July roundup - Living dead dolls, monster high, birthday!

Yeah i've been lazy and kinda, just slacking off on reviews. And then my birthday came along and I bought loads of stuff.
but as usual, it's mostly older stuff that doesn't NEED a full review so much, so it's purchase roundup time!

This month I took advantage of a fair few sales, tru had a 50% off sale going on so I picked up a couple of g1 MH dolls i'd been umming and ahhing over for like a year.
My preordered DC super hero girl shipped out (i'll do a review of that line in a while)
My preordered Living Dead Dolls from Forbidden Planet never dispatched so I cancelled that order and reordered via a third party seller on Amazon. Those arrived too.
I got a great haul at the local charity shop of MH dolls, sweet.
I bought a ridiculous 90s sindy thing.
My husband gave me one of the new petite fashionistas
and I got a 1/6 scale Moped scooter thing for my Makies.

So I guess we go through the list as we usually do. Some things i've got more to talk about than others. Some really kinda speak for themselves as "I saw this, it was ridiculous, I bought it" lol.

It's annoying though because I had intended to save up for my first resin BJD, but then sales happened and I couldn't resist. Ahem. Oops?




Anyway, we'll look at the less reviewy stuff first to get it outta the way.

A small but lovely haul bwhaha. Moniker and Pseudonym are very pleased.

The vespa is metal and really well made, you can fit about 3 dolls on it. One in the side car, two on the bike itself. It's 1:6 scale while the Makies are closer to 1:8 so they're slightly short but it's good enough. The giant heads make actual scaling really hard anyway lol. Makies have such weird proportions. For those curious, it's made by New Ray. They're not cheap, but they're an awesome little prop.

Charity finds. They were all in one big box. I left the broken Lagoona but otherwise... not a bad haul. Interestingly, Sweet Screams Abbey wasn't properly released over here so finding her in a charity shop, albeit without her original outfit, is pretty astounding.
They were all dressed in one another's clothing, all wrong so I redressed them and cleaned them (some of their faces were caked in grime, ew) but they're all in pretty good condition all things considered.
I think Sweet Screams Abbey is wearing an Equestria girl outfit, it fits really well.
Rainbow Dash's outfit fits the MH body nice too but it's really short, would look cool with leggings though. So maybe the EG dolls have some use after all lol. I've never been overly impressed with their quality. Rainbow dash has fairly crap nylon hair (she's meant to be a hair play doll too so wtf?) it's all frizzy and bleh. And the bodies are so hollow and lightweight and just.. shit. She does have cool shoes though, and her dress is cute. Also I love me some rainbow hair.
I do wish Hasbro had put more effort into the line though, the heads are fugly and the bodies are so shite, they could have been a really cool rival to MH if they looked more like their art but nope, instead they look like dime store knockoffs.
It's a shame.
But I got her for her outfits heh. And she was like £2

I always wanted the glow in the dark Bratzillaz Yasmina. Her purple hair just looks so pretty with that ghoulish green skin. I have no idea what the dress is, i thought it was Bratz but it fits her really really well so... i'm a bit stumped. Zillaz are a lot bigger than Bratz so it can't be a bratz dress... right?
I dunno.

I wonder what happened to Honey and Marisol and Gooliope.

Living Dead Dolls

I preordered series 31 LDDs like.. months ago. Their release got delayed by a month, and then another month and then Forbidden Planet just... had no idea when stock was coming in. They popped up on other sites for a similar price so I cancelled the preorder and just bought them from a third party amazon seller.
Kreek and Thump arrived first. Umbral showed up a few days later.

I have a very small LDD collection, so i'll go through these properly for those who either haven't had a good look at series 31, or who have never seen a LDD before.

Living Dead Dolls launched back in 2001 as gothy grown up collectables. Inspired by creepy dolls and horror movies along with other pop culture, they were hugely successful and 15 years on, they're still going strong.
I love me some horror collectables, but for many years I put off getting any because I couldn't justify it or because I didn't have money or.. whatever.
I finally took the plunge a few months ago, picking up an original first wave Damien (always my fave) for very cheap along with an Angus Littlerot. I shared photos of them in another blog post I believe.

Each "series" is made up of 5 dolls (usually) and every so often they have an overarching theme.

