LOL OMG series 2 - Miss Independent by MGA

I was surprised to see these come into stock on Smyths, as it doesn't look like the US has even got these yet and Winter Disco only hit like last month!
MGA really is churning these out huh?

Anyway, series 2 of the OMG dolls is out in the UK so of course I had to pounce and get the one I liked best.

So far that's how i've managed OMG. Tried only to get the one from each wave I LOVE and left the ones I like but not as much for clearance.

IF clearance happens.

Series 2 is quite fun. We have a grunge girl, a pastel chick, the fabulous Miss independent and a Rosie the Riveter chick.

The boxes are quite similar to the first wave boxes but there are a few interesting differences.

Here's the first wave box for reference.

The 2nd wave have a proper handle but it's made of recyclable plastic which I appreciate, it feels less wasteful than the Winter Disco fur covered thing.

Also it looks like Smyths isn't getting the international boxes, in fact, the bottom of the box says "imported to australia by" and then has MGA Aus' addresss. Huh?

The box slides open to reveal the full colour picture of the doll and her blurb.

Interestingly her box art is missing one of her accessories. How odd.

The new box doesn't flap open like the first wave box, it slides but then stops because the outer box has tabs preventing you from sliding the whole inner box out. So I ended up taking it apart anyway so I could access the back of the inner box and slip the whole doll out.

This is literally as far out as the inner tray will slide which is a bit annoying as it meant I couldn't remove the doll in her plastic clamshell to cut her plastic tabs without opening the WHOLE outer box.
what the hell MGA?

Much like the first wave box it's a dressing room that's supposedly a playset and I still question how useful it is because it's so damn cramped.

I do rather love that each of the OMG dolls seems to be posed differently in their boxes, I think it's cute.

Miss Independent has electric blue hair in a really complicated style, glittery lips and eyeshadow and Bratz Sasha toned skin (I think? it's a nice brown tone anyway)

Her outfit makes me think of an olympic gynmast or something hahah.

Her hair is tabbed not once, not twice but FOUR times at different intervals. Two in the back of her head, then two down her ponytail. WHYYYY????

The dressing room has a mirror, so did Neonlicious but it was a really wierd zigzag shape and totally useless. This is more practical. No rail for the hangers still though.

Her stand is gold, pretty.

And she has a magazine just like wave 1 had.

This one is Spring 20 rather than Fall 19.

Fashion B.B magazine seems to only ever run one article, what's your star sign lol.

inside the bag is our first "surprise" *eyeroll*

It's a very nice purse made of semi opaque glittery blue plastic. it's molded so it's actually hollow inside and thus semi usable as a bag.
I appreciate that.

Also it's incredibly pretty.

The doll herself is also extremely pretty.

I'm not sure the worried eyebrows were that appropriate to her character but whatever, all the LOL OMG seem to have these worried brows.

Her lips and eyes are CAKED in glitter, absolutely caked but it's quite a small glitter and I guess in my old age i'm starting to adjust to glitter lips. I'm still not a great fan but I can tolerate them more these days and I think they work better on very stylised faces than say, a Barbie where they just look chapped and crunchy.

Her outfit is a single piece leotard/swimsuit and the top part seems ever so slightly baggy on her slender frame.
The top part is a much stiffer fabric than the elasticated bottom so that may be why.

My camera still picks up the errors in application haha. It's not obvious to the eye but her glittery lips are slightly off from the underpainting.

My camera does not however pick up the slight colour variation in her hair.

The braided sections are actually a darker blue than the rest which MIGHT be because they're more matte than the straight parts, I don't really know.

But god this is a complicated hairstyle. I mean I can't even make sense of it.

The idea of having to try to redo this makes me super anxious.

The ponytail is a bit messy from being in box but the rest is really nicely done.

She comes with the standard 2 blind bagged outfit pieces in their clothing bags, a hatbox containing accessories and a shoe box.

this shoe box is a lot longer than the other shoe boxes i've had.

Because it contains LONG boots. Ooo fancy.

And fancy they indeed are. They're pearly white with gold chains instead of laces.

so pearly.

The hat box contains sunglasses, earrings and a necklace.

