon hushes her! Requires 4 x AA batteries, not included (Order MOE120520). 3 Years +

Another Singing Barbie Doll.., 20 Nov 2008
We bought this for our daughter's 5th birthday along with Princess Liana's partner doll, Alexa. Why 2? simply that the price had almost halved and they sing in tandem so thought we would get both.
The build quality is the usual Barbie doll quality and will withstand medium play. The shoes are awful and do not stay on, the tiara is flimsy, but otherwise pretty good. We have resorted to using blue tack in the shoes to keep them on and much better now!
The famous transforming dress: at the back of the doll is a plastic pink "clockwork" type key. You turn the key and the left and right front panels of her dress lift up and swoosh round to reveal the glittey lining panels, creating a new outfit. It is fairly successful, certainly my 5 yr old thinks it is "incredible" but I wonder about how well the mechanism will last. The dress is very stiff with plastic bits in the hem of the panel which does help to keep the panels stiff and hold their shape well. We had to realign part of our doll's dress with a few careful tugs and bending as the doll kept flashing her knickers (to the amusement of her elder sister and the upset of the doll's owner!) The downside to this is that it makes the doll feel very awkward and a little stiff when a child holds her - especially with the bulky key sticking out of her back! Not the end of the world, but not the same as the regular Barbie dolls when a child is playing. The turning of the key also switches off the music if wished - nice to be able to cut the song short if the phone rings or trying to get the dolls to sing in sync and keep wanting to restart.

The music: same quality of sound as previous Barbies, it is ok. You can hear the words to sing along and the volume is pretty loud. As an adult I would expect a little better sound quality for the price of the toy, but my daughters seem not to notice or care about that side of it! The doll sings two songs from the movie. The singing is activated by a button on her hand. She alternates the two songs. While the doll singing solo is ok, really it is designed as a duet to sing in tandem with her partner doll, Alexa. Liana's part does sound better as a solo doll than Alexa so if you are only intending to purchase one doll, I suggest considering this one over her purple friend. The idea of the button in the hands is that if you press their hands together they will sing together. Only partly successful, we often found one would start singing and have to start all over. It is suprisingly tricky to sync them exactly and my daughter resorts to lying them flat on the floor and taking a deep breath, pressing one with each hand! Not quite the simple "hold hands and sing" method as suggested by the advert!

So, all in all, I still think the doll is expensive at current prices but no doubt the price will drop further before Christmas. It is a pretty doll and will appeal to all Barbie doll loving children. Out of the two Princesses from the Parbie Diamond Castle, this one is better as a stand alone singing doll as the music does sound more convincing than Alexa. The dress is a bit gimmicky but kids will love it anyway.

Charlie and Lola dolls- great!, 14 Oct 2008
Got these for my daughter for christmas and they look great. I had been warned they were small but they were not as small as I had thought.
Great size for my 2 year old to handle.

I have had a play for myself, and though they do not say much I am sure that my daughter is going to love them.

Good price as well as they are at least £15.00 in the shops by me

OKAY ...BUT EXPECTED BETTER FROM A WELL KNOWN BRAND, 29 Jun 2008
THESE TOYS ARE FROM GOLDEN BEAR - THEY'RE GOOD, IF YOU HAVE A CHARLIE AND LOLA FAN, WHICH I DO! THEY ONLY SAY ONE PHRASE EACH - CHARLIE SAYS "I HAVE THIS LITTLE SISTER LOLA SHE IS SMALL AND VERY FUNNY", LOLA SAYS "IM NOT SMALL IM BIG"....AND THTAS IT ...I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED THEM TO SAY MORE PHRASES FOR THE PRICE. THE BATTERIES ARE IRREPLACEABLE (LAST 6 MONTHS) AND THEIR CLOTHES ARE FIXED, THE SOUND DEVICE IS ALSO TOO HARD TO PRESS FOR A 3 YEAR OLD. OKAY BUT COULD HAVE DONE BETTER

These toys are a hit!, 18 Nov 2007
I bought these dolls/toys for my son who is now 20 mths and absolutely loves watching Charlie and Lola. (He has loved them since he figured out the TV had moving pictures). These dolls are durable, as they have withstood a 20 mth old pulling and dragging them everywhere. My one complaint is that they only say one phrase each: Charlie says "I have this little sister Lola, she is small and very funny" and Lola says "I'm not small I am big". It would be nice if some more phrases where added, but since I am not a toddler, it doesn't really matter. I didn't buy them for eduacational reasons, i bought them because i knew he would love to just play with them. Thankfully my instinct was right, my son loves them, they go everywhere with us and when its time for his tv hour, he gets his Charlie and Lola dolls and they watch too.

If your child is a fan, then these would make a great gift for Christmas or a Birthday, as they are priced right and are well made.

Yes - another singing Barbie doll.., 20 Nov 2008
My daughter pleaded and pleaded with us to buy the two main Barbie dolls from Barbie Diamond Castle. Seeing as the price finally dropped a bit (and it was her birthday) we relented. Normally we would have insisted on choosing one but as these clevely work as a pair, we purchased both.
The actual barbie doll is of the usual Barbie build quality - pretty good and withstands medium play level. The plastic tiara did snap when our 5 yr old tried to "pull" it out of her hair (thanks to those clear elastic bands trying to keep it in place) and would recommend a little adult supervision for younger children if they wish to restyle the hair. One main complaint: the shoes are a disaster. They will not stay on - pick the doll up and off flies the shoes, every time. They are not the usual slightly rubbery ones, they are hard plastic ones. A little tip: we have popped a small blob of blue tack in each one and squished them down. Much better now!

Her magical transforming dress is pretty and my daughter thought the changing bit is "amazing" - in reality the outer part of the skirt has a drawstring ribbon sewn in a third of the way down, opening at the back with a plastic "pull". So, when you pull on the ribbon at the back, the outer skirt is pulled tight, ballooning the top bit and revealing the glittery underskirt lining. Sounds complicated when written down, but in fact, very simple and I grudgingly admit, reasonably effective.

Now for the "music". She sings two songs from the movie. While she can sing alone, it is fairly obvious it is part of a duet and really works best with her Barbie doll friend. One of her Barbie hands has a little push down button in the palm, when pressed she sings. The idea is that if you own both dolls you can make them hold hands, pressing the buttons simultaneously, and make them sing in harmony and at the correct time. This is a better idea that the last Barbie duo singing dolls where you had to press the buttons on their backs, but still suprisingly tricky. We found it very hit and miss, more often than not only one doll would start singing, and now my daughter puts them on the floor and presses them each herself. The actual sound quality is as average as all the other dolls. Not great but ok: you can hear the words clearly enough and it is a decent volume. Thankfully, there is an off button in the form of a big button that also lights up her necklace. So, if you get out of sync and trying to get both dolls to sing the same song, not too painful to listen to!

