TOP 15: Rainbow & Shadow High

 

I am totally cheating with this list. Top 10 didn't seem like enough. I wanted to showcase more favorites, so here are my Top 15 Rainbow/Shadow High dolls.

#15: JEWEL

I didn't initially like Jewel much because I wasn't drawn to her in her main outfit, but as I waited for the line to come out, I wanted her more. She was actually the first one I opened and I adore her in her second outfit. Her makeup is lovely. I am a sucker for darker jewel tones and I like the unexpected edginess to this outfit. She was a nice surprise. 

#14: KARMA

Ah, Karma. She was my favorite for quite sometime, but let's just say that competition got REALLY fierce. 

I still love that she has brown eyes and a lovely shimmery warm skintone. Her makeup was pretty out there for the earlier RH lines and I adored that. I also love her Pizzazz chartreuse hair. This skirt is a great piece. I love that it's not just a miniskirt like a lot of them have. 

#13: MARGOT

Margot, why don't I have one of my usual final look photos for you? Yeah, I don't know either. 

Margot almost didn't make the list but then I picked up her doll and started holding her next to the others and she ended up drawing me in more than Karma and Jewel. Margot was my early fave once I got a good look at her gorgeous face. It's her hair that held her back a bit because I wanted white. I adore white hair (except Amaya's) and I was dismayed to see she didn't actually have white hair at all. Between that and her lack of regular clothes, she just couldn't compete with the girls above her. Still, it's a sign of how gorgeous she is that she got this far on her face alone. 

#12: DAPHNE

Sweet Daphne! I wish they did more with her on the show because I love what little I've seen of her character. That's part of the reason I fell in love with the doll so much. Her outfits aren't the greatest and I wish she had more jewelry, but her beautiful face got her this rank. I love her makeup and how much personality it gives her. She's just lovely. 

#11: DARIA

Oh, the beauty. I adore this outfit so much. It was my favorite until the Shadow High pieces started coming. Normally, I wish for more brown eyes, but Daria is my favorite darker-skinned girl with light eyes in the line. I think they suit her better than brown would have. 

The thing that holds her back a bit is her odd hairstyle. Everything else I adore. 

#10: GEORGIA

Georgia was the most beautiful RH doll for me until Shadow High and then Series 4 came out. She is still completely glorious though. 

I'm not a huge fan of her clothing style but it works for her. Her hair, makeup, and color scheme are simply beautiful. 

Now if only they'd use her in the show! Georgia is easily the most underused character. We have barely seen her and it makes me mad. 

#9: DELILAH

SO CUTE. I adore Delilah and I'm glad they finally have a character with glasses. I need to get a second one to have one without her glasses though. Her makeup, freckles and white lashes are to die for. And I am possibly the world's biggest sucker for gray eyes. 

#8: COCO

Honestly, Coco and Delilah are pretty much a tie. Both are stunning dolls held back by their clothes. I like their clothes and they suit them but they're not my favorite styles, which keeps the dolls from competing as strongly as the others coming up. 

Coco was my major surprise from Series 4. Jewel was, too, but I really didn't like Coco from her stock pics. However, in person, she's fab. I love her color scheme with the vibrant blue contrasting her gorgeous dark skin and then the beautiful coppery lip color with the brighter blue and white eye makeup. I also love her more amber eye color than a darker brown. Everything on her just really pops.

#7: VERONICA

I'm using a pic of Veronica without her gum to fully show off her adorable face. 

I love the twins so much but the competition was really insane up this high on the list and Veronica couldn't quite keep up. I imagined her one spot higher honestly, but the next girl edged her out a bit. Gah, she is lovely though. I need a second set of twins. This is how good these new series are. I never bought doubles before, though I did intend to get a second Emi, but now I have Coco doubles, Mila doubles, and I'm planning on getting another set of twins and another Delilah.

 

#6: MEENA

Yeah, I expected Veronica to beat Meena, but the reason I wanted to wait a bit after getting Series 4 was to get a better read on my love for all these girls. Meena has been a total eye-catching powerhouse on my Series 4 shelf and she deserves this high spot. She is perfection. 

I also am a humongous sucker for orange. It's my favorite color after black. Yes, yes, make your Halloween jokes. 

