Ever After High - Dexter Charming

I admit it, i'm not hugely sold on the Ever After High line. The story line is muddled and riddled with flaws that piss me off (and no, i'm not reading the books. people keep saying "oh it makes much more sense if you read the book" and I keep saying I shouldn't freaking have to read a book to understand why anyone shouldn't just punch Apple in her stupid head gah.)
But my biggest problems with the line are NOT the story (which I get stupidly wound up about lol, I know! it's a kid's line! but it bugs me ok?), my biggest problems are twofold.

1: the price point
and
2: those huge flat moon faces.

I HATE those flat moon faces the girls have. They look like Moxie Girls or something and the fact they all look exactly the same is a huge let down after the uniqueness of Monster High.

The price point is a huge sticking issue for me. In the Uk the EAH dolls retail at anywhere from £19:99 to £26 which is ridiculous. Monster High is creeping up to those prices too now, but Monster High has 5 years of success behind it, it isn't an emerging line trying to gain fans. And pricing your product so much higher than the big kid on the block (Monster High) is just asking to be left in the dust.

This said, I like the boys. They remind me of the Bratz Boyz with their soft, somewhat effeminate faces. I love the Bratz Boyz, so the EAH boys give me something MGA never has. Cute boy dolls with full articulation!

I ummed and ahhed over picking up Dexter though, mostly because his first release looked like this:

 

Dexter was auditioning for a role in the Little Rascals.

Seriously though, wth is going on with his hair!?? 

this was enough to totally put me off because I really wasn't convinced my hairdressing ability was decent enough to fix this mess.

Thankfully Mattel seem to have come to their senses and rapidly started releasing Dexter with his hair looking less "there's something about Mary".

Thank goodness. Now he just looks like Ken's younger brother.

But I was still deterred by the price. £19:99 seemed a bit rich for a doll line I don't really collect that actively. But Argos are a vile temptress and after the 3 for 2 Monster High deal earlier in the month, they decided a 3 for 2 on ALL Mattel toys was the next step to drain my bank account dry.

How could I resist?

I prefer the Monster High boxes. The EAH boxes are really bulky, they do not stack neatly due to the bulging plastic front and the plastic tabs are viciously sharp. I keep slicing my hands on the stupid things trying to pry them loose to open the boxes. Damnit toy companies, STOP USING PLASTIC TABS! I don't want to offer up a blood sacrifice every time I debox a doll!

Once the plastic cover of evil is removed though, the EAH dolls are no more difficult to debox than any other doll. A few snips here, a few tugs there. I like that the hollow behind the doll's backing and the box backing means you can access the tags in their head without risking cutting their hair off. A nice card barrier always makes me feel better.

The only real annoyance is trying to get that stupid stand out. It's hidden inside the "spine" of the book that the box is supposed to represent. The newer dolls now have a printed keyhole on the back of the box and the punched hole so you know there's something in there.
but the problem with this is that the spine is taped shut and then the stand is taped INTO the narrow hollow so you kinda have to fish it out unless you intend to totally disassemble the box. It's just a bit more awkward than any other doll I have with stands, who just have the stand next to them in clear sight.

I am however happy Mattel finally decided to package dolls NOT wearing their glasses. It means you get a good look at their eyes before purchase and also avoids that face dent situation caused by tightly elasticating glasses to their heads.

Interestingly, Dexter's glasses have no lenses. It's a cost cutting measure i'm sure, but it does have one advantage. Lens flare. Often I find it difficult to photograph dolls with glasses due to the glare from the lenses reacting with my flash. Dexter manages to avoid that.
Still, it's a bit odd her has no lenses when the lenses are specifically mentioned in his bio as "blocking his special make ladies swoon power"

His outfit consists of a patterned teeshirt (I'm not sure what that pattern is though, maybe.. crests?), a faintly plaid blue tail coat with gold trim, grey pants, blue high tops and a blue and white infinity scarf.
The scarf is stretchy, tacked together with plastic tabs (I cut them) and needed to be wrapped around his neck a third time to actually look right to me.

Dexter's hair is caked with gel, but it's not too solid so I think I can restyle it without having to wash him.

His crown is tacked to his head with plastic tabs. Gross.
With these cut it sits a lot nicer but the holes in the sides and back kinda bother me.

His hair was flat as hell after taking the crown off, and had indents from where it sat. I shall call this "crown hair", kinda like hat hair but royal.

His quiff however will spike up a bit to look more like his artwork. I'm pleased about this. Flat hair wasn't as bad as stupid Alfalfa hair, but it was still lame.

His jacket has a little golden snitch badge. What? It looks like a golden snitch to me ok? I have no clue what it's supposed to be. Like.. a winged.. sun.. with a star in it? and a random dripping bit? um.

Inexplicably, Dexter has no belt to hold up his chain with charms. It's held up by SHERE FORCE OF WILL.
No.. it's stitched to his pants. LAME. Seriously guys, would a belt have been too difficult or something? this just looks ridiculous.

Anyway, the chain charms include what looks like a sun and i'm not sure what the other things are. things, they are things.

I think it's disappointing his jacket isn't lined considering it doesn't fasten, so you see the inside of it when he's dressed, particularly around the tails section.

Dexter comes with a backpack as well. It's moulded like Manny Taur's, with a twisted strap so it'll rest on one shoulder only.
Like Manny's it's also a giant hollow hunk of plastic. I can't help but wish it at least partially opened, would that have been so hard? Then you could put stuff in it and it would be useful, not just a random accessory of tat.

It's a very detailed bag though, covered in patches and badges.

