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Disney Dolls Appreciation Discussion

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Same, I think Merida will end up being a poor target for sharks, simply as I don't think she is as popular, at least until people see the movie
I bet Elinor will fetch some big $$$ post-film release though! Not that I EVER intend to sell mine... I really hope they did make her, she would be so beautiful! ^_^
 
So, while I was upset about the lack of curl on the bangs.. I went out and got the new Classic Aurora and Classic Belle dolls today. I put Belle in the yellow dress from her winter boutique set, so the gloves don't match entirely but it's better than the sparkles! I also popped Aurora in the Wedding Dress from the same set, since I have no other Aurora dresses (used them on my other Aurora dolls!)





Aside from the lack of curl, I am very pleased with the purchase. I love Aurora's new face, it's less boxy and thin than the previous ones, and her eyes seem bit more lively.
 
New Aurora looks really good in that light pink gown. If only they hadn't messed up her hair, especially her bangs! Her face is still pretty, however I was never a big fan of the side-glance look on dolls in general. I am not sold on New Belle, despite her face looking much better than the Disney Store dolls from previous years. The hair on a doll can make it or break it for me.
 
I just got a Great Villains Ursula Doll today, so I wanted to celebrate by revisiting the 12" Villainess dolls I currently own. After seeing Designer Ursula-Morgana, I just had to get a really good Ursula doll for my collection. I had been stalling forever in getting Great Villains Ursula, but I'm glad something finally lit a fire under my behind to do it! Unlike before, these are my own pictures, taken today to show off the glory that is already out there on the market.

Great Villains Collection - Ursula (1997)

The Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid has never looked so glamorously wicked--or as fabulously drag--as this doll does. This series by Mattel (licensed by Disney) is really just the best of the best for the Disney Villainesses, if one is looking for them in their classic character designs. First, of course, you will notice that Ursula is appropriately the right size. No skinny-minnies here! There is absolutely no question that this is our favorite undersea baddie. She really looks like she just stepped out of the film just after she takes control of King Triton's dominion. She's got her dramatic makeup on, including her favorite crushed mussel lipstick. Her fingernails are also painted, which is a nice touch. Her hair is spot-on, with her swept up moussed hair, including the grey streaks on the sides. Her earrings are part of the sculpt, so you cannot remove (or lose) them. They gave her the crown and trident that she seized from King Triton as a result of her hostile takeover, both made out of a metallic-colored plastic that look like real metal. The trident is actually quite thick and does not look cheaply made. They did include her signature snail shell necklace, which is a bit of a paradox, because it had already been smashed by the time she usurps rulership of the seas, but I am glad they did not leave it out. I suppose if one ever got one of these dolls and took her out of the box, you could edit her accessories as you pleased. Her body/gown is made of a plushy black velveteen, and they did include all 6 tentacles that she should have (don't ever let anyone tell you that she is supposed to have 8 tentacles - I swear she only has 6, since her arms make up the last 2 limbs that make her an octopus). Round purple sequins are in place of the suckers of her tentacles, and they look good. Note that her arms have limited movement capability. I believe they can only swing forward and back, and not outward to her sides. As a final (and cute) touch, they included one of her live shrimp snacks, which is freaking out in terror beside her.

Oh, just so you know, the line that is running across her bosom is one of those clear rubberbands that got old and broke, but not before sticking to her chest... I think it was there to keep her necklace in place.
And don't underestimate the importance of body language! Ha!




The accessories are just so well done!

 
I love my new LE Merida doll, when I took her out of her box I just could not resist having her posed in an archery action shot for my piccys ....



I have loads more piccys of her on my www.Hollys-Dollys.co.uk blog if anyone is interested ;o)
 
I have that Ursula too!!!! I was a lot younger when i got her so i took her out of the box which is long gone . Thankfully, i always took care of my dolls so shes in really great condition! Congrats on getting her!
 
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Guppy94 said:
I have that Ursula too!!!! I was a lot younger when i got her so i took her out of the box which is long gone . Thankfully, i always took care of my dolls so shes in really great condition! Congrats on getting her!
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Thanks, guppy! I really like her a lot, because she really looks like Ursula, and you can tell that a lot of attention was put into making her. These dolls retailed for close to $100 back in the late 1990s, I think, so it stands to reason that they were the rough equivalent of today's DS 17" LE dolls in terms of quality and attention to detail.
 
Disney Villains - Cruella De Vil

This doll is not at all the glamour-puss that the Designer Cruella appears to be, but I love this doll a lot, because she really captures the wild, manic spirit of Cruella de Vil. This is not a doll from the Mattel/Disney Great Villains Collection. She was released as part of a mid-2000s doll line for the villains that also included Maleficent and Queen Grimhilde. I only like the Cruella doll from that line. I have heard from many people that they found her character to be very frightening when they were kids, but I always liked her... a lot! In fact, for me, she is what drives the film 101 Dalmatians, and even as a kid, I was actually rooting for her more than the good guys (but no, I do not at all believe that killing and skinning puppies is a good thing in any way--but I love Cruella's character).

