Almighty Hat (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hat_plays_dolls) wrote2023-03-29 02:02 am
hat_plays_dolls) wrote2023-03-29 02:02 am
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Doll Review: Monster High G3 Coffee Break Frankie & Deuce Two-Pack
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.
G3 Deuce, behind glass!
So, do I like him, is he my Deuce... Well, I'll answer whether or not he's mine later, when I get around to comparison pics, but.
I do like him! G3 Deuce has a very different vibe than Classic/G1 or Reboot Deuce-- where G1 Deuce was 'hot boy but chill' as a contrast/balance to Cleo (and Reboot/G2 Deuce was mostly about the chill and the occasional shenanigans, because he was never officially with Cleo), G3 Deuce is more sort of... 'cute boy but non-threatening.'
As a result, he is approximately 70% more Baby than I am used to in a Deuce.
G3 Frankie, behind glass!
Do I like them? Well, I am kicking myself for selling that tie before realizing it was a recast of the Beetlejuice tie, but that says nothing about Frankie as a character. I like a lot of things about G3 Frankie, and I will happily steal those things for my headcanons, but as a doll...>
I like their metal leg (is it a prosthetic if you're a construct and your body is already modular and you can't, Vandala-style, just pop it off?), and they have an awfully cute face, but while I like that Frankie's aesthetic is getting pushed farther, I'm not always thrilled with the ways in which it gets pushed.
And the box art!
The box art is... passable, and I maintain my conclusion that it feels like somebody's trying to evoke 'talented high school artist-- not a prodigy but talented,' except it doesn't really gel all that well because as far as I know? We got kids interested in STEM, witchcraft, also STEM, whatever Lagoona's into (biting?), social media/influencing, cooking/baking, and whatever Toralei and Twyla are into, in terms of who has dolls that've hit the shelves.
The box-art iconography is still super-cute, however! Lookit the little isopod croissants!
And all the tiny food! Boinging down the box, there's a register showing Frankie's order, Deuce's sunglasses (not packaged on the doll, this is fine, I could check for wonk-eye), Frankie's iCoffin showing that her order is ready, a blue hot to-go cup with a lightning bolt on it, a neon yellow hot to-go cup with a pawprint on it, a purply-magenta cold sipper with a crescent moon on it, and a pink cold sipper with fanged lips on it and evidently boba tea in it, a four-cup cupholder, and a cupcake. Creepcake. ... Cupsnake, I think I've heard?
I may go with 'creepcake,' though, I've got other creepcakes already.
It also comes with a silver wingless Watzie-- not even holes for wings-- and Perseus having some kind of The Mouse and the Motorcycle subplot.
Box back! Showing the stuff you get, plus the Coffin Bean kiosk set (sold separately!) which is apparently in a park or something?
Listen I'm not really watching the new series, and I guess this is as good a place as any to say why-- there are, effectively, two options for watching CGI G3 Monster High.
One, find out when it airs and watch it on Nickelodeon, a premium cable channel.
Two, to watch it whenever you want, subscribe to Paramount+ or Paramount Plus or whatever Paramount's streaming service is called.
So, technically we do get Nickelodeon in this house, but there are various and sundry reasons that belong in a vent post about my sister's husband and not on a doll blog as to why I don't really watch TV anymore, and also, I've got alarms going off on my phone all day to feed the cats and feed myself and take my pills and do my chores, I really don't want to have to add one for watching cartoons.
Watching eps as they air is inconvenient for me.
Could I subscribe to Paramount's streaming service? I could! It's not like I'm not vaguely interested in Transformers Earthspark.
But.
I do not pay to watch commercials.
See, with Classic Monster High, there wereapproximately four hundred and eighty-seven three main subcontinuities: the webisodes, which were free for anyone to watch any time on YouTube, the doll diaries, which yes, you had to buy a doll to get but that's part of the doll-buying incentive, and the CGI specials, which aired on Nickelodeon and were also available to own on Blu-Ray and DVD. Reboot Monster High did not do English-only printing, so there were no more diaries, but they had CGI specials and the Ghoul Squad YouTube shorts.
