Encanto Mirabel doll from the Disney Store

I always try to avoid writing reviews that take three days to read.  I really do.  I have mixed success with this, though (the Monster High review coulda been shorter...), but thankfully the Encanto Mirabel dolls that I want to compare happen to fit nicely into separate reviews.  So this entry is basically the second part of my previous review, which focused on Mirabel dolls from Jakks Pacific.  Today I'll look at the Disney Store's 11-inch Mirabel and see how she compares.

I've reviewed a lot of Disney Store dolls over the years, and I've loved many of them, but the dolls started to suffer a decline in quality around six years ago.  At that point I tried to stop myself from making any more Disney Store purchases, for fear of being hugely disappointed.  I caved to temptation a few times after 2016, and I had mixed results. For example, among the live action Beauty and the Beast dolls, Belle was hugely disappointing.  But with the Tangled: The Series dolls, Rapunzel was an amazing surprise!  That Rapunzel left me feeling hopeful, so last year when I re-booted the blog, one of the first things I did was buy a Disney Store Elsa doll.  And guess what?  I was hugely disappointed.  I couldn't even finish her review.  Why can't I learn?

But Mirabel looked promising.  And she looked different enough from the Elsa doll that, against my better judgement, I decided to buy her.  I justified the purchase by telling myself that this was the Disney Store's first attempt at Mirabel, and their first-run dolls are often higher-quality than the later versions.  So here I am--yet again--coming back from a big disappointment to give the Disney Store another chance.  We'll see how it goes.

Encanto Mirabel doll from the Disney Store, $24.99.

Encanto Mirabel Dolls by Jakks Pacific

Well, I missed celebrating the one-year anniversary of the blog re-start.  That's typical.  I can't believe it's already been a year, but I guess the huge pile of dolls in my basement is pretty good evidence.  I need to get more serious about selling the dolls I review--or at least the ones who are worth something more than $20.  And since I've gotten out of the habit of selling dolls right after I finish their reviews, I'll find other ways of letting you know when something is for sale.  I can post on Twitter and Patreon easily, and I'll add a comment to the review of any doll that's about to be for sale.  There's also a gadget on the right side of the blog that will appear when there are items in the shop.

Another thing that's worth celebrating is that I have sixty Patrons already!  Woo hoo!  Thank you so much to that dedicated crew for helping out financially, and also for your inspiring comments, suggestions, and messages.  I could not do this without you.

But that's enough of that!  If I don't get this review written soon, some other new thing will come along to distract me and I'll be even more behind.  I've had three different dolls from the Disney movie Encanto sitting in my workroom for months now, and it's high time that I take a look at them.  Today I'll focus on two Mirabel dolls (and one Antonio doll) by Jakks Pacific, and then in a few days I'll follow up with a comparison to the Disney Store's version of Mirabel.

The Mirabel and Antonio Adventure set by Jakks Pacific, $24.99.