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hat_plays_dollsToys R Us closes on June 29th, and it's the end of an era, here, but at least I got some pretty sweet deals before the end.
So, Monster Family Clawdeen, Barker, and Weredith Wolf, in their bedtime/Dead Tired looks!
I don't know what to say outside the cut right now so let's just jump in.
Box art one...
And two. I genuinely DO like how much easier it is to get into the simple action-figure-style blister-pack boxes, but yeah, I do miss being able to save the box art. I mean, even if Mattel blobbed their glue somewhere other than right in the middle of the cute art, that'd work for me.
Box blurb! I also miss lore. And diaries. I mean, that's what fanfiction is for, sure, but if I'm gonna write THAT much Monster High fic, I'm... probably just gonna rewrite the whole canon. And I don't really have time for that, you know?
Okay, let's just get onto the dolls.
Everybody still roped into the box! There were tabs in Clawdeen's head, but not in Barker's, and Weredith's is too hard for such things.
I love how many extra clear rubber bands I get in packs like this.
As with all the Monster Family sets so far, this one was made in Indonesia, so I heartily recommend checking out the dolls in person if you possibly can. Being a three-pack, it's next to impossible to get all three dolls looking good, so I prioritized Barker. It was a little tricky because of his sleep mask, but I'm pretty sure I got the best one left.
... Yeah, my Weredith isn't so great, paint-wise. But actually her giant horizontal puppy head is growing on me?
Free from their prison!
Clawdeen has five points of articulation, at the neck, shoulders, and hips; Barker and Weredith both have six, allowing for tails. Weredith's tank and diaper are painted on; Clawdeen and Barker both have pajama separates. Only Clawdeen has shoes.
And Clawdeen has super-adorable bone barrettes. Hold onto those, honey, that's the sort of thing Howleen likes to steal. Her hair is nylon, but is melted to secure it inside her head rather than using glue or, you know, the traditional chain-stitch method. I miss the chain-stitch method, and I wonder what happened to it.
Barker is on the fair side for the Wolf family, but he's cute and unlike a lot of Monster High boys, he's got happy-looking eyes.
Weredith has another of those cracked-and-oozing baby bottles, and her hair is a little sculpted purple tuft.
Okay, more in-depth stuff.
Clawdeen has had four pajama dolls at this point-- Room to Howl, Dead Tired 2, budget sleepwear, and now Monster Family. I will be honest and say that of those four, this one is the least Clawdeen-like ensemble. It's not bad, really, it's just not as good as the other three. (Of which I only have two.)
While I kind of like the idea of softer makeup tones on the Monster Family older sisters, I kind of wish the colors were chosen better on some of them. Lagoona came out well, with coral and teal, but Cleo hardly looks like Cleo, and Clawdeen has more of a daytime look than a bedtime look. Which isn't to say it's not cute! It's super cute. But it's more 'slumber party' than 'bedtime story.'
Her top is a very similar print to both Pawla's nightgown and Barker's PJ shirt, and... it actually looks better in this pic than it does in reality. Mattel has reached and pushed pats the limits of their fabric printing technology here. The overall pattern needs one less detail, I feel like. Maybe two less.
The pants are actually fairly Clawdeen-y? A little pastel, maybe, but they're purple and greeny-yellow tiger print and made of a... I don't want to say "heavy" because it's not actually heavy. A thick-for-dolls cotton print. I know Clawdeen isn't a 'lounge around the house' kind of person, but these would be good pants for that. (Also shown, hot pink hand towel, probably not a burp rag.)
Clawdeen's shoes are her specific Dead Tired slippers... just with no paint details, which is a sad thing. Then again, no paint details is like no limb articulation: If Mattel isn't doing it, they're not messing it up.
That busy busy pajama top is only half-printed, which I genuinely do not mind in the case of pajamas. They're pajamas. Also, full Velcro opening, which I prefer to half openings.
While I won't argue that Barker is adorable, I do kind of wish that he (and Pawla, Weredith, Kelpie, and Ebbie) had gotten debuts in, you know, everyday clothes.
I gotta say, though, I love Barker's eyes. That's pretty close to the color of my own eyes, but also they've got a lot of shading in them. Yes, they also have that dot-matrix-lookin' style that all the five-inch MF kids have, but you really can't see that with the naked eye.
And there's that busy pattern again. Okay this is supposed to be a blue base, patterned with orange claw marks and teal paw prints, with yellow eyes lurking in black shredding. And the eyes work! They do. The paw prints and claw marks... do not, not for me.