I bought all the DVDs-- not as they came out, maybe, but I bought them, and waited on tenterhooks for Scaris to finally drop on physical media.
Because I will in fact buy a piece of physical media! I will buy a DVD. I will buy a DVD box set!
I will not pay for streaming specifically to watch what are, effectively, toy commercials. That's not in my budget.
... So yeah I'm going into G3 fairlyblind as to what the characters are like now, judging them on their merits as dolls.
And with all that said, a barcode!
And this set was made in China, which is always nice, but every G3 thing I've checked on so far seems to have been made in China.
Box blurb, in four languages! English, Spanish, French, and probably Brazilian Portuguese, given the official languages spoken on the continent I live on. "Frankie needs a spookachino ASAP! Deuce quickly whips up a drink so Frankie can jolt and bolt to class!"
So instead of Lagoona, this time it's Deuce working at the Coffin Bean!
Plastic removed!
And sweet sweet freedom!
Frankie wears an... interesting nearly-all-pleather outfit featuring a crop top with a little strip of white woven fabric up top, a cropped jacket with truly fantastic shoulders, and high-waisted fitted shorts. They pair this with boots-- one cut to reveal their metal leg-- a slouchy bag, a chain belt with charms dangling off of it, and a highlighter-yellow skinny tie.
Deuce wears a mesh-sleeved hooded tee, a snake-printed Coffin Bean apron, and some very Cruella de Vil marbled pants, along with some highlighter-yellow shoes with silver wings.
Frankie's full outfit also includes earrings and a chunky barrette. They have soft hair that I'm pretty sure is saran, in mostly white with a black streak up front and a blue streak in the back.
Cute as she is, I did not get Frankie to be my Frankie. They're great! But I don't like the super-basic stitches much, and I miss the neck bolts-- I have my Frankie on a Ghouls Rule body, in fact, so not only do I have neck bolts, I have shiny neck bolts.
She's cute and I have Plans for her, oh yes, more on the plans later, but she's not bumping Classic Frankie off the shelf any time soon.
Keeping the barrette, though.
And for several reasons, Deuce is also not going to be my Deuce. Mostly because I have my own headcanons about Deuce's paternity, and honestly human-skin-tone Deuce fits those headcanons better than Green Deuce, plus I have Viperine and the Gorgon Girl CAM, which begs the question of 'why doesn't Deuce have more scales?'
Which is sort of a question I want to ask Mattel.
Sure, that'd make him less versatile as custom fodder (I know a lot of people have looked at him and gone "Spelldron Cauldronello, the guy from Valentine's diary who we assume is Casta Fierce's little brother in spite of the fact that the only thing they have in common is a monster type!" which is valid, but I went a different direction that I will show off once I'm fully caught up with reviews.
Shirt details! I'm not a huge fan of this outfit, but I do like each individual piece as an individual piece.
(Frankie's outfit doesn't get this kind of attention because I basically went 'oh no it's ALL pleather?' and sold it.)
The sunglasses are legit really cute, for all the frames desperately need painting.
New Coffin Bean logo! I liked and do miss the little dead-bean logo, but this one is super classy.
And the shoes!
My phone camera hated these, and I was really excited about them until I discovered something Annoying later on in my unboxing.
And face.
Not sure how I like the smirk, or not exactly-- it's cute, I like it, but generally I feel like it's better to have a serene expression on at least a doll's first iteration? Add expressive sculpts after, what if you want Deuce to look serious for some reason?
Tiny food tiny food tiny food tiny food tiny food!"
This is my weakness, okay. Render unto me all the tiny food!
Also, I like that the Coffin Bean comes with a green register-screen-thingy, while Deuce comes with a stone one. Baby no keep your shades on at work!
Best shot I could get of the creepcake. I may not like the term 'cupsnake' but I do like the snaky frosting!
The back of Frankie's phone case!
This piece is still available on eBay as of this writing (as are Frankie's pink boots) because between my inability to use the dang finger loops and the set-specific graphic, I'm just not feelin' the new iCoffin.
