Review: Spirit Riding Free "Lucky and Spirit" Doll, Horse, and DVD from Just Play (2019)
Back in 2017, Dreamworks released a TV series called Spirit Riding Free, which was intended to be both a spin-off and a loose sequel to the 2002 film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The series followed a young girl named Fortuna Prescott as she moves to a small country town called Miradero. Feeling out of place, she befriends a wild horse, whom she calls Spirit, who refuses to be broken by stable wranglers. The pair become fast friends, and go on adventures along with Abigail Stone and her horse Boomerang, and Prudence "Pru" Granger and her horse Chica Linda.
While both Breyer and Just Play produced Spirit toys, the set I'm taking a look at today is from Just Play. This set features Lucky in the outfit she wears in nearly all episodes, and Spirit. This set isn't the original set from 2017, but rather a re-release of sorts from 2019. Over the time they had the license to make Spirit toys, Just Play released a variety of sets with Lucky and her friends in various outfits, and gradually phased out the dolls in their original outfits.
This particular Lucky and Spirit were re-released along with the dolls based off of Spirit Riding Free: Pony Tales which released that year. This set seems to have two different versions: one with a DVD and one without. My set has the DVD.
I'm unsure of how much it originally retailed for, but I purchased it off of eBay new in box for $18.69 USD.
With that out of the way, let's take a look at the pair!
The box was a bit beat-up, but that's to be expected as I purchased the set secondhand, and it's from nearly four years ago. Besides, I didn't plan to save it, so it's all good.
On the front, we see Fortuna (who goes by Lucky) posed reaching up to touch Spirit, along with a CGI photo of Lucky riding Spirit, and on the corner, it talks about the included DVD, which includes 2 full episodes and two music videos.
On the back, we see a description which reads:
"Spirit is a noble, powerful, smart and unbreakable mustang. The love and trust Spirit feels for Lucky makes her the only person he allows to ride him."
Next to it, there's the DVD case.
Out of the box, this set includes Lucky, Spirit, and a DVD in a DVD case.
Removing Spirit from the package was surprisingly easy, he was only attached by two plastic bands, but Lucky had one plastic tie in her head, and a rubber band wrapped around her waist under her shirt, and another rubber band wrapped around her ankles under her boots. It was weird, I had to half undress her to remove the elastics (I like keeping them to use for doll hair, hence why I didn't just cut them). The DVD case slid right out once the plastic window over it was removed.
Lucky has long brown hair, brownish-hazel eyes, and pink lips and blush. I think she bears a decent resemblance to her character in the series, but I wish her eyes were light green like in the series, instead of the almost-but-not-quite brown color they are.
Lucky's hair, despite being a bit stiff and looking coarse, is super soft! It's also free of styling product. It was quite neat immediately out of the box, but with minor handling, became very fluffy and unruly. My sister used to have a Lucky doll, and we always kept her hair in a braid or ponytail to contain it.
Lucky wears a simplified version of the outfit she wears in most episodes of the series. She has a white blouse with gathered sleeves and an orange horse decal. Her blouse has a sort of crinkly texture, I'm not sure what it's called, but I like it. She also has brown jeans (which are sculpted and painted to her legs) instead of leggings, and black knee-high boots. I think it's a decent approximation, especially with how small she is.
Her boots are the most lacking. In the series, Lucky wears her late mother's boots, which are black with orange flames and star details on the fronts. The 11 inch Lucky doll had very simplified boots, with an undetailed red flame shape on the fronts, so I feel like it wouldn't be too difficult to give the small doll that design.
They remind me of the plain boots she wears in the first episode, "Lucky and the Unbreakable Spirit", before she receives her mother's boots at the end of the episode.
Lucky has 7 points of articulation, with movement at her:
Head
Shoulders (which only go forward and back)
Hips
Knees
Unfortunately, my Lucky had a bit of a bobblehead, as well as warped legs. I managed to fix both (which I'll talk about further in another post), but I wish I hadn't needed to. Her legs are holding up fine (though I haven't handled her all that much), but they are a bit more delicate than a toy intended for ages 3 and up should be.