But I do like that red toothbrush, and I plan to paint it, and I would in fact buy Bathroom Accessory Packs that were just things like this toothbrush and the Room to Howl hair straightener and Frankie's blow dryer and Lagoona's shampoo in various colors.
Barker's shirt is fully printed-- but that's because it's cut all in one piece, like Lux de Nile's. ... In fact, his tank and shorts might be cut on the same pattern as Lux's tank and shorts. No special accomodation is made for his tail.
The sleep mask... does not fit Barker all that well. I think it was actually sculpted for a doll with rooted hair, and Barker's hair is molded. So the mask wanders. I do, however, really want to paint it. It's got a lot of cute detail.
While I like the crossbones-patterned diaper and Weredith's head is growing on me, I'm gonna say I don't even think that paws-claws-shreds-eyes print works well even in paint. Weredith was not my priority in this pack.
And it shows! This is actually one of the better Weredith faces that was available in my local Toys R Us, and... yeah, those eyes have some problems. And so do the fangs. I might be able to touch this up with acrylic paint, but there's another three-pack with Weredith in, so, you know, not a priority.
Weredith's tail isn't mismatched, it's both a different plastic and a closer match to the darker fur on her head, as opposed to the lighter stuff on her muzzle and everywhere else.
The accessories! Okay so there's not a whole lot. What's here is detailed and cute, though.
Pawla and Barker have different face sculpts, but the same body-- and opposite arm bends. This means that if Mattel really wanted to, they could give us a Barker or Pawla (or some of their same-age siblings, I wrote down Pawlie and Clawrence but there are like twelve of them in the specials) with two straight arms. ... Or two bent arms, but they might get in each other's way.
As ever, I do think the Monster Family kids look just as... Okay hang on, I don't think IHF Clawdeen is a fair comparison here.
Okay, so now we have Monster Family Clawdeen and Dead Tired II Clawdeen (headswapped onto a Reboot body, I like the fuzzies). And Barker looks just as related to either of them.
However, the family resemblence is strongest with Howleen-- Barker's a little darker but not by much, and they have a pretty similar shape in the chin.
And after a quick headswap (I'm shameless, and extra heads take up less storage space than heads and bodies), it's pretty apparent why I'm not a huge fan of Reboot Clawdeen. ... Well, Reboot Clawdeen's head. I like her body a lot. But Reboot Clawdeen looks younger than Classic Howleen. (I still don't have Reboot Howleen, I never found one with good enough eyes at a low enough price to get her just for her shoes.) Now, if I were the kind of modder who were good at shortening limbs, I'd seriously consider making a shorter/younger Clawdeen (or renaming and re-rooting such a doll)... but that's not really my skillset.
Hey look it's almost everyone! (Packlyn is missing, but that's okay.) Clawd is pretending to wear PJs in a Ken shirt and pair of swim trunks, and I have swapped him to a Texas A&M body because it's the right skintone and, frankly, because Clawd needs more beef than even a reboot MH boy. Next to him is single-pack Pawla-- they're pretty close to the same skintone. Dead Tired II Clawdeen is wearing her Room to Howl pajamas (which show off her fantastic Reboot abs. Dance Class Howleen has stolen Clawdeen's Dead Tired II jammies, which is the sort of thing Howleen does on the regular. Barker might actually be a step between their skintones, but Dance Class is a Chinese Howleen and has slightly lighter skin. And on the end there is Pack of Trouble Clawdia, holding Weredith and wearing Clawdeen's Monster Family PJs, which fit her really well due to the relaxed fit of both the capri pants and the swing top.
And... yeah, I probably do need to make some nightclothes for Clawd, Howleen, and Clawdia. I also need to make some daytime clothes for Pawla and Barker.
Okay, in conclusion: I wouldn't pay full price for this set (in fact I did not do such a thing)-- but Clawdeen's pajamas are well-made, the accessories are cute even if they're missing paint apps, Weredith starts to look less weird the more MH dolls she's around, and Barker looks great. I grabbed the last good Barker, but if your local stores are moving stock (or just restocking) faster than mine, I'd say even a 10% off sale makes for a good price if both Barker and Weredith have decent eye paint.
Also dang but I'd love to get these kids all dressed up and take 'em to Disneyland. I'd have to make my own carrying case to get all of them in my backpack, and I'd definitely have to pack a tripod because as you can see, it's next to impossible to simultaneously hold the camera and get six dolls LOOKING at the camera.
But still.
I wonder if I can find a Tiana dress that'd fit Pawla, this is definitely a family that'd bemoan the fact that the Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique is for kids.
Like what I do and want to help me feed my cats, but don't need anything I have for sale on eBay? You can always support me on Patreon or throw some change in my tip jar.