So, from an adult's perspective, this is just another barbie doll with a pre-recorded set of 2 tunes and a little light up button, making it very expensive in comparison to other barbies. However, for my 5 yr old who has played and played with them, they are beautiful, sparkly, wonderful singers and her new best friends..

great doll, 06 Apr 2008
I got this doll for my Christmas present and I really like it.
I love dressing it up in my old baby clothes and carrying it around.
It has helped me learn how to care for babys.
I advise it



Disappointing Doll - sounds robotic , 25 Feb 2008
My daughter has loads of dolls and when this new version came out she just had to have it. what a disappointment. She expected the head to move when she talked to it - she spent ages shouting at it so the head would move towards her. Like other reviews, I agree this eats up batteries. The sucking sounds robotic. It was so bad I took it back to Toys R Us three times to then realise they must all be the same. My daughter loves this doll but I would not recommend. Expensive to maintain and I think is very disappointing overall. The version 3 Annabelle is much better - softer features and sounds better. It does not move its head but you do get a better doll. The version 3 would also be a lot cheaper now.

A bit of a disapointment, 22 Jan 2008
I bought this for my daughter for Christmas. She fell in love with her at first sight on Christmas morning. My problem is the battery use. You can't use anything except top quality (i.e. top price) batteries. If you use standard batteries or rechargeables there is not enough top end power when she cries. If this happens she just turns herself off and won't do anything until you unscrew the battery compartment and remove and replace a battery (not terribly convenient). Then she works fine again until she is next fed and cries. It took us some time and an e-mail or two to Zapf to work this out (they recommended only Duracell M3 or Energiser ultimate batteries) as there is no mention of this in the instructions and we even went as far as getting a replacement Annabell only to find the same thing happened.

In itself this might not be an issue, but played with regularly I am having to change the batteries every 10 days or so as they get to about 50% used and the same thing happens again. So it's expensive and a hassle. Basically it must just be a bad design that the crying requires so much power the batteries can't support it. I am stuck with it as my daughter loves her so much (although she has mentioned that it would be nice if Annabell wasn't so heavy), but if I wasn't it would be going back.

So in summary my daughter loves her, but as a parent I certainly wouldn't recommend this version to anyone else.

Great doll....., 30 Dec 2007
Santa delivered the version 4 baby annabell to my house last week, and has since provided much entertainment for my 4 year old. She loves the fact that annabell turns her head and has spent many an hour trying to stop her from crying. Excellent doll with lovely feature of turning the head.

Great fun but slightly heavy for younger children possibly??, 30 Dec 2007
My daughter had this as a replacement for a similar style doll (store own) which we kept having faults with. My first thought was that she is very heavy due to the motor, etc but my 4 year old doesn't seem to have any trouble with this. The head-turning action is quite freaky but you soon get used it (although I think my daughter's voice is slightly high and she doesn't always respond to her). She has a flesh coloured body (unlike the common white middle section) which we liked as it is more realistic.
It does take a while to get the tear function to work but this is purely because she needs chance to drink kenough water on first use. Subsequent uses have been very good thought, however I would suggest a face cloth for drying her as you would spend a fortune on tissues!! You also need to watch out for any drips later on as my daughter has been caught out several times where a tiny amount have water has spilt out onto her (we're not talking major amounts here though)
I'm not sure if she gurgles as much as previous dolls as I've not really seen much of them but my daughter seems quite happy with the noises that she makes.
All in all I would say she has been in hit with my daughter and both my partner ans I have found her quite amusing. Definitely a well-loved toy!

A nappy must fit perfectly and must not pinch. Absorbent and with self-adhesive strips they are comfortable and leak-proof. Content: 5 nappies. 3 Years +

A nappy must fit perfectly and must not pinch. What bliss for the little bottom of Baby Born. Absorbent and with self-adhesive strips they are comfortable and leak-proof. Content: 5 nappies. 3 Years +

Another Singing Barbie Doll.., 20 Nov 2008
We bought this for our daughter's 5th birthday along with Princess Liana's partner doll, Alexa. Why 2? simply that the price had almost halved and they sing in tandem so thought we would get both.
The build quality is the usual Barbie doll quality and will withstand medium play. The shoes are awful and do not stay on, the tiara is flimsy, but otherwise pretty good. We have resorted to using blue tack in the shoes to keep them on and much better now!
The famous transforming dress: at the back of the doll is a plastic pink "clockwork" type key. You turn the key and the left and right front panels of her dress lift up and swoosh round to reveal the glittey lining panels, creating a new outfit. It is fairly successful, certainly my 5 yr old thinks it is "incredible" but I wonder about how well the mechanism will last. The dress is very stiff with plastic bits in the hem of the panel which does help to keep the panels stiff and hold their shape well. We had to realign part of our doll's dress with a few careful tugs and bending as the doll kept flashing her knickers (to the amusement of her elder sister and the upset of the doll's owner!) The downside to this is that it makes the doll feel very awkward and a little stiff when a child holds her - especially with the bulky key sticking out of her back! Not the end of the world, but not the same as the regular Barbie dolls when a child is playing. The turning of the key also switches off the music if wished - nice to be able to cut the song short if the phone rings or trying to get the dolls to sing in sync and keep wanting to restart.

The music: same quality of sound as previous Barbies, it is ok. You can hear the words to sing along and the volume is pretty loud. As an adult I would expect a little better sound quality for the price of the toy, but my daughters seem not to notice or care about that side of it! The doll sings two songs from the movie. The singing is activated by a button on her hand. She alternates the two songs. While the doll singing solo is ok, really it is designed as a duet to sing in tandem with her partner doll, Alexa. Liana's part does sound better as a solo doll than Alexa so if you are only intending to purchase one doll, I suggest considering this one over her purple friend. The idea of the button in the hands is that if you press their hands together they will sing together. Only partly successful, we often found one would start singing and have to start all over. It is suprisingly tricky to sync them exactly and my daughter resorts to lying them flat on the floor and taking a deep breath, pressing one with each hand! Not quite the simple "hold hands and sing" method as suggested by the advert!

So, all in all, I still think the doll is expensive at current prices but no doubt the price will drop further before Christmas. It is a pretty doll and will appeal to all Barbie doll loving children. Out of the two Princesses from the Parbie Diamond Castle, this one is better as a stand alone singing doll as the music does sound more convincing than Alexa. The dress is a bit gimmicky but kids will love it anyway.

Charlie and Lola dolls- great!, 14 Oct 2008
Got these for my daughter for christmas and they look great. I had been warned they were small but they were not as small as I had thought.
Great size for my 2 year old to handle.

I have had a play for myself, and though they do not say much I am sure that my daughter is going to love them.

