Operetta Deluxe Fashion Pack Review

 

 This is the Operetta Deluxe Fashion Pack. Apologies for the potato-quality photos. It comes with everything seen above: two outfits, red heart / treble clef earrings, glasses / facemask, a red belt imaged after stacked dice, and a pair of red and white heels with stacked dice for the heel support. These heels were later recast and used for Frights, Camera, Action! Operetta, and the belt was recast in black for I Heart Accessories Operetta. The model used here is Freaky Fusion Inspired Operetta -- hence the Frankie-like hairstyle.

 

 

The dress and purple shrug are my personal favorites from this set. The dress mirrors 1950s fashion, with a wide, poofy "poodle" skirt and a narrow bodice. The shrug has an embossed treble clef on the upper left breast and a shiny purple collar with spiderweb-like edges. The dress is white with purple spiderwebs, spiders, music notes, and swirls. There's a black swirl detail from the waist to the bottom of the skirt, echoing the pattern of the included earrings and glasses / facemask. The dress and shrug combo look very nice with her tattoo and her facial scar.

  

 

 

The red off-the-shoulder top has a band of red and black musical motif fabric across the top, which pairs well with her tattoo. Her pencil skirt is black and has five white lines (like a musical staff) with very small white dots top-stitched along the lines. While I liked the lopsided appearance of the glasses / facemask in the package, I found them to look a bit dopey in reality. The earrings appeared too big and too heavy, and as they were molded rather than painted, their detail was hard to see. That's a shame, since the same motif is repeated throughout the other fashion pieces.

 

 

Like all the Fashion Packs, this one came and went pretty fast. Fashion Packs now demand two to three times their original price online and are very much sought after by collectors. I'm pleased with the larger pieces -- the clothing is definitely worth the cost -- but most of the plastic pieces lacked detail and quality production. 

Boo York Comet-Crossed Couple 2pack Review

 

Man, these new boxes are complicated.

Bring scissors. There's an awful lot of plastic holding these dolls in. Look at those glasses - where does the reinforcement end and the glasses begin?!

 

Both Deuce and Cleo have slightly sparkly skin. I was pleasantly surprised to see this on Deuce.

His sunglasses are a little too swag but that's okay. I'll give him a pass on this one.

In the box, it almost looks like Cleo is pushing Deuce away. That would probably be in line with the movie.

Cleo's hair is going to be a nightmare. I love the colors but.. tinsel again? I didn't even notice the tinsel until I was undoing the box. Her circlet goes underneath twin rolled strands, tied at the back. So in order to remove the plastic under the circlet, not to mention the (gorgeously detailed) circlet itself, you have to undo her hair and then re-style it. Hmm.

 

The bronze band trailing between her wrists is lovely but annoying. In the short time between de-boxing and posing in their stands, that strap got snagged four times. It's removable, held on by fabric bracelets at the wrists. This is going to be the "detail piece" you can only find for thirty bucks on eBay in five years.

 

The shoes were a nice concept, but terrible execution. In fact, I think I could say that's true about her entire outfit. In my case, once of the shoes got crushed down too far on her leg. It can be pulled up but it doesn't stay. The other "snake" doesn't seem to curve around her leg as it should. I'll have to heat and re-shape both of them, though I'm thinking I might just snip off the snakes entirely and add a closed toe.

The Sphinx image on her shoes boasts great detail, but it's weird to look at the familiar statue and then see disproportionate toes looming where paws should be.

On to Deuce. He's the main reason I got the pack. I loved Dawn of the Dance Deuce's relaxed snakes, and I'm very happy to see a new Deuce with the same style. I don't understand his top - it looks awfully warm and preppy for the often-sleeveless gorgon - but his pants, made of black faux snakeskin, are awesome.

 

His shoes are absolutely ridiculous. A sort of hiking boot / Grecian warrior sandal hybrid, they have cut-outs on the sides and a studded toe. Regular boots would have been fine. The color is ostentatious enough. I might fill in the cut-outs and give them a paint job to tone them down a bit; otherwise I'll never use them.

His top is one piece. Maybe I'll trim off the grey Oxford collar and add it to a sweater or vest for Jackson, and trim the sleeves off the green top or add a hood. It really doesn't fit the character as is. Maybe there's a reason for that but I don't know yet.

Here's the back of the box, and the two diaries. In addition to the clothes on both dolls they also come with silver, "rocky" textured base stands and a hairbrush.

 

 

 

The presentation here is fitting of Cleo, but there are many pieces that I don't understand. Shouldn't that false beard be in here somewhere, for play purposes? Why is there plastic inside Cleo's hair-- couldn't they have developed a better hairstyle instead? 

