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. 

 

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. 

MH Care & Repair: Fixing Broken Legs **UPDATE 2**

Hey! Remember Christmas, when I received the thoughtful gift of an honest-to-goodness Battle Damage Ghoulia with real amputee action?

This fine lady? Yep. Well, my initial attempt at fixing her leg (read all about it here) turned out to be a temporary fix. It held for a few days, but because the break was so close to the joint itself, the leg could not stay on, could not be used, and eventually had to be removed again.

So I went back to the sources I'd used in the original repair, namely, the tutorial on leg modification using CAM parts, and I scheduled a spa day for my ladies with broken legs. Join us, won't you?

FYI, this is a "Skulltimate Roller Maze" Ghoulia with custom haircut and clothes, and "Classroom" shoes.. possibly my all-time favorite Ghoulia shoes in existence. She and "Dance Class" Operetta were two of my first, and still my favorite, ghouls.



This is a Wave 1 ("School's Out") Abbey Bominable with original earrings and choker, wearing Scaris Abbey's dress. She joined us when her owner decided she'd "outgrown" her MH collection, and she came to us with this broken leg. She's also missing most of her sparkle along the cheekbones and the right side of her face.
The front of the thigh had been partially split, which implies the leg broke when it was forced forward out of its peg. There was no damage inside the peg cavity itself aside from minor scratching around the edges.

So, for this repair, all that had to be done was choosing a CAM leg for the repair, snipping off the top portion of the peg, and attaching the peg with super glue.

Abbey has a unique skin tone and texture, so her "new" leg definitely does not match.. but at least it fits her color scheme!

 Here you can easily see the difference between their injuries. Abbey's break, while it damaged the front of her leg, did almost nothing to the back, and resulted in a fully functional (though differently-colored) repair. Ghoulia's repair, however, involved a bit more work, as the initial repair attempt had damaged both sides of her thigh and the interior of the peg housing, and the original break had done some damage to the front of the knee joint.

Since peg breakage is common with these dolls and their super-long, skinny legs, here's a walkthrough on how to repair the damage.

Materials:

~ a CAM leg to use as replacement
~ cutting pliers or snips
~ tweezers
~ super glue or any super-strong adhesive

Step 1: If any part of the peg is still inside the leg, it will need to be removed. Insert the tweezers into the back seam of the thigh, and use them to pry open and brace the leg. Use your pliers (or a second pair of tweezers, if you've got 'em) to pull out the peg. Note: the peg is seated between two "gates" for a firm hold, so removing it does take a bit of effort. Try opening the thigh wider rather than pulling harder. Thanks to quality construction, you don't need to worry too much about breaking the thigh, though you may want to be careful about the length of the scar you're creating.

Step 2: Prep the CAM leg for insertion.

In this comparison, it's plain to see the difference in length between a CAM leg and a standard leg. Fortunately, snipping off the tip of the CAM leg reduces it to an accurate length, and a false "neck" for the leg -- so that it can be braced inside the two plastic "gates" inside the peg cavity -- can be easily created with a pair of pliers.

 Step 3: Insert the new leg.

Typically, super-strength adhesives like Krazy Glue have a very short cure time and a tendency to get on EVERYTHING. So my advice to you is: Be prepared! Remove ALL unnecessary pieces from your workspace. Clear away any little bits that might get blown into the glue or the peg cavity. Keep the glue sealed until you're ready to use it.

Prop the peg cavity open with your tweezers. Coat both the prepared end of the CAM peg and the inside of the peg cavity with a thin layer of adhesive. Then slide the new leg in and keep it positioned so that the adhesive will naturally bond into place. In this shot, Ghoulia's shoes are helping to weigh down her new leg!


 If you've used the back of the thigh seam to open the thigh, you'll likely be left with an ugly scar like this. You can glue and hold it shut after the peg cures into place, or you can repair the spot with epoxy, Milliput, or Sculpey. In my case, I've left the scar bare, but I hope to clean it up soon. In the worst-case scenario, just remember: very few people are going to notice it.

And voila! Two fixed fine ladies.

Some folks might be concerned about the lack of matching skin tones. For my part, I kind of like the way it looks on Abbey, but I admit I'm a bit bothered by my zombie ghoul having one healthy pink limb. I've read about using acrylic paints to correct skin tone but I have not tried it yet. My advice would be, if you know a mismatched doll will bother you, use the light-colored CAM legs so they *can* be painted over, rather than using the Sea Monster or Witch parts, which might lend an unpleasant background color to your paint attempts.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them here. And if you've got a male doll who needs leg fixing, please check out this post!

MH Care & Repair: Fixing Broken Legs **UPDATE**

Howdy y'all!
Guess what I woke up to this morning?

Well hey sugar. Sweet Grandmere's beignets, what did you do to your leg?!
You might have known this already, but Monster High dolls have some leg problems. It's the price of beauty, I suppose. If this were a standard teen female doll, I could remove the peg and replace it with a CAM leg, as I did for both Ghoulia and Abbey; but a female CAM leg won't fit a male doll because the pegs are thicker in male dolls.
This worked to my (and Heath's) benefit, though. I attempted a peg repair for Ghoulia which failed because the peg was too thin. It seems, this time, the peg repair was a success because of its thickness.
Um, I suppose I should apologize for the skimpy Home Ick micro-apron, but I figured there wouldn't be much benefit to posting jeans-clad photos of a leg repair.. and I couldn't stomach the thought of putting him in those awful Mattel shorts the other boys came with. And if I just took photos without the apron. Well. This would be a different sort of post entirely, involving an awful lot of teenybopper-type giggling.
So here's a look at the break itself. I drew a line to show where the peg snapped. Also, do you see that little hollow in the center of the peg? I'm not sure if it's a manufacturing defect but I suspect that may have made the peg susceptible to breakage in the first place. If the peg was that thick and solid, it would be very difficult to snap.

