#but I really like g3 monster high dolls and giving my opinions on them

[two-baes]

I will be once again giving my opinion that nobody asked for on dolls (that I don't even collect)

Catty Noir:

i LOVE her!!! she's SO cute!!! idk if it's just my pink/black color combo biased but she's right up there w/ Draculaura(general) for me as a favorite. 10/10

I love the subtle pink pearlescent undertone(sheen?) that her doll has to its skin, it's SO pretty. :'o

I've seen a lot of people rag on her outfit but tbh I don't mind it??? aside from the shoulder thingy—that looks dumb af lmao. Also I think her sunglasses should've been like pink lenses w/ either silver or black frames, w/ the (what I assume are meant to be) rhinestones being either pink (if silver frames) or silver (if black), I think them being blue is weird and makes them not match!! Also I wish they'd painted the details of her belt and boots! The belts and chains get lost with everything being one solid pink color!

She'd have looked SO good if they'd put in that li'l bit of extra effort to make her accessories pop a bit better...

I've seen people say her nose should have been pink instead of black, and while I do think that would have been cute I don't mind the black nose (plus black cat's usually have black noses and she's a black cat werecat, so. [I'm aware G1 had a pink nose, but that is neither here nor there to me, personally]).

Also it's neat to see a new doll body type—I've seen some complaints about how her arms are 'too skinny' for a fat doll but that is such a weird complaint to me bc all bodies are different and there's definitely plus sized people w/ skinnier arms.

:') Anyways, I can't wait until she's more widely distributed in stores, so more doll collectors can get their hands on her and unbox her and talk abt her and do their restyles of her.

Monster Fest Cleo, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Frankie:

Honestly? I like them all.

Cleo's doll looks as great to me as every G3 Cleo doll so far (—I don't think I've thought Cleo has had a bad look yet). I love her color scheme, the blues, and teal-y greens, and the golds. It's very pretty. :'o

Clawdeen is... a doll I actually love in this line? She looks sO good here!! Usually I either hate her dolls' hair or her outfits, but I really don't mind either on this one! I really like her headpiece, and while I would have preferred her hair be brown, I don't hate the purple bc at least it's not that ugly shitty muted shade with purple streaks that they usually use for her lmao.

Also if I owned dolls I would pose her and this line's Cleo together—not only as a Cleodeen shipper (sorry to Clankie)—but bc their blue/gold and purple/gold color combos would look sO good together!!!

Lagoona is... I like her doll in this line but I don't LOVE her the way I do Cleo and Clawdeen? I like her headpiece (probably bc it hides her forehead scales, which are usually my least favorite part of her design lmfao), and the pearl chains, but I think the socks w/ her shoes are. a Choice. maybe if they had been black fishnet socks I'd have liked them more? Idk the fact that her shoes are also the only bit of her outfit that are black is also a Choice. ig her bag has black details, but?? it doesn't feel enough to tie the shoes into the outfit really idk. maybe her bracelet being black would've also helped—why is it even purple??? there's no purple on her anywhere else either (at least not of that shade)...

Frankie looks v cute tho and I love them. I've really been loving Frankie's design more since their core refresh w/ the addition of pink to them! I feel like the pink just ties together their whole neon colors thing that they have going on. I don't think I have any complaints about Frankie, they look gr8.

I do wish, much like with Catty, that detail would have been paid to all four doll's belts, so that things would stand out, and not just be one solid blob of the same color. (esp wish the scarabs and gems on Cleo's had been painted!!)

Last, and unfortunately least (which makes me sO sad to say bc she is usually my favorite doll in every line)... Draculaura.

oh hONEY what did they DO to you.

I know. I kNOW that she's the playset doll, so a lot went into, yanno, her playset, but??? her outfit is SO sorely lacking in comparison to the rest of the Ghouls???

She doesn't get aNY painted detailing on her headpiece the way the other 4 do. Literally her headpiece is just a single solid blob of hot pink. Making the roses alternate in color from the hot pink to either a lighter shade of pink (to tie in her skirt color) or to a dark purple (to match her boots and lip-stick) would've made such a difference for the piece, also painting the chain!!

The same goes for her boots?? Which I actually think are otherwise cute...! Like if they had given SOME sort of attention to the details there and painted some of the detailing so the boots wouldn't be just a solid blob of purple!! Even if it would have just been idk painting the heel & underside of the boot a different color!! Or the rim! ANYTHING!!

Also she doesn't come with a belt??? Her doll is so plain when I feel like it could be so cute if accessorized correctly!! :(

I actually like her skirt design, the neon hearts w/ wings are imo actually v cute! I think it would have looked really good with a belt...

(I've actually seen at least one person use This One, from a Barbie fashion pack, on her for their restyle and imo it worked pretty good but she should have CAME with a belt like everyone else in the line!! Even Catty has one!!!)

I don't actually hate the little 'pasta ruffle' top she has—but I feel like it by itself is lacking. Could have used some sort of??? Fishnet undershirt maybe?

Also her arms in general are just so bare, I think she could have done with some bracelets.

also her necklace is so plain?? I don't mind the green of it bc it ties the green in her eye make-up into the rest of the look, but like it's got NOTHING going on?? It's just like... basically one of those cheap glowstick necklaces you can get??? Everyone else gets some more elaborate looking necklace, and she just gets THAT??

I feel like the glowstick necklace would've better served as (one of) the bracelets she should have, and she should've had a more detailed necklace design more in line w/ everyone elses'.

[ghostlymarauder]

MONSTER HIGH G3 IS NOT AS INCLUSIVE AS MONSTER HIGH G1

EDIT: THIS IS JUST A RANT, DON'T TAKE IT SO SERIOUSLY LOL

Maybe that sounds crazy. Maybe it's been said a million times. Anyway, I'm just ranting about my 3 am thoughts.

I know in G3 we have non-binary Frankie (who also has a prosthetic leg), and the Draculaura doll is more curvy. But as far as I'm concerned, they took everything else that made Monster High inclusive.

For starters, and I know it was never actually confirmed, but still, Clawdeen is lesbian (bisexual at best). Once again, it was never confirmed, but in my opinion is a theory popular enough for the Monster High management to hear about it.

