#my other g1 dolls are also a little loose compared to my g3 or even g2 dolls but shes by FAR the worst

[vampirebiter]

i got a dawn of the dance claween and overall shes really good condition for the price but her limbs are soooooo loose and floppy she can barely stand up even with a doll stand holding her up

[lonely-space-egg]

If anyone was wondering what I did for international lesbian day yesterday, it was driving down to Target with my mom to pick up the rest of the G3 core six! [Are they called the core series? Signatures? Wave 1?]

I'm really taken with the whole of G3 thus far - at least, in terms of the dolls. I never held out hope for a revival of G1, and my optimism on a reboot was pretty much dead with how much I disliked G2, so it feels surreal to have new Monster High dolls released in stores that I love once again.

I'll put the rest of my thoughts under the cut, though - it's going to be a long, infodumping, overdetailed post.

I love the more varied body types - which I'll go into more detail on later - and that the average doll has a thicker body overall compared to G1. They feel more sturdy and I expect/hope that they won't get the loose hip or elbow joints that G1 dolls did. The torso articulation is also a very nice touch, especially for helping them balance and stand on their own.

If I ranked the dolls from favorite to least, I'd currently put it at Draculaura, Frankie, Ghoulia, Cleo, Clawdeen, Lagoona. I expect this to change as I restyle the dolls, though, and I also have some actual customization plans to reroot Clawdeen with brown yarn and give Ghoulia a repaint. Clawdeen in particular I expect to like more once she has better hair than that pastel polypropylene.

I liked Cleo a lot more in comparison to the other dolls before I actually unboxed her. Now that I have, her outfit feels. . . quite bland. Her dress is just a one-piece and while she does have a very cute jacket [not pictured], it doesn't fit well over the dress since they're both long-sleeved. I'm also still not a huge fan of the molded-on bandages and I'll likely paint them to make them stand out better. Her headband also stays on rather poorly [so does Draculaura's but unlike Cleo, Draculaura's outfit feels complete even without her headband]. Cleo's face is one of my favorites, though, I think she has the most striking makeup.

The pets are generally decently cute [except Neptuna. Not a fan of whatever's going on there]. I've seen comparisons to Littlest Pet Shop, but to me they look much more like Barbie pets - specifically that it looks like they have eye makeup. They all feel rather lightweight - AKA cheap - but I hope that will make it easier to balance them on the dolls.

I should mention that none of G3 dolls come with stands or brushes. I can see the logic with stands since they can stand on their own - even though it's flawed logic, there's no way they'll stay standing on display. I don't know why they don't have brushes though. Personally I don't mind because I have more G1 brushes than anyone could ever need, but their hair is clearly meant to be played with and styled so it's an interesting choice not to include them. Speaking of which, none of them have glue seepage or unnecessary gel in their hair - not something I can say for many G1 lines. I will also complain about some of their accessories not quite matching the rest of their color scheme [ex: Frankie's shoes don't match any of the other pinks in their outfit] but this was also present in G1. I am disappointed at the lack of diaries as well.

Close-up on all of their bags. All of them except Clawdeen's have backpack straps, and Cleo's is the only one that snaps open - all the rest have an opening in the top that the thinner accessories can be slid into. Draculaura, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia's backpacks also have loops to carry them like handbags, but the ones on Ghoulia's are oddly small.

Draculaura's bag gives her little bat wings when she wears it and it is the cutest thing in the world. She also has this little white cameo necklace which you can just barely see in this picture - wondering if there's lore significance to that or just an outfit detail.

Draculaura also has a widow's peak now! I love it, and I'm looking forward to one of the leaked[?] Draculaura dolls that doesn't have bangs and thus shows it off.

More accessories, specifically Ghoulia's. The knock-off Switch is adorable - quite possibly my favorite of the handheld G3 items so far - and if Mattel hasn't come up with a monster pun for it, I hope someone in the fandom has. The skateboard having Deadfast on it is another detail I really like [though it's now a good time to complain mention that the print on practically all the accessories - that is, electronics, food, etc. - looks very blurry].

I was able to balance Ghoulia standing on her skateboard which I'm thrilled about. In general I love that the g3 dolls can stand on their own. Still not a replacement for stands, but it does make for more posing options for photography.

More Ghoulia since she's still my favorite character of the main six, even with the design changes [I anxiously await seeing her animated adaptation beyond promo renders]. Her shirt design reads very neurodivergence/autism symbol to me :] Sir Hoots-a-lot can attach to her forearm - much like an LPS owl - and with the G3 pets being rather lightweight, he stays on well without weighing her arm down. Those are his glasses she's wearing here because I think they look much better than her actual glasses, which have these thick, foggy lenses that obscure her eyes. I don't know what the deal is with those - G1 Ghoulia had lens that were transparent just fine, and then G3 Clawdeen's glasses don't have lenses at all.

More on the different body types! Most of the main six [Frankie, Clawdeen, Lagoona, and Ghoulia] have the same torso. Frankie has longer forearms and shins, Draculaura is all-around shorter with thicker hips, thighs and limbs, and Cleo is the same height with a tighter waist and, in comparison, wider hips. Otherwise, their bodies are the same proportions.

The above image to the left is a comparison of the forearms and hands of G3 Draculaura, Ghoulia, Frankie and G1 Catrine. The G1 arm is slimmer than the G3 dolls, and Draculaura's arm is slightly thicker than the other G3s. The G3 dolls have thicker arm and hand pegs- sort of like CAM dolls - which I'm very thankful for, I feel less concerned about snapping them while putting them back in place or pulling them out. The G3 dolls also have larger hands than G1 which I quite like.

On the right is a close-up of Frankie's prosthetic leg. I love the detail in it, especially that "Frankie" is written as if Frankie wrote it themself. I'm disappointed to see it's not removable, though - Vandala Doubloons from G1 had a removable leg so I don't see why they couldn't do it here. Ghoulia's legs are beside Frankie's to hopefully show how Frankie's are longer.

Even with the different body types, the clothing is still rather interchangeable between characters! I wouldn't mind if the clothes weren't - Monster High clothes are so character-specific that I've long seen it as the perfect doll line for varied body types - but it's definitely a pro that they are. Their tops fit each other very well. Draculaura's pants are a little loose on Frankie, but it just means they sit lower on their hips. Frankie's skirt fits Draculaura nicely, though it would be much easier to dress her in if it had velcro all the way down the back. Frankie's belt just barely fits Draculaura, but really who's going to be wearing that besides Frankie.

A major part of why Draculaura and Frankie are my favorite signature dolls of the main six are their clothing layers. They both have these sleeveless tops [a "corset" and vest, respectively] that work as tops on their own, and the blouses underneath them also work on their own as shirts. With their jackets [capelet and jacket, that is] they have the most complex outfits of the whole line.

Last but not least, a closeup on Clawdeen's shoes. They're my favorites out of the line, largely because of that pawprint tread. This picture also hopefully shows how those are not actual socks on her, but leg warmers. I also ended up demonstrating how ridiculously poofy that polypropylene hair is. I look forward to rerooting her more and more.