Monster High Ghoulebrities in Londoom

We first met Elissabat and Viperine Gorgon in Frights, Camera, Action, while we were introduced to Catty Noir in 13 Wishes. Each animated film had a line of dolls to accompany it. With the Ghoulebrities in Londoom 3-pak, we see new dolls of Elissabat, Viperine, and Catty.

  Elissabat is an actress. She also happens to be Queen of the Vampires. Catty Noir is a popular singer. So it’s no surprise that these two are ghouls on the go, jetting to far-away places. And they don’t go anywhere without their favorite makeup artist, Viperine.

The girls are adorable in their Londoom-themed outfits.

Elissabat wears a tweed dress – a popular fabric associated with Londoom – with an asymmetrical hemline and red ruffles around the neckline and a bow around her waist. Her makeup is more understated than her first edition, from Frights, Camera, Action. The colors are softer, with red rather than deep purple lips. She’s not as goth as her first doll. Her hair is pulled back into a demure ponytail. I really like this understated Elissabat.

Viperine wears a Union Jack skirt and a sleeveless top in muted shades of purple, white, and pink. In keeping with her boho-chich aesthetic, she wears peace-sign earrings.

Viperine’s hair in Frights, Camera, Action was wavy. I’m really digging her Londoom straight, center-parted hair. It looks so great on her. Viperine came with a clear plastic guide to keep her sunglasses in place.

I found the plastic annoying so I removed it, as well as the plastic tabs that were holding her sunglasses in place. The sunglasses still stay on her head even when they’re not attached with tabs, but I think Viperine looks better without them because she’s so pretty.

Catty also wears a variation of the Union Jack in red, purple, and white in the form of an A-line minidress. Adorbs!

Her hair is long and wavy, with a large curl in front. I was the most disappointed in Catty’s hair, out of all three Londoom dolls. Her hair was messy, and the curl lost its shape as soon as I took the doll out of the box.

The ghouls all sport cool shoes, in true Monster High fashion. In this case, the shoes aren’t quite so literal, like Ghoulia’s shoes being made of brains, for example. Elissabat’s boots are a nod to the ubiquitous Wellington “Wellies” boots. Viperine wears boho ankle boots with fringe made of snakes. Catty wears tall white boots with silver platform heels.

Catty’s boots have a surprise on the bottom: the Monster High skullette.

Each ghoul comes with a bag. Elissabat has a round purse with a “runny” Union Jack on it. Viperine has a large snake-fringed bag to match her boots. Catty has a pink suitcase. Elissabat’s bag and Catty’s suitcase open and close.

  The ghouls thought they could enter Londoom undetected.

But they didn’t realize the paparazzi was waiting for them.

Elissabat didn’t want to be photographed, even though, as a vampire, her image wouldn’t show up in photos anyway.

Viperine tried the “hiding behind large sunglasses and an extremely large bag” trick that’s popular with many celebrities trying to avoid the paparazzi.

And Catty? I guess Catty doesn’t mind the attention. She politely but briefly posed for photos.  For some reason Elissabat, Viperine, and Catty in The Ghoulebrities in Londoom set remind me of the Spice Girls, or should I say Spice Ghouls? Maybe it’s the platform shoes and excessive use of the Union Jack.  I can just imagine them being driven around Londoom by Meat Loaf. But the girls had their own ideas of where they wanted to go once they landed in Londoom.

Elissabat went to Buckingham Palace. Being the Queen of the Vampires, she naturally wanted to see where the other Queen Elissabat lived. Doesn’t she know you’re not supposed to talk to the guards?

Makeup artist Viperine headed right to Londoom’s MAC Cosmetics store.

And Catty wanted to see the grandeur of Westminister Abbey.

  I like the Ghoulebrity versions of Elissabat, Viperine, and Catty. Their outfits and hair are simpler than their first wave dolls, and I love the nod to Great Britain in their clothes and accessories.

What do you think of the Ghoulebrities in Londoom set?

Littlest Pet Shop Blythe Bedroom Style Set

I’m a sucker for bedroom playsets. There’s something about a miniature bedroom that lets the imagination run wild, creating the kind of bedroom that I myself would want to sleep in, if I could just find a shrink ray and miniaturize myself. I found the Littlest Pet Shop Blythe Bedroom Style Set at Target. I’m not crazy about the newest incarnation of LPS Blythe, but I have several of the original Blythe LPS dolls, the ones with large eyes, oversized heads, and rooted hair. They were like buying a real, albeit tiny, Blythe for only $14, and when they went on clearance I bought most of the ones I own for $10 or less at TJ Maxx and Marshalls. So I bought the Blythe Bedroom Style Set with them in mind.

The packaging overwhelms you with all of the awesome things you can do with the bedroom set. You can put it together and then decorate it. You can even scan the pet that comes with it to unlock a LPS app, with even more digital decorating opportunities. Unfortunately, my phone doesn’t have a scanner, so I couldn’t design my world digitally, too.

The Blythe Bedroom Style Set comes with a Blythe figurine, as well as a pet panda, Penny Ling. I use the word “figurine” because you really can’t call this Blythe a doll. She’s made of plastic and isn’t articulated except for the waist, which moves side to side. Her right arm is permanently holding a bowl of cereal (she’s in her pajamas), so she really can’t do anything else. She also can’t stand on her own, which I discovered when I tried to pose her with Penny Ling.

This is what happened when Blythe tried to stand up by herself.

Then I discovered Blythe’s stand, which helped her stand up, but again, if she needs a stand then she’s not a doll.

That’s better.

The Bedroom Style Set comes with a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff.