The cupholder has a little skullette in the center, and drips on one corner, which is a fantastic little detail.
Watzie is also up on eBay.
I'm not feeling the G3 pet aesthetic, really. Plus the only paint is on Watzie's eyes, and this one has no wings, and... really I'm just not feeling it.
From the side!
I feel like G3 Watzie is somehow way more canine than G1 Watzit was, and I don't know why considering Watzit actually looks more like a (cartoonish) dog for the most part.
Perseus is still a two-tailed rat, but now he has clothes, a tattoo,and apparently a motorcycle?
Like, I have questions, here.
The motorcycle itself is actually a pretty cool little toy-- no paint apps except on the bakery box, all the color is achieved by molding different pieces, and the wheels do spin! This is probably a great toy for a kid and if I don't sell Perseus and his motorcycle on eBay, I may have to see if one of my niblings wants this.
Whatever my feelings, as someone who used to keep rats as pets, on using a rat (who can drive a tiny motorcycle?) as a delivery... being, the thing that made me put the bakery box up on eBay with the rat and the motorcycle is this.
The creepcake does not fit in the bakery box.
The cold drinks do not fit in the bakery box.
The hot drinks do not fit in the bakery box.
Mattel, if there's one thing I love more than tiny food, it's tiny boxes, and somehow you've given me a tiny box that I don't want to keep.
...Sure, I want to steal the logo off of it and make printable boxes (by the by, different Coffin Bean logo on the bakery box for reasons?), but I don't want to keep THIS one.
The motorcycle still looks fine without the box, though.
Unlike most MH pets (regardless of generation), Perseus has two points of articulation-- his arms-- so he can grab his handlebars.
Human eyes, a bare predator nose, and deeply un-rat-like head proportions.
I just don't dig it.
Tails.
And tattoo.
And I think the catchlights in his eyes include tiny snakes, but rats don't have human eyes and that bothers me, so. Whatever?
So here are Deuce's sunglasses! These are recasts of his G3 Signature shades, just in that bright greeny yellow, and I do like the details on them. I'm gonna paint the heck out of these.
Front view!
And in case you were wondering, the little loop on the bottom of the Coffin Bean bakery box does mean the dolls can hold it!
It can't sit flat on its own, but the dolls can hold it!
Frankie's purse is cute enough that I'm keeping it.
The back not only has a secret zippered compartment but a battery meter!
How do the Coffee Break kids compare to my Frankie and Deuce?
Well, lemme tell you who my Frankie and Deuce are, first, because I have no shame in making tweaks.
My Frankie is, currently, a Gloom Beach head on a Ghouls Rule body, and I will admit that I really need to find a Frankie head with red lipstick, cos my assortment of heads is Gloom Beach (pale minty), Scaris (desaturated teal), and Picture Day (hot pink). My Deuce is a G1 Signature head (wearing Dawn of the Dance snakes, cos the glue holding his snakes cracked and instead of going "Oh no!" I went "... hairstyle options!") on a Dance the Fright Away G2 body, because I felt it was more in line with his animation model. Someday I will paint shading on his shoulder scales.
I will say the way Mattel is billing G3 Frankie as 'tall' feels... misleading when they're next to G1 Frankie. Like. They're a smidge taller, but not even as tall as Deuce? In most of their looks, I think extra height is achieved by platform soles on their shoes.
Deuce is a smidge taller in the head, but noticeably taller at the shoulder, despite me getting all excited about G3 Deuce sure looking like he was on the G2 body.
Nothing against the G1 body, it works for me for, like, Heath and Jackson and Holt and Neight and Porter and a lot of the boys, really, but the G2 body is a nice mix of 'mostly fits G1 clothes' and 'buff enough for the buff boys.'
So let's just say I live in hope of some G3 boy turning up with Slo-Mo's skintone.
On the left, Hottest Guy at Monster High, as declared by Cleo de Nile. On the right, Non-Threatening Cute Boy.
They both have their charms, but for me, G1/G2 Hybrid Deuce gets to stay My Deuce.