If they really wanted to make it more inclusive, why did they not confirm Clawdeen sexuality and give her a female romantic interest?

No, they had to break up one of their best couples. This leads me to my next point, what the fuck are Cleo and Deuce doing being separated?

The first G1 dolls literally came as a package. If you got one, you got the other. That's how much of an obvious couple they were. And not only that, in the Boo York movie, they broke up for like five minutes before realizing they didn't want to be without each other.

Which, in my opinion, it's so fucking cute because they come from completely different worlds. Cleo is royalty, Deuce is just a normal guy. Cleo is a little too superficial, and Deuce looks like he never showers. But they love each other and that's enough.

And you know who else loved each other and that was enough? Clawd and Draculaura. What do you even mean with "Clawd likes Cleo"? That man was in love with Draculaura, that man would've done anything for her, and you're telling me they also broke them apart?

Especially since they made Draculaura curvy, it would've been beautiful to see them together. Because it would've been a great plot point to have jock, almost-bully Clawd evolve into falling in love with curvy, smart, witchy Draculaura. But no, they just separated them.

On a completely different note. What the fuck is Gil doing without his tank? Do I even have to explain why this is taking inclusivity out of the Monster High concept? He couldn't live without his tank outside the water. Ergo, he was limited without his tank. If you ask me, this is Monster High equivalent to something like hearing aids (and this is just an example, there are many other things you could compare Gil's tank to)

Also, Ghoulia talking bothers me a lot. First of all, she was the smartest of the group, but we couldn't understand what she was saying, which added a lot of comedy since us, the spectators, were only pretending to know what the fuck Ghoulia's plan was. And I repeat, she was the smartest of the group.

The smartest of the group couldn't communicate like everyone else. I won't even explain why that is fascinating in itself, because it just is and it added so much depth to whole story. And to add more to my problem with G3 Ghoulia, why is she standing straight and walking at a regular speed?

Ghoulia standing like a zombie was, again, to me, a form of inclusivity to all the kids out there who had some walking impediment, or, in general, had any chronic illness that stopped them from moving around. And her walking slow as fuck was just straight-up funny (especially that one web episode where she got a motorcycle).

There's a lot of things I do like about G3, as I think it improves the brand in wonderful ways, but they definitely took some of the most essential things that made Monster High what it was.

[thunderstomm]

Talking About The New Scare-adise Island Dolls (Monster High G3)

Monster High G3's newest line, beach wave Scare-adise Island has just fully leaked! As always, I am just delighted to see new dolls and want to talk all about them and my opinions on each doll, and if i will be buying them once they release.

The Line Overall

Not many people know this, but I love beach lines. They're a staple of any doll line naturally, but I love to see the takes that a brand does on swim wear or summer fashion, and how they make it both fashionable and practical. And for the most part, I do think Scare-adise Island does a good job at this. Each doll, bar one, comes dressed in swimwear, and all of them come with a bag, sunglasses, a drink, and an extra accessory. There is also a playset, which comes with a lot more accessories, as well as a doll.

Clawdeen Wolf

Clawdeen's doll is quite interesting, and I don't excatly think it captures a beachy vibe. Clawdeen comes dressed in a green leopard print swimsuit, with holes in the sides. She also wears a transparent purple pair of long pants with black patterns, transparent pink shoes, and a transparent purple visor, both made of a "gummy" plastic material. She comes with a purple bag, lavender water bottle with sipping straw, green crescent moon sunglasses and a novel, titled "Howler Thriller".

This look doesn't fully read as "beach" to me- the pants, and more full heels paired with her swimsuit almost read to me as being a "dance" look. I think Clawdeen would have been improved by one thing- having shorts instead of long pants. Her accessories are cute, and I especially like the water bottle, even if it is a recycled mold from G3 Basic Clawd. I also think her shoes should have matched the visor- why are they pink?? At least the green sunglasses match both the swimsuit and earrings. Her pink lipstick is also a little weird- MH PLEASE give her a natural lip. Or even, purple! I think her side ponytail is cute, but I cannot help but think it will be poly, again.

This Clawdeen is cute overall, but she is not for me.

Frankie Stein

This Frankie doll is super cute- and looks so transgender in all of the best ways. They are dressed in a silver and white top, and black and white checked board shorts, with yellow lightning bolts streaked across them. Over top, they wear a black button-up top, with yellow lightning bolt patterns. They have long straight hair, which is black, white and blue streaked, and sport a silver bucket hat, with blue and yellow rings piercing the brim. They wear cute black heel sandals, and come with a blue bag, yellow skullette drinks cup, yellow lightning shaped shades and a green sports ball.

I personally adore this Frankie, and I think it was the best possible thing they could have designed for them. I think the color combo of the look is great, and I hope it stays the same in the animated series. One of the only complaints I can really give is the pink lips- Frankie do you only own one pot of lip gloss? This Frankie would have been so cute with a black, blue, or even yellow lip! I suppose it is an easy fix for any customizers, though.

This Frankie is so so stunning! I think they are worth a buy for any fans of Frankie and beach wear.

Draculaura

And another banger! Draculaura looks absolutely stunning in this look, sporting a pink sunhat with black bat shaped bow, pink and yellow cobweb earrings that look almost like a sun, a pink bikini with cobweb patterns and black ruffles, and a transparent cover up with cobweb patterns. Draculaura wears pink pumps, and comes with pink sunglasses recolored from her core look, sunscreen, a mocktail with little bat wings, and a black, bat shaped bag with a pink charm. She wears her hair in a low ponytail, and it is mostly black with pink streaks.

This Draculaura is pretty perfect, and I don't really have any complaints other than she could maybe use a necklace or two in her look. She is oh-so very pretty, and I love the way that they made the cobwebs of the design look like suns.

I think that this Draculaura is great, and an absolute must own for Draculaura and beach doll enthusiasts. So pretty!

