OVERVIEW: Disney's Descendants

My baby Carlos

As information about Descendants began to trickle out in spring 2015, I found myself irritated at the people who jumped to call it a ripoff of Ever After High. Do both properties use fairy tale characters? Yes, but so have dozens of other things. When the first book, a prequel of the movie, introduced us mostly to the children of Disney's villains, who were banished to the Isle of the Lost, it became very clear that this was nothing like Ever After High. The only thing in common is that both deal with the children of famous characters, a trend clearly sparked by Monster High's success. I loved the book, which was darker than I had expected, so I was anxious to have dolls of my fave villain kids, particularly Carlos, who remains my fave.

In late June, the dolls finally began hitting stores. Many collectors were curious, because Hasbro produced them and Hasbro wasn't exactly known for the best doll lines at that point.

A lot of the initial series of Descendants

The dolls were released in cases separated by their affiliation. Mal, daughter of Maleficent, and Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen from Snow White, shared the "Isle of the Lost" case, while the Auradon case was Lonnie, daughter of Mulan; Audrey, daughter of Sleeping Beauty; and Jane, daughter of Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. These were the basic signature dolls. Then there were the Coronation dolls, deluxe versions of the same girls in fancy ballgowns. Mal in her date dress was also offered in a 2-pack with Prince Ben, son of Beauty and the Beast, while Evie, in another dress of her creation, was paired with Carlos, son of Cruella. These were the only dolls released for quite awhile, leaving collectors and fans wondering about the fate of Jay, son of Jafar, who was clearly a main character.

Carlos with Signature Lonnie

Jay was not forgotten though. The Disney Store had him exclusively for the time being and his doll was sold separately, although not in what was considered his signature fashion. Carlos, also sold separately, had the same outfit as his 2-pack version, while Mal and Evie both sported new fashions from the movie. Later, Walmart produced a 4-pack of the villain kids, with the same Jay as the Disney Store, but new outfits for Mal, Evie and Carlos. Carlos sadly doesn't have much variety though. His 4-pack outfit was a pair of shorts and boots very similar to his signature outfit paired with a white T with black and red details. The final addition to the early Descendants line came in September and was a 2-pack of Mal and her mother, who you can see on the left in the group photo above, as a Toys R Us exclusive. Sadly, Mal, who was originally shown in the Disney Store exclusive outfit, actually only came in her signature outfit.

Mal and Evie's outfits from the Walmart 4-pack

Initially, the line had some problems. The dolls basically all looked the same, just in different clothing. The Coronation versions of the characters had different hairstyles, but the multiple versions of Mal and Evie looked like the same doll over and over. I hate buying repeat dolls and I need a strong motivation to do so. I skipped the 4-pack entirely, getting Mal and Evie's outfits off ebay eventually. Maleficent was enough to get my money, but I made some of it back by selling the extra Mal. The second big problem was poor quality hair. Mal's wasn't an issue, because it's so short and Lonnie's straight hair was also fine, but Jane, Audrey and Evie suffered from very dry frizzy hair that drew lots of complaints.

I was unsure how many of the future dolls I'd be buying, but as I watched the Wicked World animated shorts, they introduced three new characters I knew I'd have to get: Jordan, the daughter of Genie; Ally, the daughter of Alice; and Freddie, daughter of Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog.

Freddie: Genie Chic and Signature

Freddie and Ally became fast favorites and I was excited for their dolls. I even bought Freddie and Jordan deboxed from a Chinese seller, which I don't usually do. (And regret, because Freddie's missing her purse and one small accessory.) They arrived in January 2016, around the same time my Target got the first Genie Chic dolls in. Genie Chic featured Jordan, Audrey, Mal and Evie in genie-inspired outfits magically granted by Jordan in the webisodes. Freddie was a later addition to the line that I've only ever seen in Walmart.

Genie Chic Evie and Mal

Genie Chic was a rebirth of my Descendants enjoyment, because Hasbro had done something toy companies usually do not. They learned from a mistake. As well as the new girls, both Evie and Mal had lovely silky hair. I later added Audrey to my collection solely for her improved hair. (And okay, yeah, the outfit was cute.)

The Signature doll cases continued to be released with some updates. Freddie and a new Jay, actually in his Signature outfit this time, were added to the Isle of the Lost case, while Ben, sold separately for the first time in a rather...special...outfit, was added to the Auradon case.

Signature Ally

Ally wouldn't be added to the Auradon cases until later. I actually have yet to see her in stores, but she's available online. I bought mine from Entertainment Earth back in June. She's absolutely darling. I love all her little details. The outfits on these dolls really spare no detail.

