Disney Descendants: Rise of Red Dolls by Mattel

I'm back with the second installment of my two-part Disney Descendants series!  And I have to admit that this is the review I've been looking forward to the most.  All of the dolls that I'm going to talk about today are from the fourth live action Descendants movie, Rise of Red.  This movie has all of the same sound overproduction issues as the first three, but it features Brandy Norwood as Cinderella and Paolo Montalban as Prince Charming.  The casting is important to me because those are the same actors who played Cinderella and the Prince in the 1997 Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella--a film I have always adored.

Another reason that Brandy is special to me is that I was fortunate enough to see her on Broadway when she appeared for a brief stint as Roxie in Chicago.  I think that was back in 2017, and we had front row seats.  I might have already gushed about that experience here on the blog, but for good reason: it was unforgettable, and the closest I've ever gotten to meeting Cinderella in real life!

Knowing all of that, imagine my delight when I discovered that not only had Brandy reprised her role as Cinderella in Rise of Red, but Mattel had made a doll of that character!  And the doll looks quite a bit like Brandy herself:

Rise of Red Cinderella by Mattel ($29.99).

Disney Descendants Anniversary Mal Doll by Mattel

I have to say, a lot of my review inspiration lately has been driven by nostalgia.  I think it's because I'm still in the process of updating the List of All Reviews page, which involves going back through each of my old posts, tidying up dead links, enlarging some of the photos, and general housekeeping stuff like that.  And of course every third or fourth review, I'm like, "ooh!  Those dolls were fun! I should get them out and play with them again."  And sometimes I'm like, "ooh!  I loved that doll!  Why on earth did I ever sell her?"  And then I go to eBay and try to re-purchase the same doll.  It's really bad...but ever so predictable.  I should probably talk to my therapist about it.

Anyway, as I sifted through my 2015 reviews, I was reminded of the Hasbro dolls from the Descendants movie.  Do you remember those dolls?  They have funny caricature faces and bad hair.  I realized that, despite having written two reviews of the dolls, I never actually watched the movie!  And now, more than ten years later, there are three more live action Descendants movies with a fourth slated for 2026.  There are also a ton of new dolls, now being made by Mattel.

After discovering all of this, I purchased a bunch of the new dolls and watched all of the movies.  My favorite movie is the most recent: Rise of Red.  I like it because it includes Cinderella, played by none other than Brandy Norwood!  Like, the same Brandy who starred in the wonderful 1997 Cinderella movie!  Eeeee!  The prince is played by the same actor, too, which is incredible.  So, anyway, I'm going to focus on the dolls from that movie for the most part, but I want to start by taking a look at Mattel's Anniversary Mal doll, so that we can compare her to the Hasbro Mal that I reviewed back in 2015:

Disney Descendants Anniversary Mal doll by Mattel, $24.99.

The Little Flower by Helen Kish and Ruby Ho

I didn't let that Helen Kish Chrysalis review sit at the top of the page for very long, which is unusual for me, but there's a lot that I still want to get done this summer, and time is going fast!  I can't believe it's already the middle of July.  Today's review is essentially a follow-up to that Chrysalis review, though, so check it out if you want some background.

While the last review dealt with older Kish dolls from 2008-2010, today I'm going to jump forward to the present day and look at The Little Flower, who is a brand-new doll that's a collaboration between Helen Kish and Ruby Ho (founder of Ruby Red Galleria).  The Little Flower is inspired by Thérèse of Lisieux, a real-life 19th century saint whose nickname was Little Flower.  This doll is being sold exclusively at the Virtual Doll Convention (VDC) shop, and last time I checked she was still available:

The Little Flower by Helen Kish and Ruby Ho for the Virtual Doll Convention ($325).

1:6 Scale Wedding Dresses for Barbie, Part Two

Are you ready to look at more wedding dresses?  I hope so, because I have a bunch to share with you today.  Lena and I have been enjoying your comments from Part One of this series, learning which dresses you like best so far, and seeing some of those dresses differently based on your insights.  For example, thanks to Alison, now we know about "bouncy" seams, and are a bit less enamored with the overly-shiny fabrics.  I also feel like we might have missed a great opportunity by not considering a custom dress--especially now that some of Lena's preferences are becoming clear.

