Monday, February 17, 2014

Disney Animator's Collection Kristoff Doll Review

And now for the long-awaited DAC Kristoff review. :)

I have to say, I had no plans to buy an Animator's Collection doll when we went on our trip.  I had already decided that I didn't have the room for another big doll (especially since I was pretty sure I was going to get an American Girl doll).  However, I knew that Frozen dolls were scarce, and I knew that this particular Kristoff had already disappeared from the Disney Store's online site (though it had only been online for around a month or so, if that).  So when we entered the Disney Store and I saw one cute, solitary, adorable DAC Kristoff sitting on the shelf, I caved. :}  And I'm so glad I did. ;)

Here is Kristoff still in his box.

Views of the sides and back of the box:
As you can see, Kristoff's box is much like the other DAC doll boxes, showcasing fun rough sketches of the character.

His sweet little face with lots of freckles. :)

His outfit and gloves...

...and his boots.

I love this cute little sketch of Kristoff on the front.

More box details:

DAC Kristoff's hair is similar to the Disney Store fashion doll Kristoff's in that it has an almost metallic look to it.

A closer look at his eye and freckles.

My original thought was to keep Kristoff in the box, but that idea didn't last long.  I don't regret opening him, though.  He looks even cuter out of the box, and he looks great on my little Frozen section of my shelves with my other Frozen dolls.  

Yet another look at his clothing.  I love all the detail they put into his outfit.  

His boots are plastic.

His gloves are a leather-look material and have suede-like brown strips around them.

The undersides of the gloves have blue polar fleece to match his outfit. 

A word of caution on the gloves:  they are pretty hard to get off and super hard to get back on!  Keep this in mind if you get Kristoff for the little Frozen collector in your life.  They will need lots of help getting them on and off.  I've pretty much decided they will stay on his hands from now on (now that I've finished his review post).

Kristoff from the back.  You'll see that his plastic boots are split in the back for easier removal.  His shirt has Velcro closure in the back, and his pants are simple elastic waist pants with no Velcro.

I thought the molding on his hair was interesting.  It looks like his hair was made in two different pieces.

"Wait for me, Sven!"

Another look at the Velcro on his shirt.

Much like the fashion doll-sized Kristoff from the Disney Store, DAC Kristoff's shirt and undershirt are all one piece, although they are sewn in such a way to look like two layers.

There's great detail on his belt.

A closer look at his cute little face.

Kristoff's head can hold all sorts of poses.

It can tilt to the side.

Unfortunately, it doesn't tilt as well as it should to the right side.

When I moved his chin up a bit, it helped...a little.

He can also look down...

...and up.

Another attempt at looking to the side.

I think they did a great job at capturing little Kristoff from the beginning of the movie.

Especially in his profile. :)

Here he is with Middle Gal's Toddler Anna doll.

Don't they look cute together? 

I actually have a Toddler Anna on her way for my own collection.  The Disney Store had a 25% off promotion online and in stores over Valentine's Day weekend, so I had planned to purchase Anna online and get her at a discounted price.  Unfortunately, when I went to place my order, I saw that she was no longer available.  I called the nearest Disney Store (about two hours from here), just to see if they had any Toddler Annas left.  They did.  I didn't want to drive there, because the cost of the gas would completely negate the 25% discount.  So, just on the off chance that it would work, I asked if they ever shipped product from their store to a home address.  They said they did!  I was so excited!!  I was able to use the code from the 25% off coupon I'd gotten on our trip, so I even got the discount! :)  Shipping was a little higher than it would have been online, so in the future, I would probably go in with Mom or Mimi on a purchase and split the shipping.  Still, it's nice to know I have this option if this issue comes up again. :)  I thought I'd share with all of you, too, just in case your local stores do the same thing.

I thought it would be interesting to compare both of my Disney Store Kristoff dolls.  As you can see from the above photo, they're almost identical.

The main difference is the more detailed belt and shirt trim on DAC Kristoff.

The fur trim on this Kristoff is a little thicker, too.  Also, DAC Kristoff doesn't have a hat, but that's movie accurate (he didn't have a hat until he was a grown up).

When I undressed Kristoff, I was slightly disappointed to discover that they'd simply used a regular DAC Princess body and put Kristoff's head on it.  While this isn't as noticeable when he's clothed, it looks rather odd and would be very noticeable if he were in different clothes.

