I've been eagerly waiting to do this installment of the Wednesday Addams doll series, mostly because it's been a while since I looked at a new Monster High doll. I think my last Monster High review was Skelita Calaveras back in 2023. Can that be right? I think it's right.
That doesn't mean I haven't bought a few Monster High dolls in the last two years, though. Believe me--I have. I've been captivated by pretty much everything in the Skullector series. But for some reason there hasn't been occasion to review any of those creatures. Also, I have issues with how Mattel is marketing their Skullector (and Barbie Signature) dolls these days. But we can talk about that later.
For now, I'll just say how delighted I am that Mattel contributed to the Wednesday doll deluge. Monster High is an excellent brand to represent this trendy character. Today I'll be looking at two Monster High Wednesday Addams dolls, and also a few knockoffs that are trying to ride their coattails.
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| Wednesday Addams by Monster High, $40. |
This is a longer review than the first two in the series, so I need to try and temper my tendency towards tangents (and also alliteration). But I want to start off with a quick photo of the first Monster High Addams Family dolls that Mattel released:
It's a $90 mother-daughter set with Morticia and Wednesday. This came out for Mother's Day last year.
The details in this set are great. I know there's some fatigue with the decorative heels on Monster High shoes, but I can't get enough of this kind of thing. I adore Wednesday's boots:
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| Cousin It on one side, and Thing on the other! |
However, I like this set mostly because of Morticia, who is gorgeous. Wednesday falls a little flat for me. So I was happy to see that the newer dolls have a different design.
The first doll that I'm going to look at is called, simply, Wednesday Addams. She came out in August of 2024 and cost $40.00:
She was available at all of the big box stores and on the Mattel Creations site. The thing is, she sold out at Mattel Creations fairly quickly way back in 2024, but is still available everywhere else to this day.
Judging by G3 dolls and things like the G1 Creeproductions, I think of typical Monster High dolls as costing $25-30. So $40 is a lot. I figured Wednesday cost this much because she was limited, but she appears to be an open edition. So why does she cost so much? I feel tricked. And...it looks like I'm going to air my grievance about Mattel's marketing right now.
I get all of these emails with active ticking countdowns in them, like "5 more days until the Wednesday doll drops! Don't miss out! Members only while supplies last!" It's very anxiety-producing:
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| Down to the last second. |
And, sometimes, if I'm not on the ball when the countdown ends, the doll sells out. Game over. However, more and more of the time lately, the countdown means absolutely nothing, because even though the doll sells out quickly at Mattel Creations, it will remain available on Amazon, Target, and Walmart for weeks, months, or even years. So the "sell-outs" feel like marketing ploys, designed to make the product feel more limited than it is...which prompts people to spend more money than they normally would.
The other thing Mattel is doing is re-releasing dolls that were limited, making them less so. Case in point is the highly-anticipated $55 Barbie She-Ra doll:
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| She has the Lina face and is gorgeous. |
This doll had one of those hysterical countdown emails, and then she sold out in eight minutes. I was fortunate to get her. But she did not appear in any of the big box stores. So anyone who didn't get her felt terrible. Many of those people turned to eBay and spent $200 or more to get their She-Ra from a scalper.
Then, a few weeks later, Mattel was like, hey, guess what? We decided to make more She-Ras! So she went up for sale again, and lingered on the site for a long time, no doubt devastating anyone who paid $200 for her. Now the doll for which they paid four times retail is not as limited or valuable as they once believed. The same type of thing happened with the Monster High Reel Drama dolls and, most recently, the Barbie Aaliyah doll. I paid scalper prices for the Reel Drama girls a few years back, so I'm feeling duped. The silver lining is that a lot more people have been able to get these dolls without paying ridiculous eBay prices.
Don't toy with my emotions (or my wallet) like this, Mattel! Just tell me straight-up: do I need to set my alarm to catch a truly limited release, or will that same doll be available on Amazon (with free shipping) for the next six months? Or will it be re-released at some future date? I want to know these things.
Okay, I'm done ranting. Let's get back to Wednesday...who is not a limited edition:
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| But still costs $40. |
The packaging is certainly nice. Wednesday comes in a cardboard box with a full plastic window in front, and different decorations on each side:
Here's everything that was in Wednesday's box:
Rochelle only cost $25, but of course that was 13 years ago now.
The left side of the box says "Monster High x Wednesday" and the right side of the box has a photograph of the doll.
The back of the box has another photograph of the doll alongside a lot of text:
The text is in both English and French, and appears to be an excerpt from Wednesday's journal:
It says:
Keep Out or Risk Dismemberment
All accomplished novelists keep journals, so I'm starting one to record my most macabre and morbid observations. Today was particularly uneventful. Instead of the typical near-death experiences and homicidal monster encounters, I was blackmailed into doing manicures with Enid and Thing. Thankfully, I already owned nail polish in a chilling shade of charcoal. It compliments my black soul quite nicely. Turns out "roommate and appendage quality time" isn't synonymous with mind-numbing misery, after all.
It's a fun little blurb that captures Wednesday's personality while giving a nod to the tradition of Monster High journals. It's better than the Ellowyne Wilde poems, at any rate.
