Deja View: Gloom Beach Cleo De Nile

For a while now the hamster wheel spinning in my brain has been stopping occasionally on the idea of covering the older dolls in some way. Initially I was going to call these sort-of reviews Greatest Hits, and talk about what I consider the best of the older dolls. But then I thought, why limit myself? Sure, I can fan wank about my favorite dolls, but what about the older dolls I don't love so much? It'd be kind of fun to cover those, too! So we have Deja View, in which I take a look back at an older doll and basically evaluate her. These will more or less work as reviews, but they'll also give me a chance to place these dolls within the larger context of the MH universe. Oh, what fun!

Before I go any further I'd like to point out that while I had been tossing the idea around in my brain for a while, it wasn't until the awesome Mighoula Scaremeyer over at MHD brought up the very same idea of doing a series like this that I realized I had to go for it. Even better, the doll she suggested I cover first was the very doll I had already been eyeing to kick the series off with! I don't believe in coincidences so I took this as a big sign that I should indeed do this series! And what was that first doll our minds melded on? None other than Gloom Beach Cleo De Nile.

This chaise totally should've been a playset of some sort.

Hitting shelves in the fall of 2010, Gloom Beach was only the third MH doll line, following the initial basic dolls and Wave 1 Dawn of the Dance. Gloom Beach doubled as both the first budget MH line and the first swimwear line. In that first year Cleo was a major cornerstone of the doll lines. Her Wave 1 basic was doubled with Deuce, the first MH male doll. The first wave of DOTD featured only three dolls and Cleo was one of them. By the time Gloom Beach came around all the characters (save poor Lagoona and Ghoulia), were featured. (Ghoulia would later be released in Gloom Beach form in an exclusive pack.) It's safe to say Cleo was very much a mainstay of those first dolls; unfortunately by 2012 it would be a different story.

Gloom Beach Cleo was the very first MH doll I owned. Basic Lagoona was the doll that piqued my interest, but unable to find her on shelves I instead bought my second choice, GB Cleo. With that first doll I learned a lot about the basics of these unique pieces of plastic. I was intrigued by the odd body -- the severe sway of the back, the way the arms and wrists could be separated, the odd shape of the foot and big toe. I was immediately impressed with how well the elaborate, oddly designed swimsuit fit that odd body. The way the earrings entered at an angle so as to lay just perfectly against the ear was so unique and something I'd never seen before. The poseability was unlike anything I'd previously encountered on a playline doll. In short, I found myself marveling at this complicated new doll body and just how well it functioned.

And then there were the details of the doll's face -- those gigantic striking eyes, the angular jawbones, the flat bridge of the nose that subtly referenced ancient Egyptian paintings. It was all so clever. Mattel was not only referencing The Mummy with her wrap-like swimsuit, they were touching on her Egyptian roots in the actual mold of her face. Even her makeup referenced Cleopatra. I realized right away Mattel was taking a thorough approach to this doll's theming. Everything reflected her Egyptian lineage, and in a genuinely smart way. With Gloom Beach Cleo Mattel had me hooked. By the end of the week I had picked up three more MH dolls.

Cleo has an interesting faceup. In a running theme of the entire Gloom Beach line, her makeup is done in bright colors, but the actual shade of the colors are severely muted. This is most noticeable on the lips. In Cleo's case, she has a layer of turquoise that surrounds the entire eye, but the shade is very muted, as I mentioned. Her mascara and brows are standard Cleo. She has a brownish-purple divider line at the lid. There is no shimmer or glitter around the eyes. Her irises are the at that time standard grey with a touch of yellow and green (in recent dolls they've been subtly playing around with Cleo's iris design). Her lips are again a muted turquoise although the color is a tad lighter than her eyeshadow. There's no shimmer or glitter on the lips. It's a simple, clean faceup that puts the emphasis on her beautiful bone structure. Really, only the muted lips stand out as far as the makeup is concerned. To say she is beautiful is an understatement. GB Cleo, with her emphasized angular features and massive, wide set eyes, is almost otherwordly in her stunning beauty -- set those eyes any farther apart and she could almost pass for an alien. But no, she doesn't look like an alien, just an outrageously exotic beauty. She's stunning.

Her hair is rather simple. Black with gold tinsel, straight bangs, the rest pulled into a tight ponytail. Quality is good -- the texture is nice, the tinsel isn't all broken and twisted like some of her newer dolls, and it lays perfectly. Two years later this doll's hair still looks fantastic. It's held up well (unlike some of my other older dolls -- we'll get to those). By pulling her hair back into a ponytail this once again puts the emphasis on those angular facial features. I'm sometimes iffy on ponytails on dolls but here the effect is perfect. It all comes together -- the faceup, the high quality hair, the use of hairstyle and makeup to highlight her beautiful facemold. Good job, Mattel!