Series 7 for instance, featured 7 dolls instead of the standard 5, all themed after different sins. Series 13 was themed around superstitions. There was an urban legands series, a "things with wings" series, a zombie series, a witch series, a vampire series, several halloween themed series, and even one themed around global folklore.
Not all the series have themes though, some are just random. Go figure. They also do special "presents" lines which are usually based on a literary theme, like Alice in Wonderland or the Wizard of Oz or fairy tales. There's also versions of horror movie icons like Freddy Kruger, Michael Meyers, Leatherface etc. There's an absolutely HUGE back catalogue of LDDs to trawl through, and while some sell for a fortune, others are actually pretty affordable.

Anyway, series 31 was announced for release in April, but the release date kept getting pushed back. It finally showed up in late June in the US. Series 30 and 31 were both themed series. 30 was freakshow themed, 31 is "things that go bump in the night"

The regular series dolls come in black coffins, that are shrink wrapped.

The coffin is lined with tissue paper. In series 31's case, that tissue is black. It looks good and spooky.

They have clear covers over the front of the box that have a hole at the top and bottom, presumably to allow airflow should you keep them boxed. A lot of people like to keep their dolls MIB so those little holes help with humidity and other such issues that mess with boxed toys. I assume that's the reason for those holes anyway.

Both the front and back have the Living Dead Dolls logo on them. I find it interesting the boxes haven't got standard info on the back. We'll get to that.

The bottom of the plastic cover says "for spooky kids ages 15 & up", not sure why 15, seems a somewhat arbitrary age but there ya go. There are not a children's toy, despite being cute dollies.

Once the celophane is off the box just pops open. The plastic covers and coffins are interchangeable in most cases, they all look the same. The inner card with the tissue and the chipboard (the label across the bottom) are what tells you who's box is who's.

The boxes are actually packaged so the coffin LID is on the back, the actual coffin back itself has all the words and info you'd expect the back of a box to have. but the lid covers this so the doll can be seen from the other side. Once you have the box open, you can put the lid back on the back, or on the top, whatever you want really. it'll fit over the top of the plastic lid as well.
It's useful for storage.

The inner card with the tissue comes out, but you gotta be gentle because the tissue is really fragile.

The chipboard is attached to one side of the coffin but not the other so it swings open like a gate to get the doll out.

There's very very few things to remove to get the doll out. I really appreciate this. The cellophane makes the boxes tamper proof anyway, but inside you have three twisty ties and that's it. One to hold the head, and one for each leg. they're a bit of a pain to remove because twisty ties are hard on the fingers, but no scissor opening is amazing!

Also on the back here is the death certificate. It's selotaped on and in a little baggy.

Anyway, let's actually look at Kreek now instead of his box. 

I love boy dolls, so when I saw the promo shots of this guy in his adorable old fashioned little outfit and blood soaked face I was all "HELL YES"
He's even more striking in hand, those eyes are haunting.

His little chipboard thing has his name, Kreek. And a poem, they always have little rhymes on these. His reads:

Did something move over there or did the floorboards just creak? Alone in bed scared, all seems bleak. It knows you're afraid and it's your fear it will seek.

I'm not sure what the number in the top corner means, a production number? I dunno.

His picture features these two pale glowing eyes.

These images are taken from the original teaser shot for this series

so many eyes...

Kreek himself is a clear plastic doll, which is interesting. He reminds me of another LDD Posey, who was done in one release in similar clear plastic.
It makes him look pretty damn ghostly.

His death certificate is rolled up like a scroll and held in place with a wine coloured ribbon.

It doesn't sit flat because it's been rolled but it has another little rhyme  on it.

Usually the death certificates have a date of death and manner of death, being as they are "death certificates" but this series doesn't, presumably because they're not dead, they're spirits or entities that have never been "alive".

Kreek's reads:

Not talons, sharp tooth or even a blade but still will tear you apart and knows you're afraid. From the floor of your room you hear a groan, it's coming for you and knows you're alone. 

Interestingly, all of this series avoids gender pronouns. I find that curious. Presumably the whole "otherworldly entity" thing means no gender either hah, but i'm still referring to them as he and she damnit.

Heeere'sssss kreek!

He's a fascinating little doll.

He has rooted slicked back brown hair. It's full of gel but it's not like Mattel's rock hard helmet hair, honestly it's fine for me. Some people might like to rinse it out, but I can't see the point as it doesnt' feel horrible and crunchy, it just feels gelled. It's fairly thickly rooted too.

His head has this crack in it, which I think is painted in, and then there's bright red blood pouring from his scalp down one side of his face. The splash of red is very striking against his dull cool colours.
His eyes are coloured black with a blue iris and white pupil, this means they appear to glow from a distance, it's surprisingly effective for something so simple.

His nostrils and mouth are picked out with some dark paint, which actually is a really good idea. It means his features don't get lost in the clear plastic. Clear and white plastics often end up washing out details to the eye, so picking them out means he still has a nose. I wish more super pale dolls did this actually.