Wednesday was attached to a cardboard backdrop that pulled out of the main box:
The backdrop is great. It has an image of Wednesday's dorm room (nicest dorm room I've ever seen, btw), with little details like the circular window that's decorated with colors on one side (for Enid) and plain on the other side (for Wednesday):
Wednesday's beloved cello is also tucked into one corner:
On the subject of the cello, there was an accessory set released at the same time as this doll, and it included a second outfit and a black cello:
This set originally cost $20 and seems to have been the only actual limited edition released that day. It sold out quickly (everywhere) and now costs $80-$100 on eBay. Sigh.
She comes with a plastic stand with the Monster High logo on the base:
I didn't need the stand very much since Wednesday balances well on her own.
She also comes with a small model of Thing:
This Thing is not as detailed as the one that comes with Living Dead Doll Wednesday, but it has molded and painted suture lines and a good shape:
You can see some molded tendons on the back of the hand, but the fingernails aren't very distinct:
The palm of the hand also has molded suture lines, but these aren't painted:
Wednesday's other accessory is a black vinyl backpack:
This is highly detailed on the front, with molded buckles, spiderwebs, and the Monster High Skullette. The back side is smooth, with no decoration:
The bag opens with a peg-and-hole, and can hold small items...or appendages:
The backpack fits Wednesday, and looks good with her outfit:
Here it is from the side:
The accessories are nice, no doubt, but in terms of price, they're not any better than traditional play doll Monster High doll accessories, which often included a stand, a pet, a bag of some sort, and a full journal
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| Rochelle makes my point for me. |
Let's take a look at Wednesday herself:
She's wearing an interpretation of the Nevermore Academy uniform, which looks great. But the thing I was most excited about was Wednesday's left hand:
She has snapping fingers!
It's so cool that she has an entirely new hand mold! And it's well done, too, with delineated fingers and appropriately black nail polish.
This hand helps justify the high price, at least for me.
Here's Wednesday from the side:
I wouldn't say that this doll looks like Jenna Ortega, necessarily, but there's an interesting thing going on with the chin and mouth profile that definitely makes me think of her:
I suspect it's because Ms. Ortega has a strong jaw and full (pouty) lips, and this doll's exaggerated lower face mirrors that:
From the back, you can see Wednesday's classic long braids...and also that there's something interesting going on with the heels of her shoes:
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| Those are big shoes. |
I'll investigate the shoes more closely in just a minute.
First, let's get a better look at Wednesday's face:
I'm not great at identifying Monster High faces. She might have her own mold, which would explain why there are similarities to Jenna Ortega. It would also justify the price a bit more:
The heavily-gelled bangs obscure the face, but I appreciate how they're not overly dense (like they are on Ellowyne) and how there are tendrils on either side to frame the face. The style is very accurate to the television show:
Wednesday has brown eyes (not dark enough, but that seems to be a trend) with spiderwebs in the irises and two reflective marks:
The big reflective sections on Wednesday's right side are distracting to me. They make it seem like she's looking off to the side when she's actually staring straight ahead.
I digitally removed those reflective sections so that we can see how she'd look without them:
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| I like this better. |
I love Wednesday's dark lip color and freckles, though!
I clipped a section of the (very stiff!) bangs to the side so that you can see Wednesday's eyebrows, with their dark brown color and individual hair lines:
It's a really attractive face-up overall, with no obvious paint defects and zero pixelation. All of the features are bold and clear, and there's a gorgeous shine to the lips. The big reflective marks are the only things I don't like, and I don't feel strongly about that criticism.
Wednesday's uniform consists of a blazer, a dress, stockings, and heavy boots:
The tie is connected to the white collared shirt area, but it's made out of shiny black imitation leather and so it has a nice presence:
It also, miraculously, lays very flat against Wednesday's chest and doesn't move around too much or stick up.
The blazer doesn't have any kind of fastener at the waist; it's held in place by a vinyl belt. The belt has a peg-and-hole connection in back and can easily be removed:
I like the silver-painted Nevermore "N" on the front of the belt.
With the belt gone, the blazer opens down the front to reveal an unlined interior:
This affords a better look at the tie, which is very short, but curls nicely against the contours of Wednesday's chest:
There were some microscopic plastic ties holding the blazer down against the skirt. I doubt these were necessary, but they were easy enough to snip:
In order to get the blazer off, I had to remove the hands. Okay, maybe I didn't have to, but I wanted to be sure that it's possible, and it gave me an excuse to photograph that snapping hand again:
The blazer has decent construction, especially given the proportions of Monster High dolls:
The inside has a lot of unsightly white, and the fabric is thin, but the fit is good and the seams are neat:
Underneath the blazer, Wednesday is wearing a dress with a sleeveless white collared top (with attached tie) and a full black skirt:
The skirt isn't pleated, but I like the shape of this dress:
It opens down the back with a velcro seam:
The dress is very easy to get on and off. And I think it's quite effective at capturing the essence of the Nevermore uniform. The top part is crisp and stiff, while the skirt has some drape and flow. And that tie never moves:
Underneath the dress, Wednesday is wearing black knee-high stockings with spiderwebs and Skullettes:
Her shoes are really fun, too. They're ankle-high boots with platform treads and different designs on each heel.
The left boot has a cello on the heel:
The cello has a lot of molded detail on the outside, but is smooth on the back:
And the shape of the heel creates an interesting contrast to the thick treads on the rest of the boot:
The opposite boot has a scorpion heel:
Hooray! Mattel actually paid attention to the Wednesday story, instead of randomly sticking a spider onto the blazer (looking at you, Ellowyne).