Heath Burns

Making his first ever doll debut in G3, it's Heath Burns! And honestly, I like it! Heath Burns has orange skin, and orange eyes, and has plastic hair, which is made to resemble a mohawk. The hair is shaved on both sides, and he has red painted hair. Heath's face sculpt also has small pointed ears. Heath wears a blue hoodie with flame patterns, and blue board shorts with a similar flame patterns. Heath also sports a pair of slip-on sandals, which are dark blue with flame patterns. The Heath Burns doll also comes with a blue tote bag, an orange, volcano shaped drink, a bottle of sunscreen, and orange sunglasses with flames on the frames.

As somebody who loved G3 Heath with all my heart, I have to say that I just love this doll. I do wish his face sculpt better matched his show counterpart, by having bigger ears, a longer, thinner face, and a different nose shape, rather than looking similar to the other boys. I also am a fan of bald Heath, and prefer it over the mohawk. The outfit is similar to what he wears in the show, except for the shoes. I do wish that this doll had come out in another line so that it could better match the show, but now is better than never, and Heath is the last member of the "poster cast" (characters featured on promotional posters and advertisements) to get a doll. Also, I really hope he's short! I NEED him to be shorter than Abbey!

I like this doll! He's pretty good for a boy doll, and I will be getting him so he can sit next to my Abbey.

Lagoona Blue

Lagoona Blue is the playset doll for this wave! However, I won't be talking about the playset, just the doll. And this Lagoona, oh boy she is PRETTY!! Lagoona has long yellow hair, with teal and pink streaks, styled mostly out, with a small ponytail in at the right. She has gorgeous pink lips, and soft makeup. Lagoona wears a pastel tie dye bikini top, with black ruffles and straps. She sports a matching skirt with drip patterns, black pleather ruffles and plastic pink rope-esque belt-cover piece. Lagoona's shoes match, being pink, and seemingly tied up with plastic textured to look like rope.

I personally love this Lagoona doll so much, and think she is so pretty. I am almost upset that she is a playset exclusive, as that just means that she will be more expensive for me to buy. I don't have any design complaints for her, it's a pretty perfect doll!

If you like playsets, then I'd give this one a buy JUST for the exclusive doll!! Lagoona is so pretty!

What Do You Think..?

[theabyssalorange]

G3 Sloman Mortavitch (Slo Mo) Redesign Idea!

It's Slo Mo (He/They) (Transmasc) (Bi)! So, I'll be the first to admit this Slo Mo is such a far cry from G1's Slo Mo (I do love G1 Slo Mo so much tho his design is so fun). In my defense, my mind started wandering. I was thinking about The Return of the Living Dead, my favorite zombie movie, and how much I adored the costumes for the punk characters in it. Then I started to think how my G3 Deuce fashion redesign already incorporated punk elements and I wanted to give the mansters different fashion styles. I then thought about how much I always adored the cybergoth fashion style and silhouette. If Slo Mo is still dating Ghoulia (which he is in my G3 plan) then I thought it would be cute to have a gamer gf and goth bf. So cybergoth Slo Mo!

(Slo Mo without googles)

My G3 Slo Mo is SUPER tall. I picture them being around the same height as Abbey.

(Clawdeen for scale)

I also have a few ideas for unique monster features for zombies! I saw a post a bit ago saying that Ghoulia doesn't really have anything special going on with her compared to the fur and fangs of the other monsters. And I agree, she's kinda just a green human. I think a major problem faced with giving zombies zombie features is that the most notable features for zombies in pop culture are gore related. Looking at zombie makeup done in movies (Return of the Living Dead specifically), I noticed that the zombie characters would be missing their noses, just showing their nose holes. This would be a good monster feature for zombie characters, in my opinion, because it shows that the character is the representation of a decaying corpse without it being overly gorey (I mean Skelita has a nose hole). Also, I think zombie characters should have holographic or incandescent eyes. Kinda what Cleo has going on with her eyes, but sparkly!

Character wise, Slo Mo is the smartest monsters in Monster High. They have a strong interest in 90s-00s technology and a collection of Terrorgotchis. Although introverted, Slo Mo will happily help anyone mod their Nintendie 3DS (DS stands for Duel Shrieks). Also, Slo Mo is into dance and is non-verbal autistic. Him and Ghoulia meet after they Shriek Passed each other (you know, Street Pass, the things 3DSs do, am I exhausting the horror puns).

Do I think Mattel would manufacture a doll even slightly like this? Oh never. This is just fun for me (and hopefully you readers as well).

[doodlemsstuff]

While I’m at Monster High. Wanna give my opinions on G3(ik shocker) since it’s a bit controversial and mixed within the MH fandom.

Me personally, I don’t mind G3’s existence. I think G3 is way better than G2 from what I’ve seen and I like some of the character designs. Keyword some.

I like how it’s more inclusive. With Frankie being Nonbinary, Twila being autistic, and more plus sized characters being seen. I think it’s a good iteration for new fans to come across!! And if my brother, or kids I’m babysitting wanted to watch G3 I wouldn’t mind watching with them.

With that said. I do have some problems with the series. Maybe my opinion would change if I actually sat down and watched it. But I’m seriously not that interested in watching it. The trailer of the Live Action movie gave me a sour taste in my mouth and I didn’t want to see it. Though I’ve come across clips of the show on Insta and I’ve liked what I’ve saw! But just not interested.

But back to my criticisms. I don’t like most of the character designs. I either feel like the designs in this show are hit or miss, or were translated poorly to 3D. For example, Heath:

I seriously don’t like his design in 3D. He looks awful and he was one of the reasons why I was so disinterested in G3. But when I see his box art, he looks AMAZING! I love how he looks in his box art and it sucks so badly that his modeler(s) weren’t able to capture that. There are more monster high characters redesigns that i seriously don’t like

Another example is Iris. And no, it’s not bc of her being plus size. I seriously don’t care weather or not some characters change drastically or little. But her colors aren’t appealing to look at. I feel like if they added more pink like in Iris’s original design or played around with it more then I would like it. I see what they were trying to do but it just didn’t work for me.

Despite some of my gripes I have with G3’s character designs. They do update the characters in a way that I like.

