A Baker's Guide to LOL Surprise! dolls

My most popular video is by far my LOL Surprise! Cake that I made for my daughter's fifth birthday. So much so that it's a rare day when another cake video is clicked on more often than that one. It's been watched over a thousand times! I finally decided it's probably because bakers need ideas on how to make an LOL Surprise! cake when someone orders one and they'd never made one before. So, I thought it would be helpful to have a tutorial on LOL Surprise! dolls. Consider this a baker's introduction to LOL Surprise!

This post was neither sponsored nor endorsed by MGA Entertainment. Name, images and logos used with permission. All photographs were taken by me of actual LOL Surprise! products.

First, let's talk colors and shapes:

LOL Surprise! dolls come in a round ball or an oblong capsule. Here are some capsules.

Zippers feature strongly. The balls are covered in layers of packaging with a surprise under every layer. And each layer has a little zipper symbol where they're supposed to open it. Below is a confetti pop ball and the string pull even looks like a zipper.

 Also, notice the pattern on the side of the ball. Geometric patterns are very prevalent: diagonal stripes, zig zag stripes, polka dots, triangular polka dots, heart-shaped polka dots, diamonds.

 The balls and capsules come in a few common colors: dark pink, light pink, yellow, turquoise/teal, and gold. Any of these colors feature quite often, although yellow is usually used the least of these colors. And pink and gold are the most common colors. They're everywhere. And should appear on the cake in some way.

 And here are a few of the doll heads. Skin tones and hair styles vary widely.

But they do have a few proportions in common that I have measured out for you on my daughter's dolls:

Measuring from the top of the head (without the hair, which can stand above the head), the dolls are 7.5 cm tall. The heads are 3.5 cm tall and 4 cm wide, so slightly wider than they are tall. The eyes are 1 cm circles and sit 2 cm from the top of the head and 0.5 cm from the bottom of the head, so very low on the face. The eyes are then 0.7cm apart.

The body of an LOL Surprise! doll is 4 cm tall. The shoulders are 1.5 cm wide and the hips are 2.5 cm wide, so they're rather pear shaped. The arms are 2 cm long with the lower arms slightly larger than the upper arms. The legs are 2.5 cm long from the hip to the bottom of the foot, but the inseam is only 1.3 cm long.

I hope these proportions are helpful if you are planning on sculpting a doll. The most common mistakes that I have seen is the tendency to place the eyes too high on the face. They don't really have much cheeks. The eyes are quite low on the face. Another mistake I've seen multiple places is the tendency to place the legs together. The legs actually never touch. The doll doesn't bend that way. The illustrations look like they might, like the one below, but the actual doll doesn't. When standing, the legs do not touch at all. They have a little thigh gap. When sitting, the legs are splayed apart. The dolls are actually capable of doing the splits. In fact, when you buy a confetti pop ball, the doll is always doing the splits in the side of the ball because otherwise they don't even fit in it.

So, if you are planning on making a specific doll, make sure you look up all the little details. If the child you're making it for is really in love with LOL dolls, they will notice if the details are off. Here I will show a couple of my daughter's favorites, but do your homework if the child wants something specific. They will appreciate it.

Every doll has a name and distinctive features, hair style, clothing and water feature. See below for an example of a collector's guide. The dolls' mouths are open because they can drink water. Then, the dolls either spit the water back out their mouths, cry the water out their eyes, tinkle the water out their bums or some of the later dolls squirt water out of their ears. Some also color change in cold or warm water.

Notice this logo in the upper right hand corner. This is the LOL Surprise! logo and isn't too difficult to replicate or even use the same style to write the child's name who is having a birthday. It consists of white block letters outlined in black with black polka dots. Also, it's actually not LOL, it's L.O.L. Don't forget the dots. Then it has a bright pink shadow cast at a 45° angle to the lower left. Within the shadow is the word SURPRISE! in white capital letters. Don't forget the exclamation point!

This is 80's Baby. She has silver hoop earrings, blond crimped hair with blue and pink streaks and blue eyes. Her skin tone is light. Her body has white mesh tights on her legs and arms. She wears black boots. Her clothes are white. However, she's a color changer. When put in cold water, her blond hair turns black and her white clothes turn about the same colors as her water bottle, the bright pink and teal.

 This is Big City Baby. She has light pink hair in two low buns and a slight indication of a curl. Her eyes are reddish brown and her skin tone is brown. Her body has a white undershirt on it as well as black and white checkered leggings. She's wearing pink boots. She also wears a pale blue pea coat with a black belt, buttons and collar.

 This is the same doll with her hat on. It appears to be a pale blue knitted cap with buns.

 This is Queen Bee. She has glittery gold, evidently curly hair up in two buns, brown eyes and brown skin tone. She wears a one-piece black glittery asymmetrical outfit with a gold belt. She wears gold platform shoes.

 This is Sugar. She has two-tone hair in pink and light turquoise with buns, sparkly blue eyes and brown skin tone. She wears white sparkly sleeveless shirt and white sparkly skirt with gold bows. Her shoes are more like slippers with a gold bow on the front. She also has a white sparkly halo.

 This is my daughter with Miss Baby. She has brown hair tied up in a bun on top of her head with bangs, blue eyes and brown skin tone. She wears a blue dress with bows along the bottom of it with white sandals and white gloves painted on her body. She has a really tall white crown that she wears.

 Then there are the little sisters. LOL Surprise! little sisters look like babies. The proportions are similar to the big dolls, but they're smaller. The standing babies are 4.2 cm tall. The heads are 2 cm tall and 2.5 cm wide. The eyes are 0.7cm round and sit 1cm from the top of the head and 0.3cm from the bottom. They are 0.5cm apart.

The body is 2.2cm tall. The shoulders are 1 cm wide, hips 1.5 cm wide. The arms are 1.2 cm long. The legs are 1.5cm long from hip to foot with inseam of 0.8cm.

This is Lil Snow Bunny. She has white hair with bangs and a bun on the top of her head, blue eyes and tan skin tone. No painted on clothing, just a white diaper.

 This one you can tell is Lil 80's Baby. The little sisters also have names that match their big sisters' with the world Lil in front of it. Lil 80's baby has crimped blond hair with pink and blue streaks, just like her sister, with light skin and blue eyes. She also wears gray leggings. Otherwise, little sisters don't really wear clothes, just diapers, unless they happen to have something painted onto their bodies.

This picture also shows how an LOL Surprise! doll sits. They sit with legs splayed.

I must mention one other point. The clothes are also made of plastic, so there is a gap in the back of the clothes on all dresses, one-piece clothes and tops. Shorts and skirts are closed, but otherwise, there's a natural gap in the back of the clothing.

These are just a few of the dolls. There are dozens. Also, there are new dolls and new merchandise coming out all the time. Some of these are even the glitter version of dolls that look slightly different in other series. So, this was not at all meant to be a complete list. But I hope it helps those planning on making an LOL Surprise! cake to orient themselves and plan on using whichever aspect of the dolls that would fit your clients the best. Happy baking!