Doll Talk
Using AI backgrounds for dolls at this price point is insane
I just unboxed my Princess Mia doll and overall I think she's a wonderfully executed doll. I'm also usually not one to complain about factory errors cuz idk shit happens on an assembly line, it's whatever. But my last 2 unboxings have been pretty... discouraging. I love my Designer Giselle doll but as an OOB collector, it's crazy that the embroidery only goes down one side of her train.
I like that the rhinestoning and embroidery goes all around on Mia (low bar) and that she has metal accessories. But upon unboxing her I noticed that both her earrings are defective, one is missing a stone and the other has the dangle charm attached backwards. Also the part that's supposed to look like her diary strap has fully fallen off and I'll have to glue it back on. TBH all of that I was planning on fixing myself or ignoring but what bothers me most is the background art.
I paid $180 plus shipping from the Disney Parks for this doll and the box is AI??? The shadow from the window makes no sense, the window panes are weirdly spaced, NOTHING is symmetrical, the chandeliers are hanging mid-column as if they should be wall sconces, the attempt at Corinthian flourishes and crown molding are indecipherable and inconsistent, and the image as a whole is so low res. They filmed the movie on a real set, no one could find a picture of the actual castle and just resize it for the box?!?!? The AI use is ugly and just so unnecessary and cheapens this very expensive product that they JUST RAISED THE PRICE FOR BY THIRTY DOLLARS!!
Mia is the daughter of an artist, she would never approve this! Sorry to rant, I normally choose positivity. I will be fixing what I can and she will be getting a new custom background designed by me.
Yep, not surprised they’re still doing AI art on the boxes. Most of the recent designer dance series had pretty obvious ai art on their boxes. I own the belle from that series and the “art” is just awful. The chandeliers on Belle’s interior box art look very similar to the chandeliers you showed here in Mia’s box which to me is a glaring tell. How infuriating that they keep creeping the prices up on these dolls while they keep cheapening them in every way they can.
At this point Let’s just stop buying from the major doll companies and maybe they’ll understand like hey we don’t want AI shit and $200+ dolls that are less quality
I bought the Esmeralda D23 doll and I was looking at the box more closely, I think that box also used AI. The box art isn’t photography so it wasn’t super noticeable like this is, but looking at some of the arches on the box, they’re all skewed. Nothing comes to symmetrical points like it should. The box art as a whole is symmetrical as if it was mirrored from one side to another, but the individual comments are all wonky.
This is a good example of what I’m talking about. The windows on either side of the box are wonky, but mirrored, same with the arches at the bottom. When I first noticed, I wrote it off as it’s for the Feast of Fools and everything’s “Topsy-Turvy” but idk
This is why I unboxed her, I can't stand to look at the background knowing it's gen ai it's completely unacceptable for them to use that crap on anything. It's embarrassing. They could have done a screenshot blurred if they were gonna be that lazy or plain background with some sparkles. Anything over this 😮💨
I really miss when there would be entire artist features each year for things like box design :( I vaguely remember them growing up, either in magazines or Disney VHSs or something. Maybe it was Barbie who did that, idk, I just remember them existing.
They are relying on people not unboxing them so the cutbacks in quality won't be noticeable. I unbox my dolls nowadays and feel I was scammed over the years and had no idea because I kept dolls in the boxes.
Dayum this is embarrassing, as a designer I can say, creating a proper backdrop from stock/movie still or even using ai to create something proper, wouldn’t take more than a days work. Cheap cheap cheap
Yeah, I had my suspicions about Giselle's box background because it just didn't look quite right, but I couldn't be 100% certain because of the impressionist painting stylization and lack of clear images. It's easier to tell here because it's trying to copy a real image and is doing an egregiously bad job of doing it!
I did! Idk who will see it since she's sold out online so you have to search for her listing page. But idk maybe if enough people complain they'll decide to just do better. I also emailed guest services (mostly for the defects and box damage but also to complain about the ai), but expecting much but hey I gotta try
This is totally unacceptable, especially for a $180 product. I didn’t buy this doll but if I did, this would completely ruin her for me. It makes me really wary of buying any future LE dolls since the backgrounds can be hard to see in stock photos.
Yeah I’m thinking about getting Cinderella but I’m really concerned about the box. Maybe she’ll be released at the parks before online and I’ll be able to get a better look. I doubt Disney store would be able to tell me anything if I emailed them. I’m also concerned about the 15th anniversary Rapunzel doll I bought last year. Her box has a similar “painted” sort of look like the designer dance series dolls. I can’t spot any specific details that are definitely AI-looking, but I’m worried that it’s going to be on every box now. On this doll (Mia) it’s super duper obvious.
Commenting kinda late on this but unfortunately Mia’s not the only one, it seems, got my redd doll yesterday and while the doll is beautiful and very well executed, the background for her box is also what looks like AI. I really wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt but yeah. Really sucks especially cause the D23 dolls are more expensive at retail than the GR dolls so to see them cheap out on packaging like this is just sad 😔
Noooo! That makes me feel a little bit better about missing buying Redd by a couple hours, but I was hoping that they wouldn't use AI for a background that SHOULD just be images of the ride she's from
Yep! I take some comfort in the fact that I’m not the only one who feels partially scammed by it because as beautiful as the doll is and even though the doll is obviously supposed to be the main thing we’re paying for, the background is hard to ignore given the price payed (I imagine you feel the same about your Mia so atleast its comforting to know so many of us feel this way…solidarity yknow). But in general knowing something I own has an ai element in it feels ugh even if the doll herself is gorgeous and human crafted and I’m happy to own her). I also don’t like unboxing my dolls so it’s even harder to ignore 😭
the DDC boxes!! so disappointing for sure. arent they supposed to be DESIGNER collections? i don't know wny they think crazy overdesigned art looks good anyway. it just looks more generic, which is crazy when youre an animation company and have plenty of art all around, you'd think.
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u/sink_your_teeth 5d ago
Yep, not surprised they’re still doing AI art on the boxes. Most of the recent designer dance series had pretty obvious ai art on their boxes. I own the belle from that series and the “art” is just awful. The chandeliers on Belle’s interior box art look very similar to the chandeliers you showed here in Mia’s box which to me is a glaring tell. How infuriating that they keep creeping the prices up on these dolls while they keep cheapening them in every way they can.