Favourite Designers

[Matthewlondon]

Just thought be interesting to see what everyone's favourites are!


Which is your favourite set, princess, Villains or fairytale?
I think the villain set is my favourite, unique and they stand out to me and they look higher quality.

Favourite doll from each set?
Princess line- I'm in minority here but I love Aurora! Her updo is classy and I love how the pink dress pops in my collection! Ariel is very nice too.

Villains: Evil queen! I think she's my favourite out of all the designer dolls and also Cruella is very well done.

Fairytale: I like the Rapunzel set but only once it's been rearranged!

Least favourites:
Princess- I think Belle, just doesn't look like her and I also hate Snow Whites "grandma hair"

Villians: Queen or hearts , I wish they did Lady Tremaine instead.

Fairytale- hmm tough one but I actually think Ariel and Eric! Just because their the only two that I think look exactly like their play line dolls but with eyelashes and extra embroidery.

Overeall I love them all but I think the original as a whole is the most boring having ten Princess's all in bright satin gowns whereas the villains looks completely unique and all different. I like the Fairytale set but I think it looks a little cluttered with the princes.

Just a quick question I'm selling my Fairytale Snow in hopes of buying a Cruella! Do you all think Cruella looks better( for those who have both)

I cannot wait for Aurora and Phillip, the only other set I want

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Looking forward to receiving my Elsa.

 

[NightmareMermaid]

Favorite Set: Fairytale

Least Favorite Set: Princess. They look like Barbie dolls who wish they were Disney princesses.

Favorite Dolls from Each Set:

Princess: Not a fan of this set, but if I had to pick one it would be Ariel.

Villain: Maleficent

Fairytale: Ariel and Eric

Least Favorite Dolls from Each Set:

Princess: Pocahontas. She bears the least resemblance to her character of all of the dolls.

Villain: Mother Gothel. Also not a fan of Ursula. They could have made her plus sized since more and more there is designer plus wear available. She also looks more like Morgana because the doll is so thin.

Fairytale: Rapunzel and Flynn.

 

[Polaris]

Those are some very interesting insights you have there matthewlondon.

For me my favourite line is the princess designer line. The one thing about this line is the fact that it is the first line makes it somewhat special and it is only because of that that I believe that it just slightly beats the villains for me, yes not all the dolls have amazing features about them but for what they cost I think it was worth it. I have to say though that in terms of look and the designer feel I definitely agree with you in that the villains look amazing. I think I would have appreciated the villains more if they were more exclusive.

In terms of favourites within the specific lines:

Princess: Ariel for me is definitely a stand out, if you have all of them next to each other she does look amazing, I just love the dress and her amazingly long hair too. Close behind her would be Rapunzel and Tiana (Tiana would have been up there is they didn'd use green rhinestones on her gloves as it does look a little odd).

Villains: Interestingly enough I do love Maleficent as she does look amazing, granted I wish they sorted the hair/horns out a bit better so that it didnt look messy or clumpy in some places but overall she does look rather amazing. That being said Cruella does look amazing, I just love her faux fur coat as she looks very regal and expensive definitely fitting in with the whole designer/Devil wears Prada vibe.

Fairytale: I do like my variant Snow the best because of the colors of her dress and I didn't actually mind the "cute" Snow look that they gave her. I would definitely rate this one as the better one between the original Princess line and the newer Fairytale line. But if I had to choose from the ones within the line by far my favourite would be Ariel and Eric, I know they are far from designer looking because of their "day" wear outfits but to me they are the closest to looking as they would in the movie. Belle and the Beast would have been my top one if it were not for the weird way that Disney did the beast. But in terms of designer looking Belle and Beast definitely hit the mark on the head. Especially Belle as she looks amazing, if they had done Belle like that in the original princess line, she would have been up there with Ariel.

In terms of least favourite:

Princess: Probably be between Pocahontas and Cinderella? I mean dont get me wrong I think Cinderella looks amazing but I think that because of the variant counterpart having the blue dress Cinderella just makes her less special? But in terms of designer she is rather stunning. Pocahontas would be at the bottom for me mainly because of her simplicity, she is too simple and her dress almost blends in with her skin tone, hence she just looks very monotone compared to many of the other princesses.

Villains: Mother Gothel, again out of all the villains she has by the far the most simplistic design, especially when compared against Cruella and Queen of Hearts who I actually dont mind because she does look rather elegant and upper classing in her dress. I definitely think that having Lady Tremaine there would have been interesting mainly because all the other villains have softer/younger looking faces whereas Lady Tremaine has always had that older/sharper look to her, therefore if they were to add her to the line maybe people would not have recognised her if they changed her look to fit the line?

