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hat_plays_dolls) wrote2019-10-16 05:27 pm
hat_plays_dolls) wrote2019-10-16 05:27 pm
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Toy Review: Monster High Frankie Stein's Vanity Playset
Listen I'm just getting my unboxing/review backlog out of the way, really.
I got Frankie's vanity back in April, too, mint in box for a little less than $16. (With Frankie's vanity, you can bargain hunt. With Cleo's... well, I'm still hunting.)
Please ignore any blobs of green and peach in the mirror through this review. That's me and my green T-shirt, reflecting more than expected.
Back of the box! Blurbs say:
"Be Unique. Be Yourself. Be A Monster."
"The perfect starting place for Frankie Stein to charge into a day at Monster High!"
I get a charge out of getting ready"
"What shocking secrets lurk behind the mirror of Frankie Stein?" (It's storage space)
"This drawer... totally not static."
"I turn on my 'hair dryer,' plug in my 'charger' and pretend I'm in an electrical storm!"
Open but not loose yet! Frankie's vanity comes with stickers for her picture frames and instructions on where to put the stickers. Handy!
FREEDOM
Okay, contents include: Chair, vanity table, charger, hair dryer, train case, makeup brush, makeup palette, Erlenmeyer flask perfume bottle, and stickers (not shown). I really only got this for completion's sake (and the itch to design a bedroom for Frankie for potential photocomic purposes) but I was impressed with how much detail AND storage there is in this dang thing.
So here's some storage! The mirror opens up to a medicine cabinet equivalent!
And here's some detail! The vanity has four of these electrical sockets and they're all Skullette-shaped.
Two on either side of the mirror, and the hair dryer and charger can plug into any of them.
As promised on the back of the box, the drawer is, in fact, not static-- it works! And makes a great place to store your stickers if you don't want to commit.
This leg of the vanity is also shelving, but you can't see all the detail on the side when it's in the box. I had no idea it was going to be this cute.
The back is JUST as cute, really you could use this as a room divider if you were particularly devoted to making a Frankie's Bedroom display. Shoot, you could even add more photos on the back!
The other three legs are all these huge bolts.
*looks at order the pics are in* *looks at sensible order for the post* Okay let's change things up a little. I'm not quite done with storage space, but.
So what can you store in all that storage space? Well, here are Frankie's very on-brand accessories! Or at least, mostly on-brand.
The makeup palette is a cute shape, but I am SORELY tempted to pull that sticker off and either print or paint my own palette for Frankie, because those colors are a little off and WOW are we not making the best use of the available space, here.
But while I always think of Frankie as leaning more Mad Electrical Engineer, the Erlenmeyer flask perfume bottle amuses me enough not to mind that it's maybe more Ghoulia's bag (cos you gotta have at least one omnidisciplinary scientist).
Makeup brush! The brush end could be brushier and I could have a better idea what to do with the open nut at the end, but it's cute!
The car-battery train case is extremely cute, but I will say that it works much better as a jewelry box (for those teeny tiny pieces like rings) than as a train case. Why?
Because the only thing that fits inside it is the brush.
Back to storage! (I'll get to the cords in a sec.) Another drawback of the train case is that everything EXCEPT the train case fits inside the drawer. On the other hand... uh, everything except the train case fits inside the drawer, guys, that's pretty good.
Also, although I don't think this was a deliberate Thing? There are several spots in the... er, stich areas of Frankie's vanity that make excellent shelves for small items-- spot her perfume, makeup palette, a random non-Frankie diary, and although it's not a great place, her makeup brush. If I'd had them handy? Her Home Ick spool of thread and tiny Whatzit toy might work well in there, too.
So here's Frankie's charger! It's soft vinyl and pops on over her neck bolts-- at least on a Classic body, I don't have a regular Reboot body to try it on (the budget bodies have their bolts molded on thicker). And yes those are tiny Frankie Skullettes!
And the blow dryer! SUPER over-lit here to show you not only the ring for the thumb but the lightning bolt and the bolt-shaped knobs.
And the plugs! Skullette shaped, but oddly with no grounding... er, tine? Even though the sockets have them.
Okay, let's actually add Frankie to the mix, here.
How the charging cable attaches. It's soft and just pops on over her bolts with no trouble-- and yeah, my Frankie has on a collared shirt and a necklace-tie and the charger doesn't really interfere. (The collar should be folded neater but I knocked the tie askew.)
How to thumb ring on the makeup brush! I think I tried the index finger but... possibly not? The ring is pretty thick.
The chair is a smidge short, but not 'most Barbies' knees don't bend anyway' short.
You can still seat her in the dang thing neatly, so no big, right?
What does bother me about the chair is that the arms of it are so high that it can't actually tuck under the vanity itself, meaning if Frankie tries to charge while doing anything else, she runs the risk of unplugging herself. (The plug will pull out before the cable will damage your doll's bolts, though.)
THis is the best position I've found for the charging cable-- sitting on one end of the vanity table itself. She could still be doing An Activity, like messing around on her phone or (if you have the props for that) painting her nails or something. Also please note I fixed her collar in this shot!
The mirror is a doll mirror. It's a funhouse, the only question is how.
In conclusion!
I would not have paid more than $20 for this, I'm gonna be honest, but hey! I paid slightly less than $16 and I am happy with it. As with almost all my MH furniture, I have to hide it in an opaque storage tub in my closet or my nephew will steal it, but them's the breaks when you're a toy collector who lives with kids.
The parts that are frustrating are frustrating (why do the table and chair not cooperate, why did you make the train case too small to hold anything much but too big to shove in the drawer, why aren't the cables long enough Frankie can sit in her chair and charge/dry her hair, Doll Mirrors), but the parts that are fun are really fun (so much detail/texture, lots of storage for things that are smaller than the train case, great display piece).
