REVIEW: Mermaze Mermaidz Riviera

I said I would not do this, but I fully admit that I am weak in the face of media sometimes. I got hooked on LOL OMGs for a short time because I was watching the show on Youtube. I watched Mermaze earlier and knew I needed to get Riviera. I love her voice. That's the type of voice I wanted for Shadow High Heather. Sigh. And I really loved her expressions in the episode. 

So here we are. At full price, too. Ugh. I'm not proud. 

This doll was tied down with more plastic crap than a lot of ones I've opened recently. It wasn't fun. 

Remember how disappointed I was that her hair was so much longer than the promo photo? 

I took care of that right away. 

Her hair really was a mess. The bottom was all uneven and scraggly. It looked too thin. It fluffs out more now that it weighs less. 

Guitar. I won't be putting that on her. The idea of it underwater is still ridiculous. 

Jacket. Belt. Earrings. Necklaces. 

I also yanked a lot of the bands out of her hair. Now the only one left is holding the main ponytail at the top. Purpl curls were poking out in between the black braids and it was so sloppy out of the box. 

I had eight to pick from and only two had eye wonk. They improved on that, at least with her. 

A lot of them didn't have matching eye corners. Her inner eye corners have tiny black lines and a lot of the dolls had them only on one side. But I didn't aim for that. I'm not that picky. What caught my eye on her is that her blue makeup was more dominant. Not that it photographs that way but it is.

With the belt. 

I don't hate the belt at all. I just like her stomach and the belt feels too fussy without the jacket. 

That's better. But the jacket is so stiff! I like the colors and the spikes on the sleeves, but this thing is lumpy and utterly unyielding. 

The silver necklace doesn't look bad but the darker metal one just sticks straight out and looks stupid. 

Okay, back to basics. 

She stands on her tail but it's definitely a matter of finding just the right balance. I can't imagine her doing it well with her original giant mass of hair. 

There's a torso joint, which is nice. Helps with the balancing. 

I like the earrings. 

Both different. 

Oh, I took the darker metal necklace and stuck it under her shirt so it's visible through the cutout. 

Mine's head really likes to tip to one side. 

I like the one black glove. It's cute. 

She really is pretty. 

So final thoughts:

-Makeup is great. Face is really pretty. I wish they didn't all have the same face though and definitely watch for eye wonk. 

-Hair is decent quality but was horrible when it was overly long and uneven. Way better shorter like this. Also not impressed by how sloppily it was styled in the box. She sheds quite a bit and I'm going to give her a condition to clean some of that up, then even out my cut.

-Jacket was a nice idea but poor execution. It needed a way more flexible fabric. You already can't bend her tail so putting her in a jacket where she can't bend her arms wasn't the best idea. Belt is nicely constructed. Just doesn't look right without the jacket. Shirt is great fabric but the AC/DC puns are so overdone and there are so many other bands out there that would be better. 

-Jewelry was decent. I like the colors for everything. I wish they'd stop overusing safety pins for the "edgy" characters though. Try something new, MGAE. I would have preferred a bracelet for her bare right wrist over one of the two necklaces though. Although Shadow High Luna does look cute in the safety pin silver necklace. 

-Poseability on the arms is fine. Hands come off easily for putting that jacket on, though the sleeves are so stiff, you have to work to make the wrist visible enough to see where to poke the hand peg back in. The torso joint definitely helps with making them stand on their own. But for the price we're paying, they need to do something about these static tails. At least ball joint the waist so they can sit, even if it is with the tail sticking straight out. 

-Color change? What color change? Mine didn't work. 

I stand by all my previous points in older posts. These dolls are not worth their price tag. Riviera is really cool. I love her and I'm glad I got her, but that doesn't mean I'll say I see the value here. I overpaid for her because I like her. They need to make the tails better or lower the price tags. And I'd love to see some more facemolds. I'd REALLY love to see some more BODY types but that seems beyond what MGAE is capable of.