Monster High and Ever After High new releases!

Man, what has happened within the week? All those new photo releases from Mattel have made collectors crazy about these doll lines. I'm not even referring to the SDCC exclusives, or the new Freak du Chic or Boo York, Boo York lines of Monster High, or Way Too Wonderland line of Ever After High. I'm talking budget lines, new doll lines, mermaids, centaurs, new characters, 17-inch dolls, the works!!

I'll talk about them later in much detail and with photos because I'm in a hurry, but I want to list them all before I forget!

Monster High:

• Budget line - no elbow articulation
• Ghoul's Getaway doll line
• Great Scarrier Reef doll line
• 17-inch dolls Frankie Stein, Draculaura and Clawdeen Wolf - probably old news, but still
• Frightmares
• I even read somewhere that there's a new two-pack for Slo-Mo and Ghoulia Yelps found in Toys 'R Us Australia.
• There's also that five-pack with Draculaura looking like a bootleg, hahahahaha.

Ever After High:

• Budget line - no elbow articulation, sculpted tops
• Heartstruck C.A. Cupid
• Royally Ever After Apple White
• Dragon Games doll line, and with it comes new characters!
• 17-inch doll Madeline Hatter - so many things are different from the regular doll, and the body is modelled after Monster High

All these happened within a week, I'm serious.

/Adding some new information. They probably didn't come out this week, but it's still new so...

Monster High:
Geek Shriek doll line wave 2

Ever After High:
TriCastleOn doll line

Lottie dolls

I don't like the face and body of Lottie dolls that much, but their outfits are so cute!!
/My opinion of Lottie dolls have changed since then. Lottie is now one of my favourite dolls to photograph.

Autumn Leaves Lottie

Muddy Puddles Lottie

School Days Lottie

These remind me of Licca-chan but they're actually of a shorter built. Still, I can't shake off the feeling that it's a take on the Licca-chan doll. Example:

English Country Garden Lottie

Kindergarten Teacher Licca-chan

I mean, come on now. This can't possibly be a coincidence.

Some links:

• http://www.lottie.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/lottiedolls
• http://www.toyboxphilosopher.com/2013/01/lottie-dolls-autumn-leaves-and.html
• http://www.toyboxphilosopher.com/2013/12/last-minute-holiday-shopping-at-rainbow.html

My poor doll

I found my doll custom on this Flickr album. I believe the owner is the program director of the convention? Not sure. I saw him before for a company event at my old workplace and he took photos of us employees and our CEO.

His full album of Toy Con Day 2:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/popazrael/sets/72157654730073140

I will not join this contest next time because I am not worthy. I mean, look at this. Or this. Dead...

I still have some photos to post from this event. Soon.

Doll clothes haul

I went to Circle C at Congressional Avenue a couple of days ago and thought I'd pass by the toy stores while I'm there. I finally snapped some photos here.

This stall is called Kids Collection and is located at the second floor. This is where I found the bootleg Ever After High dolls. There are actually two types of bootleg EAH dolls. The first type is the one with no articulation on the elbows, wrists and knees. The second type is the one with the Monster High body. I don't recommend either because the hair and the dresses they are wearing are just poorly made.

This is near Kids Collection. The stall is called Vivo Citi and if you look closer inside, you would see glass display cabinets filled with toys. The doll clothes I wanted to check out are actually not in display. You will have to ask the nice lady manning the store to tell you where the bag of doll clothes are. I figured I would just buy tops and bottoms that day.

My haul. I particularly liked the striped halter top because even though it's quite big for the dolls I used for fitting (I think it might fit vintage busty Barbies though), the colours are vibrant and I could actually pull the straps from the neck all the way to the back and tuck them in to make a tight top. Quite a versatile piece.

I also liked the shorts with the pink belt. It's pretty cute. It doesn't fit the Barbies I had because of their wide hips but it did fit my Cinderella doll (Simba Toys).

I picked up the skirt because I thought it's a versatile piece, but as a skirt, it looks off. Maybe I'm tying it around the waist the wrong way? I also tried to make a top out of it, but I didn't like how it looked. It may work as a cape, but why would I need a cape??!

The red underwear set and the yellow halter didn't have a nice fit. I'm quite disappointed.

The black capri pants and fatigue maxi skirt are pretty cool. The pants have a heart design on each side and the maxi skirt is actually a high waist skirt and fits Barbies very well. The blue tank top looks sporty to me. Must be because of the cut and the stretch material used.

I'm not keeping the clothes though. I'm giving them to my niece. This is probably the last time I will buy doll clothes. Next time I'll make them myself.

Zombie Princess bootleg body transplant

I found this Once Upon A Zombie bootleg a while back.

As you can see, it's only the face that is worth seeing here. The body it came with is just your generic doll bootleg body with thin legs and odd looking feet. What I like about OUAZ dolls is the articulation and this bootleg is missing that.

Here are the other dolls I managed to photograph months before they were finally taken off the shelves at Toy Kingdom.

