Disney Singing Princess Dolls Compared to Prudence from Wilde Imagination

Each year sometime before Christmas, the Disney Store releases a collection of singing Princess dolls. These dolls are less than $30, and are similarly sized to the popular 16" fashion dolls on the market today. Going along with the budget theme I've had this week, I wanted to do a comparison of the Princess dolls to Prudence from Wilde Imagination.

Prudence and Ariel

Both dolls are seen here on one of the Wilde saddle stands. They are pretty much exactly the same height. 

Close up of head size

Ariel has a slightly smaller, slimmer head. Ariel also has a slimmer neck and shoulder area than Pru has. So now, on to the naked test.

Similar joints

As you can see, the dolls have almost identical knee and elbow joints. Prudence is jointed at the chest and wrists, and Ariel is not. This is to be expected, as the Ariel doll is much less expensive than Prudence.

Up close view of joints

So the question that must be burning in your mind right now is, "Well, can they share clothes?"

Clothes swap!

Up close

In the above picture, it's clear to see that Ariel's dress is a little tight on Pru, and Pru's dress is a little loose on Ariel. They do, however, look cute in each other's clothes if you ask me. 

This velcro is hanging on for dear life

While the clothes sharing is doable with these dolls, shoe sharing is not. Ariel's feet are a bit smaller than Pru's, so the shoe swap won't work out.

Pru on the left, Ariel on the right

If you love these 16" fashion dolls, the Disney Singing Princess dolls are a great, budget friendly alternative doll to add to your collection. And when Wilde has a sale on outfits, you could even snag a less expensive, high quality outfit for your Disney doll.

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A Lazy (Sort Of) Post

I agonized all afternoon about what to write today. Well, it's getting late and still nothing. I realized I hadn't really done a post about my Geri Uribe painted Little Darling doll, so here goes. 

My husband ordered my doll for me for Valentine's Day 2014 and 2015. He put the money down for the preorder in 2014 and she was ready in January 2015. How exciting! I chose the Tiffany doll listed on Geri's page, because I thought she looked super sweet and I knew she would make a great Arwen. I was not disappointed:

Arwen protecting Frodo

She is divine. Geri's wait time is currently 18 months, and the wait is well worth it if you have been thinking about one of these dolls. If you want one, I suggest ordering sooner rather than later. The months will go by quicker than you think, and then all of a sudden, you have a lovely new doll to love! 

In her Valentine's outfit

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Hearts for Hearts Nyesha & Surjan

After doing my piece yesterday on budget friendly dolls, I discovered that the Hearts for Hearts dolls have been discontinued. So hear ye, hear ye, get out to your local Toys R Us or Target and get what's left if you don't already have one. I have decided to do a feature piece on two of them today: Nyesha and Surjan. The dolls began shipping out last October, so I stalked my local Toys R Us and Target until I found them stocked at Toys R Us. There were only two of each doll, and I bought all four, two for me and two for a friend who also collects them. I have not seen them in stores since. Without further adieu:

Nyesha and Surjan

Nyesha close up

Surjan close up

Nyesha represents a girl from Harlem, whose father is Mexican and whose mother is African American. Surjan represents a girl from Nepal who was sold into slavery. One thing I like about this line of dolls is they represent real girls, and the real struggles that girls around the world face everyday. The dolls are absolutely beautiful as well.

I am not sure why Playmates decided to discontinue these dolls. They seem to be very popular with both collectors and children, and it just doesn't make sense to me. The only thing I can come up with, and keep in mind this is pure speculation, is that maybe they just cost too much to make. The quality is much better than what I have found with other similarly priced dolls. In fact, the only quality issue I've seen with these dolls is that the eyes start to turn purple on some of the older dolls. To be honest this is not something that bothers me that much, as it happens to lots of dolls (remember all those older Himstedts whose eyes turned pink?). At any rate, the rumor is that the creator of the doll is trying to take the dolls to another company, due to the lack of marketing and subsequent discontinuation by Playmates. I certainly hope she is successful and that we will see these dolls in plentiful stock at stores again soon! In the meantime, as I said above, if you want one, now is the time to get out and find one! Good luck!!

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Doll Collecting On A Budget

Collecting dolls can be a very expensive hobby. It seems like there is always some new edition of a collectible doll, or there are 3 concurrent preorders for dolls that top $500...and how do you choose between them?!! There are alternatives to spending loads of money on dolls, and I'm going to share a few tips with you (tips that I don't always follow but should).

1. Instead of buying a new doll, buy accessories for the dolls you already have. There are many wonderful artists on Etsy making dresses, jewelry, and even furniture at reasonable prices for your dollies. To check out some of my favorite shops, click here!

2.To satisfy your craving for a new doll, choose an inexpensive, high quality doll. I have quite a few favorites of these.

Hearts for Hearts Dolls

Hearts for Hearts dolls are great quality dolls that are educational as well as culturally accurate (if this is the correct way to describe it). One of the things I love the most about them is their variety: they don't just give the same facial mold a different hair and eye color, they actually have different molds for the different dolls. Aaaaand...you can get a brand new doll at your local Target for less than $30! Certainly easy on the wallet.

Another personal favorite of mine are the Disney Animators' Collection Dolls:

With a price of $24.99 each, these dolls are absolutely wonderful. They have such sweet faces, and they have an artistic quality to them which makes them appreciable by adult collectors. Sometimes, they even go on sale for $20 each! There is an entire following of these dolls dedicated to customization, and that could be a fun avenue for a collector on a budget. The doll isn't so expensive that ruining it would also mean financial ruin, so you can relax and have fun with these dolls!

3. Learn to make something for your dolls. There are tons of great tutorials out there on the internet to help get your creative juices flowing. I personally love making doll swimsuits out of colorful socks. A pack of 6 pairs of socks will set you back about $7 at Walmart, and you can make TWELVE doll swimsuits! Yay!

A sock swimsuit I made

4. Enjoy the dolls you already have. This can be easier said than done. Part of the point of me writing a blog post each day is to force myself to appreciate what I already have, while taking my mind off allllll the amazing dolls that are out there right now, just begging to be purchased. You could start taking a photo a day of your dolls, write a blog, clean up an old doll, and the list goes on. 

What do you think? Do you have any tips for collecting on a budget? I'd love to hear about your tips in the comments!

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Engel Puppen Sleeping Beauty Doll

As promised, here is the other new Disney Engel Puppen doll I recently acquired:

Okay, so her hair is a wreck. 

I didn't even realize there had been a blue version of Sleeping Beauty sold at Disney World, but there was. I also have the pink version dress only...still in search of a doll to display it. I actually really like this doll a lot because she has a different face mold than the typical Dorothea that most of the Disney dolls came with. 

Now, if I could just get my hands on a Little Mermaid doll I would be super ecstatic!

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Making A Wig

Today, I tried my hand at making a lambskin wig. There is a great tutorial that I used at this site: http://www.antiquelilac.com/tibetan-lambskin-wigs---tutorial.html . It's very easy to follow and even includes patterns. To be sure the pattern I was using was the correct size, I made a felt cap first:

The felt cap

The cap was slightly tight, so when I cut my wool pieces, I just went about 1/4 inch outside the pattern pieces. The hardest part for me was visualizing which direction the hair was supposed to flow on each piece of wool. Here is my finished product:

What do you think?

It's nowhere near perfect, but I'm relatively pleased considering it's the first one I've ever made. I want to tame it down a little, so I'm going to research the best way to do that. I also bought 2nd quality wool for this project, as I didn't know how difficult it would be, and wanted to test it out before spending more on higher quality material. I would say it was easy, and go for it if you want to give it a try!

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