Upcoming Releases Rambling Part 2

Two major lines got updates yesterday, so let's talk about those pics. 

I'll start with Monster High, because it's easier. 

There are five dolls in the upcoming core refresh. It is yet again the same damn characters. This line hasn't been out that long, but I honestly have more than enough of all these characters. Except Cleo. I can never have enough Cleo, and yes indeed I recognize that is a personal bias. 

Other characters should have been here. 

Toralei: Though she does have a lot of dolls, none are a core refresh.

Twyla: Same reason. 

Abbey: Ditto, though she has fewer dolls. 

GHOULIA: Big time in need of a new doll. 

Purrsephone and Meowlody: Make them more accessible. I'd swap out Toralei if it meant these two could have new dolls that looked more like their show selves. 

Or hey, do an all-were line of core refresh Toralei, the twins and Catty, and then toss in a signature Howleen.   

I would have put Venus there, but I can't imagine anything beating her newer releases, so yeah. Spectra is vastly in need of something, but not a core refresh yet.  

Anyway. That complaining aside, let's look at the dolls. 

DRACULAURA: I wrote her off at first as cute but don't need, but she has grown on me a lot. I love the hair, the dress is cute, and I like the idea of the legwarmers, though they needed to be black. I hate the sweater/sleeves thingy. No doll needs ten damn bows on her. That'll come off. I'll likely get her. 

FRANKIE: Nah. While I do love the crimped hair and the outfit is very cute, I simply do not need yet another Frankie doll. If they'd had less boring makeup and a leg that actually matched something, I'd consider them more. 

CLAWDEEN: No. The doll is pretty, and the jacket and top are cute, but I'm sick of them trying to make her more like G1 and less like the show character I loved. STOP TAKING AWAY HER GLASSES. SHE NEEDS THEM TO SEE. If they'd given her simple jeans with sneakers or some sort of flat shoe, I might have been sold. Everything from the waist down here is terrible. And those earrings are hideous. It's pretty sad that the best thing is that croissant. I hate that they made her such an important, fun character and then barely produced any dolls that represented that character. 

LAGOONA: The doll herself isn't the worst and the black top is fine. Those sleeves are one of the ugliest things to come out of this entire G3 line. Absolutely hideous. That skirt has got to go. Lagoona is like Clawdeen for me. They keep ignoring her show self in the dolls. Do you know how Lagoona travels around the school? Via water. Would she wear anything to constrict her leg movement? No. I have the same problem with this mostly hobble skirt that I did with Core 2.0's long pants. They conflict with her movement. Now I'd be fine with her changing into an outfit like this above ground, but "core" to me means that it's an outfit that would have been seen on the character a lot had the show had enough budget to add more outfits. I'm well aware this is a moot point, because the show is sadly over, but it's not something I can get over easily. Show accuracy is always gonna be a hill I die on. 

CLEO: Oh, thank the gods. I have never really been into Cleo with pink makeup, but she makes it work here, and a lot of that is the sheer awesomeness of this outfit. WE FINALLY GOT PANTS, Y'ALL. FINALLY. Her top is great. I like everything here except the excess of kinda basic gold bracelets. They're not bad, but they've done better. Her hair is pretty. I want her now. 

And now we'll move on to even more complaining about show accuracy. 

AKA: The new TLS Jem dolls. 

First of all, TLS is utterly killing me with their prices. I feel lied to. Tricked. Deceived. Etc. They came on the scene with all their cool nostalgia products and they were incredibly affordable. Their biggest problem was how damn slow they put stuff out. (WHERE ARE INDIGO AND LALA?!!) Well, that's over. Now they're throwing product at us left and right and all of it is massively overpriced. 

We're not even going to talk about the SDCC bull. That's just slapping an "exclusive" name on a product as an excuse to make us overpay. 

So instead of Glitter 'n' Gold Jem and Pizzazz being the next releases, as teased at shows, they went with GnG and the rest of the Holograms. No Pizzazz. I am pretty livid about that, because she looks better than anything they've just given us. Now we're going to have to wait even longer for the Misfits, and screw that. Their songs are better.

GnG JEM: GnG has a price tag of $55, which is $30 more than the original Jem. That Jem is up to $30 now, but $25 more is still a lot. GnG looks quite good and she does come with a lot. Pretty sure it was on par with what regular Jem came with. I'm not okay with the price, but I am okay with the doll. 