So if you like it, grab it, but try to grab a bargain because it has some technical difficulties, is my ultimate conclusion.
I got Frankie's vanity back in April, too, mint in box for a little less than $16. (With Frankie's vanity, you can bargain hunt. With Cleo's... well, I'm still hunting.)
Please ignore any blobs of green and peach in the mirror through this review. That's me and my green T-shirt, reflecting more than expected.
Back of the box! Blurbs say:
"Be Unique. Be Yourself. Be A Monster."
"The perfect starting place for Frankie Stein to charge into a day at Monster High!"
I get a charge out of getting ready"
"What shocking secrets lurk behind the mirror of Frankie Stein?" (It's storage space)
"This drawer... totally not static."
"I turn on my 'hair dryer,' plug in my 'charger' and pretend I'm in an electrical storm!"
Open but not loose yet! Frankie's vanity comes with stickers for her picture frames and instructions on where to put the stickers. Handy!
FREEDOM
Okay, contents include: Chair, vanity table, charger, hair dryer, train case, makeup brush, makeup palette, Erlenmeyer flask perfume bottle, and stickers (not shown). I really only got this for completion's sake (and the itch to design a bedroom for Frankie for potential photocomic purposes) but I was impressed with how much detail AND storage there is in this dang thing.
So here's some storage! The mirror opens up to a medicine cabinet equivalent!
And here's some detail! The vanity has four of these electrical sockets and they're all Skullette-shaped.
Two on either side of the mirror, and the hair dryer and charger can plug into any of them.
As promised on the back of the box, the drawer is, in fact, not static-- it works! And makes a great place to store your stickers if you don't want to commit.
This leg of the vanity is also shelving, but you can't see all the detail on the side when it's in the box. I had no idea it was going to be this cute.
The back is JUST as cute, really you could use this as a room divider if you were particularly devoted to making a Frankie's Bedroom display. Shoot, you could even add more photos on the back!
The other three legs are all these huge bolts.
*looks at order the pics are in* *looks at sensible order for the post* Okay let's change things up a little. I'm not quite done with storage space, but.
So what can you store in all that storage space? Well, here are Frankie's very on-brand accessories! Or at least, mostly on-brand.
The makeup palette is a cute shape, but I am SORELY tempted to pull that sticker off and either print or paint my own palette for Frankie, because those colors are a little off and WOW are we not making the best use of the available space, here.
But while I always think of Frankie as leaning more Mad Electrical Engineer, the Erlenmeyer flask perfume bottle amuses me enough not to mind that it's maybe more Ghoulia's bag (cos you gotta have at least one omnidisciplinary scientist).
Makeup brush! The brush end could be brushier and I could have a better idea what to do with the open nut at the end, but it's cute!
The car-battery train case is extremely cute, but I will say that it works much better as a jewelry box (for those teeny tiny pieces like rings) than as a train case. Why?
Because the only thing that fits inside it is the brush.
Back to storage! (I'll get to the cords in a sec.) Another drawback of the train case is that everything EXCEPT the train case fits inside the drawer. On the other hand... uh, everything except the train case fits inside the drawer, guys, that's pretty good.
Also, although I don't think this was a deliberate Thing? There are several spots in the... er, stich areas of Frankie's vanity that make excellent shelves for small items-- spot her perfume, makeup palette, a random non-Frankie diary, and although it's not a great place, her makeup brush. If I'd had them handy? Her Home Ick spool of thread and tiny Whatzit toy might work well in there, too.
So here's Frankie's charger! It's soft vinyl and pops on over her neck bolts-- at least on a Classic body, I don't have a regular Reboot body to try it on (the budget bodies have their bolts molded on thicker). And yes those are tiny Frankie Skullettes!
And the blow dryer! SUPER over-lit here to show you not only the ring for the thumb but the lightning bolt and the bolt-shaped knobs.
And the plugs! Skullette shaped, but oddly with no grounding... er, tine? Even though the sockets have them.
Okay, let's actually add Frankie to the mix, here.
How the charging cable attaches. It's soft and just pops on over her bolts with no trouble-- and yeah, my Frankie has on a collared shirt and a necklace-tie and the charger doesn't really interfere. (The collar should be folded neater but I knocked the tie askew.)
How to thumb ring on the makeup brush! I think I tried the index finger but... possibly not? The ring is pretty thick.
The chair is a smidge short, but not 'most Barbies' knees don't bend anyway' short.
You can still seat her in the dang thing neatly, so no big, right?
What does bother me about the chair is that the arms of it are so high that it can't actually tuck under the vanity itself, meaning if Frankie tries to charge while doing anything else, she runs the risk of unplugging herself. (The plug will pull out before the cable will damage your doll's bolts, though.)
THis is the best position I've found for the charging cable-- sitting on one end of the vanity table itself. She could still be doing An Activity, like messing around on her phone or (if you have the props for that) painting her nails or something. Also please note I fixed her collar in this shot!
The mirror is a doll mirror. It's a funhouse, the only question is how.
In conclusion!
I would not have paid more than $20 for this, I'm gonna be honest, but hey! I paid slightly less than $16 and I am happy with it. As with almost all my MH furniture, I have to hide it in an opaque storage tub in my closet or my nephew will steal it, but them's the breaks when you're a toy collector who lives with kids.
The parts that are frustrating are frustrating (why do the table and chair not cooperate, why did you make the train case too small to hold anything much but too big to shove in the drawer, why aren't the cables long enough Frankie can sit in her chair and charge/dry her hair, Doll Mirrors), but the parts that are fun are really fun (so much detail/texture, lots of storage for things that are smaller than the train case, great display piece).
So if you like it, grab it, but try to grab a bargain because it has some technical difficulties, is my ultimate conclusion.