Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Picture Day Frankie Stein and Scaris Abbey Bominable--A Guest Review!

This has been a crazy week and so I am beyond delighted to have a guest reviewer who was willing to step in and do some of my work for me!  I would like to introduce my well-named young friend, Emily, who will get you up-to-speed with two of the newer Monster High girls!

Hi guys! I’m Emily and I’ll be doing a guest review on Picture Day Frankie and Scaris Abbey.  A quick explanation about this review: ­I decided to do a comparison with these dolls, just to mix it up.  So, without further ado, here’s the review!

Picture Day Frankie Stein (L) and Scaris Abbey Bominable (R).
About the boxes: Frankie’s box is very similar to Picture Day Cleo's box, which was covered previously in this review.  As you can see, it uses Frankie’s signature blue, which is echoed throughout her outfit.




Abbey’s box is much simpler, which is understandable. It has a picture of all the basic travel dolls, and an explanation of the Scaris line. Her box is also barely personalized, in contrast to the many different color schemes of the Picture Day dolls. (As you can see, Abbey is out of her box at this point. I don’t like taking pictures in the box, because the glare bugs me.)




Once out of the box, Frankie has a folder, a purse, jacket, brush, stand, and yearbook with stickers, in addition to her dress & belt. The brush, stand, and yearbook aren’t pictured in this review because, a. the stand and brush are the same as almost every other one, and b. the yearbook is kind of pointless is my opinion.


Abbey has a purse, and her dress with a plastic belt. I was slightly disappointed that she didn’t come with a stand, but she’s a $12 doll.


On to the comparison:


I was immediately impressed with the quality of Frankie’s jacket. It is very well made, with yellow and black stripes on the edges of the sleeves. 


To make things a bit fairer, I gave Abbey a fur jacket that I made, but it’s nowhere near as nice:


1. Dresses: Both dolls have relatively simple dresses. Abbey’s is one­-shouldered with a cool geometric pattern and fur trim on the hem. Her belt is icy blue plastic with an icicle-­type shape. I think the belt is not as great as it could be, and I prefer the dress without it. 


Frankie’s dress has a striped base, with one of the ruffles in that fabric, and the other ruffle has a grey and blue diamond pattern. The top has a yellow lightning bolt decal and a yellow collar. I think the quality and design of the dresses is quite evenly matched.


2. Accessories: Both dolls come with a purse, earrings, and another jewelry piece (bracelets for Frankie, a necklace for Abbey). Frankie's purse has a cute stitched-­together feel, and a safety pin handle. Abbey's purse is icy­-blue plastic that looks as though it is made of bricks of ice. The black closure has molded snowflakes. Although Frankie's purse opens and Abbey's doesn't, I like Abbey's better because it seems to be better quality. Frankie's closure flops around too much.


3. Faces and Hair: Both dolls have nice faces, and one of the reasons I love Abbey is because I think she has the coolest face mold ever. Neither one has any defects I've noticed. The only thing I might say is that they are very similar to other versions of their character. Both dolls have ponytails, but there are differences. Frankie has bangs, which I immediately brushed out because the were too stiff for my liking. She has her usual salt­-and­-pepper hair, just pulled into a high pony. 


Abbey's hair is really nicely designed. She has all the usual components, (sparkles, colorful streaks) but they are layered so it's new and not too much.


4. Hands and Skin: I know this isn't usually covered, but I just want to gush about the detail Abbey has. For one, her skin sparkles!!! This is hard to see, but it is one of my favorite things. Her hands are also quite special, even for Monster High hands. They're quite a bit bigger than Frankie's normal­-sized hands.


5. Shoes. I think Frankie's shoes are actually kinda boring in terms of Monster High shoes. They are slightly mismatched with black open heels and bolt decals. 


Abbey's shoes are amazing, though, with molded icicles on the wedge and ice crystals on the toe and ankle straps.


I like both of these dolls a lot, and think they both are excellent examples of Monster High's creativity, even with basic ideas. They're definitely both worth their price. Here are some more shots of them:




Thank you, Emily!  This is Emily. :)  I love your careful comparisons--and I adore the jacket you made for Abbey!  

I have Scaris Abbey, too, because I still haven't de-boxed my first edition Abbey (she was so hard to find!), and I wanted a less expensive but similar version of the character to play with. 


My Abbey has her hair down, so I thought I would add a few pictures of that for everyone to see:


I love rainbow hair, so Abbey is a good pick for me.  This hair isn't as good as Rainbow Dash's hair, but it's pretty fun.  


I totally agree with Emily about the dress--simple, but nice (I don't like the belt, either).  The fur hem is a great detail.  I also agree that the blue sparkly vinyl is wonderful.


Abbey's purple eyes are so much better than certain other purple eyes....


Here's a head comparison with the first Abbey, since I mentioned her:



Here are the dresses side-by-side, too:


Unfortunately, Scaris Abbey has very thinly rooted hair:

Zoiks!
The purse is cute, but it frustrates me because the top lifts up, but you can't fit anything inside!  


There's no real opening:



I agree that the shoes are great.  The icicle pattern looks like a flower in the front:



I'd like to extend a big thank you to Emily for investigating these two dolls and reporting back with such a fun comparison!

18 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for this review! Abbey and Frankie look very nice, but it's a shame about Abbey's purse, even if the doll is only $12.

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  2. Thank you for the fun review! It actually raised some things I wish I'd known before I did my big shopping trip 2 days ago (I went from 1 to 5 MH dolls!(2 are CaM) Like the fact that the basic doll does not come with a stand and more than 2 accessories.
    I still love my music festival Venus, her outfit is great, but I don't really feel she was worth the 33$ (Norwegian prices) I paid for her since I basically got just a doll.