... I will say just looking at their snakes in this pic? I like that G3 Deuce's snakes have sculpted scales and more detailed faces, but I also prefer how G1 Deuce's snakes are sculpted separately. G3 Deuce's snakes got a little blobby in places.
G3 Frankie is considerably bluer than G1 Frankie, and wearing blush in the G2 fashion (but... better than it usually worked in G2). You can definitely see that my Frankie's hair has yellowed over the years, but I hear tell we know how to fix that now.
There's a little bit of sculpt continuity in that G3 Frankie still has a fairly squareish jaw, and I do like that.
... I wish I'd gotten Alivia out to see how G3 Frankie's skintone looks next to hers.
Naked construct girls!
G1 Frankie's pose makes her shorter here, it's for balance.
The G3 stitches aren't bad, but I like G1 Frankie's chunky surgical staples more as... as Frankie's, who really is a more modern monster than either of her parents. Definitely wish underbust joints had hit a decade ago, though.
Plus, check out how long in the torso G1 Frankie is compared to G2 Frankie!
It's much more dramatic here.
And you can also see that, relative to G1? G3 Frankie is taller at the shoulder, but their neck is considerably shorter, making them look less delicate (... probably just making them less delicate), but robbing them of comparative height.
And yet, clothing-sharing is still possible!
Though that modded G2 skirt (I made that outfit into separates and feel no regrets) is riding up a little, and the G3 sleeves are swallowing G1 Frankie's hands. No shoe swaps, cos I already know that has flaws.
I will say, as a character thing? I actually do prefer G1 Frankie's pushed-preppy style to... I'm not sure what all's going on with G3 Frankie, I haven't looked into a lot of their outfits, but this one, particularly, feels a little more... I dunno. Advanced?
Like something Frankie could get to, but mostly I don't quite see her there yet.
She totally stole that belt and barrette, though.
Naked boys!
As I said, my G1 Deuce head is on the G2 Deuce body, while G3 Deuce is... almost on the G2 body-- they shrank it a bit for G3! The wonders of modern technology, I guess?
Literally, everything about this body is exactly the same, it's just all a little bit smaller-- there appear to be some tweaks in the collarbone area for Reasons,but the rest of it... all the same muscles and poses are there.
This pissed me off, though.
Deuce's feet are smaller.
I was gonna keep those shoes and paint the heck out of them, but this is as far as G1/G2 feet will fit in them. G3 Deuce can share shoes with Ken.
Why aren't the shoes backwards-compatible, Mattel?
It's super frustrating, and has kept me from nabbing Creepover Twyla, because the Little Sisters had a unique shoe size in G1 and G2, too. Follow your own standard, Mattel, stop trying to be compatible with Rainbow High.
Well. G3 Deuce can wear G1 shoes,but not the other way around, and that roomy G3 hood does make it more possible for G1 Deuce to pop over to the human side of New Salem if he has to, I guess?
I am keeping (for now) the hoodie and the pants-- the pants may feel like they escaped Descendants, but if you look at g1 Deuce's outfits? Except for Dawn of the Dance (which is a special occasion), he always seems to go with black/white/gray and then one strong color-- red in his Signature, green in his Scaris outfit, green again in Manster Game Night. So this hoodie defies that a little by having three colors-- but you pair 'em with monochromatic pants and shoes and it still works.
The pants are kinda flooding, though. But he can hold that creepcake!
In conclusion: I did not pay full price for this set, on purpose, because I only 100% knew I wanted the Tiny Food. Most of the pieces I want to sell off have been listed on eBay for nearly two months at this point, so I haven't really recouped anything from even my discounted purchase.
The dolls I'm keeping, because the more I messed with G3 Deuce, the more I realized he reminded me of someone who never got a doll, and I kind of want to re-root G3 Frankie as a ginger and change up their makeup and G1-ify their eyes and have an Elsa Stein to be mom to Frankie and Alivia. (Do I also want to do an Adam Stein? Yes, but that's a much more involved custom unless Mattel brings back the Manny-Hexiciah body. If the Skullector version had been on Manny's body instead of the Ever After High boy body, I might've set an alarm for that set the way I did for the Beetlejuice set, and gambled with the quality control.)
