Review of Ariel, Karina and Mala from Disney's The Little Mermaid Set by Mattel (2023)

Hello everyone! Today we will review the fantastic mermaid girls Ariel, Karina and Mala from the Disney set "The Little Mermaid" from Mattel, released in 2023.
Traditionally - bright packaging, which can be used for photo shoots if desired. Stands are not included in the package, so stands from other dolls were used for the review.

Ariel

Let's start with the main character of the romantic story beloved by many ❤️🧜🏻‍♀️

The doll is very similar to the actress Holly Bailey, who played the role of Ariel in the new film:

But, in our opinion, for some reason, its creators decided to distinguish it from other dolls of the series with a more cartoonish make-up.

Arielka has very soft wavy hair of a bronze color, parted in beautiful, tight and neat buns. The firmware is not rare and very high-quality.

The doll's outfit consists of a glittery top with frills on silicone straps with Velcro on the back and a bright fish tail. It should be noted that the details of the tail, namely the fabric fins, are painted only on the front side, and on the other side there is simply unpainted material. This also applies to other doll outfits in this set.

It turned out to be a pleasant surprise that the tails of the little mermaids turned out to be slightly hinged, which allows them to sit confidently and beautifully either on a chair or on a beautiful sea pebble😍🌊 In the rest - the doll has only two joints (neck and shoulders).

Karina

This girl impresses first of all because she has, without exaggeration, beautiful and soft lilac hair. Mattel has already managed to accustom its fans to the expectation that colored hair usually comes from a different material, more elastic, naughty and hard, but no - you will enjoy this hair, because it is pleasant to the touch, long and naturally shiny. Karina has a beautiful high tail and varnished bangs, the rest of her hair is clean☺️

The sculpt of the doll looks intelligent and new, the girl has a very expressive profile and delicate make-up.

The outfit, like Ariel's, is a sparkly top with a stand-up collar and a fishtail in Karina's favorite blue and lilac colors.
The hinge system is similar.

Mala

And finally, one of the most anticipated dolls of the set - the Asian pearl - Mala😍

This doll will not disappoint those who have been waiting for her for so long, because everything about her is beautiful - a cute Asian face, expressive but moderate make-up, and incredibly soft and high-quality black hair❤️

Mala loves yellow-pink shades, so her outfit is based on these colors:

Hybridization

Regarding the question of how to make these dolls more mobile - we can only say that this time the creators, as they say, nailed skintones "from the heart". But we will still try to find the most suitable options and will update this review, adding new findings.
The easiest question is solved with Mala. Kira BMR1959 is almost perfect for her, but Mala's head will be slightly lighter. It is visible only to a very careful eye.

It's a little more difficult to choose a moving body for Ariel, because she has a reddish tint, which confuses when choosing a shade.
With an imperfect but match, you can choose either Asha Made to Move (a darker version) or a brunette football player MTM (a little lighter). Look at the photo, choose to your taste, compare live and please remember that even the same dolls of the Made to Move series may differ in shades. Therefore, we kindly ask you to take the information not as a guide to action, but only as a recommendation.

The most difficult thing was with Karina. She has a very light skin tone, even with a yellowish tint🙈 Kira is dark for her, Neko is pinkish and also dark. A comparison with the new MTM super light tennis player will be added a little later.
And so far we only have the following options:

We hope this review will be useful to you.
With best regards,
The DollsHobby.club team