I REALLY like Venus and Catty’s redesigns. Venus more bc it comes together so so so WELL. And her doll is especially gorgeous. I like the vibe they did with Catty, but I feel like her outfit needs to be tweaked. Maybe some more elements of her original dress should be added in more. Plus I just don’t rlly like her sleeves.

In conclusion, I like G3 and don’t mind it. Will I watch it? Nah. But I wouldn’t mind watching a clip every now and again and look at the dolls they’re producing. I like how inclusive the new generation is and how that inclusivity translated to the dolls. Key examples being Draculara and Catty. Being bigger dolls than the usual skinny dolls we are all used to.

I’m interested in seeing what G3 has to offer from a distance. I still have wayyyy more opinions on G3 that I didn’t bring up bc this post would be even LONGER. And my phone is bugging so badly bc of this.

[nixotinix]

4, 13, and 20 from the MH list thing...

ok boos im gonna start with 13/20 because i have some THOUGHTS on 4.

13: How do you feel about the live action movies?

-they're giving old disney channel movies. they arent GOOD by any means, theyre actually really really bad. but for what its worth i liked sitting through the first one just because i could point out certain things and go "that's bad". the second one was mindnumbingly boring though.-

20: Random character headcanon!

-Ahem. Frankie makes tiny dolls of their friends and sews them tiny clothes. They have all of the dolls on their desk. Draculaura has nails with red bottoms. Clawdeen teaches the boo crew about different human holidays and they all celebrate in their own little monster ways. Lagoona is CRACKED at pumpkin carving. oh and deuce is bisexual. -

4: Are there any aspects of G3 that you dislike?

-Hoo BOY this is about to get long. You can opt out now if you don't wanna read my super long winded thoughts. But if you do, keep reading.

I have 2 major grievances with G3. First is the overall sanitization of EVERYTHING. (I'm mostly talking about the cartoon here, the movies do this surprisingly well.) One of the reasons I liked G1 so much is that it actually tackled real-world problems. Bullying, racism, sexism, unhealthy family dynamics. And it had actual villains like Valentine, Nefera, Whisp, etc etc. G3 has a horrendous lack of both.

So far in the G3 cartoon, the biggest conflict we've had is Draculaura coming clean about witchcraft, which is an allegory for coming out of the closet. And that is a super important issue and coming out of the closet is a huge deal to a lot of people. But the conflict with Dracula is resolved in exactly one episode, and the only other person who isn't cool with it is Toralei. But A: Toralei doesn't count as a villain because none of her actions have genuine lasting consequences and she isn't an actual threat + she gets a mini redemption arc and B: she also comes to accept the witchcraft in that same episode.

Another aspect of this, and who I believe are the biggest offenders of the sanitization of MH G3, is the recharacterization of Nefera and Manny. Sure, seeing Nef be nice to Cleo is great. Seeing Manny as this shy nerd kid is great. But I liked the dynamic a lot better in G1. Most of Cleo's problems and character development came from her troubles with her father and sister, and both of those are absent in G3, which leads to Cleo being a very static character with no real character progression outside of her romance with Frankie. Same with Manny. The only real "bully" character is Toralei, and like I said, she got a mini-redemption. There's no Gory Fangtell, no mean girl Toralei Stripe who actively goes out of her way to sabotage the ghouls in actually meaningful ways, and there's no Manny Taur. I liked Manny being somewhat of a bully in G1 since it introduced people to that idea. Monster High is all about being unique, but there's still bad eggs in the mix. I still like G3, but I feel like it needs to incorporate more story beats from G1. The show execs could definitely do a better job at introducing these things like bad parents, bad siblings, and bullies to prep kids for the real world, because things like that and worse exist. And shielding kids from it does more harm than good in my opinion.

Now for my second issue, which is what I've dubbed the Dracudollar effect. It's no secret that Draculaura is a wildly popular character, and arguably the most recognizable from the franchise. And this isn't all Mattel's fault, but they do share partial blame. In Generation 3, outside of single doll releases, Draculaura has been in every. single. doll line. I don't think this needs to be the case. I would love to see more Cleo, or Deuce, or Lagoona. But they've all been sidelined in favor of Draculaura. And Draculaura's dolls tend to be more expensive, too. Again, not entirely Mattel's fault. But I just think it's ridiculous when she goes for 5, 10, even 50 dollars more than other dolls (in the case of VH Draculaura vs SIS frankie, not g3 but worth mentioning).

Anyways. There are my grievances with MHG3. I really like g3 overall!! but there's definitely a few things that id prefer a different way

[orchidsangel]

hi ro!

i know you’ve talked about your love for bratz on here, so i was wondering if you had any opinions on the monster high dolls or any other dolls from the 2000s-2010s

xoxo sunnie (@fic-over-cannon)

Sunnie, I am so so glad you asked this because talking about my love for fashion dolls is literally one of my favorite things.

Monster High - So, my love for Monster High started LONG before my love of Bratz. I'm an 05' baby, so by the time I started playing with and caring about dolls in around 2011, Bratz was already past their prime and in their flop era, BUT it was just in time for the monster high renaissance, which truly took the world, and my life, by storm.

My first monster high doll was the Physical Deaducation Ghoulia Yelps doll, and I put her through the WRINGER. She currently has a poorly executed pixie cut, sharpie tattoos, and permanent discoloration around her forehead from the multiple times I tried to dye her hair and failed. She is a testament to my childhood, and I love her so dearly. I even bought an original Physical Deaducation Ghoulia NIB (new in box) a few years ago to keep on display just because she's such a big part of my childhood.

She was really the beginning of a lifelong affair, and even now, at 18, I still collect Monster High dolls and keep up with Mattel creations drops because they use the same face and body molds as G1 (generation one), as opposed to G2 or G3 which I don't like nearly as much. I actually hate G2, but that's universally felt.

The Monster High doll I acquired most recently was the 2024 SDCC (San Diego Comic-Con) exclusive Deadfast Ghoulia Yelps, which is actually an upgraded/reproduction version of the 2011 SDCC Deadfast Ghoulia whose current resale value is upwards of $700 out of box, and $1000 NIB. My dream SDCC doll is the 2012 SDCC Scarah Screams doll. She's one of my favorite Monster High characters, and she has only had five dolls released in the entire fourteen-year history of Monster High, all of which were G1.