Strangely enough, the Lucky my sister used to have in 2018 also had a loose head, though her Pru and Abigail dolls didn't. I'm curious if this was an issue with Lucky dolls, or if it's just a strange coincidence. I may do some investigating in the future. Plus, there are a few more sets I'm interested in.
Here's Spirit! He's completely stationary, with no articulation, and a sculpted mane and tail. The vinyl hair is actually part of why I chose the set I did, I'm not fond of the rooted hair most of the other Spirits have.
I believe his mold is reused from the first barn playset from 2017. He's a bit smaller than the other horses. My sister still has her Chica Linda (The last one standing... Lucky, Abigail, Spirit, and Boomerang ended up war-torn and Pru went missing. Whether she's still kicking around I have no idea), and he's about an inch or so shorter than her.
He has brown eyes and thick eyebrows, but they aren't as serious as previous Spirits. He has a brown muzzle with a molded smile, and a white blaze. His painting is blended much nicer than earlier Spirits, who had a very stark line between his buckskin color, his muzzle, and his blaze.
He's slightly scuffed on his left side from the packaging being smushed, but it isn't too noticeable.
I do wish he had a more dynamic pose, he seems very chill compared to the stoic, serious look of the original Spirit from 2017 (which, it turns out, was sold separately). He just doesn't seem as "wild horse" to me as the original set's Spirit did, however, he's still really cute.
"I'm gonna ride, I'm riding freeeee~"
Lucky sits on Spirit quite nicely. She balances quite solidly, but the second you try to move them, she slides right off. The Spirit Untamed dolls from Mattel (which is on my list to buy and review eventually) fixed this by adding a doll stand-esque clip to the horses backs, but then you pretty much can't ever have the doll off the horse without it looking awkward, because a... stand... is protruding from their spines.
Anyways, I always felt the Spirit Riding Free dolls were too big for the horses, but with this Spirit being smaller than the others, she feels even larger on him. Most of the time, her feet hang well below Spirit's stomach, but the way she's sitting on him in this photo (like she's sitting on a chair, instead of a horse, haha) has them seem not quite as long.
Lastly, Lucky and Spirit also came with a DVD, which includes the first two episodes of the series, "Lucky and the Unbreakable Spirit" and "Lucky and the Treacherous Trail", as well as two music videos, the "Rainy Day" music video (also known as "Friends Forever"), and a music video of the cast version of "Riding Free", the series' opening song. The title screen also has an instrumental version of "Riding Free", which was a nice touch.
On the front cover, there's a picture of Lucky and Spirit (you can see how big she is in comparison to Spirit, and how her legs don't reach the bottom of his stomach), and the back has a large picture of Lucky hugging Spirit along with a description, a smaller picture of Lucky, Pru, and Abigail, and another small picture of Lucky with Chica Linda and Boomerang.
The description reads:
"Dreamworks Spirit Riding Free is a story about three best friends, the horses they love, and a world of adventure. Lucky, a gutsy 12-year-old girl, befriends a wild mustang she names Spirit. With her two best friends, Abigail and Pru, and their horses by their sides, they explore a world filled with endless rides and never-ending fun. Together they'll push their own limits and discover what it truly means to be free."
The front of the DVD has the title of the series, as well as the names of the episodes and music videos that are included.
"As long as I am here with you, I feel the spirit within me~"
Overall, I really like Spirit and Lucky. They're a really fun pair to pose together. While they're not without flaw, their good points truly shine through. A few negatives that are worth noting are just how fragile they seem, and how my Lucky had a very loose head, and warped legs (though that may be due to being in her box since 2019). Some positives are how great they look, with good sculpting. They do resemble they characters they're intended to represent, and look good posed together, with minor scale issues.
Due to how delicate they feel, I really don't think they're great for their intended age range, but with my gentle handling, they're holding up great. I do believe they're worth the price I paid, and would recommend them.
Since I purchased them secondhand, I'll mention secondhand prices. New in box Spirit Riding Free doll and horse sets generally seem range from $14 USD to $35 USD. I would pay as high as $25 USD for a set, maybe $30 at absolute most, but that's pushing it, and only if it's a set that comes up less often (like the flocked sets).
Lucky and Spirit are a great addition to my collection, and I'm really happy to have them.
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