His plastic has these weird errors and bubbles in it, and I think that might be glue residue around his hairline from his hairgel. I couldn't get it to come off though so it might just be a flaw in the plastic. Either way, it adds an interesting texture. I can't help but think of the ghost from The Devil's Backbone with the little imperfections and cracks and bubbles. Also his outfit and cracked skull and creepy eyes... yeah, calling it, totally inspired by heh.

Damn that movie is creepy.

Kreek wears a thick woolen overcoat with these chunky buttons all the way up. There's no buttonholes on the other side sadly, but they are real buttons.

The coat has a sort of zig-zag pattern i'm sure has an official name and is a dark navy shot with black. It's really thick fabric and fully finished on all edges.

Under the jacket he's wearing a little short suit with a waistcoat. The white shirt has a cute little collar and the waistcoat is attached to it. It doesn't open, the little buttons are metal studs.
The shirt is also attached to the shorts, it's a sleeveless jumpsuit kinda thing, really common with LDDs and indeed with Ken suits and similar.

The lack of sleeves reduces bulk in the arms of the jacket, making the overall outfit sit better on the doll.

Kreek also has these black socks.

They are like.. thigh high black socks lol. I think they're supposed to be knee length but they're a bit long for the short LDD legs haha.

The suit velcros up the back. Interestingly, the waistcoat is sewn only on the back, so the front of it layers with the shirt to give a better illusion of it being a full waistcoat.

 Kreek also has little boots. They're black and surprisingly detailed. They're very easy to get on and off too.

Here's his full outfit. Socks, suit, jacket and boots.

They're all made of nice authentic feeling fabrics, no shiny cheap crap here. Of course, LDDs do have a bit of a problem with their fabrics staining. Particularly the blacks, which aren't always colourfast. They didn't really anticipate that you'd want to undress or redress the dolls though, they're not supposed to be undressed so I can kinda let it slide. This isn't a fashion doll, this is a collectable designed to be put on the shelf and not messed with.

Kreek's body is totally clear, except for the tips of his fingers which are grubby. There's the same black shading as on his face, not sure why but it looks kinda cool.

The oldest LDDs didn't have much motion, but they introduced the newer style bodies fairly early on. They have a ball joint in the shoulders, hips and neck allowing for a surprising array of expressive movement.

I particularly like how the ball joint in the neck allows for the head to tilt, it adds so much character.

Look at this little cutie

I love him.

And then there's Thump.

This guy totally looks like Benedict Cumberbatch to me. He's undead Sherlock man!

Definitely.

Some fans argue this is a girl doll, but as the poems have zero gender pronouns, i think it's up to the individual whether they want to use "he" "she" or something else.
I'm sticking with "he" because he's totally Cumberbatch to my eyes, hah.

His chipboard features the cartoonish eyes, they're so cartoony.

His number is 93364, which Thump was 93362, hmm. Umbral is 93361 so I have to assume 933 is the series and then it's 60-65 for the individual characters? I dunno.
I don't think it's important.

Thump's poem reads:

In the darkness of bedtime it is the one that goes bump. No eyes, sharp claws, gored fangs and its name is Thump!

These chipboard poems don't quite scan right for me, either of the two so far. There's something off about the rhythm.

Thump's death certificate is really short. It reads:

The devourer of souls that thrives on fears. You will never see coming, you will only hear...

Look at him! He's freaking awesome!

He's a sort of off white colour with these sunken black hollows for eyes and a huge mop of thick curly hair.

His hair is so soft and so thick and so much fun to just mess with omg.

He has this subtle sponging effect on his face, particularly around his eyes (it's hard to photograph), it adds texture to his face and looks quite cool.
And his eyes really are hollow, they're indented by a few cms to create these holes, the inside is then painted black.

He has these amazing claws, which I think were first used on Nosferatu. They're awesome.

His coat is a thick wool feeling fabric like you'd expect a coat like this to be made of. It has metal studs instead of buttons and velcros up the front. The super high collar hides half of Thump's face, just begging for you to open that coat and see what's lurking underneath.

His trousers are black knit with a gold stripe. He has boots similar to Kreek's but they have a thicker platformed sole to them and are painted with gold accents.

Same basic shoe, new sole.

Wierdly, those pants are actually a pair of tights with feet. Wth? I don't know why, maybe to have them stay inside the boot easier?
Still, weird and unexpected.

His coat is so lovely, it's fully hemmed and has these thick cuffs and just is such a cool garment.

