Meet Melody
Feb. 23rd, 2016 09:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyIt's now been exactly one week since the ick took up residence in me and I'm tired of it. I thought I was mostly over it other than the portion of a cold where you then hack up a lung for awhile but this morning I woke up and felt worse than I have in days. I hope it's simply that spring has decided why wait for March and appeared extra early. (Note to Spring: go home and send Winter back. Now.)
So with that said, my brains are a little more addled than usual and it's not simply because of the oooh, shiny factor.
If you were curious about the Mega Bloks AG sets, TRU Canada has them up already. Maybe not all of them, but I dunno. The mini figures aren't blind bag but since the MH ghouls weren't blind bag, I never really expected the Truly Me minis to be sold that way either. In case you wondered, as of me typing this, Grace, McKenna, Nicki, Saige, and Isabelle all have sets, with Grace having two.
If someone doesn't set up a MH/AG crossover very, very soon (I'm counting on you, Canadians!) I will be most disappointed in fandom. I just will.
Melody debuts on television. That link will take you to the gallery and this one should give you the video.
If you want to watch the video, that's perfectly fine. I'll wait. When you're done, we'll look at the gallery pics because I find it's best to just throw it all in the same place at once:
Meet Melody. Somewhere you can hear Maryellen scream in pain that Melody's getting socks while she's stuck in blisterland. :P That aside, my first thought when seeing Melody yesterday was that the person who threw one of the TM wigs on a #47 nailed it. Which means that seeing Melody was kind of a let down because she looks pretty much identical to what that person threw together a month ago. AG, your character dolls should seem... bigger, somehow. More impressive. That said, it's not their fault that I sort of spoiled this one for myself, I guess.
Melody's recording studio. I'm torn on this playset. On the one hand, I actually really like it when AG does something freakishly unexpected (y'know, along the lines of Saige's hot air balloon. No one saw that coming and ever since then, things have been kind of random) because it leads to ingenious, if expensive, ideas. On the other hand, I trip over the price tag.
On the flipside, we have sets like this which you know are going to be expensive, but look (as they should because of what they are) like a kid did them. So points for realism mean you twitch at the thought of spending the money AG will ask. :P
Outfit wise, I kinda hate it. I like the shorts, but I'm guessing I'm just not a 60's kinda gal. It's okay, I suppose. The shorts and hairbows are cute as heck though.
I dig your pajamas, Mel. Your dog's okay, too. The bedding makes my eyes weep but again, it's not because I think it's badly done. I just don't like the style. I suspect that Mel and Jules will be getting basically the same thing from me for any release. "Wow, the fug, it burns." Only Melody will have nine thousand people who adore it whereas Julie is kinda hosed.
I really like the blue dress in the middle and the dress on the far right.
Prototypes! Sorta? Seriously, girl on the left, you're just #46 in a super cute outfit. (Which I would buy, especially since Julie's nifty boots have gone away.) I like the braids on the girl on the far right, too.
This pretty much confirms they never considered using Addy's mold, which is making me a little sad. If Cecile had never existed, I could see immediately going with Sonali's mold, but I'd imagine Mel's been in production for awhile (though she was probably sped up when AG started getting an appropriate amount of shit for their lack of diversity) so ideally they were looking at having Cece and Mel out with Addy likely gone. Woe.
Melody's world, essentially.
Behind the scenes at her debut catalog shoot.
I think Lilly's site has a closeup from the video showing that Melody's hair is textured, so that's a plus.
In general, I am decidedly underwhelmed. I don't know if I had any real hopes for Melody, so it's kind of weird to feel like I'm let down. Mostly, I think it's because she simply looks like one of the not!Sonali dolls playing dress-up and it has yet to gel as an actual new doll for me. I'm hoping that will change by the time she's released (June, I think) because I'd like a new shiny. But let's be honest here. My love of the Sonali mold and my wanting a doll with actual textured hair will probably bring Melody here anyway. I just... don't really feel wowed by her stuff.
I'm happy for those that are. I know my friend Jess seems pretty enthusiastic about her. Cass is decidedly less thrilled, but that was just looking, quickly, at things on her phone.
HuffPo did this, with new pics. That I'm swiping because yes.
Someone fucked up the color on this one. Also, AG? This is the least flattering picture I've seen and that includes some unfortunate screen caps. You kinda suck at your job of selling dolls with good photographs. :P
That said, I really like this one, and I've been fence sitting on this dress. Well played, AG.
So with that said, my brains are a little more addled than usual and it's not simply because of the oooh, shiny factor.
If you were curious about the Mega Bloks AG sets, TRU Canada has them up already. Maybe not all of them, but I dunno. The mini figures aren't blind bag but since the MH ghouls weren't blind bag, I never really expected the Truly Me minis to be sold that way either. In case you wondered, as of me typing this, Grace, McKenna, Nicki, Saige, and Isabelle all have sets, with Grace having two.
If someone doesn't set up a MH/AG crossover very, very soon (I'm counting on you, Canadians!) I will be most disappointed in fandom. I just will.
Melody debuts on television. That link will take you to the gallery and this one should give you the video.
