Disney Belle Doll - a hoax?

[Prose]

So, I have read many articles about the shockingly awful Belle Doll, and have started seeing some suggestions that the photo is a fake. I am beginning to think this might be the case:

- there are but a few photos online, and they are all attributed to a single person at a JC Penney in Colorado,

- the full package is not shown in the photos, nor are there any photos of multiple packages of this particular doll on the shelves,

- there are several versions of the doll for sale at JC Penney online, Amazon, etc., but none of them look anything like this one.

I'd be interested to see if anyone other than the original photographer has actually seen this doll "in the wild" and is willing to post more extensive photos and/or video. At this point, I am thinking we may have been had. Thoughts?

 

[schrammalot]

I have to agree with you. It's either a one-time defect or a photoshop.

 

[Mattimation]

As far as I can tell, that "awful" Belle doll is very much real, but not for much longer. The one in question is the JCPenney exclusive doll, which was released a bit earlier than it probably should have been. Recently, someone tried to purchase on in their JCPenney but was told they weren't able to because the dolls had been recalled. This is his post here. Here's another post from someone who found another in a store. I'd agree that it's suspicious that I haven't found anyone who's bought and opened this doll, but of the Disney Collectors I follow so far only the one I cited has actually liked the doll enough to try to buy it. For the most part, Disney Doll Collectors are finding it incredibly ugly and choosing to wait for Disney Store's version, which is released this coming Monday.

This doll is unique to JCPenney and not sold at other retailers. They've had a deal with Disney Store for a while to get exclusive, cheaper versions of their dolls sold there. The dolls you are finding online are for general retailers, such as Target and Wal-Mart, and are made by Hasbro. Disney Store and JCPenney's dolls are made by Disney (Or Jakks Pacific, I've heard conflicting stories). The public response to the JCP doll was enough that Disney recalled it and will not be selling them any longer - I imagine JCP will get the Hasbro dolls now instead. Disney Store will be releasing their version on Monday, and people who have seen it have said it looks a lot like the JCP doll but with better paint and a more intricate costume. It seems like collectors are suggesting either skipping the Disney Store doll and getting the Hasbro one, or buying the Disney Store doll to put the costume on the Hasbro version, and discarding the actual doll from Disney.

 

[SueM in MN]

Not a hoax. Check out a guy named Noel Cruz who is an artist doing custom repairs of dolls.
He's currently re-painting one of the Belle dolls that was reportedly purchased from the Disney Store.
This first picture posted on his instagram is the original doll before re-painting and after he removed all the factory paint.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPi9GBnghw1/?taken-by=noelcruzdolls&hl=en

This video from his instagram shows the repainted in progress. Hes planning on selling her on eBay when he's done.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPlQTRHAhAN/?taken-by=noelcruzdolls&hl=en