Hey, everyone! Welcome to the Hobby Haven!
It's almost the weekend, hooray! And to get you excited, I have some Ever After High news! First of all, prototypes from the Epic Winter line (which is releasing later in 2016) were just leaked. The characters included in the line will be: Apple, Ashlynn, Briar, Maddie, new character Crystal Winter, Rosabella, and.....DARING CHARMING! Surprising, right? His debut isn't a basic doll, but a two-pack with Rosabella. (His prototype doll is wearing a jacket with fur trim, and while it could be because it's cold out, what if it's because he is destined to the the next Beast from Beauty and the Beast?) The others are all released separately, although Crystal gets two dolls! She comes as a basic doll, and as a doll packaged with a playset. The playset doll is really pathetic, though; she's unarticulated and plainly dressed, which stumps me, because isn't that the opposite of what a playset doll is supposed to be? Aren't they supposed to be more "premium"?
Disappointingly, the cute snowflake-themed backgrounder that fans have been waiting for *isn't* Crystal Winter. If you find pictures of Crystal's prototype, you can see that she's a blue-skinned, blue-haired girl dressed in blue and purple, not a tan-skinned blonde girl dressed in white. So much for the backgrounder being the daughter of the Snow Queen, although maybe she'll be the daughter of Jack Frost? That would be cute!
We also got prototype leaks of the next three new characters: Nina Thumbell (daughter of Thumbelina), Jillian Beanstalk (daughter of Jack who climbed the Beanstalk), and Meeshell Mermaid (daughter of The Little Mermaid).
Finally, there's a new budget line being released next year called "Birthday Ball," featuring Cupid, Blondie, and my girl Duchess. It's all pastel color themed, which is kind of interesting; the girls have pastel-shaded hair with matching dresses and what looks like cake- or gift-themed handbags. Duchess has pastel lilac hair, which is kind of pretty, actually. And best of all, they are articulated! This is surprising, since Mattel had started making unarticulated budget dolls....my guess is that they are trying different types of dolls to see what sells best.
I'll be honest in that none of the dolls interest me in the least, except for the budget Duchess (which should surprise nobody). This is actually not bad, since that means my budget should be freed up a little for the upcoming DC Superhero Girls dolls.
Miss Scarlett, signing out!
