Monster High

[Detective Lubic]

Her doll is the star of the upcoming special so it makes sense of why she is so large in distribution, though she is colored in the special and B&W in the doll so that is interesting.

I guess the next question is if there is going to be a full Color one? hopefully there will be another wave later on with Cleo,Clawdeen and Frankie?? What am I saying of course there will be!!!

[diosoth]

I started poking more into this series(I was informed that the webisode I watched was an early one, which were indeed "not very good") and came to an odd idea of sorts...

Mattel makes it a major point that the "Dracula" who adopted Draculaura isn't the one from the Bram Stoker novel, and is actually an ancient vampire. The guy in Stoker's book was just an impersonator who took the name. That might be well and good but if you're familiar with Castlevania then you're probably familiar with the canon backstory that their Dracula was originally Mathias Cronqvist, who only took the name of Dracula for himself after becoming a vampire, and that the name had been around prior. Stoker's novel has also been plugged into Castlevania canon. I almost have to wonder if Mattel knew what they were doing when they wrote that into Draculaura's backstory because it just seems unlikely they'd pick up on Cantlevania's canon so closely by pure accident.

[Mr. Shokoti]

I bet Mattel made the Monster High Dracula not the same as Stoker's since the one in that book did a lot of awful things that might not be conducive to a toyline for little girls. Especially bad is what Vlad Tepes, the real life person Dracula is based on, did to people.

[Bonehead]

Oh great! Now we got Dan hooked!

I can't wait to see Dan start doing reviews from his toy room with MH Dolls on shelves in the background.



I went out of town for the weekend to visit some relatives, so I decided to make a few stops along the way. I always seem to have better luck when I'm "not looking" than when I am. Went to 2 Targets and 3 TRU this weekend and found nothing. Not one 2 pack.




At least I finally got these 2.

Very quick pic before I go to bed.




I literally just got home a few hours ago and just opened them up.

First impressions:

LOVE ROCHELLE. One of my favorites.

Jackson is kind of boring but what do you expect. We already got the "good" version earlier. He does have the new wrists in case anybody is wondering.

[Staff Of Ka]

Awesome! What color are their stands???

ka

[Bonehead]

Awesome! What color are their stands???

ka

BLACK.

I think the last doll I bought that didn't have a black stand was Abbey. Maybe black plastic is cheaper.

I'm switching over to some metal stands anyways. I hate the stands that the dolls come with. They never stay together and don't even work well with a few dolls.

[markatisu]

Of course they are black, it seems like they are moving to all black to get the most profit

I agree with you on the stands not staying together, all of our recent ones fit together but certainly don't click like in the past.

[MOTUfan]

Attachment 74683Attachment 74684Attachment 74685
Is this an actual doll that's coming out? Because it looks like an empty box and Mattel's pulled that in the past, with that Hot Wheels Invisible Jet. (Also, I kinda want that outfit for myself.)

Would have been so cool to have him, as he is a great character in the books. Is he in any of the webisodes yet??

Also Skull Shores B&W Frankie is showing up at K-Marts for $4.13 each.

[markatisu]

Would have been so cool to have him, as he is a great character in the books. Is he in any of the webisodes yet??

Also Skull Shores B&W Frankie is showing up at K-Marts for $4.13 each.

Not yet, though since he is so well done on that boxart I assume he will be coming up

So that means we have

Walmart/Kmart/Meijers $4.13
Justice $9
ShopKo $14
Toys R Us $16.99

All that is left is Target

[Patreek]

Oh great! Now we got Dan hooked!

I can't wait to see Dan start doing reviews from his toy room with MH Dolls on shelves in the background.



I went out of town for the weekend to visit some relatives, so I decided to make a few stops along the way. I always seem to have better luck when I'm "not looking" than when I am. Went to 2 Targets and 3 TRU this weekend and found nothing. Not one 2 pack.




At least I finally got these 2.

Very quick pic before I go to bed.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...5/P1040892.jpg


I literally just got home a few hours ago and just opened them up.

First impressions:

LOVE ROCHELLE. One of my favorites.

Jackson is kind of boring but what do you expect. We already got the "good" version earlier. He does have the new wrists in case anybody is wondering.

