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Dec. 29th, 2015 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyMattel, we have to talk. I just don't know how to quit you, but I do know how to scale way back on certain lines. Let's look at our current relationships, shall we?
Monster High: I like the fact that for however many years you've managed to balance both the darker themes (Freak du Chic) and the lighter, fluffier stuff (Dead Tired) and in general I dig your MH line. Given the fact that sales of MH have been fangtastic, I'd imagine I'm not alone in this.
However, with your video about the upcoming changes combined with the leaked images from the survey, I'm more than a little worried that we've hit the wall of Mattel meddling. I know doll lines have short shelf lives (RIP, MyScene) but I'd hoped that the juggernaut that was (is) MH would keep things churning out in a good way. I... don't know if I feel that way right now. We'll go into this later in a detailed post (headache, go away) but suffice it to say, the kiddification of the line is a weird road to take.
EAH: I don't really know if you knew what you wanted from this line, Mattel. It started off odd and just kept faltering. For every step forward, you seemed to take delight in jumping twenty back. For awhile you were lapping yourself in the failure department. Distribution is still a painful joke and the boxes don't stand out anymore, so when I ventured to Walmart yesterday, it wasn't until my third pass of the actual doll aisle that I even noticed where the EAH dolls were. That's not good, guys. But I do dig the Birthday Bash line (smells so yummy!) even if the price point is ridiculous (19.99? No.) and I want all the Dragon Game girls... So you continue to be a mixed bag.
AG: New stuff has cropped up in stores and I can't wait to see Lea's promo shots (we've seen a couple already) and I'm not known for my patience. If nothing else, the new year tends to renew my interest even in the face of incredible fan wank. The only things keeping me from dusting off the credit card to order Lea immediately? The fact that I shouldn't spend the money and I don't know how I feel about them switching to zip ties. If the backlash is loud enough, they'll go back to strings which'll make customization easier. Or, y'know, AG, you could stop with the hazel eyes for all so people wouldn't feel the need to try and swap out the eyes. I'm just saying.
And finally, DC Superhero Girls: Saw boxed promo pics. NEED ALL OF THEM NOW. You can keep the playset though because no space, no money. But the dolls and figures and the books? YES. NOW.
All in all, Mattel should basically just set up a doll a day kind of thing for me; it'd be cheaper in the long run. :P
Not Mattel related anymore: I ventured to Target yesterday and saw the new Hasbro Disney Princesses (Hasbro has the license now since Mattel lost it, possibly due to EAH and hubris) and... Hrmm. How to put this delicately.
Okay. I wasn't all that fond of the Mattel Disney Princesses, so my brain kind of forgets they were a thing because usually they were/are made of fug. This means that when I initially saw the dolls, my brain compared them to the Disney Store dolls which are, generally speaking, about 1000% cuter. (Scientifically speaking, naturally.) This isn't fair, however, since that's not the comparison to make.
Still.
I mean...
Guys. These heads are huge. And clearly I don't have a problem with large doll heads because my renewed love of dolls came about due to MyScene dolls who had huge heads and huge shoes (which made their feet look huge) and I dabbled more than a bit in the Bratz end of the pool, to say nothing of MH or, egads, EAH. But these heads are HUGE. And not necessarily pretty. Who did I see? Snow White, who I thought would be prettier when I saw pics online, but in person she's got this look of "ohno, why am I here?" and I remember that I hate her voice so meh. Umm... Cindy continues to look sadly vacant. I think I saw Rapunzel and she wasn't. Anna was pretty cute. I don't remember if I actually saw Merida or if she's just one I've seen online.
Online wise, Merida and Pocahontas are lovely. Merida's cute and Pocahontas is gorgeous, even if she looks like she's judging the shit out of you. Belle's bland and Jasmine kind of fell into uncanny valley somehow. Not sure how I feel about Mulan, yet. Ariel looks like she's about to start killing people, though, and I can't get a decent read on Sleeping Beauty.
Dolls are difficult, man.
Monster High: I like the fact that for however many years you've managed to balance both the darker themes (Freak du Chic) and the lighter, fluffier stuff (Dead Tired) and in general I dig your MH line. Given the fact that sales of MH have been fangtastic, I'd imagine I'm not alone in this.
However, with your video about the upcoming changes combined with the leaked images from the survey, I'm more than a little worried that we've hit the wall of Mattel meddling. I know doll lines have short shelf lives (RIP, MyScene) but I'd hoped that the juggernaut that was (is) MH would keep things churning out in a good way. I... don't know if I feel that way right now. We'll go into this later in a detailed post (headache, go away) but suffice it to say, the kiddification of the line is a weird road to take.
EAH: I don't really know if you knew what you wanted from this line, Mattel. It started off odd and just kept faltering. For every step forward, you seemed to take delight in jumping twenty back. For awhile you were lapping yourself in the failure department. Distribution is still a painful joke and the boxes don't stand out anymore, so when I ventured to Walmart yesterday, it wasn't until my third pass of the actual doll aisle that I even noticed where the EAH dolls were. That's not good, guys. But I do dig the Birthday Bash line (smells so yummy!) even if the price point is ridiculous (19.99? No.) and I want all the Dragon Game girls... So you continue to be a mixed bag.
