I was photographing some new items I received from the Disney Store yesterday, and it suddenly dawned on me to finally photograph this Disney Fairies doll set that I bought several years ago from DS.com that has been at my house this whole time, but I never got around to photographing or reviewing it. This particular set was one of the first DS doll purchases I made after many years of not buying anything from the Disney Store (most of the first decade of the 2000s was a Disney blank period for me, until I made a long-overdue return visit to Disneyland in 2007 and then again in 2010. The release of Tangled also rapidly drew me back into the Disney merchandise fold.). Still, I had been keeping up with the new Tinker Bell films that were being released, and when I saw the individual dolls from this set at my local store, I knew that I wanted them. The doll set appeared online and at a much more affordable price than trying to buy the dolls individually. It is a rare series where I actually like all of the featured characters, but with the Disney Fairies franchise, I actually do like them all. 
I never did run across any of the Hercules dolls, and for whatever reason, it never occurred to me to try to get one until now, even though I knew they existed. However, with all of the discussions surrounding the DFDC dolls and the ever-present fan hopes that someday the Disney Store will make dolls for more of their often-neglected characters, it dawned on me to complete my own top-wanted fantasy DFDC. So, of course I turned to our favorite auction site and found a Mattel Legend of Love Hercules doll that was in good condition. As soon as I received him in the mail, it was time for a photo shoot! Mattel has made three different Megara dolls: Fashion Secrets, Legend of Love, and a basic Megara doll. In my opinion, Fashion Secrets Megara is the best doll of the three for a couple of reasons. First, she is in her iconic gown from the film, which as an added bonus can be modified into several variations of different lengths and styling. Although all the gowns from the Megara dolls (and the additional fashion packs that they released for her) are gorgeous Greek-inspired gowns that I would grab in a heartbeat, nothing beats her original violet gown. Second, Fashion Secrets Megara is the only Mattel Megara doll that has her classic closed-mouth smile. The Legend of Love and basic Megara dolls have a pretty open-mouthed smile, but there is nothing so true to her character than that slightly crooked closed-mouth smile. 
And great idea about putting them in a Designer case! I have not deboxed any of my DFDC dolls yet, but I have deboxed all of the Designer Villains and they are all displayed out of the box, so here you go! I chose Designer Maleficent's case, because I like the green color, and none of the other DFDC dolls have a green background. It looks very woodsy, as in where Hercules and Megara first met. I need to make a label to cover up Maleficent's name, so for these pictures, I used some white fabric to look like mist or clouds. Thank you for the suggestion!
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing the photos. I really want a couple Meg and Herc now. I'm sure they would sell like hotcakes. Fantastic job!Thank you!
And I will sew her an outfit and a veil (no way is that going to be moulded to the head) aaah, and little purple slippers on her feet
So I got another shelf to display my dolls, so I did some rearranging and took more pics and just had to share!
DSC_6680 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
DSC_6679 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
DSC_6676 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
DSC_6675 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
DSC_6623 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
DSC_6631 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
DSC_6672 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
DSC_6636 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
DSC_6643 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
DSC_6640 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
DSC_6669 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
DSC_6682 by Cobalt Avenger, on Flickr
So, I think now would be a great time to do a short revisit to my Designer Villains Dolls.
Cruella's new red shoes, Mother Gothel's black opera gloves, and the Queen of Hearts' red & white rose bush and red hair ribbon were all the right touches that brought them up to a whole new level for me.
Happy Halloween, everybody! 
My deboxed Designer Villains dolls have been a real joy for me. Prior to their release, I very seldom deboxed any of my dolls, and almost never with limited edition dolls. But almost all of the Designer Villains really need to be freed from the packaging to really appreciate the details and the work that went into them. Only Designer Ursula looks practically perfect in the original packaging. But for me, one of the best things about deboxing them is customizing and posing them in ways that do make them more unique and even better than the way the Disney Store designed them. Even though your LE Snow White is fully sealed with the side stickers, I do recommend opening the box to check your CoA and also to fix her hair. The way I see it is that if you do not intend on selling your doll, you may as well have free access to her, even if you don't fully debox her. I have yet to debox one of the 17" LE dolls, and I am very happy just to be able to open up the boxes and re-adjust things and then close the box again to display them. 
I remember last year when you posted the Villains pictures and I loved your idea to add black gloves to Mother Gothel. Sooo... I also added some to my Mother Gothel ^^ plus she was missing more for me so I also added some jewelry and changed her hair a bit. Here's some pics ^^ of my beloved Mother Gothel.
I also like how you took the sides of her train and turned them into an elegant and fashionable stole. Very clever! And best of all, I am so glad you found a great solution to her hairdo! That is absolutely fantastic! Instead of a Marge Simpson curly beehive, she now has a very afro-chic updo! I love it! This is totally even more proof that they could have done so much more with Designer Mother Gothel!
