Monday, May 21, 2012

Me, Ivy, and Monster High... a history

So here is a little story about me, Ivy, and Monster High.

When Monster High first came out - I was not a fan at all. I felt it was a horribly gimmicky doll line that pandered a lot to the "being freaky is cool!" punky-emo zeitgeist. Most of all I despised the fact that they couldn't share clothes with dolls I am REALLY interested in - like Barbie and Fashion Royalty. I didn't know anything about the show, only about the dolls. I guess you can say I didn't "get" Monster High - at all.

One day I was watching random YouTube videos and "Why Do Ghouls Fall In Love" popped up as a suggested video. I said "They did a computer animation movie?" I was originally drawn to it because I felt like Valentine looked a lot like Locke (who you saw in a previous post).

So I hit the play button and walked away from it, to refill my coffee cup. I came back into the room and there was Ivy, clutching tightly to her baby doll, staring wide-eyed at the screen. She absolutely loved it. So in the mornings I started to play her some of the Monster High animated shorts. She loved them too. Not only did she thought they were cute, but I THOUGHT THEY WERE CUTE TOO. I liked the characters. I liked their personalities and their bizarre quirky plot lines.

That's when I got it. It's not about the dolls - it's about the CHARACTERS. And.. I liked the characters and the setting! So I should like the dolls too right? I was still not thoroughly convinced.

We went to the Toys R Us scavenging for Barbie stuff and she immediately nabbed a Monster High doll off the shelf and then went for a Spectra plushie. She was okay with me putting back the doll, but when I put back the Spectra plushie she cried for the first time in a toy store. (She still hasn't gotten her - I am kind of hoping to find them on sale when it's not a week before payday).

That's when I started thinking... you know... It would be really special for Ivy to have a custom of herself. And it's so much more fun to do a custom monster of herself that we can get creative with. Her name is Ivy, so that already lends itself to a kind of plant monster.

And then it was... "Well she has to have friends." Then it was, "Well she'll want to interact with the official characters."

So for now, I'm rationalizing getting some for Ivy's future use. She has a trinket shelf for them to sit on in her room.

So my first Monster High purchase was the Create-A-Monster Kitty/Witch set. I like this idea of giving kids the option to create their own Monsters to attend Monster High. The Witch will be what is turned into Ivy - she will get a root-job, a repaint, and possibly some epoxying done to give her some nice ivy-vine relief on her skin.

The pink Kitty will be getting a new face and needs some decisions made for her hair. Right now she's wearing a Liv wig.

I am really disappointed with the cat ears. They are on clips, I am going to engineering a solution with headpins, heat, and super glue. I'll let you guys know what how it looks, first I have to decide what kind of hair I want to give her. Suggestions?










Kitty shoes!! Squeeeee!!

8 comments:

Sergio said...

Hi Tabitha
I love them!! For the cat I'd suggest a wild hayrstyle, like a messy curly waves in shocking colours, yellow, pink, green, violet and blue. I am a MH addicted!! I have 7 MH dolls actually and I'm saving for a playset :)

Heather said...

LOL, I think I had exactly the opposite reaction to MH dolls from you.

I saw them and thought, "Oh wow, I can't believe Mattel is making these... it's SO outside of their comfort zone!"

Then there are the sculpts... I've been so very, very impressed with the fact that every girl and boy has a unique face... with pretty darn good attention to detail. Frankie has a square head and hairline (this totally made my day), Lagoona has fin ears, bulging fishy eyes and puckered lips, Cleo and her sister have angular faces reminiscent of the old Egyptian hieroglyphs, Torelei has a little line on her nose making it even more kitty shaped.

THEN there are the outfits and accessories. Monster themed slushies and snacks and shoes with monster eyes and outfits that are just so adorable I can't bear it... (Frankie's original outfit I still love the most). I was impressed by Mattel's efforts.

And finally there was the packaging. It's beautiful. It's amazing. Someone hit the nail on the head and made beautiful boxes for these girls, which I think went a long way in their appeal. Their packaging is just beautiful.

LOL... yeah, I loved MH the minute I saw them XD

I love the two you got, I haven't seen these girls yet. How'd you manage to get two bodies for them though?! 0_0

I like Sergio's idea for wild and crazy hair. Or you could even make her hair into a ponytail that is cat-tail like, or cat-o-nine tail-esque, with the hair pulled back, and nine braids that end in beads or something.

Liz said...

This is one of the new CAM which now comes with two torsos....guess they did listen to peoples complains the first time around, I was kinda disappointed i couldnt have a matching torso with some of the CAMs. I am so excited about those kitty shoes XD

I love the little witch pinch hand too!

Verona said...

Their Adorable! It' all about the character! :)

Unknown said...

Hello from Spain: at first I also hated the Monster High but in the end I bought Draculaura and the Nile and today I really like. Dolls are very original and different.The shoes they are wearing i like them very much. This Saturday I'm going to buy the toilet of the Monsters in yellow. It is also veryoriginal.Keep in touch.

Georgia Girl said...

I have loved the MH dolls from the beginning. I fell in love with their shoes. They all have killer shoes! The kitty shoes are too cute!

Heather said...

Oooh, thanks Liz... I didn't realize they'd fixed that issue!! Awesome!

Buffy said...

LOL I love your story - a new dolly addiction in progress. ;) (Hugs to Ivy).

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