Wow those are GREAT! I want them! Ok ... it is absolutely official... I am going to start collecting this line for real for real. *sobbing in regards to bank account*

[diosoth]

Having watched more of the webisodes, I think the early ones suffer from being "new". They're short, the characters really weren't established yet, and there wasn't much of a running thing. It's hard to tell a decent story in 1 minute. The second season seems to really pick up with a multi-part actual episode going on. I like how they actually work with the fact these characters aren't human and there are actual reasons for something a few centuries old to need to go to school(Draculaura largely being repressed due to vampirism and only now opening up, Cleo having spent most of her several thousand years locked away). Though in a way I see it as something of a return to things like The Munsters, which we haven't seen done right in a long time(I pretend the Munsters revivals didn't happen). The last we got was the Addams Family cartoon series of the 90s.

I think the dolls are actually interesting, it's a concept we haven't seen much of before. I suppose Living Dead Dolls, but those really weren't the same thing. Too bad the few I'd be most likely to buy- namely, the ones that match the usual character stock art- are all but impossible to find. Clawdeen looks to average $100 second-hand. Though it seems all I ever see are the male characters, though I haven't much looked at the toy section since I took interest since I just spent $100 on a new air conditioner and haven't had much cash to play with. Granted, if I could find ones I want, I'd buy them...

I also enjoy the subtle nods... I get the feeling that Jekyll's character design is an homage to Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West, and I can't see Draculaura without thinking they were aiming for Abby Sciuto from NCIS.


I've also been aware of the issue with the stands... if you're willing to buy replacement stands, the ones made by Kaiser have a good reputation and are made for various doll sizes, and can be bought cheap if you get them 12 at a time. They're also metal stands of solid design and construction.

[Staff Of Ka]

Um....Huh?



Variant Ahoy!

ka

[markatisu]

That is cool, we will have to see if more show up like that or if that was just a QC error. MH the bigger it gets is starting to suffer more and more from similar problems that MOTUC and DCUC have

As for the issue over wanting 1st wave dolls, never give up hope. Kmart, ShopKo, and Kohls have stocked Wave 1 dolls over the past few months (ShopKo as late as last week) despite them being 3 years old.

At Christmas Mattel send out a few cases of Wave 1 to Kmart to help kids get started with the line. They provided a display at a few of our stores loaded with 1st wave Clawdeens, I was too stupid to pick them up not realizing their sales/trade potential

Clawdeen is the only really expensive one from the 1st Wave, Draculaura and Frankie you can get on eBay for $29-35 (they sold originally for $19-21) and Lagoona is $35-40.

The hardest dolls to find on the secondary market are 1st wave Clawdeen, Clawdeen 2.0, Lagoona 2.0, DoTD Lagoona, DoTD Duece, DotD Ghoulia, Cupid, Spectra, and Abbey

[Dr Kain]

Walmart/Kmart/Meijers $4.13
Justice $9
ShopKo $14
Toys R Us $16.99

What? That is a huge price difference between TRU and Walmart.

[markatisu]

What? That is a huge price difference between TRU and Walmart.

Have you been to TRU in the past 5 years?? They always have a $5-15 increase on new MH things. Sweet 1600 dolls are $21 at Walmart and they jacked them up to $34 at Toys R Us. The Howleen 2 pack at Target is $29.99, the Werecat 2 pack at TRU is $34-39

Also the $4.13 is promotional, if the store is not participating in the promotion then it counts as a regular Skull Shores doll which is $12.99-14.99 depending on store.

So I imagine its a combo of TRU up-pricing and considering her a regular Skull Shores doll

[Mr. Shokoti]

The hardest dolls to find on the secondary market are 1st wave Clawdeen, Clawdeen 2.0, Lagoona 2.0, DoTD Lagoona, DoTD Duece, DotD Ghoulia, Cupid, Spectra, and Abbey

Is Clawdeen so expensive because she's popular or because she wasn't very popular & they made less of her? I love all things werewolves, but she's probably my least favorite of the Wave 1 characters.

I still have never seen a Cupid. Either a lot of scalpers hit the Walmart I frequent or Mattel never shipped any.

[markatisu]

Is Clawdeen so expensive because she's popular or because she wasn't very popular & they made less of her? I love all things werewolves, but she's probably my least favorite of the Wave 1 characters.

They did not make less of her, she just was not as popular in the beginning. She ware replaced in Wave 2 by Ghoulia and Holt. Then she was put back in a assortment shortly after.

She is an oddity, her dolls come out and people do not buy them then spend ridiculous amounts on her later. This has happened with every single one of her dolls.

I still have never seen a Cupid. Either a lot of scalpers hit the Walmart I frequent or Mattel never shipped any.

