Hasbro Little Kingdom - Elsa review

"Together we'll be the greatest team/ There's ever been"

from the musical Wicked by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, song: Defying gravity

So this little beauty is a gift from a very dear friend :) It was not a surprise but only because she knew I would have bought her myself to give Anna aka Dori a sister. Thank you very much!

 As she is not from my country, not even from the continent where I live, so her packing is a little different, we will have a look at that.

She has of course the artwork at the front and the warnings as well. The upper left corner always has a picture or two form the movie of the character but I never really paid attention to it since I could not get pictures of those really small figures in the pictures.

Elsa and Anna are a bit bigger, since it is not a full body picture of them. The picture is from the end of the movie, right before Elsa gives Anna her skates.

The background is simple and icy.

The back of the box shows how the snap ins and the mix and match works and a much bigger picure of the character than the earlier boxes I have. It even looks a bit different from the actual Elsa, look at the face.

And look at the arms and the star shaped snowflake. Not matching at all but that does not bother me one bit. Maybe they photograped some prototypes and used those photos? I don't know.

Let's free Elsa. She has two ties across her insted of only one, like the others had. She doesn't come with an extra warning paper or that catalog showing the available sets.

I'm free!

Elsa is even worse at standing than Mulan and she is bad enough. It is hard to get this young lady standing, well she is a queen... She comes with a lightblue icicle (I think) headpiece, two white flowerlike snap ins and a star shaped snowflake, they used the same blue tone for it they used for the headpiece. Elsas top has the same blue shade as well.

Her arms are painted white to mark the sheer sleeves of her ice-dress. The skirt is a different blue, it is a pretty skyblue and it is decorated with lots of moulded snowflakes that go all around her skirt.

Elsa is shy and the skirt is, just like Mulans, super hard to get off, so I'll leave it on her. Maybe she does not want us to notice that wears tights - her legs are painted skyblue, like her skirt, her bodysuit has the other bluetone that is used for her top. She wears white slippers. As soon as she rises her arms, her top goes off. Said top has some pretty icy details it's really pretty and tries to be as movie accurate as possible.

Her face is really sweet, she wears her hair in a braid with lots of moulded details.

The colors are better on this pic but the other one is sharper

I really like how the locks are done on these dollies.
Now, it's time Marina meets her sister Dori.

For the first time in forever

They are really happy to have each other. :)

They inspect the picture on the back of the box as well.

So Marine over there is...

And have lots of things to talk about so we will just leave them now. Dori shows Marina around a bit. I'm so happy I got Elsa to go with Anna only I could not decide which one to choose so it was done for me. My little kingdom gets bigger and bigger and now it has a queen!

Hasbro Little Kingdom - Mulan review

"Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär
Dann würdest du dich in mir sehn

Dann fiel's dir nicht so schwer
Was ich nicht sage, zu verstehn"

Literally: If I were your mirror/ You would see yourself in me/ then it wouldn't be so hard/ to understand what I don't say aloud
from the musical Elisabeth by Lévay and Kunze, song: Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär (literally: If I were your mirror)

Finding Mulan was a lucky chance. First I didn't even want to check on the Little Kingdom figures when I was at the store since I had done so a few days earlier and there was nothing new. Then I decided  to have just a quick look. And I saw that they got some new stuff and of course I had to check it. At first glance it was only Ariel and Rapunzel.

Mulaaaaaaan!

But at the very back, the only Mulan they had was hiding. I was lucky to spot her and I took her without hesitation. Mulan is a very rare gal and she is one of my very favourite princesses. I know, I say that every time but it is true! Mulan is a family favourite as well, she is my mothers and my sisters favourite as well. There is another set with Mushu and Mulan called Mulans Teaparty, Mulan has a different hairstyle in that other set and of course different clothes. I would have loved to own that one but I'm just as happy with this Mulan. So, let's free her, it's really easy.

She comes with a fan , a flower crown snap in and a single flower snap in, which looks like the flower on the comb that was put into her hair. I hope I can make her hold her fan. She, like Merida, doesn't come with the little catalog showing the available sets.

The front has, as usual, some artwork, a very cute version of Mulan in  her green and yellow everyday outfit she wears at the beginning of the movie.

At the backside, there is the usual explanation of snap ins and mix and match and of course a photo of Mulan.

She is easy to debox just like the other Little Kigdom Princesses.

