Ever After High Cedar Wood Doll Review

It's been a while since I've posted about the Ever After High doll line, but I've been keeping up with news about them.  I didn't end up getting any of the "Legacy Day" or "Getting Fairest" dolls because I was more interested in having a variety of characters than different variations of the same four or five characters. :}

One of the new characters to be released in doll form I've been really interested in since the Toy Fair is Cedar Wood, the daughter of Pinocchio.  I've been keeping my eye out for her for a while, and I finally found her today at my local Justice! :D

Yay!!  

So of course, I had to do a review post right away, even though I have so many waiting in draft, because I'm always good at putting things off and doing something else entirely. ;)

Warning:  I will have a few pictures of Cedar undressed later on as part of my review.  If this is offensive to you, please skip this post!

So here is Cedar in all of her boxed splendor. ;)

Cedar's story bookmark

A closer look at her face.

Ever After High logo and the "ages 6 and up" message. 

Just like the other dolls, the side of Cedar's box looks like the spine of a fairy tale book.

Graphic art of Cedar

The back of the box

A full-length rendering of Cedar

Cedar's basic story and fun facts: 

Like all of the newer boxes, Cedar's box includes a keyhole.  I'm thinking this might be here to show people that the stand is inside the box?

The other side of Cedar's box, which looks like the page side of the book.

Details on the bottom of the box

At Justice, Cedar is priced at $36.  However, the store always has a 40% off sale going, and today they had a flash sale with an extra 20% off, so Cedar cost me just over $18. 

Here she is without the clear plastic front of her packaging.

Cedar's name...

...a rather odd-looking marionette version of herself...

...and art supplies (she's into art class). 

A better look at the art on the side of the box (now that the plastic is gone).

Before I removed Cedar from her packaging, I opened up the top of the box and freed her doll stand.

It was very easy to put together, just like the others.  I forgot to get her paper instructions out of the box. :}

Just like the other boxes, I was pleased to find that Cedar was basically held in place by rubber bands and thin plastic, making her very easy to remove.  Unfortunately, she had three of those annoying plastic thingees directly in her head.  I really wish doll companies wouldn't do that!  

Like the other dolls, Cedar comes with her own key brush.

Honestly, I would recommend not brushing her hair unless you find it absolutely necessary.  Brushing tends to just frizz out curly doll hair, and hers has a bit of product in it to keep the curl in.

Here's adorable Cedar, free from her box. :)

  

I really love the color palette on this doll! :)  She has such a rich, warm look to her. 

Cedar from the back...

...and with her hair out of the way. ;)

I think Cedar has one of the best faces so far of all of the EAH dolls I've seen.  Unlike the first five female dolls (Raven, Maddie, Apple, Briar, and Ashlynn), who can tend to look a bit sour or stuck-up, Cedar has a very pleasant expression.

Cedar in profile.

Her lips are only painted in the center.  Not my favorite look, but it's not a deal breaker for me either. ;)

Her earrings are large and appear to resemble a cross-section of tree trunk with a little leaf on the top.  That's my guess, anyway. ;) 

Much like some of the other EAHs, her braided section of hair is held together with a rubber band beneath her other hair.

She has a cricket clip in her hair (no doubt an homage to Jiminy Cricket).

Her golden bracelet is rather hard to decipher, but aside from the leaf charms, I thought I detected a whale and possibly a donkey, so I'm guessing the charms all have to do with the original Pinocchio story.  At first I thought her ring was a blue dragonfly, but I'm thinking it's supposed to be the Blue Fairy, which makes a lot more sense. ;) 

Oh, and speaking of rings, be super careful with them if you end up purchasing an Ever After High doll.  They slide off very easily.  I lost my Madeline Hatter's ring at my mom's when I was doing my original blog review on her. :(  Thankfully, the ring showed up a few months later (it's amazing mom was able to find it at all!), so I have it again, but I've been super paranoid about these rings ever since.  They usually come with clear rubber bands around them.  If it doesn't bother you too much, you might even consider keeping the rubber bands in place so you don't lose the ring! 

