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. 

 

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. 

Freaky Fusion Inspired Operetta Review

 

Here she is! Freaky Fusion Inspired Operetta, all jazzed up with Frankie Stein's fashion notes!

 

 

Operetta wears a black (leather?) stitched-up half-mask in place of her usual mask. I couldn't quite make out what the image on the side of the mask might be -- a lightning bolt, maybe, or a lever? Her hair is mostly red with a severe strip of black starting at the temples and swept back on the top, tied back with a rubber band. Her eyes are bright blue with light green shadow and her lips are coral pink. She has a detachable Frankensteinian neck bolt choker with three large silver stitches in the middle.

 

 

She comes with everything seen here. Apologies for the blur; it looks like I had a young friend helping me with photos on this day. Her shoes are red and black Mary Janes with heels. She has a detachable silver headband with lightning bolts in the top. She wears a two-tone plaid sleeveless dress split down the middle with a silver stripe; on one side the pattern is pink-purple with black musical staves and notes, on the other side the pattern's colors are inverted. The dress has thin sheer black netting around its bottom edge. She wears this over a two-tone pair of tights, one leg pink-purple, the other leg black. She has a shiny red tie as a belt, a quilted purse with a silver skullette embossed on the front, and a single hexagonal red bracelet. The doll has no earrings but the left ear is pierced as an anchor for the facemask.

 

 

I love Operetta, as y'all know, so any new doll is one I'm happy with -- but I was none too pleased with the amount of pink in this Oppy's design. She's usually given a darker purple in the spectrum, and Frankie isn't known for wearing pink, so it seemed an odd design choice. However, I love her clothes, I love her severe new hairstyle, and I just love the fun, wacky atmosphere of all the Fusion Inspired dolls. It's as if they were invited to a costume party and told to dress like one of their friends -- everyone has their own spin on it, and it's all a little over-the-top and goofy.

Perhaps my favorite pieces from this doll are her new, darker facemask and those excellent two-tone tights. Those have made the rounds on my display dolls due to their flexibility and their fun colors. 

Review: Monster High "Die-ner" Playset (Walmart Exclusive)

Hey y'all! How's summer treatin' you?

I've had my eye on this "Die-ner" playset for a few months now, and seein' as it was my birthday just a few days ago, I figured I'd quit mooning over it and just bring it home.

The "Die-ner" playset exists in two variations: one with a single Draculaura doll, and a Walmart exclusive with both Draculaura and Operetta. Now, bein' the die-hard Operetta fan that I am -- and havin' a soft spot in my rotten heart for the 1950s diner aesthetic -- you know I had to get the one with my gal Operetta.

It's a mighty big box, mainly for the sake of the dolls and the sizeable tabletop for the grill / serving counter. Here you can see both Draculaura and Operetta, along with some of the serving accessories; an image of the set fully assembled; and Lagoona Blue & Spectra Vondergeist in their "Ghouls Night Out" outfits.

Back of the box includes some detail on the contents. Um.. on another note, my buddy little T helped with all the photos for this post (because he wanted that thing out of the box as soon as it showed up at home). So some of them, while not great, were taken with great enthusiasm.

Here's what you see when you first open the box. The booth and grill / countertop fill the central area. The big cardboard backing on the right houses the dolls, and it's locked up tight with tape, plastic pegs, and elastic loops. Everything else is either loose or bundled into that chunky plastic bag you see at the top left.

Here's a shot of the instruction sheet and piece manifest, where Draculaura suddenly looks an awful lot like Cleo. Ordinarily I'd chuck this, but there are so many tiny pieces it'd be useful to hang on to for when I'm re-packing the set.

Let's look at some of the cute details on this set, shall we? First, the re-styled MH logo for the die-ner itself. Looks like a warning sign for a cannibal campsite.

There's an adorable little three-strip illustration on the side of the box, showing Draculaura in her uniform tending to the needs of hungry customers.. and exhausted at the end of her shift.

On to the actual stuff. The set comes with two stools in spiderweb patterns, meant to be used at the counter. They're sturdy, solid construction, but could stand to be weighted down at the base a bit more. Dolls can sit comfortably in them if their legs are extended slightly, not bent straight down. The weight of a doll doesn't knock the stool down, especially if you place them carefully.

The booth and the table fit together nicely, and both are very stable. However, with legs straight down, the table knocks into the 'lip' of the thigh, over the knee joint, so dolls can only 'belly-up' to the table if their legs are extended slightly.

In this pic you can see several of the accessories that come with this set. I'll be honest: the clincher for me, beyond the valuable Operetta and the nifty '50s aesthetic, was the abundance of accessories. I'm a sucker for doll scenery. The serving tray holds a half-eaten sandwich, molded to the tray and painted. The molded red plastic cups have a slanted top, which makes it easier to get them in and out of the ice scream mixer (not pictured). There's a bat-winged bowl of ... soup? ... knowing Draculaura, we can assume it's tomato .. and the jukebox includes molded alphabet and numeric punch-keys for song selection.

Perhaps one of the best overall accessories is this cash register. It's designed to resemble a tombstone, with molded cracks and a square base. The top piece wobbles a little but the entire piece feels sturdy. The drawer opens and is divided into slots for bills and coins. The interface is smeared with streaks of grease, and shows such delectable treats as hot coffincino in a cracked cup and an angry green cupcake with spider legs.

Neither side of the box shows off the grill side of the set, so here you go. There are four inset burners, made of molded black plastic, two spiderweb-shaped and two asterisk-shaped. Beneath them are molded details of a very small oven. None of these pieces move. The burners are flat, unlike those in the Home Ick kitchen, which means you can easily 'cook' some food without trying to balance it first.

