MH Chatter #3: Ghoulia

[impy]

Ghoulia! Remember when Ghoulia was a fandom favorite and then Mattel got weird and threw her in everywhere and still it was okay until Skull Shores where they basically just left her sitting there for the next four hundred years?

Good times.

Anyway, Ghoulia is a hard one for me to rate properly because I love the character (a lot) and yet I don't feel the dolls tended to capture the sweetness she had going on most of the time. It's why I'm really hoping we don't have to wait too long for a new Ghoulia.



My Favorites:

Dead Tired is, hands down, my favorite Ghoulia that I own. She's sweeter looking than sig Ghoulia, but she's still got a little bite.
DotD: I'm not as sold on the doll herself, but her outfit, those shoes, the look in general? Thumbs up. Way up.
Scaris. Who knew she'd be the last one we got for awhile? I wish I'd snagged a second one because while the promos do nothing major for me, in reality she's lovely.
Sweet Screams. She's just so fangtastically over the top and gorgeous and the fact that I won her makes her a thousand times more awesome and did I mention I love her? Seriously. Huge eyed Ghoulia is love.
Fearleading: She's so cute. I don't really have too much to say about her other than she's cute. I can even overlook the pink and red in the same outfit.
Scooter Ghoulia is different and I appreciate it, even if I don't think her lipstick matches the rest of her look (eyes or outfit). I love that Sir Hoots A Lot comes with a helmet and that probably helps elevate this doll's status.



Honorable Mentions:

Gloom Beach. On the one hand, more Ghoulia! At the time this was cause for celebration. But it also meant I had to get a third round of Cleo, Draculaura, and Clawdeen, and I... kinda didn't want them. But GB Frankie was love enough that I didn't mind. Why, when they re-released GB, didn't they re-release Ghoulia? Geez.
SDCC: GB is clearly her cousin and I dig the silver lips. I love the geekiness and she's pretty perfect for SDCC. That said, I don't treat her like a normal Ghoulia because she was more than a bit pricey.
Phys Dead is love. I dig the lockers, I love the second outfit, the glasses, the way she's portrayed as this amazing athlete when she can use her brain to work the game. I just... don't do much with her because I don't want to mess up the hair. (I LOVE the hairstyle.)
Sig. Look. I called (fine, I had Mums call) Target and I reserved her and then ran in and bought her as soon as news broke that she was a thing that was happening. I bought a second one when rumours hit about different hair types. I debated buying a third. I think I actually did buy a third, now that I think about it. So clearly the love is there. With that being said, Sig Ghoulia looks like she will cut a bitch. She will cut a bitch and not feel bad about it. This is not a look I expect from Ghoulia unless Cleo (or some other antagonist) has pushed her too far, y'know?
Roller Maze: Ref Ghoulia, I think you're swell. Ghoulia is one of the few who pulls off the random green hair for the line and she's just fun.


The Meh:

GNO: Meh? I don't particularly love or hate the outfit or the hair or... anything, really. She's there, it's not awful. You do you, Ghoulia.
Love's Not Dead: Soooooooo... Ghoulia was shown up by her manster. That pretty much never happens for me. I'm not a beehive kinda gal, but I haven't had her long and she's still in her box so this is always subject to change.



Just... No:

DDG. I'll be the first to admit that Ghoulia and I don't always agree on style, but just about everything about this is a decided no for me. The super curly hair that reminds me of that Golden Girls clipshow ep where everyone gets Sophia hair and it works for no one. The weird bracelet/arm thing that doesn't really go with anything, the odd mix of patterns... basically I like bits of this but the whole look just makes my brain say no. Vehemently.
Skull Shores. I know, I know, this one isn't fair at all. But she wasn't my favorite Ghoulia before she shelf sat for half of forever and she sure as hell wasn't after that either.


One Day, Maybe:

Freaky Fusion: You know those dolls you keep meaning to buy but don't because someone else is either new and you want the new shiny, or someone else is like, $7 and how the hell do you say no to that? That's FF Ghoulia.
And Mad Science Ghoulia, which I keep meaning to snag but wtf, Walmart, you don't get to ask for more than you ever charged now that the box is torn to shreds and there's a clearance sticker. What the hell?
Geek Shriek has basically only shown up on Amazon and then she went out of stock and never friggin' came back. WTF, Mattel. WTF. :/


Overall, I think my feelings towards Ghoulia tend to be more extreme than they are towards a lot of the others. If I love her, I LOVE her, but if I don't, I kind of recoil in horror. (Sorry, DDG!) Part of this probably has a bit to do with the fact that she's clearly a big fan of red and I'm not the world's biggest fan of her shade of blue and red. It's also a thing with Frankie, but that's neither here nor there.

Comments

[snarky-imp.livejournal.com]

Much as I loved Stormer, never got her as a kid, which caused many a sigh over the years. Still, usually I see fluffy blue curls of any shade of blue and think of her. I'm blaming the outfit.

Oh. My. Glob. How did I never realize (or remember, if I did realize?) that the streams crossed so early in childhood? His work was always gorgeous. Time to fall down the rabbit hole... (For which I thank you.)

[tanz-fanatika.livejournal.com]

I can relate! I never had Jetta as a kid. I was going to get either her or Synergy and then ended up with Ba Nee, because the Starlight Girls had just come out and I loved Ba Nee and her purple jelly shoes just like I had. I regretted not getting Jetta though and I think she was my first official purchase as an Adult Collector. Her or Roxy. I can't recall. I would have wanted Jetta more, but possibly stumbled on a deal for Roxy and picked her instead. Anyway. Aja was my childhood first, then I got Pizzazz. I chose her over Stormer, because she had panties and dolls with underwear were for some reason very important to young me. Then I regretted it and was given Stormer for Christmas. I got the original Jem/Jerrica as a gift somewhere in there, too. I think she was 4th. Then Ba Nee was my last. I wanted Roxy and Jetta, but I think I went for lower-priced items when I was given a choice, because even then I knew the Jem line was more expensive than a new She-Ra or something.

Oh, gods, I love me some Tierney. I had two or three of the Jem books in my childhood collection and I bought them all up quickly once I started collecting as an adult. I had no idea he'd also done two Rockers books! I had the sticker album, which I obsessed over. I played with the little pop-up stage and its reusable vinyl characters all the time. Now I want to add some Tierney icons to my rotation...

[snarky-imp.livejournal.com]

I remember going into Children's Palace one day, specifically for Stormer. I walked out with Roxy even though Stormer was RIGHT THERE. Roxy kept falling into the cart, literally falling off the shelf, and I took it as a ~sign~. I don't remember who I got first, in general, though. Maybe Kimber? I never got Aja, though I wanted her. I think she was just harder to find around here, maybe? It's also entirely possible that my parents took one look at the Jem prices and encouraged my She-Ra army instead. Which, now that I think about it, is probably true. I'm pretty sure I got my She-Ras in pairs and my Jem stuff was strictly holiday/birthday, not counting Roxy.

I don't think I ever really saw the Starlight Girls in person, or if I did it was just in store. And I know I never saw Jetta. I do remember being super envious of the girls I knew who had Synergy, though. Much want. Sadly, almost all of my Jems wound up at the mercy of 'friends' who were very into the hair cutting thing.
I did snag the Stormer that came out a few years ago because, duh.

Oooh, icons!