So far I've learned that she likes a bit of drama, especially in the back of the dress.  She also likes off-white, as it compliments her complexion, and lace seems to make her happy.  She doesn't like flowers or bows very much, and certainly won't be wearing a short dress to her wedding.  And we might have to reconsider the idea of an up-do for her hair.  I've enjoyed seeing how pretty and natural she looks with her hair down.

On the other hand, some wedding up-dos are spectacular, and make me reconsider.  For example, check out the hair (and tiara!) on Reem Acra's beautiful Barbie bride:

We'll be stealing that dress.

1:6 Scale Wedding Dresses for Barbie, Part One

Spring is definitely in full swing here in New Jersey, which means a lot of flowers...and a lot of kittens.  I've been having a fun time with both recently: my husband and I spent the last two weekends re-planting large areas of our garden that didn't survive the winter, while taking breaks to watch our foster cat raise her new litter of five kittens.  It's all been pretty magical.

Springtime also means that Lena's wedding is right around the corner!  That's magical, too, but she hasn't picked a dress yet, which is stressing me out.  So, during the month of May, I'll try to help her make a decision by showcasing a variety of dresses in several different styles and ranging in price from $6.89 to $242.

My plan right now is to do three wedding dress posts.  The first two will feature gowns made by Mattel specifically for Barbie dolls.  The third post will focus on off-brand or handmade dresses that I found on eBay, Amazon, and Etsy.  This won't even come close to being a comprehensive look at all currently available Barbie wedding attire, but that doesn't mean we won't be looking at a lot of dresses over the next few weeks.  In the end, I think Lena will have nearly thirty gowns to choose from.  That ought to be enough, don't you think?

We'll see, Emily.

Sunday Surprise: Bitty Pop! Disney Princesses by Funko!

I'm still in the process of gradually adding links to the List of All Reviews page, which is fun because it helps me remember some of my older stuff.  There are dolls on this blog that I'd completely forgotten about over the years, like Mattel's charming Kuu Kuu Harajuku Girls (they didn't last long...) or those strangely-colored but environmentally friendly AZIAM Girlz.  A pattern that I've been noticing as I go through the list is that I used to write more Sunday Surprise posts.  Or I feel like I did, anyway.  There was a period back in 2017 where nearly every other review was a Sunday Surprise!  These days, I'm lucky if I squeeze in three or four per year.

Some of my very favorite reviews (like Sweet e.Baby and WuvLuvs) have been Sunday Surprises, so I decided that I should try to remedy this deficit by adding more surprise-themed toys to the blog.  I'm eager to review the Disney Princess Surprise Tower sets that were recommended to me a few weeks ago, and have those in the queue, but I've been looking at so many Mattel dolls lately, I need a change of pace.

So, with Disney Princesses on my mind, I went on a hunt for more surprise dolls.  And guess what?  I discovered that Funko makes mini versions of their Disney Princess characters!  Eee!  I love minis, and I love Funko and their Disney figures!  Even better, each set of tiny Princesses comes with a mystery character.  Perfect.  So, today I'll take a look at Funko's Bitty Pop! line and uncover a few adorable mystery Princesses:

Funko Pop! Cinderella 222 with a pyramid of Bitty Pop! Princesses.

My Scene Swappin' Styles Barbie by Mattel

Here we are on the final head-swapping review of the series!  Or at least that's what I thought.  As a few of you mentioned in the comments, Mattel has recently come out with their new Barbie Basics line, and these dolls have...wait for it...swappable heads!  They also have Made to Move bodies.  Eee!  I immediately bought all five dolls (gulp) and am eager to take a closer look at them.  However, the five Basics dolls don't share a common skin tone, so there's not a lot of head-swapping that can happen, yet.  Fortunately, Mattel also announced three You Create kits to accompany the Basics dolls.  These kits have additional heads, bodies, wigs (!), and fashions, which I suspect will add to the fun considerably.  It all reminds me a bit of Monster High's Create-a-Monster kits from 2012...although I hope the quality is better.  Anyway, my plan is to wait until I have at least one You Create kit before I write a review, and while the kits can be pre-ordered now, they won't arrive until April.