 

I'm not sure where my Ken dolls are, so Dexter got to hang with Jackson for a bit. Who seems to share a few design aesthetics with the prince. I dunno though, I think Dexter's a snappier dresser.
Jackson has a better bag though, his opens!

This is a great example of that lens flare issue I mentioned earlier though. Jackson is a pain to photograph with his glasses on, while Dexter never had to worry about the flash of a camera. Lucky boy.

As mentioned in my Hunter/Ashlynn review, the EAH boys are much larger than the MH boys. They're more of a realistic sort of shape as opposed to the lanky, super thin monster boys.
They share the same level of articulation though, and I think the EAH boys fit in better with the Monster High crew than the EAH girls ever will. The boys have more defined features, less flat giant faces. Their heads are still large sure, but they're generally proportioned with their bodies in the same way the Monster High dolls are.
This means they can hand out with the Monster High dolls without looking like a totally different doll line, which is kinda what I wanted from EAH in the first place! I WISH the girls could fit in as well as the boys, but alas, they end up looking like pie faced freaks. Poor girls.

Dexter and Hunter share a face mould, but I can forgive them this. it's a cute face mould and all the Bratz Boyz shared face moulds too. Monster High has just spoiled me with all their unique sculpts.

But what I will say is that I still dont' think EAH should be priced as high as it is.
The fact of the matter is, particularly with the boys, that their outfits simply aren't any more detailed than the Monster high dolls. The girls use shiny fabric sure, but the boys don't. Look at Jackson and Dexter here, there's no real difference in the amount of STUFF they come with, nor the quality of the stuff.
EAH have better stands, they're more solid and well designed but that's about it. They both got detailed bags (and Jackson got one that actually works as a bloody bag!), they both got glasses (and Jackson got lenses in his!), both have rooted hair. Both have multi layered, multi fabric outfits with printed and stitched details. Both have similar shoes. Both have the same level of articulation.
Jackson got a pet lizard, Dexter got a crown. I think Jackson got the better end of that deal.

So why the hell was Jackson £16:99 and Dexter £19:99!? Where are those extra pounds going? Because with all the EAH, i just do not see where the extra money is going, how it's justifed.
We sacrificed unique faces in return for shiny pretty fabrics, I think i'd rather have the unique faces.

And what annoys me most, is that the US market doesn't seem to have this huge price divide between Monster high and it's spinoff. Ever After High retails for a similar amount, it's just our UK market being morons.
The two packs? they're £37:99, that's $63 USD. Sixty.. THREE! They retail for $39:99 in the states  (that's £24). I mean we're used to paying more, we're used to two packs being around £30 but almost twice the US retail? That's just taking the piss.

And i'm clearly not the only one massively put off Ever After High thanks to the price point. Too often during conversations with other doll collectors I hear "oh yeah, they're pretty dolls but the price is too high, maybe i'll get one when they go on clearance."
You don't want your toy line to ONLY sell on clearance! But that's what seems to be happening with EAH here. Very few stores carry the new lines IN store, i've never seen Cerise, Blondie, Holly/Poppy, Dexter, Cedar OR Lizzie on a store shelf, they're only available online or from catalogue stores like Argos. The only dolls I see on shelves are the first four: Raven, Apple, Maddie and Briar. Sitting... collecting dust, their price dropping and dropping and dropping as stores try to get rid of the damn things.
Currently they're selling for £12, which I think says a lot about the massive overpricing of these toys at release huh? Even at £12 they seem to sit and stores aren't devoting much space to the line at all. They get one box width of shelf space, maybe two if they're lucky and it's a particularly large store. While Monster high gets entire half aisles.

I cannot see Ever After High doing very well here. Mattel crippled any chance they had by overpricing their product. They priced themselves out of the market, but they don't really care as let's be honest, there is ONLY Mattel in dolls right now. Barbie, Monster High, Ever After High... all mattel. They're directly competing with themselves only at this point, which is never a good thing.

But even if Mattel have no real reason to price EAh competatively, you'd think they'd want to attract fans right?
And I can't see EAH hanging around UK shelves for much longer at this rate. The sales seem sluggish, the wide appeal isn't there. Oh they're nice high quality dolls sure, but they're overpriced and you can SEE where costs have been cut very very clearly. The reuse of face moulds, no lenses in Dexter's glasses, hollow useless bags... etc. It's a shame because priced right, EAH could be a fun line, but it ends up standing in Monster High's shadow far too much, and being eclipsed by the line they spun off from.
There's too many steps backward from the precident set by Monster High.

So...

Is Dexter himself worth paying full price for?
I'm not sure. He's a cute doll sure, but £20 seems rather steep for any doll. 
For what I paid using my 3 for 2 deal plus a £5 off voucher? yes, yes he was worth that lol. He has a great solid, articulated body, a cute face, his hair is ok, his outfit is kinda cute (though could be better quality particularly the jacket which is stiff and a bit messy looking in places) and he's a boy, so of course I NEEDED him in my life.

I hope EAH lasts long enough to get a few more boys (I NEED Sparrow, are you listening Mattel? I NEED that loser as a doll NOW). But overall I find EAH nets more of a  "pass" reaction than "gotta haves" from me.
I like Dexter and I LOVE Hunter, but they aren't nearly as exciting as the Monster High boys are. They lack those fun little details, those visual puns and hidden detailing. There's something very KEN about Dexter particularly, he's very "pretty" verging on a little "blandly attractive" to me.

But i've rambled long enough.

Overall, I give Dexter 7 holey crowns out of 10. He's a nice doll but he's not exceptional.

I'm VERY glad they fixed his hair. DAMN that original release hair was bad.