Doll-A-Day 2023 #171: Hogsmeade Hermione

   Today's doll Is Hermione Granger.

  This particular Hermione is Hogsmeade Hermione, from 2003.There was also an accompanying Hogsmeade Harry. They were released to coincide with the "Prisoner of Azkaban" movie. As ended up being par for the course, there was NO Ron Weasley. I will spare you from another of my rants about how Ron was my favourite character in the books, and how the character got cheated out of the spotlight at every turn in the movies, and with the dolls. Most of his best stuff from the books was left out, blah blah. Also: J.K. Rowling! "Separate the art from the artist. Separate the art from the artist..." Anyway!

  Hermione would have originally come with her robes, a time turner necklace, and a Honeydukes bag. Her box pictured her in Honeydukes sweetshop.

Hermione is about 10 inches tall. She has a very similar body to the smaller High School Musical  Gabriella dolls.

  Mine is second hand, so she is only wearing her original hooded sweater and corduroy pants, as well as grey shoes.

They're Barbie tennis shoes made in dark grey plastic.

  I like her sweater. It has real pockets.

And it's really a 'pull over your head' sweater, with no Velcro opening in the back, and no hole in the hood to accommodate her big hair.

  She has some interesting articulation. She is jointed at the neck, shoulder and hips, and also has a swivel waist, and bendable knees. Her arms can also swivel outward.

Unfortunately, she can't put her hands in those realistic pockets!

I found the right leg seemed to bend and hold a pose more than the other leg, but that could just be because she has a worn out leg. 

  She can also tilt her head up and down a bit.

And she can lean it to the side.

    The doll isn't a bad likeness of actress Emma Watson, who played Hermione. 

  But while she looks okay from the front, she has a very strange head shape in profile!

Luckily that's hidden by her big Hermione hair.

   That's today's doll. Who will we see tomorrow?

Doll-A-Day 2023 #40: Film Collection Belle

  Sorry some of these pictures aren't focused properly. I swear my camera hasn't worked right since the fire. It was on the landing, and found on the floor afterward. When I cleaned the soot off and tried it out, the flash and the door for the memory card were stuck shut. Who knows what is going on inside it.   Today we're having a look at Belle, from the live action Beauty and the Beast movie.

  She's another of Emma's dolls. (This one is actually from her collection, and not one she's selling.) This particular Belle is from the 2017 Film Collection series, from the Disney Store. She's very much like the Enchanting Ball Gown Belle doll, but this one's dress is a little more detailed. 

  The doll's face is based on actress Emma Watson, who played Belle in the movie. You might know her better as Harry Potter's friend Hermione Granger.

They definitely made her too ugly.

  You might say the likeness is terrible. And in some ways it it. But it's not the sculpt, but the paint job that makes it that way. I have seen artists repaints of this doll that look very much like Emma Watson. As for this paint job, I don't remember Emma Watson ever having this many freckles.

  Just a note here. I bought the first Harry Potter book for the family the Christmas of 1999, and started reading it to the kids after Christmas. Emma was a huge Potter fan as a kid. When the announcement  was made that there was going to be a movie made, kids were invited to send audition tapes in. Emma actually filmed one and we sent it in. She was upset plus when she found out that another Emma got the part of Hermione, a character she felt was exactly like her. (And pretty much was, only with added know-it-allness.)

 This doll has a beautiful ball gown. (Not 'enchanting', I guess. That goes to the other doll. :) ) There's lots of sparkly gold decoration around the skirt.

  The difference between this dress and the 'Enchanting Ball Gown' is the two prominent strips of fabric down either side of the bodice, to the waist, that form a V shape. 

The back of the dress closes with Velcro.

There are long ribbons down the back of the skirt.

There is an underskirt and a layer of tulle to make the skirt puffy.

It's supposed to hang like this.

Belle has a necklace too. It's sewn to the bodice of her dress, which makes it hard to see.

  There's a pinky ring painted on her right hand.

  She has some very ornate gold shoes.

Her hair is long, with part of it pulled up into a braid around the top of her head.

The bun has a gold wreath of leaves around it.

She has a long piece of hair at her temples that hangs down either side of her face.

  Since she's a Disney Store doll she has that articulation, including jointed elbows and wrists that allow her graceful arms to be posed so expressively...

...and legs that are rubbery and totally ridiculous looking!

  The Disney Store dolls have the worst legs ever! They are jointed at the hips, knees, and ankles, but it's totally not worth it! The legs are always bowed, and the ankles are so loose that her feet are turning around backwards.

But even with her feet straightened up, her legs sill look like this anyway, and she can't stand up on them.

 She can sit, but it looks like this!

    I posted the regular, (non Disney Store), version of the Village Dress Belle from the live action movie way back when. You can see that doll, who has a different Emma Watson head sculpt, HERE.

  That's today's doll. See you tomorrow for another one.

Doll-A-Day 2019 #288:Magical Powers Hermione

 Today's doll is a girl who is familiar to many of us. She's Hermione Granger.

To be specific, she's Magical Powers Hermione.

She was made by Mattel in 2001. 

This doll looks a lot like Hogwarts Heroes Hermione, since the head is exactly the same, and the body and outfit are very similar.

Hogwarts Heroes Hermione had robes with a disappearing/appearing Hogwarts crest on the chest. Magical Potions Hermione doesn't have robes, but she has a  Gryffindor scarf instead, and her blouse has the Gryffindor crest,(but it doesn't disappear).

My mistake, This Hermione didn't come with a school tie, just a scarf.

Like the  Hogwarts Heroes dolls, this Hermione has jointed elbows, knees, and ankles, as well as the usual neck, shoulders, and hips.
 

Physically, the difference is that this version has a lever in her back that controls her right arm. Her arm is able to raise and that, along with the magnet in her hand, allows Hermione to 'use' her wand.

And her blouse has the coordinating gap for the lever.

 

  The magnet also allows her to use the accessories that originally came with her. These included a wand, a cauldron, with flames that raise and lower, a stool, a tray of potion bottles that can light up, and a trunk with a 'disappearing' cat. The flames in the cauldron, and the lights in the potions, are operated by Hermione's magnet hand. The disappearing cat in the trunk  is operated by a switch on the side of the trunk. 
  Her outfit consists of the aforementioned scarf, a white body blouse that has a piece of elastic in the crotch to keep it tucked in...

...a gray pleated skirt...

...and thigh high gray socks and black Mary Jane shoes.

She has the bushy, crimped hair Hermione started the movies with.

The face is supposed to resemble Emma Watson, who played Hermione in the Harry Potter movies, but I don't think it does very much.
 

 

    That's the doll for today. Tomorrow we'll see another Harry Potter doll.