Its a little of both, Mattel completely botched the distribution so some stores got a bunch and other stores got nothing. It was so bad she was nationally advertised in the ad and because Mattel did not ship what they were supposed to Walmart had to put signs in every Walmart announcing that she was not going to be available beyond their control

So when she occasionally did show up scalpers bought the entire case then flipped them for $45-60 on eBay

[wyldman11]

For me Clawdeen has some of the least appealing outfits. I know others who feel the same way, but then end up with all the dolls of a series except her then decide to go back and try to pick her up to complete that set.

And by least appealing some aren't bad just not as good as the others. Her signature doll I just see so many girls dressed like that where I live it just feels over done to me, but for me and others it's her best outfit (barring the dead tired, which all are pretty comparative, even the swimsuit dolls are like that).

Also for some reason I remember sporty dolls tend to do as well and she is kind of billed as the sporty one (Lagoona being not seen as sporty for some reason).

There could be another issue, but I would think that wouldn't be a problem with a doll line like this. But she did seem to move pretty quickly where I am, so maybe it is an issue. That would require regional sales to know though and ethnicities of those areas.

Also as I recall Draculuara and Frankie tend to be over made, but also tend to be two of the more popular characters.

[Mr. Shokoti]

My issue with Clawdeen is that she looks too much like a cat for a werewolf. I'm assuming Mattel needed to tone down her features in order to fit in a line for little girls, but I think they did it so much that the wolf was taken right out. On the other hand, she couldn't exactly look like this either...

[Bonehead]

Check Kohls if you need Wave 1 figures. I saw a few there just a few weeks ago. Also Meijer is a great place as well. I picked up a few for a friend there last month.

For me Clawdeen has some of the least appealing outfits. I know others who feel the same way, but then end up with all the dolls of a series except her then decide to go back and try to pick her up to complete that set.

I agree about her outfits. I'm not a fan of any of them. The only outfit of hers that I like is the Sweet 1600 and School Club outfit.

[markatisu]

There could be another issue, but I would think that wouldn't be a problem with a doll line like this. But she did seem to move pretty quickly where I am, so maybe it is an issue. That would require regional sales to know though and ethnicities of those areas.

I have thought the same thing since its usually her and Cleo that sit on shelves (the tan and the brown dolls) but I think it has more to do with the fact that the other dolls are more popular

My issue with Clawdeen is that she looks too much like a cat for a werewolf. I'm assuming Mattel needed to tone down her features in order to fit in a line for little girls, but I think they did it so much that the wolf was taken right out. On the other hand, she couldn't exactly look like this either...

For what its worth I think Clawd looks more like a Wolf, so maybe they took that criticism to heart since you were not the only one who has voiced it

Check Kohls if you need Wave 1 figures. I saw a few there just a few weeks ago. Also Meijer is a great place as well. I picked up a few for a friend there last month.

Yeah our Kohls had a bunch of Draculaura Wave 1's a few weeks back, so I assume they got a case or two of the original series.

As for Clawdeen, you people are crazy my favorite doll is Clawdeen 2.0. Those boots and the brass knuckles > every other doll in the line....keepin it real Clawdeen I call her

[wyldman11]

I have thought the same thing since its usually her and Cleo that sit on shelves (the tan and the brown dolls) but I think it has more to do with the fact that the other dolls are more popular

I agree, I think anything that is more a passive issue. In that people tend to flock to in those situations they sympathize with.

I tend not to really push out the fantasy and monster races I like because of the fact they are the more popular ones and fans of them do tend to be pretty stupid. But then I also don't particularly dislike the ones in the opposition I just don't like them as much. But then I am often weird in that I do like Werewolves but rarely have I liked a werewolf movie, I don't care as much for zombies but frequently like zombie movies, I like vampires and tend to like vampire movies.

[Ntumbuluku]

Without reading 41 pages of posts, I want to add my two cents to the discussion. I *detest* Moster High. If your kids are under 8, pass on these. They'll be broken after a couple of months of regular kid play. Waste of money.

[wyldman11]

Without reading 41 pages of posts, I want to add my two cents to the discussion. I *detest* Moster High. If your kids are under 8, pass on these. They'll be broken after a couple of months of regular kid play. Waste of money.

It just occurred to me why kids only play with toys till they are about 8 years old now, I look at all the quality control issues toys of today have and realize they get tired of stuff breaking then move onto something else.

[Staff Of Ka]

I wasnt impressed with wave 1 Clawdeen boxed (I got the 1st four dolls in one shipment from BBTS) but once opened she was my favorite, she has awesome hair and just a really cool vibe.

Shes still one of my top 5 dolls in the line!