This was a fairly simple fix. I did the same thing I originally tried with Ghoulia: simply applying super glue to the broken peg and the broken base, and then fitting the two pieces together. I held it in front of my desk lamp so the heat would help cure the glue faster. The hardest part was making sure the two pieces were properly fit together and then not allowing one to drift out of alignment with the other.
When I first saw the break I made the following assumptions:
~ I will not be able to bend the knee again.
~ The knee will probably require additional support, a "brace" of some sort to keep the leg rigid so it doesn't fall off or snap again.
~ The re-attached leg may be so crooked it will make it impossible for the doll to stand on his own again.
~ The leg will not be able to rotate side-to-side again.
Thankfully, except for the last one, all of these assumptions were proven false!

Here's Heath, post-repair, sitting happily on the edge of the Frankenputer. I did have to 'break' a thin layer of super glue that had dribbled over the top of the knee joint, but it seems the internal peg has sealed well. The leg is not wobbly or loose at all. The knee feels stiff but not difficult, the way it felt when he first came out of the box.
However, it will not rotate side-to-side, because any attempt to do so would place pressure on the broken segment of the peg and possibly break the two pieces out of alignment again. While I could keep repairing the leg over and over, I am concerned that over time the layers of glue will build up to the point where the leg becomes useless. So, for now, he has a bad knee.. functional, but not very flexible.

Notice how Heath's right foot now turns inward a bit, due to the angle of the peg when it broke. That's actually kinda cute. Awkward Heath!
For the record, the broken Heath belongs to little t, who hopefully has learned that the floor is not a suitable storage space for his precious dolls. Here's my own Heath, chillin' in the easy chair with a "No Shame" Sundae:

So, TLDR: MH male dolls have thicker knee joints, which makes repair easier but also reduces flexibility in the event of a break. And Heath has pretty nice legs.

MH Care & Repair: Fixing Broken Legs **OUTDATED**

** WARNING!! This post has been UPDATED and the information contained here, in the original, is NO LONGER ACCURATE. If you're looking for fixes for an MH doll's broken leg, please see here on how to fix a male doll's broken leg, and here on how to fix a female doll's broken leg using CAM pieces. Thank you! **


Howdy y'all!
So for Christmas this year, my kids gave me my gift early.

It's Battle Damage Ghoulia! Now with real amputee action!
Needless to say, I wasn't exactly thrilled with this turn of events. But it turns out my favorite dollies have some accident-prone legs, and they've been around long enough that others have had to deal with similar problems.
I found a few good solutions online but none that really fit my issue exactly. This wasn't a Wave 1 elastic break. It wasn't a peg slip-out repair. And it wasn't quite a leg modification using CAM kit parts.
But that last post got me thinking, and soon I had a plan! So, without further ado, I present:
How to Repair Monster High Doll Legs Broken at the Knee Joint

Materials:
- any super-strong adhesive - I used Krazy Glue but Gorilla Glue and Superglue are also great.
- an Xacto knife or other craft knife with a thin, sharp blade
- a pair of thin tweezers
- a small pair of pliers, any size, but needle nose would probably be ideal (not pictured)
Due to the number of potentially dangerous items on this list, it is highly recommended that you have a friend, sibling, or parent to assist you. I'm serious! Please be very careful!

Step 1:
First, take a good look at the break you're dealing with. This is a pretty clean break from one leg being pushed out to the side, resulting in a stress fracture in the joint plastic. Breaks due to twisting, pulling, or forcing the leg into unnatural positions, or eventual brittleness of the plastic, will need different amounts of preparation and care.

Step Two:
Use your Xacto knife to cut slowly along the seam on the back of the leg. This seam is easier to cut into than the front, and the damage is ultimately less visible. Once you've cut halfway up the thigh, insert one leg of the tweezers to prop the gap open, as seen here, and use your pliers to remove the broken peg, as seen below.

Step Three:
Coat the broken ends of the peg and joint with your adhesive. Hold them together long enough to cure. I used the heat of my desk lamp to hurry the curing process; you could also use a hair dryer on low heat or a portable heater or.. I don't know.. a kitten maybe?

Hey, remember when I said Please be careful? That neon green Band-aid is the result of me stabbing myself with the tweezers. So yes! Exercise caution please! And keep Band-aids handy!

Step Four:
Once the glue has cured (e.g., it no longer appears wet and sticky; the pieces can be released without sliding away from one another), you can re-attach the broken limb. Note that those two pegs will have to pass between a narrow gap to return to their original place, and if the glue has not cured, you run the risk of gluing the joint to the inside of the leg. It can be undone but it's a pain in the butt, so, don't do it.

Using your pliers, slide the repaired joint back into the leg socket, being careful to replace it in its original spot and no further. Once the leg has been returned, you can remove your tweezers and press the two halves of the thigh together again. There's going to be a slight gap.

Step Five (optional):
As you can see in the picture above, I did a pretty rad job of actually increasing Ghoulia's leg damage in the course of her repair. If you can get your hands on some Epoxy, Sculpey, or Milliput, you might wish to fill in and smooth over those cracks, which can later be painted to match her skin.

In my case I used a homemade mixture of tissue paper, glue, and a little bit of water to create a crude papier-mache mix, which I plastered over the injury. Once it's dry I plan to sculpt it down against the skin better.

And voila! There you have it. An irreparable doll returned to active duty. Don't know about you, but that just about makes my day.