This one gets to stay in the box, because the comic book style packaging is too cool! I have all the Power Ghouls and had intended to keep them all in their boxes, but prior to moving four years ago, in an effort to save space, I deboxed them. I have regretted that decision. The figures look really fun in their packages. Once unboxed, they're kind of just another doll. This one I picked up somewhere since moving.

From time to time I have considered tracking down boxed examples of the others, but then I begin to wonder what I would do with more boxed dolls. Would I set them on shelves for display? Would I pack them away in boxes, and just take them out to look at them once in a while? Would I begin to resent them as simply adding to the clutter?

Some years ago I knew a guy who collected action figures, mostly Star Wars, and had a goodly sized collection of mint-on-card examples, which he kept out on display. Then, at some point, he suddenly asked himself, "do I really want my house to look like the toy aisle at K-Mart?" He ended up dramatically downsizing, selling what he could, and donating or dumping the rest, keeping only a few favorite pieces.

The clutter issue can be addressed in a number of ways. One of those approaches is to look at what we want to do with our toys, dolls, and figures. Are they decorative items? Collectibles? Do we enjoy the hunt, working toward the completion of some kind of set or collection? Or do we want to play with them by dressing them, modding them, or photographing them?

Anyway, the Power Ghouls, to me, are more fun boxed than unboxed. (Same was true with the Bratz Action Heroez, all of which I also unboxed and now wish I had not.)

When the Monster High Stories figures were released, I was very surprised that a major toy manufacturer like Mattel would prominently feature the word "dead" on the packaging of a mainstream playline doll. Monster High in its prime really pushed the boundaries of acceptability, which, contradictory though it may be, is both what made the line popular and what, I suspect, ultimately led to its demise.

This is another figure that will remain in the package, tempted though I have been to open it, simply because... dead!

I wonder if I could find a de-boxed one cheap on the ol' eBay?

In unrelated news: just how the heck old am I, anyway? How is it that with just a glance at today's Google Doodle I thought, "Oh, look at that! Will Rogers!" I mean, the guy has been dead since 1935!

This box will eventually be opened. The packaging is not particularly clever or attractive (not enough morbid puns), and I purchased this with the intent of opening it, but then never got around to it. There was something in this set I particularly wanted, but now I don't remember what it was. Ghoulia's "periodic table" dress is clever, and these are cute versions of both characters.