AG: New stuff has cropped up in stores and I can't wait to see Lea's promo shots (we've seen a couple already) and I'm not known for my patience. If nothing else, the new year tends to renew my interest even in the face of incredible fan wank. The only things keeping me from dusting off the credit card to order Lea immediately? The fact that I shouldn't spend the money and I don't know how I feel about them switching to zip ties. If the backlash is loud enough, they'll go back to strings which'll make customization easier. Or, y'know, AG, you could stop with the hazel eyes for all so people wouldn't feel the need to try and swap out the eyes. I'm just saying.
And finally, DC Superhero Girls: Saw boxed promo pics. NEED ALL OF THEM NOW. You can keep the playset though because no space, no money. But the dolls and figures and the books? YES. NOW.
All in all, Mattel should basically just set up a doll a day kind of thing for me; it'd be cheaper in the long run. :P
Not Mattel related anymore: I ventured to Target yesterday and saw the new Hasbro Disney Princesses (Hasbro has the license now since Mattel lost it, possibly due to EAH and hubris) and... Hrmm. How to put this delicately.
Okay. I wasn't all that fond of the Mattel Disney Princesses, so my brain kind of forgets they were a thing because usually they were/are made of fug. This means that when I initially saw the dolls, my brain compared them to the Disney Store dolls which are, generally speaking, about 1000% cuter. (Scientifically speaking, naturally.) This isn't fair, however, since that's not the comparison to make.
Still.
I mean...
Guys. These heads are huge. And clearly I don't have a problem with large doll heads because my renewed love of dolls came about due to MyScene dolls who had huge heads and huge shoes (which made their feet look huge) and I dabbled more than a bit in the Bratz end of the pool, to say nothing of MH or, egads, EAH. But these heads are HUGE. And not necessarily pretty. Who did I see? Snow White, who I thought would be prettier when I saw pics online, but in person she's got this look of "ohno, why am I here?" and I remember that I hate her voice so meh. Umm... Cindy continues to look sadly vacant. I think I saw Rapunzel and she wasn't. Anna was pretty cute. I don't remember if I actually saw Merida or if she's just one I've seen online.
Online wise, Merida and Pocahontas are lovely. Merida's cute and Pocahontas is gorgeous, even if she looks like she's judging the shit out of you. Belle's bland and Jasmine kind of fell into uncanny valley somehow. Not sure how I feel about Mulan, yet. Ariel looks like she's about to start killing people, though, and I can't get a decent read on Sleeping Beauty.
Dolls are difficult, man.
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(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-29 08:37 pm (UTC)EAH, I'm slightly hopeful for? I do like the face upgrades, so they don't all have the same pumpkin-head anymore. I like the panted Dragon games line, but isn't that sad that it sticks out so much JUST because they have pants and look badass? Why can't we have more lines in both this and EAH? Even the box says Princess kicking butt or something, but the ones I see around are them in frilly dresses with oven mitts. I can't even distinguish half the lines or characters when I see them on the shelves. So, I guess we'll see.
Haha, as usual, I seem to be in the minority with AG in that I really like Lea's collection, but am lukewarm on the doll. Though, if they are going to continue with the $30+ price point on the island wear, then yeah, I'm not sure that's going to be worth it. I highly doubt they'll compensate with accessories or anything. So, I'll probably be waiting for her stuff to go on sale. Doll, too, unless the RL pictures really wow me in the next few days.
I'll have to check out the princess dolls when I can leave the house again. I pretty much just glaze over that aisle since it's never anything I'm interested in. Even my love of Merida can't overcome those awful doll designs.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-30 12:17 am (UTC)If it were just the new faces, I'd be so fine with this. I'm not 100% sold on nu!Cleo but I lived through the smiley MS line and their march towards sameness once the Bling faces took over, so this would at least be something closer to being character correct for some. But the take over of the Budget lines (which is another rant but so far I've seen exactly ONE line I'd consider budget priced) which is how I'm thinking of the non-articulated arms and the mini dresses and... preaching to the choir. Sigh.
How anyone can look at all that and not start to shiver just a bit is beyond me. Maybe it's the fact that we did just get Monster Exchange 2 and GSR and they're both pretty darn awesome, especially when you compare them to 2016's stuff, but there's nothing in the immediate pipeline that's going to offset Mattel asking for $30 for a Budget Frankie playset.
I don't speak of molded bodices, I merely hiss and spit at the thought. Tights are slightly less offensive, but not really.
EAH wise, clearly someone on the MH team got traded to the EAH side because they've got some interesting stuff coming out. Epic Winter might not be a complete success for me so far, but at least some effort was made. I'm really wanting to see the smiles in action and sweet flip, it's a good thing Dragon Games hasn't landed here yet or I'd be starving because even with molded tights, that line is awesome.
I might've snorted at the Princesses Are Powerful thing because of the timing like you said.
Clearly between the two of us we've got Lea covered. I'll take the doll, you can take the collection, and we'll probably agree on some of the stuff in the middle. I wonder how soon we'll get sales. :P I shouldn't wonder it, but you know full well they've trained too many people to wait and sales are going to reflect that... which will cause sales. So itchy on wanting to see real pics. Or promos. Anything at this point, AG.
I only remembered to look for the princesses because they were on a display with EAH. Which I might've snorted at because of that article running around.