NEWS: Rainbow High/Shadow High

More new promo photos for RH/SH items have been found. Thought I'd do my opinions on them. 

Starting with Shadow High, of course. 

PINKIE JAMES: Let's take a moment to let that name sink in. Pinkie. Pinkie is fine for a pony, but for a Shadow High character? A lot of their names have been color-based, but the thing that made them work is that for the most part, they're actual names. Ruby, Poppy, Sunny, Jade, Skyler, Violet. You know exactly what color they are and these are all functional names. Skimming a list of the current characters, there are none that don't work as a name. Until now. Pinkie. That's a PONY. They really couldn't come up with a single thing better than Pinkie? James is fine as a surname, but Pinkie?!! MGAE, I've got some free time. Give me an email if you need someone to come up with doll names for you. You can pay me in dolls. As for the doll herself, she's easily the weakest link of this line. Her hair is fantastic and her boots are interesting, but that's it. She looks too much like Mara from Neon Shadow only with different hair and a crappy outfit. That top is terribly cut, the sleeves look horrible, and the skirt needed to be spectacular to save it, instead of being merely acceptable. The gaming accessories are cute and a nice change. I'm hoping she's a game designer. But her good points aren't enough to make me want the doll. From the blurry photo we had first, I thought I'd probably get her because her hair is cool, but I just can't. Well, not at full price anyway. Seriously though, Pinkie?!!!

SCARLET ROSE: Now that is how you name a doll. Color reference not once but twice? And both names are believable? Yup. Scarlet is the standout for me in this line. Lavender is the best designed, but Scarlet is going to be up there with Naomi, Shani and Moni for me in my top SH dolls. I adore burgundy. That's one of the reasons I love Mila so much and Scarlet is going to look great standing beside her. Scarlet's hair and makeup are perfection. I'm not a big fan of hoop earrings, but is that barbed wire? That'll work for me. Though they missed an opportunity to make the hoops roses with thorny stems that curl into hoops. I've read some bitching about her clothes and it just blows my mind for many reasons. First, just let people be comfortable, FFS. There is nothing wrong with a girl wearing a hoodie and pants. They're cute pants, too, not like dumpy gym class sweatpants or something. Second, RH is not a fashion school. It is an ARTS school. Not everyone who attends there needs to look like they walk the runway at 9am every day. And maybe not everyone can afford it. Acting like these teenage dolls need to be strutting around in super high heels and skimpy outfits constantly when they are in school is a really problematic attitude. Third, fashion doesn't only mean high fashion. People have different styles and it's fine for fashion dolls to dress comfortably and realistically. I've seen similar complaints about Iris from MH and even Abbey. This mindset that girls can't wear larger shirts and long pants is just...UGH. It bothers me a lot. Scarlet looks totally fine. She's clearly a writer and she's got her coffee (with her name on it), her journal and pencil, and a couple books. She's settling in for several hours of writing time and she looks like she's going to be comfortable while doing it. And there's not a damn thing wrong with that. I'm thrilled by her accessories. As a writer myself, it's always nice to see another added to the dozens of fashion designers and musicians. I'm so happy she has books! I want to know her backstory. Is she simply a fan of Storywood or is she the author? Is she writing fanfic? One of the books looks like it says "A Storywood _____" on the cover. I love that she's wearing a fangirl shirt and not yet another overly branded RH/SH piece. There's so much for me to love here. I really hope we see these before October!

Moving on to the trio of new body RH girls. 

LILAC LANE: Is that her name or her address? Lilac is actually a cute name, but we just had Lila not long ago, so it's still pretty weak. I actually like this girl. She's tall. She's into science. I love the accessories. I wasn't sold on her before, but I'll get her. 

BLU BROOKS: Why couldn't she just be River's little sister? Blu is adorable. Both versions of her. She looks pretty different in the box and out of the box. I think the ridiculous nails are gone in the box and I'm hoping they stay that way. You can't skateboard with those nails. Like, come on. If she comes with them, I'll just say she got them while she's stuck in her cast and can't skateboard. It's honestly the cast that sells me on her. It's such a random yet endearing detail on this teeny tiny shorty doll. She's pretty, but her clothes and accessories are blah, so it's her height, face and the cast that managed to win me over. 

PINKLY PAIGE: I cannot decide if this is worse than Pinkie James. Pinkly? Like she's an adverb? But how in the hell did MGAE greenlight two lines coming out so close together with two characters named so similarly AND BADLY? I think Pinkly is the worse of the first names, but I don't hate how Pinkly Paige sounds together. Sadly, the doll herself is about as bad as her name. Something is going wrong with her makeup, though she does look better in the boxed pic. The dog is...freakish. What is that body? And someone said she's supposed to be curvy? Where? Her calves look a little bigger, but they hid the rest of her under that mess of a dress. If you're going to have a curvy character, it has to be obvious, not slightly wider hips or something that's easily hidden under a giant bow and ruffles. RHs are pear-shaped to begin with, so she needed to be curvy all over. She also looks way more peach than pink to me. Everything about poor Pinkly is a miss.