davidd’s A DOLL A DAY 2021

[Alliecat]

She has a very longing ex-pression. Like she really, really wants out of that box. Poor girl.
I’m seeing some sort of girl band for the twins.

[align=left]Took me a long time, back when I first got in to this stuff, to figure out what NRFB meant. Nerf Ball? I finally had to look it up. NRFB, MIB, MIUOP...

Mine was OOAK. "Out of a kit"? They assembled a kit project and are selling the completed thing...?

[Loona]

Oh, there she is, in the exact same adorable form in which she persuaded me into what became dozens of Monster High (and then other) dolls flooding my apartment years later. Prior to stumbling upon her in a store, I was not interested in Monster High. I liked the concept of the line, but I wasn't interested in buying one, let alone collecting them. I wasn't even a doll collector, nor did I plan to be (I probably had a handful of dolls max, for various reasons). And then she came, and I fell madly in love. First just with her, then with the whole line - then with other doll lines, up to the point where I was no longer able to call myself someone who is "interested in some dolls, but is not collecting them". She changed many things, on many levels. I can't blame her. She is wonderful, she is adorable. There just isn't anything not to love about her (she is a gargoyle! A creature from a gothic piece of architecture! Made of stone! With a gothic window skirt! And a mostly monochrome and perfectly colour-coordinated outfit. To me, she is the ultimate Monster High doll), and I'd do it all over again, and again, for her, just like that.

(all written while looking straight into the eyes of my Signature Rochelle, who has a special spot in the room, never out of sight. Writing this has literally got me all emotional and teary-eyed. Yes, I am in love, and always will be )

[davidd]

Mine was OOAK.  "Out of a kit"?  They assembled a kit project and are selling the completed thing...?

Whenever I see that acronym I think: The Curse of OOAK Island! 

Oh, there she is, in the exact same adorable form in which she persuaded me into what became dozens of Monster High (and then other) dolls ....

For me it was Lagoona Blue, and that's exactly how it happened! Prior to Monster High, I was content with a few Pinky Street figures.

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March of the Monsters continues....

10 March 2021 – Oh My God! Dark Queen

High Quality

Fashion Doll

Lovely Girl

For a time in the early 2010s, the Monster High line from Mattel was so popular that the market was flooded with counterfeits and knock-offs, like this "lovely girl."

I freely admit to absolutely loving the vampire-werewolf hybrid variation on the Monster High skullette logo.

[Elfy]

I can easily see an unsuspecting parent being fooled by this one.

[Lejays17]

I was looking through a cardboard box labeled... scrawled, more like... "boxed dolls" and found this. Forgot I had an unopened Rochelle. I might pop her on to eBay at a high price just to see if there are any takers.

My favourite of all the Monsters! So much so that of the 6 MH dolls I have, 3 are Rochelle. And one of the minis of her is my companion when I go to training sessions.

I do look sometimes on ebay to get the ones I don't own - I do want to get the Circus playset even tho that's not my favourite version of her.

[Lejays17]

She's really rather cute for a knock-off.

[davidd]

I do want to get the Circus playset even tho that's not my favourite version of her.

I purchased Circus Rochelle last year, influenced by a Doll A Day post by neon_jellyfish.

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March of the Monsters continues:

11 March – Monster High Gloom Beach Frankie Stein

When Gloom Beach Frankie was released, coupons were available in some places allowing them to be purchased for $5 (USD) apiece... if you could find them! The Gloom Beach line had not arrived where I was living at the time, but an online friend was kind enough to purchase a few and send them to me. As I recall, with postage and what-not, they ended up costing me $11 apiece. Today, mint-in-box examples barely bring that much on eBay after fees and shipping.

[Alliecat]

Sounds like you have quite a bunch of dollies trapped in boxes... better be careful about letting them all out at once

[Loona]

For me it was Lagoona Blue, and that's exactly how it happened! Prior to Monster High, I was content with a few Pinky Street figures.

Lagoona turned out to be a surprise favourite of mine. I never really paid attention to her, but once I had her, I really came to like her. I have an embarrassing amount of dolls of her (I like several versions of her, but at one point I was also planning to create several custom versions of her, so I bought several candidates also for this) that I'm trying to downsize somewhat.

