Voicething Returns! ... to talk about a car.

Bonjour, readers! Your eyes do not deceive you -- I really am back! With a new review and scans and pictures and everything! Why the long absence? Without going into too much boring detail I had a one-two whammy of family stuff combined with an extra heavy workload. What little time I had away from work was spent lulling myself to sleep each night watching Brian De Palma and Val Lewton flicks. Luckily the work stuff was temporary and I'm back to my usual schedule. And that means we can convene with our regularly scheduled blogging! An unfortunate casualty in all this is the Clawdeen Extravaganza, which was supposed to happen this month. Response to the extravaganza was muted anyway, so I suppose it's no big loss. I have to admit I was hoping to return with a review of Catrine DeMew but alas, her purple perfection has evaded me so far. Dot Dead Gorgeous 3-Packs and Ghouls Rule Abbey came in droves, and quite quickly, but the doll I actually want more than oxygen itself is a very elusive creature. I can't even find any of the new swim dolls to serve as a consolation. There is much sadface here at Voicething headquarters at the moment because of this. But the show must go on! And what we're covering today is pretty cool, especially if you like convertibles...

You're doing it wrong, Frankie.

For their second MH car (after Draculaura's Roadster), Mattel kept things succinct, labeling this one simply Convertible. It comes in a large window box showing off the car and features cardboard cutouts of Frankie and Rochelle sitting inside it.

The box back features a large drawing of the convertible being driven by Ghoulia with Frankie riding shotgun and Rochelle sitting on the back (quite literally... we'll get to that). Clawdeen is standing nearby, so near in fact that she looks in danger of becoming a vehicular homicide statistic. Given the car's color scheme and wrought iron decor I assumed this was Rochelle's ride, but a quick read of the supplied blurb reveals that the convertible was in fact a POS that Ghoulia found and restored. First the scooter, now the convertible -- Ghoulia sure loves her some wheels, doesn't she?

The convertible comes in a nice dark lavender (well, purple) shade, with touches of grey, black, and silver. The basic idea behind the design seems to be wrought iron and webs, and lots of it. Not that I'm complaining; this baby looks pretty damn cool. The hood, the sides, and the rear all have curling, fanciful designs molded into them. In places the designs have been cut out of the plastic completely, creating a peek-a-boo effect with the car's nonexistent innards. At times these cutouts flow naturally with the molded designs while at others they're overlapped on the molding creating a nice contrast.

The hood of the car features a small skullette in the center front and is flanked by clear headlights. The headlights have a curlicued web design that matches the rest of the car's detailing. I like them quite a bit but wish they lit up -- how cool would that be! Below the hood at the very front of the car is a grill of silver webs, a nice touch. Underneath it is more molded detailing.

The car doesn't have working doors. Where the doors would be is more molded detailing combined with swooshy cutouts. They start at the bottom of the vehicle's body and work their way up over each back wheel, getting smaller as they progress backwards.

The back of the convertible is where things really get interesting. Surprisingly, this tiny little car seats four. Two in the front, two in the back on top of what is ostensibly the trunk. I have a feeling this seating arrangement makes this car officially not street legal. But who cares, the dolls look great sitting here. It's even wing and dragon tail compatible. And at least they threw some seatbelts back there, just in case. Seriously though, I was surprised how well my dolls sat on this uniquely placed seat. And as I've mentioned in previous playset reviews, if nothing else this gives your stand-less dolls a place to rest, and look good doing it.

Jinafire, why you gotta go and steal Rochelle's thunder, looking all cool and fierce and stuff.

The trunk/seat has a molded spiderweb pattern; lift it up and you'll find a skullette inside. A sticker license plate bares the word SCARIS in red and white. It's awfully cute, but my very favorite thing about this car is the taillights. Check 'em out -- they're silver dragon (or gargoyle?) heads! And with those glaring eyes and snarled grins, they ain't the friendliest-looking things, either. So cool! 