So, Monster Family Clawdeen, Barker, and Weredith Wolf, in their bedtime/Dead Tired looks!
I don't know what to say outside the cut right now so let's just jump in.
Box art one...
And two. I genuinely DO like how much easier it is to get into the simple action-figure-style blister-pack boxes, but yeah, I do miss being able to save the box art. I mean, even if Mattel blobbed their glue somewhere other than right in the middle of the cute art, that'd work for me.
Box blurb! I also miss lore. And diaries. I mean, that's what fanfiction is for, sure, but if I'm gonna write THAT much Monster High fic, I'm... probably just gonna rewrite the whole canon. And I don't really have time for that, you know?
Okay, let's just get onto the dolls.
Everybody still roped into the box! There were tabs in Clawdeen's head, but not in Barker's, and Weredith's is too hard for such things.
I love how many extra clear rubber bands I get in packs like this.
As with all the Monster Family sets so far, this one was made in Indonesia, so I heartily recommend checking out the dolls in person if you possibly can. Being a three-pack, it's next to impossible to get all three dolls looking good, so I prioritized Barker. It was a little tricky because of his sleep mask, but I'm pretty sure I got the best one left.
... Yeah, my Weredith isn't so great, paint-wise. But actually her giant horizontal puppy head is growing on me?
Free from their prison!
Clawdeen has five points of articulation, at the neck, shoulders, and hips; Barker and Weredith both have six, allowing for tails. Weredith's tank and diaper are painted on; Clawdeen and Barker both have pajama separates. Only Clawdeen has shoes.
And Clawdeen has super-adorable bone barrettes. Hold onto those, honey, that's the sort of thing Howleen likes to steal. Her hair is nylon, but is melted to secure it inside her head rather than using glue or, you know, the traditional chain-stitch method. I miss the chain-stitch method, and I wonder what happened to it.
Barker is on the fair side for the Wolf family, but he's cute and unlike a lot of Monster High boys, he's got happy-looking eyes.
Weredith has another of those cracked-and-oozing baby bottles, and her hair is a little sculpted purple tuft.
Okay, more in-depth stuff.
Clawdeen has had four pajama dolls at this point-- Room to Howl, Dead Tired 2, budget sleepwear, and now Monster Family. I will be honest and say that of those four, this one is the least Clawdeen-like ensemble. It's not bad, really, it's just not as good as the other three. (Of which I only have two.)
While I kind of like the idea of softer makeup tones on the Monster Family older sisters, I kind of wish the colors were chosen better on some of them. Lagoona came out well, with coral and teal, but Cleo hardly looks like Cleo, and Clawdeen has more of a daytime look than a bedtime look. Which isn't to say it's not cute! It's super cute. But it's more 'slumber party' than 'bedtime story.'
Her top is a very similar print to both Pawla's nightgown and Barker's PJ shirt, and... it actually looks better in this pic than it does in reality. Mattel has reached and pushed pats the limits of their fabric printing technology here. The overall pattern needs one less detail, I feel like. Maybe two less.
The pants are actually fairly Clawdeen-y? A little pastel, maybe, but they're purple and greeny-yellow tiger print and made of a... I don't want to say "heavy" because it's not actually heavy. A thick-for-dolls cotton print. I know Clawdeen isn't a 'lounge around the house' kind of person, but these would be good pants for that. (Also shown, hot pink hand towel, probably not a burp rag.)
Clawdeen's shoes are her specific Dead Tired slippers... just with no paint details, which is a sad thing. Then again, no paint details is like no limb articulation: If Mattel isn't doing it, they're not messing it up.
That busy busy pajama top is only half-printed, which I genuinely do not mind in the case of pajamas. They're pajamas. Also, full Velcro opening, which I prefer to half openings.
While I won't argue that Barker is adorable, I do kind of wish that he (and Pawla, Weredith, Kelpie, and Ebbie) had gotten debuts in, you know, everyday clothes.
I gotta say, though, I love Barker's eyes. That's pretty close to the color of my own eyes, but also they've got a lot of shading in them. Yes, they also have that dot-matrix-lookin' style that all the five-inch MF kids have, but you really can't see that with the naked eye.
And there's that busy pattern again. Okay this is supposed to be a blue base, patterned with orange claw marks and teal paw prints, with yellow eyes lurking in black shredding. And the eyes work! They do. The paw prints and claw marks... do not, not for me.
But I do like that red toothbrush, and I plan to paint it, and I would in fact buy Bathroom Accessory Packs that were just things like this toothbrush and the Room to Howl hair straightener and Frankie's blow dryer and Lagoona's shampoo in various colors.
