Disney Store 2017 Classic Dolls are Here!

And sadly, there aren't too many changes to report, especially for the dolls I collect, but there are a few things they switched up that are fun. The face molds appear unchanged, and most of the dresses are almost identical to last year's. Also like last year, each of the princess dolls comes with a sidekick. Let's take a look!

As usual, I'll start with the dolls from my three favorite movies (only highlighting the princes from my faves), and then the rest of the dolls will be listed alphabetically.

To change things up a little bit, I thought it would be fun to include pics of the dolls both boxed and unboxed. I like seeing how the boxes change from year to year, but you can usually see more of the differences in the unboxed pictures.

If you'd like to take a look at last year's post to compare the changes, you can see it HERE.

Belle

(original images HERE)

So first, we have beautiful Belle. The only changes I see right away are the lack of glitter on her bodice this year and the shorter skirt length. Any other differences are so subtle, they won't show up until I see her in person. I have to say, I do hope she has at least a slight variation in her face paint, or I'm going to feel like I'm purchasing the exact same doll. :{

Just a note on the new box design. Boxes don't matter as much to me with this line since I always debox these dolls, but overall, I find this year's design quite plain compared to last year's. However, I do like the fact that each box has the title of the movie in its original script. That's kind of cool and nostalgic. ;)

Beast

(original images HERE)

The Beast appears to be exactly the same as he has been for the past two years, and since I wasn't a huge fan of him before, I'll be skipping this guy this year, too. :)

Rapunzel

(original images HERE)

The only difference I see in Rapunzel right off is that they kept her sleeves short. I really like it when they add her longer sleeves, since the dress is more movie accurate that way. No other differences stand out to me at this point. Again, it will be interesting to see her in person and see the slight variations.

Eugene (because I still refuse to call him "Flynn") ;)

(original images found HERE)

I'm pretty sure all the prince dolls are the same (except for one...but more on that later), so Eugene, like the Beast, is virtually unchanged. I think I'll pass on him this time, too, even though this mold is one of my very favorite renditions of him. :)

Anna

(original images found HERE)

Classic Anna. I'm so glad she was released right away this year instead of weeks later as an almost afterthought, like last year. I know everyone loves Elsa, but Anna has always been my favorite of the two sisters. That being said, I don't think I'm going to bring her home. Honestly, it's crazy enough collecting the Belle and Rapunzel Classic dolls. I really don't need to start with Annas, too. ;) Especially since I know her outfit will be so simplified compared to the original.

Kristoff

(original images found HERE)

Since I just purchased this version of Kristoff last year, I won't be getting him this time around. Did I ever review this guy for you guys? I can't remember...

Elsa

(original images found HERE)

Elsa's new doll seems almost the same as well. Definitely not getting her since I already try to limit my Elsa purchases. I'm just flat running out of room!

Hans

(original images found HERE)

Hans was the only prince/villain doll to receive a major change. He's wearing his outfit from the ball, and it actually looks pretty detailed, especially for the Classic line! I'm going to have to get this guy eventually. He'd look great on my shelf with my original Hans. I might tone down his freckles a bit, though. They're pretty big and dark compared to how they looked in the movie. 

***

I won't go into as many details with these others since I don't actively collect them, although I will make a few comments on some of the more obvious changes.

Ariel

(original images found HERE)

 Wedding Ariel

(original images found HERE)

Every once in a while the Disney Store releases wedding versions of some of their princess dolls. I haven't paid enough attention to have an educated breakdown of which ones they've released and how often, but I know I've seen Ariel, Cinderella, and Rapunzel in wedding dresses at different times. Wouldn't it be cool if they did a whole wedding line sometime, with wedding prince dolls, too? That would be awesome! :D

Aurora

(original images found HERE) 

Cinderella

(original images found HERE) 

 Jasmine

(original images found HERE) 

Merida

(original images found HERE) 

Mulan

(original images found HERE) 

I'm so happy that they FINALLY decided to change things up for poor Mulan, who's had essentially the exact same dress since 2010. I love that they did a version of her green and white outfit this time. Little Gal is super excited for the updated look, since Mulan is her favorite princess. I'm sure this will be one of her purchases on next year's birthday trip!