A view from the back.

My Kristoff had a few small stains:  one on each wrist...


...some on his left ankle...

...and two on his shoulder blades.  Staining seems to be pretty common for this line.  All three of the DAC dolls and both of the two Toddler dolls that we have purchased have had stains of some kind.

In this picture you can really see how tiny and almost feminine Kristoff's hand looks.

Little feet.

Kristoff's arms can stay right next to him...

...or go out to the sides.

They can go up and out...

...slightly forward...

...or forward and out to the sides.  He has lots of great posing options with his arms.

His legs move into an outspread sitting position.

Identifying marks on his foot.


I'm very glad I managed to snag one of these little guys.  They were online in the US very briefly, so I'm grateful that I have one for my collection.  He has a sweet little face, great detail on his clothing, and makes a fun addition to my Frozen shelf.  I'm giving him a 4.5 out of 5, docking half a point for the minor staining, the slight head rotation issue, and the gloves that are so hard to remove and put back on.  When he is in his clothing, his small hands and feet don't bother me that much, but in the future, I would love to see the Disney Store come up with a different body for their male DAC dolls (assuming they make more...please, Disney?). ;)  I think it would be great if they gave the boys slightly bigger hands and feet, even if they kept pretty much the same body.  That might just be me being too picky, though.

I would definitely love to see them do a line of DAC Prince dolls.  It would be wonderful to have a little Eugene and a little Beast/Prince (as long as they made him the Prince and not the Beast...accuracy and all) to add to my collection.  Then I might just have to grab a DAC Rapunzel, and then I'd have all three of my favorite Disney couples in DAC dolls. ;)

I hope you enjoyed the review.  My next review post will be on the Toddler Anna and Elsa dolls my girls bought on their trip, so keep checking back!  I'll also post links to interesting videos or pictures from the Toy Fair if I come across any others. :)  Plus, I have a ton of reviews in my draft posts that I need to get through, so hopefully I can start going through those, too.

Have a great week, everyone! :)

19 comments:

Kirren said...

Hmm, it's interesting to see the difference in the freckles on his face, from my Kristoff, mine are definitely more faded. (I plan on having a picture up on lifeofdoll.weebly.com soon)

As far as the gloves, I was able to just untie the square knot to take them on and off...and they went back on just fine, do yours not untie?

Anonymous said...

Hmmm my Kristoff has no freckles.

Willow said...

I really want little Kristoff now, after seeing your photos and review! He's so adorable!!

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Okay, Gods Girl, I feel really sheepish now. I didn't try untying the straps. I saw they were glued to the gloves and just assumed the knots wouldn't be able to come undone. :} That would definitely have helped!

I know there can be some variation to the freckles...Anonymous, how interesting that your Kristoff has none at all! He must have missed the freckling part of the assembly line. ;)

Willow, I would definitely recommend him. He's really a cutie. :)

misspiggy=awesome said...

At the part with Toddler Anna, I just about fell over in my seat from all the cuteness! :)

Anonymous said...

Can you do a picture of him next to an AG doll?

Ampy said...

at first I thought I would recommend that you'd just display kristoff without his gloves,but when I got to the part that I saw his body,I was speechless.Disney got lazy with the bodies again(much like kristoff's fashion doll counterpart).

also,they could have put hair on him ,I mean it's not like that will make the dolls expensive(they can't use that excuse since they make rapunzel dolls) plus it's not as easy to get tangled since it's short right.

but in midst of all those ranty stuff I just posted I will definitely buy him if I ever saw him here at our country(I have recently saw some DAC princesses here in the philippines ^^yay)

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

misspiggy=awesome, I think they're adorable together, too. ;)

Hi Anonymous...I'll try to remember to add a picture of Kristoff with an AG doll later on in this post if I can. :)

Hi Ampy. I think Kristoff looks fine in his gloves and gear, but I would definitely love to see Disney come up with a different body if they do future DAC boy releases.

I didn't notice anything with the Kristoff fashion doll...unless you're talking about the Mattel version with painted-on clothes and a rather goofy facial expression. :}

It's funny...I know a lot of people prefer real hair on their male dolls, but I actually don't mind the fact that Kristoff has plastic hair. Real hair on a male doll can be difficult to pull off. At least this way his hair looks movie accurate. :)

Have a great day.