I assume this scorpion is Nero, Wednesday's beloved pet. And he's molded beautifully into the shoe:
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| The cello is cool, but this is even better. |
Underneath all of her clothes, Wednesday has a typical G1 Monster High body:
And it has zero staining from the dark clothes, which is epic...and a thing other companies could learn from.
I've probably said this before, but even though they have a G1 mold, newer bodies like this don't feel the same as the originals. I have this strange disconnect every time I start posing them. I think it's because the arms stick out from the body more than they used to.
Notice the angle between Wednesday's torso and upper arm:
And compare that to an older doll like Zomby Gaga:
The angle between her torso and arm is smaller. It's subtle, I know, but I feel the difference keenly when I'm holding and posing these dolls. I don't like that I can't push the arms closer to the body on the newer dolls.
Even with her stubborn arms, Wednesday is very fun to pose. Also, her big, thick boots give her excellent balance:
I like the look of the sleeveless dress on its own because it shows off Wednesday's snapping hand really well:
Also, Thing is able to perch on Wednesday's left shoulder without any help:
He can't quite perch on her right shoulder, because of the different orientation of his fingers, but he can grasp her upper arm:
And the backpack gives Thing a comfortable place to sit as well:
I put Wednesday's Blazer and belt back on for a few more pictures:
Thing can perch on her shoulder a little bit better when the blazer is on:
Or he can always hang on to one of her thick braids!
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| Those braids are huge. |
Thing is nicely scaled with Wednesday, too, so she can substitute him in for one of her own hands if she wants!
For a little extra creepiness:
I'm really enjoying the Wednesday dolls who have Thing as a companion. He adds a lot of fun to the mix.
But Wednesday is plenty of fun on her own, too:
When I've had a long break from Monster High, I tend to forget how much personality and posing potential they have.
And it's nice to have a Monster High doll with a (fairly) normal complexion, depicting a (fairly) normal girl:
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| Don't you dare call me normal. |
The bizarre proportions of the Monster High body and face work surprisingly well for this character. I also think that the balance of colors with the hair, face, and uniform is excellent. And those snapping fingers? They're the icing on the cake:
So far, this is my favorite version of Wednesday. She manages to capture something about Jenna Ortega's appearance, while being very clearly a Monster High doll. And the creepy, gothic vibe is just right. It helps that she's nicely made, with a well-designed outfit, beautiful face paint, and fun accessories.
There was a second doll in the Monster High x Wednesday release, though, and I'd like to take a few moments to look at her, too.
This doll is called Rave'n Wednesday and is wearing the black dress form the Rave'n dance scene of the television show:
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| Rave'n Wednesday by Monster High, $65. |
I get why so many of these dolls are wearing this dress. It's an amazing dress and a memorable scene from the show. But Wednesday wears so many interesting outfits! It'd be fun to see more variety. Maybe that's something we can look forward to in the future.
Anyway, this doll originally cost $65 and was offered at both Mattel Creations and the big box stores. Once again, she sold out quickly at Mattel Creations, but, as of today, is still available at Amazon and Target...and on sale for $57.
Having paid $65 for this doll, and with the knowledge that she's not a limited edition, I expect her to be quite a bit more impressive than the regular Wednesday doll. We'll see.
The back of the box has a large photograph of the doll and what looks like another journal entry:
It is, indeed, a journal entry:
The text says:
The Private Thoughts of Wednesday Addams
Keep Out or Risk Dismemberment
I wasn't going to attend the Rave'N dance, but Thing procured me a dress with his five finger discount, and I couldn't squander a perfect chance to investigate. Black as my sense of humor, the gown has sheer layers that move like shadows...one could say I looked like a ghostly apparition in the moonlight. And while I did enjoy dancing to '80s punk in my killer shoes, the highlight of the night was when chaos reigned down and the room was filled with screams.
That paragraph succinctly captures the Rave'n dance scene from the television show--without going overboard with a description of the dress. I was worried it was headed in that direction for a second.
Wednesday came attached to a shiny silver cardboard backdrop that pulled out of the main box:
This backdrop is less interesting to me than the last one. There are very few details, and the metallic shine detracts from the doll.
Here's everything that was in the box:
There's no Thing (boo) and no extra accessories--just Wednesday and her stand. I also noticed right away that there's no snapping hand, which is disappointing.
However, the dress is lovely, and Wednesday's hair looks elegant, tidy, and very true to the television show:
Here she is from the side:
And, from the side, I could immediately see that this hairstyle uses a similar shortcut to what we saw on the Living Dead Doll! Ugh.
There's a rooted part, and sections of hair from either side of the part are pulled to the back of Wednesday's head...and then chopped abruptly off:
The hair looks nice from the top, where two braided sections cross right behind the bangs:
And it looks good from the front, with the same style of bangs that we saw on the first doll. But the sides and back aren't great.
I want to believe that the rooting is better on this doll than it was on the Living Dead Dolls, but that hardly maters since nobody will want to take this girl's hair down. Except maybe me. I really want to take it down. But it's a $65 doll, for goodness sake! I need to stifle my curiosity.
I'll distract myself by looking at the dress. Here it is from the back, where you can see how sheer the top of the skirt is:
There's definitely a bodysuit or something underneath the dress, which creates a neat silhouette effect. I like this interpretation a lot.
