The Hunt For Ever After High: Poppy O’Hair

Hello, friends and welcome back to another Ever After High doll review!  I sure hope I’m not boring you with all these Ever After High posts–if I am we can always switch to Marvel?!

But if you’re still enjoying this look back at some of our favorite Ever After High characters, then keep on reading because today is going to be a lot of fun–plus there’s a little surprise at the end!

Now, let’s get started with today’s review: Poppy O’Hair!

Doll review: Poppy O'Hair from Ever After High!

Poppy O’Hair the daughter of Rapunzel and Holly O’Hair’s twin.  While her red-headed sister is a Royal at Ever After High, Poppy prefers hanging out with the Rebels.

Thanks to her many releases, I had no problem finding Holly.  You can read the review of her here: The Hunt For Ever After High: Holly O’Hair.  Poppy, however, was not so easy.

There are four versions of Poppy O’Hair:

A look back at Poppy O'Hair from 2014 to 2015.

I’ve seen images of a not-yet-released Poppy O’Hair but can’t find any other information about her except that she’s part of an upcoming wave of budget (as in not articulated) dolls called the Tea Party line.

Since there are half as many Poppys as there are Hollys, finding Rapunzel’s eldest daughter would require patience—a virtue I’m lacking!

I know I’ve mentioned the outrageous cost of Signature Ever After High dolls on Amazon before, but here’s a screenshot showing exactly I mean:

Screenshot of Poppy O'Hair's price on Amazon--May 5th, 2018.

I’ve been watching that Holly and Poppy twin pack for a solid year now and it has yet to drop below $200!  The other Poppys aren’t cheap either.  In fact, the only one below $100 is the Fairest On Ice doll who I didn’t want.

Don’t get me wrong!  I’m sure Fairest On Ice Poppy is a lovely doll.  It’s just that I love the contrast between Holly’s long hair and Poppy’s pixie cut.  They’re like the yin-yang of Ever After High–total opposites yet complimenting each other perfectly, and I didn’t want to lose that effect.  In my opinion, the Fairest On Ice doll’s hair is too long and different from Poppy’s classic style.

So, I set my heart on either the Through The Woods Poppy or Dragon Games Poppy.  Since I’m not willing to pay Amazon’s sky-high prices, it was back to eBay.  Hopefully, there’d be a hidden bargain.

Aha! I was in luck!  Someone had just listed a slew of Ever After High dolls, and two of them were Poppy: The Through The Woods Poppy AND a Dragon Games Poppy.

The only downside was that someone had JUST LISTED them!  That meant the auctions still had six days to go before ending.  Ugh!  I hate waiting!  Did I mention I’m not the most patient person?

As the auctions’ end date drew near and bids trickled in, I started doubting my chances of winning–especially since most Poppy O’Hair dolls sell for anywhere between $75 and $110 and these two were barely at $55.  Still, you never know unless you try.  I used an old eBay trick and waited until the auction was mere seconds away from ending before placing my highest bid.

*Quick Tip: Here’s a little trick for winning an item on eBay for the best price: Wait until the auction is almost over before entering the highest amount you are willing to pay. For Poppy, I placed my bid during the last 15 seconds of the auction. This gives other bidders less time to see you’re maximum price and decide if it’s worth it to outbid you.
?CONGRATULATIONS!?  
YOU’RE THE WINNER OF THIS AUCTION!

Eee!  My strategy worked!  The seller shipped Poppy right away.  She arrived safely a few weeks ago which meant Holly didn’t have to wait too long before meeting her sister!

Which Poppy did I win?

The Hunt For Ever After High: Through The Woods Poppy O'Hair Doll Review.

My fellow Ever After High loving friends, I’d like you to meet Poppy O’Hair from the Through The Woods series!

This line is based on the Ever After High webisode also called Through The Woods.  In the webisode, Ashlynn Ella, C.A Cupid, Blondie Lockes, and Poppy O’Hair get lost in the Dark Forest due to a spiteful Faybelle Thorn sending them in the wrong direction.

The Box:

Through The Woods Poppy O’Hair comes in a dark green, forest themed box.

Through The Woods' Poppy O'Hair Doll Review.

The name of the series is in the upper right corner.  The box’s background looks like a drawing of a forest, and Poppy’s name written on the spine of the “book.”

I’ve said it once and will say it again: I love the book-shaped boxes these original Ever After High dolls came in!  If I could, I would save every box and recycle the spines to make “faux books” to decorate my shelves.

The back of the box features a map, a short description, and images of the other dolls in this collection.

The back of Poppy O'Hair's box has a map with messages.

