Review: Frankie Stein as Threaderella

Remember in my review of the Clawdeen and Draculaura Scarily Ever After dolls how I said Frankie Stein as Threaderella didn't really appeal to me? Yeah, that's kinda changed. It all happened innocently enough. I was deep in the rabbit hole that is Flickr when I started coming across pics of Threaderella and, in one of those poof doll moments it hit me -- Threaderella is really, like really, gorgeous! And I had to have her. This isn't the first time this has happened to me, and I'd be willing to bet money it's happened to you, too. A doll you thought you didn't like just suddenly clicks, and all those attributes you found mundane or boring before are suddenly so unique, or simply beautiful. And that's how Threaderella made her way into my collection (and, being super cheesy, my heart).

Being part of the Scarily Ever After line, Threaderella comes with the new-style MH stand that I've dubbed the Fancy Stand. It's just a little bit nicer, a little bit sturdier, a little bit prettier than the usual MH stand. She also comes with an illustrated storybook. These mini-books are one of my favorite things about this line. The stories are clever in how they reinterpret classic fairy tales to fit Monster High, and the artwork is stunning. Take a look...

Hey Mattel, see that awesome drawing you did of Abbey up there? The one where she looks like a glamorous fairy godmother who just stepped out of Studio 54? How about you get busy making a doll of that? Because even the Abbey haters say they'd be all over it.

Threaderella herself is nothing to sneeze at. In a theme so naturally fitting it practically could've created itself, Frankie has become a deconstructed Cinderella. Her gown takes the classic fairy princess dress and turns it on it's head, giving us sashes and seams galore. Her purse is a spool of thread and her heels are made of scissors. The whole idea dovetails perfectly with Frankie's already established theme of a stitched together girl who can barely even sew. It's all so perfect; this doll practically willed herself into existence by the very nature of her postmodern weirdness. Amazing.

As you can see this is a beautiful Frankie aka Threaderella. What was I even thinking when I said in that earlier review that her faceup didn't work? She has electric blue eyeshadow that surrounds the entire eye. This is further surrounded by silvery grey shadow. Her lips are a deeper grey and have a very light sheen. Her eyes themselves (the green and blue), seem a tad brighter, a bit more detailed, than usual. She really is stunning.

Her hair is gathered into a ponytail that rests right in the center of her head. Spilling down in all directions are thick, white tendrils. There's very little black in Threaderella's hair. Interestingly, the texture of her hair is very different from the usual Frankie doll's hair. It's soft and puffy, almost cotton-like. I really love it. Plus, there's the fact that had they tried to do this hairstyle using the standard Frankie hair fiber they would've had to have gelled it into crispy rolls. To quote Valerie Cherish, "I don't need to see that!"

As I mentioned, her dress is a deconstructed fairy princess number. It comes in a satiny blue material with red detailing. There's also the occasional silver sash, and even some black mesh. Messy, open threads abound. Yes, very deconstructed. I'm a bit "meh" on princess dresses so seeing the whole idea subverted this way totally works for me. Even back when Threaderella wasn't my thing I still admired this dress. The colors and prints are pure Frankie of course, so this rather fanciful Threaderella isn't totally foreign to us. The dress is paired with electric blue high heels -- the heels are little pairs of scissors (so cool), while red straps attach to the shoe and wrap each ankle. A molded spool of red thread is her purse. It opens on a hinge on the bottom and closes with a blue knob clasp. The handle has some nice blue accents and it spirals at both ends.

We're gonna do a little subverting of our own and end this review at the top -- literally. Threaderella wears a crown of silver pins strung with red thread. Some of the pins have blue accented tops. The crown is super-tight and surprisingly not sewn onto her hair. It's rubber banded on but it fits so tightly I doubt the bands are really needed at all. Threaderella's earrings? Simple silver pins. There's so much else going on with the crown and the hair and the makeup that overly fussy earrings weren't even needed. I applaud your restraint here, Mattel.

Overall grade: A+ The doll I once said I wouldn't even buy has become my favorite of the line. She's cool, she's subversive, she's exactly what Monster High should be.

Review: Clawdeen as Little Dead Riding Wolf and Draculaura as Snow Bite

Scarily Ever After has been positioned as a "collector's quality" set of dolls within the Monster High line. Exclusive to Target, this is a small line -- only three dolls are being released. And the idea, in my opinion, is pretty brilliant: the MH girls have been re-imagined as classic fairy tale characters. Frankie Stein has become Threaderella (Cinderella), Clawdeen Wolf is Little Dead Riding Wolf (Little Red Riding Hood), and Draculaura appears as Snow Bite (Snow White). As much of a Frankie fanboy as I am her doll doesn't really appeal to me. I love her dress -- a deconstructed take on the classic fairy tale princess dress -- and the name Threaderella is undeniably cool. But I don't care much for the doll's faceup or hair. But the other two grabbed my attention immediately, and it's not hard to see why...

