![]() |
Monster High G3 Abbey Bominable, $24.99. |
Sunday, August 13, 2023
Monster High's G3 Abbey Bominable--A Guest Review!
Thursday, June 15, 2023
G3 Draculaura and a Mini History--a Guest Review!
Thursday, May 11, 2023
Monster High Ghouluxe Ghoulia Yelps by Mattel
One of the really fun things about blogging is that when I have a few hundred pictures to sort and edit, I tend to watch a lot of television. Lately, that has meant blasting through Netflix's Queen Charlotte, which is a Bridgerton prequel. I never miss Bridgerton content because I have a long and happy history of reading Julia Quinn's work. In fact, one of her novels, An Offer From a Gentleman, is one of my top Cinderella stories of all time. Why am I saying all of this? Because I want to put something out there, just in case any of the big doll companies happen to visit (Mattel?): could we have some 1:6 Bridgerton fashion dolls, please? With all of those beautiful gowns and decadent hair--and all of the wonderful diversity? Pretty please? I will buy all of them.
But I'm not here to talk about Bridgerton, even though it's been on my mind lately. The past week has been a whirlwind, with a few trips keeping me busy, and so I thought I'd review something short and sweet to get back into the groove. I also wanted to review something relatively uncomplicated because Tears of the Kingdom comes out tomorrow and I need to clear my weekend for that. I'll make you the same promise that I made my husband: I'll try not to completely drop off the face of the Earth as I re-enter Hyrule. Mind you, I said "try." So, anyway, what review topic is short, sweet, and relatively uncomplicated? One of my all-time favorite brands, of course: Monster High.
I recently joined Mattel's Fang Club, and it's been very damaging for my budget. It feels like every other week the company releases another limited Monster High doll. And not only that, but now I get emails notifying me of other special releases, too. So, last week I bought the new Barbie and Ken set, the week before that it was Monster High's Chucky and Tiffany, and in mid April it was fang-favorite Rochelle Goyle. But the ghoul who started it all, way back in March, is the star of today's review: Ghouluxe Ghoulia Yelps.
![]() |
Monster High Ghouluxe Ghoulia Yelps by Mattel, $50. |
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Mattel Mermaids
I've been missing in action for a while because my husband and I finally took an honest-to-goodness, week-long, have-to-get-on-an-airplane vacation. We haven't taken any significant trips with just the two of us since our honeymoon, so we felt like it was past time. We decided to visit St. John, in the United States Virgin Islands. This is the place that we visited ten years ago, with our kids and parents. It's where I photographed the Rapunzel and Mother Gothel review, and also the underwater Lala-Oopsie sea horse review.
This time around, we rented a small house in a remote location and had an amazing time snorkeling, cooking, and trying to catch up on sleep. Wild goats kept us from sleeping through most nights (in a charming, goat-like way, for sure) but everything else was magical. I'm so glad that we finally took the plunge. I'll confess that we weren't the only ones who had a good time on this trip, though. Lena managed to convince us that she should come along, too--you know, to chaperone the other dolls. She made a good point; I always like to bring along several doll companions when I travel, and things can get rowdy. And anyway, I have a hard time saying no to Lena. She had her own agenda for the trip, of course, and you'll hear more about that in future posts.
It's always tough to decide which dolls should be included in special trips like this, but since I knew I was going to be doing a lot of swimming and snorkeling, I figured it was the perfect time to continue with my mini series of mermaid doll reviews. I've already looked at MGA's Mermaze Mermaidz and Spin Master's Mermaid High (both now discontinued, by the way), so this time I decided to showcase two of Mattel's mermaid creations: a Barbie Dreamtopia mermaid, and Monster High's mermaid hybrid, Sirena Von Boo:
![]() |
Monster High's Freaky Fusion Sirena Von Boo by Mattel, MSRP $24.99. |
Saturday, November 5, 2022
G3 Frankie Stein from Monster High
I already wrote an in-depth review of the new Monster High dolls, but I know there's a lot of interest in the individual characters, so I decided to do a short(er) follow-up with the fabulously freaky Frankie Stein!
![]() |
G3 Frankie Stein from Monster High, $24.99. |
Thursday, October 13, 2022
G3 Monster High Dolls by Mattel
I have all of these carefully-laid plans with the blog, I promise I do, but then things keep coming along to derail those plans--often in a delightful way. Two weeks ago my discovery of the DALL-E image generator threw me off track, and then last week it was the much-anticipated release of the Generation 3 Monster High dolls. I knew the G3 dolls were coming out in October, and so I showed up at my local Target bright and early on October 1, eagerly scanning the shelves for the familiar logo, but I didn't see any sign of the new dolls. Then, on October 2, my friend Darcy alerted me to the fact that many of the dolls were available online. And so I ordered one. OK, two. Alright, most of them. Oops. And then, of course, the moment they started to arrive at my house, I had to put aside what I was working on and open them immediately.
