Monday, December 24, 2012

Bratzillaz Update: Midnight Beach "Meygana Broomstix"

After my Yasmina Clairvoya review,  I figured that I would never buy another Bratzillaz.  There were just too many disappointments with that doll.  However, when I was at Walmart the other day, I noticed a new line of Bratzillaz called the "Midnight Beach" collection, and my curiosity got the best of me.  First and foremost, I wanted to know if they had fixed the hair with the new Meygana.  Remember how terrible the first Meygana's hair was?  This Meygana's hair is different:

Midnight Beach Meygana, $19.99.
I was also drawn to these newcomers by a kind of fascinated horror at the sheer surface area of greenish glow-in-the-dark skin that is showing on these dolls.  They're all dressed in skimpy beach clothing and the color of their skin is a pale lime-tinged tone that makes the bare skin all the more noticeable.   Meygana is the least bare of the six available dolls and Cloetta is the worst.


The back of the box has some pictures of Meygana and Wingzy and some tiny shots of the rest of the dolls in this new collection:


There's not a lot of diversity in the outfits of this bunch.  In fact, I had a hard time keeping track of which dolls I had taken down from the shelf to inspect and which ones I hadn't.  Meygana stands out a bit because of her bright orange hair and blue outfit, and the new girl, Finanna, seems distinct because of her blue hair and cute mermaid outfit:


My store didn't have Fianna in stock or I would have bought her.  She's pretty cute in the picture and I like her seahorse pet (the pets are sold separately):


Here are Sashabella and Yasmina.  They're ok, but nothing that really grabbed my attention:


You can't really appreciate the day-glo nature of Cloetta's appearance in this tiny photo.  It was really kind of shocking to see so much strangely colored doll skin.


The portrait of Meygana on the back of the box is lovely.  She has red hair, unlike the grey hair on the first wave box pictures, and I think it looks fantastic:


The actual doll is more vibrantly colored than the graphic version, and her features are not as detailed.  And, of course, she has greenish white glowing skin:


You glow in the daytime, too, sweetie.
I have to say something about the packaging.  I absolutely hate most MGA packaging.  Yasmina and my first Meygana had awful, irritating boxes.  This box, however, is a dramatic improvement.  The plastic front pulls right off the cardboard back, and then the doll is held in place by I think only two (TWO!) plastic ties, some red thread, and a few of the clear, stretchy rubber bands.  Even though there are several molded plastic braces to keep the doll in position, it is very easy to extract the limbs from these areas:


The only slightly frustrating part of the packaging is this plastic cast that Meygana has on her left arm to keep her sunglasses in place:


This contraption was anchored to her skirt with a plastic tie, and even though I didn't pull or tug on this area at all, the plastic tie snagged the skirt really badly:


The sunglasses are cool. They're horn rimmed and have little molded rivets along the sides that are reminiscent of the flight goggles that the original Meygana came with:


Here she is removed from the box.  I like the mix of orange, blue and gold on this doll.  It is very cheerful and lively:


Meygana has a bright blue removable witch hat, but in this color, with that cross-hatch pattern, it looks more like a party hat:

Where's the party?
One of the best features of the first wave Meygana were her sparkling sapphire eyes.  This doll's eyes are slightly different, but still wonderfully detailed.  They are a striking shade of royal blue:


The irises have branching white swirls and glittery sparkles.  The eye makeup is similar to the first wave doll, with two shades of blue eyeliner, brown arched eyebrows and heavily painted eyelashes.  
  

The differences are that the new doll has darker eyebrows, less of an opalescent sheen to her eyeshadow, and slightly different shades of blue in that eyeshadow.  Also, sadly, the new doll does not have side-glancing eyes.  I think the original Meygaga's eyes look so much more alive than the new version.  Perhaps it is the green skin on the newer doll, or maybe it's just that the new Meygana isn't glancing coyly off to one side.  Below, the older Meygana's eye is on the left:


I prefer the first wave doll's eyes and eye makeup, but the new Meygana's eyes are still very cool.  

The lips on the Midnight Beach Meygana are not quite as dramatic as the original.  They are a lighter shade of burgundy, and they don't have the same high gloss shine.  Also, the edges of the lips don't seem as carefully painted on the new doll.  Again, the older Meygana is on the left:


Also, in the pictures above, is it just me, or does the pale green vinyl make the newer Meygana's nose practically disappear?

Meygana's hair is really flat in the back.  The flat hair combined with her barely-there nose gives her a very boxy profile right out of the package:

Butte head.
The braids are thick and short and somewhat sloppy in their execution:


The flattened hair in the back reveals part of the orange colored scalp:



Meygana is wearing a gold tankini with a sheer blue wrap.  She has gold hoop earrings that match her bathing suit.  These are much nicer earrings than the flimsy plastic ones that came with the first Meygana.



The wrap fastens in the front with a small square of velcro.  It has a nice yellow and red star print and the edges are finished with gold stitching.  