I'm aware the Holograms are still prototypes. Really hoping they'll improve. Gonna nitpick anyway. I am definitely furious though that these cost $45.

KIMBER: Kimber's outfit looks good. They pretty much nailed it, though I do wonder if she'll have the socks or not. One photo does, one does not. Her hair is her biggest flaw. It's too red. Kimber on the show did not have Ariel red hair. Kimber the vintage doll did not have Ariel red hair. It needs to be more pink in tone. It also completely lacks any sort of 80s style and it seems like she's got too big a forehead. Hoping the forehead at least will be fixed on the final doll. Her makeup looks good. Overall, she's not awful. Just not quite right. 

AJA: I hated Aja from the first pic we saw, but now she's actually my favorite of the new release. Her face is super cute and the makeup looks great. My biggest complaint with her is, again, the hair. They left out an entire layer, so it looks way too thin and inaccurate. I also wish her top wasn't so close in color to the skirt. 

SHANA: I may get hate for this, but she's too dark. If you look at the show and vintage doll, even the Integrity dolls, her hair and skintone are supposed to be lighter. I'm all for darker skin, but not when a character is already established in almost every other media as a different tone. There was nothing wrong with Shana's skin that needed changing. Same with her hair. It's not that dark purple. It's much lighter. The version of Shana that she resembles is the one from the modern comic book. I loved that Shana, but it was established there that everyone had updated looks. They were drastically different from the original. This line is based ON the original. Everyone else looks more like the original. So why change her? In every single other way, she looks amazing, so it's disappointing to me that the doll herself looks so unlike the cartoon. That makeup though. Superb. I think I'm just going to pretend she's comic book Shana cosplaying. 

So yeah, there you have it. I definitely want Cleo 3.0 and Aja in my hands right now, but it'll likely be quite the wait before I get either.

REVIEW: Bratz Fashion Pixiez SASHA

I have been stalking Amazon for this line and the only one I've managed to order has been Sasha. I don't know what MGAE is doing. She also had an elevated price for...no reason? I dunno. She was worth it though. 

I only have one other doll with this newer Bratz body type, and I didn't love it on her, but the whole spindly thing works well for pixies. 

I love her makeup. Love the makeup designs for the entire line. 

Love the top!

The pants are gorgeous. 

The purse is spectacular. Adore that shape. 

Earrings are cute. Love the bracelet. 

The wings are my least favorite thing. They're a very odd shape. I give them credit for being unique, but they feel like they belong underwater rather than in a fairy line. 

 

These are my new favorite Bratz heels ever. Probably not fave boots, but definitely fave heels. 

The detailing!

Yeah, she is amazing from head to toe. Excellent quality. Lovely color scheme. Gorgeous face and clothes. She's basically perfect. The wings are growing on me. I think they're really going to look good on Lina with her darker vibe. Sasha was my third most wanted from this line after Lina and Jade, and she does not disappoint. 

Now come on, Amazon, put up the others so I can order!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

BEARRIVAL

 

Well, I did it again. I let months go by without a Charlie Bears update. Ah, well. Let's catch up!

Earth Elf is so tiny and cute. And surprisingly soft. 

My last one featured the first three of the Bearhouse dragons that I got. This is Spades, the fourth one. 

Those teeth. 

Pathfinder is a thylacine/Tasmanian tiger. He looks quite a bit more like a dingo. I think they could have tried harder here. He's still very cute, but I love thylacines and would love a better plush of one. 

Ramble is really cute, but I don't think I've tried to cuddle him yet and I've had him since April. I do love his horns though. He's a Pyrenean ibex. 

YETI!

He is HUGE. Definitely my biggest CB character, though I used to have one even bigger. He stands nicely in his spot in my room, which tempts me to get one of the 30" ones I really want. I can't afford one right now, which is the only thing holding me back. 

So the ones above were all April arrivals. The rest are all June. We've had nothing in July, but a huge shipment is impending, so I'll have four newbies throughout August. 

This is Miss Johnson, but I absolutely got her because her colors remind me of Pizzazz. Therefore, this is actually Miss Gabor. 

Water Elf goes along with Earth Elf, only he's a little bigger. 

Super super soft!

Sofia is gorgeous. She was one of those surprise exclusive specials that we didn't know about, but I had to get her. There's something elegant and eldergothy about her. 