Good price as well as they are at least £15.00 in the shops by me

OKAY ...BUT EXPECTED BETTER FROM A WELL KNOWN BRAND, 29 Jun 2008
THESE TOYS ARE FROM GOLDEN BEAR - THEY'RE GOOD, IF YOU HAVE A CHARLIE AND LOLA FAN, WHICH I DO! THEY ONLY SAY ONE PHRASE EACH - CHARLIE SAYS "I HAVE THIS LITTLE SISTER LOLA SHE IS SMALL AND VERY FUNNY", LOLA SAYS "IM NOT SMALL IM BIG"....AND THTAS IT ...I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED THEM TO SAY MORE PHRASES FOR THE PRICE. THE BATTERIES ARE IRREPLACEABLE (LAST 6 MONTHS) AND THEIR CLOTHES ARE FIXED, THE SOUND DEVICE IS ALSO TOO HARD TO PRESS FOR A 3 YEAR OLD. OKAY BUT COULD HAVE DONE BETTER

These toys are a hit!, 18 Nov 2007
I bought these dolls/toys for my son who is now 20 mths and absolutely loves watching Charlie and Lola. (He has loved them since he figured out the TV had moving pictures). These dolls are durable, as they have withstood a 20 mth old pulling and dragging them everywhere. My one complaint is that they only say one phrase each: Charlie says "I have this little sister Lola, she is small and very funny" and Lola says "I'm not small I am big". It would be nice if some more phrases where added, but since I am not a toddler, it doesn't really matter. I didn't buy them for eduacational reasons, i bought them because i knew he would love to just play with them. Thankfully my instinct was right, my son loves them, they go everywhere with us and when its time for his tv hour, he gets his Charlie and Lola dolls and they watch too.

If your child is a fan, then these would make a great gift for Christmas or a Birthday, as they are priced right and are well made.

Yes - another singing Barbie doll.., 20 Nov 2008
My daughter pleaded and pleaded with us to buy the two main Barbie dolls from Barbie Diamond Castle. Seeing as the price finally dropped a bit (and it was her birthday) we relented. Normally we would have insisted on choosing one but as these clevely work as a pair, we purchased both.
The actual barbie doll is of the usual Barbie build quality - pretty good and withstands medium play level. The plastic tiara did snap when our 5 yr old tried to "pull" it out of her hair (thanks to those clear elastic bands trying to keep it in place) and would recommend a little adult supervision for younger children if they wish to restyle the hair. One main complaint: the shoes are a disaster. They will not stay on - pick the doll up and off flies the shoes, every time. They are not the usual slightly rubbery ones, they are hard plastic ones. A little tip: we have popped a small blob of blue tack in each one and squished them down. Much better now!

Her magical transforming dress is pretty and my daughter thought the changing bit is "amazing" - in reality the outer part of the skirt has a drawstring ribbon sewn in a third of the way down, opening at the back with a plastic "pull". So, when you pull on the ribbon at the back, the outer skirt is pulled tight, ballooning the top bit and revealing the glittery underskirt lining. Sounds complicated when written down, but in fact, very simple and I grudgingly admit, reasonably effective.

Now for the "music". She sings two songs from the movie. While she can sing alone, it is fairly obvious it is part of a duet and really works best with her Barbie doll friend. One of her Barbie hands has a little push down button in the palm, when pressed she sings. The idea is that if you own both dolls you can make them hold hands, pressing the buttons simultaneously, and make them sing in harmony and at the correct time. This is a better idea that the last Barbie duo singing dolls where you had to press the buttons on their backs, but still suprisingly tricky. We found it very hit and miss, more often than not only one doll would start singing, and now my daughter puts them on the floor and presses them each herself. The actual sound quality is as average as all the other dolls. Not great but ok: you can hear the words clearly enough and it is a decent volume. Thankfully, there is an off button in the form of a big button that also lights up her necklace. So, if you get out of sync and trying to get both dolls to sing the same song, not too painful to listen to!

So, from an adult's perspective, this is just another barbie doll with a pre-recorded set of 2 tunes and a little light up button, making it very expensive in comparison to other barbies. However, for my 5 yr old who has played and played with them, they are beautiful, sparkly, wonderful singers and her new best friends..

great doll, 06 Apr 2008
I got this doll for my Christmas present and I really like it.
I love dressing it up in my old baby clothes and carrying it around.
It has helped me learn how to care for babys.
I advise it



Disappointing Doll - sounds robotic , 25 Feb 2008
My daughter has loads of dolls and when this new version came out she just had to have it. what a disappointment. She expected the head to move when she talked to it - she spent ages shouting at it so the head would move towards her. Like other reviews, I agree this eats up batteries. The sucking sounds robotic. It was so bad I took it back to Toys R Us three times to then realise they must all be the same. My daughter loves this doll but I would not recommend. Expensive to maintain and I think is very disappointing overall. The version 3 Annabelle is much better - softer features and sounds better. It does not move its head but you do get a better doll. The version 3 would also be a lot cheaper now.

A bit of a disapointment, 22 Jan 2008
I bought this for my daughter for Christmas. She fell in love with her at first sight on Christmas morning. My problem is the battery use. You can't use anything except top quality (i.e. top price) batteries. If you use standard batteries or rechargeables there is not enough top end power when she cries. If this happens she just turns herself off and won't do anything until you unscrew the battery compartment and remove and replace a battery (not terribly convenient). Then she works fine again until she is next fed and cries. It took us some time and an e-mail or two to Zapf to work this out (they recommended only Duracell M3 or Energiser ultimate batteries) as there is no mention of this in the instructions and we even went as far as getting a replacement Annabell only to find the same thing happened.

In itself this might not be an issue, but played with regularly I am having to change the batteries every 10 days or so as they get to about 50% used and the same thing happens again. So it's expensive and a hassle. Basically it must just be a bad design that the crying requires so much power the batteries can't support it. I am stuck with it as my daughter loves her so much (although she has mentioned that it would be nice if Annabell wasn't so heavy), but if I wasn't it would be going back.

So in summary my daughter loves her, but as a parent I certainly wouldn't recommend this version to anyone else.

Great doll....., 30 Dec 2007
Santa delivered the version 4 baby annabell to my house last week, and has since provided much entertainment for my 4 year old. She loves the fact that annabell turns her head and has spent many an hour trying to stop her from crying. Excellent doll with lovely feature of turning the head.

Great fun but slightly heavy for younger children possibly??, 30 Dec 2007
My daughter had this as a replacement for a similar style doll (store own) which we kept having faults with. My first thought was that she is very heavy due to the motor, etc but my 4 year old doesn't seem to have any trouble with this. The head-turning action is quite freaky but you soon get used it (although I think my daughter's voice is slightly high and she doesn't always respond to her). She has a flesh coloured body (unlike the common white middle section) which we liked as it is more realistic.
It does take a while to get the tear function to work but this is purely because she needs chance to drink kenough water on first use. Subsequent uses have been very good thought, however I would suggest a face cloth for drying her as you would spend a fortune on tissues!! You also need to watch out for any drips later on as my daughter has been caught out several times where a tiny amount have water has spilt out onto her (we're not talking major amounts here though)
I'm not sure if she gurgles as much as previous dolls as I've not really seen much of them but my daughter seems quite happy with the noises that she makes.
All in all I would say she has been in hit with my daughter and both my partner ans I have found her quite amusing. Definitely a well-loved toy!

Necessary for us Baby Born mummies!!, 07 Nov 2007
I think it is very wasteful to throw away a doll diaper that only has water and cornstarch in it, but these are great anyway. But I think you should sew cloth nappies for your Baby Born! If you don't sew, you can buy them. These are great nonetheless and are a great price. Only 3 pounds for 5 nappies!! A bargain for sure. And they fit Baby Born to a tee, so there's no more loose diapers that leak :)!

