Magic Mixies Pixlings: Amber

November 25, 2024.

The Pixlings are mini dolls that were created as a spinoff of the Magic Mixies toy brand. The Mixies are little animal figurines that come blind packaged in a plastic cauldron. To reveal the pet, one must perform a magic ritual, which, to my knowledge, involved pouring water on a dissolving piece of paper. It's a fun and whimsical reveal gimmick. The Pixlings dolls have a more elaborate method of revelation.

The doll is obscured by the bottle-shaped packaging. However, the colored gemstone on the package indicates that inside this bottle, one can find the dragon Pixling, Amber. In my opinion, it is preferable to know which item is in the package, but for those who do prefer the blindbox surprise, this seems like a good compromise.

After peeling off the plastic skin, the bottle and potion reagents are revealed. The "2" and "5" baggies contain liquid. "4" and "6" are little satchets of papery shapes. Don't open them yet, though. The instructions must be followed to ensure the reveal goes as intended. Apparently, a part of the bottle that I threw away was usable as a doll stand, which did not occur to me at all. Silly! First, one must prepare the bottle. Remove and dispose of all the tamper-proof plastic tabs, and if you're me, the doll stand. Next, pour in the first few ingredients with water, then shake out the next few packets. The bottle will appear to be filled with a cloudy blue liquid. After pressing the charm atop the bottle, the dark liquid slowly loses its opacity.

One can pour the water out and reveal the doll after this point. It's also acceptable to skip the whole potion thing and wrench the doll out right away. Figured I'd try it, though. It was pretty cool, and worked as expected. All the liquid dumps into a compartment that surrounds the doll, but is separated from it with a clear plastic barrier to keep her from getting wet.

Despite being careful, I did get Miss Amber's toes a bit wet. The paper insert got completely soaked. It would have been disappointing if all the blue liquid got on her fluffy skirt, but thankfully it remained dry. I'm not entirely sure how she got wet, but I figure I just wasn't careful enough.

Amber is a really adorable doll! From the bottom of her shoe to the top of her head, she is about 5.5in/14cm tall. She has a really striking color scheme that contrasts hot pink with a vivid green-blue. She has shiny gold dragon wings, and some kind of fins or horns on her head. A yellow gem sits in the middle of her forehead. Her long pigtails are soft and shiny. Her shoes and skirt are removable. I like the texture of her skirt, which is a big pink and blue poofball that her legs stick out the bottom of. She is articulated at the neck, shoulders, elbows, and hips.
Amber is by far my favorite of the Pixlings girls, but I am excited to see more characters come around. Some of the series 1 (which includes Amber) characters have been re-released with new designs in later waves, but a handful of new characters have been released as well. I wouldn't mind seeing Amber again, but I'm hoping more new characters in the future will catch my eye. There have also been some full size fashion doll Pixlings that have hit the market at the outrageous price point of $60USD. These large dolls do come with a talking magic mirror, but that is a steep price for a single doll. I was able to get Amber on clearance for $10 which was well worth my while. Most of the mini dolls hover around $15-20, and would definitely make a fun gift for a kid that likes dolls (or fairies), as the reveal gimmick is pretty interactive.
For adult collectors, the Pixlings are really cute, but there are some aspects where it seems some corners had to be cut in the doll design. It would be nice to have more articulation, and more clothing and accessory options. The molded on tops leave a bit to be desired. The bottle is also very large, and produces a lot of unecessary plastic packaging.
I will look forward to future Pixlings releases-- they seem to be quite popular!