Fairytale: Rapunzel and Flynn, as much as I was so looking forward to this set, there is just something about the way they made Rapunzel look that makes her rather unappealing, I think for starters that way herself and Flynn were posed in the box was just completely off and then she has a rather big forehead? Sort of like her braid was pulled too far back hence making it look like her hair is really weighing her head down hence why the exorcist vibe. Also she is blocking Flynn and im sorry but you shouldn't have to rearrange the dolls in order to make them more appealing, Disney should have realised that themselves and if collectors can see the glaring issues how come Disney could not?

In terms of getting Cruella I definitely would swap a DFDC Snow for Cruella for sure as she is rather stunning and is up there at the top of my favourite overall designer doll.

I am looking forward to the 2014 designer line and would be interesting to see where Disney takes it. I do wonder if we will have a DFDC part 2 line which will result in at the very least 4 Sleeping Beauty related dolls (similar to what happened to the Little Mermaid this year). So with that I do hope that they do utilise the Briar Rose outfit for the DFDC set if they do decide to do a part 2 of the line in 2014.

 

[Matthewlondon]

I think with the original line for the price at retail they are amazing, but the prices on the secondary market make them less appealing as they do look simple and like "Barbie" but I do like them.

I really hope they Continue the line next year just so I can get Aurora and Phillip my favourite couple. Although I hope she's not in the Briar rose outfit, I don't mind pink or blue but I just feel the Briar rose outfit doesn't seem very "designer"

I think the villains would be a lot better if they were more limited but taking away the limited aspect then I do think the villains look the most "designer" and I was more excited last year for them than I was the fairytale line. Their was only Rapunzel and Flynn I "had to have" from this collection were as I wanted all the villains! I'm just hoping to have Flynn and Phillip as their the only Princes I'm interested in.

After next year I hope they move away from Princess's. I want more villains! Hades, Jafar, Lady Tremaine would look amazing!
I hope they don't do to many designer lines as the more they do the less special they will seem.
Im im putting Snow on eBay and going to get Cruella
Excited for Elsa my first limited edition and hoping for maleficent next year.

I love reading your thoughts, so thanks for sharing.

 

[NightmareMermaid]

I'm looking forward to all of the LE Sleeping Beauty dolls next year. I hope we get dolls of Aurora in her Briar Rose dress and her blue dress as they're two of my favorite dresses out of all of the Disney Princess outfits. I really hope to see a Designer Heroines line at some point. It may be the the only way we ever get higher quality dolls of characters that are normally ignored by Disney. I would do anything for a LE and/or Designer Kida doll.

 

[Matthewlondon]

Kida would look amazing and is always overlooked! I don't see a heroines line happening but I hope I am proved wrong! I'd love a Hercules and Meg designer set.

I would love the briar rose outfit but for the designer I really want the blue dress. I wish we could have one of each, I will be happy with any Sleeping beauty dolls though.

 

[Shivatopia]

Favorite Set: 2012 Designer Villains Collection - I actually like all three collections, but when I consider all of the dolls within each collection as a whole, the Designer Villains Collection has the perfect blend of fashion, detail, and the actual spirits of each of the characters.

Least Favorite Set: The Designer Fairytale Collection as a whole does look very cluttered in the cases with 2 dolls per case. Also, the explosion of embroidery, lace, and glue-on gems on the princesses looks too busy. Although I still like this collection, it is not my favorite because of these "too much" elements. I also think that better attention could have been given to the princes, as releasing them in couples sets was the only way that they would ever see a Designer version.

Favorite Dolls from Each Set:

Designer Princess: Designer Snow White is my favorite, because in this collection she is one of the most dramatic looking and definitely in-line with the 1950's-60's high fashion theme but also still holding on to her own classic looks.

Designer Villain: For me, Designer Cruella de Vil is the most beautiful of all of the Designer dolls made to date. She is dramatic, fashionable, sexy, and beautiful. As I have often said, the only thing I would have changed on her is the Lady Tremaine-like hairdo. I would have like to have seen her traditional hairdo or a neat color-blocked 1920's bob cut.