Of the Gloom Beach dolls I feel Cleo has by far the most interesting swimsuit. It's really more like a bikini that happens to have a strap running across her abdomen. It's yellow and black and the print is done in a wrap style (of the mummy variety, not the swimsuit wrap kind). It has one sleeve while the top connects to a piece that stretches diagonally across her abdomen where it connects to the bottom. I'm sure you know by now that if you take this swimsuit off the doll it takes a little "figuring out" before you can get it back on. It's all straps and Velcro and leg holes. It can be a little confusing. This swimsuit really shows off the unique design of the MH body. I'm really glad this was my first doll because it allowed me to keep her completely clothed while still being able to marvel at the design of the body. Over the swimsuit she wears a netted wrap in turquoise. It rather short and over the years has started to really bunch up at her hip joints. It fastens with Velcro. I like the wrap but enjoy the doll just as much just wearing her swimsuit.

Gloom Beach Cleo came with numerous accessories. Over her left forearm she wears a molded cuff of black and gold. The design mimics mummy wraps. On her right leg she wears a matching cuff that clips onto the calf. These go a long way in adding visual interest to the doll, not mention they further enhance her mummy theme. She wears golden earrings in the shape of a triangle (or pyramid) -- once again some clever theming there, and as I mentioned I love the way the earrings are designed at an angle to perfectly lay at her ears. She wears solid turquoise wedge sandals. The wedges are layered bricks while a strap covers the top of the foot. There's a hole for her big toe to slide into, holding the shoe in place. This was inspired design on Mattel's part, but I'm glad they've moved on to bigger and better things in shoe design. Her last accessories are her translucent, chunky green sunglasses -- there's some interesting, unexpected molding going on here, and the glasses make her look oh so hip. Even two years later these still look very wicked. She also has a fan of gold and turquoise feathers, another nod to her Egyptian roots. It has a handle so Cleo can actually hold it and it works quite well!

Cleo also included a collector's card with her drawing on one side and a "postcard" to be sent to one of the other MH girls on the other. Unfortunately I can't find this card at the moment. I still have all my other GB cards so I'm not sure why Cleo's has gone MIA.

In summation, Gloom Beach Cleo De Nile is simply a stunning doll. She may be budget, but she ain't cheap. She's beautiful, her theming all adds up and highlights the work Mattel put into making these dolls the kind of toys you can "sink your teeth into", so to speak. Especially back during these early lines Mattel was going out of their way to deliver high quality dolls that had interesting character set-ups, and they followed through on that in both the overt and subtle design details. I'm so glad Gloom Beach Cleo was my first MH doll. She easily sold me on the line as a whole, and this specific character, in one fell swoop. Give it up for Gloom Beach Cleo, y'all!

Review: Picture Day Cleo De Nile

Let's talk about doll hair. Way back in the history of fashion dolls, thanks to lots of focus grouping, Mattel discovered that one of kids favorite things to do with their dolls was play with their hair -- cut it, style it, shampoo it, you name it. This seems pretty obvious to us today but seeing as Mattel pretty much invented the modern fashion doll thanks to Barbie they were still figuring things out. Mattel called this style of doll play, appropriately enough, Hair Play. Mattel astutely started releasing Barbies that focused solely on Hair Play in addition to their usual Barbie dolls. Some doll's hair could "grow" and be cut; another approach was Hair Fair Barbie, which was simply a doll head that came with several different hair extensions. You gave the disembodied head a cool new 'do and popped it onto one of your old Barbie bodies. Voila, whole new doll, and with your own personal mark of style. My personal favorites are the Quick Curl Barbies of the 70's, dolls that had pieces of wire rooted in with the usual hair that could be curled into all kinds of styles. This gave way to the swimwear Barbies in the 80's that had silky hair that went to their ankles. Long, thick, and oh so perfect for Hair Play. This splintering of Barbie dolls that focused on different styles of play were the seeds that gave birth to the "adult collector" Barbies that we started seeing in the late 80's. Mattel realized they could charge more for these dolls and make lots of money, especially since by that point the kids who played with those very first Barbies were now adults and many of them had become collectors. But what does this have to do with Monster High? Well first the obvious -- Mattel also makes Monster High so the connection between Barbie and MH is a direct one. It would be foolish to say that Barbie hasn't been a major influence on Monster High. The other thing is that, well, just as kids then and today love them some Hair Play, so do adult collectors. We may not shampoo it up in the tub with our dolls like the kids do but we certainly appreciate great doll hair just as much. But the ultimate point of this mini history lesson is to point out that, for adults and kids alike, good or bad hair can make or break a doll. And since you're reading this at the top of my Picture Day Cleo review you can probably guess it's not good news for our cherished Cleo.