#5: EMI

Oh, Emi, I love you. Emi was the first RH to make it out into my living room and she's still here. She actually currently looks a little different from this picture. She stole Carmen's black lace gloves and Holly's purple gemstone earrings. Emi gets all the good stuff. 

I still think she has one of the best faces in the line. What kept her from being a smidge higher was her boots, which I don't 100% love, and the fact that she had to be given a bunch of different pieces to reach her potential. 

#4: HEATHER

Heatherrrrrrrrrrr. I love her funky hair and her exaggerated makeup. Love this throwback to Bratz outfit. Love her personality description from the website. What I don't really love is her personality from the show. I haven't seen anything of the horror-loving, SFX makeup guru that loves darker things. I do like her wacky side, like laughing with the twins, but I have yet to be really impressed by her portrayal and that can affect my opinion of a doll. That and these next three are simply perfect. 

#3: MILA

I am absolutely in love with Mila right now. Hands down my favorite of Series 4. Both of her outfits are perfection. I love her hair rings. Is there a name for those? Love them so much. I love her makeup. I just almost have no words for how special she is. 

#2: SHANI

Everything about Shani Onyx is flawless. She's right to have the attitude she does in the show. This doll is SO STUNNING. I completely undervalued her from the stock photos, but in person you can see how amazing her makeup is. You cannot take a bad photo of her. She is easily the most photogenic of all my RH dolls. 

Seriously, I took this with junk lighting in a hurry after I gave her Luna's bracelets and she looks PERFECT. 

I think she's the most beautiful RH/SH doll of all. 

So who beat the most beautiful? 

#1: NAOMI

The most perfect for me, that's who. I frickin' LOVE Naomi on the show. She's hilarious. Combine that with her badass outfit, her oil slick fur jacket, that gorgeous hair and her perfect makeup, and you have my #1 girl. She is dripping with attitude and confidence. I love her so much and can't wait to see what the Storm twins get up to next. Also can't wait to get another Naomi and Veronica to get them into some of Ainsley's outfit pieces, which are spectacular. 

MONTH IN REVIEW: May 2022

I only have a handful of bears for May's Month in Review (that I thought I did but no, I was wrong). 

This is Runes, a mohair dragon. I have Charms, who's lavender, and Harley, a dark pink jester bear, on layaway. All my damn 2022 mohair arrived at almost the same time. I was not thrilled. I actually prefer Charms but because she came with Harley, they ended up on the layaway, while Runes I did a Paypal Pay in 4 for and got him right away. 

He's very cute but he's one I may sell eventually.

Big boy Graham! I sold a couple other large bears to justify ordering this guy. I only let myself have so many big ones. 

He's worth it. Gorgeous. 

Michaela was an unexpected want but I love her. 

I have two Zachs now! The one on the right is the one I impatiently ordered from Australia. The one on the left is the one I chose from my stockist. Both are beautiful in different ways but I keep the left one on my bed so he gets more attention. 

I love this little leonine bear. So sweet. 

I was planning to use my rewards points on one of two other bears but I fell for this particular Shirley, who is just a little grump face. 

I was very surprised when I got her and she was peach! She photographed peach for me, but in all other photos I've seen, including the stock pic, she looks more cream-colored. I'm happy because the peach is better. And she's super soft.

And here is handsome Travis, another one whose stock photo didn't do him a bit of justice.

Travis arrived on May 30th, so he just hit the cutoff for this post, but I was surprised to see on my Flickr that I haven't added anything since him. (I need to update with links to my reviews here.) As I use these Month in Reviews to highlight things I don't review, I actually don't have anything for June. I do have a bear arriving tomorrow and another should make it before the end of the month. I may just post the two for June or I may roll June into July later on. We'll see.  

REVIEW: Hasbro's Zombies 3 Willa

I got my Zombies 3 Willa doll from Amazon today. 

Firstly, I'm not sure if this is an Amazon thing, but they might not want to cover the dolls up if they're on store shelves. I don't like fully-enclosed packaging. 

On her box liner. 

Already I am not impressed. 

Her hair is a fun texture but it does get scraggly. I had to trim some longer pieces. 

Cool arm designs. 

I like her moonstone necklace and armband. 

With the Mattel doll. I really wish Mattel was still doing these. They were better at giving us more characters and more quality. 

Why did Hasbro make her head so big? Argh. 