The inside of the car has two purple bucket seats, a teal steering wheel and matching seatbelts. There's a fairly large console that has a working gearshift in teal and two drink holders. There's also a display that looks like something straight out of the 60's Batman TV show -- it's weird and anachronistic and I love it. The dashboard is solid black and has more molded cobwebs.

The windshield is clear, of course, and is held in place by metallic silver, curlicued plastic. I love the design in particular here -- it reminds me of Operetta's deluxe fashion pack mask for some reason. There's also a black roll bar decorated with more wrought iron. You'll notice this car is a convertible in name only -- it has no top to convert. This makes sense as I imagine that would've been a manufacturing nightmare, but how cool if they could've somehow pulled it off. Oh well. All four wheels have shiny rims of wrought iron centered by a skullette -- flashy!

Overall grade A I have one complaint about the Scaris Convertible -- the dolls sit way too low in the bucket seats! Seriously, it looks like grandma's out for a drive, the doll's heads rest so low when seated. All you can see are the tops of their heads. It took some finagling to get my dolls to sit down just right without sinking too low so I could get these pictures. Other than that the Scaris car is pretty great. I love the design, the colors sync up well with the cafe cart playset, and it has some nice little touches (the working gear shift, the headlights, the mag wheels). The dragon/gargoyle taillights in particular are way cool. The trunk seats in the back may not be legal but they work great and show off your dolls well, especially compared to the deep bucket seats up front, which seem to be on a mission to hide your dolls from the world. At the very least this is a step up from the roadster, which I only got because I wanted the Draculaura doll that came with the re-release. The Scaris Convertible, however, sells itself. No doll necessary.

Review: Rochelle Goyle - Scaris Deluxe

Je suis prete. Est-ce que vous etes pret, aussi?

Let's start with a note: if you haven't read my previous post on Rochelle Goyle, you may want to begin there before reading this review. Less a review or character spotlight than simply a tribute, that previous write-up kind of explains my feelings on Rochelle. That is, it lays out just why I love this girl so much. It also helps explain why posting this review of Rochelle's new Scaris doll on this day specifically carries some personal importance for me -- today's my birthday! And there's no other doll I'd rather be discussing on my birthday than this so very lovely Rochelle.

Ooh... ahh...

Since I've already posted full box backs in my previous Scaris reviews, today I'll just post the bit at the bottom that focuses on Rochelle--

For Jinafire and Skelita this portion gave us the basic bio's on those new characters. We already know Rochelle so her box back simply sets up her Scaris storyline. Rochelle's sweet, romantic personality shines through, and we're even given a little creative writing with that snow globe metaphor. I like it! Rochelle's booklet differs from Jina's and Skelita's as well. No diary entries or sketches for Rochelle; instead it's more of a travelogue/photo album. Not much is revealed story-wise but we get some nice "slice of life" snapshots of her time in Scaris, in addition to some great artwork-

Anyone else feel this caption is a bit "promote-y"?

I spy a Catrine there!

Let's take a closer look at that chalk drawing--

More ooh's and ahh's, right?

With the party started proper, let's get into the review. Right up front it's hard not to compare Scaris Rochelle to her basic doll -- it seems that's always the case when you're faced with just the second doll of a character. There's only two, you gotta compare! Scaris Rochelle feels considerably different from her basic doll while remaining completely true to the character. She's stylish and dramatic, carrying on the established look and theme of her basic doll, while more or less expanding on it.

She has an elaborate faceup that somehow manages to outdo her basic doll in giving us some big, romantic eyes. The pink of her irises seems just a tad brighter, and unless I'm imagining things the eyes in general are a little bigger. She has very detailed eyeshadow -- a strip of light pink topped by a thin blue line. Above this is a thick layer of silver while above that is another strip of pink that goes to her brows. Under the eye is one slim layer of silver. Her mascara looks about the same as her basic doll's, although her eyebrows look a tad darker. Her lips are pink again, but this time much brighter. These truly are some big, detailed eyes. They're also incredibly expressive -- as I mentioned, very romantic.

