Almighty Hat (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hat_plays_dolls) wrote2019-10-16 04:16 pm
hat_plays_dolls) wrote2019-10-16 04:16 pm
Entry tags:
Toy Review: Monster High Social Spots Studen Lounge Playset
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.
Back of the box! Also looking at the floor, I think they actually used a dark-colored reflective surface during photography. Bold choice! Pain in the ass to work with, but a bold choice!
Box blurb! Ye Olde "Be Yourself. Be Unique. Be a Monster." slogan, I kinda miss that, honestly.
Also box art you could save if you wanted to!
Everything is nicely secured in the box liner with rubber bands, plastic, and some of those big tab thingies you have to twist to remove. I did not take photos of that process.
Hey, is that Justin Biter on the wall?
TINY FOOD and other things okay left to right:
One purple iTomb tablet showing a racing game
One SLIME GREEN laptop showing Monster High's .edu website
Two slightly oozy soda cans, one pink, one blue
Two slime-apple juice boxes, one blue, one green
One oozy cherry drink in a bottle
One bag ofgoldfish piranha crackers
Two brain-textured balls for the foosball table
One theatre-style box of Crunchy Mouse Tails
I freakin' love these.
I also love this settee! Yes I want to paint it, look at that fantastic spiderweb tufting. There's plenty of detail in the frame to bring out, too.
Also, while not what I'd call flawless, the back is actually really nice for mass-produced doll furniture! You would not have to hide this against a wall.
Foosball table! Green vs pink, lots of great spiderweb and coffin details on the legs and sides that... technically just keep the weight down.
And it's the girls' foosball team, they do have molded shorts and socks/shoes but it's hard to tell what the hair is doing. Paint project? Paint project.
VENDING MACHINE also known as, the reason I bought this set. (I wanted to use it to fill some space in my only-slightly-kitbashed Dead-luxe High School but it didn't fit where I wanted to put it and I couldn't make the spot any bigger without, uh, blocking off my light switch. So I found another, better spot for it.) STILL. I needed this.
And the back is all openwork spider webs in black, a slightly busy choice but it keeps the weight down and that keeps the cost down.
Clear "glass" door opens for ease of loading, bottom hatch opens for 'drop things' play.
The shelves stagger in how close they come to the door-- top shelf is deepest, then the middle, and the third is shallowest, and have a lip so they don't just fall out.
They also TIP so you can actually (sorta) vend things from your vending machine!
Turn the nuts on the side to snap a shelf down like a trap door and drop its contents to the floor below (which is why the shelf depths are staggered, so you're not just dropping goodies onto the shelf below).
Loaded up! After I took these pics, I decided that the whole thing was too dark when you don't have a white backdrop and a couple of "studio" lights you can swing around at will, and I threaded those tiny LED fairy lights through the spiderwebbing. The black battery pack boosts the machine up nicely.
And that's how dropping food works! Twist the shelf and... okay technically EVERYTHING n the shelf falls to the bottom. Still pretty good for a toy with no batteries.
Okay we've spent a LONG time on the vending machine.
Signature Venus and restyled Music Festival Clawdeen were in the office after a spa day, so they got to model-- the foosball table really is a great height for the dolls, which you'd think would be a no-brainer, but I'm forty and I've had a LOT of Barbie furniture over the years that is. Small. So it's good to see something that can be easily used by the actual dolls it's made for!
Like the settee! Okay, Clawdeen's legs stick out a little, but it's not bad (and wouldn't leave Little Sisters dangling).
Venus demonstrates that you can stick your leg out a bit and have thigh contact with the seat cushion or bend your leg all the way in your platform boots and only have butt contact.
And the student lounge all together with students!
In conclusion, this set was immediately absorbed into my larger collection and I have no regrets. I have turned the lecture hall of my Dead-luxe high school into a Student Store to use that vending machine to the fullest (it's a great place to store/display not just the Tiny Foods it comes with, but the Tiny Foods from, say, Room to Howl or Manster Game Night or Toralei's Maul fashion pack). The foosball table actually does work-- you can move the little players around and kick the little balls-- and the settee is a great piece. The iTomb belongs to Clawdeen now and the laptop is Ghoulia's.
The only real drawback of the Student Lounge playset is the footprint-- you do have to have some flat space to pose your dolls on and around these pieces, which is fine if you've got your main display on a dresser or table, but not as fantastic if you're using comparatively narrow shelves or risers. Also I deliberately sought out an NRFB set because it was the easiest way to be sure I was getting all the little Extra Bits.