Besides Poppy O’Hair, the Through The Woods series also includes:

  1. Ashlynn Ella.
  2. Blondie Lockes.
  3. C.A Cupid.

The map on the back has bits of text that read, “Turn right at Babbling Brook” and “Turn right left at fork to Dark Enchanted Forest.”  Personally, I found this a little confusing.  First of all, it looks like Poppy is talking to the map.  She replies to each line of text with something like, “Brook actually babbles WAY too much” and “These directions are letting me down.”

Image of Poppy's map: Who is Poppy talking to?

The only theory I came up with that made sense is that this map is Poppy’s Mirrorpad and she’s messaging someone.  Maybe Faybelle Thorn?  However, this still doesn’t follow the webisode very well since Faybelle sends the girls down the wrong path by switching a sign, not texting them false directions.

While the map doesn’t make perfect sense, I think I may have a use for it, which is why I saved this part of the box for a future craft?.

Meet Poppy O’Hair:

Here is Poppy O’Hair out of her box.

Ever After High doll: Poppy O'Hair.

She comes with:

  1. A traveling outfit.
  2. A lantern.
  3. A compass.
  4. A silver doll stand (yay!).
  5. A silver brush.

Like I mentioned above, Poppy and Holly are the daughters of Rapunzel.

Sugar Coated Holly O'Hair and Through The Woods Poppy O'Hair dolls.

While I still prefer Disney’s “happily ever after” version, I love how Mattel incorporated part of the original tale by giving Rapunzel twins.  I know it doesn’t follow the story exactly, but that doesn’t bother me (in the Brothers Grimms story, Rapunzel has a boy and a girl).

Since she is three seconds older, Holly is Rapunzel’s heir which means Poppy is free to choose her own ever after–at least that’s what everyone thinks.  In the webisode, O’Hair’s Split Ends, Holly and Poppy discover that their birth certificates were accidentally switched.  This means the older twin is actually Poppy and she is the one destined to follow in Rapunzel’s footsteps.

The girls are devastated when they hear about the mix-up.  Holly looked forward to carrying on her mother’s legacy, and Poppy isn’t to keen to spend the next several years trapped in a tower.  In the end, the girls solve their dilemma by keeping the secret of the swapped birth certificates to themselves.

So, there’s a bit of O’Hair family history.  Now let’s take a closer look at Poppy!

A close up look at Poppy O'Hair.

Like her sister, Poppy has a light skin tone and teal eyes.  She wears smokey colored eyeshadow, deep pink lipstick, and has three silver dots on her lower lip.

As for her hair, it’s perfect!  No really—Poppy managed to escape box hair syndrome, probably due to her short (but super cute) style.

Image showing Poppy O'Hair's short hairtsyle.

Poppy’s hair is cut in an asymmetrical shape.  The right side of her hair is dyed purple and is flipped under slightly.  There is a decent amount of styling gel holding Poppy’s hair in place, which means her hair is somewhat stiff.

I don’t recommend brushing or washing Poppy’s hair because I think doing either of these things would cause her hair to frizz and ruin the look.

A close up look at Poppy's purple hair.

Also, I’d like to note that while Poppy’s hair is gelled, it is not sticky.  I don’t mind stiff hair (sometimes I even prefer it because it’s easier to maintain), but I despise sticky, gooey hair!  So, even though she doesn’t have her sister’s flowing ponytail, Poppy’s hair is A-OK with me!

How well does she pose?

Like most Ever After High dolls, Poppy O’Hair has eleven points of articulation.  She can look to the left, right, up and down.

There are joints at her shoulders, elbows, and wrists.

Poppy can also rotate her legs at the hips and bend her knees.

Poppy talking: I could bend all the way down if it wasn't for these pants!

Ever After High has some of the best articulation I’ve seen in a doll line!  I wonder why Mattel hasn’t put some of this ingenuity into their Barbie Fashionistas?

The Outfit:

Now, let’s take a peek at Poppy’s traveling outfit!

Through The Woods Poppy O’Hair comes wearing:

  1. A jacket.
  2. A dress
  3. A pair of pants.
  4. Shoes.
  5. And a beret.

I think we’ll start with the beret.

For her trek to the Forest Fest, Poppy dons a hot pink beret.  The beret came attached to Poppy’s head with several, annoying, plastic tabs which I had to clip before I could take it off.

The beret is stretchy and feels knitted.  Thanks to the elastic around the bottom edge, the cap fits snugly around Poppy’s head and doesn’t fall off.

Poppy's pink beret is elasticized and fits snugly around her head.

The only downside to the beret is it leaves an indention in Poppy’s hair.  While this isn’t a horrific flaw, it is noticeable and might bother some.