Ultimately, though, I'm glad to have another Deuce (and another Cleo), especially one in such awesome pants and with relaxed snakes. I have a feeling this set will be worth quite a lot in a couple of years, so if you have any extras at your local store, scoop 'em up and send them to your doll friends now. 

 

Monster High Crafter: Lovely Woods (Etsy)

I first heard of lovely woods through one of my Monster High Facebook groups. Most of her designs are Victorian in nature, though she also makes snazzy sparkly leggings as seen here.

I ordered two bloomers and two leggings. She had a BOGO sale going on, so this order cost me just $10. I plan to go back and order each piece of a Victorian-style dress for Twyla.

My order arrived quickly and was packaged well. She included a lovely thank-you card. 

 

Ok, let's get to the fitting, shall we?

Please pardon the lack of coordinates. I wish I owned fashions to match these bloomers.

I promptly wrecked the elastic on the left leg of the black pair. That's on me, not on the crafter. I struggled to get them on my witch OC, Myrtle Heffernan, and they didn't survive too well.

The purple pair fared much better. I apologize for Catty's terrible hair and clashing outfit.

The black pair fit snug around the waist, while the purple pair were a bit loose to allow room for the seam. Neither pair sagged or added too much bulk beneath other layers. 

 

Now, the leggings. I wasn't sure about buying them, because I'm not big on sparkles in general, but I decided Cleo would definitely love them and I needed more Cleo pieces.

The leggings fit wonderfully. They are very tight but the fabric is strong and stretchy. At first I was worried I'd tear it trying to pull it over Cleo's calves, but it's a thick fabric and can be inched up slowly without stretching too much.

 

Now that I see them in action, I LOVE them. I'm thinking of buying a pair in red or gold for Clawdia, and a white or black pair for Frankie.. or a white AND black pair? I want lots more. I seem to recall the crafter was trying to use up fabric remnants. I wonder if she has any left!

The waist is thick but not bulging. Stitching is a bit obvious but it's necessary for the scale and fabric strength, and the legs can be rotated so the stitches don't show as clearly from the front. 

 

I'm in love with them, despite my earlier misgivings. I'm picturing them on all my dolls. Send help.

You can check out lovely woods' Etsy shop (and get your own dolls some kick-ass leggings) here. 

Next up: Boo York Comet-Crossed Couple two-pack!

Save Frankie Jackson Review

"Save Frankie" Jackson Jekyll, along with Clawdeen and Draculaura, make up the budget line created for release along with the Monster High movie "Freaky Fusion". 

Jackson is the only one I wanted from this line, although I did love the shirts and Frankie-inspired face tattoos. For those of you less enthused about the permanent facial tattoo, it can be easily removed.

Jackson wears a black polo shirt with a yellow collar and his own personal "Save Frankie" logo, including his yin-yang tattoo in blue and yellow. His shorts have a plaid pattern in blue, yellow, grey, and white stitches (which looked like barbed wire to me) on a black square background. He wears blue and yellow loafers - a recolor of his "Picnic" loafers. He also comes with yellow hexagonal glasses (not pictured), a blue-framed Frankie poster, a black three-band arm cuff, and a blue stitched / barbed wire bracelet.

His shirt is made of a slick, shiny polyester blend that feels a bit like Spandex and leaves little black puffs on everything it touches. I had to pick bits of the shirt off his torso and face for photography, and the darn thing never even touched his face.

The shorts are stiff and have a plastic feel to them. They fit well, but look and feel very stiff.

His shoes are simple recolors. I typically hate recolors, but in this case I'm glad to have a pair in Jackson's preferred color scheme.

I like his bracelets - the bands on the arm cuff are separate, joined in a way that makes them look a bit more realistic, which is a nice touch - but the glasses shipped with this doll were just weird. Jackson wears glasses, yes, but I don't think he'd be brave enough to wear yellow hexagonal ones. Holt might, if he didn't think nerds were so unfashionable.

The poster seems like a useless prop, but I love the detail that went into it. Frankie's green skin looks exactly like it was colored with markers. I wish they had created a new pose for her instead of recycling the same old stock image, but it looks like a black-and-white photocopy of a school photo, carefully colored in. Nice detail work. My only gripe, aside from her pose, is the fact that the handle should have gone on the front, so dolls could wear it like a ring and it would look like it was gripped in their hand. I think I might either snip off the handle on the back and use it as decor for Jackson's room (once I get around to doing dollhouse rooms), or remove the poster from its frame and just keep that.

Jackson's hair is stiff with glue all around. In fact, this Jackson's face and neck were coated in glue as well. I'm a bit concerned I might have another glue-head on my hands. I like the hairstyle, but I have to remove the glue. Hopefully that won't wreck his severe side part.

I love the yellow streak in Jackson's hair. This style is very becoming for his face shape.

