Abbey the Great and Powerful

Throughout history, long, wild hair has been associated with power. Not just any power; I'm talking about the kind that taps into something intangible, metaphysical, even occultic. And more often than not this intangible power has been linked to women. It was once believed that for a witch to tap into the highest force, her hair must be wild and untamed. Even in modern times, loose, feminine locks connote a sort of strength (though it's often connected to carnality, as well). Whatever the case, be it openly or subconsciously, a woman with big, tousled, wild hair is seen as a force to be reckoned with. And if that really is the case, then Haunt The Casbah Abbey Bominable must be the most powerful woman on Earth...

Um... wow.

I mean, there's just so much of it! And it's so big. And it's doing about three different things all at the same time: it's curly except where it's straight, braided and banded and under control in front besides that portion where it isn't, a buoyant bouffant except where it's flat.

Her faceup is pretty great. Not amazing, but not bad by any means. I know the yellow-gold eyeshadow is new for Abbey, but for me the most noteworthy thing about this faceup is that it has somehow managed to make her "angry" eyes look a little more friendly. I'm not so into the angry eyes so this seemingly softer expression gets a big thumbs up from me.

Like all the HTC dolls, my history with this Abbey is checkered. When she was unveiled at SDCC, I thought she looked pretty amazing. When I started seeing the actual doll on store shelves my mind changed. Every single one I looked at had insane, messy, tragic hair. I finally found one I liked a few weeks ago and bought her. Once I got home I hemmed and hawed over her, never taking her out of the box. I eventually returned her.

Earlier this week I found another one I liked and bought. Again I hemmed and hawed, but this time I decided to keep her; out of the box she came! (By the way, this pose combined with that giant mane of curls reminds me of early-80's Barbie box drawings. Love it!)

I feel my diligence in holding off on HTC Abbey, and patience in finding just the right one, paid off. In my opinion this is one of the best HTC Abbeys you're gonna lay your eyes on, either in person or online.

Compared to the other HTC dolls Abbey's outfit seems a bit simple.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a plain or boring outfit by any means! It's very detailed!

It's just that it doesn't seem to have quite as much going on. The others' outfits have removable layers to varying degrees; not so, Abbey's dress.

It looks great anyway, of course. I love the snowflake pattern on the outer layer of tulle. The black, grey, and white colors combined with the style of draping gives the look a ghostly vibe. (Change the colors and print and this would've been great on Spectra.)

The snowflakes are sparkling gold on the outside, white underneath. Since the skirt is pleated both sides face outward, creating a nice contrast.

All of Abbey's accessories (except her shoes and lantern) are solid, sparkling gold. In general the various pieces are smaller in size compared to the other HTC dolls. I like this a lot -- it subtracts greatly from the "gaudy factor".

I'm glad I held out for the right HTC Abbey; I got one that leaves me feeling surprisingly impressed with this release. Given how HTC Draculaura turned out, Abbey could've been an even bigger disaster. Luckily that's not the case.

See you in Art Class, Abbey!

Poll: Vote for Voicething's next review subject!

Over the past several days I've gotten a lot of requests for different dolls people would like to see reviewed. The thing is, there's no clear consensus on who it should be. Everyone has their favorite but you Voicething readers are a varied bunch and you folks all favor different dolls. And as for myself, well, I've loved all the dolls I've picked up lately to some degree or another so it's hard for even me to choose who to do next. The solution? I'll let you, the readers, pick! Here's how it works: If you look over to the upper right corner of this page you'll see a brand new poll. (If you're on the mobile site scroll to the bottom of this page and click "View Web Version". When the page reloads you'll then see the poll.) You'll see three options there; these are the three dolls I've gotten the most requests for. They are:

Haunt The Casbah Clawdeen Wolf

Music Festival Venus McFlytrap

13 Wishes Lagoona Blue

You can only vote once, although if you vote and then change your mind you can come back and switch your vote to a different candidate. However, there is a catch: For the winning candidate to be reviewed there must be at least 50 votes in total placed. That's 50 total for the entire poll, not just one candidate. So spread the word about the poll! Tell all your friends! Post the link to the poll on your Facebook, or Twitter, or whatever your chosen social media platform is! The more people who vote, the more fun it is to see the results! Oh, one last thing: I plan on posting the review of the winning candidate tomorrow! That means you gotta act fast! The poll is already open, and will close at 11 a.m. Central Time Zone. That's in just a little over 14 hours! So get to voting, spread the word, and join in the fun! May the best doll win!

When it rains, it pours...

No Gigi, Music Festival Venus, or Classroom Heath + Abbey, unfortunately. They did have Haunt The Casbah Frankie and 13 Wishes Howleen, but, I don't know, I'll save them for later or something. Reviews to come...