I am wholly delighted with the additions to my Tiny Monster Food collection. No regrets there-- no real regrets anywhere, except that the only Coffee Break stuff I've sold off has been Frankie's outfit. I was so surethe boots were gonna go first.
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.
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.
G3 Deuce, behind glass!
So, do I like him, is he my Deuce... Well, I'll answer whether or not he's mine later, when I get around to comparison pics, but.
I do like him! G3 Deuce has a very different vibe than Classic/G1 or Reboot Deuce-- where G1 Deuce was 'hot boy but chill' as a contrast/balance to Cleo (and Reboot/G2 Deuce was mostly about the chill and the occasional shenanigans, because he was never officially with Cleo), G3 Deuce is more sort of... 'cute boy but non-threatening.'
As a result, he is approximately 70% more Baby than I am used to in a Deuce.
G3 Frankie, behind glass!
Do I like them? Well, I am kicking myself for selling that tie before realizing it was a recast of the Beetlejuice tie, but that says nothing about Frankie as a character. I like a lot of things about G3 Frankie, and I will happily steal those things for my headcanons, but as a doll...>
I like their metal leg (is it a prosthetic if you're a construct and your body is already modular and you can't, Vandala-style, just pop it off?), and they have an awfully cute face, but while I like that Frankie's aesthetic is getting pushed farther, I'm not always thrilled with the ways in which it gets pushed.
And the box art!
The box art is... passable, and I maintain my conclusion that it feels like somebody's trying to evoke 'talented high school artist-- not a prodigy but talented,' except it doesn't really gel all that well because as far as I know? We got kids interested in STEM, witchcraft, also STEM, whatever Lagoona's into (biting?), social media/influencing, cooking/baking, and whatever Toralei and Twyla are into, in terms of who has dolls that've hit the shelves.
The box-art iconography is still super-cute, however! Lookit the little isopod croissants!
And all the tiny food! Boinging down the box, there's a register showing Frankie's order, Deuce's sunglasses (not packaged on the doll, this is fine, I could check for wonk-eye), Frankie's iCoffin showing that her order is ready, a blue hot to-go cup with a lightning bolt on it, a neon yellow hot to-go cup with a pawprint on it, a purply-magenta cold sipper with a crescent moon on it, and a pink cold sipper with fanged lips on it and evidently boba tea in it, a four-cup cupholder, and a cupcake. Creepcake. ... Cupsnake, I think I've heard?
I may go with 'creepcake,' though, I've got other creepcakes already.
It also comes with a silver wingless Watzie-- not even holes for wings-- and Perseus having some kind of The Mouse and the Motorcycle subplot.
Box back! Showing the stuff you get, plus the Coffin Bean kiosk set (sold separately!) which is apparently in a park or something?
Listen I'm not really watching the new series, and I guess this is as good a place as any to say why-- there are, effectively, two options for watching CGI G3 Monster High.
One, find out when it airs and watch it on Nickelodeon, a premium cable channel.
Two, to watch it whenever you want, subscribe to Paramount+ or Paramount Plus or whatever Paramount's streaming service is called.
So, technically we do get Nickelodeon in this house, but there are various and sundry reasons that belong in a vent post about my sister's husband and not on a doll blog as to why I don't really watch TV anymore, and also, I've got alarms going off on my phone all day to feed the cats and feed myself and take my pills and do my chores, I really don't want to have to add one for watching cartoons.
Watching eps as they air is inconvenient for me.
Could I subscribe to Paramount's streaming service? I could! It's not like I'm not vaguely interested in Transformers Earthspark.
But.
I do not pay to watch commercials.
See, with Classic Monster High, there were
I bought all the DVDs-- not as they came out, maybe, but I bought them, and waited on tenterhooks for Scaris to finally drop on physical media.
Because I will in fact buy a piece of physical media! I will buy a DVD. I will buy a DVD box set!
I will not pay for streaming specifically to watch what are, effectively, toy commercials. That's not in my budget.
