Get ready to be annoyed with the music

toys & games:

	• Barbie® & The Diamond Castle Princess Liana Doll Mattel Mattel, 2008 average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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Pretty, but Disapppointing

I bought this doll for my 3-year-old for Christmas. She was happy with it until I tried to show her how to transform the dress. Although the description says her dress transforms "with the touch of a button," it's actually a handle on her back that you turn. The dress looks nice in "princess" mode, but when you change it to the peasant mode only the front three panels flip over. The frame that holds them to her body sticks out so the dress looks odd and the fabric doesn't sit right. Also, my daughter was upset that the back panel didn't change at all and she kept saying it was broken. She finally threw the doll aside and said she didn't like it.

As others have mentioned, the hard plastic pink legs are not like regular Barbie legs. They're the same color as her dress, they're non-bendable, and just odd. I'm sure they made them pink so they're not obvious through the slits in her dress, but I don't understand why they couldn't have used regular rubber legs and either tinted them pink or had tights for her.

It's strange that they would have her dress and legs done in this manner, as the companion doll, Alexa, isn't like this. Her dress functions with Velcro and a drawstring and she has normal legs.

My daughter did start playing with her again after a little while, and she likes to make the two dolls sing together, although they don't actually sync up. You have to push the buttons at the same time to get them to sing together. If you don't push them exactly at the same time then the audio doesn't match up, but she doesn't seem to mind this. It drives me crazy to hear them out of sync, and you'll have "Connected - Protected" running through your head for hours.

Overall, this is a very pretty doll and it does sing, which is what my daughter is most interested in. If you're looking for a pretty princess Barbie then this would work, but if you're interested in the transforming dress I think you'll be pretty disappointed.

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Princess Liana

The doll arrived quickly and in excellent condition. I'm sure my 4 and a half year old niece will love her.

Thank you.

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Get ready to be annoyed with the music

My sister gave my girls the Princess Liana and Princess Alexa dolls. My 5 year old chose Alexa and by default my 2 year old got Liana, and since that's her middle name that was a nice added bonus.

We already had the Diamond Castle book so my girls were familiar with the characters and the story, which was also good. Those 2 points are going to be irrelevant to most people.

WIth that background information aside, let me get to the point:
- The dolls are advertised to each sing 2 songs and when their hands are "joined" they will sing a duet.
---Yes, they each sing 2 songs (each doll has the same 2 songs, so you're not getting 4 songs).
---No, they don't really sing a duet. The enclosed directions tell you the dolls should be side-by-side (not facing each other) and you place one hand over the other to activate the switch in their hands that makes them sing. Well, there's no way to really nest a hand in the other and it's very awkward. You have to keep your fingers on their hands to keep them together. Plus, it's nearly impossible to activate both their switches at the same time, thus making their songs a bit out of synch by a few notes. You might as well just activate their switches at the same time but not while "joining" them together. As far as we can tell, you can't get them synchronized and there's no unique song for their duet. It's just one of the 2 songs they sing.

That's my major complaint with the dolls. Another annoyance is the actual song. One song is short and totally tolerable. The other one goes on FOREVER and the only way to stop the song is to push a button on the doll's back to make this "jingling" noise, thus interrupting and ending the song. The song is a bit annoying and for days you will sing "connected...protected" in your head.

This is NOT a toy you can take to bed with you because it's very sensitive and easily turns on. The only way to keep them off is to take the battery out (with a screwdriver, which is a pain).

THE GOOD:
--- the dresses are really pretty
---the accessories are attached, so no losing necklaces or tiaras
---the girls love them

And the NEUTRAL:
--- the legs are painted pink instead of skin toned. This kind of annoyed my older daughter at first, but she quickly got over it.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Barbie doll is featured here as Princess Liana from "Barbie and The Diamond Castle" who sings two songs from the movie and wears a mesmerizing glittery gown that magically transforms with the flip of a switch. Her necklace lights up when she sings. Pair her with the Princess Alexa doll, sold separately, to hear beautiful duets. Requires 3 "button-cell" batteries, included. Doll measures 11.5" tall.