It's worth noting that this Jackson has lips that turn upwards at the corners, giving him a satisfied smiling expression, as opposed to previous dour-looking Jacksons. Mine has lips that are offset from the actual sculpt, making him look as if he's trying to keep that smile secret.
 

I'm always happy to add another Jekyll or Hyde to my collection. These boys are my favorites, and I'll probably continue snatching them up when they hot the shelves. However, this one deserves some decent pants, and his hair needs some definite work.

Dexter Charming Review

Just look at these two. I bought them straight out of the box through a Monster High collector's group on Facebook. They still have all their plastic tags and everything - except Jackson is missing his glasses (which looked doofy anyways).

I'll be reviewing Jackson in a separate post.

 Dexter Charming. He's from Ever After High, sister brand to Monster High, and he's the younger brother of Daring Charming. I don't like the way Ever After girls look - huge heads, tiny faces - but I have a weakness for boy dolls, especially dorky ones.

Dexter is wearing his trademark outfit - blue pseudo-tux suitcoat with gold trim, pale blue and white infinity scarf, mottled dark sleeveless tee with a bronze Charming crest pattern, grey jeans, and dark blue hi-top imitation Converse shoes. He also has his square-rimmed glasses, golden keychain at his waist with the Charming crest, removable black plastic backpack, and a golden circlet. His skin tone is a bit darker than Jackson's, closer to the Deuce skin tone.

Please pardon the mess in the background of these photos - I'm in the middle of transitioning between desks.

Dexter's hair is heavily gelled down, but in the back and along the sides it's soft and flexible. I really love his face sculpt - there's a hint of laughter to it, and it seems perfectly placed between boyish cuteness (the upturned nose, the wide eyes) and adult handsomeness (the wide jaw, the strong chin). The doll doesn't quite resemble his cartoon counterpart, but he is a looker in his own right.

I'm a bit disappointed by the fabric used for his shirt. It's thin and cheap. The Velcro attachment in the back doesn't extend all the way down, which makes removing the shirt a bit of a pain. Sad that such a good-looking tanktop is ruined by cheap manufacture.

It seems that everything Dexter wears has the Charming family crest on it, including his shoes. The imprint on the ankle looks to be reversed on his right shoe; the C is backwards.

Dexter has possibly the only well-fitting pair of pants out of all Mattel releases in the past year. They close well, they fit his body shape, they don't ride up too high, and they're made of sturdy fabric. Bravo.

 Like the girls of EAH, Dexter has a healthier build than his Monster High comrades. He's thicker through the chest, with muscular arms and legs. His hands are a bit larger as well. I would've compared him to Deuce but I can't seem to find him, so Save Frankie Jackson will have to stand in. There is no physical difference between the MH boy molds except for faces and skin tones; Clawd has the same build as Jackson.

 

His backpack is very nicely sculpted, but would have been better in weighted fabric instead of hard plastic. It doesn't quite hang right on his back and despite his excellent articulation he can't reach it easily. Nonetheless it's a very nice detail and I'm glad it was included.

 

All in all, I'm glad to own Dexter, but I think I might redo his wardrobe. I like his coat, pants, and shoes, but that cheap tanktop annoys me. I'm not a big fan of hats so the circlet is most likely going into a drawer until it's needed for a photo shoot. He's a handsome doll, an excellent first release for the character, and I'm interested to see how his first doll compares to later versions. 

Coming soon: a review of Save Frankie Jackson, in all his sullen scrawny glory.

Coffin Bean Twyla and Fairy Tale High Alice Review, Part 1

Howdy y'all! Found these beauties at the local Family Dollar a few weeks back, and finally decided to go back and get them. 

 

 Coffin Bean Twyla is part of a budget line released in "alt channels", meaning the line has very specific distribution, usually in nationwide chains that are not Wal-Mart, Kmart, or Target. While both Wally World and the Super K carried Abbey, Frankie, and Toralei, this is the first Twyla I found in this line. Exciting!

The same store carries Robecca and Venus, but I have no real desire to get either of them, though Robecca's green-tinted mason jar and Victorian booties are very tempting.

There were two Twylas in stock today. One had slight eye wonk with a gob of misplaced green paint in the corner of her eye and wicked box frizz. I chose this one, partly for the less wonky eyes (these are still off-balance but not as bad) and the better visible hair. But there was another distinct difference which I have to investigate. The other Twyla appeared to have a rounder face, more upturned nose, and less defined cheeks. I think, then, this doll might be a variant.

As you can see, there's still quite a bit of box frizz going on, and I'm concerned about that comb-over hairstyle. 

Her head pegs came out easily, no breakage, not greasy, oily, or sticky. Her hair feels great. The comb-over bangs are stiff but not rigid and should soften quite a bit in a few days.