That's all very exciting to me, and I can hardly wait for April, but I'm also super-excited about the dolls in this review.  Today we're going back in time to look at a much earlier head-swapping doll from Mattel: My Scene Barbie from 2005:

My Scene Swappin' Styles Barbie by Mattel, 2005.

Advent Calendar wrap-up: Lego Princesses, Schleich, and Dirds

Happy New Year!  Before I launch into the regular reviews that I have planned for January, I figured I should close out the advent calendar series by showing you the last three calendars that I have on hand.  I actually only purchased two of these for review, and the third one, Lego's Disney Princess calendar, was an incredibly thoughtful and timely gift from my mother-in-law...who had no idea that I was planning an advent calendar series for the blog!  She knows me very well.

Here are the three remaining calendars:

From left: Lego Disney Princesses, Sky and Ocean building blocks, and Schleich Horse Club.

Unicorn Academy Dolls by Spin Master

I've been excitedly waiting for the Unicorn Academy merchandise to hit the shelves for several months now.  Not because I'm an avid reader of the original book series by Julie Sykes (although I recently read and enjoyed the first volume), but because I tend to be interested in everything Spin Master does.

I'm a fan of Spin Master primarily because of their Liv line, which came out way back in 2009 and jump-started my enthusiasm for dolls and doll reviewing.  I was also amused by the flamboyant La Dee Da dolls, despite their minimal articulation, and kind of wish I'd kept a few of those girls in my collection.  Most recently, I reviewed Spin Master's Mermaid High dolls and found them to be versatile and whimsical little play companions.

Based on that history, I tend to have a high level of enthusiasm when I learn about a new Spin Master doll line.  And with the Unicorn Academy release I was doubly excited because not only are there a bunch of new dolls, in two different scales, but there's a wonderful selection of unicorn characters to accompany them:

4.5" Sophia and Wildstar by Spin Master, $14.99

Tea with Lena: 1:6 Scale Horses

I have animals on my mind most of the time.  That's in part because I have eleven of them living in my house, but also because I spend my days at work taking care of another hundred or so homeless creatures.  But I also just like thinking about animals, especially horses.  The impressive size and graceful movement of horses has always been spellbinding to me.  Realistic 1:9 model horses like those made by the Breyer company are able to capture a lot of the things that I find so beautiful about horses, and so I've always admired them (and also reviewed them a few times).  I was even more obsessed with Breyer models when I was a kid, and amassed a collection that covered an entire wall of my room.

Back in March, when I wrote the Horse Foal Surprise review, I was reminded of how much I enjoy model horses.  That inspired me to do some investigating into what 1:6 scale horse options are available these days.  And my research turned out to be timely, as you'll see, because of something exciting that happened to Lena.

Lena with Hanoverian Horse by JXK, $130.

Keeping Up With Kurhn

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything, mostly because my job uses up a lot of energy, but also because I've been taking some actual time off to relax and do silly things like hang with my dogs or play Tears of the Kingdom.  It's been nice.

Time off gives me a chance to reflect, too, and one of the things I realized is that I've been reviewing dolls for so long, some of the brands I looked at early on have changed and expanded significantly since my last check-in.  Kurhn dolls are a great example of this.  I first reviewed the Kurhn brand way back in 2013 with a two-part mini series that featured a basic Kurhn playset and a more expensive Glamorous Kurhn girl.  I was impressed with the brand back then, and planned a few follow-up posts, but got distracted by other things.

