Monster High - Brand Boo Students

I couldn't resist, I needed these three.

Weirdly this bunch aren't listed as Monster Exchange, they're "Brand Boo students"  I wonder why, especially as their diaries etc specifically mention the monster exchange program.

Anyway, here's Isi Dawndancer, Batsy Claro and Kjersti Trollson

Big changes over at Makie Labs!

Its been a short while since my last Makie ramble right? heheh.
Anyway, since then I now have 20 of the little nylon people, and husband has aquired a few of his own as well.

His latest one arrived today, but she's different so that's why i'm blogging.

Bratz Metallic Madness Cloe and Cameron

Metallic Madness hit the UK! It's a Smyths exclusive but since it was annouced i've been eagerly awaiting the release of Cameron specifically. I've said it before, but I freaking LOVE the Bratz Boyz. They were the first doll line I ever collected and I always get excited when I hear they're getting some MGA attention once more.

Of course, thus far only Cameron has been announced. He has a Hello My Name is doll and this two pack doll. Both look pretty similar if not identical but hey, 2 clone boyz is better than no boyz.

So here it is, Metallic Madness - Trash wedding... I mean... Dance Duo Cameron and Cloe.

Disney Descendants

Descendants! Which only hit the UK a week or two ago and has done so in really random drabbles. 

For those who don't know, Descendants is a Disney made for tv movie. Basic premise, the kids of various Disney villains get a chance to go to school with the kids of Disney heroes, shenanagins happen... it's as you'd expect, cheesy harmless fluff with musical numbers of the campy variety.

Anyway, there's dolls, the first of the Disney licensed dolls made by  Hasbro. 
Hasbro won the Disney franchise off Mattel last year and come 2016 are set to be doing ALL the Disney princess dolls, so Descendants is a good first look at how Hasbro might handle this lucrative string to their bow.

Suffice to say, many have noticed the parallel between Descendant's premise and Ever After High and I refuse to believe a few of the design choices were simple coincidence from either side.
Both for instance, have ambiguously brown skinned daughters of Sleeping Beauty. Hmm... 

Anyway, a new doll franchise is always exciting, particularly from a company who's been mostly absent from fashion dolls for such a long time (No, i'm not counting those crappy Equestria girls dolls, those things are just... suffice to say, i was very unimpressed with the one Husband bought for himself.  ahem) 

I've missed there being proper competition for Mattel, they've been playing with themselves way too long (and yes, I DO know how that reads bwhahaha) 

So let's take a look at these new dolls shall we?

Monster High - Finnegan Wake

I've been obsessively stalking the Smyths website ever since I noticed they had Finnegan listed, and when the Sep 4th "expected stock" date came and went, I admit I was pretty bummed out.
I was even more upset when a few days later the site changed their expected stock date to "sep 18th", it didn't bode well to me.

Thankfully, others in the UK started to report seeing the doll in stock in stores, but i'm in London and thus nowhere near any Smyths stores (yeah, what?). Nearest one to me is a good hour away, a trip totally not worth taking imo for ONE toy.

But then good fortune intervened. Husband rang me from work yesterday to tell me "Toys R Us have Finn!"
He pops into tru most lunch breaks as it's right next to his office lol, so I told him to get me a good one and eagerly waited for him to get home that evening.

I'll admit it, I haven't giggled so excitedly about a MH doll in a long time. I don't quite know why but I was super excited about Finnegan Wake, probably because he's quite an unusual product. We just don't get many disabled dolls, Mattel hasn't produced a doll in a wheelchair since Barbie's friend Becky in the 90s.

Also, I totally voted for Finn. Why? Because BOY doll. I love boy dolls, and the more boy dolls the better as far as i'm concerned.

July dolly purchase roundup

So a little different this time around. I bought a LOT of dolls this month, because well.. birthday coupled with new stuff hitting. My poor bank balance took a pounding but I didn't really feel I had enough to say on each for a full review, particularly as a few are just another doll in a line i've already recently talked about.

So, what DID I buy that meant I got into my overdraft for in July?

Monster high - SDCC Kieran Valentine and Djinni Whisp

They arrived a few days ago, and i've been waiting till I had the time to sit and review them.
But with Matty Collector's after sale on, now seemed as good a time as any so here they are! Valentine and Whisp!

First a bit of background.

Valentine was a character who featured in the first Monster High CGI special, "Why do ghouls fall in love?". He was the antagonist, an emotional vampire who collected girl's hearts and for... unknown reasons had an entourage of singing clouds... uh...
But for whatever reason since his debut in 2011 people have wanted him to get a doll.
He hadn't appeared since in any media till the second comic book "I only have eye for you" where he's suddenly back atoning for his sins (spoiler?)
His appearance in the comic fueled speculation he might finally get a doll, and lo and behold, he was one of the sdcc exclusive characters this year.

The second doll in the set is Whisp, another antagonist from a more recent special "13 wishes". People really liked Whisp, and customs of Gigi Grant's shadow twin were popping up shortly after the special aired. But that was back in 2013, it's only taken Mattel... how long?

Anyway, two random antagonists from two specials have now teamed up to... atone or something.