Designer Mother Gothel Doll

Today was the day! After waiting since June, today the Disney Villain Designer collection doll arrived that I wanted: Mother Gothel! 

I had been saving my money for this doll and I was so glad that my wait was over! I had been given a sum of money, nearly the complete cost of the doll, from a fellow dance team member as a gift for graduating from graduate school back in June when I learned these dolls were coming out. The rest of the cost of the doll was not hard to come up with and the money waited patiently in a Rapunzel coin bank (of course, right?) for the day to arrive. Today was that day!

I got to the Disney Store early. I had been told a few weeks before that the edition sizes were larger for the Villain collection, in response to the chaos that the Princess collection had caused, and the way in which the dolls were to be distributed would also be different. The person's name would be put into a cauldron. Once all the names had been placed into the cauldron, one would be drawn, then another, and another until they were done. That would be the order in which the dolls would be handed out.

I had not been there for the release of the other dolls, so therefore I did not know if it was going to be crowded and crazy as the Princess collection had been, even though there were measures in place to keep it from happening again. To have fun, and since it was cold, I wore my real hair in a bun and wore my Rapunzel crochet hat.

I placed my name in the cauldron and my fiancee and I killed time walking the mall and having lunch. It would be two more hours before the drawing started. The walking helped to control the excitement that was stirring in me that I would soon have a Designer Mother Gothel doll to go next to my Designer Rapunzel doll.

I had already planned where I was going to put her. I had cleared off a shelf and Rapunzel was waiting on half of it. Mother Gothel would rest on the other half and between them would rest my HM Rapunzel Crown. It was a perfect plan in my head. 

I cannot deny that some part of me was not worried that I would not get a doll. What if they did run out at this location as they had with the Princess Collection before my number was called? I had been assured that everyone there would get a doll, but I was still so concerned. Looking back on it, I was really silly to worry.

At last the names were being called. Several groups of people were gathered to listen for their names. When the first name was called, it turned out to me mine! I laughed and grabbed the voucher then stepped up to the counter to pick up my doll. She came as the Rapunzel one had to me in the mail, in the acrylic case with a hard paper sheath with a bag with the designs of the other Villains on them. As it was with the Princess Collection, there was only one doll I wanted, and now I had her.

As I did with Rapunzel, I loved how Mother Gothel looked. Her hair style was a little odd; a sort of curly-haired beehive, but I suppose it was hard to put such curly hair into a different kind of style on a doll. Her hair ornament, though, was lovely. I could have lived without the leaf addition to the ornament, but the flower was beautiful.

The colors chosen were perfect for the character. The wine red was close to the color she had in the film and went very well with the golden trim and shimmering golden thread that made up the embroidered flower and the fringed train (resemblance to Rapunzel's hair, anyone?)

 

Other than her hair style, which really did not bother me as much anymore as it originally did, the one thing I am not too thrilled about is her pose. What is that? She looks almost as though she is slightly taken back by something, but her arms seem so awkward. I wanted to slide off the case and pose her arms differently, but I resisted. I still may go back in there and twist her lower hand so that it is facing downward to see if that helps reduce some of the oddness.

As with Rapunzel, I am still happy to have Mother Gothel in my collection. She is so much more beautiful in person than my images show, save for that silly pose.