I (Heart) VIP Pets

December, 2023.

VIP Pets are dog-shaped dolls with long, beautiful hair. Produced by IMC Toys, these creatures come packaged in blind capsules, so you don't know which character you'll get while buying the toy at the store. VIP Pets in their current form have been around for 3 or so years as of 2023 (based on the first VIP Pets video listed on YouTube). They are featured in a cartoon of the same name that revolves around girl-dog characters that can talk, have beautiful hair, and use iPhones. Several different iterations of the toy have been released, and an earlier version series seems to have been available in Europe during some time in the 2010s. Today's feature is of a modern VIP Pet, from the "Glitter Twist" series. Accompanying it is a mini VIP Pet, from the Color Boost series. An even smaller line of VIP Pets currently exists, featuring teeny-tiny Pets that some in a capsule mimicing a compact. The smallest pets have comedically long sprouts of hair erupting from their scalps.

The capsule is covered in a plastic wrap that hides the pet inside. Peeling it off reveals that the character inside is Maya (Dancer). The toy features a surprise-reveal gimmick on top of the blind box gimmick that involves making the area around your sink extremely wet. The instructions included command consumers to remove the nozzle and base of the capsule and pour water through it. The pink shower cap obscuring the Pet's hair dissolves away, revealing its hair (which is still contained in a plastic bag, keeping it dry). The pink coating dissolves into a weird goopy substance. The pet also has a fur-colored patch that hides the makeup around one of its eyes that has to be wiped off. The eyepatch was a vastly inferior reveal, compared to the shower cap. It took a long time of hard scrubbing to remove the patch, and even after some effort, remnants of it remain on the face. Not a fan.

The pet is really cute! She has nice quality hair in a vibrant magenta color. Tinsel streaks are interspersed in various shades of pink. Included with the pet is a small capsule of golden glitter, meant to decorate her hair. Doing that would make a huge mess, surely, so I will abstain for the time being. The hair is long and soft, and of nice quality. The Pet's face is cute, with pink flowers decorating her undereyes, brown winged eyeliner, and a pink bindi mark between her eyebrows. The eye that was initially visible has glitter eyeshadow, while the once hidden eye does not have glitter, despite being otherwise symmetrical. She has a yellow floral shirt with an angular neckline. Her feet are all in a dark brown color, with pink undersides. I like this pet, though I was hoping to get Roxy. I did end up liking this one more than I expected.

The VIP Pet mini has sculpted bangs and synthetic hair pigtails. She's quite a bit smaller than the full-size VIP pet, and is made of a harder feeling plastic. She has a purple shirt, light purple paws. She faces the world with a winking expression. Her bangs are a minty color, and she has one pink and one purple pigtail. Her makeup features purple stars on her cheeks. The hair is very long and soft, like the big VIP Pet. The full size VIP is much nicer, in my opinion, but the mini-Pet is still cute, and is a good enough budget option.

When I first had the package, I tried to scan it. Clearly, it was a disaster.

I think I like the VIP Pets. They're cute. I'd like to get my hands on one of the older European pets, as they have more understated looks and makeup. It is a pretty popular customization trend to make a "hybrid doll" using a VIP Pet head and Rainbow High body, which is what got me interested in the Pets. In the end, the VIP Pets have captured my attention in their own right, though I am still considering making a hybrid doll. The blindbox aspect turns me off of them a little bit, as not all of the designs in the line are appealing to me. The pet that I got is still very cute, and I might be interested in trying out another series to see what I get.