If you want to watch the video, that's perfectly fine. I'll wait. When you're done, we'll look at the gallery pics because I find it's best to just throw it all in the same place at once:
Meet Melody. Somewhere you can hear Maryellen scream in pain that Melody's getting socks while she's stuck in blisterland. :P That aside, my first thought when seeing Melody yesterday was that the person who threw one of the TM wigs on a #47 nailed it. Which means that seeing Melody was kind of a let down because she looks pretty much identical to what that person threw together a month ago. AG, your character dolls should seem... bigger, somehow. More impressive. That said, it's not their fault that I sort of spoiled this one for myself, I guess.
Melody's recording studio. I'm torn on this playset. On the one hand, I actually really like it when AG does something freakishly unexpected (y'know, along the lines of Saige's hot air balloon. No one saw that coming and ever since then, things have been kind of random) because it leads to ingenious, if expensive, ideas. On the other hand, I trip over the price tag.
On the flipside, we have sets like this which you know are going to be expensive, but look (as they should because of what they are) like a kid did them. So points for realism mean you twitch at the thought of spending the money AG will ask. :P
Outfit wise, I kinda hate it. I like the shorts, but I'm guessing I'm just not a 60's kinda gal. It's okay, I suppose. The shorts and hairbows are cute as heck though.
I dig your pajamas, Mel. Your dog's okay, too. The bedding makes my eyes weep but again, it's not because I think it's badly done. I just don't like the style. I suspect that Mel and Jules will be getting basically the same thing from me for any release. "Wow, the fug, it burns." Only Melody will have nine thousand people who adore it whereas Julie is kinda hosed.
I really like the blue dress in the middle and the dress on the far right.
Prototypes! Sorta? Seriously, girl on the left, you're just #46 in a super cute outfit. (Which I would buy, especially since Julie's nifty boots have gone away.) I like the braids on the girl on the far right, too.
This pretty much confirms they never considered using Addy's mold, which is making me a little sad. If Cecile had never existed, I could see immediately going with Sonali's mold, but I'd imagine Mel's been in production for awhile (though she was probably sped up when AG started getting an appropriate amount of shit for their lack of diversity) so ideally they were looking at having Cece and Mel out with Addy likely gone. Woe.
Melody's world, essentially.
Behind the scenes at her debut catalog shoot.
I think Lilly's site has a closeup from the video showing that Melody's hair is textured, so that's a plus.
In general, I am decidedly underwhelmed. I don't know if I had any real hopes for Melody, so it's kind of weird to feel like I'm let down. Mostly, I think it's because she simply looks like one of the not!Sonali dolls playing dress-up and it has yet to gel as an actual new doll for me. I'm hoping that will change by the time she's released (June, I think) because I'd like a new shiny. But let's be honest here. My love of the Sonali mold and my wanting a doll with actual textured hair will probably bring Melody here anyway. I just... don't really feel wowed by her stuff.
I'm happy for those that are. I know my friend Jess seems pretty enthusiastic about her. Cass is decidedly less thrilled, but that was just looking, quickly, at things on her phone.
HuffPo did this, with new pics. That I'm swiping because yes.
Someone fucked up the color on this one. Also, AG? This is the least flattering picture I've seen and that includes some unfortunate screen caps. You kinda suck at your job of selling dolls with good photographs. :P
That said, I really like this one, and I've been fence sitting on this dress. Well played, AG.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-23 04:24 pm (UTC)Oh good i was afraid it was just me. I saw the ail and was like whoa, new reveal! Then saw pics and just felt really meh. She does just look like a TM anybody. The dress feels toi basic and i think the lack of a signature hairstyle is hurting her cause quite a bit. Im guessing theyre going more with the wigs and hairpiece add ons now? That one where she looks like a pointer sister yes? But it really makes her base doll look sadly bland.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-24 03:35 pm (UTC)She needs something to make her pop! on her own and I'm just not seeing it yet, which is sad since apparently AG is using her to test the waters on how well a black GOTY would sell. Way to cross the streams, AG.
Also, I cannot believe how many people prefer that Meet outfit promo to all the others. These are the same people who normally wail over promos being super sucky, but this one, this one is the promo picture of gloriousness? Seriously?
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-23 06:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-24 03:31 pm (UTC)Sadness for the lack of Sonali mold, but I get that she and MG both pretty much are either very hit or very miss. It probably helps that I think Sonali looks like a few people I know and like. That said, I'm super hopeful that the bangs aren't as short as that promo picture says. The rest of the dolls look like they have longer bangs so I'm hopeful.
Agreed on the art disconnect. Sometimes it works in their favor because the artist chooses some... questionable looks but overall, it's not good that you can look at most any of the dolls and find a closer match to the book character than the doll meant to be that character. (I am looking dead at you, Ruthie and Julie.)
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-25 02:37 am (UTC)I love the idea of Motown but you know how I feel about appropriating the Birmingham bombings, so I will definitely keep to myself for the most part on this.
It would be a real shame if they archive Addy just because they've got a new black historical doll. But I wouldn't put it past them, given their track record.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-25 06:47 pm (UTC)I do want her second book and the wait for that might kill me.