The wrap can be worn as a cape, too:



Here's the swimsuit without the wrap:


The gold fabric is soft and stretchy and I think it looks really good on Meygana.  The only problem is that because the fabric is stretchy, it pulls tight across her hip joints and makes them a bit too obvious:

That's a little awkward.

Meygana is wearing blue espadrille sandals with chunky yellow heals:


The heels have a molded pattern that looks like a woven jute wedge:


This is a simple outfit, but it is cute and well put-together.  


I released Meygana's hair from those short braids to get a better look at the quality.  The hair feels significantly better than the first wave hair.  It is straight and smooth and a little more orange than my other Meygana's hair.  It is also much softer than the original Yasmina's straight purple hair.


It's a little messy from being tied in braids, but that should be easy to fix.



Before I fixed Meygana's hair, I quickly confirmed that she does, indeed, glow in the dark:


The glow is really bright when she first comes out from under a light, but it fades pretty quickly.  Here's a shot that was taken less than a minute after the first one:

I'm fading!  I'm fading!
The glowing feature is a cute gimmick, but I'm not sure it's worth the price of the strange greenish vinyl.  

I dipped Meygana's hair in a cup of boiling water (for about 10 seconds) and all of the crimps and kinks came out immediately:


I think she looks really nice with wet hair, so I snapped a few pictures while I was waiting for it to dry:






The hair dried beautifully.  My hat is off to MGA for listening to the complaints about this doll's hair and actually doing something to fix it.  



The rooting is a little thin, but I don't notice it at all during regular play.  You could style this doll's hair in several different ways and have no trouble whatsoever with any bald patches.


Here's a comparison shot of my two Meygana dolls together.  Despite all of my efforts to fix the first Meygana's hair, it is still very coarse and frizzy.   I prefer the color of the original Meygana's hair, but in terms of quality and feel, there's no comparison.  The second doll is much better.  


I like the skin tone and face paint of the first doll much better.  The glow in the dark feature of the Midnight Beach doll is fun, but the greenish vinyl is not very attractive.   It takes away from the vibrant colors of her other features and makes her look a little ill.

You're looking a little green, there, sister.
The newer Meygana has pink painted underpants and also has her tattoo on the opposite arm.  Other than those details (and the obvious difference in vinyl color) the two dolls have the same exact body (the new Meygana still has those wobbly bendy lower legs).


The legs demonstrate the difference in vinyl color really well:

And I thought the first Meygana was extremely pale...
Here's the new Meygana in the original Meygana's outfit:


She is very fun to photograph, but her glowing vinyl makes the colors in the picture look a little off--as if something is wrong with the color balance:




Even though I like the flight goggles that came with the first Meygana, I think that the Midnight Beach glasses are a much more fashionable interpretation of this look:







Bottom line? The new doll has better packaging and better hair, but has lost a little something with the greenish glow-in-the-dark vinyl and less dramatic face paint.  I think all of the Bratzillaz have a strange, flattened face mold, and something about the green-tinged vinyl of the Midnight Beach dolls makes this even more obvious.  The newer Meygana looks almost like an alien to me.  Also, the newer dolls seem more basic (no stand, fewer accessories, simpler outfits) and yet the price has remained the same.  I think I said earlier that I'd gladly trade the accessories for nicer hair, though, so I won't complain about the price.  All in all, the biggest difference is in the hair, and the improvement is so dramatic that it gives me a bit of hope for this line. If MGA produces another wave of dolls with normal skin and this nice hair, I'd be very interested.  In the meantime, I recommend this newer, slightly strange doll and her silky orange hair over her more glamorous but scraggly-haired counterpart.



First Wave Meygana
Midnight Beach Meygana
Packaging
Large box, difficult to remove the doll.  Hard to recycle.
Smaller, much easier to manage. Fairly easy to recycle.
Accessories
Stand, comb, broom, goggles, cape, earrings, hat.
Comb, bracelet, earrings, glasses, cape, hat.
Difference: no stand, no broom
Articulation
12 points
12 points
Price
$19.99 
$19.99
Hair
Nice red color, horrible coarse, tangled fiber.
Orange color, very soft and smooth fiber.
Face paint
Fantastic side-glancing inset eyes, wonderful dramatic face paint.
Forward-facing inset eyes, muted face paint.
Outfit
Pleated skirt and cropped top.  Simple blue cape.
Two piece tankini swimsuit with sheer cape.
Overall
Fun, dramatic doll with horrible hair.
Fun doll with good hair but a slightly strange overall look because of the glow-in-the-dark vinyl.
   

21 comments:

  1. Here in Italy Bratzillaz are new, we have still the first wave. I got for myself Meygana, Jade and I'd want to buy Cloetta too.
    This new line, though detractions, seems funny, I hope that MGA will release also them.
    Thank you for this review.
    Merry Christmas :)

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  2. She looks very pretty, maybe if you just think of her as an alien instead of a teenage witch her greenish skin wouldn't be so weird.