Mattel has been very busy over the last few months, trickling out tantalizing Monster High releases like the Haunt Couture collection, the greyscale Reel Drama group (which I love!), and the Boo-riginal Creeproductions of the first wave dolls. All of these dolls look like the original Monster High characters, with the same body and the same face molds. So I was surprised to see that the G3 dolls are completely different! The characters' names and styles are the same, but almost everything else has been changed.
I'll admit that I wasn't too thrilled with some of the promotional photos of the G3 dolls. I could tell who all of the characters were supposed to be, but they looked too mainstream and cutesy to me. They weren't weird enough to be the Monster High that I know and love. But I decided to put my misgivings aside and give them a fair chance. Things change, right? The first doll that I bought, and the one who I'll feature in this review, is none other than my favorite Clawdeen Wolf...if you can recognize her:
![]() |
Generation 3 Monster High Clawdeen Wolf by Mattel, $24.99. |
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Monster High Haunt Couture Clawdeen Wolf
Monster High dolls were among the very first things that I reviewed ten years ago when this blog was brand-new, so they will always have a special place in my heart. I delighted in their strange body proportions, excellent articulation, outstanding design, intricate accessories (those shoes!), and refreshing originality. I've reviewed a lot of characters from this line over the years, both on my own and with the help of some wonderful guest reviewers. When the brand was retired in 2017, I had mixed feelings. In the year or two leading up to the cancellation, I had begun to grow weary of the overabundance of dolls on the toy store shelves. The sheer number of characters made each individual doll feel less special. And the dolls themselves were literally less special; the quality and attention to detail had begun to decline. For the most part, the later dolls have simpler outfits, fewer accessories, more basic painted features, and lots of trouble with gluey heads and arms (or tails!) that fall off too easily.
After the dolls were gone, though, I missed them more than I thought I would. Specifically, I missed the anticipation and excitement that surrounded the release of new characters. There was always the chance that one of the new dolls would stand out from the pack. Because the thing is, even as the overall quality and originality of the brand was declining, there were little bursts of brilliance. Avea Trotter, for example, is still one of my favorite dolls of all time. I also thought the Inner Monster series was a huge amount of fun. There was a limited edition Draculaura released in 2015 who is beautiful (I owned her briefly), and the 2017 special edition of Zomby Gaga is incredible, too. She's one of the rare dolls that I'll never sell. So even though I coveted fewer and fewer Monster High dolls towards the end of their original run, the brand still had the ability to create some absolute treasures.
Over the last few years, mostly while I wasn't paying attention, hints started to swirl around that Monster High might reboot. For example, in 2020, Mattel released a small series of movie-themed dolls (Pennywise and the Grady twins...covet!). There was some buzz about a new animated television show and a new movie, too. Then, finally, the official announcement came: new dolls would be released in 2022. Despite the mixed feelings I'd had in previous years, I got very excited about this news; it was a chance to find some new treasures! And the reboot wave looked like it might have some gems among it. This group includes three collector's edition dolls; Draculaura, Frankie Stein, and Clawdeen Wolf. Clawdeen has always been one of my favorite characters, so she's the one I chose:
![]() |
Monster High Haunt Couture Clawdeen Wolf, $75. |
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Catwalk Kitties by Lanard
And now for something completely different! Today I'm going to share the wacky world of Catwalk Kitties with you! This is a discontinued brand of anthropomorphic play dolls that was introduced in 2005 by the Hong Kong-based company, Lanard.
The Catwalk Kitties were not very popular in their time, judging by the fact that they were released in 2005 and discontinued in 2006. I'm interested in the Kitties because there's speculation online that these fashion felines might have been Mattel's inspiration for Monster High, which debuted a few years later in 2010. However, Mattel explored cat fashion themselves back in 2003 when they released the Lounge Kitties--a group of Barbie dolls clad in cat suits. Regardless of who was inspired by whom, there have been some fascinating animal-themed play dolls in the past few decades. In this review I'll focus mainly on the Catwalk Kitties, but I'll also do short comparisons to a Monster High cat and a Lounge Kitties doll--and I'll throw in a little Pinkie Cooper to keep the dog lovers happy.