 Pocahontas

(original images found HERE)

Snow White

(original images found HERE) 

 Tiana

(original images found HERE)

Tiana has gone back to her green dress this year. In some ways, I wish I'd snagged one of the blue-dressed Tianas either last year or the year before. Her blue dress has always been my favorite, and I loved her face mold and face paint. But again, I just can't justify collecting other Disney dolls. I have so many dolls in general, and my Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, and Frozen ones already take up so much room. I really don't need to add more. She sure is a cutie, though, especially in her lovely blue gown.

***

So, that's all for now! My tentative plan is to pick up a Belle, a Rapunzel, and a Hans, but I will probably wait for a while, at least until they go back on the "buy two or more, get them for $10 each" promotion they usually have going (it usually comes back about a week or so after the newest Classics are released). And I might wait for a free shipping code.

To see all of the new Classic dolls together, you can go to the Disney Store website HERE.

What do you guys think? Will any of you be tempted to add any dolls to your collection this year? Would you like to see more variety from the Disney Store with this line? Which dolls are your favorites? If you could oversee the production of the Classic doll line, what changes would you make?

P.S. I apologize to those of you who left comments I didn't respond to. I just noticed I was a bit behind! Sorry about that! I'll try to get to those a bit later.

P.P.S. Was it killing anyone else to miss D23 this year? Someday, I really want to go! Did you hear that all of the current Disney Princesses will be making a cameo appearance in Wreck-it Ralph 2? I can't wait! :D

This post contains no affiliate links and was not sponsored by Disney. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

New Hasbro Disney Princess Little Kingdom Mini Dolls

The day after Christmas, my mom and I had the chance to stop at a few stores. At Target, I was super excited to find some new toys from Hasbro's Disney Princess Little Kingdom line.

Some of you may have seen the Little Kingdom cosmetics line, with dolls that serve as bottles of nail polish or lip gloss. I thought they were cute, but the actual dolls are even cuter. :D (Interestingly enough, I recently discovered that the cosmetics line was released by Jakks Pacific, not Hasbro, even thought they look almost identical.)

I never thought about mini dolls and how that would work with Hasbro's takeover of the Disney Princess line. I'm thinking these are probably going to be the replacements for Mattel's mini princess dolls with "Magiclip" dresses.

This is the "Arendelle Treat Shoppe" playset. It was $19.99. There were a few individual dolls and a larger set with Anna at Target, but this one caught my eye because of Elsa's adorable face and cute, detailed outfit.

See what I mean? ;) 

Box details:

The back of the box.

A few closer details:

The box also shows some other Elsa and Anna dolls, showing how you can mix and match their dresses and accessories to make new looks. 

The "Frozen Sleigh Ride" set pictured above was the other one I saw at Target. It was cute, but Anna was wearing her coronation top instead of her winter top, so it looked really weird. I wish the "Frozen Fever Celebration" set had been there, too. ;) 

The entire playset is held in this clear plastic inner case.

Even better, there were no huge twist ties! :D Just a few rubber bands that were easy to remove.

Here's the entire playset. It comes with the Treat Shoppe, Elsa and her clothing, a cake, four ice cream cones, eight snowball/ice ball (not sure what to call them) double scoops, and four small accessories for Elsa's dress and head.

A closer look at the smaller pieces.

Let's take a look at the Treat Shoppe first.

Here it is from the front... 

...and the back.

I love the sticker art of little Kristoff in the window. :)

The Treat Shoppe has a little shelf set in a half-circle where you can place some of the snow cones. I also put the cake on the shelf behind them.

There's storage for extra snowballs below. Not sure I'd want to order from a shoppe that stores its food on the ground, though. ;)

The little doors in the middle of the shoppe feature Olaf artwork...