Rave'n Wednesday's face is very similar to the other doll. Her bangs might be a bit longer, though, which fits with the character, but also hides the eyes more:
This doll is also wearing earrings. They're black and long with a Skullette at the bottom:
The design of these looks familiar. They're probably re-used form an older doll, but I can't remember well enough to tell you which one.
The earrings are removable:
With the earrings out of the way, I clipped the bangs back to get a clearer look at the face paint:
This doll has black lips and little skulls in her irises. Otherwise she's the same as the first Wednesday.
I made a little GIF to compare the two faces:
I'd have liked to see some different eye makeup on this doll, maybe more prominent eyeliner or something. And the black lips are jarring (and not accurate to Jenna Ortega's look). But it's such a nice face-up overall, I shouldn't complain:
So far, though, if we're keeping score, this doll has a similar face to the first Wednesday, but with less versatile hair and no accessories. So there's a lot of pressure on the black dress to justify the high price.
The dress is made out of a sheer black fabric that's pretty stiff, but has a nice, silky feel to it. It doesn't have the flowing drape of the Ellowyne Wilde chiffon dress. But it's less stiff than the Living Dead Doll dress:
The neckline has a pointed collar and placket (with no buttons) above two rows of beautifully-gathered ruffles:
There's a vinyl belt at the waist that's removable:
The belt has a silver-painted decorative buckle in the middle with a "W" for Wednesday.
Underneath the belt, you can see that the bodice of the dress has a fold down the front that looks like a continuation of the placket:
The detail here is great.
The dress opens down the back with a velcro seam, and is easy to get off. Here it is on its own, standing tall thanks to the stiff fabric:
The whole body of the dress is semi-transparent, and it's only the ruffles that add areas of opacity.
The skirt of the dress has three ruffled tiers:
Underneatht he dress, Wednesday is wearing a black knit jumpsuit with clear shoulder straps:
This is a pretty cool look all on its own. All she needs is a mask and she could be Catwoman!
In order to take off the jumpsuit, I had to first remove the shoes. These are black pumps with two thin straps at the top, and fancy white heels that remind me of ice sculptures:
The novelty heels don't work as well here as they did with the last doll. First of all, the heels don't match the rest of the shoe (or dress), so they look out-of-place. They're also opalescent white, and can almost disappear against some backgrounds:
Another problem is that I can't tell exactly what the shapes are. I think the shoe on the left, below, has an icicle shape. But the shoe on the right? What is that?
It reminds me of the statue that's in the courtyard of Nevermore in the television show, but that's a werewolf with its arms up in the air:
This looks more like a Yeti or something. But I can't think of any connection to the show--other than the fact that the Rave'n dance has an ice theme.
The shoes are a little hard to get on and off, probably because the jumpsuit is fairly thick and covers Wednesday's feet:
It closes in the back with velcro:
There's a huge tag inside the jumpsuit that says "Wednesday:"
And the construction is fine. The delicate neckline of the suit even has a tiny hem.
One problem I noticed with this jumpsuit is that the velcro from the back (or from the dress) can snag the knitted material pretty badly:
Once again, there were no stains on this doll's body from that black jumpsuit. None. How did they manage that??
I put Wednesday back into her full outfit so that she could do some of her dance routine for you:
And now that she's dancing, I understand why she doesn't have snapping fingers! If she did, she wouldn't be able to do the classic Rave'n dance pose:
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| A necessity for dolls wearing this dress. |
I call this move "fancy hands:"
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| I call it "mind control." |
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| I call it "exorcism." |
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| More like "falling into the abyss." |
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| No. It's "tiptoeing over graves." |
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| Now you get me. |
I can't say I like her better than the first Wednesday, though. Here are the two together:
Look at how much taller uniform Wednesday is because of those chunky shoes! They add a good half inch to her height.
Both dolls are great. And they make a nice pair, too. I'm impressed with both outfits, and I like both face-ups, although I slightly prefer the lip color on regular Wednesday. I also wish that the reflective marks in the eyes were less aggressive; I have a hard time telling which way these dolls are looking.
I love regular Wednesday's braids, and also admit that Rave'n Wednesday's up-do looks good--even with the hacked off sections in the back. And both dolls have bangs and tendrils that are consistent with Jenna Ortega's hair in the show:
In a perfect world, I'd love it if regular Wednesday's braids could be re-arranged to look like the up-do on Rave'n Wednesday. And that the black dress had been sold separately. That way I could have had two dolls in one...for less money.
However, those thick braids can't be re-arranged into an attractive up-do. There's way too much hair:
I'm willing to admit that it might not be possible to have a good-looking braided up-do in this style, especially with densely-rooted hair. And that the hacked-off sections might be necessary; both LDD and Monster High made that choice, after all. I still wish there was a better option.
As much as I like Rave'n Wednesday, she didn't end up convincing me that she's worth $65. Or that she's worth $25 more than her counterpart. I actually like uniform Wednesday better. And the $105 that I paid for both dolls is $15 more than my *limited edition* Wednesday and Moritica set. So something is off here.
I suspect a lot of people feel similarly overwhelmed by the Monster High pricing and go looking for something more affordable. This might explain why the market is inundated with cheap knockoff Wednesday dolls. To end today's review, I want to show you a few of the options that I found on Amazon.
