Venus' First Swim

Last week, after picking up all three of the 2013 Swim dolls, I eagerly jumped into reviewing them. You can read about Lagoona here and Draculaura here. I also had a full review of Venus written and ready to go live. The day after I wrote it, but before I had posted it, news about the correct Swim Venus broke. That Venus has the green eyeshadow and light pink lips seen in the box art for the dolls. The doll I had purchased was the first version, basically a re-release of basic Venus with shorter hair in a ponytail and brighter wrist and ankle vines. I decided not to release the review and instead wait until I can get the correct doll to write about. In the meantime, here are the pics I took for that review. It seems a waste not to use them, and these can serve as a sort of teaser until the correct doll shows up. And so here is Venus' First Swim...

Venus' Second Swim, aka the review of the correct doll, coming soon...

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.

Review: Venus McFlytrap Basic

Released in early July of this year, Venus McFlytrap and Robecca Steam are the newest character dolls available at the moment. Venus, who's doll I'm reviewing today, is the daughter of the Plant Monster. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but her name suggests a connection to Audrey II, the Venus flytrap/alien monster from Little Shop of Horrors. Venus is big into ecology and has powers of Pollen Persuasion, two traits that link her to comic book villainess Poison Ivy. But what little we've seen of Venus suggests she's a friend to the Monster High crew, not an enemy. Once she's been around longer and becomes fully developed I'll give her the star treatment and she'll get a character spotlight.

This being Venus's Basic release, she comes with a pet and a diary. Her pet is a cool looking Venus flytrap named Chewlian. His leaves form a mohawk on his head, and he sports a huge, toothy grin. He rests in a flower pot, but unfortunately he's very top heavy and won't sit upright. I had trouble getting a good picture of him, so Venus's official product picture featuring Chewlian will have to do for now.

Hmm, this shot seems to suggest he magically floats. Mine doesn't magically float...

Being a plant monster, Venus has bright green skin. Her ears have a veiny, pointed leaf shape, and her hands are also textured to be vaguely plant-like. These are the only monstrous body modifications she has. She has seven (seven!) fangs, but these are painted onto her lips, similar to Draculaura and Abbey's fangs. Venus has a stunningly beautiful face...

Oh, quit! I'm blushing!

She has gorgeous sky blue eyes, with just a hint of green. Her faceup is surprisingly simple -- she has very thin strip of light purple eyeliner; this is surrounded by a layer of magenta eyeshadow that comes to a dramatic tip near her hairline. And that's it for her eyes! There's no glitter or even a sheen. Her lips are a deep pure red, with the aforementioned seven fangs (I wouldn't make this girl angry). It's a clean, simple faceup. She has a friendly face -- not exactly sweet-looking, but not fierce, either. I like it a lot.

The 'do is what really stands out on this doll. On one side she has very long (down to her knees), straight, hot pink and green streaked hair. On the other side her head is "shaved". The look is achieved by using hot pink felting on that side of her head. It's a striking look, no doubt about it. 

She wears a black knit top with short sleeves. It has a print of shooting stars and squiggles that look a bit like graffiti. The colors are hot pink and yellow. This is worn with a pair of knit tights that go just below the knees. The print is again hot pink and yellow, plus some black. The print itself is different from her top; it has more of a block design -- no stars and graffiti. Over the tights she wears a solid black, knit micro-mini skirt. She sports a denim jacket in a bolero cut. The jacket's right breast has three buttons (non-functioning), and a  hot pink, yellow, and orange skullette with the words eco punk next to it. I love this outfit. It's very 80s -- kind of a post-punk dance diva look. It has a vague Keith Haring look to it. Madonna circa 1985 could've worn this.

Into The Groove is stuck in my head now.

Her shoes are hot pink high heeled sneakers. The neon green shoestrings are molded, and at the front of each shoe are green teeth in a smile. These are some cool shoes; very unique!

"My shoe took a bite out of me!"

All of her accessories are green and just a shade darker than her skin. In her right ear she has four earrings, all small hoops. In her left ear she just wears one earring, a molded dangling vine. This matches her necklace, which rests on her neck in a circling vine pattern. On each wrist she sports a winding vine bracelet that frames each of her hands. Her most interesting accessory is the matching molded vines that wrap around her legs. They poke out of the top of each shoe and go up just past her calves. When I first saw pictures of Venus I thought these were actually a part of her shoes but they are, in fact, separate.

Instead of a purse she carries a bag made of recycled material. It's light pink and has a print of skullettes colored like the Earth's atmosphere -- blue and green. These are mixed with pink hearts with a ribcage inside them, and pink bones. It has one strap made of light pink ribbon.

Eco Punk

Overall grade: a resounding A+! This is one cool doll! I love her punk hairstyle and retro clothes. Her face is absolutely beautiful. Her ecology-meets-punk theme really appeals to me. The vine accessories are unique and visually interesting. I can't wait to see more of Venus, both on the webseries and in doll form. Consider me a fan!

Top two images: Mattel. The rest: yours truly