Now I know how my parents felt on Christmas Day when they had to put all of my toys together

Stuff unpacked

Fun sticker sheet with which to decorate Blythe’s bedroom walls

Miniature flowers to stick in Blythe’s windows and on the balcony

Bedroom background, one side

Bedroom background, reverse side

Fortunately, it comes with directions. I’m more of a visual learner, so I appreciate directions that are illustrated rather than text instructions.

The instructions were a snap!

The instructions were fairly easy to understand, so it wasn’t too difficult to assemble the bedroom. The bedroom part came together easily, but it took over an hour to put everything together, because as they say, the devil is in the details, and this set has a lot of details!

I chose the “bedroom” side of the background rather than the stage side because I wanted Blythe’s bedroom to look like a real bedroom.

I didn’t want to put too many stickers in it. I just added the cat sticker and some owls.

Next I assembled the front of the townhouse and attached it to the frame of the bedroom. The door and the gate to the balcony open and close.

Blythe on the balcony, still holding that bowl of cereal

The balcony front of the playset opens up to reveal the bedroom. Cute, huh?

I didn’t realize until after I assembled the balcony that those little plastic flowers can be used to decorate the balcony and the plants. Oh well. I’ll add them later.

After the bedroom was assembled, it was time to decorate it. The Bedroom Style Set comes with a bed, a table, a lamp, a rug, a night table, a book, a chandelier, and an iPod and iPod dock (cool!). It also comes with two plastic frames that can accommodate two of the stickers on the sticker sheet, if you want to add framed pictures to Blythe’s bedroom. The furniture was easy to assemble, once again using the instructions.

Move-in ready

Now that the bedroom is ready, it’s time for Blythe and Penny Ling to move in.

But the Blythe figurine seemed too static, so I replaced her with one of my original Blythe LPS dolls. The original Blythe LPS moved in and promptly rearranged the furniture.

Penny Ling likes the butterfly chair

Blythe gets her iPod from its charging dock

This chair is just right

Blythe enjoys the view from her balcony

The Littlest Pet Shop Blythe Bedroom Style Set is really cute. It reminds me of the Miworld playsets in both size and quality. That is to say it could be sturdier, but it’s not too flimsy. I don’t think a young child would be able to put it together herself, so parental guidance would definitely be needed to assemble it. And you really can’t do much with the Blythe figure that comes with it, which is disappointing. I’m not sure I would want the other playsets, but it’s good to know that if I did, the other playsets attach to each other, just like the Miworld playsets do – although the Petacular Fun Room and the Say Ahh to the Spa sets look awfully cute too….

Monster High Amanita Nightshade

My apologies for not having blogged in a while. Both Ghoulia13 and I had to take a break as life got in the way, but we’re happy to be able to get back to doing one of the things we love best – or rather, two – buying dolls and writing about them.

I found Amanita Nightshade at my local Toys R Us. I know almost nothing about her, as there doesn’t seem to be a Monster High webisode about her yet. Hopefully that will be rectified soon.

Amanita is the daughter of the corpse flower, or more precisely, the corpse flower’s “bad seed.”

So what does this mean? Is she difficult to get along with? We must turn to her diary to get an insight into Miss Nightshade’s personality.

The first thing you might notice about Amanita is that she’s really pretty. And she knows it! According to her diary (vol. 56 of the Unlife and Times of Amanita Nightshade),

“Amanita Nightshade’s carefully cultivated look makes every other flower in the garden of style look like a weed by comparison….Amanita loves being adored and celebrated for her inherent beauty – both inside and out”

And talk about confidence! This gal’s got tons:

“Amanita believes there is nothing so wonderful as the sound of her own voice, but there are many who feel that perhaps their voices are equally important. Amanita has spent many years pondering this and yet still sees little merit in that argument.”

And who, according to her diary, is Amanita’s BFF? Why, none other than Amanita Nightshade herself. This makes me feel kind of sorry for her. Is she so obnoxious that no one else likes her, or does she truly believe that she’s her own best company?

Amanita is a deluxe doll, which means she comes with a diary, hairbrush, and stand. Her accessories include a cell phone, a purse, and a school binder.

Here’s a closeup of her binder. It’s probably full of her notes for her classes at Monster High, right?

Wrong! Here’s what Amanita carries around in her binder:

So clearly Amanita is a bit of a narcissist. But even if Amanita doesn’t have a BFF, she does, in true Monster High fashion, have a pet – “an adoring maggot who is die-rling as both pet and accessory.” I’m not sure which accessory is the maggot, though. I don’t think it’s her necklace, and her hair accessory looks like a corpse flower.

Check out her pointy ears

Amanita’s side-parted hair is long, full, and wavy. It’s a bright shade of purple with iridescent violet streaks throughout.

Does she use Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo?

Her skin tone is green. She has unique eye makeup, with her eyes lined with leaves. Her lips are a pale shade of purple.

I really love her dress. It’s very ethereal, a crepey, gauzy little number with a wrap bodice, capped sleeves and ruffles. It reminds me of Lily Munster’s dress.

But hidden underneath the gauzy overskirt is a leather miniskirt. I guess she really does have a carefully cultivated fashion sense.

Amanita’s shoes are black strappy sandals in the style of corpse flowers, adorned with blossoms and vines.

Her purse also looks like a corpse flower, minus the blossom.

Amanita is a very pretty doll. I love her makeup and hair, and I’m really digging her dress (get it? Digging? ‘Cuz she’s a plant?!). The plant theme and the leaves and flowers on it make me ready for Spring, which hopefully is right around the corner (it’s snowing as I write this). Some of the new Monster High characters can seem like a bit of a stretch, as if Mattel is running out of ideas (Jane Boolittle, anyone?), but I think having the daughter of the corpse flower is a nice addition to the Monster High gang. I’m just curious as to how they’re going to “use” Amanita in the webisodes or movies.

What do you think of Amanita? Do you have her? Do you want her? Do you like her? Discuss!