36cm non-function doll. Perfect first cuddly doll with fixed eyes. Comes with rattle. 12 Months +

The sign writer of Sylvania, their biggest job was the Brambles Department Store. Oliver and Alex, Kate and Rebecca Periwinkle make up the Buttermilk Rabbit Family. 4 Years +

Another Singing Barbie Doll.., 20 Nov 2008
We bought this for our daughter's 5th birthday along with Princess Liana's partner doll, Alexa. Why 2? simply that the price had almost halved and they sing in tandem so thought we would get both.
The build quality is the usual Barbie doll quality and will withstand medium play. The shoes are awful and do not stay on, the tiara is flimsy, but otherwise pretty good. We have resorted to using blue tack in the shoes to keep them on and much better now!
The famous transforming dress: at the back of the doll is a plastic pink "clockwork" type key. You turn the key and the left and right front panels of her dress lift up and swoosh round to reveal the glittey lining panels, creating a new outfit. It is fairly successful, certainly my 5 yr old thinks it is "incredible" but I wonder about how well the mechanism will last. The dress is very stiff with plastic bits in the hem of the panel which does help to keep the panels stiff and hold their shape well. We had to realign part of our doll's dress with a few careful tugs and bending as the doll kept flashing her knickers (to the amusement of her elder sister and the upset of the doll's owner!) The downside to this is that it makes the doll feel very awkward and a little stiff when a child holds her - especially with the bulky key sticking out of her back! Not the end of the world, but not the same as the regular Barbie dolls when a child is playing. The turning of the key also switches off the music if wished - nice to be able to cut the song short if the phone rings or trying to get the dolls to sing in sync and keep wanting to restart.

The music: same quality of sound as previous Barbies, it is ok. You can hear the words to sing along and the volume is pretty loud. As an adult I would expect a little better sound quality for the price of the toy, but my daughters seem not to notice or care about that side of it! The doll sings two songs from the movie. The singing is activated by a button on her hand. She alternates the two songs. While the doll singing solo is ok, really it is designed as a duet to sing in tandem with her partner doll, Alexa. Liana's part does sound better as a solo doll than Alexa so if you are only intending to purchase one doll, I suggest considering this one over her purple friend. The idea of the button in the hands is that if you press their hands together they will sing together. Only partly successful, we often found one would start singing and have to start all over. It is suprisingly tricky to sync them exactly and my daughter resorts to lying them flat on the floor and taking a deep breath, pressing one with each hand! Not quite the simple "hold hands and sing" method as suggested by the advert!

So, all in all, I still think the doll is expensive at current prices but no doubt the price will drop further before Christmas. It is a pretty doll and will appeal to all Barbie doll loving children. Out of the two Princesses from the Parbie Diamond Castle, this one is better as a stand alone singing doll as the music does sound more convincing than Alexa. The dress is a bit gimmicky but kids will love it anyway.

Charlie and Lola dolls- great!, 14 Oct 2008
Got these for my daughter for christmas and they look great. I had been warned they were small but they were not as small as I had thought.
Great size for my 2 year old to handle.

I have had a play for myself, and though they do not say much I am sure that my daughter is going to love them.

Good price as well as they are at least £15.00 in the shops by me

OKAY ...BUT EXPECTED BETTER FROM A WELL KNOWN BRAND, 29 Jun 2008
THESE TOYS ARE FROM GOLDEN BEAR - THEY'RE GOOD, IF YOU HAVE A CHARLIE AND LOLA FAN, WHICH I DO! THEY ONLY SAY ONE PHRASE EACH - CHARLIE SAYS "I HAVE THIS LITTLE SISTER LOLA SHE IS SMALL AND VERY FUNNY", LOLA SAYS "IM NOT SMALL IM BIG"....AND THTAS IT ...I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED THEM TO SAY MORE PHRASES FOR THE PRICE. THE BATTERIES ARE IRREPLACEABLE (LAST 6 MONTHS) AND THEIR CLOTHES ARE FIXED, THE SOUND DEVICE IS ALSO TOO HARD TO PRESS FOR A 3 YEAR OLD. OKAY BUT COULD HAVE DONE BETTER

These toys are a hit!, 18 Nov 2007
I bought these dolls/toys for my son who is now 20 mths and absolutely loves watching Charlie and Lola. (He has loved them since he figured out the TV had moving pictures). These dolls are durable, as they have withstood a 20 mth old pulling and dragging them everywhere. My one complaint is that they only say one phrase each: Charlie says "I have this little sister Lola, she is small and very funny" and Lola says "I'm not small I am big". It would be nice if some more phrases where added, but since I am not a toddler, it doesn't really matter. I didn't buy them for eduacational reasons, i bought them because i knew he would love to just play with them. Thankfully my instinct was right, my son loves them, they go everywhere with us and when its time for his tv hour, he gets his Charlie and Lola dolls and they watch too.

If your child is a fan, then these would make a great gift for Christmas or a Birthday, as they are priced right and are well made.

Yes - another singing Barbie doll.., 20 Nov 2008
My daughter pleaded and pleaded with us to buy the two main Barbie dolls from Barbie Diamond Castle. Seeing as the price finally dropped a bit (and it was her birthday) we relented. Normally we would have insisted on choosing one but as these clevely work as a pair, we purchased both.
The actual barbie doll is of the usual Barbie build quality - pretty good and withstands medium play level. The plastic tiara did snap when our 5 yr old tried to "pull" it out of her hair (thanks to those clear elastic bands trying to keep it in place) and would recommend a little adult supervision for younger children if they wish to restyle the hair. One main complaint: the shoes are a disaster. They will not stay on - pick the doll up and off flies the shoes, every time. They are not the usual slightly rubbery ones, they are hard plastic ones. A little tip: we have popped a small blob of blue tack in each one and squished them down. Much better now!

Her magical transforming dress is pretty and my daughter thought the changing bit is "amazing" - in reality the outer part of the skirt has a drawstring ribbon sewn in a third of the way down, opening at the back with a plastic "pull". So, when you pull on the ribbon at the back, the outer skirt is pulled tight, ballooning the top bit and revealing the glittery underskirt lining. Sounds complicated when written down, but in fact, very simple and I grudgingly admit, reasonably effective.

Now for the "music". She sings two songs from the movie. While she can sing alone, it is fairly obvious it is part of a duet and really works best with her Barbie doll friend. One of her Barbie hands has a little push down button in the palm, when pressed she sings. The idea is that if you own both dolls you can make them hold hands, pressing the buttons simultaneously, and make them sing in harmony and at the correct time. This is a better idea that the last Barbie duo singing dolls where you had to press the buttons on their backs, but still suprisingly tricky. We found it very hit and miss, more often than not only one doll would start singing, and now my daughter puts them on the floor and presses them each herself. The actual sound quality is as average as all the other dolls. Not great but ok: you can hear the words clearly enough and it is a decent volume. Thankfully, there is an off button in the form of a big button that also lights up her necklace. So, if you get out of sync and trying to get both dolls to sing the same song, not too painful to listen to!