Think the hands look familiar? That's because the entire body is just the old Descendants body. 

I don't hate this Willa but she's obviously quite inferior to the Mattel version. I cancelled my order of A-Spen, though I might grab them and Addison eventually. I might wait to watch the movie first. One thing I can say for sure is that I do not see $22.99 here. Not at all. Sorry, Willa!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

NEWS: Monster High Movie

Nickelodeon and Monster High released some character posters today for the upcoming movie.

I'm starting with my favorite. I love the casting for Frankie and she looks perfect. There's not a thing here I don't love. 

(Gods, whatever y'all do, do not read the comments on the actors posts of their pictures. People are such assholes to them. It's really unbelievable what comes out of the mouths of spoiled brats. Including some complete waste telling Ceci his hair was too short. Uh, Frankie has white hair. Was there ever a time a wig wasn't going to be involved? No. Dick.) 

Going to the other two mains next. 

Clawdeen is looking very Clawdeen-like. Approve.

Laura looks fangtastic, as it says, but I HATE the witchcraft obsession. The ghouls all have their own abilities. They don't need magic. This isn't Charmed or Sabrina or Winx. It's Monster High. Their own abilities should be plenty. 

I AM IN LOVE.

I'm not sure why, when they did colors for Frankie and Laura, Lagoona's blue got left out, but also I don't care. She looks FINTASTIC. 

THOSE EARS. 

I hope there will be movie dolls because I NEED her.

I love her as much as Frankie. 

From excellence to failure. 

UGH. 

Cleo is a MUMMY. She needs to have at least one body part wrapped in bandages. The dress is not enough. 

The outfit design isn't bad but she needed a wrapped calf or forearm. 

 Also, casting non-Egyptians for Egyptians is always a pet peeve of mine. Egyptian actors exist. This is not Cleo. 

I feel like they watched too much Riverdale. 

He's okay. Not great. not awful. Just there.

This I like. 

Bloodgood looks good. 

And this random dude is okay. 

Annoyed he got a poster and we're missing Abbey and Ghoulia though. 

Is this movie going to be fabulous? No. They've clearly taken notes from Descendants and Zombies, which isn't exactly MH. But is it going to be goofy fun? Sure. I think so. 

NEWS: Rainbow/Shadow High's Rainbow Vision

The official RH and SH accounts on Instagram posted photos of their contestants today. We know there will be three bands involved. The third one is the K-Pop group with Tiara Song, who was in the last episode of the show. It was thought they were the RH group but now it seems the disco group might be? We'll see.

Anyway, I'm starting with the best. Neon Shadow is representing Shadow High. We met Harley, the green one, last episode. 

Harley is the best one here for me. Her makeup is better than the other two and I love neon green and black together. Her lip color is gorgeous as is the heterochromia. I love her outfit except for the cheap-looking cat ears and maybe the earrings. I can't see them. I hope I can get those ears off without ruining her braids. 

The pink one is my second favorite, mostly because of the very crimped hair that had better look this way in the package and because I like her eyeshadow. The outfit is cool but basic compared to Harley's. That hat though. That is one of the ugliest things I've ever seen on a doll. Ew. I wish she was orange or yellow instead. Actually yeah, I wish the colors were green, orange and yellow. Pink and blue are a bit overdone. (I say "a bit" with great, great sarcasm.)

The blue one is my least fave but I do like her a lot. I think she's better dressed than the pink except I prefer pink's boots. I wish the blue had  more interesting makeup. Why not a blue lip? Come on. Why are they so afraid of blue? It would have been on theme instead of her sticking out as the one whose lips don't match her skintone. 

That said, I'll be getting all three of these. Sold. 

Next up, we've got the Rainbow Divas. Speculation was the disco group was Pacific Coast, but these ladies have Rainbow right in their name, because apparently to be a band from Rainbow High, you have to pick that low-hanging name fruit. They were also shown on the RH Instagram with the hashtag Team Rainbow High, so how could they be PC?

We know the silver one on the left from the animation. I think people are calling her Aisha. I thought I heard Nyesha instead but I'm not exactly known for my keen hearing. This doll is what Robin Sterling should have been but I'm not sold on her. For $50, I'm going to be picky. I'm already regretting buying the slumber dolls at that price. I never do anything with them. I also hate this lazy sequined fabric with a passion. Don't they realize that spacing out sequins, which look cheap to begin with, makes things look even cheaper? And you know these are gonna be falling off. 