I did a mini-review on this doll previously on page 5 of this thread, but I had not taken pictures of my actual doll yet, and on there you'll only see a stock photo. Well, my opinions still stand: I love this doll a lot. Her smile is very wide and a bit creepy, but there is no mistaking who this is. I still have not solved the problem with her stiff hair, but her bangs are perfect in their poofyness. I want to soften and flatten out the rest of her hair to look more like the long pageboy hair that she is supposed to have. The fibers of her hair are very thick and coarse, though so that may never happen. A few additional notes about her: I actually love that her gloves are painted on her arms so that her hands have very defined lines and so she can hold the cigarette holder elegantly. The Designer doll (based on the preview video by Stitchkingdom) appears to not have the cigarette holder as depicted in the stock photo. I hope the actual Designer dolls do have that accessory, as it is part of her iconic look. I also like that her shoes are the bright red color that they should be. Again, the preview video showed dark shoes (maybe black) on her, which would be just terrible, because the red shoes really add a flashy pop of color.

 
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My Desginer Ariel arrived yesterday! I was so happy to finally get her. Now I can display her with my other 3 Designer dolls. I'm not a collector who's aiming to get all 10, I only collect the dolls from my 4 Favorite Disney Princess: Mulan, Rapunzel, Aurora and Ariel. Here are some photos I took today of my regular dolls, next to their designer counterparts :



I love all 4 of them, for me they're the coolest Designer Dolls ever !!!



I only have The Wedding Ariel doll as I haven't really liked the Mermaid dolls Disney Store have released lately. I'm wishing that they release an Ariel with Pink or Aqua dress, that would be a most buy for me. the Mulan I own, is the first release of the doll, the other Mulan dolls after this one have been the same one but with less detail, first they removed the purple sash, then the red part of the skirt, and so on. If you're looking for the Perfect Mulan doll, definitely get this one, she also comes with Mushu and Little Brother's figures and a little pink brush.



And some bonus pics (I made them small so I didn't overate the post with pictures):



I will fully debox all these 4 Designer dolls very soon. I will post cool pictures on the Thread where people ask if you open your Designer dolls.
 

Congratulations on getting Designer Ariel to complete the set that you wanted to get! She is very lovely, and I look forward to seeing your pics of all of your Designer dolls deboxed, especially Mulan, because I don't think anyone has posted any pics of her deboxed yet. The train of Mulan's gown is so pretty, too!
 
So in celebration of all the lovely Cinderella merchandise that is being rolled out by the Disney Store in preparation of the Diamond Edition release this year, I want to bring up the issue of dolls for Cinderella's Prince Charming. Dear Prince Charming is the only Disney prince to not even have an unofficial name (Snow White's Prince has been called Prince Ferdinand and Beast is also known as Prince Adam--supposedly both names were hatched during the film production, but never became official). A name has yet to be found for Cinderella's Prince Charming. Perhaps it is this lack of a name that subconsciously affects his merchandise with the Disney Store... who knows? But the Disney Store play dolls for Prince Charming have been consistently bad when it comes to actual character likeness:


Maybe it's just me, but he looks kind of mean... The outfit looks ok, but his head has got to go. I also don't get why they gave him dark brown hair. I suppose it could look black in dim lighting, but as I recall from the film, he is supposed to have black hair.

So this brings me to what I feel is a better doll representation of Cinderella's Prince Charming:

Prince Charming - 2005 (Mattel)
This doll was made to coincide with the Platinum DVD release of Cinderella back in 2005, and though his outfit is terribly plain and has its inaccuracies, the base doll is a lot more, well, charming!

First, his head is a lot more like it should be in terms of shape and face sculpt. The Disney Store version's head is too long and narrow. The Mattel doll's eyes are rounder and more lively to me. His nose is kind of rounded and cute, which is consistent with the character designs of the film (now, if only they could make a Cinderella doll with a proper nose!). His hair is painted black and still has his signature mini-pompadour in the front. Even his sideburns received some detailing with little hair strands painted at the ends. Also, his lips are a more natural color that does not overpower his face.

The doll's body is partially articulated only. He can bend his knees, but not his elbows. In the grand scheme of things, I think he could still strike a good waltzing pose with Cinderella, but it would have been nice if he did have the ability of bend his arms.

His outfit is nice, but comes across as unfinished. His tunic has a nice clean cut, but they neglected to make it look like it opens in the front, which is kind of weird. The gold epaulettes on his shoulders are actually rather terribly made. They did make an attempt to include the gold rope cord that runs across his chest and loops around his right shoulder, which is a huge plus! His pants are a really dark burgundy color, which would have been fine if they had not forgotten to add the gold stripe down the sides of the pants legs. His shoes are black. He does not have his white gloves, which is a shame.

As an added (but inaccurate) accessory, they included a light blue satin pillow with Cinderella's glass slipper, which can secure around one of his hands. It's cute, but as we all know, Prince Charming does not make house calls in Disney's version of the story--not even to find his own bride!

