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Disney Dolls Appreciation Discussion

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Disney Dolls Appreciation Discussion
Belle's gown has gown on me from looking at the photos, but I still can't get over her extreme "smokey eye" make-up. I like the 17 in" LE much better. Such a missed opportunity! I wish the designer line had used some of the secondary dressed when the main gowns didn't fit the time period they were going for as well.
 

Disney Princess Designer Collection by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr

Designer Princess Doll Collection (revisited) - Designer Cinderella:

Last, but certainly not least, we have the face of the Disney Princess Franchise: Cinderella. She has a long-standing reputation of being one of the most beloved Disney characters. and among the Disney Princesses she appears to be more often cited as being the one that people want to be. I think a lot of it has to do with the blatant hardships she endured on a daily basis, the magical night with a pumpkin coach and a charming prince, and of course the rags-to-riches happily ever after theme. That said, dolls of Cinderella almost never really truly resemble the actual character from the animated film to me, and I think I have pinpointed it to the shape of her eyes and the tiny nose that they give her (Cinderella's nose is actually rounder and bigger in the film than the dolls ever portray).

Cinderella dolls have a long-standing battle against looking like a Barbie doll, especially since Disney merchandising lightened her hair into a platinum blonde and gave her more delicate facial features. The design sketch for Designer Cinderella falls victim to this trend, and given the 1950's-60's vibe of the collection, she really looks like a 1950's Barbie doll with her ponytail and 50's inspired gown. In fact, the only thing that the design sketch has that relates her to Cinderella is the pumpkin coach purse in her hand. Oddly, even her signature headband is missing in the design sketch, which lends more of a general Barbie-likeness. The gown does not resemble anything that Cinderella wore in her own films, and they turned her black ribbon choker into an elaborate black Victorian style necklace. Needless to say, I was not entirely "wowed" by her design sketch, though she is pretty.

Designer Cinderella's gown has been compared to Marilyn Monroe's gown in the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, when she sings the song "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend, " and the similarities are very obvious. In both cases, you have a strapless, fitted silhouette for the gown with a large bow in the back at the waistline and opera gloves to accessorize the look. I can say that the inspiration is very much there, though it is not an exact replica of Marilyn's gown, because though Marilyn's gown does have a big bow in the back, it was set at a slanted angle (unlike the straight placement of Designer Cinderella's bow) and Marilyn's bow does not have a trailing train coming down from the bow. Marilyn's gown also had a hemline that ended at her ankles so she could dance in it and you could see her shoes instead of having a full flowing mermaid tail hemline. Last, Marilyn's gown has a belt and also a slit at the back of the dress (also so that she could actually move around and dance in it).

I've given some thought as to what may have lead the designer of the Designer Princess Collection to give this type of gown to Designer Cinderella, and the only thing I can think of is that he was pulling some influence from Cinderella's Disney Parks' gown, because she did have a bow in the back of her gown before they redesigned her Disney Parks look last October (now her skirt is a lot more movie accurate in design).

I'm happy to say that the Designer Cinderella doll does not really look like a typical Barbie at all. Her gown is very pretty, even in the baby blue color that has been assigned to Cinderella for marketing purposes. I actually like her in blue, though I know there are a lot of people that would prefer to see her in white or silver. There is, of course, the LE 250 D23 Silver Designer Cinderella, but she is one of the most costly Disney dolls out there at this time. Her pumpkin coach purse is amazingly detailed and actually has a chain attached to it. The black beaded necklace looks very heavy on her, unlike the elegant Victorian design in the sketch. This same necklace idea was used for the 17" LE Cinderella doll much more successfully. I am a little confused as to how her hair turned from a high poofy ponytail in the sketch into a high pompadour with a split ponytail in the back, which curl up. They gave her side-swept bangs as a foreshadowing of Cinderella's "new look."

Designer Cinderella is certainly in my "middle" favorites, leaning more toward the top of the list, as there are a few Designer Princess dolls that I just love more than her, but I think they did do a fairly good job of re-imagining her into this 1950's-60's high fashion look. There are enough elements on her that still define her as Cinderella (pumpkin coach, headband, and black necklace--along with her light blue bejeweled gown). It would be great if some day the Disney marketing and merchandising departments would return her hair into the proper strawberry blonde color that it ought to be, but somehow I think that day will be a long time in coming (if ever).


Designer Cinderella - 01 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Cinderella - 02 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Cinderella - 03 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr


Designer Cinderella - 05 by Princess.Aurora, on Flickr
 
Thanks for your review of the princess designer dolls Shiva, your reviews are very detailed and probably one of the best I have read online. Will you be doing reviews of the Designer Villains? (sorry if you have done so already, I might have just missed it) but would be keen to hear what you think of the villains.
 
Polaris said:
Thanks for your review of the princess designer dolls Shiva, your reviews are very detailed and probably one of the best I have read online. Will you be doing reviews of the Designer Villains? (sorry if you have done so already, I might have just missed it) but would be keen to hear what you think of the villains.
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Thanks, Polaris! Doll collecting is my greatest collecting passion, and I just love studying, photographing, and discussing them! :) I am planning on doing a revisited Designer Villains Doll Collection Review series as well, so keep an eye out. My original reviews are very much buried in this thread, back when I actually received each one (so they were not done in order of release since I first got three of them when my pre-order finally arrived in mid-October last year). What will be different about those reviews is that I have deboxed my extra Designer Villain dolls, so they can be showcased a lot better than my Designer Princesses, who are trapped in their original packaging.
 
