Ever After High - Darling Charming Dragon Games Review

I caved in and bought Darling Charming from the Dragon Games line because I'm weak. D:

The Wal-Mart stores in my area now carry most of the dolls from the new Ever After High and Monster High lines. Dragon Games was pretty much the only one I was interested in.

All the characters except Poppy O'Hair were there. Surprisingly, once I saw them in person, Raven Queen turned out to be my favourite. I saw her promo pics and loved her outfit, but I thought her high-ponytail wouldn't look good because of EAH's moon-shaped heads. I was wrong. She looked great! I would have bought her if I didn't already have Raven's basic doll.

Although, I still may end up buying her later as well if I have some extra money next month.

Before I saw them in stores, I really thought Holly O'Hair would be my favourite. Her colours on the promo pics were vibrant and gorgeous, but in person her clothes are much darker. I will get her one day, but I'm just not as excited for her anymore.

I already ordered the Apple White and Dragon set from Amazon.

That left me with Darling. (:

Darling Charming Dragon Games.

I bought her for ~$20. Even if Holly had been as bright in person as she was in her photos, I still would have eventually bought Darling. She's too pretty to pass up.

This is my first Darling doll. I liked her basic doll too, but she was just too "Barbie" for me; even if she was wearing armor. This doll looks more warrior princess-like.

The new design for these boxes look a little babyish to me. I think it's the combination of the bubble-letters and the simplified design. I heard both Monster High and Ever After High were doing a re-boot. I think it already started here with the boxes. That's too bad. This box could have been 10x more awesome with a theme like Dragon Games.

A ring! :D

I already know this won't fit me, lol. It's for little kids so I wasn't expecting it to.

But uh... if your name doesn't start with a "D" why would you wear this on your finger? I don't think they should have put the dolls' initials on these rings. Maybe a design that represents them instead? Like Darling could have a crown or something. Raven could have a raven, I don't know. lol.

Back of the Darling's box.

Everything about this looks like it's geared towards a younger age. Even younger than before, I mean.

Whatever, it's a box. As long as the doll is cool we're good.

Cool-looking dragon. (:

It's too bad we only get one fully-grown dragon. I agree with those that say Raven should have been paired with a full-sized dragon and not Apple.

A close-up of Darling's art.

Darling Charming Dragon Games out of the box.

I don't like the curls in her hair. She had straight hair in her promo pics and it looked a lot better than what she has now.

A close-up of Darling's face.

I may have mentioned it before in another review (probably Duchess') but I appreciate that Ever After High is making more unique face molds. It's because of that that I like the dolls a lot more now.

Profile view of her face.

Her headpiece is secured onto her head with plastic tags. Much like the way her bother, Dexter, has his crown in place.

Darling's hair from behind.

Her corset armor is made of some type of soft plastic and is easy to put on and take off.

This piece on her arm has lovely detail but sadly is restricts her movement. If you position it so you can bend her elbows, then her hand can barely move. The reverse is true as well. If you slide the armor so you can move her hand, then you can't bend her elbow much.

A tiny plastic tag is keeping her shirt's skirt part together. Not sure why this needs to be here. She's wearing leggings after all.

Removed the tag.

Underneath the corset.

Her leggings.

Darling's boots.

Love the boots. They look as if they're made of chain-mail.

I've taken her armor and boots off so now we can compare her height to the other EAH dolls.

At first glance I thought she was going to be one of the taller EAH dolls like Cerise and Duchess.

Duchess and Cerise.

But nope! She's of average height! (:

Duchess and Lizzie.

Here she is with Lizzie Hearts who is one of the shorter dolls.

Doll stand and brush.

Now let's take a look at all the other things that Darling came with. She did come with a stand and I've been using it for this review. She also came with a brush.

Darling's shield.

Darling's shield is a ring for both you and your doll. The ring fits my pinkie perfectly but you most likely won't see me wearing it. My name starts with a "K" so... yeah. Also I'm not a kid, LOL.

Darling with her shield.

The ring part gets in the way. I've seen people clamp it on to their doll's leg, but I think I may just saw it off.

Dragon booklet.

Darling Charming Dragon Games.

She's a great doll. I'm so happy this line came out before the re-boot. I don't mean to sound grim, but this may be the last EAH line I purchase if the new smiling face molds are real. Not that they don't look good. They just aren't for me. I prefer dolls that look like this.

This doll is beautiful.