I've finally finished the photo shoot and review for the mini DAC Frozen dolls! Thanks for waiting so patiently, everyone! ;)
I noticed Friday that my friend Emily over at The Toy Box Philosopher blog has already done a review of mini Elsa. (Be sure to check it out
HERE.) Whenever I get ready to do a post and realize she's already done one on the same item, it seems rather redundant. She always does such a great job. ;) That being said, this time around she only did Elsa, so I figured I'd go ahead with my review since I'm doing both Elsa
and Anna.
I thought I should mention that I will be undressing these dolls to show their articulation. They do not have developed figures, but I thought I should warn you guys just in case any of you find it offensive.
Here are both of the dolls in their original packaging. My mom brought them over so I could take pictures from the beginning, but they're actually her dolls. (Thanks for sharing, Mom!) ;)
I figured I'd start with Anna and focus a little more on her since Emily already did such a great job with mini Elsa. :) Here Anna is in her carrying case.
A look from the back.
The attached tag has her DAC artwork on the front.
The inside shows a picture of Sven and gives a little more info about the DAC line.
The back of the tag. As you can see from the price, these sets retail at $19.95 each.
The package opens (I have pictures of that when I get to Elsa), and the clear plastic that holds all the pieces in place slides right out.
A view from the back. Everything is held in place with tape, rubber bands, and twist ties.
Anna also has one of those annoying plastic ties in her head.
Here is Anna with all of her friends and accessories.
We'll take a look at all of the extras first.
Here are the two trolls that come with Anna. These are probably my favorite accessories from the whole set. They're very stylized, but super adorable. :)
Here they are from the back. The girl troll (on the left) has a little green paint smudge on the back of her left ear.
Here are the bottoms of the trolls' feet:
Anna comes with a small, pink, plastic comb.
It has a fun design on the back. [Side note: I would not recommend actually using this on her hair.] ;)
Anna also comes with her glitter-encrusted doll.
Back view. This doll is really cute, but she sheds glitter like crazy. She also cannot stand up on her own.
Now we come to Sven and his sled.
Here's a view from the front.
The sled itself is made of plastic.
It has wheels on the bottom so it rolls smoothly.
There are two small holes in the front of the sled where the harness is inserted.
The harness is also made of plastic. It's a somewhat flexible plastic, but hard enough to keep it's position.
The ends of the harness have little key-shaped ends that fit into the holes. The first time I inserted these, it was pretty difficult to get them in there. Each time it got easier. I would definitely recommend helping your younger kiddos with this, especially the first few times, as it would be pretty easy to break the harness ends off in the holes.
The other end of the harness, shaped into a large, half-circle, fits over Sven's shoulders.
I suppose it's time we take a look at the lovable reindeer.
Sven has a very round, stylized head. To be perfectly honest, I wish they'd gone for a more realistic interpretation instead of this odd, basic look. That's just the accuracy-loving collector in me talking. ;) I'm interested to see what my girls will say.
Here's Sven from his other sides:
Sven has a tab on the side of his mouth that helps it open. The lower jaw is the part that moves. I thought I should mention here that when I first tried to open Sven's mouth, I couldn't get it to work. Thankfully, my mom was still here and was able to get it. (I wanted to be extra cautious since Sven wasn't mine.) I'm pretty sure that the flocking on Sven's face was interfering with the mouth mechanism. So again, you'll probably want to help your kids with Sven's mouth the first time they try to open it.
Sven comes with some carrots you can feed him.
They do not fit all the way in his mouth. ;)
Now let's take a look at Anna herself. She's such a cutie! :)
Anna from the back.
Her face is nicely painted and has lots of detail.
Anna in profile.
Another look at Anna's face and her cute little pigtails. I think she captures the look of the bigger doll really well.
The back of her head is marked [copyright mark] Disney China.
Anna's dress is all one piece (the black part of the bodice is printed on) and is quite glittery. I appreciate that they included some of the nice detail at the hem of the skirt.
It has Velcro closure in the back.
She has black plastic shoes.
Here's a look at Anna undressed. You can see that her arms do not have any extra articulation, but her knees are jointed. She also has painted on yellow tights. She moves at the head, shoulders, waist and knees.
Anna from the back.
I was surprised when I discovered her waist movement (it turns left and right). At first I just thought the tights were just painted on a normal body.
Ouch! This looks painful! ;)
Her shoulders can move up and out as well as back and forth, giving her a good range of motion for a small doll with basic articulation:
She sits pretty nicely, although I found her hip joints were a little stiff the first time I moved them.