Her right arm came loose and detached during deboxing. This is the third time it's happened to me with recent dolls in the Freaky Fusion Inspired or Coffin Bean line. I suspect the staging cardboard on the backing creates a weakness on the opposite side, or the dolls are packed without the opposite arm fully inserted to relieve stress. I've also seen Creepateria line dolls with the arm opposite the cardboard "bump" hanging by its plastic tags or fallen to the bottom of the box.

Apologies for the crotch shot, folks, but.. I thought this was a cute babydoll dress. Skorts? Really? Wow. Well.. at least her skirt won't be creeping up to her neckline like it did with the Original.

Here's her wardrobe. The belt is quite nice -- and I uniformly hate MH belts in general. It's a thin, shiny strip of fabric with a teal skullette-shaped clasp. No Velcro or plastic peg to hold it in place, just gravity and tension. I'm concerned about the longevity of the fabric, though. Will probably replace it with a watchband ASAP.

The shoes are cute, but are single-color recasts of New Scaremester Twyla's mary janes. They're so detailed, they practically beg for a decent repaint. Same with the cup -- it has adorable cobweb details and spiders circling it. I'd love to have one in human-scale for myself.

Her dark purple jumper has a dreamcatcher pattern with spiderwebs and spiders connecting them. It's not very visible in this shot, but the top of the bodice is a bottle green bib with vertical spiderwebs, an Oxford collar, and a tiny black bow. She has two bracelets, one in milky green beads, one in lavender bands.

While I opened this post with a shot of Twyla and Fairy Tale High Alice, I wound up taking no pictures of Alice, because she was thoroughly unimpressive. Her face is flat and long, her eyes sleepy. Her hair is coarse and shedded with brushing. Her clothing is cheaply made and began to unravel as soon as I undressed her. My expectations weren't high -- she's an EAH knock-off, after all -- but she still failed to meet them. I plan to use her for custom practice now.

This Twyla is an odd one. Her colors are so bold, her style so severe. I've since redressed her, but she retains this air of intensity. I like her quite a bit, though original Twyla is still my favorite of the two.

Neighthan Rot Review

 

Here's one of my favorite guys-- Neighthan Rot. If Mattel had sent a representative to my house and asked me what I'd like to see in their doll line, this is pretty much it. More boys, more zombies, maybe a unicorn or two, some rainbows, more spikes, more glitter. This guy is like a cheap Frank Frazetta knock-off spray-painted onto the side of a van, come to life. And I love him dearly. 

 

I mean LOOK at that handsome face. Look at those big horsey ears.

 

 

For those who don't know, Neighthan Rot is a character in the Monster High TV Special / movie "Freaky Fusion". He's a hybrid monster. His mother is a unicorn, and his father is a zombie. So, on his right side, his body molding shows detailed exposed muscle and bone, while his left side is just an uncommonly muscular teen boy. His body parts are patterned and divided; multiple parts are zombified opposite healthy limbs. He has an opaque blue horn spiralling out of the top of his head, two large horse-like ears, and black hair as well as a tail accented with red, yellow, and blue streaks.

 

 

This is everything included with signature Neighthan. You'll notice his pants retained his body shape after removal. This definitely speaks for the quality of the fabric. Many fans and collectors have raised holy hell over his outfit, both for its design and for its cheap construction. He has a 3/4 sleeve shirt in primary colors with a skeleton and internal organ design. His pants are divided, with one black leg and one leg continuing the shirt pattern in an enlarged form. He wears yellow spiked boots and a yellow spiked baseball cap, both flecked with blue and green glitter, and includes brush, stand, and diary. 

 

Neighthan's tail had somehow gotten twisted and tucked up inside his shirt (!!) during packaging. It remained kinked like this for a few days, but after some brushing, it has calmed down and now his tail only has a minor bump in it to show where it got messed up. All of this hair was fully rooted and I had no shedding issues with him.

 

 

I noticed, while removing him from the box, that several strands of his tail were abnormally long. These were fully rooted and had to be trimmed to match the length of the rest of his tail. I had the same issue with his hair, which was uneven and, for the first few days, very coarse.

 

 

The Freaky Fusion line (and movie) may have their own flaws, but this guy, as I said, is one of the favorites in my collection. I always love it when they come out with new boys, and I have an unhealthy addiction to everything unicorns, so this is perfection. It's the doll I wanted when I was seven. I'm glad he's finally here. The doll itself is well-made and includes all accessories expected of a signature doll, except possibly a pet, but sig dolls have been lacking pets for close to a year now so that's nothing new. All in all, worth the money, especially for those who collect every new character or those ensuring the future of Mattel's boy lines.