Top Ten DAFs of 2009: Tiara Gold at 6

Manufacturer: Mattel
Series: High School Musical III
Character Name: Tiara Gold
Box Year, if Noted: 200? - I threw out the box; will check in stores


Why is Tiara on the Top Ten List?

Note: Tiara is only available with Sharpay Evans in a double doll set.

Here is a variation on my usual answer that the doll or action figure is good looking. I mean the Tiara doll is pretty. But she made the Top Ten DAFs of 2009 List because she has one of the brightest smiles of all the dolls I have bought this year. I consider her my "Sunshine Girl."

Having collected Barbies and other fashion dolls and action figures, I have many teeth-exposed smiles/grins and many blonds. (That's why I become delighted when I find a like-able doll who is not blond. Sigh.) Not one of them though, seemed as effervescent and lit as Tiara. There is something in her smile that pulls her out of the ordinary.


Why is Tiara sixth on the Top Ten List?

Mostly, Tiara is at the sixth spot because five other dolls had a little something more to offer than she did. To a lesser degree, her arm positioning is stuck in welcome mode if lifted up or as coy-maidenly if set down. That quirky feature doesn't completely detract from her charm, but it keeps her in the bottom of the Top Ten DAFs List.

Tiara Gold can be found at Walmarts or at discount stores like Ross. I bought mine for about $7.00 at a Ross store. You might also find her elsewhere, but Walmarts and Ross were the last places I saw her. I've seen the Tiara-Sharpay set described as "rare" in a recent search, but I have seen several at Walmarts and at Ross.

New Playscale Girl - Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place

Walmart, Roosevelt Boulevard

At last ... a NEW fashion doll. Mattel Disney offers Alex Russo the wizard-in-training heroine from the Disney Channel show, The Wizards of Waverly Place. Alex seems to have a High School Musical sized body; she was next to HSM Sharpay in the store, and they seemed "in scale." The likeness to the actress who plays Alex - Selena Gomez - is slight. Seeing the doll and the photo, I thought, oh, that's who the doll is. Hmm. She might have the same head mold as HSM Gabrielle only with a paler complexion. (I'd have to have both dolls together so that I could scrutinize - i.e., stare back and forth between the two, possibly do a little measuring, etc. Okay, I'm joking about the measuring bit.)

Cute doll and yes, one to add to my Want List. Cost? Single doll $14.99 USD. Make that on my Want-but-can-Wait List LOL. The rainbow top is cute as are the tan pants, but for $15, she needs to have more than a cute face and a moderately cute outfit. Shrug. Then again, I thought that about the 10" Mattel Harry Potter Hermione and who's crying now? (Not the doll ... me.)

Still she's new. I took a photo of her in the rainbow top outfit; she comes in another outfit as well, but this photo looks clearer.



The ASMzine Toyfair 2009 Alex doll looks Polly Pocket-sized. Shrug. Perhaps Mattel issued two doll sets? There seems to be a third 10" Mattel doll issued with two different outfits at Atamaii for $24.95 BEFORE postage.

Maybe $15 is not so bad after all.

This Wizards on YouTube link is the only other reference I can find online at this time.

Please note: I do not have cable tv nor am I familiar with this tv show other than what I read in the doll links. I collect dolls and action figures, regardless of the backstory attributed by the manufacturers.