She can also sit with her knees bent. I didn't get a picture of her sitting in a chair, but I'm pretty sure there's a good picture of that on Emily's Elsa post. :)
Here Anna is attempting to crawl.
Her head has pretty basic movement.
It can turn left...
...and right.
This Anna had slightly crooked legs, so it was sometimes a bit difficult to get her to stand unassisted. I'm also a little concerned by the construction of the knee joints. They're working well for now, but they seem pretty fragile.
Anna is definitely a cutie, though. Here she is with Sven. :)
And here she is with her troll friends.
I thought it might be helpful to give you a size comparison with some of my other small dolls. From left to right we have a LPS Mini Blythe, a mini Lalaloopsy, Anna, and an
Orange Blossom doll from The Bridge Direct (the latest company to take over the Strawberry Shortcake doll line).
Here Anna is with a Barbie Chelsea (on the left) and an older style Kelly doll.
Here she is with the mini Anna from the Disney Store
mini doll set.
I think they look like they'd get along quite nicely. ;) I could also see my daughters using the mini DAC dolls as children for their Barbie-sized dolls. :)
Now we'll move on to Elsa. :) Here she is in her packaging.
The package from the back.
Elsa's tag (sorry it's a bit blurry).
The inside of her tag shows Olaf and has similar details to Anna's tag.
The back of the tag.
Here, you can see how the container opens to get Elsa and friends out.
[Side note: I took my opening pictures of Elsa first, so I didn't take as many detailed pictures of opening Anna. Of course, then I decided to start with Anna, so my more detailed opening pics weren't first (the way I normally plan them). Oh, well.] ;)
One thing I noticed as soon as I opened the container was that there were white stress marks on the plastic hinges just from one opening.
Here's a look at the other side from a different angle.
I had kind of assumed that the whole point of using the plastic containers was so they could be reused to store and carry the playsets. However, with this much strain on the plastic already, I can't imagine them holding up to too much play and/or opening and closing. Just thought I'd throw that out there to any other parents who had the same thought I did.
The clear plastic insert lifts easily out of the container.
And here it is, all empty and ready for reusable storage (until the hinges wear out). ;)
Like Anna, Elsa was held in place with tape, rubber bands...
...and another of those plastic ties to the head.
Here we have Elsa with all of her accessories. Just like we did with Anna, we'll check out Elsa's extras first. :)
One of the things Elsa came with was this little swirly blue "magic" piece. ;)
It's basically a long, narrow piece of sparkly plastic bent into a swirly shape.
There's a little rectangular opening in the plastic that fits over Elsa's hand. I found it a little difficult to get the plastic looking like it was going in the right direction.
Elsa also comes with her ice slide, which looks similar to the one she and Anna played on at the beginning of the movie.
It is made from a glittery, see-through hard plastic.
Here's the bottom of the slide.
Elsa can sit on top of the slide.
It doesn't really work for her to slide down the slide with her hair the way it is (it works better for Olaf), but she can pose like she just slid down. ;)
Elsa comes with a doll just like Anna does. Her doll actually stands by itself (at a rather odd angle), but is also coated in a generous layer of shedding glitter.
Elsa's brush is identical to Anna's except that it is blue instead of pink.
Back view
Interestingly enough, Elsa also comes with what appears to be Kristoff's guitar. Hmm, I wonder how she got it? ;)
The guitar from the back.
It's almost the right size for Olaf.
But works really well for Elsa. :)
One of the most fun accessories from this set is the sparkly Olaf. Again, much like Sven and the trolls, Olaf is very stylized. And sadly, because of the way he is molded (and his top-heavy head), he does not stand by himself.
Here he is from his other angles:
Olaf's nose is pretty long...
...but you can push it in and make it shorter. However, it doesn't stay that way, but pops right back to its normal length once you let go. Honestly, I don't really understand the reasoning behind this feature. Aside from giving kids something to push in and out, it doesn't really enhance the toy in my mind, especially since it doesn't stay in place.
Olaf comes with his straw hat and drink from his well-loved "In Summer" song.
Time to look at Elsa herself! (She's so cute!)
She's got a sweet little face that, just like Anna, brings to mind her larger doll.
Her dress is also one piece, although the ribbon straps of the "jumper" are sewn on top.
She has the same plastic shoes as Anna.
Elsa from the back. This Elsa has a ponytail instead of a braid like the larger DAC Elsa.