    Compared I thought my Catty Noir was well worth her 54$, even though I think she's too pink and I wish the microphone was a different colour from her jewelry. Having said that she really does feel like a special edition, her black skin is so beautiful, and the microphone, though pink, is so well done.
    I'd love to find more reviews/comments on her, especially I want to hear if anyone else's saddle stand is too high for her?
    My Catty can barely reach the plate, even with boots on and her legs straight down. She rocks precariously every time you're near her.

    I'm also, as a new Monster high, and doll collector in general, very confused by the differing hair quality. My Venus and my CaM mummy has great, sleek, shiny hair, while my Skelita (first doll) and Catty Noir have coarse hair that's all messy, matte and tangled at the ends. Do they have different type of hair? And is there anything I can do to fix it?

    I just started watching the webisodes, and I've gotten a new interest in the characters, especially some of the characters I didn't really like before. Frankie is just adorable, and Ghoulia, who I never really liked the doll of (loved the clothes though), is so awesome! Totally see why everyone loves her now!

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  3. Panthera,
    Glad I was helpful! And about the hair: it mostly just depends on the character. I think Emily has talked about this before, but there are two different fibers used for MH dolls, and that can be a big factor. I think part of it is also just luck. I just got the EAH Briar Beauty, (my local Target made a mistake and set them out and I've heard her hair can be really nice, but mine was terrible. I ended up giving her a boil rinse and a haircut, which helped. I reccomend trying that, because it can be really helpful.

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  4. Wow, thanks for the review! I wanted to get a nice Abbey and I was eyeing the Scaris version, but I see it's definitely not worth the 21 euro price. I had no idea they are so cheap in the USA.

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  5. Thanks for the super review Emily...and Emily. Abbey is my favorite MH girl (ghoul) in the webisoides and both her dolls her are awesome. The Frankie doll is really nice to. I actually think the shoes are cool but ,it's true, they really don't scream 'Monster High'.

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  6. Hi, Emily. This is totally off-topic for this review, but I recently heard a scary rumor. I heard that Cutie Pops are slated to be cancelled next spring. I hope they aren't.

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  7. One thing I've noticed with newer Frankies is that they have HUGE eyes. Compare to Dawn of the dAnce Frankie"s eyes. I have her, so I know. Her eyes are much smaller.

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    1. I have an example of that. I found an original Frankie in the store this summer. Her head had leaked a lot in the packaging, her pet had strange marks on it, and I read about her legs being easily broken. I ordered a rerelease and planned to return the old one, but the new doll looked so different I ended up keeping both. http://www.flickr.com/photos/back2s0ul/9153387056/in/set-72157632210355282

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  8. I finally bought a Monster High doll, the Picture Day Lagoona Blue. Everything awesome, but for her stand. It seems a bit smaller for her, and it keeps getting lose from the base. besides that, she's cute and her hair is great, her details are flawless and her clothes are cool.

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    Replies
    1. Frankie's stand comes lose really easily too! I wonder if it's just this line?

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    2. I have Picture Day Spectra and her stand is loose as well

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  9. They're both wonderfully cute dolls, but I find the tinsel in Abby's hair to be a HUGE problem. If it's not snarling or melting or kinking, it's sticking out all wonky. I bought Dead-Tired Abbey because she was affordadorable but that tinsel just KILLS me. Have you seen her head in the 13 Wishes Line? NIGHTMARISH SNARLING straight from the box. Anyway, wonderful guest review!

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    Replies
    1. Tinsel in doll hair is ALWAYS a problem. I have ponies with tinseled manes, from my childhood, and even when I restored their manes, the tinsel is still kinda damaged.
      That's why I don't like tinsel in doll hair, even when you don't play too rough or often with them, it gets messy after some time :(

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  10. I love the Scaris line! I love Scaris Abbey, i think her make up is great, her outfit is awesome! I love that they gave her, her fur trim. Everything about the Abbey from that line is awesome (Can you guess that Abbey is my favorite MH ghoul?). I think the only thing that is pretty disappointing to me for Scaris Abbey is that she didn't come with a stand, i really wish that the basic Scaris dolls had come with stands. Not being a Frankie fan, i don't like Picture Day..i actually don't like the Picture Day line at all! I had Lala from the line and she was such a disappointment for me, I donated her to another collector. Frankie is pretty in general, but to me i've only ever liked Ghouls Rule Frankie and I Love Fashion Frankie. So to me, PD Frankie does nothing for me. She's too much like a lot of other releases of Frankies, Except maybe Ghouls Rule, because her hair was different than other Frankie releases.

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  11. Than you, Emily (both of you!). This review was great. I like reading about the MH girls, even though I don't have one. As a side note to the blog-owner Emily, I think you would really like my hair! It's a darker reddish-brown, with a rainbow layer underneath. My parents wouldn't let me do it all over ;) . It is permanent, but I'm going to take it out for Halloween, then die it blue right after.

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  12. Monster High is just alot of fun. Great review to you both !! I am getting ready to start book four, cute stories.
    I don't have alot of dolls but I can see where one would. I just received Scarah Screams for my bday and she is just adorable. A treat as always-Tina

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  13. Another wonderful review. I keep glancing at the Monster High lines, but haven't found one I have to have yet. Your reviews help me narrow down the choices. Thank you.

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  14. Nice review!
    Scaris Abbey was actually my first Monster High doll.
    I had been resisting the temptation to buy one for a long time, but when I found her at a thrift store MIB and was prsesented with the opportunity to get a nice doll for a very reduced price, my will crumbled.
    It's a great doll line, the characters and designs are very fun and creative! I would've gone bananas over them as a kid.

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