Hello! I just wanted to share with everyone what I did with my extra designer Jasmine! I hope you like it :) thanks!

photo1-6-2_zpsdabbdd0f.jpg




photo2-5_zpsb561df87.jpg
 
She looks amazing! And the case cover over her gives her the effect of being trapped in the hourglass like in the movie. Except square of course.
 
ryn1690 said:
Hello! I just wanted to share with everyone what I did with my extra designer Jasmine! I hope you like it :) thanks!

photo1-6-2_zpsdabbdd0f.jpg




photo2-5_zpsb561df87.jpg
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Fantastic! I have been wanting to make a Designer Jasmine in red, but you totally beat me to the punch! :) She looks great! I still may make one with an original design... :p
 
Disney Princess Designer Doll Collection - Reboxed in Clear Cases

My complete set of all ten Disney Princess Designer Dolls have been fully deboxed, then put back into their custom stands. I actually got all of them in late 2011, but finally deboxed Mulan just a couple of weeks ago. For all the dolls, the cardboard backing has been cut off, so there is a clear view of the dolls from all sides. They are placed side by side on a long counter. They are photographed with the clear plastic covers on, then with the covers off.

The Disney Princess Designer Doll Collection was released by the Disney Store from August to October of 2011. I bought the first five (Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Mulan, Snow White) directly from the Disney Store. The last five I got through eBay, MIB. The dolls are displayed in the order of their original animated movies: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana and Rapunzel. When the covers are removed, the dolls with wide skirts and/or tails can have them expanded, to show them to better advantage. Some of the other dolls of my collection are in the background.


Disney Princess Designer Doll Collection - Reboxed - Covered - All 10 In A Row - Full Front View by drj1828, on Flickr


Disney Princess Designer Doll Collection - Reboxed - Uncovered - All 10 In A Row - Full Front View by drj1828, on Flickr


Disney Princess Designer Doll Collection - Reboxed - Uncovered - All 10 In A Row - Full Rear View by drj1828, on Flickr

A couple of closer looks at the Designer Princesses from the front:


Disney Princess Designer Doll Collection - Reboxed - Uncovered - All 10 In A Row - Midrange Front View - First Five Princesses by drj1828, on Flickr


Disney Princess Designer Doll Collection - Reboxed - Uncovered - All 10 In A Row - Midrange Front View - Last Five Princesses by drj1828, on Flickr
 
Your deboxed pictures of the Designer Princess dolls are the highest form of doll appreciation ever, DRJ1828! They look so wonderful all together, almost like a group of fashionista super heroes off to save the world! Designer Pocahontas is a majorly stunning stand-out, and in these pictures, her gown actually looks more like soft doeskin material. :)
 
Thanks somone made her for me she my favourite villains doll I think :s
Cannot wait for the disney store vanessa doll
 
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I have a question about the Tonner dolls, which I figured you all could answer. How much do they usually sell for? I'm really interested in the Snow White dolls and Evil Queen doll. They are currently on ebay for around $175.
 
Omg...that Vanessa doll is really nice! and the china girl doll, I must have her :D I think it's really nice and unusual having that china effect skin
 
shooting4ownhand said:
I have a question about the Tonner dolls, which I figured you all could answer. How much do they usually sell for? I'm really interested in the Snow White dolls and Evil Queen doll. They are currently on ebay for around $175.
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I did Tonner for a while, and it really depends. I sold my Jessica Rabbit Tonner for $75 and a few months later she was going for over $200. I suggest going to Tonner's website, look at the edition size and the original price. Then check out eBay's completed listing and see what they've sold for recently if possible.

Bottom line: Tonner's are always small editions, they sell out fast, they don't become available frequently (especially their Disney work), if you love it do a little research, make sure you want it, and get it!
 
ladyroselie said:
I did Tonner for a while, and it really depends. I sold my Jessica Rabbit Tonner for $75 and a few months later she was going for over $200. I suggest going to Tonner's website, look at the edition size and the original price. Then check out eBay's completed listing and see what they've sold for recently if possible.

Bottom line: Tonner's are always small editions, they sell out fast, they don't become available frequently (especially their Disney work), if you love it do a little research, make sure you want it, and get it!
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I am not a big Tonner collector but I did see a gorgeous doll of Belle in her blue outfit. It even looks like Belle in the face, and Tonner dolls rarely look like the character.

belle_bluedress1.jpg
 
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Just thought I would take some more pics and make a photo book of all my dolls so here goes

Rapunzel


Aurora


Alice


Snow White


Ok so will add more of the dolls when i get some more extra time
 
Oooo, your doll collection is so pretty! Love the Sleeping Beauty and Snow White especially. Who is the fashion size Snow between the edge of Evil Queen's case and the tiny Snow figure? Is she a DS or an old LE Mattel? She is gorgeous ^^
 
ladyroselie said:
Oooo, your doll collection is so pretty! Love the Sleeping Beauty and Snow White especially. Who is the fashion size Snow between the edge of Evil Queen's case and the tiny Snow figure? Is she a DS or an old LE Mattel? She is gorgeous ^^
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That is a Snow White doll from the 10 box set released 2011 or 12 can't remember of the top of my head
 
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