First things first -- like the other Picture Day dolls Cleo's box is adorned with a school picture poking fun at her. In this case her pet snake Hissette is giving her bunny ears. I love this pic of Cleo -- she looks great, the bunny ears are funny, and you just gotta love Hissette's big, satisfied grin.

Picture Day Cleo comes with the requisite Fearbook, highlighting her votes for different character personalities in addition to that awesome composite picture of all the MH characters. She also includes a sticker sheet of 16 different MH characters (love this!).

I love this Cleo's faceup. Her irises seem a bit brighter than usual -- less grey, more turquoise. She has the usual Cleopatra-inspired mascara; her entire eye is surrounded by gold shimmer. She has a blue divider line at the lid. For some reason her eyes seem a little smaller than usual but I've compared her to my other Cleo dolls and they look to be the same size. Anyway, my favorite thing about this faceup is her lips -- super glossy and in a beautiful deep blue shade. Although there's nothing particularly unique about this Cleo's face for some reason she looks like a bit of a departure to me. I just can't put my finger on it. In any case I love this faceup -- Cleo is certainly as pretty as ever here!

Like the other Picture Day dolls Cleo's outfit is unique and a bit of a departure for the character while still feeling pure "Cleo". She wears a shirt-dress in a base color of Catalina blue (yep). It features a very busy print of stylized wraps in turquoise, black, and shining gold. There's also an occasional jeweled necklace printed in gold. The sleeves go to her elbows. Under the bust is a hem where the top splits and overlaps in the front. Under the shirt-dress Cleo wears black and gold striped tights that end just below the knees. She wears a wide gold belt of molded wings under the bust. In the center is a black scarab. Coordinated with this is a gold bracelet also baring a black scarab.

While we're on the scarab tip I might as well go ahead and discuss her purse, my personal favorite of the Picture Day dolls. It's translucent turquoise, very thin, and has a strap for the handle. Molded onto the front is a fairly large scarab painted in gold outline. In one of those cool little MH details I love so much the arms of the scarab are raised and "clutching" the clasp to open the purse. Yep, unlike Abbey's backpack and Spectra's purse, this purse actually opens! Of course it's so thin I doubt you're gonna get much in there, but who cares? It opens and that's all that really matters to me in this case. The scarab on the front is repeated on the back but minus the cool gold outline. Looking at all these scarabs I can't help but think of Nefera -- aren't scarabs her thing? Somehow I doubt she's gonna be down with Cleo hijacking them for this outfit. To Cleo I can only offer one of my favorite movie quotes (from Ghost and said by Whoopi Goldberg) in warning: "You in danger, girl!"

Cleo's shoes are strappy sandals in Catalina blue. They rest on a wedge of phoenix wings while the soles are layered bricks. I love these shoes although they don't have a patch on 2.0 Cleo's hourglass heels. Actually while I love this entire outfit in general I feel it doesn't come close to her 2.0 basic outfit. Ditto the face and hair.

Speaking of, here comes the bad news. My Picture Day Cleo has awful hair. Yes, major sadface. I picked the Picture Day dolls up at Wal-Mart and while the shelves weren't loaded down with them I had several Cleos to choose from. Unfortunately they all had bad hair. I picked the best one but that's not saying much. Her hair is dry, stringy, and frizzy. When I combed it several strands came out and had to be trimmed. Her bangs were uneven and had to be trimmed as well -- and they still look pretty bad. I've seen other Picture Day Cleo's on Flickr who look like they have great hair so I guess I just (un)lucked out. It's really disappointing because Cleo was one of the few characters whose dolls could always be counted on to have nice silky hair. Even her Skull Shores doll, whose hair looked terrible in every box I saw on store shelves, was a really easy fix - a quick brush and slight trim and it was ready to go! It was short but still just as silky as her dolls with longer hair. This dry, frizzy Picture Day hair has taken a lot of the fun out of this doll for me. Like I said, good or bad hair can make or break a doll.

Cleo's last accessory is her folder, a gold number featuring molded papyrus and phoenix wings framing the snap. Oddly, Picture Day Cleo doesn't come wearing earrings. In the past they've released dolls without earrings but it made sense -- SRM dolls can't wear them with their skating gear; Dance Class could've used them (and Howleen does have her signature safety pin earring), but that was a very budget line so I get it. But Picture Day isn't a budget line. And the other dolls in the line have them (well, Abbey only wears one, that infuriating hair-grabbing ice thing), so why not Cleo? Pretty odd if you ask me.

