Monster High g3 Skelita Calaveras

 I continue to find it strange not only the distribution of g3 monster high (some stuff never hits the UK, other stuff gets to us earlier than the US. Why?) but also the rather arbitrary choices of characters they bring in. 

Catty Noir, Cupid, Heath but no Rochelle or Howleen and Mouscedes who both have g3 designs already present in the animation.  

What the heck Mattel? Do they just pick names out of a hat you think? 

anyway, the newest character now is Skelita which actually isn't at all surprising as she got TWO holiday dolls. One last year and another this year. And hopefully this means we'll be seeing more new characters because I have to admit, i'm getting really tired of seeing the same dolls over and over again. How many Frankie and Draculauras do we actually NEED Mattel? 

 so, new character is always exciting to see. How did they redesign them, what changes have they made and what features have they kept. I always find it fun. 

so let's take a look at g3 Skelita who it turns out is already controversial. 

Monster High Skullector Alien xenomorph (A patreon review)

 I don't really tend to pay that much attention to the skullector monster high dolls because I generally prefer my dolls to be core franchise rather than licensed movie monsters. Now that said, some of the Skullector dolls have been very damn cool. ESPECIALLY this one which is quite something else. 

still, I intentionally didn't order her when she was available because I didn't NEED her in my life. I figured I could admire her from afar. 

But when one of my readers offered me the opportunity to actually debox one and review her, how could I say no? An up close look at one of the coolest things Mattel has ever released? Heck yeah.  

HUGE thanks to Muinn for letting me get my grubby mitts all over this girl. 

So let's just get into this shall we? 

Toni by Creata

 Now there's a story behind this particular acquisition. 

you see, back in February I purchased this exact doll on Vinted, but the seller then ghosted me and never sent my parcel. I got a full refund of course, but ever since it's pissed me off and i've pined for this doll. I assumed they'd either misplaced her (they're a clearance company or something, so likely have a big warehouse) or gotten a better offer elsewhere but I stalked both their ebay and vinted pages for weeks hoping they'd relist her. 

they never did.

until this week (October) 

A full 8 months later, who should appear on Ebay from the exact same seller? 

you got it, the same doll i'd bought back in February. 

For twice the price i'd paid originally.

typical. 

but I looked at her, I felt all those emotions again and I thought "you know what? Fuck it. I want her, I still want her 8 months later and i'm gonna try again."

so I bought her. 

and yeah, i probably shouldn't be supporting this seller's shitty customer service but eh, I really really wanted the doll okay?

and then I waited, wondering if THIS time they'd actually bloody post her. 

and they did! Which kinda surprised me, but then again, Ebay is a little more stroppy about sellers not sending items people purchase than Vinted who don't appear to have a strike system.

So, who is this doll who I have thought about for the past 8 bloody months? 

She's Creata Toni.

Let's take a look!

Hot damn, i'm alive I swear! - Susi by Plaggona

Okay I know, I haven't posted since JUNE! 

 In my defense, school holidays happened... family visited from overseas and I had surgery so i've had a busy few months and been rather distracted. 

I've also been trying really hard to maintain my "sell more than you buy" resolution. I'm not sure how that's going because while i've sold quite a few things, i've also bought various small bundles of things... oops. 

Anyway, that's not what today is about. today, I want to talk about a very strange clone doll I found.A Greek clone of a Brazillian doll who in herself is kinda a sort of copy too. It's uh... it's complicated. let's dive into this

Monster High Nefera de Nile g3

 Well, it happened. Rarely does the UK get something earlier than the US but sometimes we get lucky. 

Nefera came into stock on amazon via a third party seller in Belfast of all places, and she was retail price so I figured "yeah, let's go for it." 

Amazon's own listing has an uncertain shipping date of "any time within the next 3 months" which I just can't with. I don't like uncertainty like that. ESPECIALLY as several times i've had Amazon forget about my preorders and not send stuff for weeks after they've gotten stock in regularly. 

anyway, 

she took about 4 days to get here but she's here safe and sound so let's take a look!

 

Adventures in restoration - giving tlc old dolls a new lease of life

 I've been trying to buy fewer dolls this year, mostly because i've got absolutely no space left at all. 

So my rule for this year was to sell more than I purchased, which is fine and dandy but the other thing I have been trying to do is stick to mostly buying secondhand dolls too. 

And ultimately I do find I get more enjoyment from dolls that need some tlc than I do from a perfect new doll. 

So today i'm going to share some of my recent (and not so recent) projects! Because why not? 

Holly Hobbie fashion packs from 2006

 Old dead stock fascinates me, where'd it come from? How did it end up here? What even IS it in the first place? 

And for the past year or so i've been seeing these Holly Hobbie fashion packs on Ebay and Vinted etc selling for very very little. 

So I got curious, because I mean, I wasn't even aware Holly Hobbie HAD been rebooted at some point. 

But let's start from the beginning shall we? 

Bundles galore, and trying to be good.

 I've been trying to buy fewer dolls this year but of course, that's always easier said than done when you're a doll collector. 

Still, I think i've been doing fairly well in that I haven't been buying much brand new at least. 

But bundles of tlc dolls are my weakness, and the joy I get from bringing wrecked dolls back to some degree of respectability is worth the money. 

So today i'm going to tell you about the last few bundles i've bought, what I kept, what I rehomed and all that jazz. 

 

New year, new dolls.

 So I was trying to be good for January, I was all "i'm going to try not to buy dolls this month and i'm going to try to sell more than I buy for the year ahead"

well the selling is going pretty decently... 

but the "don't buy any dolls" thing kinda flew out the window.... 

To be fair, I DID manage 20 days of no doll purchases which for me is quite a drought (I have a problem, I know this) 

But what made me break that streak? 

well let me show you.