Mulan has her hair like when she goes to the matchmaker, only her bun is at the very top of her head. Hasbro choose to give her brown eyes which suit her very well in my opinion. Her outfit looks more like a dress with a mermaid style skirt than the matchmaker gown. It has pink as the main color, but her belt and the top part of her skirt are golden and her sleeves are teal.

I don't remember Mulan having an outfit with this colorcombination but overall she looks nice in these colors. There are some nice moulded details on her dress.

The fan has Mushu on it and, quite unusal for an accessory that can be hold in the hand, it has a peg so it can be fastened either to the skirt or the head.

She can hold it beautifully.

It even works with both hands if the arms are moved a little.

A closer look at the flower in her hair.

Also, look at the moulded details in her hair and Mushus head on her fan

Mulan is by far the worst stander of the group, she is supported by a little paper stand I made  for my mini dolls. I guess Elsa will need some support too, she has a dress with a similar shape. She tends to fall back, so it is hard to get a picture of her backside.

I managed but it is not one of the best ones. Teal top and teal shoes are visible. Although she can't balace while standing, she is really great at sitting.

Once the golden part is removed she can sit beautifully and noone misses that golden belt. The skirt is super hard to get off. Here are her teal slippers again.

Maybe borrowed from Anna?

Under her pink top she has a teal bodysuit.

She thinks the golden part could pass as a helmet.

I'm so happy I could snag her she is a really pretty and rare addition to my collection.
The little Miss is called Kim :)

I won't do a mix and match photoshoot this time, I'll do one big separate mix and match photoshoot once all the princesses I currently own are deboxed and reviewed.

Announcement - going on vacation and testpost plus givaway at Nevergrowup

Hi all, as the title says I'm going on vacation on the 14th august and come back on the 2nd september. During the first few days and during the last few day I'll most likely have internet. I'll reply and publish comments posted during this time after I get back. I'll try and see if I can Make some reserve posts and let them publish themselves automatically while I'm away. I'm testing it with this one. :)


Hannah and NeverGrowUp blog celebrate 7th blogoversary, there is a giveaway as well, feel free to enter, it's world  wide :) In this post you can see the prizes and what you need to do to enter. Good luck everybody!

New arrivals on their way to become friends part 2 - a story by Elisabeth, Becky and Arabella

"Now it seems It's me that's been a fool for all this time"

from Frank Wildhorns The Count of Monte Cristo, song: All this time

Credit for Pocket Princesses goes to Ms Amy Mebberson, the wonderful artist doing these every week.
https://www.facebook.com/pocketprincesses/?fref=ts

Arabellas part:

 So Meritre decided to finally get some of the new gals out of the box.

Excited onlookers

All of us were excited, both new girls looked unique, and I already started to think what would look best on them. But maybe it’s better to wait until I get to know them a little, so I can decide what will look both good on them and they’ll feel comfortable in it as well.

These Gals are just as excited as the others

Meritre started to get them out and was chatting happily the whole time. I was a bit lost in my thoughts but something that she said made me get back into reality: She’ll make a great stand-in for PocketPrincesses 133. I knew that one, since it was one of my favourites, featuring Jasmine. The others were jus lazily lying around, Jasmine was the most important Princess in that one. And… Meritre wanted to use that new girl for it? Well, Elena does look a bit like Jasmine but… why? She is not that much prettier, was she?

I walked away. The mirror could not answer my question. Suddenly I felt angry, very angry. Fine, I’m not pretty enough, I don’t look like Jasmine. This new chit may think she can take my place but I won’t let her do it! But what can I do against it? Nothing, I’m too small and weak against a human.

So when this new girl was trying to get to know me, I was unjust and unfriendly. I knew that was wrong and I fel guilty but my anger and disappointment were stronger. The others did realise that there was something the matter and they asked me about it. ‘Nothing!’ was my answer and I felt even more guilty. Now I was mean to my friends. Well, if I’m going to be replaced, I can start looking for a new home. And if I’m like this, they won’t miss me so much when I’m gone. I was shocked, angry and sad. The others seemed to know something, they hanged out together and whispered a lot. Maybe they were talking about me, maybe not. I had to find out.

I sneaked fairly close and than I pretended to just walk past them only by chance.They were talking in low voices, practically whispering to each other so I could not hear anything. I spent and I still spend a lot of time looking through the window at a cherry tree standing in the garden. One day I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn’t tnotice that the others climbed up to the window as well. Looks like they have something to tell me.