Like Anna, Elsa's clothing has Velcro closure in the back.
She has painted blue tights underneath.
A view from the back.
Since Elsa's articulation is identical to Anna's, I won't go into any more detail here.
Elsa has an interesting paint job on her eyebrows, with a little dark patch in the middle of them. At first, I thought it was a paint flaw, but it's apparently the way they decided to paint them.
Anna's have a different pattern, but also have a darker section in the middle of each eyebrow.
Elsa with her little pal Olaf.
I had a fun time taking some shots of the two dolls together.
Anna and Elsa playing with their dolls.
One thing that makes these dolls different from their larger counterparts is that they're exactly the same height. Although I completely understand the reasoning behind this, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. I really like the slight height difference between regular DAC Anna and Elsa, as it gives the added illusion of the age difference between them. Because of Anna's pigtails, she looks even taller than Elsa.
They're still super cute together, though. Maybe Anna just had a major growth spurt and caught up to Elsa. ;)
I wanted to end the post with pictures of the mini dolls with their regular-sized versions. Here are DAC Anna and mini DAC Anna.
I love how wonderfully the Disney Store captured the face paint and expression of DAC Anna on mini Anna. I should probably mention that my DAC Anna has an unusual amount of blush. She looks sunburned next to Middle Gal's DAC Anna. So the coloring difference between the two dolls is not a typical one. ;)
I also borrowed Little Gal's DAC Elsa to photograph with mini DAC Elsa. Pardon DAC Elsa's messy hair and dirty vinyl. She is well-loved. ;)
Again, I love the similarities between the face paint on these two.
So here's everything Mom got between the two sets.
And here they are back in their containers, ready for their next playdate. ;)
I really enjoyed both of these little sets. Let's see how they hold up to the Never Grow Up rating system. ;)
Pleasing Qualities: 4.5 out of 5
These sets have a lot going for them. I love the idea of mini DAC dolls. I've always enjoyed the DAC line, but as a collector with limited space, I don't have the room to collect too many of the full-sized dolls. The minis give me a chance to enjoy the DAC line without taking up too much space. I love the face paint and the detail they've given to the dolls.
I'm deducting half a point because I wish they'd done the accessories a little differently. I would have loved to see a Sven that looked a little more like himself (although I realize this stylized look is consistent with earlier releases from the DAC line), and I wish they'd made Olaf able to stand on his own. I could have done without the heavy glitter on Elsa and Anna's dolls, too. ;)
Posability: 4.5 out of 5
I think that for the size of these dolls, their posability is not that bad. I appreciate that they have more articulation than the average mini doll. I'm deducting half a point because I would love to see Disney come up with a design on the knee joints that feels a little sturdier.
Playability: 4.5 out of 5
Overall, these little sets are great for playtime. There are some pieces that are delicate and may easily break with a less careful child, and some of the pieces that don't stand may cause some frustration. Overall, though, these sets have a lot to offer for creative play.
Price: 4 out of 5
These sets cost $19.95 each. Overall, the price isn't terrible for what you get. To be honest, though, I'd love to see the Disney Store just sell individual dolls without all of the extras. I mean, some of them were fun, but I would have been perfectly happy without most of them, especially if it meant paying less overall. I hope the Disney Store will consider this in the future for those of us who just want the dolls themselves and can't afford to pay that much for each one we want.
Thoughts from the Gals:
The girls had a lot to say about these sets (especially Oldest Gal). I did things a little bit differently this time around and had each of the girls play with the sets individually just before their review. It was really fun to sit and watch them make discoveries and share their thoughts before they shared them "officially". (I especially loved watching Middle Gal freak out about all the glitter on her hands.) ;) Sometime, I think it would be fun to take a video of them playing with the toys they review and share it with you. I'd have to figure out a way to take the video so their faces weren't showing. I'll work on that. ;) Anyway, hope you enjoy their thoughts! As always, I was careful to type their words exactly as they said them and tried not to put any thoughts in their head ahead of time ;) I also had them come into the room individually so they wouldn't be influenced by each other.
Oldest Gal (age 10):
Hi guys! When I heard that Disney was coming out with these adorable mini DAC dolls, I thought, "Sweet, these are gonna be awesome, especially if they come out with Mulan!" I'm collecting Mulan dolls. (Just for the record, I've never actually seen the movie.) :}
Note: People who hate glitter, such as my sister, this set is probably not for you.