You know who to show, don't you? This exact Frankie was the second Monster High doll I fell in love with and decided to get after the aforementioned Rochelle. Being greyscale, she materialises another big love of mine. She's displayed right there next to Rochelle (but, unlike Rochelle, she's redressed. Her stock is fun, but it isn't the regular everyday look I like my dolls to lounge around in). And since the circus playset was also mentioned: that's exactly what I use as the display piece for Sig Rochelle and SS Frankie (and 2 more dolls).
I remember reading about that coupon sale online, and I also remember I wished such sales existed also here. Here she was sold for around $20, and never really went below $15, so it took me some time to get her (back then I was a student with a student loan in a rented apartment, so I had to save up - even for ~$15, which is approx. what I got her for in the end). Later on, she became easier to find second-hand, and, just like with Lagoona, I bought a number of her for customs. Not as many as the Lagoonas, though, and I have no intention of reselling these - the custom ideas for these dolls still remain on the "active" custom ideas list.

ETA: the fakie reminded me of all the good times I've spent on the Monster High Arena forums, which just got closed down yesterday. The last topic I was scrolling through, literally as it was going away, was a general one collecting pictures and information about the various fakies the line inspired over the years. Reading through the thread filled me with massive nostalgy for both the golden years of MH, and for the good times we had on the site - suddenly getting a 404 error upon trying to move to the next page has literally made me shed a tear. But at least I've seen it go while giggling at the hilarious pictures people have collected, and the related conversations - that's how I'll try to remember the site, and I'll miss both its contents and its friendly community dearly.

[Elfy]

Is that a sepia Frankie? That kind of harks back to the character’s cinematic roots.

[davidd]

ETA: the fakie reminded me of all the good times I've spent on the Monster High Arena forums, which just got closed down yesterday. 

Several ideas I would like to address in your post, but I'm pressed for time, so... tomorrow!
Sad about the Monster High Arena forum. neon_jellyfish told me recently that the forum was going to close. Do you... did you... know her on that forum?
You really went down with the ship, there, being online when that "404" occurred. I was one of the last active members on the Pinky-Street forum, but I wasn't actually online when it went offline. It was there one day, gone the next, with no warning.

Is that a sepia Frankie? That kind of harks back to the character’s cinematic roots.

That was the idea, I think. The first monochrome Frankie was a Comic Con exclusive... and in my opinion is the single best Monster High release of all (but I don't have one). Mattel revisited the black & white movie concept with this Skull Shores release.

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March of the Monsters continues:

12 March 2021 – "Dolly-WOW! The music scene in the early 1960s must

have been so happening!"

Clawdia Wolf visits the Cavern Club... or a museum replica there-of.

Here's a link if you want to know more about the phrase Dolly-WOW! - https://reprobatepress.com/2019/02/06/do...lly-beats/

[Lejays17]

That’s very sad about the MH forum closing down - I hadn’t been there for a while, as the topics that were discussed weren’t interesting to me, and there’s only so many time i can read about “it sucks they cancelled / rebooted” before I’m bored & wandered off to another part of the internet (like here).

I knew both neon-jellyfish AND Loona from there - neon was about the only person who consistently commented on my Doll-a-Day thread that began this whole madness and I recognised the Skele-puppies when Loona first posted with the Flickr link.
(I had a different “name” on the Arena, I was Scarlett).

**

Clawdia was my favourite of the werewolf releases, I adored the bright red & yellow colour scheme.

[davidd]

Lagoona turned out to be a surprise favourite of mine. I never really paid attention to her, but once I had her, I really came to like her. I have an embarrassing amount of dolls of her ... that I'm trying to downsize somewhat.

This exact Frankie was the second Monster High doll I fell in love with and decided to get after the aforementioned Rochelle. Being greyscale, she materialises another big love of mine. ... And since the circus playset was also mentioned: that's exactly what I use as the display piece for Sig Rochelle and SS Frankie (and 2 more dolls).

Later on, she [Skull Shores greyscale Frankie] became easier to find second-hand, and, just like with Lagoona, I bought a number of her for customs.

