Hat Plays Dolls

So, one of my oldest dearest friends (who goes by Cryptid on Den of Angels) went and got herself a 1:4 scale resin ball-jointed doll.

Now, I know the general sense of 'ball-jointed doll' is 'pretty, possibly vaguely-anime-influenced, young woman with a waiflike body and dewy face,' and they're not everyone's cup of tea-- they were never my cup of tea and I did give it a whirl back in the day, but what Cryptid got was a red deer skull head, with full antlers, on a lean-but-ripped vibrant purple male body with deer/goat/satyr legs.

He is Skelfthyrnir, the Lord of the Forest, and I thought he was so darned much fun that even though he wasn't due to arrive until January, I sent Cryptid a chest of tribute for Christmas-- stuff I thought she'd get more use out of than I would, for a doll like that, given that one of the things I've learned about myself as a doll collector is that, although I love historical and fantasy costuming for dolls, I rarely display the historical, fantasy, and historical-fantasy stuff I have.

... Or what I had. I've sold off a lot of stuff. Something about my collection of 1:4 dolls (currently all Tonner or Kish) just keeps saying 'these are modern, contemporary people' to me.

It was a lot easier when my 1:12 dollhouse doll supplier was still around-- she just disappeared, I couldn't even find an obituary-- and I could make whatever I wanted because I could just turn right around and sell it at a miniatures show. When it only takes a few hours to run up a whole outfit, it's a lot easier to turn a profit than it is on something that takes a whole day for one garment, even if being able to use full-scale sewing techniques and miniature sewing hacks makes 1:4 sewing a lot of fun.

So I haven't done a lot of historical or fantastical sewing for dolls in a while, despite watching a lot of historical costumers on YouTube on the regular.

Then Cryptid went and got Skelfthyrnir, and because once you pop you can't stop, she ordered another fantastical BJD, this one a dragon-girl who might not be as comfortable running around naked (or in a loincloth made of kid leather that was in Skelfthyrnir's tribute trunk), and I had this really weird moment where I went:

"... I primarily identify myself as a miniaturist. I named my business not only for my tendency to fall in and out of projects and hobbies, but because I was at the time the only person I knew of who sewed removable clothes for 1:12 scale dolls. And this person, who is near and dear to my heart, who I have known for 19 or 20 years at this point, does not have a single example of my sewing."

This could not be allowed to stand.

So even though I got started on her stuff first, I don't want to jump into what I did for the dragon girl, who won't even be in the US until the end of April, and I don't want to post her stuff until she's here to model it, but Skelf!

Skelf I can talk about.



Skelfthyrnir, the Lord of the Forest, has a shirt.

And yeah, all my nice photo-backdrop pics turned out a little... bleachy. There are in-progress shots that are better, don't worry, they're just also full of whatever weird crap was behind me while I was sending updates to my friend. Also Cryptid took some pics and they're just fabulous, but I'm saving Skelf himself for last.

( Follow the cut for 15 more of my pics, and 7 of Cryptid's! )

Okay, so, I got the G3 Coffee Break two-pack and as I was messing with it, I kept staring at Deuce:



I kept saying to myself, "He looks like somebody."

I knew I wanted him for a custom-- nonhuman-colored boy dolls that work with Monster High are thin on the ground-- but I wasn't sure who. I was debating between Spelldron Cauldronello and a couple of backgrounders when I had the sudden terrible realization that...

He looked a little like my boy Raythe, from the infamous Reboot/G2.

( Follow me for 55 more pics of turning a green boy into a blue boy! )

Okay, that's the old backlog all taken care of, let's get back to G3 stuff-- nothing I think you can find on store shelves, these days, but ordering online is still a possibility! And since this is the Coffee Break two-pack, featuring Frankie and Deuce in a non-romantic context despite wild fan speculation before the two-pack was actually released, as of this writing you can still find bits of it on my eBay sales page!

Not many bits, at this point, but bits!



Okay, so, Monster High G3 Coffee Break Frankie Stein & Deuce Gorgon two-pack, MSRP of $50! I did not spend that, I don't remember what I did spend, but I think I used a bunch of Target points or a Circle offer or something and came away with a huge deal.