Here's a picture from one of the first listings that caught my attention:
She's so angry! My goodness. And her body looks cheap. But it's not like I was on the hunt for a high-quality doll here, just a representative sample of the knockoffs that are available. And this particular doll is available everywhere. There are multiple Amazon listings featuring her in various outfits, and she's on eBay and Walmart.com, too.
These little girls look delighted with her, but I think the wooden doll in the brunette's arms is way more interesting:
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| The blonde girl can shoot lasers out of her eyes. |
That's probably an AI image, with Wednesday pasted into place.
I paid a modest $10.99 for this doll, and then waited around for her to arrive from China. This was all back in September of last year, though, so there wasn't a time crunch or anything.
She finally arrived, and in a nicer box than I'd anticipated:
There's a purple theme throughout the box, and a photo of Jenna Ortega from Wednesday on the bottom corner:
There's another photograph on the back of the box, this time it's Wednesday in the rain with an umbrella:
There's no text. I wish there was text, because I bet it would make me giggle.
Wednesday was supposed to be attached to her scenic backdrop, but the wire tie around her waist had come loose, so she was flopping around:
The backdrop has a partial picture of the gate to the Addams family home:
The only thing in the box was the doll, no accessories or stand. And the doll can't balance on her own, so I had to borrow one of the Monster High stands:
Wednesday, if we're going to call her that, did not come out of the box looking very good. Her hair is a huge mess, and that face...I'm sorry, but that face is not attractive:
Jenna Ortega looks stern or emotionless in many of the scenes from Wednesday, but she never looks grumpy like this.
In profile, you can see even more of the messy hair and the pouty chin contours. There are also dark areas along the hairline (best seen on the interior of the ear, below) that I assume are sections where the black hair on the inside of the head is showing through the thin vinyl:
From the back, you can see the white velcro closure on the dress:
And all of the hairs stuck into the neck joint!
The rooted part in this hair is so bad. There are gaps everywhere, and there's a whole missing row on the right side. Also, it seems like whoever rooted this doll paid no attention whatsoever to the molded line showing where the hairline should be. They just kinda quit half way down the scalp and called it a day.
Here's a view from the top:
I clipped the crazy bangs out of the way so that I could photograph the face:
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| Sheesh. |
The irises are reddish brown, with lots of white showing through. The dark purple lips also have areas of missing paint. But I'll admit that I like the color of the lips, at least.
The clearest features are the eyebrows, which are pitch black and very severe:
I like to try and think of something nice to say with every doll, but in this case, I'm at a loss.
The dress has approximately the right shape for the Rave'n dance garment, but the fabric is wrinkled, cheap, and extremely stiff:
Underneath the dress, Wednesday has what appears to be a low-cost copy of the Barbie Gigi body, but with no articulation in the knees:
The body is made mostly out of thin, low-grade plastic, and so the joints don't move very smoothly. There were some unnerving "crack!" sounds when I put Wednesday into this front-to-back split position:
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| She may never get up again. |
The arms are made out of flexible vinyl, and while they have a good range of motion, they were stiff and hard to bend at first. That said, the arms might be the best thing about this doll.
I let Wednesday's hair down, figuring I couldn't make things any worse, and huge chunks fell out:
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| That's worse. |
When I brushed the hair, several more chunks fell out.
This hair looks terrible. It's uneven, greasy, falling out, and the bangs can't be tamed:
I'll apologize in advance before I show you the back...
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| Sorry you had to see that. |
The hair feels really bad, and it smells bad, too. I have no idea what the odor is, but I can't imagine it's good for children.
Also, the rooting is sparse, with plugs only around the hairline and down the part. The rest of the scalp is bare and unpainted:
There's pretty much nothing redeeming about this doll. Well--okay, I can say this: the arm articulation is good. But it's a stolen Barbie body. So, never mind. There's nothing good to say. I would consider keeping the dress, but it's caused some stains on the doll's body, and I don't have any Barbies laying around that I want to stain. I might keep the shoes. Otherwise, sadly, this is headed for the garbage. I'd feel worse taking it to Goodwill.
I bought several of these knockoff dolls at the same time, though, so let's see if any of the others are better.
I was actually pretty excited about this next purchase. If you look at the promotional photo, there's a neckless larger doll, and then a small doll that looks like it has the grumpy head we just saw, but on a tiny Chelsea body:
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| Angry elf. |
That small doll cracks me up. And I have some Chelseas who might enjoy her black dress for Halloween. There's a Thing figure included, too, which is always a plus.
The dolls themselves must be pretty fun, too, at least if you trust this little girl. She's levitating the neckless doll while simultaneously playing the angry doll like a clarinet and getting a neck massage from Thing:
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| Busy girl. |
I paid $15.99 to see this set for myself...and then I got this in the mail:
The box is way too narrow to be holding two dolls.
But it's a pretty box, with a picture of Wednesday's dorm room window decorating the front:
But guess what I found inside this box? It's the same freakin' doll I just showed you:
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| Noooooo! |
This time grumpy Wednesday comes with two extra outfits and a massive Thing. I guess that justifies the $15 price in somebody's mind, but I want the small angry doll! And the neckless doll! Bummer.
Thing isn't even close to being in scale. He's the size of Wednesday's head, with painted suture lines scattered around:
Both of the extra outfits are boxy dresses with unfinished edges and printed patterns. The first is meant to look like the Nevermore uniform:
And the second is the black spotted dress with white cuffs and collar:
This doll has the exact same body as the last one, but this time her thin vinyl torso is crushed in one place:
It's hard to muster enthusiasm here, but I'll quickly show you the two outfits.
