TOY FAIR!

It's that time of year again when all the toy companies descend upon New York City to gather for the country's largest toy trade show and share their new products with the world. Mattel, of course, has a major presence at the fair each year, and MH fans are always eager to read reports from attendees on what was on display. Within the MH fan community response to this year's fair has been somewhat muted compared to previous years. I think this is mostly because the bulk of the MH product being revealed has already been seen due to the picture leaks a few weeks back. I've already posted photos and commentary on many of these dolls, but we now have higher quality pics of them, plus there have been a few reveals that weren't seen in the leaked photos. I'm not going to discuss everything Mattel showed this year but there are a few dolls I want to highlight.

First up is a line we've heard about but hadn't yet seen, Music Festival. I think the name is pretty self-explanatory. So far three dolls have been revealed as part of the line -- Venus, Abbey, and Clawdeen -- but these are equivalent to a "party doll" assortment so I have a feeling we'll see more from Music Festival, either in the form of a second wave or a multi-doll exclusive pack. Let's take a closer look at each doll.

Venus is a punk girl and that's her chosen style of music at the festival. Personally I'm getting more of a post punk / new wave vibe from these clothes. This could even almost be more hair metal than punk. But whatever, I love this doll! The outfit looks fantastic whatever genre it's supposed to represent! Venus looks gorgeous with dark purple eyeshadow and gobs of heavy glitter above her eyes. Her hair looks shorter than usual, and the color is more magenta than hot pink. Considering her Swim Line doll is pretty much just her basic doll in a different outfit, I'm glad the Music Festival doll is a pretty big departure. I'm really excited about this one, best of the three Music Festival dolls in my opinion!

Abbey is supposed to represent the folk music of her home country (or something, I wasn't paying real close attention), and I can see that in this top and headband. With Picture Day we learned Abbey can rock some bangs hard and I'm glad to see them making a return on this doll. This is my favorite Abbey face but I'm not holding my breath this is the one the manufactured doll will use. Not digging the headband but holy crap those boots are awesome. If the doll does use this face she'll definitely be making her way into my collection, if not it'll be a wait and see situation.

I believe Clawdeen is supposed to represent hip hop but I'm getting a strong disco vibe from this outfit and hairdo. If she weren't wearing those tall boots I have a feeling those pant legs would swell into mighty big bells. I love the hair and the cascading stars and skullettes on the bodysuit. I'm not sold on her faceup though. This Clawdeen has the smaller eyes I'm not always a big fan of. I'll have to see this doll in person before I make a decision on her.

Next we have the Create-A-Monster Color Me Creepy Chamber. The doll looks really interesting -- anybody know what monster she's supposed to represent? I don't think I've come across that info anywhere. The shape and color of her mouth remind me of customized Blythe dolls for some reason. I especially love the outfit -- check out those wicked shoes and leg pieces! The playset itself looks incredibly cool. Love the shelf and "operating" table. I'll be picking this one up!

I've already discussed the 13 Wishes dolls but I wanted to touch on the new characters again since we can see a lot more detail in these pics. There are also a lot more details on the 13 Wishes story here.

I was already excited for Gigi but seeing the hig-res pic has me even more worked up! Her face is just so gorgeous. The freckles give her a sweet, innocent quality that really appeals to me. Her big green eyes are striking to say the least, and as I mentioned in my previous post on her I love all the Scorpionic touches (new word alert!). At this point I'm just as excited about her as I was for Jinafire and Catrine.

Twyla still doesn't seem very boogeyman-ish to me, but wow is she pretty! Loving her huge purple eyes! She has some grey and white detailing around her lower limbs that I hadn't noticed before. It looks like they're done the same way they did Cupid's lace-y limbs. To be honest I kind of wish she was the standard height. I like Howleen fine but I'm mixed on the shorter stature; I'm not even sure why. If they were gonna do another different-sized character I would've preferred another tall chick, a la Nefera. Oh well.

The Toy Fair has also brought confirmation that the rumored Classroom 2-packs are for real! The pics aren't official Mattel promotional shots but rather fan shots so I'm not gonna direct link them here. Instead I'll send you to the thread over at MHD where you can view them, and read the discussion on them as well. Most exciting for collectors who like the male dolls is that Heath is finally being released! I don't even collect male dolls and I'm excited! Plus I know he's a huge fan favorite -- I'm happy for you guys! More exciting for me personally is the reveal of yet another Cleo. It's hard to make out any major details but the doll looks promising! It seems she might be wearing a short cocktail dress under that lab coat -- I hope so! Ghoulia looks rather fab as well. The Abbey included with Heath seems promising. I love side swept bangs and it looks like that's what she has. I can't tell much about her outfit. It looks like it's another short cocktail dress, similar to what Cleo and Ghoulia are wearing. I know for sure I'll be picking the Cleo / Ghoulia pack up! I'll have to wait and see about the Heath / Abbey set.

In other, non-Toy Fair news, I picked up the Mummy / Gorgon CAM set (and after I vowed to never buy another CAM due to Mattel's selfishness regarding torsos!). I was poking through the CAMs looking for the Blob / Ice Girl set (the Ice Girl looks too cool), and when I saw those Mummy / Gorgon faces, I don't know, they spoke to me. Anyway I threw together a little ensemble for the Gorgon Girl, put the purple wig on her, and got to snapping! I'm hoping to do a full review of the set soon. In the meantime here she is in all her scale-y glory...

Til next time!

UPDATE: Head here for more info on the Music Festival line. Turns out Clawdeen's music style is indeed disco while Abbey's is psychedelic 60's rock. Venus represents "plunk", a combination of plant and punk, which is just silly. Still love the outfit, though.