...and open to reveal shelves for storage.

There are three Snowgies depicted in the artwork on the window of the shoppe.

And on the other end is the snow cone-making station.

To "make" a snow cone, you place one of the empty cones below this apparatus, then open the white snowball hatch at the top.

Place one of the snowball sets in the hole.

They will fall into the tube.

Next, pull the little lever on the side out towards you.

The snowballs will fall into the cone.

And now you've got a snow cone!

Now, even though this worked for the pictures, most of my attempts at "making" snow cones didn't go so well. The snowballs are just tall enough that they make the ice cream cones too top-heavy to stay upright. More often than not, the snowballs would fall out and clatter on the counter. I wish Hasbro would have made them a little smaller so they could stay in the cones better.

So now that we've seen the Treat Shoppe, let's move on to Elsa herself (my favorite part of the set). ;)

Such a cutie!

Her skirt has holes in it so you can attach her accessories, as pictured above.

Her head also has a small hole for accessories. I think the snowflake looks really cute there.

Elsa from the back.

I have to admit, I like her best without anything on her skirt.

Her cape attaches with a tiny hole and peg just under the jewel. Sorry I didn't get a better picture of it. My phone camera was having trouble focusing on it. :}

Speaking of her skirt, it has two different sections. The top part slips off without any sort of clasp. It just rests around her hips.

The back of the top section of the skirt pulls open, as shown in the following pics: 

Once the top part of the skirt is off, she looks like this, with a kind of odd, gaping hole beneath her bodice.

And her bodice itself is just a small piece of rubbery plastic that fits into a hole in her chest. I can't see this staying really well after serious playtime, and predict this will be the first thing Little Gal loses if she gets one of these. ;)

In this picture I tried to show the long "peg" on the inside of the bodice and the hole in Elsa's chest, but it's kind of hard to see.

The rest of her skirt slides off over her hips. It takes a little work, and I do worry that too much force might cause the plastic to wear out or rip over time. Of course, the older mini princess dolls with the rubbery skirts tended to have similar problems.

The inside of the skirt has two sections for her legs.

I was pleased to discover that Elsa's head can tilt from side to side as well as turning back and forth. It always adds so much character to a doll when you can give her head a little tilt.

I also appreciate the detail in her hair and dress sculpt. Hasbro did a great job with this.

Here's a picture of my newest Elsa with my Mattel Magiclip Elsa. As you can see, Hasbro Elsa is much more stylized than Mattel Elsa, but I think her face is much more pleasing. She has almost an anime style about her.

You might also notice that Hasbro Elsa is missing her little bodice piece. I realized today as I was finishing up this post that I hadn't gotten a comparison picture between these two, so I took this picture just a few moments ago. I was horrified to discover that my Hasbro Elsa's bodice had disappeared. :( I can't find it anywhere. So it looks like my concerns about losing this little piece are not too far-fetched, especially since Elsa's done nothing but sit on my Frozen shelf. :(

Here's a look at all of my current coronation Elsas. Hasbro Elsa fits right in. :)

I tried researching the Little Kingdom sets when I got back from purchasing mine, but couldn't find much on them. I did, however, find THIS YOUTUBE REVIEW with a few more of the sets. I think the one I'm the most excited about is the awesome "Frozen Friendship Collection" set with Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Sven, Marshmallow, and Kristoff. :) I'll definitely need to find a Belle and a Rapunzel for my collection, too. :) From the video, it sounds like these aren't supposed to be released until January 1st, but some Targets put them out a little early. 

Chad Alan also put up a review of some of the smaller Belle and Anna sets, which you can see HERE.