The big line for the current toy season is Neon Lights Ball, which featured in a string of webisodes, showing the characters all dressed up in neon for a big party.

Jordan: Genie Chic and Neon Lights Ball

Neon Lights Ball really is a large line. There are four basic girls, two deluxe girls, a Walmart exclusive 4-pack and a Toys R Us exclusive 2-pack. Jane finally reappears in the basic line, now sporting adorable glasses and much better hair. I think she's the star of the line, because her outfit is just so 80s fab. Jordan gets her second doll in a look that's pretty good for her, but still not the best. Neither of her dolls really impress me. Freddie gets her third appearance with a pretty doll, although a new hairstyle would have been nice. The three Freddies are all gorgeous, but also quite similar. They have minor differences, but they're still all the same girl in pigtails. The fourth basic is Ally, who got the quickest multiple doll turnaround. Her Signature came out in June and Neon Lights Ball in July.

Neon Lights Ball Jane

The deluxe dolls are Mal and Evie. Of course. They light up, which is pretty cool, and their outfits are nice, but they come with a very hefty price tag of $29.99 each and I just do not see where that comes from. I'm waiting for them to hit clearance, because from what I can tell, none of them in my area have sold.

Now we get to the more problematic dolls. I don't have my own personal pictures of these, but I'll link to some under this article. Toys R Us recently came out with an exclusive 2-pack for this line, featuring Ben and Evie. While both dolls are pretty neat, I don't think this was a necessary set. Then we've got the very recently found Walmart exclusive 4-pack (what is it with Walmart and 4-packs?). This one makes me pretty angry. The four dolls are Jay, Carlos, Audrey and Freddie. Neither of the two boys even got Neon Lights outfits. Jay is just his Signature doll and Carlos is his same old shorts and boots but with a black tee this time. Freddie is missing literally the best pieces of her outfit: her spiky green necklace and black bracelet. She doesn't have her purse either. Audrey actually has her Neon Lights outfit, which is okay, but not good enough to get the price of a 4-pack out of me, even though that's the only way to buy her.

Neon Lights Ball Ally

So what's my big problem?

WHERE IS LONNIE? That's my problem.

Lonnie got two dolls in the initial line, but she hasn't shown up since, and she was the first one in the webisodes to wear neon. She was in the Neon Lights Ball episodes wearing the cutest outfit that I would have loved to have seen on a doll. I would have shelled out the 4-pack money if Lonnie was there. The Walmart exclusive should have been her and Audrey in a 2-pack. That might have sold. I don't think this new 4-pack will move at all. (If we even see it here, which we never did the first one.)

I'm very disappointed in Hasbro leaving Lonnie out. She got left out of Genie Chic and now she got left out of Neon Lights Ball, even though she was actually there in the animation in a doll-worthy outfit. (More worthy than Audrey's.)

Signature CJ Hook

To make matters worse, yet another new doll was found and it's...guess who. Another freakin' Evie. She does not need any more dolls when Lonnie has been left out this long! This Evie has four outfits, which are a combination of repeat pieces and uninspired new pieces. I'm not sure if this doll will be an exclusive or even if she'll make it to the US. I couldn't care less either way. Because where is my Lonnie?!

The only new doll I'm looking forward to is CJ Hook, daughter of Captain Hook. She looks pretty good and should be out soon.

After that, I wouldn't be surprised if we started getting dolls for Descendants 2, which will probably be a lot of the same characters all over again. There are several new ones that have been cast, but we'll see if they make it to doll form. While I am looking forward to floppy hair Carlos and hot bangs Mal, I think Descendants needs to make some changes or they're going to flop soon. The current new exclusives are severely lacking. They need to stop putting old dolls in multipacks, leaving off accessories on others, and improve drastically at balancing the number of dolls. We do not need that many Evies, especially because they all have the same boring hair. We did not need an Audrey only in a 4-pack. WE NEED LONNIE. Changes, Hasbro. Make them.

PHOTO CREDITS: All mine, except the CJ promo image. That's from Walmart.com.

RECOMMENDED SITES:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKu0WMbjqew/?taken-by=sinistertoyboxx
That's the Walmart 4-pack.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Disney-Descendants-BEN-EVIE-NEON-LIGHTS-BALL-EXCLUSIVE-2-PACK-DOLL-SET-/381786502226
The TRU 2-pack.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKMaXmVgoYY/
And the boring I Heart Fashion Evie.