I love the Rapunzel and Flynn set! Rapunzel has a very "dreamy" expression on her face. And holy props! She has a lantern, and Flynn has his signature satchel AND Rapunzel's crown! I love it! The one thing I can't figure out though...what is that white plastic-looking thing behind Rapunzel's head? Is it supposed to be a plastic flower clip or something? I can't tell. I do love her dress...I think the corset and velvet-looking material translate well to her character. I think Flynn's outfit turned out nice as well, his face is a little off, but I feel that way about all of the princes.
The Belle and Beast set is not one of my favorites. I do really like Belle's face and hair...she has a really soft expression and the hairstyle looks nice...although I feel they could have put a ribbon, flower, crown, something around the "bun" part of her hair. Belle's dress...yuck. I'm really not liking how it gathers/bunches like her normal dress, and then straightens out for the bottom portion. I was loving the concept art of her dress because it looked really frothy and full, but this is not what we got at all. Her dress looks like a play doll dress with a few beads glued on. They also could have given her a delicate necklace or her and Beast should have been holding the rose jar or something...I don't get why some dolls get awesome accessories and some don't. The beast looks really silly to me...I love Kupo's comment about him looking like a chocolate Easter bunny...now that's all I can think of! LOL. But seriously he is way too dark, and in the movie he towers over Belle...but here it looks like he is only a centimeter or so taller. I feel like they should have done the Beast in his human "prince" form...it would have been more unique and would have translated better for this collection.
Now that we have seen more detailed pictures...I still like the Ariel and Eric set but I think they are now my second favorite. I still love that the designer's didn't use one of her "standard" outfits, and instead went for her blue town dress...and I'm glad she has her bow...although because I don't de-box it won't be appreciated as it should be. I wish the bow was a little larger/wider so it could be seen better from the front, but at least she has a bow at all. I think Eric turned out the best out of all the male dolls...even though his hair is plastic it still has a realistic/flowy look to it, and he doesn't look too overdone.
Aladdin and Jasmine win the award for "Best Pose in Box". They look the most in love, and I like how they are both holding the flower. The more I look at Jasmine's ensemble the more I like it. It is different from any of her movie looks, but still looks very Jasmine-ish. Her headpiece is kinda cool and her necklace is pretty (again...where are Belle's accessories?!)...I do wish they gave her more delicate earrings instead of her standard ones. I love the peacock inspiration in the embroidery details on her outfit...wasn't there a song on one of the direct-to-DVD Princess movies about her being "The Peacock Princess"? LOL. Aladdin looks a little too foofy and "Prince Ali" (which Jasmine didn't like)...but he isn't terrible.
I still can't like Snow White's hair. It is really strange and off-putting for me...especially at the bottom of the braid where it gets really small and is just secured by a clear elastic...just a really odd choice in my opinion. Her dress is nice, but nothing amazing. Like Belle's dress, I wish Snow's was more frothy, flowy, and voluminous. The prince also looks really funny...he doesn't really look like he did in the movie at all, and the leather vest/shimmery shirt combo is a little silly looking to me.
Now that we have seen them all my rank is:
1. Rapunzel and Flynn
2. Ariel and Eric
3. Jasmine and Aladdin
TIE FOR 4. and 5. Belle and Beast, Snow White and Prince...really can't decide which set I like/dislike more.
Now that I have seen the entire collection my opinion is that as a whole it wasn't an overwhelming success, but wasn't a complete failure either. There are some beautiful dolls that are unique enough to warrant a higher price, and some that look like glammed-up versions of play dolls. Although I don't think ANY of the sets are truly worth the $130 price tag, especially considering that the LE 17" dolls are larger, more detailed, and $30 less. $90-$110 would have been a more appropriate prices for these sets in my opinion.
I am still really torn on what I want to do about this collection...I do collect LE Princess dolls and have completeist tendencies...but I am also not crazy about some of these especially for the price. I am hoping they will have them all on display at the store when Snow White comes out so I can go inspect them all in person. I wasn't sold on the original Designer Princess dolls until I saw them all together at the store so maybe I will fall in love with these dolls as well.