I've had these guys for a few weeks now, i've just been too exhausted to debox anything and then a massive heatwave hit which further killed my energy.
But I wanted to get this out before the end of the month so here we go!
if i'm a bit erratic please understand it's like 35C right now in the UK and we're struggling.
Let's goooo
It's nostalgic seeing the old style boxes, however I have to admit, I did NOT miss the cardboard tabs which tear as you try to open the box. I've never managed to get one of these original style boxes to open without damaging it. But at least the cardboard doesn't try to slice your hand up like the plastic tabs. Ooo I hate those plastic tabs so much.
Curiously, the UK stock not only was in stock rather than a preorder like the US side was (shipped about a week or two after the sale) we got the English/French version which appears to be the North American stock (for the USA and Canada). The UK gets weird stock, sometimes we get the US versions, sometimes we get the "international" (eu) version which is in a half dozen different languages. Now the problem with those international versions is that they often edited the diary down to a single page so they could reprint it in all those languages, meaning we missed out on full proper diaries for several characters.
So I was worried this French/English version might do the same.
Thankfully it looks like this set they printed the diaries in both languages in full, so they're really thick.
I do not know what the situation is with the EU version in multiple languages though.
The whole release of these dolls was a little odd. They were originally supposed to be sold on Amazon, there was even a page for them on the website, but something happened and they ended up being Mattel Creations exclusives instead. Given the US stock doesn't look to have fully shipped yet, I wonder if there was some issue with getting the stock to the American distributor and as a result the deal fell through. But the UK looks to have had a fairly hefty chunk of stock because it took several days for this set to sell out on the UK site.
I don't know what happened but I have to wonder if tarifs were involved somewhere along the way.
Back of the box features a brief character bio (ooo I missed character bios. I wish g3 would do proper bios, the obsession g3 has with fucking FOOD over personality is fucking weird)
The art here isn't quite g1 style but it's pretty cute. I do like that the characters are actually interacting and looking at one another.
The box also features a few cassettes which are various music mixes. One is chemistry lab study, the other is just "Spell and Val" but they appear to have dates on them which I find interesting. The val/spell one is dated 03/08 and the chem project one is 2/15. I wonder what the significance of those dates are. To the diaries! According to the diaries the chem project they worked on ON the 15th of feb and the other one is the date they admitted their feelings for one another by asking one another to prom. D'aaaww.
I know it's just Greek but Pharmakeia sounds like a martial art lol.
I find it interesting that Spelldon is bffs with Venus. Does that mean he sometimes hangs out with her other friends Rochelle and Robecca? I'd love to see characters hang out more. I feel like often Mattel forgot the friendship groups when they did the animated specials. For example, Jackson is never once shown interacting with HIS bff Deuce which is like.. wtf? Now we have the comics i'd like to see them explore those relationships a little more you know?
Valentine's favorite food has changed from his SDCC release. That one listed his fave as "devil's food cake" and now it's chocolate coffin beans.
Curious.
The rest looks to be the same.
I feel like these two have perfect screenings, so yay!
Spelldon's hair is perfect as well. No product, just gorgeous bouncy curls.
Valentine's hair is crunchy with product.
Their hand holding in box is adorable. I actually do appreciate that despite this being the "big gay pride pack" it isn't emblazoned with rainbows or anything, it's just like any other mh 2 pack release. Them being a couple is made to feel ordinary, normal, nothing to make a big deal about which I actually really like. It feels less performative of Mattel this way but it also says "yeah, this is completely normal and no different than any other couple". With the current environment surrounding lgbt stuff, I can see an argument both ways. One that Mattel was too cowardly to make a big deal of it in case of controversy (they described them as "lab partners" in their advertising. *snort*) and the other that making it not a big deal shows that Pride isn't just a one month a year thing and that same sex couples should just be treated like any other couple.
I mean it is nice that Mattel FINALLY decided it was "time" after wussing out over it back in 2015. 11 years on we finally have lgbt representation that's not just heavy subtext, which is wonderful.
But I still side eye their advertising/social media team who called them "lab partners" and the shirt featuring g3's Frankie and Cleo "good friends". Wtf is that shit?
There are two diaries in the box but they're packaged on top of one another so it's not obvious Val has one too.
They also have colour coded stands. Ooo I missed colour coded stands. Yes, the black stands were good for uniformity and blended together on a shelf so you didn't notice them, but there was something delightful about each character having their very own unique coloured stand that was just for them you know?
I think, aside from the food, Valentine's is the same as his original 2015 one. I wonder why they changed the food, did they think "devil" in the name might trigger some pearl clutching conservatives? Lol.
"emo vampires" still cracks me up. It's not like they couldn't fit "emotional" there, instead we get quite a different image hahahaha.
He has pointy ears with three earrings in one side and one dangly earring in the other.
His necklace is one piece made to look like multiple necklaces.
His hair is curly dark purple with some black blended in and he has a flocked black undercut.
His vine design is painted over the flock to give the illusion of a pattern shaved in.
He has a cute little half smirk too.
With his platform boots he's actually taller than his older sister which is amusing to me.
