Mattel’s new Monster High line is a huge hit stateside, showing up on “hottest holiday toy” lists all over. Here’s a look at the dolls.
The Monster High characters are the children of famous monster parents. The first batch to be released included Frankie Stein, the daughter of Frankenstein (or Frankenstein’s monster…), Cleo de Nile, the daughter of the mummy, Lagoona Blue, the daughter of the sea monster, Draculaura, the daughter of Dracula, Deuce Gorgon, the son of Medusa, and Clawdeen Wolf, daughter of the werewolf. The basic Cleo and Deuce are packaged together as a set. The other girls are sold individually. Each of the basic dolls comes with a stand, a brush, a unique pet, and a paper journal filled with approximately eight pages of “entries”. Quick on the heels of the basic group, Mattel released Frankie, Clawdeen, and Cleo in special “Dawn of the Dance” editions. The DotD girls wear dance outfits, and have different hair and make-up than their basic counterparts. DotD dolls come with a stand, a brush, and a tiny plastic “i-coffin” (the Monster High student’s equivalent of an i-phone). Around the time of the DotD release, some areas of the US also received basic editions of two new characters: Holt Hyde (son of Dr. Jekyl) and Ghoulia Yelps (daughter of a zombie). I say some areas, because while the stores around my home in Maryland got the DotD girls, I have not yet seen Ghoulia or Holt. According to local clerks, it’s not that they’ve sold out, they simply haven’t gotten them at all, as of yet.
Mattel is going whole-hog with the MH property. The dolls are only a start. There is MH themed clothing for girls, accessories, jewelry, school supplies, electronic toys, plush ragdolls and cosmetics. Online, there are you-tube short cartoons, and a live-action music video. A 30min TV special aired Halloween night on Nickelodeon, and is now available online on well. There is a series of young adult novels, penned by author Lisi Harrison. The first is in US bookstores now, with a second slated for spring. IMDB.com lists a live action MH movie as being “in development”.
The dolls themselves are lovely, with great attention given to small details. Mattel put much thought into things like Lagoona’s seahorse necklace, and the transparent webs between her fingers. The basic Frankie has great blue and silver skull-shaped earrings. Face paint is equally well done on all of the girls I’ve seen, accented with subtle glitter or frosting effects. For some reason, my Lagoona’s hair lacks the pretty curls seen in photos, but that’s a minor complaint. The journals included with the basic dolls are another surprise. Lots of work went into these. Even my non-dolly husband was laughing over some of the entries.
The dolls are a touch fragile. Not terribly so, but more than is typical for other toy store fashion dolls. Mattel has already proven able to adapt quickly to customer comments. By design, the MH dolls feature removable hands and arms. These pieces were loosely attached in the first wave of dolls. My Lagoona and DotD Frankie are from this group. Their arms will sometimes fall off with minimal provocation. There were a few consumer complaints about this on sites like Amazon. My basic Frankie and Draculaura, were manufactured more recently. The arms and hands are now much tighter. Comparing the two, while it’s nice not to have limbs falling off, I like being able to remove the arms for dressing. The newer arms are so tight, it makes me nervous pulling on them. The hands are on a thin plastic pin, and it takes care to reinsert them without straining that piece
As I recently posted on the MH forum thread, Draculaura and Frankie’s beds are confirmed “coming soon” items from Mattel. Initially supposed to ship in February, there have been reports that they are already on shelves at Toys R Us stores in NYC. Also forthcoming are clothing sets, including a MH soccer outfit for Clawdeen, and Frankie’s “fearleading” uniform. In the unconfirmed rumors department, word has it that more new characters are on the horizon, as well as a playset for Lagoona.
The only minor (very minor!) irritation I have with Monster High is a wish that Mattel would concentrate on releasing the clothing packs, accessories, and playsets over new iterations of the same characters. The MH dolls debuted in the US this past summer. We already have the basic group, the Dawn of the Dance doll group, and most recently, a swimsuit themed group called “Gloom Beach”. Rumor has it that a pajama clad assortment called “Dead Tired” will hit soon. Personally, I’d much rather have separate costume sets to use with the dolls I already own, rather than having to buy a new doll just to get pajamas or a swimsuit. Having said that, the fact that Mattel is soon releasing the previously mentioned school uniforms sets makes me optimistic that more clothing packs will come in the future. In the meantime, friends in my doll group have had good luck with Bratz clothing to fit their MH girls.
Basic Frankie, Basic Lagoona, Basic Draculaura, and Dawn of the Dance Frankie.
Frankie’s arm, deconstructed.
Lagoona’s transparent finger webs.
Lagoona’s necklace.
Dawn of the Dance Frankie’s “i-coffin”. The top is on a slide mechanism.
Lagoona’s journal.
Basic Frankie’s purse.