So, from an adult's perspective, this is just another barbie doll with a pre-recorded set of 2 tunes and a little light up button, making it very expensive in comparison to other barbies. However, for my 5 yr old who has played and played with them, they are beautiful, sparkly, wonderful singers and her new best friends..

great doll, 06 Apr 2008
I got this doll for my Christmas present and I really like it.
I love dressing it up in my old baby clothes and carrying it around.
It has helped me learn how to care for babys.
I advise it



Disappointing Doll - sounds robotic , 25 Feb 2008
My daughter has loads of dolls and when this new version came out she just had to have it. what a disappointment. She expected the head to move when she talked to it - she spent ages shouting at it so the head would move towards her. Like other reviews, I agree this eats up batteries. The sucking sounds robotic. It was so bad I took it back to Toys R Us three times to then realise they must all be the same. My daughter loves this doll but I would not recommend. Expensive to maintain and I think is very disappointing overall. The version 3 Annabelle is much better - softer features and sounds better. It does not move its head but you do get a better doll. The version 3 would also be a lot cheaper now.

A bit of a disapointment, 22 Jan 2008
I bought this for my daughter for Christmas. She fell in love with her at first sight on Christmas morning. My problem is the battery use. You can't use anything except top quality (i.e. top price) batteries. If you use standard batteries or rechargeables there is not enough top end power when she cries. If this happens she just turns herself off and won't do anything until you unscrew the battery compartment and remove and replace a battery (not terribly convenient). Then she works fine again until she is next fed and cries. It took us some time and an e-mail or two to Zapf to work this out (they recommended only Duracell M3 or Energiser ultimate batteries) as there is no mention of this in the instructions and we even went as far as getting a replacement Annabell only to find the same thing happened.

In itself this might not be an issue, but played with regularly I am having to change the batteries every 10 days or so as they get to about 50% used and the same thing happens again. So it's expensive and a hassle. Basically it must just be a bad design that the crying requires so much power the batteries can't support it. I am stuck with it as my daughter loves her so much (although she has mentioned that it would be nice if Annabell wasn't so heavy), but if I wasn't it would be going back.

So in summary my daughter loves her, but as a parent I certainly wouldn't recommend this version to anyone else.

Great doll....., 30 Dec 2007
Santa delivered the version 4 baby annabell to my house last week, and has since provided much entertainment for my 4 year old. She loves the fact that annabell turns her head and has spent many an hour trying to stop her from crying. Excellent doll with lovely feature of turning the head.

Great fun but slightly heavy for younger children possibly??, 30 Dec 2007
My daughter had this as a replacement for a similar style doll (store own) which we kept having faults with. My first thought was that she is very heavy due to the motor, etc but my 4 year old doesn't seem to have any trouble with this. The head-turning action is quite freaky but you soon get used it (although I think my daughter's voice is slightly high and she doesn't always respond to her). She has a flesh coloured body (unlike the common white middle section) which we liked as it is more realistic.
It does take a while to get the tear function to work but this is purely because she needs chance to drink kenough water on first use. Subsequent uses have been very good thought, however I would suggest a face cloth for drying her as you would spend a fortune on tissues!! You also need to watch out for any drips later on as my daughter has been caught out several times where a tiny amount have water has spilt out onto her (we're not talking major amounts here though)
I'm not sure if she gurgles as much as previous dolls as I've not really seen much of them but my daughter seems quite happy with the noises that she makes.
All in all I would say she has been in hit with my daughter and both my partner ans I have found her quite amusing. Definitely a well-loved toy!

Necessary for us Baby Born mummies!!, 07 Nov 2007
I think it is very wasteful to throw away a doll diaper that only has water and cornstarch in it, but these are great anyway. But I think you should sew cloth nappies for your Baby Born! If you don't sew, you can buy them. These are great nonetheless and are a great price. Only 3 pounds for 5 nappies!! A bargain for sure. And they fit Baby Born to a tee, so there's no more loose diapers that leak :)!

Adorable or Adorable?, 11 Jun 2006
Sylvainians are so ...cool!All my friends say,"Your so lucy I wish I could own 120 sylvains!"
Sylvainians are so adorable and they encourage kids(and adults!)
to use one's imaginative brains(and it gives one a break from couch patato activities such as play staitions ,X boxes etc!
By the way,even though sylvainians are advertised 4+ wait untill
your are 7 or 8,beacause I brought my first sylvainian family when I was 4 and there is hardly any fur left on them due to sucking!

WOW!!, 15 Sep 2005
Sylvanian families r soo cool! they look great! they are great fun to play with! and my daughter loves them! come to think of it i love them too now, they've made my life so much easier she just plays with them all day! get somne now for your kids

Willow hall is the first house with lights in Sylvania. The Hall's two lights are interchangeable and each can be turned on or off. The house opens up to give access to all five rooms as well as creating a large play area in the centre. Requires 2 x AA batteries (Not Included, Order MOE120520). 4 Years +

Another Singing Barbie Doll.., 20 Nov 2008
We bought this for our daughter's 5th birthday along with Princess Liana's partner doll, Alexa. Why 2? simply that the price had almost halved and they sing in tandem so thought we would get both.
The build quality is the usual Barbie doll quality and will withstand medium play. The shoes are awful and do not stay on, the tiara is flimsy, but otherwise pretty good. We have resorted to using blue tack in the shoes to keep them on and much better now!
The famous transforming dress: at the back of the doll is a plastic pink "clockwork" type key. You turn the key and the left and right front panels of her dress lift up and swoosh round to reveal the glittey lining panels, creating a new outfit. It is fairly successful, certainly my 5 yr old thinks it is "incredible" but I wonder about how well the mechanism will last. The dress is very stiff with plastic bits in the hem of the panel which does help to keep the panels stiff and hold their shape well. We had to realign part of our doll's dress with a few careful tugs and bending as the doll kept flashing her knickers (to the amusement of her elder sister and the upset of the doll's owner!) The downside to this is that it makes the doll feel very awkward and a little stiff when a child holds her - especially with the bulky key sticking out of her back! Not the end of the world, but not the same as the regular Barbie dolls when a child is playing. The turning of the key also switches off the music if wished - nice to be able to cut the song short if the phone rings or trying to get the dolls to sing in sync and keep wanting to restart.

The music: same quality of sound as previous Barbies, it is ok. You can hear the words to sing along and the volume is pretty loud. As an adult I would expect a little better sound quality for the price of the toy, but my daughters seem not to notice or care about that side of it! The doll sings two songs from the movie. The singing is activated by a button on her hand. She alternates the two songs. While the doll singing solo is ok, really it is designed as a duet to sing in tandem with her partner doll, Alexa. Liana's part does sound better as a solo doll than Alexa so if you are only intending to purchase one doll, I suggest considering this one over her purple friend. The idea of the button in the hands is that if you press their hands together they will sing together. Only partly successful, we often found one would start singing and have to start all over. It is suprisingly tricky to sync them exactly and my daughter resorts to lying them flat on the floor and taking a deep breath, pressing one with each hand! Not quite the simple "hold hands and sing" method as suggested by the advert!