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  3. Great review!
    At first, I didn't like the skin color on these new dolls at all. I thought they looked a bit too weird for my taste.Your review really opened my eyes, I actually like it now!
    Though some of the fashions in this line look a bit cheap, I really like Meygana's outfit. Especially her cute cape!
    I prefer the hair color, eyes and outfit from the original Meygana a bit over the midnight beach Meygana but, I really like her hair color, outfit and eyes too. The royal blue looks really nice on her and the colors of her outfit are well put together.
    I showed my mother the glow in the dark pictures and she thought it looked really cool ^^
    I actually think Meygana is my favorite of this line now. In a way, the skin color compliments her. Not to forget about the awesome hair :D
    I think the price is a bit steep though. The original Meygana came with more things but Midnight beach is the same price, all for that glow in the dark skin. I think 12/15 dollars would be a better price. I wouldn't mind getting midnight beach Meygana at all! :D
    By the way, I still enjoy Yasmina very much ^^
    Thanks for this review Emily, I can't wait for the next one!

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  4. i like this line but i think they are kinda ripping of MH. what do you think? i LOVE how you write. please check out my blog theamericangirlreviewer.blogspot.com thx!

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    1. I think, while Bratzillaz might be riding the "freaky doll bandwagon", they are not ripping off Monster High any more than Mattel was ripping off Bratz with My Scene. It is just natural if something is popular that you would try to do your own (hopefully better) version.

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    2. thanks for your imput. I didn't remember the whole thing with my scene.

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  5. hmmm....she's not that bad!living her red hair and sparkly eyes too!MGA should only do something with her greenish colour and she will be perfect!They're quite rare in Poland,so I don't think I will buy her....maybe some Santa will drop one off to me???ehh?

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  6. I honestly think I prefer the first Megyana. I just can't get over that weird green skin.. o.O

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  7. I got the first Meygana for my birthday back in September. I had also gotten the Jade one, But after I had opened Meygana..I was very disappointed with the hair and how the body felt, I returned the Jade doll. I did see this doll in wal-mart about a month ago and I didn't really look too closely at it, Because of the disappointment with my first experience with these dolls. But reading your Review, I have to say that the second wave Meygana is much nicer! than the first wave. I really do like the hair of the second and even though the skin of that Meygana is a little weird because it has a green tint. I do like how she looks in the first wave Meygana's outfit.

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  8. I think I like basic Meygana more than Midnight Beach. Yes, better quality hair is nice, but everything is better on basic one - hair color, eyes, make up.

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  9. Kind of interesting, with the glow-in-the-dark gimmick, but... I'm still undecided. I finally ordered a wave 1 Bratzillaz doll, though: Jade J'adore. I hadn't realized the black band over her eyes is just thin netting that can be removed - and that underneath that band, she has gorgeous red heart eyes. Plus, her hair is short enough to (I hope) not be too much of an issue.

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  10. I like this doll reminds me of the little mermaid Disney

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  11. There is another wave of Bratzillaz on the way called "Magic Night Out" that have normal skin and fancy dresses.

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  12. I am so glad they improved the hair on the Bratzillas. I'm holding out for the mermaid.

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  13. $20 seems a little much for a swimsuit line...

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  15. Man, I can't stand that glow in the dark skin! It just totally ruins the doll for me. I would much rather have the first wave doll with bad hair than this doll with good hair. The glow in the dark just gives it a very cheap, translucent look in my opinion.
    I'm more of a Monster High girl myself, but the last time I was in target these new bratz did catch my eye. I might have to nab a non-glow in the dark girl and try repainting her.

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  16. they seem like they ripped off monster high, here is why i believe that:

    1. they changed the feet to were they actually have feet, this could just be the new bratz thing but i think they made it just for this line.

    2. they made a cafe when they made the dolls they prob saw the coffin bean monster high thingy at a store & copied it.

    3. midnight beach? gloom beach? gloom and midnight don't have much in common, considering the definition of these words but the way the 2 companies made the dolls gives them some similarity like MGA entertainment copied Mattel on this too.

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  17. if i were Mattel or the Monster High author i would sue MGA entertainment but that is just my idea

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  18. Hello!
    I'm glad I found your site. I was looking for reviews of Bratzillaz since my daughter has asked for one and I'm leery of bratz. We both really like Monster High and we were about the first to get into them (and spread it to the other kids) in our area. Originally I bought Draculaura for me to have a desk -cough- action figure and Emily (yes :-) named after Emily Dickinson and Emily the Strange actually) liked her so much I gave her over. We've also recently (after watching my friends for years) found our way into a VERY limited collection (3) of Ball Jointed dolls. She's started making stop motion videos with her dolls and the posing, standing and articulation are very important for that. Your reviews are incredibly helpful, funny and great reading. I'll be back often!

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  19. they kinda remind me of stereotypical witches... you know with the green skin? they remind me of them, but they're more fashion forward!!!
    thank you for your Bratzillaz posts, Emily! I love your reviews! I've been thinking of getting a Bratzillaz, and wanted to know what you thought first so i wouldn't be wasting my money. Thank you for posting!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

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