Since it’s now fall of 2017, and we haven’t seen any new merchandise, many fans are speculating that Ever After High is being discontinued.  Besides not having any new dolls (not even budget ones), they were not at this year’s Toy Fair, and the Netflix series has been canceled.

In spite of this, there are some who believe that, while it’s had some setbacks, Ever After High is not dead and will be rebooted at some point in the future.  Personally, I have no idea which is true!  Both sides have valid arguments.  Since everyone seems to agree that the future of Ever After High is up in the air though, I’m going ahead and picking up the rest of the dolls on my wish list while they’re still available.  Basically, the whole collection!

Which brings us to the main topic of today’s post and the introduction of my latest acquisition:

Cerise Hood! 

Here is Cerise Hood out of the box and with her accessories:

She came with a plastic picnic basket and a small, cardboard “booklet”.

Alright, I know what you’re thinking.  This isn’t the original Cerise!  Where is the book shaped box?  And the beautiful background? And where the heck is her doll stand!  As I mentioned above, the original “First Chapter” dolls are becoming very hard to find.  This is a re-released version of Cerise, therefore, she came with a budget box and fewer accessories (no bracelet and ring).  However, I knew this was the case when I bought her.  While I would have loved getting a cute box and extra accessories, I ultimately wanted to find Cerise for a price I was comfortable with, so I sacrificed a little on the details.

Here is a look at the background and back of the box:

It has a purplish-pink background and a tree with lots of little picnic baskets hanging from its branches.  On the back of the box is a picture of Maddie, Raven, and Cerise, along with a series of questions followed by Cerise’s answers.

Here is a closer view of the questions and answers:

Instead of a bookmark, this version of Cerise comes with a small booklet:

There is a drawing of Cerise on the front and a little blurb about her on the back.

Besides the booklet, Cerise’s only other accessory is this plastic picnic basket:

I believe the picnic basket is just like the one that came in the first edition, except that it no longer has the red checked pattern painted on top.

Here is a picture of the picnic basket that the original “First Chapter” Cerise Hood came with:

And here is the re-released version:

Except for losing the checkered print top, the two baskets seem to be the same.  The back and sides are sculpted with a woven look and painted light brown.  The top is gray and has buckles molded to each corner.  The basket has a red handle with red bows attached on each side where it connects to the basket.

You can see in this picture that there is a small gap between the side of the basket and the rim:

I thought there was a chance that the top could be opened, but I was wrong.  It is purely decorative.

Now that we’ve seen her accessories, let’s take a look at Cerise!

Because she is the daughter of Little Red Riding Hood, Cerise wears a bright red cape and hood:

A small, plastic clasp designed to look like chain links is used to fasten the cape in the front.

Here is a closer view of the clasp:

A hole is cut in the back of the hood to make room for Cerise’s hair:

After unsnapping the clasp, the cape can be taken off:

It is sewn from a satin material and printed with a black and silver floral pattern on the outside.  The pattern has a bit of a spooky feel, but I kind of like it and think it adds to the aura of mystery surrounding Cerise!

The inside is lined with red tulle:

The lining is only on the bottom part of the cape though.  The hood is not lined–it is simply red satin.  The raw edges of the hood and cape are either hemmed or hidden beneath the mesh.

The sides and bottom of the cape have been gathered, giving it a poofy, bubble hem:

She has a light tan complexion, slate-colored eyes, and brown eyebrows.  Her eyeshadow is a combination of light blue and gray, and her lips are painted light pink.

Unfortunately, after unboxing Cerise, I found that her hair was a little greasy, and she had a few strands that were overly crimped:

So, before taking any more pictures, I stopped to give her a quick hair wash.

Now Cerise has beautiful, soft hair that is picture ready!

Before seeing her in person, I had assumed that Cerise’s hair was black, but it’s actually a very deep brown:

One thing that makes Ever After High stand out from other dolls is their amazing articulation:

They have eleven points of articulation: head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, leg, and knee.  This means that they can hold a wide range of poses and are a lot of fun to photograph!

Now let’s have a look at the rest of Cerise’s outfit:

Her top is a red and black checked, A-line, mini dress:

The dress velcros closed in the back.  It has two layers of black tulle at the bottom.  The sleeves are sewn from a fishnet style fabric that is a blend of black and silver.  I was able to slip the dress off without removing Cerise’s hands, but (because her fingers kept catching on the sleeves) had to take her hands off to redress her.

Under the dress, Cerise wears a pair of black leggings:

The leggings have a leather (or possibly even crocodile-skin) pattern.
She also has a pair of brown, wedge boots:

The boots are made to look like leather and have lots of little details, such as straps with buckles molded at the top, laces molded down the front, and a tassel of fringe molded on the toe of each boot.

The final accessory Cerise comes with is her belt:

Like her boots, Cerise’s belt is molded to look like leather and painted brown.  It has two rows of silver chain links and three buckles painted on the front.  It buckles around Cerise’s waist using a couple of little pegs.

Now let’s see if Miss Hood truly has ears like a wolf!  Here is a comparison of Cerise’s ears and Ashlynn Ella’s:

Okay, so they’re not super pointed, but I can see where they are sharper than Ashlynn’s.  Actually, they remind me of Tinkerbell’s ears.

I couldn’t help but get a few pictures comparing Cerise’s height to my other Ever After High dolls.  Obviously, she’s taller than Kitty Cheshire since Kitty is from Wonderland and has a shorter body:

But she is also quite a bit taller than Ashlynn Ella:

I enjoy variety and think it’s really cool that Cerise is taller than the other characters while the “Wonderelandians” (like Kitty and Maddie) are shorter.

Before last Christmas, I had no idea who or what Ever After High was.  It was only after receiving Cedar Wood as a gift that I became aware of this awesome world where all my favorite fairy tale characters mingle together!

Apart from Disney Classic and Animator dolls, Ever After High has easily become one of my favorite lines to collect, so I’m kind of sad to hear that they may be discontinued.

Mattel seems adamant though that Ever After High has NOT been canceled and continues to reassure fans (via Twitter) that the series is still being produced.

Ultimately, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if Ever After High will be given another chapter in dolly history.