Shivatopia
2019 Sleeping Beauty 60th Anniversary Deluxe LE Doll Set (Aurora & Philip) #301/650
Purchased from ShopDisney UK on its release day 02/26/2019, the 2019 Deluxe 60th Anniversary Aurora & Prince Philip Deluxe Doll Set arrived to me on 03/09/2019. The parcel had an interesting journey, going from England to Long Beach, California to York, Pennsylvania to Elk's Grove, Illinois and finally to me back in California. Thank goodness ShopDisney UK ships their dolls not only in their shippers but also in another box, as the outer box got banged up rather badly in transit.
I got carton #101/300. So from that we know that the UK/Europe got 300 of the 650 doll sets. My doll set is COA #301, and along with others' data input, it looks like the UK/Europe's stock runs from #201-500. I can only imagine that means that the USA will then get #001-200 and the Asia market will get the remaining 150 units. The distribution of quantities seems oddly allocated.
The box design is quite unique as it attempts a medieval look with the front quatrefoil design in salmon pink with King Stefan's castle used as a background to the doll set's title and description. The frosted plastic window elements on the front and sides are a nice, new feature. The metallic foil is rose gold. I like the earthy ocre color of the rest of the box. In the text on the back of the box, they confirm it is a wedding set, but as usual the description of the outfits is quite boring and uninspired.
As with one youTube reviewer's doll set, my Aurora's crown came loose on one side. Aurora's maid needs to get fired! hahaha I fixed her crown by sewing it though her hair with gold thread and tying it tightly in place. In any case, Boo to the Disney factory!
For Aurora's gown, you can tell that they at least attempted to produce something that shows some effort. The outer pink skirt, the veil, and her crown and necklace are probably my favorite parts of the gown. Her crown and necklace are made of metal in a rose gold color and the gems are faux diamonds. The veil is a soft pink chiffon with pretty lace trim. Overall, the chosen fabrics for the gown are rather nice. The rest of the dress design is a bit of a mess: using a sweetheart neckline bodice with an embroidered shawl collar and the dumb white chiffon rose is an unresolved mess, and the underskirt would have been better served to have been unpleated. I would have loved the skirt except they made the underskirt pleated AND they put one of the splits right down the center. This is a very inappropriate and not subtle sexual innuendo. Shame on you, DS doll designers!
This 2019 Deluxe Aurora doll has the same head sculpt as the 2014 LE Aurora dolls (and anyone saying otherwise is either blind or a liar). This one has a forward gaze, which is something we rarely see in the 17" LE dolls. She is pretty with her light purple eyes, rosy cheeks, and raspberry pink lips. The one thing I strongly dislike is that they opted to go with the "new look" hair (circa 2012) by giving her a long sidesweep of hair across her forehead in lieu of bangs and rubber banded on the opposite side. The only thing that saves this is that they bizarrely included her signature curl, which conceals the rubber band and makes it resemble her signature bangs more. I can forgive this... just barely.
When comparing all of the LE Aurora dolls to date, I don't care what anyone says: I actually prefer the Harrods Auroras' dolls and their gowns (both pink and blue) above all of the LE Aurora dolls produced to date. The geometric and elongated nature of the design is so much truer to the Medieval artistic integrity of the original film. Sure, I complain about the neckline, the rose belt, and the bottom of her bodice, but it is still a well-executed twist on Aurora's iconic look. The 2019 Deluxe LE Aurora is a completely made up wedding gown that comes off way too Renaissance-fantasy, which is 200 years later than when Aurora was supposed to be alive, and the gown design has a lot of conflicting and unresolved design elements. The 2019 doll has a forward gaze, a better lip color, and her accessories are made of metal, and she is still a very beautiful doll, but I do prefer the Harrods LE Auroras more, even with the metallic gold strands in her hair.
It's no secret that Prince Philip is my favorite Disney prince, and in general his doll is not a bad design, but the silver pleather was a poor choice as it comes off like the Tin Woodsman from The Wizard of Oz. Apart from the fact that Snow White's Prince got black pleather in his Platinum set, that was really what they should have gone with here. Philip's tunic has a V-neckline with a mandarin collar. Fun hidden fact: they did include what looks like a collarless shirt underneath the tunic, though I doubt it is a full shirt under there. Still, it is a nice touch, considering that one would never see this detail without opening the clasp of his cloak (which most people would not). The ornamental buttons on his tunic are actual separate pieces (and not printed on). The belt buckle is made of metal and actually is not functional, as it just slides back and forth. To be honest, the dark blue 2014 LE Philip's tunic would probably be a good swap onto this doll. I appreciate that his cloak is not a single rectangle Superman cape shape like the 2014 doll. Anyone who has seen the film (or my Prince Philip cosplay) would know that Philip's cloak is actually a half-circle cloak where the side ends come up much higher than the hemline of the back. His black pants are a thinner stretch material than the stiffer cotton twill fabric that they usually use, which is nice. The design of the boots is nice with the folded cuffs and the "side stitching" along the inner seams.
This 2019 LE Prince Philip has the same head sculpt as the 2014 LE Prince Philip (and again, anyone saying otherwise is either blind or a liar). The facial screening (eyebrows, eyes, and mouth) is different, however. His hair is fuller with longer bangs and a widow's peak. They did do his hair a disservice by turning it into a more boring medium brown instead of the rich chestnut auburn that the 2014 doll has (in the animated film, like with Aurora's eye color, Philip's hair color changes shades quite often). Both LE Prince Philip dolls still fail to capture Philip's gorgeous good looks from the animated feature, and I am afraid to say that the face of the 2014 doll is actually better. He looks more masculine and his eyes and eyebrows are more expressive. The 2019 doll has the better hairstyle, though.
