I've had a post in draft since February or so, reviewing the Princess Celestia and Pinkie Pie set that was released at the beginning of the year (a review that will be a later part of this month's post lineup). This set was very exciting because it was the first time that a small Princess Celestia with show-accurate coloring was produced. All the previous Celestias had been pink (which really drove me crazy!). Even though I already had this Celestia, I was interested in adding the newer version to my collection. I thought it would be fun to do a comparison of the two ponies.
As you can see from this picture, although they appear to be from the same (or a very similar) mold, there are several differences between the two Celestias. The one on the left is from the Pinkie Pie set and the one on the right is from the Costco set (henceforth to be referred to as Celestia A and Celestia B).
First off, Celestia A has deeper blues and purples in her mane and tail and blue tinsel in her mane. Since she was released as part of the "Crystal Empire" line, she has gem-shaped sparkles in her eyes. Her eye color is a very thin band of lavender. Her horn is plain white.
By contrast, Celestia B has more green and pinkish-purple tints to her mane and tail (which is actually closer to the coloring from the TV show), as well as gold tinsel. Her sparkles in her eyes are round and oval-shaped. Her eye color is a thicker band of pinkish-purple (which again, is closer to the color of her eyes on the show). Her horn is covered with iridescent glitter.
I was thrilled that they included her golden hoof ornamentation on Celestia B. It always kind of bothered me that Celestia A had raised, patterned plastic in the places that were supposed to be golden but had just plain white legs and hooves.
The only complaint I have is that Celestia B's hooves are almost a bit too bright yellow. I think it would have looked better if the shade of yellow would have matched her crown and necklace.
Another difference between the two is that Celestia A has blush on her cheeks...
...while Celestia B does not.
The more I look at them, the more their face molds seem a little different. I'm wondering, though, if part of it is just the placement of the eyes. Celestia A's eye is much closer to her profile than Celestia B's. I'm not familiar enough with the G4 molds to really know. Not only that, but Celestia B seems to be just slightly taller than Celestia A, but it's so close that I second guess myself each time I look at the pictures. Any thoughts on this? AJ? Anyone?
The crowns and necklaces on both appear to be pretty much identical.
I have to say that I definitely prefer Celestia A's tail to Celestia B's. The annoying gold tinsel that refuses to curl just looks tacky. :( I'm hoping to be able to fix that in the future.
One other difference I noticed between the two Celestias is that Celestia A's wings are tinged with a slightly lighter shade of pink than Celestia B's. My Celestia A also has her wings spread slightly farther apart than Celestia B's, but I don't know if that's a mold change or just a variation that could happen with any of the Celestias.
For those of you interested in a Princess Celestia, there are things to be said for both versions. Celestia A, though not as accurate to the show, has lovely coloring and a better tail. I actually like the blush on her cheeks and I like the way her eyes are placed. She also is just $12.99 and comes with a Pinkie Pie pony. If you prefer this Celestia, though, you might want to snatch her up quickly. She's getting harder to find.
Celestia B is an excellent choice for a collector or little girl looking for the most show-accurate version. She is another beautiful rendition of the ruler of Equestria. However, the fact that she only comes in a huge set that costs almost $30 might make some decide to stick with the original.
Honestly, I think both versions could work in the same collection. I was a nice mommy (it happens every once in a while) and passed my Celestia A on to my girls, since they didn't have a Celestia yet, but I could very easily have held onto both. :}
Which version is your favorite?
6 comments:
Hmmm. I don't have this particular new version of Tia (a name ganked from a wonderful fan artist), I have the brushable Pinklestia and then the white one that came with Pinkie Pie, buuuuut, I think they are definitely the same head mold. I embiggened the last picture to get a better look, since you have their heads turned about the same way and they look identical to me. I think the blush on Tia A just makes her face look different.
That said! I actually really like the Tia B! Her show accurate hair is a plus, that was one of my complaints with the first white Tia, that her hair was so wildly, er... wrong. Beautiful! But just wrong. That and tinsel in pony hair gives me fits and has since I was little. I may have to hit up Ebay and see if anyone broke up their boxed set and is selling Tia for a reasonable price, detinsel her hair, paint her boots and then... I'm getting ahead of myself. If I get this one, I'll compare them myself, but as of now, I think we're seeing identical head molds.
Thanks for your input, AJ. It was one of those things where they looked just different enough that I kept second-guessing myself. ;)
I do love "Tia" B's hair coloring. I'm big on accuracy. Although I think when I got Tia A I was just so relieved that she was WHITE instead of pink that I didn't even notice the hair discrepancy. :} I still have a soft spot for her, inaccuracy aside. ;)
Thanks for stopping by! :)
Oh, me too! I feel you there! I was so incredibly happy when we finally got a white Celestia! I mean, Pinklestia has some charm to her, and she is very pretty, but Tia's not that pink! (If one wants to quibble semantics, on the cartoon she is actually a very, very, very pale pink, but certainly not to the levels that Pinklestia is)
So, I found a reasonably priced listing on Ebay and I'm probably going to get this one, you sold me with the show accurate hair and show accurate eye color.
Congrats! I'm sure you'll love her. :)
What's really funny is that "Pinklestia", as you call her, really bugged my daughters, too. To me, if even your young target demographic is annoyed by your inaccuracies, you've got a problem. ;) I'm just so thankful they finally decided to make her look like the show. :)
I believe Celestial B's head mold is slightly larger. It appears as if her ear is sticking up higher than Celestial A's, but the neck joints appear to be at the same height on both.
Measure from neck joint to tip of left ear and see if it's the same. Hopefully that will solve it.
Thanks for the tip, Kristy...I'll have to check it out. :)
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