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.
