There's a whole world of Frozen-related toys out there. Dolls, figurines, and playsets. For this post I'm going to take a look at some of the playsets and figurines I've noticed, plus a review of a figurine set that I bought. This obviously isn't a review of all the many Frozen-related toys out on the market.
I haven't seen any of the Frozen castle playsets in person, but here's one that I seem to see photos of most often:
I have to admit Elsa's castle is looking a little Liberace to me, but then I thought that during the movie too, so I suppose it's just being true to the movie.
This next set below is much cooler looking. It's the sisters' inherited castle at Arendelle in all its glory. Again, I haven't seen this one in the flesh, but it looks quite big compared to the figures, and it's wonderfully detailed in a way that should capture the imagination.
Moving on from castles, here are some figurine-oriented playsets: This one below seems to be quite common. Right off the bat, the packaging itself makes a great impression - the way the figures are positioned and posed is like movie advertising key art come to life. I don't own this set nor have I seen it in person so I can't speak towards its quality, but the figures look nicely detailed with rich colors and textures.
And then there's this baby. This is the set I got for my youngest. Again the packaging is really nice and tempting.
Also, kudos to Disney for not making the figures next to impossible to get out of the packaging even once the box is open. I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about - packaging where the toys are so twist tied and affixed to the packaging that you need heavy duty shears to get them out, not to mention incredible patience to do it while a kid is hopping up and down next to you dying to get their hands on the toy. No, in this case, open up the box, slide out the molded plastic insert that the figures are encased in, and the figures pop out and are ready to go.
And what nice figures they are. Sven, Christoph, Hans, Olaf, Anna, and Elsa are all here, ready to go re-enact whatever scenes you want or go on whatever adventures you can imagine. They're well made visually. The female figures get real fabric clothes. The menfolk get molded plastic get ups.
Elsa looks beautiful as always, but I have to give best design credits to Anna's outfit and overall appearance. Her dress falls below her knees and is patterned with traditional Scandinavian-looking markings. To keep her warm is a lovely dark magenta cloak. Completing her look are some cool-looking big black boots!
Most of the figures move in various ways, though not in the same ways. Some can sit, some can't. Sven doesn't move at all. My biggest criticism of the set - and it's a big criticism - is that me and my youngest discovered very quickly is that not all of these figures stay standing! This is bad, bad, bad! Elsa is the worst offender - it's almost impossible to get her to stay standing. All the other figures you can kind of get get them to stand after some messing around. It's a major flaw in the design of these figures in my opinion, and I would have thought twice about buying this set if I'd known.
Like these particular toy sets or not, the way Disney releases its movie-related toys in dribs and drabs over the course of many years means that we will be seeing different versions of Frozen toys for years to come. For toy lovers, and especially toy lovers who are fans of Frozen, this will be interesting to watch.
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