Legacy Day Raven Queen

Today, I've got another doll that I bought with a gift card after Christmas, who's been sitting around waiting to get reviewed since then! If you read my year-end favourites lists, you've gotten a sneak peek at her, and it's finally her turn for a full-fledged review.

When I started seeing the Ever After High dolls hitting the shelves, the two that immediately caught my eye were Madeline Hatter and Raven Queen. Maddie is just so cute and exuberant, and Raven is dark and mysterious, and she's purple, which is always a selling point for me. Well, I kept putting off buying Raven for some reason, getting Maddie, Ashlynn and Hunter and Cerise before finally adding Raven to my collection. And then, by the time I was ready to get her, I had to choose between basic Raven, Legacy Day Raven and Getting Fairest Raven!

Leaving behind GF Raven wasn't hard, since pajama lines don't usually grab me, though she is pretty cute. I stood in Toys R Us with basic Raven in one hand and LD Raven in the other for a lot longer than I'd like to admit, because truthfully, I think they're pretty much equally gorgeous. In the end, what made the decision for me was getting the most out of my gift card, and Legacy Day Raven is a few dollars more expensive, so she came home with me! I'm still debating going back for basic Raven, but that's on the back burner for now.

There's a lot to talk about with this doll, so let's get started!

Her box is a variation on the standard Ever After High box, and I really like how bright and open it is, and how you can see everything easily. The back has a brief description about the story behind Legacy Day, though I assume this description is less brief on the American packaging. The image of Raven on the back is nice, I like how she's standing with her arms crossed, daring someone to mess with her destiny.

And here she is! See what I mean about a lot going on? From top to bottom, there is not a centimetre of this doll that is not carefully designed.

Firstly, in addition to the standard key shaped brush, she comes with a large purple book and a silver key. The key actually fits in the little keyhole on the front of the book! The book has a mirror on the cover, and presumably is meant to represent the Storybook of Legends, the book each student is supposed to read from on Legacy Day to confirm their destiny. The book opens, and is pretty roomy inside. Raven's purse actually fits inside it, though I don't know what else you'd put in it.

Her purse is a textured purple ball with a chain handle and a silver embellishment. It's cute, but very simple.

And that is the last thing about Raven that is simple! She's wearing a crown, an ornate collar and cape, a tunic-type top with attached ruffle, leggings, and elaborate boots.

The collar is really quite impressive. It's mostly silver, made to look oxidized in some places to bring out the design, and accented with purple feathers on either shoulder.

You can see here how she wears it; it slips on easily with that open back, the whole piece being made of soft plastic. However, her hair style competes with the collar, and makes it so she kind of always has to be looking sideways over her shoulder. I'm considering changing her hair just a bit to alleviate that, but I'm not sure what hair style would fix it. The collar is very large and comes very close to her head, so anything other than piling all her hair on top of her head is probably still going to get in the way.

Once you take the collar off, it's easier to see some of the details. Despite how it gets in the way of her hair, it's really quite a stunning piece!

The cape is pretty awesome too! It's large, and the fabric is fairly stiff, but it has a beautiful pattern. It's vaguely abstract feathers, in purple and green over a white background. The whole pattern is overlaid with a blue shimmer, which you can just see in the second photo. It really looks great when the light catches it.

Underneath the cape, Raven is wearing a long tunic top and leggings. The top is a pattern of purple, silver and black that almost looks like scales or overlapping feathers. It's a slick, shiny material that reminds me of lame. It's cut asymmetrically around the back, dipping lower and coming almost to her knees in the back. There's also two tulle ruffles at her hips, one magenta and one white.

Her leggings are a bright magenta-purple, with gold flecks all over them. Over the tunic, she's also wearing a silver belt made of draped chains. It fits nicely over her hips, and really highlights the curvier EAH body.

There are some imperfections in the fabric of her top over her chest. It looks like it's just a bit too tight, and the stretching is causing these lines to appear as the fabric spreads. It doesn't look great, but I bet that if the top was looser, it would slide right down over her bust.

Her boots are predictably awesome. They're knee high and open toe, with open lacing all the way up. The tops are trimmed in two rows of pyramid studs, and the body of the boots are covered with embosed, overlapping feathers. The heels are a delicately arched wedge.

And look, painted toenails! Love these little details.

On one hand, she wears a silver cuff made up of three rows of studs, and a silver feather ring. On her other wrist, she wears a black cuff. It's hard to see, but the detail at the top of the cuff? It's a bird's clawed foot! So cool.

Her earrings are silver, and reminiscent of daggers.

Her crown is really cool, and sticking with the theme, there is a LOT going on here. There are silver pieces curving around her head, that kind of resemble twisted metal. The whole thing is attached to a headband that is embossed with an elaborate pattern.

On the very top, there's a bird skull with small wings. There are embossed jewels and medallions spilling down onto her forehead, and another set of wings on the front of the domed part of the crown. It's almost hard to describe it because there is just so much detail! The crown on my Raven is sitting slightly crooked due to the elastic bands holding it in place. It's tied on pretty tight so I can't shift it around a lot, and I don't really want to cut the bands in case I can't get it to stay on afterwards.

Raven's makeup is lovely, and actually really subdued when you consider her over the top outfit. Her eyes themselves are lavender, and her makeup is done in soft shades of aqua and purple that set them off nicely. She has opalescent glitter going up to the browbone, which catches the light in a beautiful way. Her lips are a bright but still soft orchid purple with a gentle shimmer.

Her hair is lovely and thick, with a soft wave through the ends. It's mostly black, shot through with streaks of purple, including a large panel of purple starting behind her left ear. There are a few shades of purple mixed together here, which gives the hair nice dimension. It's all gathered to one side in a low pony, with two strands twisted together across her hairline.

Also worth mentioning is that her cape has elastic loops on both sides, which allow you to either loop them over her fingers or her wrists and really have some fun with the cape!

There's a lot of fabric here, and it drapes pretty nicely, so it's fun to play with! Very mysterious, no?

She really does look very regal. Yes, there's a lot going on in this doll, but Raven carries off all the details beautifully.

The Ever After High faces have really grown on me over the past few months, and I can see her individuality and fierceness in a way that I couldn't before. You don't want to mess with this girl, or get in the way of her getting what she feels is right. Raven definitely stands up for what she believes in, and this face makes me buy that she would.

Even without her cape, she still looks pretty incredible. Maybe even a bit better actually? I really like her like this, but I love the cape too. Decisions!

She's just gorgeous, and I don't really have any more words to say about her! Just look at her face and let it do the talking!

And that's it for Legacy Day Raven Queen! She's definitely not a subtle or simple doll, but I don't think she quite makes it into ridiculous territory either. Well, maybe ridiculously fabulous! What do you think about this version of Raven Queen? Does she take it too far, or just far enough?

Up next on the blog, I've got Life in the Dreamhouse Midge and basic Briar Beauty ready to go. Who should I review next?