That was a lot of unnecessary info-dumping, and I could honestly go on and give you my entire history with Monster High, my fave lines, the dolls I wish I had, and how I dropped the ball not collecting sooner, but I won't because there are other doll lines to talk about eek!

Bratz - I'm gonna start off with bratz even though I know that everybody already knows how much I love them because it hasn't always been this way. I knew of Bratz as a kid, and I played with Bratz as a kid at other people's houses, but I didn't have any of my own because, as I said, it was well past their prime, and I was very much locked in with Monster High. I liked their clothes, and I liked how many accessories came with each doll. Although I never really saw them in the boxes, my friends who had collections of them had so many little bits and pieces to go with each doll, and I thought that was really cool.

The one thing that turned me off of Bratz dolls as a kid (because realistically, as a child, I had no concept of what their prime was and probably would've bought the dolls anyway if it weren't for this fact) was that their feet were weird. If you're not familiar, instead of their shoes coming off, their entire foot did, and that pissed me off so badly as someone who bought fashion dolls to mix and match fashion.

While it didn't entirely stop me from liking the doll line, I never felt tempted to buy them. I only ever owned a Bratz styling head, two Bratz dolls (2011 Stylin' in the City Yasmin and 2015 Selfie Snaps Cloe), and a bunch of their movies that I watched religiously. I loved Bratz more as movie characters than dolls until around 2015/2016, which was when I became interested in buying them, but I didn't actually act on it until years later. Now they're my favorite doll line.

Barbie - I don't know if Barbie counts as a 2000s-2010s doll line because she originated in the 50s, but I'm still going to talk about her because she's an icon, and her 2000s-2010s run was what I grew up with. Barbie, like for many people, was my introduction to fashion dolls, and boy, did she have an impact on me. I would even go as far as to call her my first love. I will always hold space for Barbie in my heart, even though Mattel's constant need for Barbie to be the #1 fashion doll has resulted in so many of my favorite doll lines getting nuked, but that is the fault of corporate greed and NEVER Miss Barbara Millicent Roberts.

I think Barbie's play-line dolls have gotten more and more mediocre over the years. Even as a kid, while they were fun to play with, they paled in comparison to other doll lines' concepts and play sets of that time, which is why I feel like they're so easily duped, and you can find low-end versions at any dollar store. Where Barbie really excels is her collector lines, and if I were to ever collect any Barbie dolls, they would be the ones that you can't just buy off the shelves of Target and Walmart.

When I was very young, maybe four or five, my grandma gifted me a black label, Target exclusive Barbie basics red accessory pack, and the accompanying doll. That's my earliest memory of being introduced to the more sophisticated side of Barbie, the side I'm still so fond of. When I was in elementary school, an administrator who I became close with gave me a magazine about the history of Barbie and her fashions. It was the first time I had seen Barbie dressed up in such extravagant and elegant ways beyond the animated movies, and I became utterly obsessed.

I discarded that magazine at some point in my adolescence, most likely after succumbing to the peer pressure of hanging up my dolls in exchange for social media and boys, but it stuck with me. I have searched far and wide for a copy of it and have come up with nothing. To supplement it, I've acquired numerous books detailing Barbie's history and the countless collections that have been released in her name. They're more detailed than the magazine, but none of them will ever touch the emotional significance attached to it.

Ever After High - Ever After High is another doll line where I was more attached to the accompanying media than the actual dolls. I watched the Netflix original series more times than could be considered healthy, and I owned more of the books than I did the dolls, which wasn't that crazy considering I only had two (dolls, that is). The ones I had were the 2014 Briar Beauty Thronecoming Book playset (which came with Briar Beauty), and the 2015 Way Too Wonderland 17-inch Madeline Hatter doll, which wasn't nearly as iconic as the 17-inch Freak Du Chic Gooliope Jellington doll that Monster High released that same year, which my friend gifted to me for my 10th birthday.

Conceptually, Ever After High was similar to Monster High: sons and daughters of famous and beloved characters, but where Monster High were monsters (obviously), Ever After High were fairy tales, and they even existed in the same universe, which I liked. But in terms of visuals and quality, their fashion wasn't on the same level as Monster High at all, and that's where it fell short for me as someone who really cared about the fashion aspect of fashion dolls. I also thought their heads were way too round, which was something I could've gotten past if they were dressed to the nines, but they weren't, so it added fuel to the fire.

The only time I really put my Ever After High dolls to use was to dress up my Monster High dolls in their clothes, which didn't even fit properly because their body molds were different, or to use them as background characters in stories where my monster high dolls were front and center.

My history with Ever After High dolls isn't nearly as long or meaningful as my history with other doll lines of that time, but as characters, I was able to find joy in them through the show, so that will always mean something to me.

American Girl - American Girl as a brand obviously predates the 2000s-2010s, but the girl of the year tradition, which is one of the hallmarks of the franchise, originated in 2001 and became such an important part of cultivating a love for dolls within people of my generation.

My mom used to get monthly American doll catalogs delivered in the mail, and she would give them to me to look at the different dolls and sets they were coming out with. I would mark it up with pen and marker, circling sets I would never get, calculating costs that, even at that age, I knew were outrageous. It was the beginning of my love for miniature things, and even now, when on trips to Target, I walk through the Journey Girl aisle and feel tempted to buy the tiny foods and knick-knacks.

I got my first and only American girl for Christmas in 2013. It was a Truly Me doll that, ironically, looked nothing like me. We didn't even share a name. I called her Olivia. My mom splurged on it after I begged her for months, and I had never been more excited for anything else in my life. Oh, to be an eight-year-old girl in New York City at one of the American girl flagship stores around Christmas time.

Unfortunately, a few months after I got Olivia, trailers for the first Annabelle movie were put on YouTube as unskippable ads and paired with her scary blinking eyes, an incident I had with a Disney princess doll a few years prior, and R.L. Stine's the haunting hour's "really you" episodes, I was very quickly put off by her, and she ended up sitting in a closet up until last year when I finally decided to give her away to someone who could give her the love she deserved.