I had been wanting this grump for probably a year or so. I'm grateful he waited for me! He's just amazing in person. This is Heartwood. 

There's a kid-friendly CB line called Bear & Me. They're basically made to compete with Jellycats, in my opinion. Similar structure. 

Well, they made a Nessie and I had to get her. She's got six legs just like the big one. 

Stepping Stones is my big win of the year. He's a $231 bear. Quite large at 22.5" and made of lush materials. 

I paid...

Wait for it.

...$69.

Someone made a little pricing error during their big sale and I got lucky and ordered him before they fixed it. 

These next five are my most recent buys. 

The dragons were first Bearhouse line of the year. The second? GARGOYLES. 

You know I needed them all.

This brown guy with the hair tuft is Bartizan. He's one of my two faves. 

Drawbridge here is the second of my faves. 

Gorgeous blue and I love the horns. 

Spires is the third of the larger 10" gargoyle size. 

Then in the 8" size, we have Moat, who's the most typical gargoyle style of the five. 

And finally, Porticullis in her bright purple. 

That's it for my most recent arrivals. This month, I'll be adding two new dragons, including my most wanted of the year, and two wonderlandiful characters. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

PRETTY LITTLE PUPS UPGRADES

It's one of those can't sleep kinda nights, so let's do some random posting. 

Today, I got a lot of five Pretty Little Pups in the mail. I have the full set, but some of mine aren't exactly perfect, so when I see them for good prices, I grab upgrades. So let's take a look at my collection in alphabetical order. 

This is Alphie. My childhood one is on the right. Those bows really did not hold up well to being constantly played with and enduring moves. For context, we moved a lot when I was a kid, and my small toys like these were basically crammed into two giant cardboard boxes. They got banged around a lot. 

The upgrade I just got is on the left. Bow intact, even the fabric tail bow. Looking good! 

BOBO! Bobo is my adulthood favorite. She was my most wanted of the handful I still needed up until I got her a few years ago. That one is on the right. She has a weird condition where her paint is very unstable. Like it rubbed off in places after I washed her with soap when I got her. (I usually give my plastic vintage toys a scrub upon arrival.) But I've never had one of these with the paint practically melting off. It's weird. So when I saw the lot I just received and saw the gorgeous Bobo on the right, I had to buy it. Yeah, fully admit that I bought them just for her, but $30 for five is a really good price, too. She's in amazing condition with both plastic and fabric bows. Love her!

Boomer on the left was the last one I got in childhood. She held up fairly well, but the upgrade has all her hair intact. 

Doxie on the right was very well-loved, as my childhood dog was a dachshund. She's still in pretty good shape though. The upgrade has all her hair and, interestingly, a slightly different shade of peach paint. 

Not in bad shape at all, but I need to find this girl with her plastic bow. 

I've probably mentioned before, as I've done several posts on this line, that Peppi was my childhood favorite. She got into a bunch of shenanigans. I loved poodles when I was a kid. 

Someday I'll find an upgrade of this girl. 

Puffy is the weird one of the line. I don't want to say she's my least fave, because I don't have one, but she kinda sticks out by being entirely pink. Most of the others have at least one natural color on them. Doxie I give a little leeway to, because her peach isn't that far off a natural red. I mean, okay, it kinda is, but it's closer to natural than pink. 

Puffy has fab hair though. I'll get an upgrade with the plastic bow someday, but I doubt I'll part with this one because those curls are awesome. 

I'm pretty sure Scotti was my first one. I loved black, even as a kid. I think Trixie and Doxie were next. 

She's due an upgrade for hair reasons, but this one is still super cute. 

I love Snowball, but I feel bad because they did not try hard enough on his eyes. 

Upgrade needed for plastic bow reasons. 

Oh, Spanky. I'm sorry about your stock name and for chopping all your hair off. She had fluffy hair like Snowball's. Someday I'll find an upgrade. 

Speckles on the left was the first I found as an adult collector. Speckles on the right I got recently, because she was an upgrade and she came with the backcard.

Oddly enough, the right one has no speckles!

And finally, Trixie. Upgrade on the left, childhood on the right. 