... So yeah I'm going into G3 fairlyblind as to what the characters are like now, judging them on their merits as dolls.
And with all that said, a barcode!
And this set was made in China, which is always nice, but every G3 thing I've checked on so far seems to have been made in China.
Box blurb, in four languages! English, Spanish, French, and probably Brazilian Portuguese, given the official languages spoken on the continent I live on. "Frankie needs a spookachino ASAP! Deuce quickly whips up a drink so Frankie can jolt and bolt to class!"
So instead of Lagoona, this time it's Deuce working at the Coffin Bean!
Plastic removed!
And sweet sweet freedom!
Frankie wears an... interesting nearly-all-pleather outfit featuring a crop top with a little strip of white woven fabric up top, a cropped jacket with truly fantastic shoulders, and high-waisted fitted shorts. They pair this with boots-- one cut to reveal their metal leg-- a slouchy bag, a chain belt with charms dangling off of it, and a highlighter-yellow skinny tie.
Deuce wears a mesh-sleeved hooded tee, a snake-printed Coffin Bean apron, and some very Cruella de Vil marbled pants, along with some highlighter-yellow shoes with silver wings.
Frankie's full outfit also includes earrings and a chunky barrette. They have soft hair that I'm pretty sure is saran, in mostly white with a black streak up front and a blue streak in the back.
Cute as she is, I did not get Frankie to be my Frankie. They're great! But I don't like the super-basic stitches much, and I miss the neck bolts-- I have my Frankie on a Ghouls Rule body, in fact, so not only do I have neck bolts, I have shiny neck bolts.
She's cute and I have Plans for her, oh yes, more on the plans later, but she's not bumping Classic Frankie off the shelf any time soon.
Keeping the barrette, though.
And for several reasons, Deuce is also not going to be my Deuce. Mostly because I have my own headcanons about Deuce's paternity, and honestly human-skin-tone Deuce fits those headcanons better than Green Deuce, plus I have Viperine and the Gorgon Girl CAM, which begs the question of 'why doesn't Deuce have more scales?'
Which is sort of a question I want to ask Mattel.
Sure, that'd make him less versatile as custom fodder (I know a lot of people have looked at him and gone "Spelldron Cauldronello, the guy from Valentine's diary who we assume is Casta Fierce's little brother in spite of the fact that the only thing they have in common is a monster type!" which is valid, but I went a different direction that I will show off once I'm fully caught up with reviews.
Shirt details! I'm not a huge fan of this outfit, but I do like each individual piece as an individual piece.
(Frankie's outfit doesn't get this kind of attention because I basically went 'oh no it's ALL pleather?' and sold it.)
The sunglasses are legit really cute, for all the frames desperately need painting.
New Coffin Bean logo! I liked and do miss the little dead-bean logo, but this one is super classy.
And the shoes!
My phone camera hated these, and I was really excited about them until I discovered something Annoying later on in my unboxing.
And face.
Not sure how I like the smirk, or not exactly-- it's cute, I like it, but generally I feel like it's better to have a serene expression on at least a doll's first iteration? Add expressive sculpts after, what if you want Deuce to look serious for some reason?
Tiny food tiny food tiny food tiny food tiny food!"
This is my weakness, okay. Render unto me all the tiny food!
Also, I like that the Coffin Bean comes with a green register-screen-thingy, while Deuce comes with a stone one. Baby no keep your shades on at work!
Best shot I could get of the creepcake. I may not like the term 'cupsnake' but I do like the snaky frosting!
The back of Frankie's phone case!
This piece is still available on eBay as of this writing (as are Frankie's pink boots) because between my inability to use the dang finger loops and the set-specific graphic, I'm just not feelin' the new iCoffin.
The cupholder has a little skullette in the center, and drips on one corner, which is a fantastic little detail.
Watzie is also up on eBay.
I'm not feeling the G3 pet aesthetic, really. Plus the only paint is on Watzie's eyes, and this one has no wings, and... really I'm just not feeling it.
From the side!