Elsa:
Elsa has an adorable face and sleek, silky, beautiful hair. I understand why they didn't put it in a braid (it would be a little bit hard to get it so that all the pieces weren't wisping out). You could do a fishtail, though...sort of. Her shoes are a little bit large and awkward, but they're good.
For the little ice/snow magic thing, I wouldn't see myself using this very much. It is a little bit impractical; I could not figure out how to put it on without it looking like she's throwing it behind her.
Now for glittery, glittery, glittery Olaf. Olaf is definitely not for some of you anti-glitter people. He looks like he just came out of a glitter machine. And frankly, I don't see the purpose of the nose, how it pops back but then just pops right back to where it was. His hat, when you put it on, kind of balances against the little stick hair that he has. You can't mess around with Olaf too much, otherwise that hat will fall off. His drink, unfortunately, does not have the ice cubes forming an Olaf figure. (Rats!)
Elsa's doll is adorable, just like her, and just like the movie. I love the sweet smile on her face. But, for the record, I find myself thinking, "Aren't rag dolls not supposed to stand up?" Now for some people, this might be nice.
It's very interesting how they made the ice slide. They made it out of clear, glittery plastic, and molded it on one side to resemble a sort of staircase. It's flat for about 1 inch on the top. The other side resembles a steep slide. It's a little bit small for them, considering the movie. The dolls should in all accurateness be about half the size they are so that they can slide down the ice slide with as much ease as they did in the movie (except that it was a snow slide).
I really don't see why Kristoff's mandolin was in Elsa's set, as most of Kristoff's things (sled, Sven, etc.) are in Anna's set. And where did that design come from? Maybe it's the mandolin Anna gave him to repay him for burning up his sled.
That brush I would not recommend using. Wire brushes are way better and, compared to them, the little tiny plastic ones would be worth about a penny.
Anna:
Anna is adorable, but, as my sisters probably have noted, Disney put the pigtails on too high. They're supposed to be almost below her ears. I guess I can't complain too much, but the bangs were not all the way across her forehead in the movie. Anna's collar is very crooked, and those sleeves look like they might not last long with the elastic on the ends; they probably will start to get loose threads and stretch out, especially if you have younger kids who like to pull things. Her outfit is very accurate to the movie, though, but so is Elsa's. One more thing I want to point out, however, is that while Elsa has red ribbon straps that go from the front to the back, Anna's printed on straps of her black and gold bodice only go halfway across her shoulders.
Sven is very cute. His mouth opens and you're supposed to feed him the bunch of three carrots. However, only one carrot can fit into his mouth at a time. He hitches up to a rope, which attaches to a sled, which is supposed to be Kristoff's. I don't think that this was a very wise decision for the Disney company, because I think a lot of little little kids will be bugging their mothers to "Help me detach this rope from the sled!" or "Help me put this back on!" I think it's very clever that they made the sled on wheels, though. One little funny thing. When you look at Sven from the backside, it almost looks as if he's kind of using the bathroom because of the way they molded his legs.
The trolls look very organic. Tee hee. But the trolls in the movie did not have those little two leaves for hair. They had grass hair.
Anna's doll, much like Elsa's, looks a lot like her and a lot like the movie, but it does not stand up like Elsa's doll. And for any of you OCD people out there like me, that might be a little bit of a problem have one standing up and the other toppling to the ground.
The brush I give the same rating as Elsa's.
Both:
Their dresses are a lot like the big dolls', but the skirts are caked with glitter. The bendable legs make them more posable than the large ones. Their toes are molded in with the tights, so it kind of looks like Elsa has blue toes and Anna has yellow. They also did the same thing with the belly buttons. They both did their faces and eyes beautifully.
Would you recommend these dolls?
For Frozen lovers two and under, I would not recommend them. Three through five I would kind of rate "PG", with a parent to sort of make sure they don't put Sven's carrots or Elsa's ice/snow thing into their mouths. For six to eight, it would be just fine, but Sven's rope attaching to the sled I would definitely recommend a parent to help them get it on and off. Nine through twelve I would recommend except if you are a glitter hater, because if I had to explain these dolls in one word, it would be GLITTER!!!! Thirteen and up would be completely okay, especially if you just display the dolls. These toys aren't really ones you can break easily except for Sven's mouth.
Which mini DAC doll would you like to see them release next?
Either Rapunzel, Belle, or Mulan. Just a side note, I don't think that it was very wise for them to make Anna have pretty much all Kristoff's accessories. What will they do when and if they make Kristoff?