So, all in all, I still think the doll is expensive at current prices but no doubt the price will drop further before Christmas. It is a pretty doll and will appeal to all Barbie doll loving children. Out of the two Princesses from the Parbie Diamond Castle, this one is better as a stand alone singing doll as the music does sound more convincing than Alexa. The dress is a bit gimmicky but kids will love it anyway.

Charlie and Lola dolls- great!, 14 Oct 2008
Got these for my daughter for christmas and they look great. I had been warned they were small but they were not as small as I had thought.
Great size for my 2 year old to handle.

I have had a play for myself, and though they do not say much I am sure that my daughter is going to love them.

Good price as well as they are at least £15.00 in the shops by me

OKAY ...BUT EXPECTED BETTER FROM A WELL KNOWN BRAND, 29 Jun 2008
THESE TOYS ARE FROM GOLDEN BEAR - THEY'RE GOOD, IF YOU HAVE A CHARLIE AND LOLA FAN, WHICH I DO! THEY ONLY SAY ONE PHRASE EACH - CHARLIE SAYS "I HAVE THIS LITTLE SISTER LOLA SHE IS SMALL AND VERY FUNNY", LOLA SAYS "IM NOT SMALL IM BIG"....AND THTAS IT ...I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED THEM TO SAY MORE PHRASES FOR THE PRICE. THE BATTERIES ARE IRREPLACEABLE (LAST 6 MONTHS) AND THEIR CLOTHES ARE FIXED, THE SOUND DEVICE IS ALSO TOO HARD TO PRESS FOR A 3 YEAR OLD. OKAY BUT COULD HAVE DONE BETTER

These toys are a hit!, 18 Nov 2007
I bought these dolls/toys for my son who is now 20 mths and absolutely loves watching Charlie and Lola. (He has loved them since he figured out the TV had moving pictures). These dolls are durable, as they have withstood a 20 mth old pulling and dragging them everywhere. My one complaint is that they only say one phrase each: Charlie says "I have this little sister Lola, she is small and very funny" and Lola says "I'm not small I am big". It would be nice if some more phrases where added, but since I am not a toddler, it doesn't really matter. I didn't buy them for eduacational reasons, i bought them because i knew he would love to just play with them. Thankfully my instinct was right, my son loves them, they go everywhere with us and when its time for his tv hour, he gets his Charlie and Lola dolls and they watch too.

If your child is a fan, then these would make a great gift for Christmas or a Birthday, as they are priced right and are well made.

Yes - another singing Barbie doll.., 20 Nov 2008
My daughter pleaded and pleaded with us to buy the two main Barbie dolls from Barbie Diamond Castle. Seeing as the price finally dropped a bit (and it was her birthday) we relented. Normally we would have insisted on choosing one but as these clevely work as a pair, we purchased both.
The actual barbie doll is of the usual Barbie build quality - pretty good and withstands medium play level. The plastic tiara did snap when our 5 yr old tried to "pull" it out of her hair (thanks to those clear elastic bands trying to keep it in place) and would recommend a little adult supervision for younger children if they wish to restyle the hair. One main complaint: the shoes are a disaster. They will not stay on - pick the doll up and off flies the shoes, every time. They are not the usual slightly rubbery ones, they are hard plastic ones. A little tip: we have popped a small blob of blue tack in each one and squished them down. Much better now!

Her magical transforming dress is pretty and my daughter thought the changing bit is "amazing" - in reality the outer part of the skirt has a drawstring ribbon sewn in a third of the way down, opening at the back with a plastic "pull". So, when you pull on the ribbon at the back, the outer skirt is pulled tight, ballooning the top bit and revealing the glittery underskirt lining. Sounds complicated when written down, but in fact, very simple and I grudgingly admit, reasonably effective.

Now for the "music". She sings two songs from the movie. While she can sing alone, it is fairly obvious it is part of a duet and really works best with her Barbie doll friend. One of her Barbie hands has a little push down button in the palm, when pressed she sings. The idea is that if you own both dolls you can make them hold hands, pressing the buttons simultaneously, and make them sing in harmony and at the correct time. This is a better idea that the last Barbie duo singing dolls where you had to press the buttons on their backs, but still suprisingly tricky. We found it very hit and miss, more often than not only one doll would start singing, and now my daughter puts them on the floor and presses them each herself. The actual sound quality is as average as all the other dolls. Not great but ok: you can hear the words clearly enough and it is a decent volume. Thankfully, there is an off button in the form of a big button that also lights up her necklace. So, if you get out of sync and trying to get both dolls to sing the same song, not too painful to listen to!

So, from an adult's perspective, this is just another barbie doll with a pre-recorded set of 2 tunes and a little light up button, making it very expensive in comparison to other barbies. However, for my 5 yr old who has played and played with them, they are beautiful, sparkly, wonderful singers and her new best friends..

great doll, 06 Apr 2008
I got this doll for my Christmas present and I really like it.
I love dressing it up in my old baby clothes and carrying it around.
It has helped me learn how to care for babys.
I advise it



Disappointing Doll - sounds robotic , 25 Feb 2008
My daughter has loads of dolls and when this new version came out she just had to have it. what a disappointment. She expected the head to move when she talked to it - she spent ages shouting at it so the head would move towards her. Like other reviews, I agree this eats up batteries. The sucking sounds robotic. It was so bad I took it back to Toys R Us three times to then realise they must all be the same. My daughter loves this doll but I would not recommend. Expensive to maintain and I think is very disappointing overall. The version 3 Annabelle is much better - softer features and sounds better. It does not move its head but you do get a better doll. The version 3 would also be a lot cheaper now.

A bit of a disapointment, 22 Jan 2008
I bought this for my daughter for Christmas. She fell in love with her at first sight on Christmas morning. My problem is the battery use. You can't use anything except top quality (i.e. top price) batteries. If you use standard batteries or rechargeables there is not enough top end power when she cries. If this happens she just turns herself off and won't do anything until you unscrew the battery compartment and remove and replace a battery (not terribly convenient). Then she works fine again until she is next fed and cries. It took us some time and an e-mail or two to Zapf to work this out (they recommended only Duracell M3 or Energiser ultimate batteries) as there is no mention of this in the instructions and we even went as far as getting a replacement Annabell only to find the same thing happened.

In itself this might not be an issue, but played with regularly I am having to change the batteries every 10 days or so as they get to about 50% used and the same thing happens again. So it's expensive and a hassle. Basically it must just be a bad design that the crying requires so much power the batteries can't support it. I am stuck with it as my daughter loves her so much (although she has mentioned that it would be nice if Annabell wasn't so heavy), but if I wasn't it would be going back.

So in summary my daughter loves her, but as a parent I certainly wouldn't recommend this version to anyone else.

Great doll....., 30 Dec 2007
Santa delivered the version 4 baby annabell to my house last week, and has since provided much entertainment for my 4 year old. She loves the fact that annabell turns her head and has spent many an hour trying to stop her from crying. Excellent doll with lovely feature of turning the head.

