Dress to Impress - another roblox doll

 I reviewed the last Roblox fashion doll a while back and found her marshmallow head very amusing, and I have to admit, I didn't really think they'd try again with that but here we are. 

Another company, another roblox doll. 

and just like the previous ones this one is from a very popular game on the platform and comes with digital codes for wearable stuff. 

I don't play roblox, I don't know much about it beyond what my kids have told me and these dress up games aren't their thing so they aren't much help there. 

But Dress to Impress seems to be some sort of fashion game where you earn coins or something to dress up your avatar. I don't really know but whatever, we're here for the dolls not the video game.

I grabbed this pack half price secondhand because the person only wanted the code and I don't want the code, so it worked out great. 

if you don't care about the code, you can get a lot of these dolls pretty cheap on vinted and ebay. 

Let's get into this

Monster High g3 Robecca Steam

 A little interlude to finally review this doll that i've had sitting here for months. 

I just haven't had the energy.

and the photos reflect that. I'm sorry they're a bit shit, I was and still am in the middle of a fatigue episode and getting up to do stuff is difficult, but I wanted to debox her to cheer myself up and still wanted to review her. 

 so here we go

The Haul - part 2 - oh so many clothes.... tlc bundles and assorted dolls

 I have been trying not to buy too many dolls lately (which is in itself extremely difficult and i'm not doing great, at all. You could in fact say that i'm failing miserably.) but I have been scratching that itch by buying doll clothes. 

You see, I have a goal. I am trying to obtain an example of every Sindy outfit made during the Pedigree years (1963-1986) and it's an interesting project. 

what I have found the most surprising, is how common some outfits are vs others and which eras are so much more represented. The very early 60s stuff is quite easy to find while the late 60s stuff tends to be a lot rarer and I can't quite figure out why that is. 

Anyway, this means buying big bundles for a handful of pieces to complete sets or get new bits I didn't already have. It means buying tlc lots to repair. it means a lot of doll clothes to identify and enjoy.

And inevitably, I end up with non Sindy stuff that I like enough to keep for other dolls. 

So let's get into this!

The haul part 1 - Bratz, Wild Hearts Crew and Monster High

So, flush with Christmas money and kinda in that post holiday season come down, what better way to get a little shot of happiness than by splurging on some small plastic people?

Also, sales. There's a lot of sales.... January sales, Easter sales.... all the damn sales. And some pretty nice ones for once. 

So, I did a thing. Well... several things. From multiple places. 

Amazon US

Amazon JP

Amazon UK

Very

Ebay

Vinted

Aliexpress

I.... might have gone a little mad. 

but in my defense, SALES! 

so let's take a look at all the things I splurged on and feel kinda a little bit like I need to justify shall we?

This won't be quite as in depth as some of my individual reviews but i'll try to be detailed without this ending up too long. I intend to split this into a few posts too. Just for you know... my sanity. 

So here's part one! 

Barbie You Create kits 2026

 I can't think of much preamble here. 

Last year (?) Mattel released their "You Create" kits and dolls, the idea being that they came with a new neck knob that made it easier to take the head off and swap things around. 

the first set came with three heads, three bodies and three wigs for ultimate customisability, however while the wigs were "okay", wigs at Barbie scale always suffer from looking a little bulky on those tiny heads and the price point was pretty steep (£92 + postage). Couple that with no apparently mainstream store release and being only available via Mattel's own online shopfront, they weren't exactly easily obtainable. 

So 2026 brings us their second wave, where they've changed things up quite a bit.

Gone are the wigs, we have fully rooted heads now. But sadly also gone are the extra bodies. Each kit comes with three heads but only one body, which is I suppose a brilliant way for Mattel to sell more bodies... but of course they don't just sell bodies, you gotta buy a whole extra doll because of course you do.

This time not only are these cheaper (still a rather steep £64.99) they're also available via mainstream retailers like Amazon. 

And as I was flush with amazon vouchers from christmas... and the kits briefly dropped to a little over £50 each... I splurged and bought a couple to check out. 

L.U.V by Far Out Toys

Been thinking about flash in the pan failed doll lines.... 

And so, I give you... 

L.U.V!

A doll line produced by Far Out Toys, the company who also made the Glow Up Girls, a line that had a thoroughly bizarre release here in the UK and was cancelled before we could even get the second half of the first wave. 

L.U.V was, like the Wild Hearts Crew, a line doomed to failure by being sold ONLY at Walmart. Walmart, where dolls go to die.  They also shot themselves in the foot by pricing them far far too high. At $30usd, that made them more expensive than a lot of  Barbie, a lot of Monster High, most Bratz and several other doll brands. 

now yes, I get it. Smaller companies can't get such good wholesale deals so their overheads are more expensive, meaning the final product needs to be more expensive. but when you're launching a new doll line against the big boys, you need to either bring something completely NEW to the scene to justify that price point, or you need to cut a lot of corners to get the price down to undercut the big guys and provide a "budget" alternative. on top of that, a lot of stores won't take a chance on the new guy, so getting your product INTO stores in the first place is hard. Which is why so many new lines end up as exclusives. 
The problem is that Mattel and MGA have such a stranglehold on the doll market that anyone new coming in has a seriously rough struggle to even be noticed. A high price point and a restricted distribution is not doing you any favors. Even if it all makes sense as to why it happens, it's just extra hurdles to overcome when the deck is already massively stacked against you.

what can new toy makers do? I don't know the answer to that sadly. but I do know that many have tried and almost all of them sink without a trace. 

Anyway, let's take a look

Monster High Eekend Getaway Clawdeen and Draculaura

 New year, same ol' inconsistent posting schedule. 

 Which I know, I know, isn't ideal for farming engagement or whatever the hell the social media term is but let's be real here, this is a tiny blog where I just get to ramble on about my special interest, if I wanted fame and fortune i'd be doing literally anything else. 

 But I still feel kinda bad that I don't keep up with this as regularly as I should because I DO want to share stuff, I just don't always have the energy to take photos or even, sadly, actually debox the things I purchase which is really bad. 

This is another reason i've taken to buying preowned dolls by preference. I mean there's the added bonus of it being cheaper but also, I don't have to fight the executive dysfunction to actually sit down and debox.

Anyway, i'm babbling. 

let's get to what we're actually looking at today. The Monster High Eekend Getaway playset. 

well.. i say playset. Car, it's a car. 

This set released in the USA like.. a year ago? And I had resigned myself to it being yet another mattel line we just weren't going to see here in the UK. But it bummed me out because I really did like the Clawdeen a lot.

well, surprise! Smyths got the set in just before christmas. they seem to be getting a lot of g3 Monster High as exclusives and i'm not sure if all the exclusives should concern me or not. I mean we got exclusives back in g1 too and they were a pain in the arse, but with Smyths at least it means one massive toy retailer is taking the chance. 

I  ummed and ahhed about getting this set because I didn't want the damn car and Draculaura didn't WOW me since they changed her hair from the original prototype. *sigh* but I figured for £25 per doll it was a pretty decent deal, especially as they each came with an extra little dress and shoes. 

Let's get into this.