I feel like G3 Watzie is somehow way more canine than G1 Watzit was, and I don't know why considering Watzit actually looks more like a (cartoonish) dog for the most part.
Perseus is still a two-tailed rat, but now he has clothes, a tattoo,and apparently a motorcycle?
Like, I have questions, here.
The motorcycle itself is actually a pretty cool little toy-- no paint apps except on the bakery box, all the color is achieved by molding different pieces, and the wheels do spin! This is probably a great toy for a kid and if I don't sell Perseus and his motorcycle on eBay, I may have to see if one of my niblings wants this.
Whatever my feelings, as someone who used to keep rats as pets, on using a rat (who can drive a tiny motorcycle?) as a delivery... being, the thing that made me put the bakery box up on eBay with the rat and the motorcycle is this.
The creepcake does not fit in the bakery box.
The cold drinks do not fit in the bakery box.
The hot drinks do not fit in the bakery box.
Mattel, if there's one thing I love more than tiny food, it's tiny boxes, and somehow you've given me a tiny box that I don't want to keep.
...Sure, I want to steal the logo off of it and make printable boxes (by the by, different Coffin Bean logo on the bakery box for reasons?), but I don't want to keep THIS one.
The motorcycle still looks fine without the box, though.
Unlike most MH pets (regardless of generation), Perseus has two points of articulation-- his arms-- so he can grab his handlebars.
Human eyes, a bare predator nose, and deeply un-rat-like head proportions.
I just don't dig it.
Tails.
And tattoo.
And I think the catchlights in his eyes include tiny snakes, but rats don't have human eyes and that bothers me, so. Whatever?
So here are Deuce's sunglasses! These are recasts of his G3 Signature shades, just in that bright greeny yellow, and I do like the details on them. I'm gonna paint the heck out of these.
Front view!
And in case you were wondering, the little loop on the bottom of the Coffin Bean bakery box does mean the dolls can hold it!
It can't sit flat on its own, but the dolls can hold it!
Frankie's purse is cute enough that I'm keeping it.
The back not only has a secret zippered compartment but a battery meter!
How do the Coffee Break kids compare to my Frankie and Deuce?
Well, lemme tell you who my Frankie and Deuce are, first, because I have no shame in making tweaks.
My Frankie is, currently, a Gloom Beach head on a Ghouls Rule body, and I will admit that I really need to find a Frankie head with red lipstick, cos my assortment of heads is Gloom Beach (pale minty), Scaris (desaturated teal), and Picture Day (hot pink). My Deuce is a G1 Signature head (wearing Dawn of the Dance snakes, cos the glue holding his snakes cracked and instead of going "Oh no!" I went "... hairstyle options!") on a Dance the Fright Away G2 body, because I felt it was more in line with his animation model. Someday I will paint shading on his shoulder scales.
I will say the way Mattel is billing G3 Frankie as 'tall' feels... misleading when they're next to G1 Frankie. Like. They're a smidge taller, but not even as tall as Deuce? In most of their looks, I think extra height is achieved by platform soles on their shoes.
Deuce is a smidge taller in the head, but noticeably taller at the shoulder, despite me getting all excited about G3 Deuce sure looking like he was on the G2 body.
Nothing against the G1 body, it works for me for, like, Heath and Jackson and Holt and Neight and Porter and a lot of the boys, really, but the G2 body is a nice mix of 'mostly fits G1 clothes' and 'buff enough for the buff boys.'
So let's just say I live in hope of some G3 boy turning up with Slo-Mo's skintone.
On the left, Hottest Guy at Monster High, as declared by Cleo de Nile. On the right, Non-Threatening Cute Boy.
They both have their charms, but for me, G1/G2 Hybrid Deuce gets to stay My Deuce.
... I will say just looking at their snakes in this pic? I like that G3 Deuce's snakes have sculpted scales and more detailed faces, but I also prefer how G1 Deuce's snakes are sculpted separately. G3 Deuce's snakes got a little blobby in places.
G3 Frankie is considerably bluer than G1 Frankie, and wearing blush in the G2 fashion (but... better than it usually worked in G2). You can definitely see that my Frankie's hair has yellowed over the years, but I hear tell we know how to fix that now.
