Midnight Magic Minis: The Arrival of Mini-Pippa

Pippa, Catrina, and Vincent Van Gogh have gathered to welcome... mini-Pippa!

How come her box isn't shaped like a coffin?

While on an epic thrift-store quest (of which, more another time), I stopped in at a large Family Dollar up on Greenway and discovered Midnight Magic minis! The store had all four characters, but I limited myself to choosing a mini-me for Pippa.

It's a long story... trust me.

The back of the box tells the story of how Patsy (who turns into Pippa) made a potion that would turn the girls into 5" high versions of themselves so that they could investigate mysterious noises in the school library. Pippa is absolutely the gal you want as a lab partner in chemistry.

The backing -- with generic night-time streetscape -- slides right out of the box.

Oh. Hi.

As is often the case with cheaper dolls, the packaging is simple, straightforward, and does not cause flesh wounds when you undo it.

Just untwist, yank some tape, and there we are.

Accessories include a brush as big as mini-Pippa (the design is presumably a lab carafe-thingie), a second dress in pink leopard, and shoes so tiny that the phone-camera can't focus on them. The shoes, oddly, match neither outfit. This increases the temptation to get a mini-Draculaura -- OOPS! I mean, mini-Adele -- to see if maybe she got yellow shoes or an outfit that would go with blue shoes.

Equipped for any occasion! Except one that calls for matching shoes.

Here's mini-Pippa, out of the box. She's getting a helping hand from original-Pippa because she doesn't stand steadily (and the shoes don't help).

Good morning, very large persons.

Her dress is fastened with Velcro all the way down the back, plus a halter-style tie. Its quality does not threaten my sewing self-esteem, but it's not falling apart in my hands, either.

Matching thread? Pfui. That is for the common people.

Aha! Now we can see why she won't stand. One leg is molded to be bent more than the other, for that chic model stance. WHY would you do this with a doll who doesn't come with a stand?

Otherwise, she basically has the same body type as original-Pippa, with maybe a little less swayback. She has molded-on underwear.

I want a stand.

Her hair is satisfyingly smooth and thick, although the rooting's about what you'd expect from a $3 doll.

No braids are in my future. Which is okay, as they'd probably tip me over.

Mini-Pippa cannot sit like a lady. 

If I were not sublimely unselfconscious, this would be embarrassing.

Front-to-back splits are not a success, and side-to-side would be impossible. Since I'm used to dollhouse dolls at this size, this isn't a real shocker.

PE was never my favorite class. Can I take a second hour of math instead?

Arm motion is also limited -- again, not really out of line with what I expect at this size.

I dislike volleyball as much as I dislike gymnastics. Which is a lot.

Here she is in her pink-leopard dress, Death lurks in the background.

Pink looks pretty good with gray, don't you think?

Posed with original-Pippa, mini-Pippa is clearly not a little sister.

This is going to be hard to explain at the babysitter's club.

Vincent Van Gogh thinks she's kind of hot, but mini-Pippa is skeptical about being an artist's muse.

Vincent likes cerebral women.

She can sit on a 1:18 sofa more-or-less convincingly. 

Maybe somebody will bring me tea.

Vincent's efforts at date conversation are awkward, and mini-Pippa doesn't want to hold hands.

Oh, him again. He really doesn't take hints, does he?

Conversation with Catrina doesn't go much better.

You partied way too hard at Hallowe'en, didn't you?

Mini-Pippa also is sized reasonably okay for the 1:18 Lundby kitchen cabinets. Her head goes a little high, but her hands are at the right height to use the counter for cooking up potions.

A dishwasher for the lab ware makes me happy.

Mini-Pippa's face is not as sweet as original-Pippa's. She has more of the Moxie Girlz "whatever" expression. Her lack of expressiveness makes her look like Pippa's ventriloquist dummy.

Like you wouldn't be irritable if you were 5" tall with little pointy feet...

Since Pippa keeps being called Pippa despite my intent to rename her, I think mini-Pippa will get to be Pilar.

We wish you a good Día de Muertos!