Since this is a dual review let's cover a few commonalities between the two. They both come with a storybook of sorts, telling an updated version of their respective fairy tale, complete with pictures. The books are 12 pages long and each one features five full-page illustrations inside. The covers of these books are foiled (very eye catching), and the artwork inside is pretty incredible. Take a look...

Typically store exclusive dolls don't come with stands but I'm happy to report that, as "collector's quality" dolls, these do! And they're really nice stands; the base is black while the standing portion and waist clip are clear. The stands make a nice snapping sound when you put them together. These are definitely of higher quality than your standard MH stand. Lastly, both dolls also include a black brush.

Let's take a closer look at Clawdeen. Oops, I mean Little Dead Riding Wolf!

She has long brown hair with ruby red streaks in a sidepart. The sides are pulled back into a tight ponytail. There is a light wave throughout the hair. I wouldn't exactly call her hair silky, but the quality is good. She has the usual Clawdeen eyecolor of yellow-brown. They don't seem quite as bright as her eyes usually are. She has very dark purple eyeshadow that surrounds the eye and above this is a layer of light purple shadow that goes all the way up to her eyebrow. There is a fairly thick layer of glitter over all of it. Her lips are deep red.

Her dress is gorgeous! It's one piece and made of a satiny, ruby red material. The bodice has black criss-crossing ribbon running down the center. This is framed by purple ribbons that travel upward and function as the straps of the dress. They also travel downward and extend over and past the flared skirt. At the waist each one has a molded, gold bone detail in the shape of an "X". These same two ribbons also do this in the back, minus the bone detailing. In total there are six purple ribbons over the skirt. They all have a gold buckle at the skirt's hem and hang over the skirt by about 3/4". Under the skirt is a layer of black tulle that has a nice hem about an inch up.

Her shoes are purple molded platforms with six gold buckles. They are molded to look as though they are made of thick fabric that has been folded over. I like these shoes, but wish they had used actual fabric instead of just a mold.

Her cape is pure red felt on the outside and red satin with a black leopard-esque print on the inside. The spots have glitter on them. There are holes in the hood for her ears and they actually fit quite well! The cape has a white plastic snap at the neck; the outside portion here has a small gold bone. I'm pleased they used an actual snap here rather than velcro, as I can't imagine velcro would hold very well at all, especially with her thick hair in there when you want to put the hood up. The cape ends just below her calves. I like the cape a lot. It holds it's shape well, fits her ears, and just plain looks nice.

Her accessories are minimal. She has two earrings in each ear. They're small gold hoops. She doesn't wear a necklace or bracelet. There's enough going on with the cape and dress, I don't think any more jewelry was necessary. Sometimes less really is more. She also wears a purple cuff on her left arm. It's made of a soft material and covers her entire forearm. At the wrist is black tulle.

She carries a black picnic basket in the shape of a coffin that opens in the center. The basket exemplifies the marriage of fairy tales and Monster High that is this line: the picnic basket is what Little Red Riding Hood was carrying in the story, but the coffin shape makes it uniquely MH.

Now let's look at Snow Bite:

She has long black hair with pink hair rooted at the scalpline in the back. Like Clawdeen, she has a sidepart. She has a barrette that is a translucent green apple with the skullette face molded into it. It is dripping with poison (or juice). This skullette apple will make several more appearances so from here on I'm just gonna call it an apple; just know that it's a green apple dripping poison (or juice).

Snow Bite's eyes are a beautiful lavender with some pink as well. Green eyeshadow in the same shade as the apple surrounds her eye, topped by a layer of yellow-green that goes to her eyebrow. There is a very light sheen over all of it. Her lips are a deep magenta color. Draculaura's cheek heart is the usual pink, but it has a green stem and green dripping from the bottom, giving it the appearance of an apple.

Her dress is one piece. The bodice is made of green felt and has a wide, puffy, off the shoulders collar. At the waist the felt hangs down over the rest of the skirt in an asymmetrical, dripping shape. The skirt underneath it (they are attached), is magenta and made of a satiny material. Printed on it are large green dripping skullettes that overlap, which give way to smaller black skullettes that also overlap. The edge of the skirt is unhemmed and looks like it has been shredded. Underneath the skirt is a layer of black tulle. At her waist is a white belt with a print of pink apple silhouettes. It has a large matching bow attached.

Her shoes are amazing! They are black high heels with a molded pink bow and sash on the hood. The heels are molded green translucent dripping poison (or juice ;) ). An apple covers the very back of the heel and has a green leaf protruding from it. Seriously, amazing shoes!

Her accessories include an apple purse that opens; the leaf is the handle. Her earrings are also apples, and her necklace is dripping poison (or you know what). The earrings and necklace are a shade lighter than the other apple accessories.

Both of these dolls get a solid A+ from me. There are so many great little details on them both! The theme is unique and executed very well. They're beautiful dolls (this may be my favorite Draculaura yet). The included storybooks are incredible; the illustrations alone are almost worth the purchase price. And despite being exclusives they have stands included, and very nice stands at that! I'm totally loving these dolls.

All images: yours truly