If I had the opportunity to buy one now, I'd get a historical doll. Out of all the American girl lines, that was the one that consistently piqued my interest. I loved the outfits, the vintage-style play sets that took you back in time, and the rich, era-accurate stories they gave the girls. My favorites growing up were Kit and Julie.

There are WAY more doll lines of the 2000s and 2010s: my scene, Novistars, Bratz's supernatural counterparts Bratzillaz, and I'd be happy to share my thoughts on those as well, but since this is so long since I went into detail about the impacts of these doll lines on my life I'll cut myself off here!

This question really meant the world to me, Sunnie; thank you again <3

[goobydolls]

Monster High G3 - Clawdeen Wolf - Signature Doll

First up in this series is Miss Main Character herself, Clawdeen!

Her outfit has to be the most polarizing one out of the bunch, because it's the biggest departure from her G1 counterpart. I've warmed up to it since I got her, but I do see why people consider her look a bit juvenile. They're high-schoolers, though, so I feel like it still makes sense for her to look like... well... a kid. Pulling the shirt collar past her shoulders makes a world of a difference to the look!

Her overall color scheme is great. I love that most of her accessories are gold and they go well with the other accents in her look. Black and gold is just such a good combo, and her signature purple color just makes her entire look blend together so well.

She has a good amount of fashion accessories on her, and I'm glad they didn't shy away from it. I think it's hilarious that the choker and necklace are barely holding onto her neck but I'm not complaining!

I will say, although I appreciate the details on her sneakers, I wish more parts of them were painted. There's quite a number of details (fur, straps, etc.) that get lost in the purple plastic because they're not accented. I also prefer darker colored shoes; the bright purple just screams at your eyes a bit much, in my opinion.

One of the biggest letdowns on this doll is definitely her hair. It's a blend of very light brown, magenta, and a much darker brown underneath, and most of it feels dry, particularly the dark brown parts. After I unboxed my Clawdeen, I immediately washed her hair with dish soap and put on lots of conditioner TWICE(!) to make it even remotely smooth. I have sensory issues so I enjoy brushing/playing with good doll hair, but when it's bad, it feels really awful. Due to so much brushing during her wash, I ended up making her hair straighter than intended, but at this point I'm too scared to style her hair back into loose curls. I also ended up trimming the ends of her hair because they were too crunchy to be saved. I imagine this would be something I'll be doing again in the next few months.

The one I got has a crooked eye print, but I can't say for sure which side's wonky. It doesn't bother me much since it's not that glaring (lol) and misprints happen.

This is all the stuff she comes with! All the play accessories like the phone and the snacks are such welcome additions. The inclusion of snacks make for great play/photo props, although it did bum me out a little bit that she didn't come with a drink container like most of the other dolls.

I'm not too into the pets, but I can appreciate their inclusion to this line. They've always done this in G1, so it would be a disappointment to deviate from that in their core versions. My partner adores the pets though, so they're still loved!

It's also important to note that her undershirt comes with two variants; mine's got the moon pattern with some pawprints and the stock photo has bigger moons with some claw marks instead. I kinda like the latter better but I'm still happy with what I got!

Her bag is made of pliable material and it opens at the top so you can definitely store some of her accessories in there. Mine's a little too squishy and it comes apart easily, so I don't bring it out that often. It's a shame because her bag definitely gives her a more mature look, considering the other signature dolls came with chunky backpacks. I love the printed designs and the gold attachment to the side is a cute little detail that I wish was applied to her shoes too.

Her glasses will be permanently perched on top of her head because they're both too big for her face and the molded fur on her jaws aren't enough to keep 'em in place.

She comes with this fur vest that I'm personally not feeling, but I do like how it looks wrapped around her arm like in the photo below. It's got some restyling material though! I've used it once as a sort of fur stole with some other pieces of clothing, but it just doesn't work as well in her original outfit.

Here she is beside her budget version for comparison. Clawdeen, Frankie, and Draculaura all came with budget versions of their dolls that have similar style clothes as the originals. I feel like Clawdeen has the biggest departure from her signature look since she's no longer wearing overalls and she instead comes with a layered top.

What didn't depart, however, was her hair quality. I haven't washed my budget doll since I got her, so you can see the difference between washed and just combed hair. Her hair can get REALLY bad if left alone for a long time.

I do prefer the budget doll's outfit since it's a bit more my style, plus her platform boots just look so much better than the sneakers, even if it has less paint detail.

The budget doll's bag is cute! The unique function to open the bag is so fun, but it's a bit too small to fit most of her accessories so it's kind of just decorative.

Another distinction between the signature and the budget dolls is the torso articulation. As an action figure collector, I do love displaying my stuff in nice poses, and the torso articulation does so much for me! This isn't to say the budget doll doesn't have enough articulation, though. As you can see, she is perfectly capable of some tilted poses too. The signature doll just takes it a lot further.

For my final thoughts, I think Clawdeen's a pretty okay doll! My main gripe is the hair quality, considering every other doll's hair is softer and more manageable. She also didn't come in the same curls as in the stock photos. In the Nickelodeon show these dolls are based on, she even has textured hair, but it's a letdown that the doll just has wavy hair. Clawdeen has the best bag out of all the signature dolls, hands down. She's got a bit of a balance between her kidcore overalls + sneakers and her more mature pieces, such as her off-shoulder top and bag. Overall, Clawdeen is a 7/10 for me.

--

Sorry if this review is quite long. Since this is the first G3 doll I'm reviewing, I wanted to cover most of the stuff that the other dolls also had, such as the torso joint and all the general items they came with. I'll try to trim the reviews more for the next dolls, but I just love to talk about them and their stuff! I enjoy the G3 dolls so much and writing about Clawdeen made me warm up to her so much more.

[nakakabaliw]

Monster High Redesigns part two feat. Lagoona, Frankie and Cleo! See the version of Deuce, Clawdeen and Draculaura over here!

design comments and minor rant under the cut!

Okay, so, design notes here because I think the tags have limited word limit for my commentary.

