It's a Doll World After All: Madeline Hatter Doll Review

Surprise, surprise! I finally got an Ever After High doll! ;)

After professing my love for the new doll line here, it's no wonder I ran out to grab one of these fabulous dolls!

I found Madeline at my local Justice store (I didn't even know we HAD a Justice) but they have them all online now and they are still on sale for the moment!! However, I'm sure other stores will carry them soon enough. :)

Apparently some stores seem to only have the Rebel dolls while others only have the Royals so far. A few lucky ones have both. I was not so lucky.

My store only have the Rebels in stock, which is better than not having any, but I really wanted to get Apple White first. Oh well. :)

I decided to bring home Madeline, and she's even more fun and beautiful than I originally thought!

"Oh, stop it, you!"

This is my first real doll review so bear with me. :)

First: The Box

I love the storybook packaging of the ever after high dolls! It's so cute, and surprisingly easy to open!

There she is. All shiny and new.

"Hey, can you get me out of here?! It's not as fun as it looks!"

She has a super cute water color background with her name in blue font. She looks so cute in the package, I almost don't want to take her out.

"You know, a picture's worth a thousand words. You don't have to describe my box, they can see it. And what did you mean about not taking me out! That's cruelty!"

I especially love how her box looks like a book. :)

Here's the backside with some pretty artwork.

Gorgeous.

And the other end shows pages.

"Pssst. NO ONE cares about boxes. They want to see ME."

"Seriously. I'm going to have to call the cops if you don't start cutting soon."

The top of the box.

Whoever the artist is for this line, I am their biggest fan.

"Okay, I'm going to count to three. One.... Two...."

As I said before, the box is pretty easy to open like Monster High dolls. (And unlike Disney Store dolls.) The plastic front pops off in one piece with easy to remove tabs and no dumb tape! (I'm looking at you Disney Store.)

You could easily photograph the doll still attached to her background without any plastic glare!

"Yeah, but WHY would you want to?!"

"Oh, okay. Tip my box. REAL mature."

The stand, instructions, and all the things you have to cut are hidden inside the "book". But don't rip open the spine. Be smarter than me. Cut the small tape pieces on the top and bottom holding it closed. There you go.

"I can't...really...breathe...."

Cute stand! Make sure you get out all three pieces.

I didn't take pictures of getting Madeline free, but it's pretty standard doll deboxing. Just be conscious of her hair and clothing and snip away the rubber bands holding her in. No wires or sewn in hair! Yay!

She does, however, have THREE of those annoying "head staples" that I have never understood. Cut them free from the box from the inside where you have cardboard between your scissors and her hair. Once the doll is free from the box, you can carefully trim them small and/or push them inside her head with your thumb. If they go all the way in, no more spikes! :)

"Streeeeetch! I'm free!! Thank you!"

"Now let's get rid of this evil thing before you get any ideas."

"Ooof. It's heavier than it looks!"

"A little help, please?!"

All of the dolls have a bookmark that holds their story (like the Monster High journals) in the upper right hand corner of their boxes. Be careful getting this out! There is a cardboard tab that just slips out of the "pages" part of her box. Once you get it out, don't be like me and try to peel the paper off of the cardboard front. That's the cover. Just trim on the scissor lines, genius. ;)

Then, read and enjoy! I did't take pictures of the individual pages, but you can read all four stories on Veni Vidi Dolli's Flickr HERE. She has marvelous scans of them all about halfway down the set!

"I don't remember ever saying that..."

"Well, it was cute. Inaccurate, but cute. Three stars."

Next, the Doll:

Here's Madeline modeling her new stand. The prongs are a bit thinner than Monster High ones so they're more flexible and go on a bit easier. However, it's far from perfect. A good stand. Not a great one.

"Well, I think it's better than that box."

"But who cares what I think?"

I think she's really expressive and so fun to pose! :)

Her earrings are spoons. Need I say more?

I've heard this ring has trouble staying on, so I'm keeping this elastic in place.

She comes with a super cute teapot purse.

And it opens!

"Of course it opens, silly. And they call me mad."

"The hard part is getting it back on."

She comes with a cute key-hairbrush. Her hair is lovely and soft and doesn't have an exorbitant amount of product in it. However, the curls are a bit messy from the box. I brushed each curl back into place to smooth down the extra hairs. I do NOT recommend brushing THROUGH her hair if you want it to stay curly. Just don't do it, man.

It really is lovely.

And now for the Clothes:

Her gloves are just her hands painted blue. Weird at first, but a lot more expressive than fabric gloves would be. Her lace cuffs are also molded plastic and can be removed if you take off her hands.

Her dress is three full layers that go all the way around!