Indention in Poppy's hair left by the beret.

Here’s is Poppy’s jacket.

Through The Woods Poppy O'Hair wears a short, ombre jacket.

The jacket is a purplish-pink ombre and patterned with black scissor silhouettes.

Then there’s her black and pink asymmetrical dress.

Through The Woods Poppy O'Hair wears a striped, A-line dress.

The dress is grey and covered with wavy, dark black stripes.  It has clear elastic loops for sleeves.  The elastic loops give the dress a strapless look while keeping the top from flopping over.  The edges of the dress are finished with hot pink thread, and the dress closes in the back with black Velcro.

Poppy O’Hair wears a pair of colorful pants under her dress.

Image of Poppy O'Hair's pants.

The pants are stretchy and have an elastic waistband.  They are tie-dyed black, pink, and purple to match Poppy’s vivid color scheme.

Finally, we come to Poppy’s black boots.

Even though the boots are solid black, they have a lot of detail.  You can see shoelaces sculpted at the front along with a row of small studs bordering the edge of each shoe.  I’m considering painting the studs silver to give the boots some extra flair.

The thing I love about these shoes, though, are their thick heels.  It’s so much easier to get a doll to stand on her own when she’s wearing shoes with wedge-shaped heels like this instead of pointed high-heels.

Poppy O'Hair's thick shoes help her to stand.

Accessories:

Each doll in the Through The Woods line comes with lantern and traveling accessory.  Blondie Lockes came with a yellow tablet and blue lantern, and Poppy has a pink compass and purple lantern.

Ever After High dolls Blondie Lockes and Poppy O'Hair.

Poppy’s lantern is shaped to look like a tower turret with windows.

Poppy O'Hair's purple lantern.

Except for the gold candle inside, the lantern is solid purple.  The handle at the top fits around Poppy’s arm so she can hold the lamp without it slipping off.

Poppy’s square compass is bright pink with a handle on one side.  It also flips open!

Image of Poppy's bright pink compass.

Of Poppy’s accessories, the compass is the one I like the least.  Unfortunately, since everything is pink, it’s hard to see the intricate design like the needle on the front and inside.  I have a feeling this will be another piece I dress up at some point by either repainting it or gluing a sticker to the inner section.

For jewelry, Poppy wears a silver necklace and silver bracelet.

Poppy O'Hair's necklace and bracelet.

Like the pattern on her jacket, Poppy’s necklace is a bunch of crisscrossing scissors.  The necklace fastens around her neck with a small peg and can be taken off.  The bracelet around Poppy’s wrist is very tiny which means the only way to remove it is to pop off Poppy’s hand.  I think the bracelet has a pair of scissors, a hairbrush, a mirror, and maybe a hair straightener sculpted on it?  That’s just an educated guess, though!  This little trinket is so small I really have no idea what’s on it!

Then, of course, we can’t forget the doll stand and hairbrush.

Image of Poppy O'Hair's doll stand.

Since she is part of the Rebel crowd, Poppy comes with a silver brush and doll stand (the Royals have gold stands and brushes).  The stand has the Ever After High logo printed on the base, and the brush is shaped like a key.

Final Thoughts:

As I sit here and write this, I’m racking my brain trying to find some little flaw to point out but am having a hard time coming up with anything!

I absolutely love Poppy O’Hair!

While she may not be a bargain, Through The Woods Poppy doesn’t disappoint.  In fact, this doll pretty much encompasses everything I love about the Ever After High brand.

Her makeup is bold without being dark or grotesque.  She’s a well-articulated doll with a fun outfit and several cute accessories, and (of course) she has a fairytale-inspired story.  What’s not to love!

So, I’m going to end this review by saying I couldn’t be happier with Through The Woods Poppy.  I adore her and am thrilled to finally introduce her to our Ever After High family!

Holly and Poppy O'Hair dolls.

And, to celebrate Poppy’s arrival, the dolls and I put together a short photo story for you all!  Instead of posting one image after another, though, this photo story is formatted as a slideshow.

Just follow this link to read it:Poppy O'Hair Meets The Dolls Photo Story Cover.(A new window will open and you’ll just click the pages to view the next slide).

I’m testing out different ways to create easy-to-read photo stories, so please be sure to let me know what you think of this one.

3 Comments

  1. This is quite an awesome review!:) Also congrats on getting Poppy.
    -Quinley

    1. P.S. I really liked the photo story, it was so funny, and I your photography is amazing.

      1. Author

        I’m glad you liked the review and photo story! The slideshow was supposed to have a page turning effect (like an e-book), but the animation lost during the uploading process?. Still, I like how the slideshow turned out and am excited to have a new way to create photo stories!

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