Lagoona is inspired by Health Goth fashion, as well as a bit of 80s aerobatics sort of work out inspired gear, which I think really complimented her color palette in her OG design. I'm really happy with her :]

I'm also really happy with Frankie-- their hairstyle is actually inspired by their hair from the Skull Shores movie, which I think is very adorable on them! I gave them this sort of punk academia look, and did my best to give them prep and edge at the same time. I actually really liked their Live Action design, especially the outfit, but it looked a bit plain so I decided to add more. And I headcanon that most of these are thrifted and or altered :D

Cleo I had the most fun with ; her bandaged top is inspired by one of the collections from Temraza, an egyptian designer brand. I wanted Cleo to look expensive but at the same time glamorous and maybe even a bit alt. Also-- Layers! Get it? bandages and layering? I think she's the queen of layering tbh.

And my rant is that-- I really hate how they dumbed down and "normie-lized" all their designs. I did my best to stick with the pattern crazy maximalist style that the og designs have. I know MH is a fashion doll line but the G3 doesn't treat it like such, failing to successfully copy , and even elevate the trends like Monster High did. I think they're also really afraid to throw edge in there, like look at what they did to Lagoona! Now I'm not picking on the actors, I'm sure they are wonderful people who did the roles that they were assigned to well , and I have no qualms about who played who. Heck, I'm happy that our main protagonists are played by mostly POC! I'm just upset at the costume direction. I wish they took advantage of the ALT fashion and this franchise's influence on it, because it really is still thriving to this day! Anyways, that's all I have to say, whether you agree with my opinion or not is fine, It's just my little rant. Hope you enjoyed these redesigns :D

[freaky-flawless]

So I Got Cleo's G3 Doll

Here's my thoughts under the cut. Just wanna put a disclaimer that I am someone who doesn't consider themself a fan of Gen 3, but is keeping an open mind. So just keep that in mind as you read, I am biased and do compare her to the G1 dolls, but I try to give credit where credit is due.

Like I said previously, I love the doll itself. Her face up is pretty (mine does have a slight imperfection, but its subtle enough that I'm not bothered by it), her hair is pretty, her skin tone and the shimmer they added to it are beautiful. I love her new body as well, though I do wish her torso and neck were a little longer. Specifically I love her big ears and hands. I do like G1 Cleo's hand pose a little bit more, but overall her new hands are great, and because they're bigger they're easier to remove. And finally, this will probably be an unpopular opinion, but I could do without the chest articulation in place of something else, like a doll stand.

I can't say much on the quality of her hair as it's not something I'm all that knowledgeable about. All I can say is that it feels more...plasticy? Compared to her G1 doll's hair. I'm having a hard time getting it to stay flat. I also think it's kinda odd that they seemingly made it a point to give all the dolls long brushable hair, but didn't provide brushes. Don't get me wrong, I have an abundance of Monster High brushes and don't need any more, but kids brand new to the series don't. And as someone with nieces, I can say for sure that they love brushing doll hair. I feel like doll stands and hair brushes are pretty standard things for dolls to come with nowadays, especially at that price range.

I'm very amused at how much she looks like Nefera, in the sense that the two of them look even more related than G1 Cleo and Nefera. It does look to me as though they took more inspiration from Nefera's G1 design more than Cleo's, which is interesting. I also discovered that Nefera's shoes, though they don't fit, match G3 Cleo's outfit pretty well, aside from the black in them.

Speaking of G3 Cleo's outfit...that's where my biggest disappointment lies.

I haven't exactly been subtle about my dislike for her boots. They don't go with the style of her dress, and overall I think giving a character who grew up in a hot desert climate boots is a super weird choice. On top of that I don't find them to be flattering on her new leg molds. Her calves are much thicker now, and adding thick boots to them really accentuates it and makes her look slightly awkward and disproportionate. However the actual quality of them is pretty good. There's a decent amount of detail, and I appreciate that the slit in the back of them doesn't go all the way up so they can't lose their shape, which is actually an issue I have with a couple G1 dolls. I would say the same for her accessories, they're well detailed and the paint job on them is really nice.

Her dress is where things take a nosedive. I think before I was so distracted by how much I disliked her boots that I didn't pay that much attention to her dress. But now that I have her and have felt the material I'm really disappointed by it. I don't know what material was used to make it, but I can assure it's plastic and pretty cheap feeling. Compared to G1 Cleo's clothes it feels like a cheap costume. I will say this material is probably more play proof, but I do have G1 Cleo's basic outfit, which is over ten years old by now, and her jumpsuit still looks brand new, and the material is so soft. It feels like real clothes. And compared to other modern doll lines the quality of her dress is kinda embarrassing. They couldn't have used a nicer material?? And aside from that, she has this new beautiful body mold, I would have really hoped that they'd have given her an outfit to accentuate it a bit more, like Draculaura's does.

Interestingly, I think her outfit in the show and on the box art would look better on her doll, and her doll's outfit would look better on her 3D model.

tldr; the doll is gorgeous, she should have come with a brush and a doll stand, her accessories are well detailed, and the quality of her dress is cheap.



[taybatwo2]

Playing around with G3’s Clawdeen to try and get used to her new design and character. Personal opinions under the cut, but TLDR: I like a lot of her new details, I don’t mind her glasses, her new design/character reminds me A TON of Howleen (like those cute freckles), they should have kept her siblings, and I’m not enjoying the idea of Clawdeen being “half human” when she is a werewolf, and I don’t mind Clawdeen being the main character (she was my original favorite, followed by Ghoulia and Cleo, and only usurped by Abbey). :)

I have only seen parts of the leaked live-action movie, but it is giving me Descendants/Lisi Harrison’s MH book series vibes, and neither were up my alley. Although, the songs are very catchy and it looks like the cast was having fun. :) I will miss her Brooklyn accent, but I am also curious to see how her new voice actress takes her character. :D

Starting out with things I like about her design, I like all of her gold earrings (and the several necklaces in the animated picture). I like her wolf nose, more detailed ears, and (hopefully) more textured hair (yes please), although I would have liked more of her dark brown hair instead of all purple/pink. I assume they’re keeping her claws and I hope they’ll keep G2’s molded fur. I hope they keep her doing several sports (the skateboarding is an interesting addition, but it also feels like something Howleen would also LOVE), love of fashion design (taking some art classes), and her drive (taking some business classes and already posting/gaining clout on social media for her fashion illustrations).

