Don't Ask Me, I'm Just a Ghoul

 

On Thanksgiving we made the choice to go out into the insanity of "early Black Friday" shopping. Toys R Us was open at 8:00 pm and we figured what the hell, let's go. Mainly it was to get some Wii U games at a discount, which was a success, but I also wanted to see if some toys I'd been eying up had gone on sale as well.

Nothing special on the My Little Pony or Pokemon sectors, but I had one more toy in mind before we left. I've been interested in the Monster High dolls ever since they hit the shelves in 2010. I just haven't been able to bring myself to buy one till now. Early on I thought they were a neat idea, dolls based on monsters. Give the girls of today a different twist on dolls. I've never been a big horror genre buff, like my other half is, so I wouldn't have probably cared when I was a kid,but I had friends who would have begged their moms for them.

I found that one of the characters I've been wanting to get was indeed on sale. The icy girl from the north, Abby Bominable was in a bundle fashion pack for half off. So I finally gave in and bought her.

These dolls are amazing!

I like that they kept in theme with coffin shaped packaging.

The over all look of these dolls makes them stand out from others you'll see in stores. They do follow the Bratz look a bit with having larger heads and small torsos, but these girls have long limbs and a bit of boo-ty. Their skin tones range from lively tans to pale blues and eire greens. Their faces have a very anime feel with big doe eyes and tiny noses, and each character has it's own unique face mold. The female dolls all have saran or kanekalon hair, but some of the male dolls have plastic molded hair. It really just depends on their individual designs. The bodies are fully articulate, which is a huge selling point for me, and their forearms and hands are removable. There are currently about 24 different characters that have been produced as dolls, with new ones still to be released in the future.

1st generation dolls. I love that Lagoona has webbing between her fingers! A+ on details.

As cool as these dolls are on their own, they are also cartoon characters. I love their designs but the show is obnoxious. If you can get past the over the top accent abused voice acting, and aren't killed by the OMG! I'm a fashionista mentality of several of the characters, you'll see it's really just your typical Saved By the Bell animated rip off.  Teenage monsters trying to find their place in the social rankings of high school, aimed at the tween audience. So says the almost 30 year old who still gets excited about new My Little Pony episodes...

Ghoulia Yelps, a zombie and the smartest ghoul in her school

I'll admit I've only watched 2 episodes, I kinda want to watch a bit more but I'm on the fence about it. I am very drawn to the characters, but then they speak  a part of my soul dies. Maybe I can chalk it up to bad writing or directing... I realize we're still trying to push unity and tolerance with our younger generations but do you really have to give every character a different, somewhat stereotypical accent?

I think not.

Whether I truly give the show a chance is still in the air, but I would like to get a few more of the dolls after a while. I still want a Ghoulia Yelps, the zombie chick who's the smartest student in school. Kind of ironic right? Though her bio says she'd rather eat fast food than brains....

Lagoona Blue

Lagoona Blue, the daughter of the sea monster, is another one I really am drawn to. For being scaly she just looks cool. I love all the little fin details she has as well.


Spectra Vondergeist, a ghost girl, looks pretty cool with her purple hair literally white skin.


Operetta, is the daughter if the Phantom of the Opera. Her bright red hair is a bit much but I like that she's got a musical theme to her and kind of a mask like her father.


Venus McFlytrap, daughter of the plant monster, has an amazing color pallet! How can you not be drawn to the bright pinks and greens. Of all the new dolls I think I want to add her to my new collection the most.


Robecca Steam, takes steam punk to a new level. She's the daughter of a mad scientist so naturally she's a freakin' robot. She's got copper colored skin with bolts and rivets and blue hair. Plus she comes with her own goggles!

Jinafire Long, daughter of the Dragon

Jinafire Long, daughter of the Dragon, is looking like she'll be one of the new hard to find Monster High dolls.... so naturally I'd think it's a cool looking one. Never fails. She's got a tail and shiny gold skin. Add long green hair and an over all Asian look and she's a must find.

There's also vampires, werewolves and werecats, gorgons, gargoyles, skeletons, mummies and more creatures in this universe. I don't think the Monster High Ghouls are going anywhere any time soon.  I remember when these dolls had maybe part of a shelf in the stores to themselves. Now everywhere I see them their sections have been expanding to two or three panels wide. Looks like Mattel has another winner on their hands.