Fairytale Designer: I have not yet designated a clear favorite from this collection, but judging the couples together: I am leaning toward the regular DFDC Snow White and The Prince, with a few caveats. I don't like DFDC Snow White's braid (but taken out of the braid, she looks stunning, though still not very "Snow White") and I wish they had done better with The Prince's head sculpt to make him look more like the actual character. Their outfits are well-designed and the colors are very pleasing to me. Judging as individual dolls, my favorite DFDC Princess is Belle, who is leaps and bounds better than the 2011 Designer Belle doll. I think that she is the best Belle doll made to-date. My favorite individual prince is DFDC Aladdin, which surprised me, because his stock photos were less than impressive. In person, his face is very handsome, his clothing is a lot better fitted, and very ornate and detailed.

Least Favorite Dolls from Each Set:

Designer Princess: No secret: my least favorite 2011 Designer Princess doll is Designer Aurora, even though she is my second-favorite princess. They dropped the ball on her gown by giving her poorly designed shoulder straps, that jeweled lace belt (which makes no sense even when compared to the design sketch), a flat skirt with no draping or texture, the croissant bangs, and a lop-sided bun that also has no proper reference to either the actual character design or the Designer sketch. Her face is pretty, but overall, this doll is a missed opportunity.

Designer Villain: I actually do not have a least favorite Designer Villain anymore, as I have come to appreciate them all. There is something I would change on each of them (hairdos most often come to mind for half of them), and I have fixed most of the issues I had with almost all of them with my deboxed dolls. I think this was a very successful collection.

Fairytale Designer: As couples, my least favorite is DFDC Jasmine and Aladdin, as I think that DFDC Jasmine drags down the couple. DFDC Jasmine is also my least favorite individual DFDC Princess doll. Her outfit is over-embellished and over accessorized. It's too much. I also have big problems with the way her hair is styled on dolls to never truly reflect how her hair should look based on her original character design or even in the design sketches. They always tie her hair back very severely too close to her head; her hair should flow down past her shoulders before being tied together. It makes a huge difference. My least favorite individual DFDC prince doll is the Beast. They did a valiant effort to try to make him, but they did not go far enough. They needed to make a completely new body instead of using a standard male doll body with new forearms, lower legs, elongated neck to connect to the new head sculpt. They also relied on padded clothing to give him more bulk, but his smaller body frame betrays this technique, as his shoulders are nowhere near as broad as they need to be.


I personally will never agree with the idea that any doll or doll collection needs to be more limited in number to be better or more desirable. As a doll collector, I am always interested in the actual beauty of the product to have in my personal collection and not: "how much can I sell this item for, even if I had to." The apparent overabundance of the Designer Villains certainly did not bother me, and I enjoyed not having to stress out about getting any of them or even multiples of them. And behold: they are still my favorite overall collection!

I am looking forward to some great Aurora and Sleeping Beauty character dolls next year. I just pray that they make them in a way that is very pleasing and not at all disappointing. I will of course try to get them all, regardless, but it would be nice if they were dolls that just absolutely have to be displayed all year long.

 

[Dollover]

Princess

Favorites: Jasmine, Snow
Least favorites: Pocahontas, Aurora, Mulan, Rapunzel

Villain

Favorites: Maleficent
Least: Ursula

Fairytale

Favorites: Ariel/Eric, Belle
Least: Snow/Prince, Jasmine

17 inch

Favorites: Snow, Alice
Least: Belle, Cinderella, Tiana

I really hope they change Aurora's facemold for next year. I hate hate hate the current one. I know I keep harping about it but I hate how one of the loveliest Disney princesses consistently gets the most hideous (IMO) headmolds.

 

[DRJ1828]

Wall of Designer Collection Dolls

By coincidence, I just finished constructing and uploading a photo of my wall of Designer Collection dolls. All of them have been completely deboxed, then placed back in their display cases, in most cases in different, more natural poses than the original factory in box poses. The collections are complete except for the D23 Silver Designer Cinderella. Here is the photo, followed by my most favorite and least favorite of each collection.


Wall of Designer Dolls - Complete Fairytale, Princess, Villain Designer Collection Dolls - Disney Store - Deboxed and Reboxed - In Display Cases by drj1828, on Flickr

Princess Designer Collection: Most favorite are Snow White, then Ariel. Least favorite are Pocahontas and Mulan.
Villains Designer Collection: Most favorite are Cruell De Vil, then Mother Gothel. Least favorite are Queen of Hearts, then Ursula.
Fairytale Designer Collection: Most favorite is D23 Gold Snow White and the Prince. For the "regular" releases, favorite is Ariel and Eric. Least favorite is Jasmine and Aladdin.
Favorite Collection: Princess Designer Collection.