Then Rosemary stepped forward. ‘Don’t’ Lizzy screamed and tried to hold her back. But she was not to be stopped.

‘Bella, please, please tell us, what’s the matter so we can help you, it’s painful to watch how you struggle on your own!’

They just had to intefere, I wasn’t sure if they were just curious or if they really wanted to help. I decided to be on the defensive side.

‘I’m not struggling, I’m perfectly fine.Perhaps you need some help? You seem to be overanyious.’

‘Told you it would not do anything good.’

‘I’m not seeing things and I’m not going anywhere until we set things right.’ Rosemary was starting to show her temper. ‘It might be imagination if only one person notices it but all of us think the same. I’m quite sure it’s only a misunderstanding.’

It's not a mmisunderstanding!

‘Well and I’m quite sure it’s not! Meritre thinks about replacing me and let this new chick play Jasmine in Pocket Princess recreations!’ So it was out. I was shocked for a moment for saying it so boldly but at the same time it was a relief as well. The others were staring at me as if I were mad. ‘Where did you pick up this absurd idea?’

Elisabeths part:

I knew that Rosemary will very likely go to Arabella and talk directly to her to find out what’s the matter. Her method is always going directly to the point. I didn’t think it would do any good but if we wanted to find out anything, we had to speak with her.

‘Just some casual small talk about Pocket Princesses will do, than we can figure it out.’

But of course it did not go as I had hoped, my friend could not hold herself back.

I could see she was almost bursting, not being able to do anything was unbearable to her. But it worked out, well, kind of. She was so irritating that Bella could not hold back anymore.

‘Meritre thinks about replacing me and let this new chick play Jasmine in Pocket Princess recreations!’ she blurted out. What? This is impossible, how come shoe thinks something like that?

‘Why would she do something like that?’ Chris asked. ‘She is not that type.’

‘She said herself that this new girl Nick or whatever she calls herself is going to be Pocket Princesses Nr 133! And that one is starring Rajah and Jasmine the others are all just lying around and…’

I’v never seen her like this, fighting with tears and looking so vulnerable. She is usually sassy and she gives encouragement and is hardly ever in need of being encouraged. We arrived at the root of this mess.

‘… and Meritre does think they look alike and…’

‘Hold on, which one were you talking about? I know for sure Meritre was talking about the one with Mulan and Esmeralda celebrating Chinese new year. She plans to dress upp Elena as Esmeralda and not as Jasmine.’

While they were talking it over with Bella I quickly looked up the numbers, I had a feeling it had to do something with this misunderstanding.

Obviousy Arabella misheard the number. We cleared up one small misunderstanding but this episode separated the new group from us a bit and it was going to be hard to set things right. After she thought it a bit over, Rosie agreed too. ‘Maybe Annis has an idea?’ she suggested. She always kept a cool head and gave good advice on delicate matters and this was one.

And she did have a splendid idea. ‘Why don’t you give them a good example and tell them your story? Maybe it’ll help them all to deal with this situation.’ We both nodded. ‘Wonderful idea! Good thing I wrote everything down.’ Rosemary remarked

‘We will give them an example!’

Beckys part:

Appearantly Arabella thought that Nicky is going to replace her and she was jelaous. I guess that’s understandable but I still feel awkward about the whole thing and the girls were aware of that. They asked me to came and meet them in the evening they wanted to tell us something. Nicolette thought that this showed that they really cared. They even wanted to fix this situation. How can something like this fixed?

I was skeptic and didn’t really want to go.

‘At least they try to do something about it, let’s give them a chance.’ Nicky begged.

Please!

‘It’s for you to decide, you are one of the main characters of this drama.’

So we went.

They prepared a cozy little corner and even some snacks.

(to our non-doll readers: we don’t have to eat but we can. And we mostly eat just sweets and whatever we like best. It is otherwise in the world of the Princess House, there we must eat regularly like humans)

I was a bit releieved to see that Arabella was sitting between Chris and Annis.

We took our seats. At least they did not want to force us sitting next to each other while watching a movie or something. I thought that’s what they had in mind. Instead, we got to hear the story of a friendship.

Our two Storytellers stood up and welcomed everybody. Well actually we started with Rosemarys story.

So next Mini Princess Story will finally be Rosemarys Story :)