Overall grade: I really hate to do it but I have to give this doll a B-. She would've scored an A- like my other Picture Day dolls had she had the usual silky Cleo hair. I'm really disappointed she doesn't. Like I said, it just takes a lot of fun out of this doll for me. I hope this dry hair isn't the way of the future for Cleo's dolls. That would be pretty disheartening. I like her unique outfit and pretty faceup although they don't come close to her 2011 2.0 Basic doll. I especially admire that they're trying new things with these dolls' outfits even if they don't always measure up to past glories. The lack of earrings is just odd. Curiously, I've noticed this doll seems to photograph better than she looks in person. That's not to say she's unattractive (quite the opposite), it's just something I've noticed.  If I come across another Picture Day Cleo and she has silky hair I will be getting her, and my grade for this doll will go up. Sorry Cleo. You need to rip Mattel a new one for doing this to you.

Review: Ghouls Rule Cleo De Nile

Ghouls Rule has proven to be a popular line for Monster High. The clothes! The hair! The makeup! It's all so ridiculously over the top, and fans have loved it. Me, I'm not so into it. Sure, these dolls look ready for the kiki, and indeed tea may be spilled, and just desserts served. Fun stuff, but it's not my thing. That said, this line included my golden girl, Cleo De Nile, and I simply couldn't pass her up. Plus, of all the Ghouls Rule dolls, she looked the least like a drag queen on a bender. And sure enough, once I had her in my hands I found myself falling in love.

Cleo has shoulder length, tinsled black and turquoise hair. She has a bump-it in the back (borrowed from a drag queen bestie?). Her eyes are gorgeous -- green-yellow irises surrounded by navy blue shadow, with a gold strip through it that comes to her characteristic prongs. Small circular details accent the top and bottom. Her lips are gold. Both the eyeshadow and lips have glitter over them.

She wears a one piece dress with two layers over the bodice. The outer layer is nude and has turquoise stripes jutting off in geometric patterns, including over short sleeves. Under this is a layer of gold with an embossed print of circles; this layer is sleeveless. The layered effect is impressive, and the patterns emphasize her mummy theme. The bodice ends at the thighs, where a hem connects it to a skirt made of black netting. Over the netting lays mid-length turquoise strips that come to a point. Once again, impressive.

Cleo wears a cape. The neck piece is a gold, curving snake. It doesn't fasten but the curves of the snake's body are close enough to function in place of a clasp. Hanging from the snake's body are shards of black gauze with a shiny gold print. The cape is incredibly cool, especially since you can take the gauze pieces and wrap them around her arms. It's a dramatic look, no doubt -- her queenly friends taught her well.

Her shoes are dark green translucent heels, with nifty gold bricks working in place of a traditional heel. There's also a snake-like strap that wraps around each ankle. I love these shoes so much. They function well but break significantly from standard doll shoe design -- just what we love from MH. Plus they emphasize her Egyptian theme. They're spectacular.

All the Ghouls Rule dolls come with a masquerade ball-style mask. Cleo's is gold and features a twisting wand with molded ribbons hanging off the side. The wand has a working grip so she can hold it herself. If you position her hand and face correctly she can hold the mask up to her eyes and it fits! The design of the eyepiece looks a bit like molded, stylized feathers. When held by Cleo directly against her face the effect is almost eerie. She looks a bit creepy, like she could be in Eyes Wide Shut or something. I really love it.

Her only other worn accessories are gold earrings and a bracelet on each wrist. One earring is a curled snake while the other is a simple "jewel". The bracelets are both rather simple. She also comes with some non-wearable pieces including a molded turquoise... uh ... pumpkin I guess? It has a handle. Is Cleo going trick or treating? Because I seriously have doubts about that. She also comes with a punch bowl containing purple liquid that's held by gold snakes. It has a matching ladle and cup with straw.

The fun thing about this dress is you can "puff" up the netted skirt and it will hold it's shape, splaying the turquoise strips every which way. The same can be done with the gauze that make up the cape. The strips can be wrapped around her arms, her body, you could even wrap them around her neck if you wanted. (I bet Rochelle has considered this a few times.)

After falling so thoroughly in love with this Cleo I went back to the store to check out the other Ghouls Rule dolls, thinking maybe I had unfairly judged them. But no, I still don't like them. That's okay. I couldn't be happier with my seemingly drag-inspired Cleo. I suppose it's fitting that a girl of royalty would find kinship with the modern queens of our world.

Overall grade: A+ Although the other dolls in this line don't work for me I totally love this Cleo! I feel the OTT aspects of the line are tamed down a bit on Cleo, just enough to make it work for me. I also love that her Egyptian mummy theme is out in full force on this doll, and executed quite stylishly. This is one of my favorite Cleo's.