Ampy said...

@beastbelle
hmm, I guess you're right about the hair part but Kristoff's hair is pretty long(for a boy) but then again I really can't imagine little girls styling his hair because he's,well,a boy.Little boys hate getting their hair fixed(based from personal experience) so I think it was a budget saving move from Disney.

and about the kristoff fashion doll,I was actually talking about the disney store's. They used a regular prince body on him and they kinda cheated his body shape with fabric instead of making a bulkier body for him(ya know,he was a bit fat in the promo pics to some people)

Anonymous said...

Kristoff is so cute, and I think his plastic hair looks nice - I agree that "real" hair on boy dolls usually doesn't look very good.

I have a question for you, since we're on the subject of the DAC dolls, if you don't mind. I found a DAC Aurora at the thrift store for a good price so I bought her. She came with all her clothes, surprisingly, except for shoes. Do you happen to know if one of the other doll lines' shoes would happen to fit her? I don't have any other large size dolls except for A Girl for All Time, so I don't have any way to easily compare. You seem so knowledgeable I thought you might know, but if you don't, it's perfectly OK.

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Ampy. :) I'm sure budgeting was a major part of the decision for the plastic hair. Like I said, I don't really mind it. :)

I hadn't thought about that issue with the DS Kristoff fashion doll. I guess I figured they'd just use the standard body so all the dolls could share clothing. That would have been really neat if he would have come with a slightly larger body, though. :)

I think it's so sad that people thought he was "fat". I think that's a bit harsh. Sure, he was stockier, but I wouldn't go so far as to call him fat. I actually loved the fact that he wasn't the typical perfectly muscular Disney prince. It just added to the charm and wonderful message of the movie to me. :)

Hi sailingintheark. I'm happy with the decision of plastic hair, too. I think with male dolls it's easier to make the hair look more like the movie when it's plastic instead of "real". :)

In my experience, the shoes from the Disney Princess Toddler dolls made by Jakks Pacific fit them. I have pictures of my DAC Belle wearing bedtime slippers from the line in this post here (you'll have to copy and paste): http://nevergrowupdollguide.blogspot.com/2012/10/disney-animators-collection-dac-belle.html

I don't know if full shoes would fit in the same way. These ones were open in the back, so that might have helped with the fit. Also, this might not be all that helpful anyway because Jakks Pacific is no longer making the Toddler Princess dolls. They're now being made by TollyTots: http://www.tollytots.com/myfirstdisneyprincess/

The proportions to the TollyTots and Jakks Pacific dolls seem to be the same, so you might keep your eye out for these dolls at the thrift store and see if they still have their shoes.

I hope this helps at least a little! :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks, I will check out your suggestions. I do love the DAC dolls. We have a few of them: Rapunzel, Snow White and Merida, and of course, now Aurora. I think they are so adorable, and it's nice to see Disney come out with a boy doll.

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

I love them, too. :) I'm hoping there will be more boy DAC dolls in the future! :)

Unknown said...

I missed out on getting Kristoff toddler doll at the store. I regretted it soooo much. DX I had to pay $40 for one online. But when I got him, I was like "ALL IS FORGIVEN". He is just too freaking adorable. Your doll has A LOT of freckles compared to mine and my sister's. And I'm also hoping they make DAC's for the princes. I would do back flips for a little Naveen, Aladdin, the Prince, Philip, and "Adam" AKA the Beast.

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Nelli...thanks for stopping by. :) I'm sorry you had to pay so much for Kristoff, but I'm glad you were able to find one. He's a real cutie. :)

I really hope they decide to do a line of DAC Princes...I guess we'll just have to wait and see! ;)

Anonymous said...

I have to say that my Disney Store has a ton in stock and every dolls freckles are different. Makes him very unique.

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Anonymous...that's good to know. :) It's nice that they're getting more of the dolls in stock now so we can compare and choose the one we like the best. :)

Anonymous said...

No offense, but the number of pictures you took of this doll are abnormal.

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Lol, none taken. If you've browsed some of my other reviews, you'll know this amount of pictures is pretty normal for me. ;)