Like most doll collectors, I’m a huge fan of 5 Surprise Mini Brands. They’re just the right size for Barbies and other 1:6 scale dolls. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard Zuru released a second wave last fall–a wave with even more Mini Brands and a Mini Mart!
Finding this latest collection, though, wasn’t easy. It was almost impossible! Had it not been for Hobby Lobby, I’d still be searching for them. That’s right–Hobby Lobby is stocking 5 Surprise Mini Brands!
I found these near the checkout alongside other knickknacks and surprise toys. Part of me wanted to buy the whole box, but I limited myself to just four. Besides having exhausted my doll funds, I felt guilty hoarding every Mini Brand in our town. So, I nabbed four and left the rest for another lucky collector.
Now, after six months of waiting, we are finally going to add a few 5 Surprise Mini Brands from Series 2 to our mini grocery store!
These new Mini Brands are a tad pricier. I paid $6.99 per surprise ball (plus tax, of course), whereas the last series was only $5.99 per ball.
Like Series 1, the Mini Brands in Series 2 come wrapped in sphere-shaped capsules; however, these capsules are gold (as opposed to white).
Once unwrapped, the capsules fan out into five individual sections. Hidden in these sections are our Mini Brands!
5 Surprise Mini Brands Ball 1:
Our first Mini Brand is a canister of Old Bay Seasoning.
This canister of Old Bay is identical to the ones sold at the supermarket (albeit much smaller😉). It even has symbols on the lid marking the sections for pouring, scooping, or shaking.
The can is a bit big for Barbie-sized dolls (it’s just over an inch tall), but I’m not too concerned. Once we arrange it in our store, you won’t really notice the size.
We found shopping bags—two of them!
5 Surprise Mini Brands Season 2 has all-new accessories. These brown paper bags are one of those new items. When opened, they can hold three to four Mini Brands.
If you recall, the accessories from Season 1 were way too small for Barbies. These bags, however, are much more appropriate. They’re about the same size as the printable gift bag template we used in our “Who Has The Best Printable Gift Bags?” review.
Inside slice number three is…
Babybel Original Cheese!
I admit I had no idea what Babybel was and had to look it up. Apparently, it’s a bite-sized round of Edam cheese.
Aside from the Babybel logo in the center, the cheese is glossy red. It’s about an inch across, which for a Barbie is more like a king-sized meal than a quick snack!
Aha–the catalog! Now we can see all the Mini Brands in this collection!
5 Surprise Mini Brands Season 2 Collector’s Guide:
According to the catalog, there are over 70 new Mini Brands in Season 2. That’s a lot of Mini Brands!
The products are divided into five categories: Super Rare (gold), Rare (Glow-in-the-dark), Rare (Metallic), Common, and Collector’s Case Exclusive (highlighted in pink). It looks like most of the Mini Brands are food-related. I don’t see any Dove soap or lotion (thank goodness!). So far, we’ve only opened common brands.
Along with the Collector’s Guide, this section also had a container of Athenos Feta Cheese.
Doesn’t this look just like a real tub of feta cheese?
There are stickers on the lid, front, back, and bottom showing the all-important nutritional facts, ingredients, and a picture of the crumbles.
You may, however, need a magnifying glass to read the tiny print!
Alright, Tink—open up that fifth slice!
Actually, it’s a Babybel Mini Roll.
Babybel Mini Rolls are thin strings of cheese that are twirled into a spiral and sold in snack-sized packages. It’s kind of big for a Barbie, but I bet we can find a place for it in our miniverse.
And, with that, ball number one is officially empty! Here’s a quick roundup of our first five Mini Brands:
That’s a pretty good haul, if you ask me!
5 Surprise Mini Brands Ball 2:
Inside slice number six is…
A box of Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock.
This chicken stock is another great example of how life-like Mini Brands are. It has the same text and images as the box in my kitchen!
On the back are cooking tips as well as a recipe for Herbed Chicken and Tomatoes. My favorite detail, though, is the spout at the top.
Oh my gosh, this itty-bitty Kool-Aid is totally adorable!
Our Kool-Aid is Tropical Punch flavored. The canister is wrapped with a plastic label and has the brand name, flavor, and a picture of Kool-Aid Man on the front.
Around the sides and back are directions for mixing up a pitcher of Kool-Aid plus recipes for making Kool-Aid Fizz and Super Fruity Kool Kubes.
Wow, we really hit the cheese jackpot in this unboxing😄!
Although it’s a little out of scale, this box of Philadelphia Original Cream Cheese will look great in our dolly market.
Now then, let’s see what’s inside slice nine.
Yay! We found a can of Blue Diamond Almonds!
There are two flavors of Blue Diamond Almonds in this series: Lightly Salted and Smokehouse. We got the Lightly Salted version with the blue lid. Of all the Mini Brands we’ve opened so far, this and the Kool-Aid are my favorites.
Our tenth Mini Brand is a package of Oscar Mayer Bacon. This little tray of bacon is blowing my mind. It looks so real!
The package has Oscar Mayer Naturally Hardwood Smoked Bacon printed on the front and a super vivid photo of the “bacon” inside.
There is more text on the back, but it’s hard to read. I think it might be the brand’s values, a few cooking instructions, and maybe some advice about handling meat safely?
Here are all the products from our second 5 Surprise Mini Brand ball.
5 Surprise Mini Brands Ball 3:
The first Mini Brand in ball number three is…
Yep, we found a bottle of Stubb’s Bar-B-Q Sauce.
Down here in Texas, barbeque sauce is a staple (along with hot sauce and guacamole😋). I’m not much of a meat-eater, but when I do have the occasional chicken strip, you can be sure it’s drowning in barbeque sauce–usually Stubb’s!