After Rapunzel, I particularly like Cinderella (the zombie in pink and yellow dress) but I only had a budget for one doll. And at the time I bought Rapunzel, the dolls were priced at around P330. When these were on clearance, they were sold at P150 or P200 and all stocks left were probably moved to SM Hypermarket because that was where I saw the marked down dolls.

Anyway, I still want to modify my bootleg. One time I picked up a Frozen Elsa body at the thrift store. Someone pulled off Elsa's head off of the body and bought it on its own. I know because at one point I was haggling with the cashier for the full doll. But even without a head, I still wanted to get the body because it has articulation on the elbows, knees and ankles. The only problem is that the hands are missing.

But remember that I picked up some spare action figure hands at Toy Con. I thought the hands would work on the doll body even though they are quite big.

I actually shaved the pegs of the hands to size beforehand.

I placed the bootleg near the Elsa body. The Elsa body is rosy and pale in comparison to the bootleg.

I decided to paint the Elsa body and hands with acrylic paint. I tried my best to match the colour. Then I sealed everything with Mod Podge. This is the outcome:

When dressed, this is how the doll looks like now:

I think she is ready for Halloween!

Anne of Green Gables fashion doll?

I was browsing on Ebay Philippines when I found these doll clothes. [I didn't bid on these.]

http://www.ebay.ph/itm/261934979799

http://www.ebay.ph/itm/261934979808

Each dress is priced for P50, and shipping is P125 but combined shipping is allowed.

If these are the clothes, what does the doll look like?

I can't find information about the actual doll when I look up 'Anne the Animated Series Poseable Doll Fashions' but I found information on a Takara doll line for Anne of Green Gables!

http://www.barbigirl.com/miscjapanese.htm

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/319474167289348184/

http://www.foundinjapan.com/store/p738/1993_TAKARA_Anne_Doll,_Anne_of_Forest's_Fairy,_Anne_of_Green_Gables,_Rare.html

Pretty cute, huh?

Fairy Tale High

I read about this toy line from the Toy Box Philosopher and it made me curious.

Fairy Tale High dolls are dolls based on storybooks but are dressed up in modern day clothing supposedly appropriate for high school. To me it's definitely a parody and a total ripoff of the Disney princesses, which is a big demerit (heh) for this line.

Here is an early version of this doll line. It was called Fairy Tale Academy back then.

Teen Cinderella's and Teen Sleeping Beauty's outfits look very similar, down to the head phones. Teen Rapunzel looks like she's about to ride horses. Teen Tinker Bell dresses like a toddler. Teen Alice is gym ready and Teen Little Mermaid's outfit is too shiny for school, I believe.

Here is the next doll art for this line, but it had been named to Fairy Tale High, which is quite similar to the doll line names Monster High and Ever After High.

I think Teen Alice's clothes and look is the most school appropriate, while Teen Snow White's and Teen Cinderella's are true to the colours used by the Disney princesses. Teen Belle's outfit is still a mess for me, and Teen Little Mermaid and Teen Rapunzel don't really look like they're going to school in these coordinates. They must be playing hooky to attend a party, perhaps. Fish net stockings for school? Really?

The art reminds me of Once Upon A Zombie. I mean, look at Teen Tinker Bell's face! I looked it up online and found out that this was drawn by The Toon Studio of Beverly Hills, the one that also created the OUAZ art: https://www.facebook.com/TheToonStudioBH. That explains it.

Here is the updated doll art; this time it's found on the official website: http://www.fairytalehigh.com/. There is music on auto-play. You have been warned.

Most of them look older, especially Teen Rapunzel! And I forgot to mention the drab makeup. Purple makeup on everything. Geez.

And here is all of the dolls in one photo:

OK now I see the resemblance to Winx Club dolls. I think the creator of these dolls is so confused about what identity they want their dolls to have. It's such a fusion of the most popular doll lines out there and quality has been pushed aside, unfortunately. I read reviews about the dolls. Most say the articulation is not that good. Even the hair is poorly made, even though the rooting is generous.

My first pick from this line was Teen Cinderella. Her transparent shoes!! And I thought her art was pretty cute, but the blue streaks aren't even that striking on her hair. Teen Snow White grew on me eventually after I've seen photos of her on Tumblr. Teen Alice's hair is limp. Maybe adding volume to her hair from restyling will make her look better.

Just say no to Teen Rapunzel that looks like she's about to suffocate. Yuck.

I read that this line has been discontinued and it went on clearance in stores in America for as low as $5 to $10. I'd probably get Teen Snow White if I were to pick a doll at the store, but since it's such a ripoff of the Disney princesses, why not just dress up your Disney doll in modern clothing?

No dolls?!

Recently I visited the toys section of the SM Store at SM Novaliches and apparently the only selection of Monster High merchandise they have are of sketch pads, probably cheap jewelries and those Create-A-Monster Color Me Creepy werewolf starter packs, but no other Monster High dolls??! I was so surprised.

I guess not all Toy Kingdom section at the SM Store are made the same.