And look at that hair.

I love the collar, it hides everything SO well, I mean, there's no guessing what's under that and not knowing honestly makes it so much creepier. Your imagination can take you anywhere right?

Here's those clawed hands. The arms are elongated and the hands are huge with these long fingers with these sharp nails.

Okay enough procrastinating, let's open that coat.

BAM!

There's those cartoon eyes lol.

I know some people think this is way too cartoonish, I think it's adorable. The cartoon eyes are so cute lol.

Anyway,

His lower jaw isn't moulded with the teeth, they're just painted on over the top of the moulded mouth but they are really really well painted. There's the gum line and these long snaggle teeth that are all yellowed and decaying looking. Omg they're cool.

And then there's this black crack all down his torso full of these cartoon eyes. I think this could have been done more macabre, a bit more realistic but in a way i'm glad they didn't because the cutesty cartoonishness kinda goes with the cuteness of the base doll. LDDs I always feel work best when they maintain that "cute" factor coupled with creepy bloody or spooky aesthetics. I don't like the really really overly gory ones so much (except Cuddles because she's freaking adorable) and i really dislike the screaming face ones. I like them to look like well.. dolls.
Not being overly realistic while still being kinda cartoonish creepy, I kinda dig.

There's those super long arms, which allow for some creepy monster poses.

Even with his arms down they just look so spooky.
I prefer Thump with his coat done up though, I think the mystery about what might be under there is scarier than the reality, no matter how they'd have done it.

And finally Umbral.

She is SO dark she just sinks into her box, you can barely see her without a camera flash. IRL seriously, she's just black on black.

Look at this blackness! It's amazing.

Umbral's chipboard reads:

A shadowy apparition or silly superstition. Your mind's cognition or hell's mortician.

I have no idea.

The death certificate says:

With screams so guttural, on the path to your funeral. You have been scared to death, by the one known as Umbral.

Again it's an awkward rhyme there I feel. Eh.

Umbral is a much simpler doll than the two boys, but sometimes less is more.

Her outfit is this sort of dress coat thing. It's made of thin floaty slightly stretchy fabric which gives it lovely drape. It's a beautifully tailored thing. The sleeves are puffy at the shoulder and flare out into these floaty jagged witchy sleeves that totally cover the hands.

The dress is hooded with this huge deep hood that has wire in the brim of it so you can actually shape it how you want.

there are fake buttons down the length of the dress and a sort of handkerchief hem falling in all these points around her feet. 

The waist is cinched in slightly.

The thinness of the fabric sadly does make the outfit feel a little cheap, but at the same time if it wasn't such thin fabric it wouldn't drape so beautifully so.. I dunno.

Umbral actually has this really long curly hair, it was all hidden under her hood and tied into a ponytail. It's really really curly and a bit prone to shedding unfortunately. it's also very thinly rooted at the scalp but that's likely a conceit of it being so poofy otherwise. More rooted in and her hair would be a giant puff ball mess.

Her face is extremely simple. She has no lip colour, no eyebrows, just these black eyes with red irises and a teeny yellow dot pupil.
It's very effective with all that black.

Her hair is really scraggly at the ends annoyingly, and chunks come out when you brush a hand through it.

It's also tricky to get back into that hood.

Her body is awesome though. She's black from the chest up, with jet black arms and head while her lower body is clear plastic like Kreek. She has a little staining on her legs from her dress.
She comes with no shoes and her dress is one piece, meaning as far as "value for money" goes, she's one of the cheaper in the set. Kreek and Thump both come with boots and 2 or 3 outfit pieces, Umbral has just her dress, that's it.
Still, she's a damn stunning doll. When she's up on the shelf she's just so haunting with those red eyes against all that black.
Her clear feet means she looks to float, it's all very cool.

Overall I think series 31 is one of the better series ldds has done. I've liked several of their past dolls, but usually it's one, maybe two from a set. This set I actually like 4/5. though couldn't justify buying The Dark as well.

They retail for around about £26 these days, which is a fair bit for what you're getting but they're aimed at older collectors and manufactured in much smaller quantity than the likes of Mattel of Hasbro etc.
On the whole, I don't mind paying that for these as they feel like works of art more than toys. I'm okay with the occasional splurge on one or two, but I still flinch at some of the prices of older ones heh. Much as i'd love a couple of them, I can't justify the cost. I'm super stingy.

Sindy Crimp and Bead dog (ridiculous 90s stuff)

I've wanted this crazy little thing for years. Finally found one on Ebay as a BIN so I was like "i'm having it. I don't care that it's a bit overpriced, i want it."

