More Monster High – Part One

Remember I said I’m not really a Monster High collector? Yeah, well scrap that. I’m all in. Well, almost all in.  Unlike the Disney raised Millennial-generation collectors, I haven’t seen the Web Series, TV shows or movies, and I also don’t intend to.  I’m only interested in the dolls, and even then, not all the dolls.  Just the ones that appeal to me, and they tend to be the ones that are the most creative. I just like the dolls for what they are and what they speak to me. I don’t want to watch anyone else’s idea of who the characters are. Reading the Wikipedia page on the dolls I was both amused and saddened by the statement: ‘Mattel was experimenting with a new business strategy which consisted of launching a new franchise by releasing the toy first—without a “traditional entertainment property first”—and then following up with the media and entertainment.’ Really? A ‘new’ strategy of releasing dolls without an entertainment property?  Someone had better tell Barbie, Sindy, and almost every toy released before the Star Wars era. It makes me sad that kids today have an ‘entertainment property’ attached to almost every toy and don’t just appreciate them for what they are and what they represent to that child’s imagination. If only they could play with toys without a screen having to be involved.

In a previous post (see here), I pictured some of my favourite Monster High dolls that were bought at Mattel warehouse sales – until a few years ago, Australia was still dumping ground for excess stock which was sold cheaply – and since then, I’ve picked up quite a few more dolls at op shops. And each one I’ve bought has made me appreciate and love them more, to the point where I’ve even bought a couple of the new re-booted dolls and resorted to eBay to buy a couple of the older ones.  They used to live, out of the way, in a couple of acetate cylinders on the top of a doll cupboard, but now they’ll have their own shelf in a new cabinet. I might even have a bit of a wish list, even though I don’t really have the space for more. So here’s a look at some more of my Monster High dolls.

I’ve discovered that collectors group these dolls loosely into three generations: G1 are the first issued ranges; G2 are ranges from around 2016 that got a slight makeover by Mattel, with newer more robust body joints and restyled face paint, later G2 dolls lost their articulated knees and elbows before the line was cancelled in 2018; and G3 dolls are the new, re-imagined line released in 2023.  There have also been several high-end, collector (Skullector) dolls.

When the new (G3) dolls hit shelves here, I couldn’t resist buying two of them.  These dolls have had a total makeover, with new body and face sculpts.  Like the original releases there is some variation in height, but now there is also a curvy body-type.  These bodies are quite different to the previous editions – the original doll’s torsos look a wee bit contorted with a pronounced sway back – and are much more robust. I can only describe their faces as much cuter than the original dolls, I might even go so far as to say cutesy.

So far, five characters have appeared here, Frankie Stein, Clawdeen Wolf, Draculaura, Lagoona Blue and Cleo DeNile.  I don’t really like the new Frankie, she’s too cute and to me her neck looks too short. I already have a Frankie in my collection anyway, so I knew I wouldn’t be buying her. Although I have a Lagoona, I do love the new doll, except for her colour scheme.  Instead of her usual blue, she’s now pink with blue accents, and I’d much prefer it the other way around.  Cleo has never really appealed to me as she’s never really looked like a mummy.  I’d love her to have a creamy-white body with moulded bandages, instead of just looking vaguely like Egyptian royalty. Strangely, as much as I love bats, and by extension, vampires, I haven’t found a Draculaura doll that I really liked, until now.  I just love the reimagined doll, especially her two-toned hair.  Clawdeen is also too cute for words, so I couldn’t resist buying both of them.

Draculaura

Like her predecessors, this doll is light pink in colour, but in this edition she has a shorter, curvy body.  Her hair is half pink, half black, and hearts and bats are a strong motif in her pink and black outfit and jewellery. She has little painted fangs, pointy ears and a wee batty friend, Count Fabulous.  She comes with lots of accessories including bat themed sunglasses and SPF 500 sunscreen, cute touches.

Clawdeen Wolf

This doll has a mass of pink and brown hair, but unfortunately it’s a bit frizzy straight out of the box, I’ll have to spend some time settling it down a bit. Still I Love this doll, she has the cutest little face with painted nose and fangs.  She has tufts of moulded fur on her wrists and ankles, it’s just a shame there’s not more of it.  Her hands are different to Draculaura’s, they’re more claw shaped, and her runners have teeth or claws moulded to the soles. Her clothing and jewellery all have a moon theme and she comes with her pet, Crescent the wolf.

Although I think I prefer the older dolls that appear a little spookier than cute, I hope they continue to add characters to the reimagined line, perhaps even some new ones. There have been a few waves issued so far, and couple include a couple of the male (Mansters) characters, but these haven’t shown up on shelves here yet.  Collectors seem to have embraced the new dolls, let’s hope kids do too and the range continues to grow.

Don’t forget, I’m now on Instagram – @jenjoysworld(and a non-doll photo art account @jenniferbs_world). There’ll be some unique content and behind the scenes stuff, so head over and follow.

(C) Jennifer B – All content is subject to copyright and may not be re-published or reproduced without written permission.