2019 Sleeping Beauty 60th Anniversary Deluxe LE Doll Set (Aurora & Philip) #301/650
Purchased from ShopDisney UK on its release day 02/26/2019, the 2019 Deluxe 60th Anniversary Aurora & Prince Philip Deluxe Doll Set arrived to me on 03/09/2019. The parcel had an interesting journey, going from England to Long Beach, California to York, Pennsylvania to Elk's Grove, Illinois and finally to me back in California. Thank goodness ShopDisney UK ships their dolls not only in their shippers but also in another box, as the outer box got banged up rather badly in transit.
I got carton #101/300. So from that we know that the UK/Europe got 300 of the 650 doll sets. My doll set is COA #301, and along with others' data input, it looks like the UK/Europe's stock runs from #201-500. I can only imagine that means that the USA will then get #001-200 and the Asia market will get the remaining 150 units. The distribution of quantities seems oddly allocated.
The box design is quite unique as it attempts a medieval look with the front quatrefoil design in salmon pink with King Stefan's castle used as a background to the doll set's title and description. The frosted plastic window elements on the front and sides are a nice, new feature. The metallic foil is rose gold. I like the earthy ocre color of the rest of the box. In the text on the back of the box, they confirm it is a wedding set, but as usual the description of the outfits is quite boring and uninspired.
As with one youTube reviewer's doll set, my Aurora's crown came loose on one side. Aurora's maid needs to get fired! hahaha I fixed her crown by sewing it though her hair with gold thread and tying it tightly in place. In any case, Boo to the Disney factory!
For Aurora's gown, you can tell that they at least attempted to produce something that shows some effort. The outer pink skirt, the veil, and her crown and necklace are probably my favorite parts of the gown. Her crown and necklace are made of metal in a rose gold color and the gems are faux diamonds. The veil is a soft pink chiffon with pretty lace trim. Overall, the chosen fabrics for the gown are rather nice. The rest of the dress design is a bit of a mess: using a sweetheart neckline bodice with an embroidered shawl collar and the dumb white chiffon rose is an unresolved mess, and the underskirt would have been better served to have been unpleated. I would have loved the skirt except they made the underskirt pleated AND they put one of the splits right down the center. This is a very inappropriate and not subtle sexual innuendo. Shame on you, DS doll designers!
This 2019 Deluxe Aurora doll has the same head sculpt as the 2014 LE Aurora dolls (and anyone saying otherwise is either blind or a liar). This one has a forward gaze, which is something we rarely see in the 17" LE dolls. She is pretty with her light purple eyes, rosy cheeks, and raspberry pink lips. The one thing I strongly dislike is that they opted to go with the "new look" hair (circa 2012) by giving her a long sidesweep of hair across her forehead in lieu of bangs and rubber banded on the opposite side. The only thing that saves this is that they bizarrely included her signature curl, which conceals the rubber band and makes it resemble her signature bangs more. I can forgive this... just barely.
When comparing all of the LE Aurora dolls to date, I don't care what anyone says: I actually prefer the Harrods Auroras' dolls and their gowns (both pink and blue) above all of the LE Aurora dolls produced to date. The geometric and elongated nature of the design is so much truer to the Medieval artistic integrity of the original film. Sure, I complain about the neckline, the rose belt, and the bottom of her bodice, but it is still a well-executed twist on Aurora's iconic look. The 2019 Deluxe LE Aurora is a completely made up wedding gown that comes off way too Renaissance-fantasy, which is 200 years later than when Aurora was supposed to be alive, and the gown design has a lot of conflicting and unresolved design elements. The 2019 doll has a forward gaze, a better lip color, and her accessories are made of metal, and she is still a very beautiful doll, but I do prefer the Harrods LE Auroras more, even with the metallic gold strands in her hair.
It's no secret that Prince Philip is my favorite Disney prince, and in general his doll is not a bad design, but the silver pleather was a poor choice as it comes off like the Tin Woodsman from The Wizard of Oz. Apart from the fact that Snow White's Prince got black pleather in his Platinum set, that was really what they should have gone with here. Philip's tunic has a V-neckline with a mandarin collar. Fun hidden fact: they did include what looks like a collarless shirt underneath the tunic, though I doubt it is a full shirt under there. Still, it is a nice touch, considering that one would never see this detail without opening the clasp of his cloak (which most people would not). The ornamental buttons on his tunic are actual separate pieces (and not printed on). The belt buckle is made of metal and actually is not functional, as it just slides back and forth. To be honest, the dark blue 2014 LE Philip's tunic would probably be a good swap onto this doll. I appreciate that his cloak is not a single rectangle Superman cape shape like the 2014 doll. Anyone who has seen the film (or my Prince Philip cosplay) would know that Philip's cloak is actually a half-circle cloak where the side ends come up much higher than the hemline of the back. His black pants are a thinner stretch material than the stiffer cotton twill fabric that they usually use, which is nice. The design of the boots is nice with the folded cuffs and the "side stitching" along the inner seams.
This 2019 LE Prince Philip has the same head sculpt as the 2014 LE Prince Philip (and again, anyone saying otherwise is either blind or a liar). The facial screening (eyebrows, eyes, and mouth) is different, however. His hair is fuller with longer bangs and a widow's peak. They did do his hair a disservice by turning it into a more boring medium brown instead of the rich chestnut auburn that the 2014 doll has (in the animated film, like with Aurora's eye color, Philip's hair color changes shades quite often). Both LE Prince Philip dolls still fail to capture Philip's gorgeous good looks from the animated feature, and I am afraid to say that the face of the 2014 doll is actually better. He looks more masculine and his eyes and eyebrows are more expressive. The 2019 doll has the better hairstyle, though.