So to explain, the Sindy Crimp and Bead line is often referred to as "dreadlock sindy", it was a 90s Hasbro line that featured this bendy yarn hair and came with little beads to thread on.

This is one of mine. Sindy herself came in blonde and brunette versions, and there was also an Imani. There was a playset too, and a dog... because why the hell not?

I don't think the Paul ever actually got released, but damnit, how fun would that have been?

Anyway, the dog

I don't think this thing had a name, it's just "dog". I think I shall name it "Noodles".

There's a sculpted dog under all that mop, though it doesn't have a tail or ears.

Anyway, ridiculous though it looks, it is based on a real life dog breed. The Puli or Komondor both have this sort of fur. Komondor are roughly the size of a bear though, while Puli are much smaller.

I've actually met one of these dogs irl, they're hilarious looking.

Anyway,

the Sindy dog...

He has a really cute little face under there. He has big eyes and a painted nose and even little dots on his cheeks for the whiskery bits.

His legs are unarticulated and it's all just one piece of plastic but there's sculpted fur detail in there.
I wonder if this might be a reused mold but i'm not sure.

Look at that cute smiley snout!

Mine has some sort of grey crap in his fur, but oh well.

He should have originally come with a stupid pink hat and some beads, but I have beads elsewhere, i'll decorate him later.

Fizz wasn't totally sure what to make of Noodles.

I personally love him, he's ridiculous and he makes me smile.

Monster High TRU sale

Finally stuff went on sale. Iris was only £17, so I had to get her. Lagoona and Spectra were about £10 each. I've been umming and ahhing over these two for a while but I flatly refused to pay the £16 most stores wanted for Spectra. She's a fricken BUDGET doll! £16 was flat out ridiculous.

Mainly I am just a sucker for tight curls on a doll. I was worried Lagoona would just have frizz but other photos i've seen of her convinced me it was fine.

She has the whole MH background thing with these stained glass bats on the lockers. Fancy.

I find it curious Lagoona has a US passport as I thought she was from "down under (the sea)"

Lagoona's hair is GIANT and fabulous. It's tied into this sort of puffy ponytail and is a bit flat at the back from being in the box but it's really tightly curled and glorious.
The chunky teal section is super attractive as well.

Her outfit is a nice little sheath dress with ruffle peplum and a little bolero jacket.

My camera decided it didn't want to take photos of these.

Her bag is a clam shell, it opens up and it has an octopus on it. HECK YEAH.

Well worth the tenner. She even came with a stand.

Spectra does not have a stand, but she does have a unique hair colour which is mostly the reason I wanted her. I love me some dolls with unusual hair colours.

Oddly, Spectra's art has her with these two pink dots on each cheek. Her doll doesn't. I wonder why.

I love the background. There's an evil plant, a flytrap, some torches and some sharks with bent fins. There's even a couple of bats and a giant moon or.. maybe sunset I dunno.

Spectra's hair is quite choppily cut and a bit lacking in any particular style, but it's a glorious shade of sort of fushia streaked with pink. It's almost the same colour as her lips and the flowers on her accessories.
She has lovely powder blue eyeshadow and these pouty slightly sulky looking pink lips.
Her eyebrows are purpley blue.. random.

Her outfit is a yellow dress made of some sort of shiny fabric. It's nice feeling fabric and very vivid in colour. The pattern isn't hugely character specific which means it's a good piece to use for other dolls too as well. It has a cute little tailored bodice and an a line skirt.

The pattern is flowers and wooden chains.

She also has a wooden chain across her body with a huuuuge load of flowers at the hip and shoulder. Her headband is the same, and her earrings are also wooden chain.

She has square bracelets which presumably are meant to be wooden as well.

Her shoes have a really minimalist sole/heel that's kinda like a bamboo cage while the shoe itself is all made of flowers.

It's an interesting look for her, yellow and pink and cream aren't colours we've really seen her in that often and it makes for an interesting contrast.

She's a beautiful doll, I always like a good Spectra.

I think i'll paint the dots on her face though, just because I CAN.

I haven't opened Iris yet, i'm lazy.

Anyway, this has gotten really long already so i'm gonna stop.

I have DC superhero girls to review and also a look at the newer Barbie Fashionista bodies which is waaaaay overdue. I'll also probably open Iris and a few other things I have laying about still MIB.
I get really lazy about deboxing, i'm really bad for buying stuff and then just leaving it in a pile somewhere. Oops?

Sorry this was rambly. I'm a bit writers block atm so just enjoy some photos of stuff.