So I have six of them with good upgrades and six that still need them. The hunt is always on!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

REVIEW: AMERICAN GIRL + WEDNESDAY

I've been with American Girl since the beginning. I read all the books in the local library. I had the original Molly, Bennett, her Christmas dress, and Samantha's Christmas dress and nightgown (because I liked them more than Molly's...sorry, Mols). I got back into them in 2007 when I went to the American Girl Place store in New York. I've adopted loads of dolls and rehomed several, too. But I've gotten pretty picky now, mostly thanks to the fact that I don't have a ton of space. 

However, do you know what I have space for?

The first ever goth American Girl!

I doubt we'll ever see another goth. It's not exactly AG's thing. And this collab completely took me by surprise. Like did anyone see this coming? 

But as a fan of both AG and Wednesday, I had to have her. Good gods, she was expensive, but I had to have her. 

She comes with her piranhas from the first episode and, of course, Thing. 

Thing is an actual AG hand. I love that so much. 

She's perfect. So cute! 

I admit, I did not instantly hit add to cart on her. The price made me balk. I did say that if they'd made a new unsmiling mold, that would have gotten my money instantly. 

Yeah, Wednesday isn't known for smiling. 

But is this doll still cute and still her? Yes, she is. 

She came with a little hairnet to keep her bangs in place, but I had to do a trim on a few flyaways. 

Gah, love her. 

The dress is velvety. 

The necklace charm can flip from a W to an M (for Morticia). 

 

The nails!

The shoes!

Right now, she's hanging out on the back of the couch. We're going to keep watching The Prophecy movie series together and then we night rewatch Wednesday Season 1. It's almost time for Season 2!

Unexpected, Mattel, but well-played.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.  

REVIEW: Monster High Fearbook VENUS & ABBEY

I ordered the new Fearbook pair from Target. 

This line continues to impress. I'd say Fearbook is the best line G3 does. The dolls are always very nicely-detailed and designed. 

Venus comes with a lot of gardening accessories. 

I don't love her jacket, so you won't see it on her. It's a bit plain. 

And while I do love the plant tray, those things fall out if you look at them wrong, so they went right into her storage coffin. 

Mattel did almost the right thing for her hair. They put it in a hairnet! I want to say she's the first MH to ever have a hairnet. Buuuuut they counteracted that a bit by stapling the net to her head with those stupid plastic tabs. They did the same with her sunglasses. So getting those out poses a risk to snagging her hair. I managed to do it safely and I'm thrilled with how her hair looks. 

Ugh, she is GORGEOUS. 

Venus has never been my favorite MH character. That's fallen to Cleo, Toralei, Abbey and Twyla. But in G3, Venus is the queen. She only has three dolls, but every single one is essentially perfection. (We do not speak of the pet disaster.)

I love this outfit so much. 

The gloves were a cute idea. My only wish is that they weren't randomly bright blue. Why not pink or red to match her overalls? Even orange would have gone better. These just stand out and make me not want to use them. 

These are perfect. Gah, I love them. 

So yeah, three nitpicks: 

-Please come up with a better way to package these dolls so their hair stops getting snagged. 

-Plants should have been more stable. I'm afraid to even display the tray. 

-Gloves should have matched her outfit. 

Aside from that, she's perfection. The doll herself is utter perfection. 

Abbey got the nicer jacket by far. 

She does have four crayons. They're in the cardboard box. I LOVE that kind of detail. Kid me would have super loved it. 

Oh, chainsaw. Nostalgia. 

Everything is cute, but other people have photographed it already, so I'm only showing what I like best. 

And she's adorable. 

Like Venus, my major complaint is how they packaged her. The stapled on sunglasses snagged her hair. You can see the loose strand on her right side especially. But removing them snagged both her bangs, which are held down underneath, and her ponytail, held at the top. One accessory removal messed up her entire hairdo. 

Much better in the jacket than the little sweater. And no apron blocking the skirt pattern. 

She's not my favorite Abbey. I do prefer the first two. I'm not sure what exactly it is about her face that seems a little off. Maybe it's that there's no hair blocking her ears? I love her ears though. 

I love the colors of her hair. 

Really love the jacket. 

LOVE. 

I also love her face more here. What's wrong with me? No idea. 

Classic Abbey chainsaw! I'm so glad they kept this idea from the original Art Class line. 

Yeah, she's definitely growing on me every minute. 

Fearbook is the best line. Don't care what anyone says. To me, it is. 

I'd love to see Spectra and Jinafire get dolls. Maybe this would be the place for Ghoulia to return, too. Who do you want to see in the Fearbook next?

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.