I was reminded of Kurhn dolls as I was packing up to move from Maine to New Jersey in 2020. I found a second Glamorous Kurhn that I'd apparently purchased at one point...and then completely forgotten about.  I was surprised by how nice she looked, and so instead of selling her, I brought her with me to the new house.  Then, about a year ago, I took some time to investigate the current Kurhn market.  That research led to several more purchases (of course) not all of which will fit into today's review.  Today I'll look at the new-ish Kurhn fashion dolls that caught my eye, like this adorable panda-themed Anniversary doll:

Little Panda 17th Anniversary Edition Kurhn doll, $21.50.

November Sale Dolls

Things are going slowly but surely with my November sales event...which will probably occur in December at this point.  The biggest problem is that I ordered tons of Priority Mail boxes on the 16th, but they still haven't arrived.  They're in Trenton, which is super-close to me, but have not made any progress since the 18th.  I ordered another batch yesterday, but don't really expect a different result.

I can't ship anything until I have boxes, but I figured I might as well get started posting some of the dolls that will be for sale eventually.  I'll probably try to collect a second batch of offerings before the sale, since I have a zillion dolls, but let's start with these!

Sybarite Couture Swallow by Superdoll.

Ily 4EVER Fashion Dolls by Jakks Pacific

First of all, I want to thank Hannah for stepping in and reviewing the 18-inch ily 4EVER dolls last week! I've been learning the ropes at my new job (and bringing home rag-tag foster animals in the process...) and was grateful for a helping hand.  I thought it was especially fun to learn about all of the different face molds.  I love the newest Stitch face, and because that doll is a freckled redhead, of course I had to add her to my collection.  Her presence in the house will probably prompt me to watch Lilo and Stitch, finally, which is something I'm embarrassed to say that I've never done.  So thank you to Hannah for that enrichment, too!

Since we're on the topic of ily 4EVER dolls, I want to take the opportunity to talk about the newest 11.5 inch fashion dolls from that line.  For anyone unfamiliar with the brand, ily 4EVER dolls are characters dressed with inspiration from their favorite Disney character.  So they're not meant to be Disney Princesses or anything like that, just Disney fans.  Anyway, I reviewed the original Shop Disney version of these dolls already, but the new dolls, which are made by Jakks Pacific, are different enough that I think they deserve their own review.  I decided to focus on a doll from this collection who is inspired by a sweet character who stars in a movie that I have no desire to watch again, Bambi:

11.5 inch ily 4EVER Bambi doll by Jakks Pacific, $29.99.

Disney's Ily 4EVER 18-inch Dolls--A Guest Review!

Dear Toy Box Philosopher blog readers, I’m Hannah, an adult doll collector from London, United Kingdom, and the author of The Toy Gems blog site. I have been collecting dolls since I can remember - which dates back to the age of two when my happiest photographs are with my dolls. I am also a writer/screenwriter and an English graduate who loves collecting dolls and figurines to surround my writing desk. My favourite toy brands growing up included these doll lines: MyScene, Liv dolls, Monster High, Moxie Teenz and of course the popular brands - Barbie and Bratz. 

I also hold American Girl close to my heart and as a British child I was always flicking through their digital catalogue and like any young American Girl, I grew up loving the doll brand. Before AG, other 18-inch dolls lines that made a big impact on me involved the BFC Ink Club dolls which were my favourite along with Journey Girls, My London Girl and Gotz. In recent years, I have enjoyed expanding my doll collection with dolls of varying heights including, the Ruby Red Fashion Friends/Siblies and the British brand A Girl For All Time.

Thank you to Emily for providing me with the opportunity to share a review of the 18-inch ily 4EVER dolls on this iconic site. Growing up, I read every single blog post from The Toy Box Philosopher and spent hours scrolling through images and reading reviews. It was especially exciting reading about doll lines that did not have a Europe/UK release and accessing this knowledge was only viable through this blog.

I am a huge fan and have been reading for more than ten years now. And so it may continue… It’s also great to see what the future holds as ten years ago I would never have guessed that I would be writing and publishing a guest review here of my very own.

Ily 4EVER Minnie (left) and Tinker Bell (right).

