Princess Cadance and Shining Armor Released Early

What is this madness? We've seen the new figures Hasbro is coming out with this fall-a Vinyl Scratch, Lyra/Hearstrings, a new Rarity, Trixie, Nightmare Moon. And the giant castle playset. So what is this? We are faced with the shocking new knowledge that the Chinese toy selling site TaoBao and eBay* have gotten two different versions of Princess Cadance, as well as Shining Armor. This gives us a chance to examine these figures even closer than we could at ToyFair 2012.

Firstly, let's look at Shining Armor. He appears fairly similar to the show, (much better than Twilight Sparkle), but he is also a bit off. His jaw line is very hard and strongly carved, giving him a more masculine look, though also looking very different than our beloved normal luggage dolls. His hair seems to be a different material than the normal figures, a Troll doll feel to it. You may remember the old, slightly rough, very fluffy hair of the dolls from the past? Shining Armor uses this material. Quoted from ladybrooklyn on MLPArena in response to being asked if his hair was easily brushed-"Brushed? No. It can be smoothed with your fingers... it's really feather light... and very... whispy. It's really hard to describe..." So if you want to do his hair, buyers beware.

Next, we can look at Princess Cadance. She is actually not that terrible. Her colour is relatively accurate, though her wings aren't colour fading, they are just purple and appear glued on because of this. She has the hoof Regalia, though it is the same colour as her body, and she doesn't have the crown or necklace. Another version of her, spotted on facebook, has the more accurate Regalia. Her tail is a solid yellow, instead of the three colours, but over all, not too bad. It has been noticed that the talking version of her (unreleased) has mostly gold hair, with purple streaks. Overall, not too bad compared to Pink Troll-er, Celestia.

Overall, these figures aren't too bad. Hasbro of course has left room for improvement, but I'd buy them. One more note-the castle has not been released yet, so buying these figures is just buying the figures. Enjoy waiting for the castle. Oh, okay, make that two. These toys are about 1.5x the size of normal figures.

Shining Armor Review

Show-Accuracy: 4/5 The hair is a bit off, as is his general body shape, but amazing.

Friendly Looking/Cute: 4/5 He is great looking, and no kid would be scared of it. The jaw line makes him appear a bit intimidating, hence the 4/5.

Child Friendly: 3/5 The hair would pull out after being brushed, and the unicorn horn isn't exactly completely safe.

What We Were Promised: 4/5 It has lived up to Hasbro expectations, and a little beyond mine, but still leaves room for improvment.

Quality: 3/5 Back to the hair. They couldn't use the good, silky-ish quality stuff other ponies deserve, could they?

Overall: 3.6/5 I'd buy it, but don't buy him and then buy the castle with him again. Once is enough.

Princess Cadance Review

Show-Accuracy: 3/5 The wings, mane, and regalia really throw it off, but the cutie mark is correct!

Friendly Looking/Cute: 5/5 She is beautiful and caring in appearance and on the show-the perfect look for her. The way her eyes accentuate her colours really brings out her kindness.

Child Friendly: 4/5 The horn could poke someone in the eye, but otherwise, very safe for kids 3+.

What We Were Promised: 4/5 She lives up to my expectations, besides the wings and regalia. Pretty great doll, way better than double-pink-streak-maned Twilight.

Quality: 4/5 The wings appear flimsy, but that's really all.

Overall: 4/5 Buy her for you, your friends, your family, but don't expect her to be perfect. Of course, despite her lack of perfection, I wouldn't paint her either.

*eBay links to the current auction with Shining Armor and Princess Cadance.