Review: Dance Class Robecca Steam

Yes, after much searching, much aggravation from missing the online sales, and much bothering of the sales clerks at my local stores (kidding, I know working retail can be pretty stressful, and I don't want to add to it), I found the Dance Class dolls! Well, three of them anyway -- Howleen will make her way here when the time is right, I'm sure. Based on my initial thoughts of these dolls when pics first leaked, I figured Lagoona would be the doll I covered here first. But things are never what you expect them to be, and once I had the dolls unboxed it was Robecca who I found myself most drawn to. Yes, the doll who in that previous post was the only one I couldn't be sure I'd even purchase is (so far) the one I like the most! Let's start with the box art since it really is rather cool --

Ooh, pretty...

So that sums up the theme of this line well -- the girls are taking dance classes, each with a different focus. Robecca is tap, although judging by her outfit it may as well be New Romantic Techno Foxtrot, or something else just as non-existent. I'm just not getting tap, or anything else at all really, from this outfit. Mostly it just seems to emphasize Robecca's established theme via a leotard + wrap outfit that's thisclose to being a straight up swimsuit. Now, don't get me wrong -- I'm not saying I dislike this outfit. Actually the more time I spend with this doll the more I like it! It may not be tap, but it's awfully cute. She wears an electric blue collared leotard with a black print of clock faces and gears. This print seems more Gothic than Victorian but I like it so it gets a pass from me. Over this she wears a short purple wrap with a purple satin bow over the closure. The print is black and echoes the copper sheets and rivets of her body. The hem is ruffled. I quite like it! It matches the blue leotard much more than I thought it did based on those initial pictures from a few weeks ago.

Her shoes are pretty incredible, and these actually do touch on her tap theme in a clever way. They're short bronze boots with molded gears at the front, behind which rests a lavender bow. The heels are molded gears, and in that bit of cleverness I mentioned, the taps of the shoes are gears as well. The shoes are well-made, detailed, actually touch on her theme, and simply look great.

She includes a cylindrical dance bag in lavender. It's hard, molded plastic, and just the one color. It includes some nice details such as clock faces on the ends, a gear and stopwatch on the handle, and a funnel to pour water into (this is an especially nice touch since it directly relates to her steampunk theme). She wears a matching half-cuff on her right forearm baring more molded gears, clocks, and assorted doo-dads. Her last accessory is a bronze headband of gears with a little top hat attached. My feelings are mixed on this -- the top hat fits both her steampunk and tap themes, but something about the execution doesn't work for me. I think I would've preferred it simply be a normal sized top hat, and that there was no headband at all. I took it off and felt she was all the better without it. Word of warning, though: the headband isn't hard plastic but is instead very pliable. Once you take it off you may have trouble getting it to stay on and look correct if you decide you liked her better wearing it.

I usually cover faceup and hair at the top of these reviews but I wanted to touch on them last. First, the hair: although initially I didn't care for the ponytail it has grown on me immensely. Helping it's case is the fact that this Robecca's hair is thicker, silkier, and less prone to frizz than her basic doll's hair was. I've also found that the ponytail looks much better in person than it does in pics (including mine). Somehow it just works. Plus, it puts the emphasis on that gorgeous face. Speaking of, yeah, this Robecca is gorgeous! She has the same lavender and silver eyeshadow of her basic doll, but here the silver is much brighter and more pronounced. It really pops, and completely draws your eyes to her, even when she's stood up alongside some of the best MH dolls out there. Based on the early pics I had some serious dislike for this doll's light lavender lips, but like the hair, they look much better in person than they do in pics. If you haven't seen this doll in person yet, just take my word for it.

One last thing: after going through not one, but two basic Robecca dolls who had "faulty" necks, with Dance Class Robecca I've finally gotten a doll with a normal neck! She can look up, down, side to side, anywhere really -- no problem. It may seem like a small detail but after two Robecca's who could look almost nowhere it's nice to have a doll I can fully pose.

Overall grade: A- She comes with minimal extras, and she doesn't include a collector's card, hairbrush, and um, starts with an S and rhymes with hand. While the general theming on this doll is a bit haphazard I like her look anyway. Her hair quality is improved upon from her basic doll, her face is gorgeous, and in general the actual doll feels of rather high quality despite the scant extras. She is John approved!