One really smart thing Hasbro has done with this line is to give each doll different dresses depending on the playsets they're in. For example, even though there are multiple Elsa dolls (at least two in the coronation dress and at least three in the ice queen dress), each dress in each of the playsets is slightly different from the other. The nice thing about this is you can end up with multiples of one character and still have variety in their outfits. And if you're a real collecting fanatic, you'll want to get one of each so you have every variant of your favorite character. (Not that I would be that obsessive. Ahem.) :}

Well-played, Hasbro. Well-played. ;)

So, time for some overall thoughts. Since this is the only set I have, I will be basing my review on this set only, not on the entire Little Kingdom line. I'm also going to give separate ratings for Elsa and the playset.

Pleasing Qualities:

Elsa: 5 out of 5

Playset: 3.5 out of 5

    I love the little Elsa from this set.  I love her stylized little face, the great detail in the sculpt of her hair and outfit, and the way her head tilts back and forth. I think that this line is really going to appeal to little girls, and that Hasbro is right on with this.

    

    As far as the playset, it was nice, but not as interesting to me as an adult collector. The oversized snowballs kept making the ice cream cones fall over, and there wasn't much else to the set. It's cute and all, and it will display okay, but really, I just bought it for the doll. ;)

   

Posability:

Elsa: 5 out of 5

Playset: N/A

    While Elsa isn't the most posable doll I've ever reviewed, for the size she is, she has nice, basic articulation. And again, the head tilt is a huge plus for me.

    

    The playset isn't posable, but that's to be expected for a building. ;)

Playability:

Elsa: 4 out of 5

Playset: 3.5 out of 5

    I think that Elsa will be great for playtime overall, but I'm docking a point for the design of her outfit, especially her bodice. While the removable bodice is a great idea, I can tell you with certainty that the bodice will get lost with normal playtime, especially for someone like Little Gal, who is always losing/breaking/misplacing her toys (never on purpose, she's just hard on stuff). And hey, if I couldn't even keep track of my display-only Elsa's bodice, how can I expect my kiddos to keep track of theirs? :} I also think that with time the skirt pieces might have some wear and either rip or stretch too much to function. That being said, as I mentioned before, some of the Mattel mini princess dolls with stretchy clothing had similar problems.

    

    The playset is cute, but I think it will lead to a lot of frustration for kids with the hard-to-balance snow cones and the snow cone maker's tendency to knock over the cones instead of making them nicely. It does have fun artwork, but it doesn't really do much aside from store things. Still, I could see my girls coming up with a selling candy and ice cream storyline for its use, and they have plenty of small toy food to stock its shelves with other sweet treats.

Price: 3 out of 5 

    Honestly, I don't think this set is worth $20. Maybe $12, but not $20. I had a gift card and I really liked Elsa, so I went for it. After seeing the above YouTube video, though, I've decided to wait for the smaller doll sets, which feature the dolls and smaller accessories and will be less expensive. The individual dolls are around $7, which is still a little steep, but I'm willing to pay that for at least some of the dolls. ;)

Brief Thoughts from the Gals:

    Since this type of playset is not geared towards my age group, I thought I'd have the girls try it out and see what they thought. 

    Oldest Gal (age 11) said she preferred the doll to the set, but would enjoy the set more if she had more dolls to go with it. She also thought that some of the small pieces would get easily lost, especially for the younger kiddos of the four and up recommended age. She loves the dolls and can't wait to see more of them.  

    Middle Gal (age 9) also preferred the doll to the set. She suggested that it would be nice if Hasbro would put a back on the Treat Shoppe so that the sweets wouldn't fall out of the back. She also said that the little accessories that go on Elsa's dress fall out pretty easily.

    Little Gal (age 7) loved the playset and said it was something she would want. She loved making the snow cones and playing with the set. She also said that Elsa is really cute and she loved her. ;)

    All three of them mentioned that the snowballs were difficult to work with because they kept falling over. Yet all of them, especially the younger two, spent a good amount of time playing with it and enjoying themselves. ;)

While I'm still undecided about Hasbro's take on the Barbie-sized Disney Princesses (I want to reserve judgement until I see them in person), I'm very excited about their Little Kingdom line and can't wait to see (and collect) more of them. ;)

How about you guys? Will any of you be keeping an eye out for these?