The blue bag contains her "bottom" pieces. Belt and er... cape... skirt.. thing and denim shorts.

The shorts are well made but made of VERY denim-like fabric which makes them feel a little fragile in my hands. Certainly they feel substantially thinner than other OMG stuff i've handled of late.

but what's cute is they even included the fake pocket lining hanging down from the cutoffs, that's a neat touch.

The belt... thing.. is confusing. According to the art this piece doesn't actually exist (huh) and the "buckle" should be at the front but it's between the two hoops that hold the skirt/cape part in place so... uh... I decided the best way to do this was to slide the whole thing over her hips so the hoops were on her hips but the buckle/knot was on her front. But it was a tight fit and you CANNOT do this with the shorts already on. It's hard to explain but basically, if you attach this the way that seems most logical, by simply fastening the velcro it looks wrong and the little knot/buckle piece is in the wrong place (at her back) so all I could figure was that you actually need to stick her feet through the little gap between gold belt and black skirt pieces and slide it up then fasten it.

wiiiierd.

The other bag contains her shirt which is made from stiff glittery shiny fabric with puffed sleeves.
It's pretty awesome.

As i've found with like.. MOST if not ALL fashion dolls, the necklace never goes on without some elastic bands to hold it flat so I had to do that here as well.

You can see the little fake pocket linings danging down and the cute puff sleeves.

Her wierd belt skirt reminds me of the band En Vouge. Maybe that was the point?

The box/playset is still too cramped imo to be at all useful. And the dressing room door doesn't fasten shut so that annoys me too.

Also her shoe box is too wide to fit nicely into here and has to be stacked on its side which I think looks messy.

I dunno, I just don't see the point of the box/playset thing as I don't find them overly inspiring as a playset, they don't make great storage boxes because the outer box isn't that sturdy and has to be disassembled to get this piece out anyway (it's just a sleeve) and the doll looks SERIOUSLY uncomfortable if you put her into the narrower section, like so cramped up.

It's a cute way to package the doll, but i'm not convinced the box has any longevity beyond "that's cute, now let's open the doll"
A bit like the dioramas for the Hairdorables, those are fun for about 2 minutes before they are just trash.

It's worth noting that series 2 here comes without a little sister (like Winter Disco did) and as a result is £31.99 rather than £34:99.
That's still a LOT of money for a playline fashion doll but I suppose at this point i'm of the attitude that i'd rather pay MORE for one doll who actually feels well thought out than spend the same on 2 or 3 dolls i'd need to redress, fix the hair of and generally put effort into making fit my aesthetic.

I admit it, I really do LIKE the OMG. They're wierdly proportioned but they remind me a LOT of the original Bratz not just in their faces and funky hair styles and colours but the quality and attention to detail in their clothing.
It makes me a bit nostelgic.

And I suppose i'd rather spend £30 on one doll that makes me smile than 2 or 3 that make me feel robbed. Sadly an awful lot of toys on the market right now are massively overpriced for what you're getting and after opening them i'm often left with this hollow feeling of waste.

As for waste, which I talk about a lot in doll deboxings, this girl didnt' leave me with too much trash. Three plastic things for recyling, two bags and a cardboard box. Of course, if MGA would abandon this stupid "surprise" nonsense and just package the doll without all the pieces in separate little bags you could get that waste to next to nil, which would be nice.

I mean I kinda like the shoe and hat boxes but at the same time, what do I DO with them? It's not like I have spare accessories to put on the dolls or store.
but I guess they make for cute pieces for shop play? I dunno.

Maybe if MGA made some fashion packs they might have a purpose.

but at least they feel WORTH keeping. Unlike the box "playset".

Also I want to express how impressed I am with Smyths here. These came into stock for home delivery on Friday and I ordered in the afternoon when i got home from some chores in town.
They sent me a dispatch notice literally an hour later! What?!?
and the parcel arrived Sunday morning via courier.

that's pretty dang good going, especially for free shipping.

For the record, as of writing this the wave 2 dolls are still in stock for home delivery from Smyths and still on Amazon for double retail because resellers suck.

I'm very happy with my girl, she's pretty spectacular.