Here's the black and white dress:
Notice how there's no finishing around the neckline, and all of the details are printed:
And here's the Nevermore uniform:
With grey and purple velcro in back:
Both pieces of velcro are in danger of falling off, since there's only a single row of stitches holding them in place, and all of the thread ends are loose.
I guess I'm starting to understand why this doll is so angry.
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| My clothes suck. |
And I understand why this child is so happy:
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| Aliens are beaming the doll away. |
Anyway, we've seen enough of that doll.
The next knockoff that I found was advertised with this picture:
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| That's a picture of the actual Monster High Wednesday doll. |
Sorry the picture is so small. I forgot to take a photo of the listing when I first made the purchase, and the page got taken down very quickly thereafter--as you can imagine.
I knew I wasn't going to get an actual Monster High Wednesday for $24.99, from a seller called nanfuugt. But I was curious to see what I would get instead.
This is what I got:
She's called Pretty Doll, and looks an awful lot like the Bratzillaz:
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| She's "a good childhood partrar for children." |
The side of the box has a cool-looking picture of a dark-haired girl in a black dress:
This picture is really impressive...at first glance. On closer inspection, the girl's left eye is crossed, she has a headband on one side of her head but not the other, and there might be a tumor on her left wrist?
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| And her sleeves don't match and her belt buckle is askew. |
So it's probably another AI concoction. Sigh. It's interesting how AI was so intriguing to me three years ago, but it's now starting to feel deeply disturbing. As so many of you predicted.
The other side of the box has part of the colorful dorm room window and some text:
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| Oh, goody! Text. |
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| Enjoy the New Fashion. Experience New Feelings. Happy every day. |
The back of the box has the same AI girl that we saw before, but this time she has legs:
If you look closely, you can see that her knees are just above the tops of her boots, and she has the longest femurs in the world:
The doll doesn't balance very well on her own, so the stand is helpful:
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| And some very strange legs, at that. |
Next to Crazy Longlegs there's even more text:
The text is spaced out, but if I jam it all together into one paragraph, it reads like this:
Let's live together Happy together. Let's live happily together, lovely child, bring you a happy life. Fashion dolls accompany you around, Let you enjoy a happy life.
Okay, sorry. I have to stop. There's a desperate urgency for me to be happy here. I like being happy, sure, but this feels suspicious.
Life is colorful and colorful.
Yeah, I have to stop again. Really? "Colorful and colorful?" You wanna use that phrase with Wednesday Addams? The girl who wears only black? I don't know.
They try to stick the landing with a repeat of:
Enjoy the New Fashion. Experience New Feelings. happy every day.
This is the best part of the whole thing, almost like a slogan, but it's not good enough to repeat. All of the writing is so weird and disconnected from the doll. It's gotta be more AI.
At least the doll can't be AI, right? That's something. She came attached to a backdrop that pulled out of the main box:
The backdrop has a more complete picture of the dorm room window. This is really pretty--and even has some colorful and colorful!
Here's everything that was in the box:
There seems to have been an effort to replicate the presentation of Monster High Wednesday here--perhaps solely in order to create a deceptive Amazon listing. In any case, the doll comes with a stand, a backpack, and a Thing figure.
Here are the backpack and Thing up close:
The backpack is tiny and does not open. The details are very hard to see:
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| It might be 3D printed. |
For reference, here's the knockoff backpack with the original:
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| Knockoff backpack (left) and original Monster High backpack (right). |
Thing is equally underwhelming, and also looks 3D printed:
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| But he's a good partrar for Wednesday. |
There are a few molded suture lines and some blurry-looking grey suture lines that are in completely different places. There's very little else in terms of detail:
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| Except the printing artifacts on the back of the hand look like hairs? |
The hand is also quite a bit larger than the original, so not as well in scale with the dolls:
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| Knockoff Thing figure (left) and Monster High Thing (right). |
That's absolutely a Bratzillaz face. It's been ages since I've seen these features on a new doll!
She even has inset eyes, which is impressive.
I feel like I should stop myself from being enthusiastic here, mostly because the doll is copied--probably illegally so. But it's nice to see the Bratzillaz face again. It brings up all kinds of fuzzy nostalgic feelings.
Here's an old photo of two of my favorite Bratzillaz girls, for anyone who's unfamiliar with the brand:
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| Angelica Sound and Illiana Honesty. |
They're fun dolls with really cool inset eyes.
Here's Wednesday from the back:
Her blazer looks stiff here, she has big slits in the backs of her boots, and there's something going on with the bottom part of her hair.
Here's a closer look at the back of the hair:
There's a space where a few plugs of hair either didn't get rooted or fell out. That's too bad.
The blazer is held in place with a belt just like the Monster High version, but because the tailoring on the blazer is poor and the material is stiff and crinkly, this area looks messy:
Compare that to the original:
It's night and day. And the color of the knockoff blazer is all wrong. There shouldn't be any color.
Before I get ahead of myself talking about the outfit, though, let me show you a close-up of Wednesday's face:
It's way better than the grumpy knockoff face. I like the detailed eyebrows (wish they were darker, though) and the inset eyes are great! They're a wonderfully dark brown color, and even have little skull-shaped reflective dots:
The lip paint is not so good. It's an appropriate color, but there are obvious rubbed-off areas on the upper lip, and the exposed teeth in the mold are painted the same color as the lips, which looks bad...or like really bad tartar.