Disney's Zombies 2 Movie Dolls by Mattel

September has not gotten off to a great start for me.  First of all, my newest rescue dog, Kit, was recently diagnosed with heart disease and bladder stones.  This involved spending a whole day at the emergency clinic with him, and stressing while he had surgery the following day.  Literally one day after the surgery, I had to travel (with all five dogs in tow) to take care of some family business, which was both physically and mentally exhausting.  These are not the worst problems in the world to have, but they're why I haven't posted anything for a while.

Needless to say, I was extremely happy to get back into the swing of things this past week.  I'm delighted to be sitting here typing up a new review, with Kit cuddled beside me--healing beautifully and filled with new-found spunk.

And of course rather than easing back into things gradually with the blog, I decided to jump in with a behemoth review.  The goal today is to look at six (yes, six) dolls from Disney's Zombies 2 movie.  I started researching these dolls because I thought they looked fun, not because I'd actually seen the Zombies 2 movie.  In fact, I hadn't even heard of the Zombies movie franchise before I found these dolls.  The movies are similar in style and with the same target audience as shows like High School Musical and Descendants.  Movies like this tend to produce interesting and popular dolls, which was enough to get me on board for a review.  Also, I've never been one to resist a good zombie doll, especially if he has green hair:

Zed and Addison dolls from Disney's Zombies 2 movie, $19.99 each (by Mattel).

My First Barbie by Mattel

Happy July!  I decided that since the movie, Barbie, is coming out on the 21st of this month (I can hardly wait!!), I would make this Barbie Month here on the blog!  I'm not sure if every single review in July will be Barbie-themed (that'll depend on how fast I work), but I'll definitely have a few Barbie features and will round out the month with a look at some of the dolls that are specifically based on the movie.

To start things off, I figured that on the first day of the month, the first Barbie that I review should be My First Barbie!  Makes sense, right?  Besides, I teased a review of this doll during a Tea With Lena post way back in January, so it's high time we finally get to meet her:

My First Barbie by Mattel, $19.99.

Blythe Plaid Parade by Takara TOMY

I can't believe it's been more than a year since my imitation Blythe doll review.  Do you remember that whole saga?  I reviewed a cute but overpriced doll that I purchased from This is Blythe (an online shop), and the owner of the shop (who has no association with Gina Garan) harassed me relentlessly for months, threatening all kinds of nonsense.  I got fed up and trashed that review and that doll.  I started over again with a new doll of the exact same brand that I got for less than half the price on AliExpress.  I'd rather not talk any more about that whole debacle now, but you can get the detailed scoop here, and in my earlier review.

When I wrote the imitation Blythe post, I had the intention of following it up with reviews of authentic Blythe dolls--something I've never done on this site.  But after all of the nastiness, I had to take a break from that whole world and re-gain my sanity.  Now, a year later, I'm ready to proceed with the original plan.  The reason I was so excited to dive into the Blythe-o-sphere in the first place was that back in July of 2021, Hasbro (who owns the Blythe license) severed its long-term connection with Takara and switched the manufacturing of their dolls over to Good Smile Company.  This made me curious to compare an older Takara doll to a newer Good Smile Company release.

To kick off that comparison, today I'm going to talk about my Takara Blythe doll, Plaid Parade.  This redheaded cutie has been sitting in her box at my house for well over a year, patiently waiting for her turn in the spotlight:

Plaid Parade Blythe doll by Takara TOMY, ¥23,650 (~$166).

Live Action The Little Mermaid Ariel by Mattel

Thank you to everyone who wished me well with my arm injury!  The cuts are healing slowly and of course the scars will have good anecdotal value.  I'm getting so bad at replying to comments, but I always read them and truly love hearing everyone else's thoughts, tips, and advice.  Thank you for taking the time to contribute.

It's been a week since I saw the new live action The Little Mermaid movie, and I'm still riding high on the experience...or I'm still singing Part of Your World in my head every thirty seconds, anyway.  I've also really enjoyed seeing clips of Halle Bailey interacting with her fans over the past week.  She seems like a very kind person.  One story I didn't tell during the last review is that I sat next to a little Black girl at the movie, and at the end, she and her mom applauded and cheered loudly.  Then, the little girl left the theatre grinning from ear-to-ear and waving to everyone.  I don't honestly know why she was waving, but I like to believe that this Ariel, and this movie, made her feel beautiful and special--like a princess.