When looking at her leaked prototype, it almost looks like she might have some human ears tucked under her hair….I REALLY hope I’m just imagining that though (although, they would help keep her glasses up, haha). 

When it comes to her glasses, I did think it was an odd choice at first, but then again, her older sister has them, and Howleen was released with a pair (in G2….?). My gripe with her glasses are that they are too plain and don’t scream Clawdeen; I feel they needed to be a different lens shape, or in an animal print or a metallic gold. I feel like she would have saved up her money to buy several pairs to go with different outfits and she is meticulous in picking out their designs. It would also be a fun detail if they curved upwards to hook behind her wolf ears to keep them in place. 

I think G2 over did it when it came to her thousand and one younger brother siblings (in the animation), but they overcorrected for G3 by getting rid of all her siblings (Clawd and Howleen especially).

I don’t really like a werewolf being half human. I like Monster High’s werewolves are always in between both forms, and that get more wolf-like on the full moon- like with Clawdeen’s extra speed, strength, and fur/hair growth.  Maybe they could have used this idea to make her (and all werewolves) pass for normies during the New Moon?? I think that would be an interesting conundrum as it feels like she doesn’t fully belong to the monster or human world?? Maybe she can go full wolf mode on the full moon (like how they kinda did in G2). I mean, this would give Mattel the chance to release two/three different versions of Clawdeen.

Also on the topic of Monster vs Human world, I think they should have most of the Monster and Human world act like parallel dimensions -like Paris/Scaris, Hollywood/Hauntlywood- with some parts of the world overlapping/merging- such as New Salem/Salem. These merging points would be perfect for a school -such as Monster High- because they can more easily include some monsters that are usually only found in the “human” world, and monsters that are considered “too human”/used to be human -Hyde’s family, witches, mummies, some zombies and ghosts- to live in the Monster World??? This would make Monster High a school that attracts a ton of different monsters from around the world (lots of different dolls for Mattel to make), conflict with the human world and monster world “purists,” and a reason for it be a more unique school compared to the other schools in the monster high universe. 

Her outfit (what I’ve seen of the animated version), doesn’t look bad, but also looks more like pieces Howleen would wear (like they were a hand-me down from Clawdeen, but personalized with patches and fashionable rips). Honestly a lot of her personality (from what little I have seen) seems a lot closer to Howleen’s too (being new to a school, not knowing where she fits in, finding herself). Maybe Monster High should have had G3 follow Howleen, Twyla, and an aged up Alivia, Lagoona’s sister, and Fangelica…?

I know that this version is not for late twenty something me, but it feels like they are trying to attract REALLY young children (5-10) with this style of animation. It is giving me some Disney Jr. stylization with very bright colors and rounded shapes, instead of being its own thing. I feel like G1 attracted more of a pre-teen/teenager audience (it hooked me and my friends when we were in high school and none of us had been doll collectors previously). 

I mean I liked G1, but all of the different cannons were a mess (I actually prefer Ever After High’s animated series/movie/books a lot more than Monster High’s for this reason), the animation for the animated series and movies was meh, nothing ground breaking (honestly, the only great animation was used in the doll tv ads). However, it was stylized that you knew it was Monster High. It looked like it had its own style, not like it was trying hard to blend in with what was popular. 

G1 seemed to take clothing from the era and “monster-fy” it and heavily personalize it to that character (who all seemed to have their own color pallets and taste in fashion). So far G3 seems to have done a bit of this (Clawdeen’s moons/gold/animal print/fur/purple), but have not “monsterfied” it yet. It looks…too clean…or polished….or bright without any dark colors to offset it….I dunno it’s hard to explain the word for it…like they are all shopping on the same clothing rack at the same store…? Sort of too monogamous…?

I’m not against reboots/retooling, as it can greatly improve things (2017’s Ducktails), and explore different avenues for characters (like TMNT 2012/ROTTMNT, or any of the Batman series - Batman the Animated series/Batman the Brave and the Bold/Lego Batman). 

However, as long as their dolls are articulated, have killer shoes, have plenty of monster details on their bodies (I’m hoping that that Deuce has a few scale details on his body like his cousin Viperine), and their clothes (which I hope are a step up from what Mattel has been giving their current lines of dolls), I think I’ll be alright and will definitely get the core dolls.

Also, Mattel should canonize Clawdeen being a lesbian. She could date a few mansters, but not feel that spark, and find it with a lovely ghoul; bring in that representation!!

Sorry that was a bit ramble-y but I have no one else to talk to about this. Ha!

[ehbunnehsblog]

I cannot believe that I, EhBunneh the individual who trashed on the new MH dolls and MH G3 overall is saying this but I actually really like the new Monster High dolls.

As it's own thing I love it! I love the look of the dolls, although I definitely have an inkling that it is just trying to ride off some of the success of RH and LOL with the shape of the dolls, but I actually really like it!

I am still not a fan of the story and I am still not going to watch the movie but when I view this era and these dolls as a completely separate thing to the OG Monster High i admit that i like it and that my opinion has shifted.

I never thought that I would come forward and say how I actually like these new dolls but here I am.

Do I like the dolls more than the og? No, the og was so neat and different for the time and i don't think anything could beat it but I think that this new era will be more successful than g2 and at least stay a while.

I still hope that MGA will release the original dolls without making them collectors and having to deal with the boring and dumb line ups and scalpers.

My favourites in order:

Draculaura

Frankie

Cleo

Lagoona

Clawdeen (rip that Clawdeen is still my least favorite)

Eventually I will go over all of my thoughts on each doll but lately I have been very busy with work (also a while ago I got covid so yeahhhhh)

However I will try my very best to keep everyone updated.

Also I just want to give a HUGE thanks to everyone for sending likes my way, I am in shock at how much my tumblr has been blowing up lately and I really hope that I am still able to post stuff that you guys like so thank you.

With that said, I will see you in the funny papers lol!