Dolly Review: Ever After High Madeline (Maddie) Hatter

Ever After High have it stores! Well, Justice, at least. When news first spread about these being out and about, my Justice had yet to re-open from a remodel. However, as we drove through the mall yesterday to go to Toys R Us, we noticed the once empty Justice was filled with clothing– and people! Needless to say, we dashed in and saw them. Literally all four dolls sat on the shelf.

Apple, Raven, and Maddie

Now, I wasn’t about to spend $100 on all four, but I did pick up three. Two are mine, one was payment to my Mom, who kindly picked up a Monster High doll (or two) for me this past week. (Yes, we pay each other back with dolls occasionally!)

Look what I stumbled upon at Justice!

This first Ever After High review is on the doll that I most looked forward to– Madeline (Maddie) Hatter! Seriously, she’s one of the most entertaining characters in the web series so far and her character design is fantastic. To me, she’s a lot like the Pinkie Pie or Luna Lovegood of Ever After High.

Back of Box

A Bit About Maddie

Maddie Hatter

What do Ever After High dolls come with? As expected, Ever After High dolls come with a comb. The comb is kind of cool. It’s shaped like a key. Ever After High dolls also come with a stand (hidden inside the box). I can hear you asking about the quality of said stand, seeing as Mattel doesn’t care about giving Monster High decent stands anymore. Good news! These stands are really good! Much better than what we’ve seen on the MH front recently. (Now give Mattel a few years with the Ever After gang and we’ll revisit this!) The last ‘extra’ included is a bookmark/storybook that tells the story of the character. Actually, the writing and storytelling within the storybook bookmark is pretty good and much longer than the MH journals, I believe.

Comb

Stand

Maddie is a similar size to Howleen or Twyla, which was a happy surprise! I love that size doll and didn’t know they were incorporating it so early into the Ever After dolls!

Maddie and Twyla

Notice the size difference

Unlike Monster High’s long faces that usually have exaggerated noses, chins or cheek bones, the Ever After High dolls seem to all have large, round, flat faces. Maddie is no exception. I love her round face! It allows for a really awesome eye design. They have that hand painted look, instead of the eye sticker look. They’re also very large and over exaggerated, which I love.

Notice her round face

See the differences between Venus (MH) and Maddie (Ever After)

Maddie’s colors seem to be purple and sea green (think Twyla green). Her hair is styled in tight curls. Because her hair was pushed forward in the box, I had to do a bit of restyling in the back to remove some odd looking bald spots. I don’t recommend using the comb on her hair unless you want to undo the curls. If the sea green is anything like Twyla’s, it will be frizzier than usual if you decide to ooak up her hair style.

Back of Maddie’s head

It seems to me that Maddie has a similar body to her Monster High counterparts Howleen and Twyla. She has the same amount of joints as those dolls and the limbs seem to be the same thickness. I decided against comparing the dolls without clothing, as I like how my Maddie looks and don’t want to do something to screw her up. Update: The Toy Box Philosopher went over the body differences in her review.

Outfit

2 Finger Ring on glove like hands

Tea Pot Shoes

Headband Hat

Maddie is decked out in a fun purple and teal dress decorated with gold embellishments. It’s perfect for a tea party! (And for future cosplayers!) Her outfit includes plastic cuffs that hang loose on her arms. Maddie has molded hands that are designed to look like gloves. She wears fantastic polka dotted leggings. To complete the outfit, Maddie wears spoon earrings, a large two finger ring, teal necklace, and tea cup headband. Her shoes look a bit like a tea pot, as does her handbag. Overall, a very fitting outfit for a quirky girl from Wonderland who speaks in riddles!

Ice Cream, anyone?

The only problem I see with Maddie is that my doll seems to have a wonky knee. Her right knee bends, but it doesn’t bend as much as much as the other. It’s because of this, I think, that her legs are actually two different sizes. One is just a smidgen shorter than the rest which makes it a little harder to prop her up for photo ops.

Maddie and Apple

The only other minor issue I found was that her tiny ring likes to slide off. That worries me a bit, as I don’t want to lose it! I wasn’t paying attention when I opened the box to see if I accidentally cut an elastic that I shouldn’t have, but keep an eye out when opening your doll. It might be easier to just keep it on with elastic!

Maddie and Apple

That being said, in the long run of possible problems, Maddie Hatter scores well! If all the Ever After High dolls are as well made and creative as Maddie, then Mattel has a fantastic line on their hands!