Bratz are the newest craze in the doll world and have taken the world of girls toys by storm. They follow the trend of Barbie and other successful dolls by releasing various subgroups of dolls to entice children in to growing their collection of Bratz dolls. The dolls themselves are built around a base group of four friends: Sasha, Cloe, Yasmin and Jade. The four dolls incorporate multiculturalism by representing the African American race (Sasha), the Asian race (Jade) and the Caucasian race (Cloe and Yasmin). Although there are only four base characters, again, much like Barbie did, Bratz has extended the family and created other dolls to add in to the various collections. Currently there are over twenty different lines of Bratz dolls; however, today we focus on the Bratz Lil’ Angelz doll Yasmin.

The Lil’ Angelz dolls each come with their own outfit. There are currently two types of Lil’ Angelz doll on the market, both are collectible; however, one of the packages comes with one doll and two pets and the other package comes with one doll and only one pet. The Yasmin doll I purchased came with two pets, a turtle and a dog. All of the dolls and the pets are collectible and on http://bratzLilangelz.com you can find a compiled list of all of the collectible parts of the Lil’ Angelz series…but be warned there are a lot and they are still producing more. This site also provides you with a count down until the release of the next series of Lil’ Angelz dolls. There are currently 235 pieces to the Lil’ Angelz collectibles series.

The Lil’ Angelz dolls themselves will fit in the palm of your hand and the Lil’ Angelz petz are just a tad smaller. The dolls are made of a softer plastic (not hard enough to crack and soft enough to pose). The dolls are also poseable and come dressed in a small outfit. The petz are around the size of the dolls body (sans legs) and have bobble heads. Each pet seems to come dressed with it’s own accessory as the dog has a pearl necklace and bows in her hair and the turtle has a heart necklace and a flower in her hair. The petz are made of the same plastic as the dolls themselves.

The Bratz Lil’ Angelz dolls only received a rating of 2/5 for a few reasons. Although the toy was a great price (under $5) I have seen many more toys in this price range that provide more entertainment value and less of a choking hazard. The first factor that turned me off the Bratz Lil’ Angelz doll was the very thing that made me pick it up to try it out, a hang tag stating “NEW EASY OPEN PACKAGE.” It could be inferred from this hang tag that this package would be easy to open; however between the tags holding the cardboard backing to the plastic shell front of the packaging and the tabs of tape all over the thing, I can most definitely say that this packaging is not “easy open.” As you can see from the video clip at the bottom of this review things became a tad frustrating when opening this “easy open” package.

Enough on the packaging, let’s get to the important part, the toys. The toys themselves seem to be sturdy enough for the recommended age range; however, the risk of choking is always a concern when smaller toys like the petz that come with Lil Angelz’ dolls are present. A four year old should know better than to put a toy in her mouth but we know four year olds better than that, toys do go in mouths whether we like it or not. Aside from the choking hazard one hangup I have with the entire Bratz dolls is more of the social statement that they make to our children. Children these days are forced to grow up too quickly, they are thrust in to a society where the expectations on them are above and beyond what they were on either you or I. I do not believe four year olds, or even eight year olds for that matter should have it thrust upon them that “pretty girls” wear makeup and expensive sexualized clothes, that they need to be cool to be liked and lastly that they need to be “ditzy” to fit in. This is precisely why I have not recommended this product as a gift even though it is marked as a “hot item.” I suppose my point of view has biased my review of the Bratz Lil’ Angelz doll; however, I also believe that many other mothers and fathers out there carry the same opinions as I do. Don’t get me wrong the Bratz dolls are quality products, they are packaged as advertised (with the exception of the “easy open package”) and will provide your child with entertainment and perhaps allow them to “fit in” with their friends but I believe you can get more bang for your buck with other toys in this price range.