Care Package

This is my doll package for my niece.

All of these dolls are from the care package from America which I mentioned here. The yukata is from the daiso haul which I posted here. The clothes I will be talking about next were mentioned here. I thrifted them at Circle C Mall.

First outfit:

This sailor (?) top. I paired it with a denim skirt.

It has yellow stains on the sailor collar, but it's OK.

This pilot (?) uniform.

It has yellow stains, too.

This one-shoulder white dress.

It's yellowish, too.

This pink halter dress.

The neck strap is broken.

I secured it with a safety pin because I didn't feel motivated to fix it anymore, haha.

Next time I will be posting the other items I'll be giving to my niece together with these dolls.

Back From Toy Con

It was my first time to go to Toy Con yesterday and it was pretty exhausting and nerve-wracking.

First, I'm not going to join their contest again because it gave me stress and cost me a lot of time waiting and waiting. Once is enough just so I could find out how it goes. I went there with very low expectation that I'm going to win, I knew I wasn't, but I was still scared. And it turns out my feeling is appropriate because the other entries were amazing and mine is amateur work, haha. So to forget this memory, I hid my once-prized doll custom in my closet. I have to move forward and work on new projects which I will not enter to any contests anymore because it just ruins my outlook on what I do. haha. #semibitter

Next, OK I know the food is expensive inside, I should have walked out of there to dine at the food court or anywhere else, but I was hungry and didn't want to walk outside the convention, for some reason. Anyway, I regret buying lunch there because it was not good. THE SWEET AND SOUR FISH FILLET was so bland. :( Say no to dishes with weak looking sauce.

The crowd, the big crowd. What did I expect, a walk in the park? I just don't understand though why some people would bring their babies inside, stroller and everything. It's so humid inside, you might as well put your baby's head through a plastic bag, eh?

I'm not into cosplay but I caught a glimpse of the cosplay performances. I think the one wearing the Antman costume was pretty awesome because his costume lit up. Also I didn't know that Liui Aquino was there. I only saw him when he was already being escorted out of the convention. He was wearing his Hiro Hamada flight suit.

Pretty cool that I found some Ever After High dolls in the gallery, but no Monster High dolls? What! Among the vendor booths I only found two that sell Monster High and Ever After High dolls. The first one I found has overpriced stuff. The other one was on full force with their MH and EAH stock, it was amazing. I talked to the seller and it turns out that the guy and the girl in the booth are siblings and run the business on their own. I mentioned Gooliope Jellington, the newest and largest MH doll so far and I think they will get her soon. They're likely getting stocks of the Freak du Chic and Boo York Boo York lines, too. Their cheapest dolls that I found at their booth were the Dance Class Robecca Steam and a Howleen Wolf (I don't remember the line, probably Dance Class, too). They are priced at P600 which is very cheap compared to the lowest offering Landmark, Toys 'R Us and Toy Kingdom have which is P800. I wanted to buy Robecca but given that I have a lot of thrifted Monster High dolls that are still nude, I decided not to get her. It's also nice to see the EAH dolls so up close like Kitty Chesire. Her smile is adorable! Here they are on Facebook. Their About page is pretty interesting: https://www.facebook.com/toysmostwanted.

There was another seller selling an articulated doll body but they were asking P3,500 for it. And the doll clothes they were selling were very pricey too, like one attire was priced P350, what. There was another booth selling second-hand Barbies and small Lala Loopsy dolls for P300 and P200 respectively and they come in clear plastic bags. Nope.

My haul is pretty pathetic, but I wasn't planning to spend much anyway. I only bought a Toy Con 015 lanyard (P40) and a pair of action figure replacement hands (P50). I know they are man hands but I thought I could use them for a doll I'm working on because body part replacements are hard to come by. This particular booth where I got the hands were also selling doll body suits and kimonos. My kind of shop, but not for my kind of doll, haha. They make me want to invest on a sewing machine. Here is their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/UnleashedViper1.6.

This girl at the Flipgeeks booth has the cutest and vibrant art at the convention! Her calling card had her art on it, I had to get one. https://www.facebook.com/rianbowart

All my photos are not yet synced to my Facebook. Here are some to tide you over to my next Toy Con post:

The pair of plastic hands I bought. I haven't compared them yet to the Abbey Bominable hand I found attached to a Create A Monster doll I thrifted, but they're definitely huge for a 12-inch fashion doll. They look like baseball mittens, haha.

Alodia (right) and her sister Ashley at their booth. I don't know what was bugging her sister. She looked so disinterested.

Alodia being escorted to a secret passageway out of the convention. Though she was heavily guarded during her exit, I managed to get this close to her because I was well-behaved, lol.

I didn't know Liui was also there so I didn't manage to get a good shot of him. His suit was pretty awesome.

So my regrets were really joining the contest and eating the food inside the convention, but everything else was all right. I feel really icky about buying new toys when I can find secondhand toys at a thrift store for a cheap price,such as my Monster High dolls, but when the next Toy Con comes, I might feel otherwise, who knows!