So perhaps with a wardrobe change, or at least some minor alterations, I think that this is a pretty darn good rendering of Cinderella's often-colorless Prince Charming! For the past decade, Mattel has generally produced inferior product compared to the Disney Store when it comes to character dolls (re: the actual princesses), but this is a prime example that they can actually sometimes excel. The 1990s was definitely the high-point for Mattel-Disney dolls (see Great Villains Ursula above), but they went into decline sometime after the start of the new millenium.









 
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You're so lucky! I'm still looking for her, want to purchase her for a good price Enjoy her! She is stunning.
 
I think I will continue on my Disney Prince doll review track, because not only do I think that the Disney Princes need more love (hint, hint, Disney!), but I also took some pictures of a few more from my favorites in my collection yesterday that I want to share. I will start with The Prince and Horse gift set for Snow White, which has been previously mentioned in this thread.

The Prince & Horse Gift Set (2009) - DS

Snow White's Prince (unofficially known as Prince Ferdinand) received some nice treatment back in 2009, with the launch of the Diamond Edition home media series that began with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I believe this was also around the same time that the Disney Store started their play line dolls, too, with the Disney Princesses and Friends Doll series (that contained small figurines of the respective film's sidekicks with the Princess and Prince dolls). What makes this gift set particularly nice is that it actually includes the Prince's hat in addition to his horse Astor (so named in a recent Snow White story book tale). The Disney Store outfits (with a few exceptions) have generally become progressively worse in terms of design and quality with every passing year, but since this was released in the beginning, the outfit is much better attended to. I wish I could show you his hat out of the factory packaging, but like all of the Disney Store play dolls, you pretty much have to destroy the box to get the dolls out, so I am afraid this doll is staying put!

The base doll for The Prince has not changed over the years, so no biggie. This doll, however, is a fairly good representation of the character. His hair is spot-on, and his facial features are a bit more rounded, giving him a softer look consistent with the film. They gave him blue eyes, which I don't think is movie-accurate. Like all of the prince dolls, he has articulation in his elbows and knees, which would allow him to be posed in a more natural manner than the traditional stiff statue-doll pose.

Do clothes make the prince? In this case, yes. His outfit is almost a perfect rendering of his clothes from the film, and mostly made of the costume satin that the Disney Store loves to use. The colors are vibrant and correct, except for his pants (that should actually be hosen), which should be a light grey color. His tunic actually has the gold borders at both the arms and the hemline (the more recent play dolls for The Prince do not have the hemline border), and they actually include the ties to his cloak that cross over his chest (also missing in the recent play dolls). His boots not only are the right color, but they fashioned the opening split on the inner sides, which actually mimics the actual design of his boots in the film. His hat is super-cute, because they actually made it in blue with a gold rim and a furry white representation of the ostrich feather. They could have cheated on the design and excluded the gold color, but they did not. So... why is his outfit not perfect? Well, apart from him wearing pants instead of hosen, his tunic should really be a tabard with fully open sides from arm to hem that are held in place (for modesty) by his belt only (not side seams). Minor nit-picking, I know, but this is a costume I want to recreate in real life size.

Astor looks like a real horse, which is a huge plus. There are no weird colors, body proportions, or wonky hair. I'm not much of a horse figure collector, but this horse is good in my book.

So all-in-all, this doll for The Prince is probably the best thing that will be rolled out by Disney for some time to come, and I could not be happier to have one.










 

Loooove this version of the Prince doll! I love how he comes with Astor, too! This is a great representation of him! By any chance would there be a Prince Philip and Samson set? That would be one I'd have to look out for! If I didn't love Aladdin and Flynn so much, Philip would definitely be the best Prince. <3
 

Unfortunately, there is no Prince Phillip and Samson gift set (yet), though I wouldn't be surprised if one might be made when Sleeping Beauty goes Diamond Edition (maybe in 2014 or 2015). So far, the Disney Store has made horse dolls for Astor, Cinderella's mice-friends-turned-horse, and Maximus, so it stands to reason that Samson has a good chance, too. If they do, I hope they make Prince Phillip's woodland outfit (with his red archer's hat). His formal wear is ok, but that is all they ever put him in (and his DS play dolls don't even have his cloak!). Prince Phillip is one of my favorite Disney prince characters (alongside Flynn and Snow White's Prince).

On that note, Disney needs to make a good Khan horse doll for Mulan, too!
 
Totally agree, Phillip is one of my favourite Princes, it's encouraging they've done different Erics and Aladdins recently so may be hope for a casual version!
 

Aw, that's a shame! I do hope they release on soon, though! To be honest, I'd love sets of ALL the Disney horses... Philippe and Belle would be so great! If they ever make a Jasmine and Rajah set, I would be in heaven! ^_^ <3 I would also love to see a Khan DS horse, I have a Mattel one that I love, but I'd still like to have a modern upgrade! :lol: I prefer the woodland outfit Philip has, too! And then I could pose my OOAK Briar Rose doll I am working on and him dancing in the forest LOL ^_^ <3
 
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