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.
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.
Back of the box! Also looking at the floor, I think they actually used a dark-colored reflective surface during photography. Bold choice! Pain in the ass to work with, but a bold choice!
Box blurb! Ye Olde "Be Yourself. Be Unique. Be a Monster." slogan, I kinda miss that, honestly.
Also box art you could save if you wanted to!
Everything is nicely secured in the box liner with rubber bands, plastic, and some of those big tab thingies you have to twist to remove. I did not take photos of that process.
Hey, is that Justin Biter on the wall?
TINY FOOD and other things okay left to right:
One purple iTomb tablet showing a racing game
One SLIME GREEN laptop showing Monster High's .edu website
Two slightly oozy soda cans, one pink, one blue
Two slime-apple juice boxes, one blue, one green
One oozy cherry drink in a bottle
One bag of
Two brain-textured balls for the foosball table
One theatre-style box of Crunchy Mouse Tails
I freakin' love these.
I also love this settee! Yes I want to paint it, look at that fantastic spiderweb tufting. There's plenty of detail in the frame to bring out, too.
Also, while not what I'd call flawless, the back is actually really nice for mass-produced doll furniture! You would not have to hide this against a wall.
Foosball table! Green vs pink, lots of great spiderweb and coffin details on the legs and sides that... technically just keep the weight down.
And it's the girls' foosball team, they do have molded shorts and socks/shoes but it's hard to tell what the hair is doing. Paint project? Paint project.
VENDING MACHINE also known as, the reason I bought this set. (I wanted to use it to fill some space in my only-slightly-kitbashed Dead-luxe High School but it didn't fit where I wanted to put it and I couldn't make the spot any bigger without, uh, blocking off my light switch. So I found another, better spot for it.) STILL. I needed this.
And the back is all openwork spider webs in black, a slightly busy choice but it keeps the weight down and that keeps the cost down.
Clear "glass" door opens for ease of loading, bottom hatch opens for 'drop things' play.
The shelves stagger in how close they come to the door-- top shelf is deepest, then the middle, and the third is shallowest, and have a lip so they don't just fall out.
They also TIP so you can actually (sorta) vend things from your vending machine!
Turn the nuts on the side to snap a shelf down like a trap door and drop its contents to the floor below (which is why the shelf depths are staggered, so you're not just dropping goodies onto the shelf below).
Loaded up! After I took these pics, I decided that the whole thing was too dark when you don't have a white backdrop and a couple of "studio" lights you can swing around at will, and I threaded those tiny LED fairy lights through the spiderwebbing. The black battery pack boosts the machine up nicely.
And that's how dropping food works! Twist the shelf and... okay technically EVERYTHING n the shelf falls to the bottom. Still pretty good for a toy with no batteries.
Okay we've spent a LONG time on the vending machine.
Signature Venus and restyled Music Festival Clawdeen were in the office after a spa day, so they got to model-- the foosball table really is a great height for the dolls, which you'd think would be a no-brainer, but I'm forty and I've had a LOT of Barbie furniture over the years that is. Small. So it's good to see something that can be easily used by the actual dolls it's made for!
Like the settee! Okay, Clawdeen's legs stick out a little, but it's not bad (and wouldn't leave Little Sisters dangling).
Venus demonstrates that you can stick your leg out a bit and have thigh contact with the seat cushion or bend your leg all the way in your platform boots and only have butt contact.
And the student lounge all together with students!
In conclusion, this set was immediately absorbed into my larger collection and I have no regrets. I have turned the lecture hall of my Dead-luxe high school into a Student Store to use that vending machine to the fullest (it's a great place to store/display not just the Tiny Foods it comes with, but the Tiny Foods from, say, Room to Howl or Manster Game Night or Toralei's Maul fashion pack). The foosball table actually does work-- you can move the little players around and kick the little balls-- and the settee is a great piece. The iTomb belongs to Clawdeen now and the laptop is Ghoulia's.
The only real drawback of the Student Lounge playset is the footprint-- you do have to have some flat space to pose your dolls on and around these pieces, which is fine if you've got your main display on a dresser or table, but not as fantastic if you're using comparatively narrow shelves or risers. Also I deliberately sought out an NRFB set because it was the easiest way to be sure I was getting all the little Extra Bits.
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.