Great fun but slightly heavy for younger children possibly??, 30 Dec 2007
My daughter had this as a replacement for a similar style doll (store own) which we kept having faults with. My first thought was that she is very heavy due to the motor, etc but my 4 year old doesn't seem to have any trouble with this. The head-turning action is quite freaky but you soon get used it (although I think my daughter's voice is slightly high and she doesn't always respond to her). She has a flesh coloured body (unlike the common white middle section) which we liked as it is more realistic.
It does take a while to get the tear function to work but this is purely because she needs chance to drink kenough water on first use. Subsequent uses have been very good thought, however I would suggest a face cloth for drying her as you would spend a fortune on tissues!! You also need to watch out for any drips later on as my daughter has been caught out several times where a tiny amount have water has spilt out onto her (we're not talking major amounts here though)
I'm not sure if she gurgles as much as previous dolls as I've not really seen much of them but my daughter seems quite happy with the noises that she makes.
All in all I would say she has been in hit with my daughter and both my partner ans I have found her quite amusing. Definitely a well-loved toy!

Necessary for us Baby Born mummies!!, 07 Nov 2007
I think it is very wasteful to throw away a doll diaper that only has water and cornstarch in it, but these are great anyway. But I think you should sew cloth nappies for your Baby Born! If you don't sew, you can buy them. These are great nonetheless and are a great price. Only 3 pounds for 5 nappies!! A bargain for sure. And they fit Baby Born to a tee, so there's no more loose diapers that leak :)!

Adorable or Adorable?, 11 Jun 2006
Sylvainians are so ...cool!All my friends say,"Your so lucy I wish I could own 120 sylvains!"
Sylvainians are so adorable and they encourage kids(and adults!)
to use one's imaginative brains(and it gives one a break from couch patato activities such as play staitions ,X boxes etc!
By the way,even though sylvainians are advertised 4+ wait untill
your are 7 or 8,beacause I brought my first sylvainian family when I was 4 and there is hardly any fur left on them due to sucking!

WOW!!, 15 Sep 2005
Sylvanian families r soo cool! they look great! they are great fun to play with! and my daughter loves them! come to think of it i love them too now, they've made my life so much easier she just plays with them all day! get somne now for your kids

The Best Sylvanian House by Miles 100%, 21 Sep 2008
This house is the best one to buy for Sylvanians. It is just the right size and has the dimensions and beauty of the traditional dream dollhouse.
It is much better than the open sided houses as it opens out at a right angle and there is an additional floor section you can place to make the final quarter square floor complete once it is opened. It has an impressive staircase that can fit in various locations and a wall that can swing to provide an internal or external wall.
Their are also other accessories you can buy to make this house even more impressive - an additional light for one of the bedrooms, a conservatory and even wallpaper are available.
The rooms are easy to access because of the design and it shuts up with plenty of storage space.
Highly recommended. A must buy for Sylvanian fans.

Willow Hall, 15 Oct 2006
Great house, working lights are brilliant! Solid and really well made, nice size-not too big but not too small either, can fit in lots of accessories and dolls.

Enchanting ... a Sylvanian's dream home!, 05 Nov 2005
This is a beautifully made, tough and durable house, which will give many years of pleasure to any child (or grown up, like me!). It is of hinged construction, which means it can be played with both open or closed, and opens up to reveal 5 rooms plus an additional open play area. There is also a first floor outdoor balcony area. Two of the rooms have independently switchable ceiling lights, which adds to the realism and makes a lovely night-time display! The stairs can be fitted in any number of positions, and the doors open and close. There is ample room inside for lots of Sylvanian furniture too. Overall this is a really quaint little house, and the build quality is outstanding.

dolls house, 27 Aug 2005
a family heirloom i think can be passed down to your grandchildren because it is very strong.

Another Singing Barbie Doll.., 20 Nov 2008
We bought this for our daughter's 5th birthday along with Princess Liana's partner doll, Alexa. Why 2? simply that the price had almost halved and they sing in tandem so thought we would get both.
The build quality is the usual Barbie doll quality and will withstand medium play. The shoes are awful and do not stay on, the tiara is flimsy, but otherwise pretty good. We have resorted to using blue tack in the shoes to keep them on and much better now!
The famous transforming dress: at the back of the doll is a plastic pink "clockwork" type key. You turn the key and the left and right front panels of her dress lift up and swoosh round to reveal the glittey lining panels, creating a new outfit. It is fairly successful, certainly my 5 yr old thinks it is "incredible" but I wonder about how well the mechanism will last. The dress is very stiff with plastic bits in the hem of the panel which does help to keep the panels stiff and hold their shape well. We had to realign part of our doll's dress with a few careful tugs and bending as the doll kept flashing her knickers (to the amusement of her elder sister and the upset of the doll's owner!) The downside to this is that it makes the doll feel very awkward and a little stiff when a child holds her - especially with the bulky key sticking out of her back! Not the end of the world, but not the same as the regular Barbie dolls when a child is playing. The turning of the key also switches off the music if wished - nice to be able to cut the song short if the phone rings or trying to get the dolls to sing in sync and keep wanting to restart.

The music: same quality of sound as previous Barbies, it is ok. You can hear the words to sing along and the volume is pretty loud. As an adult I would expect a little better sound quality for the price of the toy, but my daughters seem not to notice or care about that side of it! The doll sings two songs from the movie. The singing is activated by a button on her hand. She alternates the two songs. While the doll singing solo is ok, really it is designed as a duet to sing in tandem with her partner doll, Alexa. Liana's part does sound better as a solo doll than Alexa so if you are only intending to purchase one doll, I suggest considering this one over her purple friend. The idea of the button in the hands is that if you press their hands together they will sing together. Only partly successful, we often found one would start singing and have to start all over. It is suprisingly tricky to sync them exactly and my daughter resorts to lying them flat on the floor and taking a deep breath, pressing one with each hand! Not quite the simple "hold hands and sing" method as suggested by the advert!

So, all in all, I still think the doll is expensive at current prices but no doubt the price will drop further before Christmas. It is a pretty doll and will appeal to all Barbie doll loving children. Out of the two Princesses from the Parbie Diamond Castle, this one is better as a stand alone singing doll as the music does sound more convincing than Alexa. The dress is a bit gimmicky but kids will love it anyway.

Charlie and Lola dolls- great!, 14 Oct 2008
Got these for my daughter for christmas and they look great. I had been warned they were small but they were not as small as I had thought.
Great size for my 2 year old to handle.

I have had a play for myself, and though they do not say much I am sure that my daughter is going to love them.

