Saturday, June 30, 2012

The Limited Edition Merida Doll from the Disney Store

I posted these pictures of the 18" limited edition Merida doll from Brave over on facebook and on my Flickr photostream, but some of you asked me to show them here, too.  I'm leaving this doll in her box for now, so I can't really do a full review yet, but I did snap a few quick pictures of her.  The pictures aren't that great, since the box casts some weird shadows, but just in case you are interested, here she is:

Limited-Edition-Merida
18" Limited Edition Merida.
This doll is limited to 7000 pieces, but is still available at the Disney Store website for $99.  It's a lot of money to spend on one doll, but after these limited dolls sell out, the price tends to skyrocket over on eBay.  A 7000 edition size seems huge to me (especially when I compare to Tonner, JAMIEshow or Intergrity edition sizes...) but I guess the scope of Disney fans is so broad, 7000 is relatively small.

Limited-Edition-Merida

The outfit is intricate with lots of textured materials.  All of the accessories are plastic.  This doll is clearly Merida from the movie, but there are some immediately noticeable contrasts between her and the 12" Merida (see my review of the 12" doll here).  Here's a list of the most obvious differences:
  1. The LE doll has a different, more serious facial expression.
  2. The LE doll has a black velvety dress with a textured hem design, not the simple teal dress from the movie.
  3. The LE doll has a black fake fur cape with a silky green lining and gold piping along the edges.
  4. The LE doll has three arrows, not one (yay!).
  5. The LE doll has a sword.
  6. In addition to the bear clasp on her cloak, the LE doll has an amulet and an ornamented belt on her quiver.
  7. The LE doll has a tartan pouch (?) hanging under her quiver.
  8. The LE dress has armpit vents (double yay!).


Here you can see the elaborate quiver belt with the bear emblem clasp.  Also notice the beautiful sage green lining on the cloak:



This doll also has an archer's sleeve, but it is made of leather, with a gold embroidered design.


This doll's plastic bow has molded engravings, just like the smaller doll's bow, but these engravings are colored with a brown paint, which makes them much more noticeable:


Here's the flocked design on the hem of the black velvet dress:

The texture of the dress is almost more like fur than velvet.  
The facial expression is much different on this doll than on the small play doll.  She has a side-glancing, slightly skeptical look about her:

Limited-Edition-Merida
Her eyes are a bit wonky.
Her features are nicely painted, but her eyes have less yellow than the smaller doll's eyes, and this makes them seem less bright and less three dimensional somehow:

I LOVE that she has one raised eyebrow!
She has a very faint spattering of freckles.
Here's a comparison of the two dolls--there's quite a difference in size!  18 inches doesn't sound that much bigger than 12 inches, but it is...

Limited-Edition-Merida

Here's a reminder picture of the 12" Classic Merida all by herself:


I love both dolls quite a lot.  I wish the larger doll also had a teal dress.  It's a beautiful color and it really brings out the red of Merida's hair and the blue of her eyes.  The black dress is dramatic and detailed...but it's not teal.  That might be my only real complaint with this doll.

I love how Big Merida looks at Little Merida with bemusement:

Um...you are a bit goofy, there, short stuff.
The large Merida's hair looks wonderful--there are definitely different sizes of curl in there and it's all I can do to keep myself from freeing it from the box!  

Limited-Edition-Merida-Brave

I adore little Merida and her goofy, appealing expression, but I prefer the larger doll's face for its subtlety and complexity.  She can look either serious or amused, skeptical or curious, depending on the angle of your view.  

I'll post more pictures when I finally get this doll out of her box, but for now maybe that will help some of you who are on the fence about whether or not to buy her.

Limited-Edition-Merida-Brave
This is my serious side.

14 comments:

  1. What cute dolls! I haven't seen this movie but I really want to watch it!

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  2. I'm usually not a Disney fan - heads too big for me - but I like this doll's quirky expression. Even - especially? - the larger doll who does have a very appealing look. Seeing the different sized dolls together enhances the character's charm. Thanks for this review. And darn, I might actually have to see a Disney movie.

    Oh, last thing - she reminds me a wee bit of the latest Doctor Who's companion, Amy Pond! Ahhh! I thought there was something "familiar" about Merida when I first saw her.

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    1. Shhh--don't give anything away! After much coaxing, I have finally persuaded my youngest to watch the newer Doctor Who with me and am very excited about it! Any resemblance to a sidekick of The Doctor makes a doll practically irresistible, right? :) She does look like Amy, though, you're right. Amy seems to have a similar quirky appeal (at least in pictures).

      You should definitely see the movie--maybe rent it? It's a fun pick-me-up and it's missing much of the usual Disney formula.

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    2. High five - cool getting your youngest into the new Doctor Who. My first Doctor was Tom Baker. Sigh. ModernWizard of Blog of Stench tipped me to the David Tennant Doctor. And yes, resemblance to a Doctor companion is definitely a plus for any doll ;-D

      I haven't seen anything since half of last year's episodes, lol. I mean about the Doctor Who episodes. The last episode that I saw was "A Good Man Goes To War," but I've heard snips of what happens next. (I do the mental equivalent of saying "nahhhh naaahhh" while putting my fingers in my ears.) Can't wait to see the balance of that year's episodes.

      BTW, there was am 11.5" Martha Jones action figure by Character Options. I got her, but I wish I had bought the David Tennant Doctor to match. Sigh.

      I'll see about getting a copy of Brave. Thanks for the suggestions on how to get it - and to watch it at all ;-)

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  3. Hello from Spain: I love this Merida Brave larger. Anyway, all dolls of Merida are very cute. Like each of them.Keep in touch

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  4. Hi Emily,
    I saw the Mattel version of this doll about a month ago with my youngest, and each version looks so much like I woman I ride the bus with in the morning! Apparently, I'm not the only one to tell her so; her godson bought a doll for her after seeing it. I have to agree with D7ana's comment about the elements of resemblance to Amy Pond...I hadn't noticed that before. I might just have to get one now, since we are all big Doctor Who fans (or maybe more, if my kids see the resemblance too). Just another doll to add to the list....
    Joette

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  5. Not in my opinion She realy looks like that in the movie

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  6. Merida is one strong doll it realy looks like her

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  7. Merida realy looks like that

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  8. It's realy a tall doll 18 inches realy I thought she realy looks like merida the Scottish princess

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  9. The best doll but realy expensive

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    1. It's $99 in American and £63.58 in British. Wish it was cheeper I am litteraly craving it (as is any other "Disnerd"/ Disney.Pixar fan).

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  10. In the second from the bottom picture it looks like "big" Merida and "Little" Merida are sisters, or "big" Merida is "little" Merida's mother (if queen Elinor had red crazy hair and a love of archery).

    In the bottom picture it looks like Merida is concentrating on a shot (with a bow and arrow) she's doing, I should know I've been doing archery since I was 4.

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