ETA: the fakie reminded me of all the good times I've spent on the Monster High Arena forums, which just got closed down yesterday. ... But at least I've seen it go while giggling at the hilarious pictures people have collected, and the related conversations - that's how I'll try to remember the site, and I'll miss both its contents and its friendly community dearly.

Lagoona was the one Monster High figure I knew I wanted to have. At the beginning, I only planned to get two, with Lagoona as the first, then Draculaura. Of course, I quickly decided I should have the original four "classics," and I went back to get Frankie and Clawdeen. At the beginning I was not intending to purchase Cleo as she was only available in a more eggspensive two-pack with Deuce. Yeah, well, obviously that intention did not last long... you understand how it goes! It's nearly impossible to stop at just one... or two... or a dozen!


Greyscale Skull Shores Frankie, for me, is "settling for second best." At one point I owned three or four of the Comic Con greyscale Frankie, who remains, to me, the ultimate in Monster High awesomeness. Can you believe they were "clearance priced" for $40 USD through an online clothing website? I found the SDCC figs too nice to open, as the appearance of the packaging was a big part of the total appeal. Within a couple of years the secondary market price had reached the several hundred dollar range. Then I really couldn't bring myself to open them, because it would be like throwing away a large sum of money. I also realized that no matter how careful I was with them, eventually the boxes would get damaged, so I decided to sell them. I used to tell myself that those greyscale SDCC Frankies probably more than paid for all of my other MH figures combined. But... I still miss having one.

I purchased the circus set, or parts of the circus set, relatively recently because of neon's posts on the forum. The circus figures are quite nice, but they came along during a busy time in my life when my Monster High collecting was winding down. Also, there were too many releases coming out too quickly, and many of the releases had limited distribution, which was frustrating and contributed to the decline in my active interest.

I also purchased several greyscale Skull Shores Frankie Stein figures. Partly that was motivated by greed: she was not available where I lived, but common elsewhere, and I had visions of "cashing in" at some point like I had with the SDCC set. Also, she was cheap with the coupon, and looked pretty cool.

The "cashing in" never happened, but... Skull Shores Frankie was so hot! She was, and remains, extremely photogenic! I was quite pleased when one of my photos ended up being featured in an article on the aol.com finance website in an article about Mattel: Mattel Goes Hollywood - 19 November 2012

The knock-off Monster High figures were fun while they lasted. I purchased a few online for laughs. In local stores I was able to find a number of the Lovely Patsy Midnight Magic figures, which were basically low-grade Barbie clones molded in greens and greys and given Draculaura-style face-ups. Sadly, the Midnight-Magic website finally went offline several months ago. I say "sadly" because a little video game they had on there, targeting pre-teen players, was the only time in my life I've managed to achieve "high score" on a video game. The OMG! DARK QUEEN dolls had the best-worst box art, which is why I ended up keeping this one example.

That’s very sad about the MH forum closing down - I hadn’t been there for a while, as the topics that were discussed weren’t interesting to me, and there’s only so many time i can read about “it sucks they cancelled / rebooted” before I’m bored & wandered off to another part of the internet (like here).

Clawdia was my favourite of the werewolf releases, I adored the bright red & yellow colour scheme.

Yeah, there's another "action figure" forum I visit, but my interest is waning as a result of a rather narrow field of topics they discuss. It sounds like MH Arena was fun in its busier days. If neon and Loona were there, it must have been fun!

Yes, I, too, really like the vibrant colour scheme of Clawdia.

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March of the Monsters continues:

13 March – Monster High Isi Dawndancer

Recently, it seems that boxed examples of Monster High Isi Dawndancer have increased significantly in price on the secondary market, now bringing ~$100 USD.

This was a spare I'd forgotten I had. As I have two open-box examples, I decided to see if I would have similar luck on eBay. She did not sell immediately. It took two days! I just boxed her up and sent her to her new home a few hours ago!

[Alliecat]

I'd love to sell anything, eBay or locally, in just 2 days.  You do seem to have quite a number of NRFB dolls to clear out, there.  (I have to admit I LOL'd over the "anatomical accessories" listing )
What a great little drum set!  And she looks very happy with her album.  With that and the pink guitar, you've got a good start on a band.  Hmmmm.... maybe the Ameliae could start one

[Elfy]

And they even have a band name: The Ameliae! This is a fantastic idea!