I think they did a pretty good job getting these two to look related, their outfits have similar motifs and colours with the orange to purple gradient and they both have those coloured streaks. Spelldon has pink instead of orange though, which is interesting.
I really struggled to get a picture of this but the soles have a spiderweb and a dangling cartoonish spider on the heel.
His belt also features a load of symbols but I struggled to get a photo and couldn't quite make them out by eye anyway. They look magicky but I can't get a clear enough look at them to figure out what any of them are. The sculpt is a bit too blurred and the black on black with the shine of the plastic isn't helping.
Valentine's outfit is... odd to me. He has a pair of patterned formal trousers with a sort of fleur de lis or similar pattern on them, a patterned waistcoat, a cravat and then... a mesh top. Not a shirt, just a mesh... top.
Which looks utterly stupid with the cravat because who wears a cravat without a collar?
His waistcoat is actually pretty cool irl. I wasn't sure about it in photos because it looked like a sort of snakeskin pattern to me but it's actually a sort of lace effect with some gold. The back panel is made of the same satin material as his sdcc waistcoat too, which is neat.
It's significantly shorter than his sdcc waistcoat and tighter too.
The sole has a rose pattern too.
These can't have much grip lol.
New Valentine is very very different to his original doll. His eyes have been slightly reshaped to give a more angular shape and winged eyeliner extends them. His eyebrows have been plucked to hell and are now actually black rather than inexplicably brown. (I never understood sdcc's asymmetrical eyebrows. They look strange. Also mine has one bug eye. Let's pretend we didn't notice that)
New val is also a different shade of pink. He's more translucent which actually I think really helps read "vampire" because it makes him look pale rather than just... pink.
He's had a hair cut and actually styled his hair and it seems he's also lost some fat to his cheeks as they now seem a lot sharper but that could be an optical illusion.
the new head is marked "2026" meaning it's a new sculpt but I am struggling to be certain what they changed, or indeed WHY they remade the head. Did they lose the original?
To my eye, ignoring the paint, they are very very similar. Same nose, same chin, same jawline and ears. I'd actually forgotten than sdcc val had pierced ears, his new earrings are almost identical just in pinkish red instead of gold.
I ended up overlaying the two faces in photoshop and the nose and mouth align exactly, but the jaw seems to be narrower on the new sculpt.
I'm not sure how clear it is in this image but the jaw of the older doll is wider while the other features align exactly.
Curious. I wonder why they bothered. I mean it is possible the original mold was lost or damaged and they had to reconstruct parts of it or 3d scan a doll. Who knows. But I can say it's not a COMPLETELY new sculpt because the nose, mouth and chin are all the same. He just lost some cheek fat.
Hmmm. Weird.
The pair come with chemistry accessories which is cute. A little potions book that is plastic and opens but has nothing inside (pity), a test tube stand with little test tubes which don't appear to come out but the heart bottle fits into, the heart potion, two sets of safety goggles (yet no lab coats, tisk tisk boys), a brush and a black rose.
The rose is the same as used for other doll sets but curiously this one has double fangs which make it look like it has eyes.
They can't really hold the potion though, I had to balance it carefully on Val's hands here.
I presume this is the "sweet dream" potion from the diary, but it's heart shaped which reads more as "love potion". I mean I assume this was to hammer home the "they're in love!" aspect but it still feels a bit... Valentine has put his heart stealing days behind him to live his authentic life so the idea of him messing with love potions feels like a step backward you know? I feel like maybe they should have gone with a different shape to avoid that but eh, what do I know.
You may also notice I redressed Val. That mesh top was doing him no favors. Yeah it was nicely made but it felt too casual for a boy who specifically states he always wears formal wear, it was also too effeminate and I felt it made him look a bit too middle aged mom with that haircut too. It was also just too busy with the pattern on his waistcoat and pants too.
I found this blouse in my stash, I have no idea what doll it came from but it's old and sort of yellowed. I should probably give it a good clean but I can't be arsed. I liked the shaped sleeves and the sharp collar gave vampy vibes but also allowed him to wear his cravat in a way that didn't look ridiculous.
You need a collar for this sort of cravat. You can get away without when you have one of those long tie all around the neck regency style ones but this is a modern ruffle on a piece of ribbon style and without a collar it just looks stupid.
I also changed him into sdcc's leather effect extremely tight pants which I felt gave his whole look a sort of harlequin romance swashbuckly vibe. It didn't look so good with his original pants. Just changing his shirt also made his hairstyle look less "I want to speak to the manager" and more swooshy romantic to me. Interesting that huh?
I love him now. He went from "mmm i'm not sure about this guy" to "oh heck yeah"
Aren't they gorgeous?
I haven't bothered to wash out Val's hair because I don't think it really needs it right now and Spelldon's hair was perfect straight out the box. They rather sensibly tied him into the box with a tie around his neck (harsh) instead of the plastic staples in his head to protect his flock which also protected the rest of his hair from box squash.
I know others have had issues with their dolls having frozen joints, particularly the knee and wrists but both my boys articulate fine. Val's head is a little loose feeling on his neck but that's about it.
Overall i'm really pleased with this set. And it was nice to have some diaries to read again, it was wonderfully nostalgic.
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