REVIEW: Hotel Transylvania Mavis Bats Out

More goth dolls? Yes, please!

I have to be honest, I don't like Hotel Transylvania. I might have enjoyed the movie, but pretty much my most hated trope ever is putting an attractive goth girl with a complete and utter ugly doofus. It happens A LOT. So I refused to see the sequel and won't see the third one.

I will, however, buy Mavis dolls and pretend she is an adorable vamp girl that is STILL TOTALLY SINGLE.

Bats Out Mavis is one of three fashion dolls currently out. This one and the bride Mavis from Hotel Transylvania 2 are $17.99, while the resort outfit (AKA: dark purple minidress) Mavis from HT3 is $12.99. All are on Amazon, along with a ton of other not-doll figures.

Bats Out was the obvious choice for me, since I love her simple outfit from the first movie. She's wearing that plus a bat ear headband and bat wings that are held on by two elastic loops per arm.

I honestly don't get the bat outfit idea. I would have preferred her in this outfit minus the bat stuff and with a figure of herself as a bat instead. Mavis doesn't need a bat outfit. She turns into a bat!

She's so cute though! They did an excellent job. I don't think she could look any more like the character. She's spot on.

Her hair is very gelled, which I hate, but on the plus side, when it's this gelled, if you wash most of it out, it still usually holds the proper shape without being stiff.

Let's get rid of that unnecessary bat stuff.

Mavis wears a simple black dress with fishnet sleeves. Those are attached directly to the dress. Each sleeve has a tiny thumb loop.

So how many of you think she's wearing tights?

NOPE. Those are two individual striped stockings. I'm not sure I've seen the likes of these since Lollipop Girls. They make for way better lines under the dress and allow her to have decent joint movement.

Her legs don't go straight out, but she sits pretty well anyway. (This photo was taken after I rinsed her gel out. Looks good so far!)

Mavis is articulated at the neck, shoulders, hips, knees and elbows. Not the wrists.

Gah, sorry, Mavis.

She DOES stain.

My doll came with plastic wrapped around each upper arm, but the black went through it and stained her arms anyway. Unfortunately, it didn't photograph well, but I think you can see the shadow of it, particularly on her right arm.

I'm not fully undressing her because those sleeves look like a pain to get back on right. And that was a wise decision, because I unhooked the thumbhole on her left hand to get that stray thread out of the sleeve and it was really hard to find the hole again. Just leave her sleeves in place! If you want a Mavis to redress, I recommend the HT3 resort dress doll.

A little size comparison. Mavis is 10.5" according to the Amazon listing. She's a teense taller than Twyla. Without shoes, they might be about the same.

Despite not loving what they did with the character, I adore this doll. Goth dolls are always welcome in my home and she is an absolutely darling one! And for a fair price, too. I may invest in both the others eventually. The resort one would be fun to redress and the bride minus her veil and bouquet just looks ready for a night out.

Well done, Jazwares.

PHOTO CREDITS: Mine.