( 56 more pics behind the cut! )

Lots of Looks Draculaura came to me in a lot of three dolls, and so far I have... recouped shipping. Like Ebbie, she dates back to May of 2021, so that's how long I've been sitting on her. She was the last secondhand but new-in-box doll I purchased until VERY recently.



She also pretty clearly came from Tuesday Morning.

( 27 more pics behind the cut! )

Ah, I see, if I sort by name, everything with IMG (phone camera) comes first, while the older stuff (starts with P) comes later, but if I sort by Date Modified, I can see the OLDER stuff I still need to review!



The Fright Roast Coffee playset never appeared anywhere on store shelves in my area, so I got it on eBay after the fact in... uh, probably 2019, but my unboxing dates back to September 2020. I got mine as part of a lot of things that appeared to have some water damage, but you can find it on eBay for around $35-$45 shipped in the US. It's a pretty cute playset and I regret not being able to pay the $15 MSRP for it; if I could've, I might have two.

( 27 more pics this way! )

... Been a while, hasn't it? Well, I never claimed to be consistent, and there's been a whole chunk of plague and a health event (guess who's diabetic! I miss bread and rice) and a fifth (and hopefully final) nibling since my last post, so I've been busy even aside from dolls.

This is the first of a few backlogged unboxing reviews I have, even though I think I have some earlier ones I never got around to. I'm just. I'm doing them in the order the photos pop up in the hopes of getting through them all in the next week or so.



So here's Monster High's freshly-rebooted Ghoulia Yelps, a Target exclusive! And several months out of date, cos I got Ghoulia in October and this whole damn ass hell line vanished from store shelves by January.

Way to sustainability, Mattel and/or Target. ( 44 more pics this way! )

My Monster High grail doll list has gotten shorter!

I have had '"Monster High" Cleo Fashion' as one of my saved eBay searches for... uh, a couple years now. Back in July, the right combination of 'not highway robbery' and 'listed at a time when I have money' appeared and I JUMPED.

I paid about $77 shipped (from Australia to California) and I'm STILL kinda proud of myself. I would not have gotten her if I hadn't been idly browsing eBay on my phone in bed the instant she was listed. I don't think she was up for an hour.

So!



I finally freaking got her!

( 26 pics behind the cut! )

Hm that's two Stein-based reviews in a row and I have one more to do, let's space these out a bit.



Pre-reboot this time-- I got the Student Lounge! I found this one on eBay for about $16 shipped, which I actually think is below the MSRP. I needed this set. Look at it. It's got a vending machine.

( 21 more pics behind the cut! )

Well, it's been a while! And I've accidentally piled up a few stacks of deboxing photos, so as is usual for me, after silence comes a glut of content.

Anyway, today's doll is Lots of Looks Frankie Stein, a spiritual successor to the classic I <3 Fashion line. Lots of Looks was an alt channel line, which of course meant I never saw them in stores. I snagged mine last month on eBay for just under $20 shipped, which was the highest I was willing to go for her. For Draculaura, I'd have to be willing to pay a little more.



Boxed! Frankie comes with two pairs of shoes, a clutch handbag, a belt, two shirts, a skirt, a dress, and rarity of rarities, a pair of long pants.

( 19 more pics inside the cut! )

... Okay so maybe I missed 'tomorrow' a little for this review, but late is better than forgotten! (Tuesday is Errands Day and Wednesday is Both Kids Wednesday, when Mom and I have to watch my extremely strong, active, and dexterous four-foot-tall four-year-old nephew and my incredibly independent, busy, and cat-loving two-year-old niece without the help of anyone who can move particularly quickly. Fun times.)

So, third and final of the replacements Mattel's fantastic customer service sent me, going above and beyond the price point of the Lunchtime Ghouls two-pack is Tween Howleen! Which is very exciting, honestly, she counts as one of the characters I don't have (alongside Zomby Gaga, Treesa Thornwillow, and Ebbie Blue).



Instead of her canonical 14, Monster Family Howleen appears closer to the eleven-to-thirteen range, like Alivia and Kelpie.

( Let's go take a closer look at her! )

But how, you ask, does Monster Family Howleen compare to Classic Howleen?

( I'm glad you asked! )

But hey, now I've got all three Monster Family Tweens, do I have any learnings on what shoes fit them?

( I'm glad you asked that, too! )