REVIEW: Nebulous Stars Nebulia Doll

Yay! It took effort, but I finally found a French-Canadian store that was willing to ship me this doll. Most said they didn't ship to the US, and the one that did didn't have the doll or plan to order her. But I got lucky and a place that didn't normally ship to the US was nice enough to help me out. 

Nebulia cost $69.99 in Canadian dollars. Roughly $58 US. She's a large doll, standing about 14". 

I'm going to say this right away: Nebulia is not going to be for everyone. She is decidedly unusual-looking and the problem is entirely in the eyes they chose. I'll give my suggestions on how they could improve them when we get her deboxed. But yeah, please don't leave a bunch of comments on how creepy or freaky she is. I get that she's not everyone's taste, but I do like her.

Here's the back of the box. I cut this up and added the art to my room decor. It's gorgeous. 

I honestly think this is the prettiest art for a "girl" property since Jem in the 80s. It is beautiful and extremely detailed. 

Here's Nebulia on her box liner. 

She comes with three paperwork pieces that we'll look at last. No other accessories. 

Hi! Yeah, she's starey. 

Okay, I'll address the eyes quick. I think they should have given her slightly bigger pupils and a dark shadow across the top of the inset eye piece. You know, like Rainbow High does. Thicker rooted lashes would have helped (and you know how I feel about giant lashes so that's saying a lot) and they could have even molded the top of the eye as part of the lashes and painted it black. Flipping the irises so the light part is at the bottom would help, too. 

It would be a pretty easy fix, because the rest of the doll is fine. 

I love the decoration on her forehead. A lot of the girls have beautiful designs there and I'm glad they tried to replicate that on the doll. 

They did a pretty good job translating the art to doll, except with the eyes.

Her outfit is nicely made and uses multiple materials. 

Her hair is soft. Not the softest and silkiest ever, but it's better quality than some RH dolls. There's a slight bit of gel on her front ringlets, but that's it. 

Her bolero jacket actually has a print on it. It's hard to photograph, but you might see some of it. It's nicely lined in a bright blue satiny material that matches the straps on her top. 

Cute without the jacket, too. 

Her arms can swing out a bit, so they can do more than just move front to back. 

I'm not removing her pants because the ankle pieces of her shoes are fragile. We'll get to that. 

She does have molded undies, but nothing fancy. Just a molded waistband to indicate them. 

Nebulia's shoes are meant to be flats with ribbons. 

The shoes are soft rubber, but the faux ribbon part is a very thin plastic that I'm betting will not survive the test of time. And definitely would not survive play by the target market. 

Even worse, they wrapped her legs in plastic UNDER the ribbons, so you have to remove them to remove the plastic. I gently took them off and put them back on, but I'm never touching them again. 

Her outfit separates into a skirt, top, bolero jacket and belt. And the pants, which as I said, I won't take off. 

The top and skirt have a nylon layer underneath and a thin fabric on top. 

Here's another look at her forehead decoration and her headpiece.

Her bracelets are a band of stars and two bangles.

She's a little shorter than one of the original Rainbow dolls by MGAE. Maybe about the same height if you take those chunky shoes off the Rainbow doll. 

She's almost exactly the same height as a Glitter Girls doll, though I don't have a pic of that. 

She comes with two pamphlets that tell about her personality and give tips for mental and physical health. They both look like this on one side. This is written in English. 

The backs of the pamphlets have the same text in a ton of different languages, making Nebulous Stars the most multilingual doll line I've ever seen. 

Then there's a tiny pamphlet that shows other products. 

And all the girls on the other side. 

The more I'm around this doll, the more I like her, weird eyes and all. I saw a photo of the prototype, which had eyes that were more normal but also more boring. 

I do wish they'd team up with a big toy company. The designs for these characters are so stunning that they need a company with a lot of money to play with to really do them justice. I think they could easily compete against Rainbow High if they were done in a similar size with articulation and quality. They're diverse (the newest one, Orelia, is dark-skinned with gorgeous, short, natural hair in purple, yellow and orange and she has an insect theme) and have fantastical elements that might appeal to fans of Monster High and Novi Stars. 

As it is, the size of the doll, her price and her eyes will likely keep people from buying her. There's also the huge problem of how hard it is to find one for collectors in the US. I'm hoping to see another doll from this series, but realistically, I don't think it will happen. 

PHOTO CREDITS: Mine.