Before I get started, I want to acknowledge two good friends and their roles in this review. First of all, even though I mentioned the Catwalk Kitties briefly in my Pinkie Cooper review, I never would have remembered them if it wasn't for Katrina. She sent me an excited message through Patreon when she found one of these dolls on eBay, and that's what got the ball of yarn rolling. I also want to thank Darcy, who suggested that I review something vintage and strange. What could be more vintage and strange than a big-headed fashion cat from 2006? Also, Darcy loves cats more than anyone I know, so--Darc et al., this one's for you:
![]() |
Catwalk Kitties Sienna, by Lanard ($114 on the secondary market). |
Sunday, August 13, 2017
Enchantimals by Mattel
Instead of leaping right in and introducing the Enchantimals, I though maybe I'd change things up and try to describe what it's like here in my house as I type up these reviews. First of all, there are animals everywhere. I usually have my chronically flatulent mini poodle, Zelda, curled up on my right side and my mutt, Pants, cuddled as close as Zelda will let him get. A parakeet cage sits immediately to my left, and this houses our two male birds: Bundy and Griffin. Griffin is always very interested in what I'm doing. His favorite activity is to "help" me type (in other words, to sit on the keyboard and pull up on the computer's keys with his beak...pooping on my track pad as he works) but when I don't let him do this, he sits in his cage and looks over my shoulder, offering helpful chirps (or squawks) when he feels they're necessary.
While all of this is going on, my youngest (now 17) is practicing the piano about ten feet away from me. I say this like it's always happening...because it is. In fact, a few of you might have noticed those sounds in the background of my WuvLuv videos. I enjoy listening to the piano while I work, I do, but the problem is that my ancient dog, Padawan, imagines himself an excellent jazz singer. So, he's often accompanying the music with his geriatric howl. Better still, all three of the parakeets tend to sing (or squawk, depending on whether or not they like the song...) to the music as well.
So, basically, everything I do is set against a background of piano music, animal noises, and pet
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Zomby Gaga by Monster High and the
Born This Way Foundation
This particular review has been a long time coming. I pre-ordered Monster High's Zomby Gaga back in October (after Dmitry's excellent suggestion). Zomby Gaga is a special edition doll meant to depict Lady Gaga from her Born This Way music video. Zomby Gaga arrived in early January, but I've had a hard time tracking down the other doll I needed for this review--Robert Tonner's Zombie Boy. Zombie Boy is the screen name of Rick Genest, the tattooed model who appears alongside Lady Gaga in her video. I finally found the Zombie Boy doll safely tucked away on a back shelf. He's fragile, and so I don't keep him on display.
The timing actually worked out really well, though, because the real Lady Gaga performed at the epic Super Bowl game last weekend, and so I've had her songs going through my head all week.
![]() |
"Zomby Gaga" by Monster High, $23.99. |
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Sunday Surprise: Toy Box Monthly Subscription!
My son and I tried a subscription a few months ago called The Mystery Experiences Company. This company sends out a detailed mystery to be solved every month--each with little puzzles, artifacts and clues to help with the solution. This was fun, but we discovered quickly that we didn't have the time or patience to dig into a complex new mystery every month. When I was canceling the mystery subscription, I spotted Toy Box Monthly. For $20 ($15 plus shipping), this company sends a little box of mystery toys every month. This sounded like the perfect thing for the Sunday Surprise!
I should mention right off the bat that the Shopkins Lil' Shoppie shown below did not come in the subscription box. So why am I showing you a picture of her? Well, I didn't want to give away what was in the subscription box (that would ruin the surprise!) but also, these Shopkins items will make an appearance at the end of the post. That's all I'll say for now.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Photo Mission! (With a Mini Review of Posea Reef)
There are so many things I love about this blog--things that I consider a huge success. First of all, I love to photograph dolls and write about them. And, there's an incredible selection of amazing dolls out there to review. I feel like the proverbial kid in a candy shop most days. In addition, I get a lot of visitors or "page hits" (the brass rings of blogging) and am about to hit the 6,000,000 mark, which is unbelievable. I also love you guys. I'd wager that few blogs have such an amazing, kind, insightful audience. But the bottom line is really all about...well, the bottom line. The harsh reality is that this blog is losing money. Lots of money. Breaking even would be one thing, but losing money is starting to be bad. This could be my fault, or just the way blogs are these days. I don't know. But I can no longer pretend that this is my job. It's kind-of the opposite.
