OVERVIEW: Once Upon a Zombie

Sleeping Beauty

In August 2013, I was able to review one of the new Once Upon a Zombie doll line. It was a difficult review, because communication on their part was very poor. People who got to do reviews were left hanging, even though the dolls were being given out at SDCC and, therefore, ready. The dolls actually were available to buy before my review doll was shipped out. I like to do my reviews before the dolls are available, because that increases the hype, but it doesn't always work out that way. I got tired of waiting, because they never confirmed that they sent the doll out or how many or which ones I'd be getting, and I ordered myself a Snow White. I was then surprised by a FedEx delivery containing Sleeping Beauty, the one I wanted least, but I was relieved they didn't send me Snow, who'd already been shipped.

Snow White

If you want to read the detailed Sleeping Beauty review, it's over in my Flickr, but most people have seen these dolls by now, so I'm not going to go ino massive detail here.

I liked Sleeping Beauty, but she remains my least favorite of the line. She's just not very interesting. She does have the cool bandage though.

Snow White, however, is my favorite. I love the big brown eyes and her outfit is pretty neat, though the outfit quality on these isn't the best.

I bought Rapunzel and the Little Mermaid next, Snow having made me want more of these.

Rapunzel

Then I got Belle and Cinderella last. My first Cinderella had a lip rub, so I never really bonded with her, despite liking the doll otherwise.

After reading the book last November, I got out my zombie girls again and did proper pics for them in my Flickr, along with some descriptions. I'd always said I was going to do better reviews for all six, but never actually did it. My Flickr album for them jumps from October 2013, when I showed Little Mermaid and Rapunzel, to November 2015, when all six girls were finally photographed and discussed.

Little Mermaid and her amazing shell bra

The book gave me more of an appreciation for all the characters and added depth to most of them. I'll give a link to my review at the bottom, but I do recommend reading the book. It's surprisingly very good.

Rapunzel was one of the lead zombies and she really should have been on the book cover. My love for her doll definitely went up after the book. She really does have excellent makeup, but her bangs could use some work.

Belle

Belle is actually the prettiest face-wise of the entire line. She has excellent makeup, but sadly, the worst hair of the bunch.

Cinderella was my favorite zombie from the book. She's the sassy badass, almost like Cinderella from the Fables comics. I ended up wanting a new Cinderella after reading the book and got one on sale from Toot's Toys, then spotted her in TJ Maxx and bought her there, too. I kept the TJ Maxx one, while the one from Toot's went on to be a gift. The dress is really the only thing on the doll I don't care for. I love gray eyes and her bangs are nice, unlike poor Rapunzel's.

Cinderella

The fate of the OUaZ dolls seemed up in the air. Wowwee, the company that had originally manufactured them, dropped the line. My friend Rachel (rayedelsol.com) reported after last year's Toy Fair that Wowwee had dropped the brand because it strayed from the company's "core values." They had actually sold all their remaining stock to Toot's. She also asked the OUaZ people about the Alice doll, but received no answers.

Well, leap forward to May 26th and the new OUaZ dolls are finally out! The original six girls have had some changes. Little Mermaid, Snow and Rapunzel look about the same, but the others do not. Belle's long bangs are now far more under control, or so it seems from the online photos. Sleeping Beauty's top changed from white to pink, she has an overlay over the blue skirt that's either pale pink or lavender, and her makeup is now pink/lavender eyeshadow with dark pink or reddish lips. They basically really darkened her previous makeup scheme. Cinderella though is the most changed. She has little wisps for bangs, which look like less volume than her previous bangs, and most of her hair is now in an updo instead of a ponytail. Her dress has changed to blue from pink and it's black where it once was yellow. The skirt has two pink layers on top of the blue main part. I may pick these new girls up eventually, but some problems I had with their newest character have me wary.

Alice at last

After seeing prototypes of Zombie Alice, Tinker Bell and Pocahontas, fans were disappointed to not get them. But Alice is finally here! The problem is...well, the quality. The hair quality has increased. It's no longer as coarse as the Wowwee line's, although I hate how they styled the bangs. The outfit quality has drastically increased. The dress on this doll is lovely. The body is the same, but the new one has more problems. I didn't have any loose joints on my old OUaZ dolls, but Alice has three of them. Both knees are loose, but not to the point that she can't be posed successfully. However, her right arm is loose at the elbow and pretty much useless. The biggest problem though is that this factory seems to have makeup issues. There's a spot missing on her lower lip and a lot of the red has bled into her face. She looks like she smeared her lipstick and wiped it off around the edges of her mouth, leaving a telltale stain behind. These are zombie dolls, so it actually manages to work, but it's certainly not on purpose and none of the older dolls had this problem. She's also got a couple yellow glue or gel spots. I was able to get some of that off. But overall, the makeup is a lot worse than the previous dolls and it worries me about purchasing the new versions of any older characters. And maybe not even any new characters. I did write to the company and they're sending me a free replacement, but they need to get this new factory to step it up.

So that's Once Upon a Zombie. I really do enjoy these dolls and I hate that I'm now wary of buying more. Once New Doll Time is over and I've caught up on my other playlines, I may pick up Belle and Cinderella to take my chances, but they're low priority right now in the face of the onslaught of new products coming out. I do hope a new book comes out though!

PHOTO CREDITS: All mine.

RECOMMENDED SITES:

My book review:
http://redblackandwhitebookreviews.blogspot.com/2015/12/once-upon-zombie-color-of-fear.html

The new dolls can be purchased through OnceUponaZombie.com, their Facebook or Amazon. But buy at your own risk and don't be afraid to contact the company if you get a dud. I had problems, I know of another person with an Alice with messed up lipstick, and another with an Alice whose leg fell off. So there are definite quality flaws and we need to make sure the company knows about it.