I feel the same way about the gold one. Should have had an afro, too. I do like the cut of her dress better than the silver and the lack of crazy feathers is better. 

Now better grab a seat...I like the pink one best. How rare is that? It's her coloring plus she has the best cut of dress. The structure on the top makes the fabric look less cheap. Plus, I do like rose gold. 

No picture of the K-Pop band, the Royal Three, yet. 

PHOTO CREDITS: Official Instagram accounts for Rainbow High and Shadow High.

Typical

Few things are as constant as adult doll collectors and their complete inability to both handle change and realize playline dolls are for children. 

Aurora World Fantasy Plush

 

Every now and then, I check plushie company websites to look for new product. Apparently, I haven't visited Aurora World in a while, because they had a lot I wanted!

First, there are four Mythical Creatures. These guys are SO CUTE. 

Agaric here is 9" tall. He's "Agaric the Shroom Fairy" officially. On the website, these all cost $17.79. I got them a little cheaper on Amazon via 3rd party seller with free shipping. 

Then we have Gribble the Goblin, a little bigger at 12." 

With the exception of Agaric, these also have smaller versions in the Palm Pets line. 

Flick the Pudwudgie is also 12". You can see the longer arms and legs on these two and bigger bodies. 

He's probably my favorite, though I love all four of them a lot. 

Last but not least is Moh the Ogre, who's 9" like Agaric. He's very pudgy and bigger around than any of the others. He has fur all over, unlike Flick, who just has it on his back. 

These smaller "Squishiverse" Halloween plush are 55" tall. There's also a purple and pink bat in the set but he wasn't on Amazon. These are all sold out on Aurora World except the zombie. They're listed at $12.59 but I paid less on Amazon, though the seller with the pumpkin and reaper had a shipping charge. Not much though.  

The one I call a reaper is listed as "Day of the Dead," but without the typical makeup, he looks more like a cute grim reaper to me. 

Adorable!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

Magic Mixies Mixlings CHEAT CODES

Got four of the new Magic Mixies Mixlings mini figure cauldrons today. I ordered them from Walmart and they cost $9.97 each. Each cauldron contains two figures.

These things were a pain to open. The perforations on the plastic suck, so I used a box opener to get that off. Then you take the cloud top off and take out the magic wand. There's a lavender pull tab on the back that you have to pull out and then you stick the wand over the designated spot and the lid covering the toys is supposed to pop back. It took some effort on all but one cauldron. 

I got four different pairs and there are codes printed on the bottom. I'll have a list of mine at the end of this post and then hopefully people will contribute more. 

These two are Dawne and Roshu. There are several types of Mixling, each with a different feature. Dawne is one of the winged set and you're supposed to push her wings down and then use the magic wand to pop them back out. It doesn't always work. Roshu is a glow in the dark spellcaster (I think). I haven't tried that feature yet. I'm happy with Roshu because he was one of the ones I wanted most. 

Then we have Geckler and Duska. Same powers as the two above. Duska and Dawna are the same mold. Each mold comes in two colors. 

Then we have Selina, another winged one, and Parlo, one of the color changers. I like their glassy look. I popped him in the freezer and...

He came out like this! And he's staying that way. I love that color change doesn't fade like it used to in my childhood. 

My last two are Lewink and Stayla. Stayla is another color change, though hers doesn't seem to be very even. It looks cool though. Lewink is a morphing one. His neck extends if you put the wand to his forehead. (Or yank on his head when you get impatient.)

Crappy photos of the checklist. I'm sure it's up on Moose's website. 

But there are a lot of these!

Seriously, A LOT. I think it said 40? 

They're really cute little fantasy figures. I think they're worth the $5 apiece, as long as there isn't the risk of doubles. I'll definitely be looking for them in stores so I can buy the codes I don't have. The gimmicks don't always work but I don't buy stuff for the gimmicks. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.

CHEAT CODES:

I have a new page for these that's organized by character. I think that's more helpful. So that is the page I'll be updating. 

https://venivididolli.blogspot.com/2022/08/magic-mixies-mixlings-cheat-codes-part-2.html