Good price as well as they are at least £15.00 in the shops by me

OKAY ...BUT EXPECTED BETTER FROM A WELL KNOWN BRAND, 29 Jun 2008
THESE TOYS ARE FROM GOLDEN BEAR - THEY'RE GOOD, IF YOU HAVE A CHARLIE AND LOLA FAN, WHICH I DO! THEY ONLY SAY ONE PHRASE EACH - CHARLIE SAYS "I HAVE THIS LITTLE SISTER LOLA SHE IS SMALL AND VERY FUNNY", LOLA SAYS "IM NOT SMALL IM BIG"....AND THTAS IT ...I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED THEM TO SAY MORE PHRASES FOR THE PRICE. THE BATTERIES ARE IRREPLACEABLE (LAST 6 MONTHS) AND THEIR CLOTHES ARE FIXED, THE SOUND DEVICE IS ALSO TOO HARD TO PRESS FOR A 3 YEAR OLD. OKAY BUT COULD HAVE DONE BETTER

These toys are a hit!, 18 Nov 2007
I bought these dolls/toys for my son who is now 20 mths and absolutely loves watching Charlie and Lola. (He has loved them since he figured out the TV had moving pictures). These dolls are durable, as they have withstood a 20 mth old pulling and dragging them everywhere. My one complaint is that they only say one phrase each: Charlie says "I have this little sister Lola, she is small and very funny" and Lola says "I'm not small I am big". It would be nice if some more phrases where added, but since I am not a toddler, it doesn't really matter. I didn't buy them for eduacational reasons, i bought them because i knew he would love to just play with them. Thankfully my instinct was right, my son loves them, they go everywhere with us and when its time for his tv hour, he gets his Charlie and Lola dolls and they watch too.

If your child is a fan, then these would make a great gift for Christmas or a Birthday, as they are priced right and are well made.

Yes - another singing Barbie doll.., 20 Nov 2008
My daughter pleaded and pleaded with us to buy the two main Barbie dolls from Barbie Diamond Castle. Seeing as the price finally dropped a bit (and it was her birthday) we relented. Normally we would have insisted on choosing one but as these clevely work as a pair, we purchased both.
The actual barbie doll is of the usual Barbie build quality - pretty good and withstands medium play level. The plastic tiara did snap when our 5 yr old tried to "pull" it out of her hair (thanks to those clear elastic bands trying to keep it in place) and would recommend a little adult supervision for younger children if they wish to restyle the hair. One main complaint: the shoes are a disaster. They will not stay on - pick the doll up and off flies the shoes, every time. They are not the usual slightly rubbery ones, they are hard plastic ones. A little tip: we have popped a small blob of blue tack in each one and squished them down. Much better now!

Her magical transforming dress is pretty and my daughter thought the changing bit is "amazing" - in reality the outer part of the skirt has a drawstring ribbon sewn in a third of the way down, opening at the back with a plastic "pull". So, when you pull on the ribbon at the back, the outer skirt is pulled tight, ballooning the top bit and revealing the glittery underskirt lining. Sounds complicated when written down, but in fact, very simple and I grudgingly admit, reasonably effective.

Now for the "music". She sings two songs from the movie. While she can sing alone, it is fairly obvious it is part of a duet and really works best with her Barbie doll friend. One of her Barbie hands has a little push down button in the palm, when pressed she sings. The idea is that if you own both dolls you can make them hold hands, pressing the buttons simultaneously, and make them sing in harmony and at the correct time. This is a better idea that the last Barbie duo singing dolls where you had to press the buttons on their backs, but still suprisingly tricky. We found it very hit and miss, more often than not only one doll would start singing, and now my daughter puts them on the floor and presses them each herself. The actual sound quality is as average as all the other dolls. Not great but ok: you can hear the words clearly enough and it is a decent volume. Thankfully, there is an off button in the form of a big button that also lights up her necklace. So, if you get out of sync and trying to get both dolls to sing the same song, not too painful to listen to!

So, from an adult's perspective, this is just another barbie doll with a pre-recorded set of 2 tunes and a little light up button, making it very expensive in comparison to other barbies. However, for my 5 yr old who has played and played with them, they are beautiful, sparkly, wonderful singers and her new best friends..

great doll, 06 Apr 2008
I got this doll for my Christmas present and I really like it.
I love dressing it up in my old baby clothes and carrying it around.
It has helped me learn how to care for babys.
I advise it



Disappointing Doll - sounds robotic , 25 Feb 2008
My daughter has loads of dolls and when this new version came out she just had to have it. what a disappointment. She expected the head to move when she talked to it - she spent ages shouting at it so the head would move towards her. Like other reviews, I agree this eats up batteries. The sucking sounds robotic. It was so bad I took it back to Toys R Us three times to then realise they must all be the same. My daughter loves this doll but I would not recommend. Expensive to maintain and I think is very disappointing overall. The version 3 Annabelle is much better - softer features and sounds better. It does not move its head but you do get a better doll. The version 3 would also be a lot cheaper now.

A bit of a disapointment, 22 Jan 2008
I bought this for my daughter for Christmas. She fell in love with her at first sight on Christmas morning. My problem is the battery use. You can't use anything except top quality (i.e. top price) batteries. If you use standard batteries or rechargeables there is not enough top end power when she cries. If this happens she just turns herself off and won't do anything until you unscrew the battery compartment and remove and replace a battery (not terribly convenient). Then she works fine again until she is next fed and cries. It took us some time and an e-mail or two to Zapf to work this out (they recommended only Duracell M3 or Energiser ultimate batteries) as there is no mention of this in the instructions and we even went as far as getting a replacement Annabell only to find the same thing happened.

In itself this might not be an issue, but played with regularly I am having to change the batteries every 10 days or so as they get to about 50% used and the same thing happens again. So it's expensive and a hassle. Basically it must just be a bad design that the crying requires so much power the batteries can't support it. I am stuck with it as my daughter loves her so much (although she has mentioned that it would be nice if Annabell wasn't so heavy), but if I wasn't it would be going back.

So in summary my daughter loves her, but as a parent I certainly wouldn't recommend this version to anyone else.

Great doll....., 30 Dec 2007
Santa delivered the version 4 baby annabell to my house last week, and has since provided much entertainment for my 4 year old. She loves the fact that annabell turns her head and has spent many an hour trying to stop her from crying. Excellent doll with lovely feature of turning the head.

Great fun but slightly heavy for younger children possibly??, 30 Dec 2007
My daughter had this as a replacement for a similar style doll (store own) which we kept having faults with. My first thought was that she is very heavy due to the motor, etc but my 4 year old doesn't seem to have any trouble with this. The head-turning action is quite freaky but you soon get used it (although I think my daughter's voice is slightly high and she doesn't always respond to her). She has a flesh coloured body (unlike the common white middle section) which we liked as it is more realistic.
It does take a while to get the tear function to work but this is purely because she needs chance to drink kenough water on first use. Subsequent uses have been very good thought, however I would suggest a face cloth for drying her as you would spend a fortune on tissues!! You also need to watch out for any drips later on as my daughter has been caught out several times where a tiny amount have water has spilt out onto her (we're not talking major amounts here though)
I'm not sure if she gurgles as much as previous dolls as I've not really seen much of them but my daughter seems quite happy with the noises that she makes.
All in all I would say she has been in hit with my daughter and both my partner ans I have found her quite amusing. Definitely a well-loved toy!

Necessary for us Baby Born mummies!!, 07 Nov 2007
I think it is very wasteful to throw away a doll diaper that only has water and cornstarch in it, but these are great anyway. But I thi