There’s a lot of different ways we could go with this, the royally regal National Princess Week being officially upon us. With two girls, my wife and I are well-versed in the ways and needs of young Royals in 2016. As a King of sorts myself, I can throw-down plenty of knowledge when it comes to the trade partners of Arendelle or the allies of Enchancia. Having just visited Walt Disney World as a family for the first time this month, The Rock Daughters met many a Princess first-hand, and while the traditional likes of Cinderella and Rapunzel are certainly prevalent both there and at home, it’s a much younger Princess – one whose mother married into Royalty – that maintains the top spot here at Rock Father HQ: Sofia the First. Indeed, the title character from the Disney Junior hit his held in high regard – a highlight of our visit to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and a character that both of our girls played in a Broadway Beginners production of SOFIA & JAKE: A PRINCESS & PIRATE ADVENTURE. All that said, for National Princess Week I’m featuring the new Sofia the First Mermaid Magic Princess Doll by Just Play Products.
Sent here for review earlier this Spring, this new doll features mermaid version of Sofia – first appearing in “The Floating Palace,” and later back in “Cool Hand Fluke.” As you might know, young Sofia befriended some mermaids, eventually revealing that The Amulet of Avalor had a previously-unseen power – that of turning the human into a mermaid for undersea adventures. Like that time she encountered The Mantacorn (not to be confused with the Devilish Manticore), a music-loving creature that was part Manta, part Unicorn. In fact, after a recent visit to the beach, the girls collected a few “Mantacorn Horns.”
This new doll is a great representation of Sofia as she appeared on the show, and in many ways similar to a Little Mermaid Ariel doll we already had here at the house. Pressing Sofia’s Amulet of Avalor prompts the doll to play a song from the show while the tail lights up in a variety of colors thanks to some LED lighting inside. The best part is that the bottom of the tail fin can be wound by hand, and upon pressing the button will spin.
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The caveat here – and we run into this a lot – is that this is an electronic lights & sounds doll that is advertised as being for play in the water… but just the tail. Like the aforementioned Ariel doll (made by JAKKS Pacific), you can’t submerge the entire Sofia doll in water without risking damage, so I have to point that out.
Overall, this is a great doll that’s lots of fun, but without supervision, we keep this as a water-free toy. An added bonus? We bought the girls some of the smaller Sofia mermaid figures and they all play well together. Have you heard about when Mermaid Sofia became GIANT Mermaid Sofia? That’s a story we made up right here!
The Sofia the First Mermaid Magic Princess Doll is available now at retailers everywhere, for a suggested price of $24.99
You know what we still need, though? A Mr. Cedric action figure and a proper Baileywick. Also, Doc McStuffins still needs The Wicked King. Someone needs to get on that…