And just one more rabbit trail before we move on. ;)  I noticed that Cedar's hands were a lot easier to remove than my earlier EAH dolls' were.  When I tried to remove their hands and put them back in, it felt like I was going to break them.  Cedar's were incredibly easy to remove and just as easy to reattach.  This makes undressing her much easier, but also makes her more of a choking hazard for little ones.  Just a warning for those of you with tiny EAH fans (or baby siblings of EAH fans). ;)

Here's a closer look at Cedar's pretty little outfit.  I noticed as I was taking pics for the review that my Cedar's bodice is a bit crooked.  I always look for the doll with the best face, but often I forget to look for the doll with the best clothing, too. :}

An even closer look at the beautiful detail on her skirt.

Cedar has high sparkly socks with ribbon trim and big clunky heels.

Her heels are designed to look like they were made out of wood, but they are actually plastic.  They are open in the back for easy removal: 

Some of you probably noticed this from the earlier pictures (or found out about it from other online sources), but one really unique thing about Cedar is that they gave her plastic a wood grain look.  She has very light hints of it on her forehead and temples... 

...but it is much more noticeable underneath her chin and on her neck.

Her arms and hands have it too... 

...and so do her legs.

In fact, her entire body has a wood grain pattern on it.

I love this sort of attention to detail.  Mattel very easily could have just done the grain on her arms and legs (the places that show), but instead they chose to do it even on the places that don't.  It's a shame they don't put this much detail and attention into their Disney fashion dolls. :( 

My girls were watching me take my pictures for the review, and they wondered if the shoes would fit without Cedar's socks, or if they would be too big to stay on.  We tried them to find out.

The answer?  The shoes work just as well without Cedar's socks as they do with them. :)

Cedar came with this really cute "wood look" purse (also made of plastic).

It opens at the top so Cedar can store special little treasures and trinkets inside. ;)

Most of you are probably aware by now that each Ever After High doll comes with their own story bookmark, which includes a short little story about them.  I thought Cedar's was rather cute with an interesting twist on the original tale, and have included pictures of it here.  (It's really hard to take pictures of the folded pamphlet inside, so sorry if it's difficult to read!)

I always end up taking WAAYY too many pictures, especially when I'm photographing a new doll. ;)  Here are some of the extras that were my favorites (especially the first one):

I mentioned how much I loved Cedar's pleasant expression earlier in the post, so I thought I'd snag one of my other EAH dolls (Briar Beauty) to show the contrast between the faces.  It's little things here and there, like the slight upward tilt of Cedar's lips, the less severe angle of her eyebrows, and the slightly wider eyes that make the difference.  She has overall a generally warm and open expression compared to Briar and the others.  I hope that Mattel continues this trend with the new dolls. :)

I am incredibly pleased with Cedar Wood.  She comes close to surpassing my two previous favorites, Raven Queen and Madeline Hatter.  I suppose if I had to choose, I'd say Raven and Cedar were tied for first, with Maddie being a close second (mainly because I think her face is a little too dour for such a sweet, bubbly character). :)  

Cedar has great detail, nice articulation, a pleasing color scheme and a sweet face.  Her story is fun and less focused on magic spells and such than some of the others (for those who are not comfortable with such things).  Her small parts and removable hands definitely make the 6+ warning legitimate, but for older kiddos or collectors, she's a great choice.

I'm still working on the details of my new rating system...one of these days I'll be organized enough to actually use it. :}  For now, as with my previous Fluttershy post, I'm keeping things simple and giving Cedar a 5 out of 5. :)

As you can see, there's been another recent addition to my EAH collection. ;)  Cerise Hood was not a character I was drawn to at first, but some of the webisodes and the second EAH book made me appreciate her more.  I was also excited because she had a completely different face mold than the other dolls. :)

Stay tuned for a review of Cerise later this week. :)

Will any of you be adding Cedar Wood to your EAH collection? :)

I didn't go into quite as much detail with the overall EAH line in this post since I've already covered that in my earlier posts.  If you'd like to check out my thoughts on some of the earlier releases, you can click the links below:

-Raven Queen Doll

-Madeline Hatter Doll

-Apple White and Briar Beauty Dolls

-Hunter Huntsman and Ashlynn Ella Dolls