First up -- Viperine Gorgon. With her middle-parted, long, swirling, frosted pink hair and matching eyes and accessories, Viperine may strike some as "too pink". To me, the light frosted shade used here is a nice change from the hot pink shades we usually see on these dolls. She's got big, dragon eyes hidden behind monstrously huge shades, diamonds patterned on her forehead (!!!), and a headband that seems to have snakes crawling out the back of it from within her hair. SO. COOL. Her dress seems to be a 70's peasant-style cut adorned with cosmic, mutating flowers. It works because floral prints were the thing for peasant dresses, but it's been MH-ized with the spacey interpretation of the flowers. To top it all off, she wears a necklace that appears to be a tangle of tiny snakes. Given her 70's touches, luscious, long, tendrils of hair, and those toxic flowers printed on her dress, Viperine is totally speaking my language. Even the shade of pink works. I adore this doll.
Elissbat looks like Draculaura. Some have even gone so far as to say she may actually be Draculaura, in another form. Elissabat doesn't much excite me. She's pretty to be sure, and her plum-accented Goth dress is cute. But she just doesn't have the oomph other new characters like Honey and Viperine do. But like I said, she's very pretty. I'm sure she'll be making her way into my collection very soon. (November is almost here y'all!)
New Scaremester owns my soul. The line consists of Jinafire, Catrine, and Clawdeen, and they all three look amazing, in my opinion! I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually think I'm most looking forward to the Clawdeen from this line! It's all about that hairstyle and spotted eyeshadow. Way unique for Clawdeen, even if they do come in her typical colors. Jinafire's faceup is dominated by green, a nice touch that deviates just enough from her Scaris doll to make her interestingly different. Catrine's faceup is very samey, very similar to her Scaris doll. But she makes up for it with a cool 60's 'do that complements her Scaris hairstyle while being completely different. And her outfit? Yowzers! I have no words! I bow before you, Mattel, for giving us this unique, layered outfit that, like the hairstyle, plays off the Scaris doll's outfit while being totally different. All in all, this is one of my most anticipated upcoming lines. I love me some basics, and all three dolls deliver in that regard.
Next is the Black Carpet assortment, related to the Frights! Camera! Action! line. All four of these dolls strike me as very Art Deco in their dresses and accessories. Fitting for a Hollywood-themed line. I'm not especially excited for this line, although Cleo looks like a must-have (unless Mattel manages to screw the manufactured doll's eyes up again). Draculaura and Lagoona look really nice. Not digging this Clawdeen at all.
So, yeah, with one exception, Art Class is totally rocking my world. Draculaura has bold yellow streaks in her hair! I repeat, Draculaura has bold yellow streaks in her hair! She also appears to have gold/yellow eyeshadow. She's too cool for school, kiddies, is what she is. Can't wait! We're also getting a second Skelita thanks to this line, and wow, is she gorgeous! The blue of her Scaris faceup seems to have been replaced by pink, but whatever -- look at her hair! Her orange streaks have been joined by teal ones as well! Her dress is simple but cute. The big draw with this Skelita is that hair. For me, anyway. Art Class Abbey's dress seems to be an abbreviated, slightly modified, version of her basic doll's outfit. But as with Skelita, the exciting thing about this Abbey is her hair. Wavy, non-tinseled, with a simple middle part. You know how SRM Frankie totally worked for me because of her loose, tousled hairstyle? I'm getting the same vibe from Art Class Abbey. And to top it all off, she has beautiful blue eyeshadow surrounding the entire eye. This Abbey strikes me as mellow, groovy, laidback, cool. Robecca appears here, too, but she confuses me. Is she steampunk? No. But that never bothered me before about her. What's not working for me is her overall style. They seem to be going for the 40's with the hairstyle and dress, but why on Robecca? And why does it look so "off"? I'm not really getting it. Ending on a happier note, Art Class Operetta -- a Walmart exclusive -- is the very kind of doll I love to see from MH. She has two-toned hair -- black on top, red underneath -- with the black portion curly and possibly pigtail'd. Her dress features a red bodice giving way to a skirt featuring one of the coolest prints I've seen in quite a while. One of her forearms and hands is solid black while the other is white. She's unique, she's gorgeous, she's right where MH needs to be stylistically.
I don't have much to say about the Coffin Bean assortment. Abbey is hard to see in the pics I've found of her, so I can't comment. We're getting yet another Toralei -- yay! -- though she does look very basic. Again, I need to see more of her before I can accurately comment. Frankie, on the other hand -- wow! She looks like a deranged 50's waitress, and I'm so loving those yellow streaks and emphasis on her white hair. The outfit is wicked, too -- those prints are just too funky. And fun! If the manufactured doll comes out like the prototype I honestly feel she may be my favorite Frankie yet.
As far as Ghoul Spirit is concerned, you already know how I feel about Slo-Mo and Venus. Frankie looks like she has a cold. I mean, what's going on with her eyes? It's really weird. But hey, she's unique, always a plus in my book! Spectra looks off, as well. I can't put my finger on it, but there's definitely something odd going on with those eyes. And mouth. Her outfit is uninspired, to say the least. Disappointing.
I'll finish with the Picnic Casket 2-pack. Frankie looks pretty amazing here, wearing a modernized 50's ensemble and sporting extremely dark eyeshadow. She looks to have both blue and yellow streaks in her hair: one of my all-time favorite color combos. Jackson looks like the "coded gay" nerd character from every 80's teen flick. Me no likey. I'll be getting the set for Frankie and ditching Jackson as quickly as possible.
NYCC: the monsters came, the monsters conquered (well, aside from a small handful of duds), the monsters ruled. What did you think of MH's NYCC presence? Which dolls do you love, which ones do you hate? Do you agree with me that, aside from a couple of minor missteps, MH seems to be getting it's mojo back? If nothing else, it was exciting seeing such a large number of dolls premiered at one time! It made SDCC pale in comparison, if you ask me.
To see great pics of the actual dolls on display at the con, head to VioletVondergeist's Tumblr. Lots and lots of great stuff there!
Thanks for reading!
