The Anna and Elsa Ice Skating Set from the Disney Store: A Guest Review!

Well, it seems like there has finally been an enduring re-stock of Frozen dolls over at the Disney Store.  While the 12 inch Kristoff and Hans characters sold out again fairly quickly (and Elsa comes in and out of stock) there are still many great dolls available--including a few new additions.  I was just starting to put together a review of one of the new Mini Wardrobe playsets for you when I got an email from Zoe.  Zoe has been waiting a long time to write a guest review, and as luck would have it, she recently purchased the exclusive Anna and Elsa Ice Skating set--another new addition to the Disney Store lineup.  So, I decided to create a short two-review series to close out this week:  Zoe will review the Anna and Elsa set today, and then I will review a Mini Wardrobe set tomorrow.

I first met Zoe back in June, right after Samehch's Bratz doll overview.  Not only does Zoe know a lot about the early Bratz dolls, but she also shares my passion for Liv dolls and fairy tales.  Zoe's fairy tale fondness enticed her into collecting Ever After High dolls, and also many of the Disney Princesses, which gives her some great reference points for this review.  Thank you so much for sharing this rare sister set with us, Zoe!

Elsa (left) and Anna (right) from the Disney Store Ice Skating set.

Anna and Elsa Knockoff Dolls From China

I have to admit that I am still obsessed with the global Frozen doll shortage, and I spend a certain amount of time every week checking the Disney Store inventory and browsing secondary market sales online.  eBay prices on these dolls have come down a little bit since my last Frozen doll review, but it can still cost $40 for the Disney Store Classic Elsa doll, and closer to $70 for an Anna and Elsa pair.  

While I was browsing eBay a few weeks ago, I noticed a two-doll set of Anna and Elsa selling for $18 with free shipping.  This is actually lower than the original Disney Store retail price for this sister set.  On closer inspection of the dolls, however, I realized that they are not authentic Disney Store dolls, but rather knockoffs selling directly from China.  They did look like reasonable imitations, though, complete with a high level of articulation.  Because I am inexplicably fascinated by cheap knockoffs, and because I noticed that a lot of people seem to be purchasing and bidding on these dolls, I figured it might be a good idea to do a quick review.

Counterfeit Elsa and Anna dolls from China.

Musical Magic Elsa Doll by Mattel

Well, I am making some progress through my crazy-busy week (seven more lanterns done!) and wanted to post a short review of a Frozen doll...in honor of yesterday's much-anticipated DVD release.  Many of us were hoping for an enduring re-stock of Disney Store Frozen dolls to accompany the DVD debut, but this hasn't happened yet.  Most of the dolls seem to have come back into stock a few days ago (I don't know exactly when..I missed it), but they quickly sold out again.  As I'm writing this, only the mini doll set is still available.

I reviewed the Disney Store's 16" Singing Elsa doll a few months ago, and so today I want to give you a quick overview of one of Mattel's musical dolls, Musical Magic Elsa.  There is also a Musical Magic Anna, and these dolls have a retail price of around $26 each.  Musical Elsa, like every other Elsa doll on the planet these days, has become quite scarce, and so her current asking price is more like $50-$60.

Musical Magic Elsa, by Mattel.  Not worth $50.

Frozen Dolls from J.C. Penney and The Disney Store: A Quick Update!

Well, I got distracted from the review I was working on by the arrival of a few J.C. Penney Frozen dolls that I ordered right after my Singing Elsa review (did I mention I was obsessed?).  This will be a brief post, but since I recommended the J.C. Penney dolls in the comments section to several of you (with incomplete information) I wanted to post a summary of my observations as soon as possible.

My understanding was that the J.C. Penney 12" Frozen dolls are exactly the same as the dolls being sold at the Disney Store, just wearing simpler outfits.  That's what it looked liked in the pictures, anyway.  This is not the case.  The dolls are actually different in ways that I think are important.

At the risk of inflicting Frozen overload, I will (quickly!) show you my 12" Elsa from J.C. Penney.  I will also show you the basic differences between the Animators' Collection toddler Anna from the Disney Store and the version of young Anna that is being sold at J.C. Penney.  Here is the Animators' Collection Anna...and her friend:

Animators' Collection Anna from Frozen (Disney Store).

The Disney Store's Anna and Elsa from Frozen: A Guest Review!

I bought the Disney Store's "Anna" doll many weeks ago. Even though the Frozen movie hasn't been released, I could not resist this doll's red-headed, freckled face. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the time to write a review yet, because too many other exciting things have been happening in the doll world. Imagine my happiness when Julia emailed to ask if she could do a guest review, and the doll she wanted to review was...Disney Store Anna! To make it even better, she has Elsa, too. I am so grateful that she came along at just the right moment to make this review possible. I'm going to turn most of the review over to Julia, but I'll chime in at the end with a few of my own observations--you know, after Julia has done all of the hard work. Over to you, Julia!

Hi I’m Julia, giving a guest review of the Anna & Elsa Classic Dolls by Disney.  To begin I hadn’t considered writing a review so you won’t find Anna in her box.  I’m quite impatient when it comes to “releasing” them.  This is my first doll review so I hope y’all enjoy!

 

Anna and Elsa from the Disney movie Frozen.