I was investigating the Toys R Us March Clearance sale to be held this Friday and Saturday, when I saw this header: Princess Catherine Engagement doll. Huh, I thought. This must be one of the 16-20" dolls. One of the reviews compared this doll to a Barbie. So I clicked to enlarge the small picture of a brunette doll wearing a dark blue dress. Nothing about the height of the doll is in the description. But when I checked under the Additional information tab, I found the box size: Product Dimensions (in inches) 13.4 x 5.1 x 2.6. That sealed her size for me. Barbie-sized. What in that information is there to giggle about?
Actually, there were two things to giggle about. First, the spindly legs of the doll. Cheap, cheap, cheap. No birds chirping there. I have previously confessed to being a doll snob. Cheesy-dolls give me something like hives. My eyes even hurt. Ouch. It seems cruel that the doll was made with legs like that. But that can happen to celebrity dolls. They need to be re-bodied as soon as possible.
I mean, her face is not too bad. I like the wide grin that bears every tooth Princess Catherine ever had in her life - in one fell swoop. There is a trickle of a resemblance. The eyes show mascara and liner. And she has a decent nose. I have seen worse doll faces. So Arklu Ltd. did a fair job. I'd give them a B- for the likeness; a D though for the body.
Clothes? I won't even comment on her bargain basement dress. Many a decent doll has been buried in frumpy or cheap clothes. We won't mention the Pink Princess here. Zips lips. But the COST of the doll ... $49.99 USD for that doll. Please. Too much. Too high. That strikes me as funny ... and here, I wag my finger at Toys R Us. Tsk, tsk and shame on them.
Fortunately, there are alternatives for the Princess Catherine fans: r-e-l-i-e-f is spelled A-m-a-z-o-n. I joke not. You can get the same doll through at least three Amazon dealers for half the Toys R Us price. Think, $49.99 OR $21.32, $21.12, or $22.88?