 

[alex555]

Favorite Set: I think I will go for the Princess. I started collecting when the last 5 came out, and after that I started building my collection by getting the others on Ebay. But overall I really like the diverse colors and designs used on them .

Favorite Dolls:

Princess: Mulan! She's my favorite princess and she's my favorite Mulan doll. I really love how the doll turn out, specially the train in her dress and her hair! Next it line is Ariel.

Villain: Queen of Hearts. Her gown is beautiful and I really love how she stands from the rest with the combination of bold red & golden. She also has nice accesories and I love her make up.

Fairytale: It's a tie between Ariel & Eric and Rapunzel & Flynn. Maybe Ariel and Eric since they sold in only 14-15min, so owning them makes it really special.

Least Favorite Dolls:

Princess: Tiana. She had so much potential, as shown with her LE 17" counterpart, but I don't know what happened that her design just looks so whatever and simple.

Villain: Mother Gothel. Don't get me wrong, I think her gown is one of the best of the 3 collections. The color of her dress is really cool and the golden embroidery is dope! But I just don't see Gothel with that beehive updo. And she is way too emptyhanded with no gloves or accessories.

Fairytale: Jasmine and Aladdin. I bought the entire collection including D23 Snow for the exception of Aladdin and Jasmine. I don't know why but I just didn't like them .

@DRJ1828: I love your Designer wall! Congrats on owning them all! Btw, have you thought about fixing your Designer Ariel's hair? Perhaps using a clear rubber band or thread you can manage to hold the upper part of her hair.

 

[colorwindpainter]

Favorite designer line: probably the princess line cause I like the originality. But villian line for the quality.

Favourites:
princess line: definitely Ariel! Everything done in her was spot on. Her face was beautiful her hair looks amazing. Her dress stands out and is well done.

Villian line: queen of hearts. I love her face and dress. I think she makes a great doll.

Fairytale line: Ariel and Eric. Only couple where I thought both dolls looked amazing from face to clothes. Ariel's face is so perfect to me in the fairy tale line and Eric's mold looks great too. I love the simplicity of Ariel's dress with the small dramatic details if just the gold embroidery.

Least favorite:
Princess line: I hate aurora. I think her hair is horrible in that updo and her dress is awkward and unflattering.
I have basically the same feelings towards belle too.

Villian line: cruella. I just think her design looks basically like the movie. Just that her doll face is younger and they made her coat puffier? Don't really see the appeal for her.

Fairytale line: belle and beast. Belles face looks weird. I don't like her dress. And beast looks absolutely horrible.

 

[TinkerTigg]

My turn.


Favorite designer line:
The Villains. I love how dramatic and larger than life they are. They are like drag queens and I love them even more for that reason.


Favourites:
Princess line: I think it is because of the concept art, but Rapunzel and Tiana because they look really pretty and vein. I like the "smug" look on Rapunzel's face because it looks more stereotype high fashion model in my eyes. BUT! Even though they gave her the cheapest fabrics and removed her mother's necklace, I think Pocahontas looks red carpet ready.


Villian line: I really do appreciate all the attention to detail put in to them, but I would say my favorite is the Queen of Hearts. While they did skinny her down too, she seemed like a design risk that really paid off. She's big, she's bold, and I love her. My other two favorites are Cruella, because she is sickeningly lux and fabulous, and the Evil Queen, because of her face mold and how she looks like a vein old Hollywood starlet.


Fairytale line: I think I'm bias, but Belle and Beast. I think they were the only set where I was actually 50/50 on all of their details.


Least Favorite line:
Designer Couples. They do look pretty and all...but like they are repurposed Classic Dolls and the guys looked less impressive than the girls.


Least favorite Princess: Really...Aurora. She looked like she was always a part of that line up because her concept art was pretty...but like they forgot to make her until the week before.


Villain: Even though they slimmed down the Queen of Hearts and I liked it, I don't like Ursula's liposuction results. It makes her just seem less Ursula and more Morgana in purple. But! That being said, Mother Gothel has the WORST in box posing in the line. I appreciate their wanting to show off her dress...but she is just posed so weirdly, like she was posed in the middle of tripping over her train as she turned around. (And I think it would have been much much prettier if they gave her a very Ru Paul hair-do and not that beehive hair-don't.)


Fairytale Couples: Jasmine (because her head just looks too big now and her dress seems more gaudy and less glamorous) and Flynn/Eugene because he looks like just the Classic Doll...but bored and kinda a little angry.