MANY kids prefer to have a room to themselves – but ten-year-old Megan Prince is happy to share hers with more than 400 pals.
Thanks to mum Michelle’s £4,000 splurge over three years, Megan has 206 dolls, 122 Lil Sisters and 90 pets, all from the LOL Surprise! range.
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Believed to be the biggest in the UK, Megan’s collection also includes bedding, a dolls’ house, pyjamas, T-shirts, money boxes, pencil cases, bags and key rings.
But now her dad Alan, 44, has said they have to choose between the dolls and having their first family holiday.
The toys, which cost from £10, come encased in a plastic ball wrapped in paper, so you only know what you have bought when it is opened.
Supermarket worker Michelle, 39, from Fleet, Hampshire, says: “It’s so exciting opening the balls up to see who is inside. They are really cute and look great lined up in Megan’s room. She loves them — and so do I.
‘WE GOT HOOKED’
“Really it’s the thrill of the chase, like any other collection. I don’t smoke, drink or buy expensive clothes. This is my only addiction. It’s hard to go shopping and not get her one.”
There are several series of dolls, from Hair Goals to Glitter and Glam. Each comes with a kooky outfit and accessories such as sunglasses and shoes, plus a bottle and stickers. Some change colour, cry or even wee.
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Michelle adds: “We are not satisfied until we complete a whole series.
“At the moment we are missing just two from the latest Hair Goals series — Rainbow Raver and EDMBB.”
The dolls were the best-selling toy last Christmas, according to retail tracking service NDP Group. And Amazon has already named the £29.99 OMG doll series as one of this year’s top-ten gifts from Santa.
Michelle says: “Megan’s nan bought her first LOL doll about two-and-a-half years ago. Megan had seen videos on YouTube of kids in America unboxing them and couldn’t wait to get her hands on one. The next week I was at the shop and grabbed four balls.
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“We couldn’t help but open one straight away. Inside was one of the rarest dolls of the second series — a gold and teal one called Luxe, from the ultra-rare 24K Gold Club.
“We were both so excited. That’s when we got hooked.” The LOL Surprise! balls began at £10 each for the first series, with the cost rising to as much as £16 for the Hair Goals series as their popularity grew.
The characters have found their home on shelves, caddies and an LOL dolls’ house. Megan’s pricest doll is the rare Crystal Queen from the first series, which they paid £50 for.
Michelle says: “I spend hours online hunting out the best deals for dolls I haven’t been able to find locally, via eBay and Facebook Marketplace as well as online doll-swapping groups. I check every day so I don’t miss anything.”
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She has also learned a few tricks to find the rarer dolls, though California-based makers MGA Entertainment has become wise to customer hacks.
Michelle says: “You used to be able to shine a torch through the wrapping to see the colour of the ball inside, but that’s been made more difficult now.
“I always try to buy as many balls as possible in one go from a single box, maybe six or seven, because you’re less likely to get duplicates.
“It’s great if you can buy a whole unopened box.
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“Some people go so far as to take their kitchen scales to weigh the balls in the shops, after people started sharing the weights of the rare ones online.”
Megan’s collection has made her the envy of her friends and Michelle says the dolls are one of the ways she compensates for Megan being an only child. She says: “Parents think I’m bonkers. Megan’s friends go ‘Wow! Megan’s so lucky’ and I say, ‘No, you’re the lucky one. You’ve got a sister. When you go swimming or on holiday you’ve always got someone with you’.
“Some parents put their kids in horse-riding lessons but we do this. Megan is happy but I feel the need to compensate for the fact she hasn’t got a sibling.”
Michelle and her husband Alan, a stone mason, had always planned to have more than one child but changed their mind after Megan was born prematurely at 27 weeks, weighing just 2lb 12oz. Michelle says: “Megan spent the first two months of her life in hospital on ventilation, followed by a year in and out of hospital with various illnesses and complications.
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“It was terrifying. We loved her so much and were so scared we’d lose her too many times.
“The stress of it left me with anxiety and PTSD. It still affects me now. I hate it when she goes away on a school trip or something, I’m constantly worried.
“Doctors told us there was a 50/50 chance future children would also be born prematurely.
“They had no idea why Megan came so soon and could only assume it might happen again.”
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So when Megan was two years old, the couple decided Alan would have a vasectomy.
Michelle says: “We had our Megan and she is all we needed. Now I cherish her every day.
“She’s a bit spoiled. Her birthday parties are over the top and I like to make sure she has every luxury we can afford her.”
But the LOL Surprise dolls are one luxury Alan has now said will have to stop.
Other big kids’ fads
TAKE a wander down memory lane with these toy trends . . .
POKEMON TRADING CARDS: This was the collectable card game phenomenon based on Nintendo’s Pokemon franchise of video games, launched in 1996.
It took until the Noughties to become major news, and then became the biggest craze of the decade. By March this year more than 27.2billion Pokemon cards have been sold worldwide.
POGS: The Pog fad peaked in the mid-Nineties when kids collected the round plastic discs.
Everyone wanted the “shiny” Pogs – and they were so popular they were given out for opening bank accounts and as part of McDonald’s Happy Meals.
TY BEANIE BABIES: It started as a line of stuffed toys in 1986. But during the next decade, Beanie Babies became a major hit.
They were cited as being the world’s first Internet sensation in 1995, as fans searched for “rare” toys with the TY label still attached. One Beanie Baby sold for £40,000.
ALIEN EGGS: Remember the Alien birth pod? A cheap, plastic egg filled with green slime that was believed to have the power to reproduce.
Some came in pairs, while other “mother pods” had an alien baby inside. The goo quickly dried and no babies were ever actually born!
‘IT’S AN INVESTMENT’
Michelle says: “We joke that my husband works to pay the bills and my salary goes on the LOLs. I have spent between £3,500 and £4,000, at least.
“This year he’s said we have to choose between a holiday next year or the dolls.
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“The collection is getting a bit ridiculous. I haven’t been abroad since before Megan was born, so we are going for the holiday.”
Megan has started Year 6 and Michelle can see her interest in the dolls waning. She says: “The collection is 90 per cent for Megan. I see it as an investment for her future. I don’t see the popularity dying any time soon. Every little girl is wearing a LOL top at the moment. They’ve got boy dolls now to get the lads involved. My hope is they will be worth good money one day, like Star Wars collectibles.
“But I have to admit, especially as Megan is getting older and losing interest slightly, it is increasingly becoming my thing.
“It was more fun when I’d see Megan playing with them all the time. Now it’s Minecraft. That’s not to say I don’t have some hidden away for Christmas.”
Megan says: “My favourite thing about the LOLs is the unboxing and not knowing which doll you’re going to get.
“It’s really fun and exciting. I especially like the glitter dolls.
“It’s funny making them wee, cry or spit. It’s something me and Mum can do together because she loves it as much as I do.
“I still really like LOLs but, to be honest, I’m getting into things like Minecraft more.
“My friends think I am very lucky but they also think that we are crazy.”