Now we can finish looking at the outfit:
It has all of the same components as the Monster High ensemble, namely a blazer, belt, dress, stockings, and boots.
The ribbon belt has a plastic decorative buckle and closes in back with velcro:
Underneath the stiff (blue) blazer, there's a sleeveless dress that looks familiar:
The top is white and the skirt is black, just like the original, but the similarities end there. The collar and tie on top are printed onto the white fabric, and the skirt is nowhere near as full or flowing.
Also, while the back of the dress opens down the back with velcro:
The fabric around Wednesday's neck is sewn together...so the dress cannot be removed:
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| That doesn't make me happy every day. |
Why have a velcro seam when the dress can't be removed? Why ask questions when you don't want to know the answer? It's just bad.
Underneath her permanent dress, Wednesday has a copy of the G1 Monster High body:
The body has a lightweight hollow plastic torso and plastic upper legs, with vinyl arms and vinyl lower legs.
Wednesday is wearing messy-looking knee-high net stockings and high-heeled black boots:
The boots don't have the same cool design as Monster High Wednesday's boots, but they're probably copied from another doll. I just don't remember well enough to tell you which one:
They must be copied from another Monster High doll though, because they fit my other G1 Monster High dolls nicely.
That's strange, though, because this Wednesday does not have Monster High feet!
She has weird little Barbie-like nubbins with all of the fun toe detail from a Monster High foot shaved away. Was that a way to circumvent copyright infringement? I hope it's not that simple.
Anyway, it probably goes without saying that the boots are way too big for this doll's nubbin feet, and they tend to fall off--especially without the stockings.
Even before I knew what doll would come with that last order, I'd made an attempt to find the neckless doll that was missing from my earlier knockoff purchase. That let me to this bundle, with another Bratzillaz-head doll and an extra outfit:
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| The one in the box looks neckless. |
The price for all of this was $15.99, which seems great until you realize that there's also a hefty shipping fee. I think it was about $26 overall.
I won't go into too much detail here, since we've already seen this doll, but she came with an extra outfit that might be worth investigating, and she's got the short neck syndrome that we saw in the advertising:
The outfit has all of the same components as Rave'n Wednesday's outfit, including the bodysuit:
However, once again, the doll came sewn into her uniform:
Why sell a doll with an extra outfit if she can't even be separated from her first outfit? That's when it occurred to me: perhaps the head is removable? That would make sense, actually, because the neckless effect on these dolls is because the head isn't anchored properly and easily slips down:
I actually cut the dress off to get that last picture, and this next one, which shows the neckless phenomenon even better:
It's so weird to see a Monster High body without that swan-like neck!
However, I was able to pull the head up, which exposed the entire neck. Now the doll looks much better:
I figured that if I pulled the head up even more, it would pop off and justify the sewn-on dress. However, when I pulled more (gently), the neck broke off:
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| Ouch. |
There's a (fragile) little peg on top of the neck that prevents the head from pulling all of the way off, but apparently that peg does nothing to stop the head from sinking down.
So, yeah. It's as bad as I originally thought. This doll cannot be redressed without cutting open the back of the original outfit--or breaking the neck. It's embarrassing.
Fortunately, I did that experiment after I'd taken all of my photos, so we can go back in time and look at the doll with her unsevered head while I try on the black dress outfit:
The jumpsuit that goes under the dress is pretty basic. It's made out of stretch knit, just like the Monster High version, but it has only one ribbon strap, and the neckline is unfinished and ragged:
In that last picture you can also see some staining that was left from the blazer.
The dress fits over the jumpsuit and looks...well, it looks fine:
The fabric is cheap, the neck gapes open in back, and the lines are crooked, but all of the elements are there. It's much better than grumpy Wednesday's black dress, at least:
Another thing that's better than grumpy Wednesday is the hair. When I let this doll's hair down, it wasn't a complete disaster:
The hair doesn't feel great, but it doesn't stink, and the cut is even:
Here it is from the back:
The rooting is sparse (only around the hairline and part), but at least the exposed scalp is painted black:
Here are all four knockoff dolls together:
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| Wednesday Addams knockoff dolls. |
I should have put one of the grumpy Wednesdays into the Rave'n dance dress for that shot, but I wasn't thinking. Here's a reminder of that dress:
Basically, the grumpy Wednesday dolls are trash. Their hair is terrible, with a strong chemical smell, poor rooting, and an uneven cut. It also falls out in big clumps. The face is unappealing and the paint is sparse. The body is slightly less terrible, but only because it's copied from a Barbie body. Still, the plastic is thin and fragile and the joints are stiff. The clothing is unremarkable, with shortcuts taken at every turn. The Rave'n dance dress is the best of the bunch, but the fabrics are stiff, wrinkled, low-quality, and cause stains.
The fake Bratzillaz Wednesdays are better in every respect. They have cute faces with inset eyes and decent face paint. Their teeth are painted black, which looks odd, but that's my only critique of the face. The hair is poorly rooted with mediocre texture, but the cut is even, the braids have decent volume, and the hair looks good when taken down. The body is a copied G1 Monster High body, so it has good articulation, but the materials are very cheap. Also, the neck connection is poorly designed: the head easily falls down over the neck, but if it's pulled up too far, it breaks off. The clothing does a decent job of copying the original Monster High wardrobe, but all of the fabrics are low-quality, and the uniform dress cannot be removed without cutting it at the neck.