Middle Gal (age 8):
I think that they're really cute. It's amazing that their knees bend. I didn't think that their knees would bend. I wish they had made the big Animators Collection's knees bend. I was thinking their shoes might fit the Kelly feet [Barbie's little sister]. Their hips can only turn right, not left.
Now I'm gonna talk about Anna. I think the trolls are very cute (even though they're covered in glitter). The doll is also covered in glitter, but other than that she's very adorable. Under her skirt, it's round, and that is causing her to not be able to stand up. Anna is completely adorable. The downside? They forgot to put the pigtails in the right place! She's also covered in glitter, and it gets on your hands. Now, about the sled, I think that little kids are going to be running to their mommies saying "Mommy, help me put the rope on!", because the rope is very hard to put on. Sven is adorable. I like how his carrots can go in his mouth.
Elsa's cute, but her hair's supposed to be in a braid. They put it in a ponytail. Olaf is covered in glitter, which I am not very pleased with. His nose turns and can get pushed in to his head. The drink is very adorable, but if you noticed in the movie, it's supposed to have ice cubes that make Olaf in it. The guitar is really cute. It might make a good whacker. Elsa's doll is also covered in glitter, and the bottom of her skirt is flat, and that is causing her to be able to stand up. Elsa's ice magic thingy is very thin and probably reliable to break. Olaf's hat is cute, but his little stick thingys on his head are the only things that are keeping his hat on. If you removed those, it would just be a matter of balance. News flash! Elsa's ice slide is glittery, but it doesn't get glitter on your hands!! Yay!!!!
Would you recommend these dolls?
For people who absolutely despise glitter, no! They are covered in glitter, so if you are not a fan of glitter, don't waste your money on these. If you are glitter crazy, like you go crazy over glitter, and if you like Frozen, add these to your wishlist. They are adorable!
Which mini DAC doll would you like to see them release next?
It would be completely awesome if they released a Snow White, because I love Snow White and sometimes I'm like, "Why don't they do Snow White anymore?" Because they don't normally do Snow White in most stores anymore, or antiques, so it would be just amazing if they would make Snow White! That would be a dream come true!
Little Gal (age 6):
I like Elsa because, well, I just like HER. I like how her knees can bend, unlike how the big ones [the regular DAC dolls] can. And I like how it comes with her little ice magic. And I think it's kinda weird to put Kristoff's guitar in Elsa's set, and Sven and Kristoff's sled and Sven's carrots in Anna's set, because there's no Kristoff! And I like how she can play the guitar thing. And Oldest Gal found out that Olaf's nose can go in and that Sven's mouth can open, and you can feed Sven. And I like how it comes with Elsa's doll. And I like how mostly everything in the set is sparkly. Middle Gal probably wouldn't. She hates glitter. I like Olaf and I like how he can drink his drink and slide down the ice slide. I'm actually sorta surprised that they even have the ice slide. And I like how he can put his hat on. He looks so cute in it.
Moving on to Anna. Well, this is kinda about both, just this first thing. I like how they can both be on the sled at the same time, one of them in the front and one in the back on their knees, or one can ride on Sven and one in the sled. And I like how Sven can be released and how the rope can come off, and I like the carrots. And I like how Anna comes with her doll too. And I like how both of them come with their little brushes. And I like the trolls because they're just like...I like the trolls. I like how Anna can feed Sven. You just like make her pick up the carrots, and you open Sven's mouth, and pretend that Anna's putting them in. And I noticed that the sled is on wheels.
And I don't blame them for not doing Elsa's hair in a braid. I know how hard that would be, because they're so small, I mean, it's just hard. And I don't know how they do it. Even when she's small, they do the designs on her dress. Well, at least the bottom ones.
And I like how the trolls have their little necklace things and how Olaf is posed. It's like he's dancing around. And I like the designs on the backs of the brushes, and the colors on them too. And Elsa can kinda balance Olaf's hat on her head, and she looks cute with it on. And they actually made it so Elsa can hold the ice powers like she's actually doing it. And it's this swirl with snowflakes with a little handle on it. And she can't sit down very well, at least not this one. But the knees can bend okay. But Anna, she's a bit hard to sit down too. You can also make Elsa and Anna hug each other. And that's all!
Would you recommend these dolls?
Yes!! Totally!
Which mini DAC doll would you like to see them release next?
Tiana
Hope you enjoyed the review! :)