Sorry, Tink. No Jello in this slice. Instead, we got our first duplicate–more shopping bags.
Our next Mini Brand is…
A box of Laughing Cow Cheese Dippers.
Cheese Dippers are individual packages of thin breadsticks and creamy cheese dip. Another great treat for the doll on the go!
I think it’s safe to say that this season’s overall theme is healthy snacks–and cheese!
This section had another Babybel cheese wheel. I’m not complaining, though. It’s better to have a well-stocked store than empty shelves😉.
Now let’s find out what’s in our fifteenth slice.
Poor Tink–that box of Jello has eluded her yet again!
This ball’s final surprise is a bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup.
The bottle is pretty basic. It’s deep red with a white cap and the Heinz label on the front. Standing around 2″ tall, this is definitely an economy-sized bottle (for a doll, that is).
So, our third ball had:
5 Surprise Mini Brands Ball 4:
Mini Brand number sixteen is…
McCormick Organic Thyme!
The level of detail on this little jar is incredible. It looks like there are tiny leaves inside!
Tink’s right. The jar is gigantic compared to a Barbie and is better suited for larger dolls (like American Girl).
Our next slice had a bottle of Heinz 57 Sauce.
It says Heinz 57 Sauce on the front and has a short description of the product.
The backside has a recipe for 57 Glazed Chicken, nutritional information, and a list of ingredients. Again, the bottle is kind of tall for twelve-inch dolls, but I’ll still use it in my dioramas.
Can you believe it–we got a Super Rare Mini Brand! It’s like winning the Mini Brand lotto!
This Super Rare Mini Brand is the French’s Mustard. The bottle is shiny gold from top to bottom. Its blue and yellow label reads exactly like a real bottle of French’s mustard.
You know, these Super Rare Mini Brands remind me of little trophies. I bet they would make great prizes for the markets and grocery stores in our miniverse.
Yeah, something like that.
Are y’all still with me? Great–let’s open our last two slices!
This time we got…
These are Ore-Ida Bagel Bites. They are cheese and pepperoni flavored.
I am loving these Bagel Bites! When I was a kid, my mom and I would make pizza snacks like this from scratch (except we substituted English Muffins for bagels). So, this really appeals to my nostalgic side.
Our last Mini Brand is a squeeze bottle of Heinz Sweet Relish. The bottle is green, making it look like it’s filled with relish.
It has a white flip cap at one end. The sticker on the front has the Heinz logo and a tagline. On the back are its nutritional information and ingredient list.
So, our final five Mini Brands are:
Well, friends, we’ve opened all the Mini Brands–all 20 of them!
Hold on a second, Tink! The store isn’t fully finished, and this unboxing is already kind of long. Don’t you think we ought to wait and show everything off next time?
I insist.
Now it’s your turn!
I hope you had fun opening these 5 Surprise Mini Brands with us!
I know I haven’t posted as much this year, but I have a plan for fixing that. How would y’all feel about slightly shorter posts? I think I could post more frequently if I scaled back my “in-depth-ness.”
Feel free to share your thoughts, and keep on the lookout for more doll fun😉!
I was at Meijer and Hobby Lobby yesterday. I went to Meijer after HL, and happened to see the Surprise Mini Brands box, which was completely empty of product. 🙁 Didn’t even think to check at Hobby Lobby, but I’ve bought a bunch of other doll stuff recently, so I don’t exactly neeeeed to buy anything else. On the other hand, I’m thinking about putting together a backyard picnic scene for Independence Day, and those ketchup, mustard and relish bottles would like great! I may ask for some of those Mini Brands balls for my birthday next month; nobody in my family ever knows what to get me.
I agree with you and MC; it would be fun to check out those sets for differences between countries. We have some Stubb’s barbecue sauce in our fridge right now; it’s our favorite kind. I have to admit I was pretty worn out by all of my shopping yesterday, but we keep needing to eat, you know? 🙂
I’m right there with you. We’re on a tighter budget this year and only purchasing necessary items (I haven’t bought any 2021 dolls😱), but I decided to make an exception for these Mini Brands. And I’m glad I did because our store has sold out too.
The ketchup, mustard, and relish are perfect for a dolly picnic! Even though they’re slightly tall, having doll-sized versions of brands I use (without having to make them myself) is so fun. I’m really hoping to find that bag of marshmallows. I love all the condiments and snacks, but sweets are my (and my dolls’) major weakness😋!
Fingers crossed you get some awesome Mini Brands for your birthday! I believe a new wave–Season 2 Wave 2–is coming out soon. In fact, it may already be out.
I’ve never seen these Mini Brands thing in my area, but to be fair I haven’t been to a brick and mortar toy store in a while. I wonder if they will change the brands to be sold internationally, because some of those I’ve never heard of. We once bought the Stubbs sauce and it was delicious, but I’ve never seen that one in a store again. Babybel cheese is very popular around here, when I was a kid it was all the rage. The commercial usually sells it as a snack for kids to have during recess.
I did like this unboxing post, to see some of the things I could get if I got one of those. Now I want to get one and see if there’s any difference from one country to another.
Wish you a lovely week ahead.
Glad you enjoyed the unboxing! Yes, except for Hobby Lobby and occasionally Walmart, I’m avoiding stores and shopping centers too. They exhaust me.
It wouldn’t surprise me if they started selling Mini Brands internationally pretty soon. They’re quite popular here in the States. In fact, they tend to sell out almost instantly (hence why I never finished collection Series 1).
I’d be curious to if they switched up brands depending on the country. It might make sense to do so because (like you mentioned) some brands are very country-specific, and I assume collectors are most interested in brands they’re familiar with.
Thanks for your comment! Hope you have a great week too!