Customer Reviews

Dolls of the World: Princess of Imperial Russia Barbie

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This review is for Princess of Imperial Russia. I notice some reviews for this item are talking about other dolls in the Princesses of the World series, so I want to make it clear which one I am writing about!

The doll has a pretty face, and is actually not too different from the prototype. The hair color is a nice, dark-golden color and it looks authentically Russian. Some reviewers complained that she was not brunette, but there are many blond Russians, and also if you read Russian folk tales often they speak of golden-haired princesses.

But the hair is not 100% great, because her braid is ridiculously too thick. It should have been only rooted mostly around the perimiter and the part to make the braid in proportion to the rest of the doll (like 2003 Princess of the Vikings). But also the hair is not rooted thickly enough to take her hair down from the braid and still look good -- there are bald spots on top of her head if you unbraid her hair.

The costume is the biggest disappointment. It's a slightly fancier but poorer quality update of the 1996 Doll of the World Russian Barbie. The headdress is pretty fancy, though cheap-looking in plastic, but the rest of her costume could pretty much be a peasant costume, rather than royal costume. The quality of the material is pretty cheap, especially the fabric they used for the skirt. She does have cute red boots, though.

There is some information on the back of the box that is a bit confusing. It describes this Russian princess who receives, for example, nesting doll (matryoshka) -- yet that was more folk art and didn't appear until the 19th century, and her costume is not what a 19th century Grand Duchess would wear. The costume looks pre-17th century, but the writing vaguely hints at 19th century, so it's not a great thing for the educational value.

This is an ok doll, but could have been much better, so I give it 3 stars overall.

This is my third addition to my Princess of the World collection and by far is the most authentic. Her lovely blonde hair is barided in an elegant sideswept braid and the style of her dress is accurate( I'm Russian-American and I should kno. The detail of the red boots is another plus; as my previous two dolls from this series spotrted the standard " Barbie Pump shoes" .

I appreciate the simpler packaging, as my Princess of Imperial Russia doll was MUCH easier to remove than were the previous two dolls I'd purchased.

I love to collect Barbies! I started my collection when I was fourteen-years-old, and now I have several hundred. Out of all the Barbie series, I love the Princess collection the best.

This doll is so beautiful! Her gown is a beautiful burgundy, her crown is gorgeous and sparkly. Her shoes will fall off when you try to play with her. I suggest you do not take her out of her collector box, nor try to change her clothes, they will rip.

9/10 stars

~~Kat

My Russian wife told me point blank she didn't like the doll. I surmised that this was because the attire was not historically accurate for an imperial princess, or so she informed me -- at length. I knew in advance my wife wouldn't like the doll, as she tends to be very, very fussy, like a Russian princess herself. I suppose that's why I bought it for her. Of course, she appreciated the sentiment. I'm surprised Mattel got the outfit wrong, but how would I know?

The latest additions to the Dolls of the World Princesses Collections seem to have, unfortunately, appeared in a new, third box style. The doll itself is lovely, very simple in comparison with some of the earlier dolls, but still has a wonderful face mold reminiscent of the Legends of Ireland Bard. Her crown in another face-encircling ornament, similar to that of the Princess of Ancient Mexico. The dress is of very nice color and fabric, and again, Mattel has done its homework well regarding historical accuracy. The new box is a little disappointing after seeing the second double-lid box of the Navajo and Ancient Mexico princesses...but in all likelihood, since this is a pink label collectible, Mattel has chosen to reserve the double-lidded boxes for its higher level series. Still, the box has a lid, which allows visibility of the dolls without the lid being removed. One must take the doll and the scenic liner from the box in order to check if the COA and stand are included (they are taped to the backside of the liner). I think the change of the box solved quite a few issues, such as keeping the dolls affordable while still providing more safety for them than the first box design. All in all, Russian Princess is a beauty who will keep the collection growing and collectors hooked!

My AuntBev.gave me this doll for my birthday.I seem to like her dress,plain but stiking!Her face is so amazing.Itlooks so much like a Russian face would look like!I know,I have an aunt who is Russian.SarahAnnBradburn say this is a great doll!!!!!!

This made a very nice addition to my Dolls of the World collection. One of my most favorite. This doll is very beautiful and I love her long braided hair.

Oh no, not another cossack-style outfit! ( This doll is a virtual twin of the second Russian DOTW, which was described as wearing a cossack outfit IIRC.) How is this doll remotely an improvement on the two Russian DOTW? Oh, yeah ; she has fancier head gear...big whoop.



I really wish they had put this "princess" into an outfit that's a bit more regal-say, a reasonable facsimile of the beautiful outfit worn by the porcelain Faberge Imperial Russian court doll. Scaled down and not so ornate, due to cost concerns...but along those lines.



Even worse than the outfit is the doll's coloring. Another blonde. Sigh ... :-( . I don't know about everyone else, but when I think of Russian women, I think "Eurasian" : Long straight silky raven hair , high cheekbones, slanting green or amber eyes...yeah, that probably does have something to do with seeing Natasha Fatale-Badenov too many times as a child. But even if one disagrees with my concept of Russian looks (and yes, I am aware that Russia is a multiracial nation) the fact remains that this series already has too many European princesses that are blonde . I don't understand why, since Mattel knows adult collectors dislike blonde dolls (especially if it's coupled with tanned 'skin)); their own research tells them so . This is because most adult collectors associate blonde hair with the Malibu Barbies of yesteryear. As a result, blonde Barbies look like toys to collectors, dark or redhaired Barbies with pale 'skin' look like collectibles. I can understand why the Danish and the Viking princess had to have blonde hair...but why the French court and the Tudor? The latter is particularly irritating , since the real princesses of the Tudor court had red gold to red brown hair and amber eyes, but anyway :



I find this doll disappointing, and the only reason she's going into the collection is because I'm a completist. Thankfully, the Italian renaissance princess looks much better.



My three star rating is my true rating for this doll : The one stars I gave it simply reflect that the questions on durability and 'fun' do not apply to an item that is a display piece for the adult collector-it's not a toy, IOW.

When I first heard of the Princess of Imperial Russia I was thinking along the lines of Anastasia... maybe they weren't exactly in the same time period, but so what. The point is that this doll is suppose to be a princess and she looks like an over glamourized peasant or an assassian playing dress up - Le Femme Nikita anyone? What's really good?! She doesn't even look all that friendly. I also agree that Mattel needs to stop playing the blonde hair card... not all Europeans/ Euroasians have blonde hair. I think that if they just change her hair color to a brown or raven color she would look SO much better - like mysterious or sexy. And get rid of the peasant duds also... it's cramping her style. She is a princess after all.