After thoroughly enjoying Shop Disney's Ariel doll in my last review, I'm here today to take a closer look at an equivalent doll in the Mattel lineup: Deluxe Ariel:

Live Action The Little Mermaid Deluxe Ariel by Mattel, $45.00.

Live Action The Little Mermaid Ariel by Disney

Okay, so I know that Disney live action remake movies are not everyone's cup of tea.  I have a few of the naysayers in my own family--and I agree with some of their points.  For example, I'll happily admit that some of the autotune singing in Beauty and the Beast is cringey.  Still, I can't help but get wrapped up in the excitement of seeing these beloved stories re-told.  I mean, there could be a new movie version of Cinderella every year and I would not object.  But because of my mixed feelings about re-makes, as the release date for the live action Little Mermaid came closer and closer, I wasn't sure how excited I would be.  Finally, last week, I took a minute to find a trailer online.  I watched it, riveted, with tears in my eyes.  When I heard the snippet from Halle Bailey's rendition of Part of Your World, I straight-up cried...and I knew exactly how excited I was about this movie: very excited.  Very.

I wasn't quite excited enough to head to the theaters on Friday night, release day, but I was there first thing Saturday morning.  The movie is incredible.  In fact, I think it's the best live action re-make so far (even considering my Cinderella bias).  Halle Bailey is luminous, Melissa McCarthy is brilliant as Ursula, and I love Daveed Diggs' take on Sebastian.  In addition, the hair animation is mind-boggling, and the underwater scenes are immersive...and breathtaking.  I think my husband will love this movie simply because of the diversity of sea life that's depicted during Under the Sea.  I feel like the end dragged on for too long and was a bit awkward, but that's a small complaint.  The movie as a whole was magical and I can't wait to see it again.

Unfortunately, even when Disney has a hit with these remake movies, the accompanying dolls aren't necessarily good.  The Disney Store's interpretations of Belle and Cinderella were strange, and ultimately disappointing.  This time around, both Mattel and Disney have released a collection of The Little Mermaid dolls, and the promotional photos look very promising.  So, today I'll review the Disney Store's version of Ariel, and next time I'll compare and contrast her to Mattel's deluxe Ariel doll.  And I'll tell you right up front: I am even more excited about these dolls than I was about the movie trailer:

Live Action The Little Mermaid Ariel doll by Disney, $34.99.

The My Twinn Princess Makeovers

I have a complicated and long-term history with My Twinn dolls at this point, which isn't something I would have predicted ten years ago.  In March of 2013, I purchased and reviewed my very first My Twinns.  I had a decent opinion of the dolls back then, but a lot of that had to do with the fact that I found them on a great sale.  I didn't learn much about the history of the brand during that review, nor about the wide range in quality.  My deep dive came a few years later in 2016, when I started the My Twinn Project series.  In those posts, I chronicled my experience with fixing up old, high-quality Denver-era My Twinns, which are much nicer than the dolls I bought in 2013.

My passion for fixing up My Twinns escalated quickly after that, and the dolls started to make more frequent appearances here on the blog...and also started to fill up my house.  I became obsessed with seeking out old dolls with rare faces and skin tones, and the more beat-up they were, the better!  When I decided to take a break from reviewing dolls in 2018, I continued to work on the My Twinns, and even started a separate blog, The My Twin Project Shop, to chronicle my endeavors.  That blog kept me connected to the online doll world, and the dolls gave me a creative outlet and escape during the early, dark days of the pandemic.  It was a bit of a lifeline, frankly.

One of the hardest things about starting this blog up again has been that I no longer have much time to work on My Twinns.  Worse yet, I stopped doing Twinn makeovers before I'd even finished a princess series that was a lot of fun!  So, today I decided to share an overview of my princess project with all of you, and present the last two dolls in the group: the Cinderellas.

Future Cinderella: a Denver-era My Twinn doll with the Lenora face.