Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Tollytots Limited - Merida Doll from Brave

While I was at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration Tollytots Limited contacted me about doing a review of the Merida doll.  The offer was one for me to review and one for a lucky reader!  I could not resist her!  She was on display at the Merida Coronation breakfast during the Celebration and I had a chance to take a quick peek before agreeing to the review.  She arrived at my house this past week!  My youngest was really excited to take her out of the box.  She looks beautiful in the box, but I wanted to set her free as well.  Plus I just had to see her beautiful hair in a more natural state.


On the packaging Merida is pictured in her dark green velvet dress with gold trim.  The doll itself is wearing a blue/green plaid dress.  She also has a gold glitter overlay across the front of her skirt.  I love that she comes with a bow and arrow set.  These are so much of her personality.  The belt and quiver come off if you want to play with her on her own as well.  My daughter wanted to know if her shoes come off.  They do.  She is checking out her dress inside and out right now.  Okay...she just turned the dolls head all the way around.  Now she is really putting her through her paces!  She has green underpants painted onto her.





Box off and on to the tray tie downs.  She is almost free!


I love the eye contact!  She is ready to play and her hair looks amazing!


She sits up so nicely and holds her own bow!


Look at that gorgeous hair!


If I bought this doll for my daughter (or myself) I would absolutely love her.  I am thrilled to be able to review her and keep her with my growing Disney doll/character collection.  However, if I had bought this particular doll I would be inclined to return her.  She has blue/green discoloration in 3 places on her "skin."  I am going to try and wash it off, but I fear she is stained.  I don't know if it is from her dress or something else.  

I noticed the spot on her cheek while she was in the box.
I noticed the mark on her finger when I started playing with her.

The large marks on her leg were hard to miss
when I checked to see what kind of underpants she was wearing.
I tried to wash the stains off, but no such luck.  At least the larger stain is under her skirt.  I guess you would either try to exchange her or use it as an opportunity to appreciate peoples differences.  Since you could see the slight mark on her cheek while she was in the box I am somewhat surprised that they sent me this doll to review.

Despite her "flaws" I still love her: her eyes, her smile, her hair, her green dress, how she sits...I just want to pick her up and hug her!

So what do you all think?  

Leave me a comment and I will raffle off a second doll that will ship directly from the company.  The drawing will be Wednesday June 18th at 5 pm.  A little business before kicking off #DisneyRunFest '13! 

This Merida doll was a gift from the company intended for me to review.  I get to keep her.  In exchange they requested a review post, a link to their Facebook page, and encouragement for FB likes.  They also offered a second doll for one of my readers.  My thoughts and photos are all my own.   

UPDATE: Here is the response that I received from the company so far regarding her pigmentation issue.  "We are so very sorry you experienced an issue with the pigmentation on Merida! I talked to the team and we would like to test and review her immediately to determine the issue and solve it. This is the first we are hearing of this issue, so we appreciate you bringing it to our attention. Can I arrange for a carrier to come get her sometime next week so we can take a closer look? In the meantime, we will get you a brand new Merida!  Thanks again for letting us know about this. We really appreciate it and can't wait to get you a new doll!"

And the Winner is:  
Using Random.org I have pulled a winner for the Merida doll...drum roll please...and the winner is number 21...Kelly Brown Retterer!


8 comments:

  1. What a great opportunity! She is adorable! I really hope others who buy this doll don't experience the "bruises" Merida appears to have on your doll! Tollytots did a great job portraying her into a doll and am glad that they didn't change her appearance like Disney had done on the Coronation invites.

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    1. Thanks for the comment Stephanie! I have forwarded my review to the company. I have asked for a response to the bruising issue. I will let you know if they respond.

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  2. This doll is just precious! I know some little girls in my home that would love to play with any of the Tollytots princesses. I love that Merida comes in her plaid and with her accessories. Just adorable!

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    1. Thanks for the comment Harmer Family! This doll is definitely made for play. She will also make me very happy sitting on my nightstand smiling back at me! Of course my youngest may occasionally make off with her for a romp through the house!

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  3. I think she is absolutely beautiful! They really did some attention to detail with all of the accessories like the bow and arrow. I hope that the bruising was just a fluke (a lot of times it seems to be, as I have had issues with dolls with marks on them and when I was sent a new one it was fine). But I'm sure that they will appreciate you bringing it to their attention though so if there is a problem they can fix it! My daughter would love this doll but she probably would like any princess (she loves all the princesses!).

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    1. Amy they are looking into the bruising issue. The representative that I am working with is not aware of this issue having occurred with any of the companies dolls.

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  4. Merida is going back to the company for testing! Please see the update above.

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  5. That's great that they were going to take her back for testing! This is a really beautiful doll! I know my 5 year old would love her to pieces!!!

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