Her hair is considerably different from her basic doll's, as well. This time it's very wavy, and her bangs have a massive curl in them. The pink and blue streaks seem more evenly mixed than they were on her basic, or at least they are compared to the basic I got, which had almost no blue at all. Although there's more blue than pink in her bangs, the rest of her hair shares the pink and blue love a bit more fairly. Her hair is really thick and the wave very pronounced, but I wouldn't exactly call it silky. That said, it holds it's shape well and looks very good. It's all pulled into a thick ponytail to her right in the back.

Scaris Rochelle wears a delicate pink and black slip dress. The black waistband makes it look like this is a two-piece outfit but nope, it's just one slim piece. The bodice has a print of pink and black that looks a bit like wrought iron. You'll also notice a little bit of light peach in there. A strip of pink lace runs vertically down the center and ends at the black waistband. The straps are simple black ribbon. The skirt has an interesting print in two shades of pink that look a bit like chalk rub. Over this is a black silhouette of the Eiffel Tower. It appears to be dripping some liquid off it, as if the tower was painted onto the skirt by hand (in which case - awesome.) I'm not usually a fan of such literal designs -- we know she's from Scaris, we know that's where the story takes place, do we really have to have the most obvious landmark splayed right across her skirt? That said, I like the overall style here, and the hint at DIY fashion in the dripping tower is definitely John approved.

Two of my very favorite things about this outfit take place from the knees down. First, Rochelle comes wearing tights of black and grey horizontal stripes. I love the colors and the texture is nice, too. It's a bit similar to the texture of her basic doll's short stockings. Plus I just love tights in general on dolls, so these get a huge thumbs-up from me. The second thing? The shoes, of course! These babies are just incredible -- pure pink heels made entirely of wrought iron-style detailing. They're just the one color, but who cares? They look amazing! Plus they utilize that wedge that connects to the front bottom of the shoe rather than the back that I love so much. I'm not sure an actual human could walk in these things, but damn if they don't look great on this doll!

My other very favorite thing about this outfit is happening on top of that pink and blue noggin -- Rochelle is wearing an honest to goodness pillbox hat! Color me impressed because this kind of vintage, sophisticated style is something I wouldn't have expected from MH. Sure, they're great at referencing several eras and styles, but a pillbox hat? Nice! It's flat, grey, and fronted by a little pink bow with a Fluer de Lis in the center. It has a tiny little notch on one side to slide her right ear into -- that's how it stays in place. Of course, Mattel has also plastic tagged it to her head, but the tags are hidden really well in the "seam" of the hat, and I have no intentions of removing it anyway. The pillbox hat is pure win. The only other accessories Rochelle wears are four bracelets on her left wrist -- two black, two teal. They're simple but add just a hint of "funk" to what could've otherwise been a somewhat stuffy outfit. To be honest I actually love this less-is-more approach to her accessories. Sometimes I feel these dolls are a bit too busy with their little extras and end up removing some of them. I don't have to worry about that here. Way to play the restraint card, Mattel! I like it!

Being a deluxe "travel doll", Rochelle of course includes a rolling suitcase instead of a purse. Hers is grey and features more of that wrought iron detailing on the front, including some that rises above the top of the case. It's rather stately in it's own fanciful way. A pink Fluer de Lis adorns the front, as well. The back includes some simpler detailing and another Fluer de Lis, this time grey. The handle is pink and molded to look like... wrought iron? I'm not sure, honestly. It looks kind of different from all the other iron detailing. It almost looks a bit like ivy, but it's too stylized and sharp for it to be. One thing I am fairly certain of is that this handle isn't retractable. It pops out of it's grooves fairly easily but then becomes all loose and clattery. If it is retractable I feel bad for Rochelle and the hell it's gonna give her while trying to navigate Charles De Gaulle. Yikes.

Overall grade: A I had very high expectations for this doll and they were pretty much all met. The only downside really is that her head has some movement limitations, similar to my basic Robecca, but not as bad. I love Scaris Rochelle's faceup, hair, and outfit. Her storyline sounds interesting and everything established with this doll feels true to the character. She's still a sweet, romantic girl, with a heart of stone that bleeds.

Jusqu'a la prochaine fois...