Barker's shirt is fully printed-- but that's because it's cut all in one piece, like Lux de Nile's. ... In fact, his tank and shorts might be cut on the same pattern as Lux's tank and shorts. No special accomodation is made for his tail.
The sleep mask... does not fit Barker all that well. I think it was actually sculpted for a doll with rooted hair, and Barker's hair is molded. So the mask wanders. I do, however, really want to paint it. It's got a lot of cute detail.
While I like the crossbones-patterned diaper and Weredith's head is growing on me, I'm gonna say I don't even think that paws-claws-shreds-eyes print works well even in paint. Weredith was not my priority in this pack.
And it shows! This is actually one of the better Weredith faces that was available in my local Toys R Us, and... yeah, those eyes have some problems. And so do the fangs. I might be able to touch this up with acrylic paint, but there's another three-pack with Weredith in, so, you know, not a priority.
Weredith's tail isn't mismatched, it's both a different plastic and a closer match to the darker fur on her head, as opposed to the lighter stuff on her muzzle and everywhere else.
The accessories! Okay so there's not a whole lot. What's here is detailed and cute, though.
Pawla and Barker have different face sculpts, but the same body-- and opposite arm bends. This means that if Mattel really wanted to, they could give us a Barker or Pawla (or some of their same-age siblings, I wrote down Pawlie and Clawrence but there are like twelve of them in the specials) with two straight arms. ... Or two bent arms, but they might get in each other's way.
As ever, I do think the Monster Family kids look just as... Okay hang on, I don't think IHF Clawdeen is a fair comparison here.
Okay, so now we have Monster Family Clawdeen and Dead Tired II Clawdeen (headswapped onto a Reboot body, I like the fuzzies). And Barker looks just as related to either of them.
However, the family resemblence is strongest with Howleen-- Barker's a little darker but not by much, and they have a pretty similar shape in the chin.
And after a quick headswap (I'm shameless, and extra heads take up less storage space than heads and bodies), it's pretty apparent why I'm not a huge fan of Reboot Clawdeen. ... Well, Reboot Clawdeen's head. I like her body a lot. But Reboot Clawdeen looks younger than Classic Howleen. (I still don't have Reboot Howleen, I never found one with good enough eyes at a low enough price to get her just for her shoes.) Now, if I were the kind of modder who were good at shortening limbs, I'd seriously consider making a shorter/younger Clawdeen (or renaming and re-rooting such a doll)... but that's not really my skillset.
Hey look it's almost everyone! (Packlyn is missing, but that's okay.) Clawd is pretending to wear PJs in a Ken shirt and pair of swim trunks, and I have swapped him to a Texas A&M body because it's the right skintone and, frankly, because Clawd needs more beef than even a reboot MH boy. Next to him is single-pack Pawla-- they're pretty close to the same skintone. Dead Tired II Clawdeen is wearing her Room to Howl pajamas (which show off her fantastic Reboot abs. Dance Class Howleen has stolen Clawdeen's Dead Tired II jammies, which is the sort of thing Howleen does on the regular. Barker might actually be a step between their skintones, but Dance Class is a Chinese Howleen and has slightly lighter skin. And on the end there is Pack of Trouble Clawdia, holding Weredith and wearing Clawdeen's Monster Family PJs, which fit her really well due to the relaxed fit of both the capri pants and the swing top.
And... yeah, I probably do need to make some nightclothes for Clawd, Howleen, and Clawdia. I also need to make some daytime clothes for Pawla and Barker.
Okay, in conclusion: I wouldn't pay full price for this set (in fact I did not do such a thing)-- but Clawdeen's pajamas are well-made, the accessories are cute even if they're missing paint apps, Weredith starts to look less weird the more MH dolls she's around, and Barker looks great. I grabbed the last good Barker, but if your local stores are moving stock (or just restocking) faster than mine, I'd say even a 10% off sale makes for a good price if both Barker and Weredith have decent eye paint.
Also dang but I'd love to get these kids all dressed up and take 'em to Disneyland. I'd have to make my own carrying case to get all of them in my backpack, and I'd definitely have to pack a tripod because as you can see, it's next to impossible to simultaneously hold the camera and get six dolls LOOKING at the camera.
But still.
I wonder if I can find a Tiana dress that'd fit Pawla, this is definitely a family that'd bemoan the fact that the Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique is for kids.
Like what I do and want to help me feed my cats, but don't need anything I have for sale on eBay? You can always support me on Patreon or throw some change in my tip jar.