Most of the set's kitchen accessories are pictured here: the spiderweb-shaded hanging lamps, the rotating ticket holder and three individual (unmarked) tickets, the coffin clock (attached to the counter-facing side), the ice scream mixer, a very frosty slice of pie in a covered display, an empty cauldron, and the bat-wing crock and cup shown earlier.

As playsets go, I feel this one was worth every penny. Its design and construction are well-done, with lots of details on every piece. Putting the legs onto the table and grill / counter pieces was very simple -- the grill legs have a key shape in the back, to mark them as being different from the table legs. All parts fit together well and are made sturdy enough to handle occasional bumping. Every piece is made with thought for another piece: the ice scream mixer snugly holds a cup, and the cup is designed to be easily removed; the pie display lid can be removed but 'clicks' securely on again; the space between the booth and the table is just enough to accomodate a doll's legs. Bravo, Mattel playset design team, and thanks.

On to the dolls!

Here are the ladies peeled fresh from the box. If you're the sort of person who likes to keep your MH boxes, for whatever reason, you probably won't be able to keep this one. The cardboard backing on these dolls invites thorough destruction if you want to get the dolls out.

Draculaura's face-up for this set is adorable -- dark pink wet-look lipstick, pale pink and grey eyeshadow. The pink in her hair is more hot pink, almost bright red, to match the furniture and details of this set. Her headband is plastic-pegged into her head.

Operetta sports a classic 1950s fresh-faced look, with shimmery silver and pale yellow eyeshadow over a dark grey shadow base, and classic matte red lipstick. She has a single black streak in her hair, located just left of center. If you look closely at her arm towards the front of the box, you'll see it has been deformed slightly due to the stiff plastic brace holding it up. Her hand now flares outward a bit.

This photo of Draculaura's wardrobe does not include her pink scarf patterned with little black hearts or her dress. Both ghouls wear scarves, which I didn't want to remove, and both ghouls wear clothes made of a stiff, thin fabric which I'm afraid will not stand up to repeated use.

Pictured here are Draculaura's hot pink bow earrings with dangling hearts, her charm bracelet with dangling hearts, knee socks in black and hot pink, white and red shoes (more on those), and pale pink headband.

The shoes are made of a gummy, pliable, thick plastic, similar in texture to rubber. They're molded to resemble saddle shoes, with a batwing pattern at the top of the heel and laces finished with a big floppy bow. Patches across the midsection of the shoes, as well as the laces, have been painted a vibrant reddish pink to match the die-ner decor, and they look great.. sorta.

Inside the box, shoes pressed together, paint rubbed off from one shoe onto the other. There are obvious brushstrokes on the shoes themselves. It's unevenly applied and very thick. Personally, I kinda like it, but another collector might think twice about keeping shoes so haphazardly painted.

Draculaura's headband is fangtastically detailed, with little cut-out hearts aligned in rows and two big bows with skullettes on the right-hand side. The headband is shaped well, too, able to gently cling to her head without popping up or sliding forward. It's just small enough that her hair covers the bottom edges, the way most girls wear their headbands.

Draculaura's panel dress in black and hot pink has spaghetti straps (tied at the back of the neck), an Oxford collar, four heart-shaped "buttons" (painted on), a silohuette image of Count Fabulous (why?), and a short ruffle of black tulle around the bottom edge. As I said before, the fabric is stiff and thin; the dress stays puffed out even if Draculaura lays down. I'll give Mattel the benefit of the doubt and assume this was a design choice meant to mimic starched dresses from the 1950s.

This is the back of Operetta's head right after removal from the box. Those two red strings hold her facemask in place and can be easily unlooped from the front of the facemask. Her hair is so thoroughly glued it feels hard. Given four or five days, the glue should relax in this heat, and then her hair may be manageable.. or she might need a boil and re-set.

When I saw (and felt) her hair, I was disappointed. It looks almost nothing like the pictures on the box. Once her hair relaxes, though, that black stripe will fall forward and define the curve of the rest of her hair, and she'll look very much like the full-haired Operetta pictured on the back of the box.

Operetta's plastic accessories -- spiderweb earring, facemask, belt -- are all exact duplicates of previously seen items, cast in red plastic. I'd gripe that the jagged piano keys belt isn't painted, but really, a black-and-white belt with this ensemble would look awful. The shoes -- molded saddle shoes with a peekaboo slot above the toes -- appeared first, if I'm not mistaken, on Dance Class Operetta, in white with black painted details. This time they're red with black toes. Her off-the-shoulder top has a crosshatch pattern in grey, with skullettes appearing at every intersection. Her fitted black pencil skirt has two inset triangular patches in the same pattern. Not pictured: Operetta's scarf, black with a tight white polka dot pattern.

As I said before, I feel the playset is worth the cost and very well-made. I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of original accessories for Operetta, but it's enough to know she was designed for this specific set and she fits the aesthetic perfectly. These are two characters I'd like to see as unlikely allies, and having both of them in one set is delightful.

If I had one wish, it would be that this die-ner had more of a presence in the Monster High universe. It's been referenced in a couple of character diaries but I don't think it has appeared in any webisodes or featured prominently in anything. Mattel's new policy seems to be "make a webisode to promote upcoming merchandise". Does that mean this die-ner will remain forgotten forever? Why, when it would be such a scary cool fangout?

You can get this exclusive set for yourself or a loved one right now by clicking here.

Or, if you'd prefer the set without Operetta (but why??), you can get the standard Die-ner set here.

That's all for tonight, ladies and gents! Next: a review of Barbie's Glam Breakfast Set and New Scaremester Clawdeen. Hope y'all are havin' a fangtastic evening and I'll see you here soon!