I don't think either knockoff doll is worth buying, frankly. And as good as the fake Bratzillaz dolls look next to grumpy Wednesday, they pale in comparison to the originals:
Seeing these four together makes me appreciate the Monster High girls even more. Notice how nuanced their complexions are, with that overly-pale but borderline natural look. Also, even from a distance, you can see that the hair is higher-quality. There's a sheen to the hair fibers on the Monster High girls while the knockoff hair is flat. And the outfits! Wow. The Monster High clothing is so well-tailored, with excellent designs and interesting fabrics. And even though both dolls have the same body mold, the Monster High dolls have solid bodies with joints that move well, feel more durable, and hold their poses.
Here are the two Rave'n dance dolls together:
And the two uniform dolls:
Honestly, seeing these comparisons might be the best argument for why the Monster High prices are so high. Considering that I spent about $25 for each of the Bratzillaz Wednesdays, spending another $15 to get a real Monster High doll feels like a no brainer.
And that's about it for this review...except for one more thing that you know I have to do. I'm a lunatic, yes, but I need to know what Rave'n Wednesday's hair looks like when it's down. Maybe you do, too? How about this: I'll take it down so you don't have to.
Cutting out the first two rubber bands left behind two cute pigtails and two really long braids:
Here's the back:
Those pigtails are so cute that I was tempted to leave it like this, and maybe cut off the two longer braids. But I persisted.
I cut all of the remaining rubber bands and untied the braids:
This is not such a good look, but the hair is well-rooted and thick.
I did a boil wash, but it didn't work very well. The kinks from the braids didn't relax, and the hot water made some of the ends frizzy:
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| Oh, dear. |
The fiber doesn't feel or act like saran.
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| Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's polypropylene? |
I chopped off the longer hair and let everything dry and this is what I'm left with:
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| It's gothic Olivia Newton John. |
It's not too bad, actually, but she's lost that Wednesday Addams vibe. My advice is to leave the original hairstyle in place.
I also took the other Wednesday's hair down, and it was a better experience:
This hair is long, thick, and pretty:
It was hard to brush because of all the styling gel. There was a ton of gel at the ends of the hair, in particular, and the brush kept getting stuck there. I'll definitely wash this hair at some point, but not today.
The rooting is excellent:
The fiber sort-of feels like saran, but I'm not 100% sure that's what it is. It doesn't have that soft, mohair-like quality in the texture, but that could be because of the dry stickiness from all of that styling gel.
What I can say is this: after seeing all of the other hair in the series so far, this is the best:
Bottom line? I've probably talked enough about the knockoffs at this point, so this summary will be all about the two Monster High dolls. And I like almost everything about them, so it'll be fun.
I'll start by addressing the four things that I wish were different about these dolls: their eye paint, Rave'n Wednesday's hair, the shoulder articulation, and the price. With the eye paint, it's mostly great, but the slice of reflective white on one side is distracting to me, and makes it hard to tell where the dolls are looking. Rave'n Wednesday's hair is a mixed bag, because the style is very accurate to the show, and it looks great from the front and top, but the back is sloppy, with those hacked off ends sticking out. And when I let the hair down, I was left with a scraggly mess and hair fiber that's hard to work with. The shoulder articulation is not a big deal, but I wish that the arms could move closer to the doll's sides. This is a change from the original G1 design. Last of all, I think both dolls are overpriced to some degree, especially since they do not appear to be limited editions. Rave'n Wednesday's $65 price is particularly bad. There's no way she's worth $25 more than her uniform-clad counterpart.
Other than those few complaints, I enjoyed these dolls immensely. I'll point out a few of my favorite things. First of all, I love the outfits. All of the clothing fits really well and looks true to the Wednesday television show...with clever little hints of the Monster High world mixed in. With the Nevermore uniform, I particularly like the tailoring on the blazer (although the fabric is thin and unlined). I also like how the tie lays nicely, the fullness of the skirt, and the amazing cello and scorpion shoes. With the black dress, I love the silky sheer fabric choice, the areas of transparency, and the sleek bodysuit that didn't leave a single stain. The shoes are not as impressive with the Rave'n outfit, but they're cute.
The doll's faces are well-painted, with clear, bold colors and good precision. I particularly like uniform Wednesday's super-dark red lip color. I also love the scattered freckles on both dolls. The head mold is surprisingly good at portraying Jenna Ortega, too, especially in profile, where the thick lips and determined jaw make me think of that actor's signature expression. The skin color choice is also good. It's a fairly normal human complexion, but the pale, greyish hue adds something eerie. And despite having issues with Rave'n Wednesday's hair, the regular Wednesday has great hair, with dense rooting and nicely-shaped (if overly gelled) bangs.
I suspect it goes without saying that I love Monster High articulation. Aside from the arm position, these dolls pose beautifully. And the snapping hand on the uniform Wednesday is fantastic! I've heard complaints of the legs breaking too easily at the knee on these dolls, but I didn't experience that myself. Granted, I only played with my girls for an hour or two. But in that short time, I was reminded--yet again--how fun it is to pose and photograph a Monster High doll.
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