There's a little bit of sculpt continuity in that G3 Frankie still has a fairly squareish jaw, and I do like that.
... I wish I'd gotten Alivia out to see how G3 Frankie's skintone looks next to hers.
Naked construct girls!
G1 Frankie's pose makes her shorter here, it's for balance.
The G3 stitches aren't bad, but I like G1 Frankie's chunky surgical staples more as... as Frankie's, who really is a more modern monster than either of her parents. Definitely wish underbust joints had hit a decade ago, though.
Plus, check out how long in the torso G1 Frankie is compared to G2 Frankie!
It's much more dramatic here.
And you can also see that, relative to G1? G3 Frankie is taller at the shoulder, but their neck is considerably shorter, making them look less delicate (... probably just making them less delicate), but robbing them of comparative height.
And yet, clothing-sharing is still possible!
Though that modded G2 skirt (I made that outfit into separates and feel no regrets) is riding up a little, and the G3 sleeves are swallowing G1 Frankie's hands. No shoe swaps, cos I already know that has flaws.
I will say, as a character thing? I actually do prefer G1 Frankie's pushed-preppy style to... I'm not sure what all's going on with G3 Frankie, I haven't looked into a lot of their outfits, but this one, particularly, feels a little more... I dunno. Advanced?
Like something Frankie could get to, but mostly I don't quite see her there yet.
She totally stole that belt and barrette, though.
Naked boys!
As I said, my G1 Deuce head is on the G2 Deuce body, while G3 Deuce is... almost on the G2 body-- they shrank it a bit for G3! The wonders of modern technology, I guess?
Literally, everything about this body is exactly the same, it's just all a little bit smaller-- there appear to be some tweaks in the collarbone area for Reasons,but the rest of it... all the same muscles and poses are there.
This pissed me off, though.
Deuce's feet are smaller.
I was gonna keep those shoes and paint the heck out of them, but this is as far as G1/G2 feet will fit in them. G3 Deuce can share shoes with Ken.
Why aren't the shoes backwards-compatible, Mattel?
It's super frustrating, and has kept me from nabbing Creepover Twyla, because the Little Sisters had a unique shoe size in G1 and G2, too. Follow your own standard, Mattel, stop trying to be compatible with Rainbow High.
Well. G3 Deuce can wear G1 shoes,but not the other way around, and that roomy G3 hood does make it more possible for G1 Deuce to pop over to the human side of New Salem if he has to, I guess?
I am keeping (for now) the hoodie and the pants-- the pants may feel like they escaped Descendants, but if you look at g1 Deuce's outfits? Except for Dawn of the Dance (which is a special occasion), he always seems to go with black/white/gray and then one strong color-- red in his Signature, green in his Scaris outfit, green again in Manster Game Night. So this hoodie defies that a little by having three colors-- but you pair 'em with monochromatic pants and shoes and it still works.
The pants are kinda flooding, though. But he can hold that creepcake!
In conclusion: I did not pay full price for this set, on purpose, because I only 100% knew I wanted the Tiny Food. Most of the pieces I want to sell off have been listed on eBay for nearly two months at this point, so I haven't really recouped anything from even my discounted purchase.
The dolls I'm keeping, because the more I messed with G3 Deuce, the more I realized he reminded me of someone who never got a doll, and I kind of want to re-root G3 Frankie as a ginger and change up their makeup and G1-ify their eyes and have an Elsa Stein to be mom to Frankie and Alivia. (Do I also want to do an Adam Stein? Yes, but that's a much more involved custom unless Mattel brings back the Manny-Hexiciah body. If the Skullector version had been on Manny's body instead of the Ever After High boy body, I might've set an alarm for that set the way I did for the Beetlejuice set, and gambled with the quality control.)
I am wholly delighted with the additions to my Tiny Monster Food collection. No regrets there-- no real regrets anywhere, except that the only Coffee Break stuff I've sold off has been Frankie's outfit. I was so surethe boots were gonna go first.
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