I like blogging too much to give it up completely, but my approach definitely has to change. While I figure out what all of this means, I thought I would publish the wonderful contributions from the last Photo Mission. I asked to see pictures of the interesting dolls for sale in your part of the world. I added my own photographs to this post and will also include two short reviews. One of the reviews is of a doll that I found during the Photo Mission: Monster High's new mermaid, Posea Reef. Snapping pictures of Posea on the store shelf was not enough--I wanted to get a closer look at her:
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Mystixx Rococo Zombie Azra
Thursday, October 29, 2015
"Khaki Girl" Monster High Knockoff Doll from China
It would be great to show off several monster-themed dolls this week, but as things are going I'll probably only get to one or two. I'll start with a very blatant example: a knockoff copy of Monster High Clawdeen that I found on eBay:
![]() |
Khaki Girl knockoff doll (left) and Monster High Scaris Clawdeen Wolf (right). |
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
An Ever After High Repaint Tutorial by Charlotte of Milklegs Dolls
![]() |
Ever After High Briar Beauty and Monster High Frights, Camera, Action! Clawdeen Wolf. Repainted by Charlotte of Milklegs Dolls. |
Sunday, June 28, 2015
The 17-Inch Freak du Chic "Gooliope Jellington" from Monster High
I want to thank everyone who emailed me about the appearance of the first super-sized Monster High doll: Gooliope Jellington. Without your tips, I might not have noticed from the online pictures that Gooliope was any larger than a regular Monster High character. This doll is scaled up so accurately that when she's photographed alone, she can easily be mistaken for an 11-inch doll:
![]() |
Freak du Chic "Gooliope Jellington," $29.99. |
Friday, January 16, 2015
Monster Exchange "Lorna McNessie" and Haunted "Vandala Doubloons"
One reason for my email ineptitude is that I spend way too much time photographing dolls. This review, for example, was meant to be just of Lorna McNessie--one of the new Monster High "Monster Exchange" dolls. However, when I was shopping for Lorna, the other new Monster High line, "Haunted," also caught my eye. I've had several requests to look at both of these new groups of dolls, so I figured I would try to do one of each in the same post. So...yeah. It's another long review.
I'll start by taking a close look at Miss Lorna, whose red hair and Scottish ("Rottish") heritage was too much for me to resist--even for $23. I'll end the review by taking a slightly less in-depth look at Vandala Doubloons, the fancy, ethereal daughter of a pirate ghost.
![]() |
Monster Exchange "Lorna McNessie," $22.99. |
Sunday, December 7, 2014
The Lammily Doll
Lammily was designed by graphic artist Nickolay Lamm, and the reason that she has captured such widespread attention is that she was designed to have the body proportions of a typical American teenager. Unlike Barbie (and most other 12-inch fashion dolls) Lammily does not have an impossibly tiny waist, large chest, oversized head or spindly legs. Mr. Lamm used body measurements published by the Center for Disease Control to ensure that his doll would not only be realistic...but would be average. The word "average" does not tend to conjure visions of loveliness, but Mr. Lamm challenged this preconception and branded his doll with the inspiring logo, "Average is Beautiful."
I pre-ordered two Lammily dolls immediately after reading the article in The Atlantic (the dolls are $25 each). This is exactly the kind of crowd-funded, vision-driven project that I love to see in the doll world. I was inherently enthusiastic about the Lammily concept, but an email I received from Nickolay Lamm last May added to my excitement. Mr. Lamm wrote seeking some advice about the doll's articulation--and you guys can probably guess that I, uh, had a fair amount to say on that subject. Conversations back and forth with Mr. Lamm over the past few months have given me a fascinating glimpse into the creative process behind this unique new doll. I have been on pins and needles to see how all of Mr. Lamm's ideas came together in the debut doll, and am beyond excited to share my initial impressions with all of you:
![]() |
The Lammily doll makes her entrance. |
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Review Fusion #4
Amidst the happy pandemonium of the next couple of weeks, I'd like to try and do some shorter reviews of the dolls and toys that seem especially popular or interesting this holiday season, but I also want to squeeze in a few more guest reviews before I get too busy. This Fusion post will attempt to address both goals: I have two really neat guest reviews to share with you, and I'll also offer my own quick evaluation of one of the most sought-after toys in this neck of the woods lately: My Size Anna.
![]() |
My Size Anna (Target, $59.99). |
Friday, October 31, 2014
McFarlane Toys' 10" Daryl Dixon Figure from "The Walking Dead"
![]() |
10" Daryl Dixon meets a Gentleman. |