I think the reason g2 made people so upset was because it was just like "hey remember the characters and storyline we worked so hard to build and you all loved so much? forget it all! heres that thing you love minus all the good stuff!" whereas g3 is more of a parallel universe to g1 that acknowledges the former brand frequently.
The issue with G2 had more to do with the sudden and stark change that occured so suddenly in front of our eyes. The launch of the rebranding was the first mistake. The official announcement was basically a smear campaign for the G1 dolls, its felt icky and hypocritical of everything G1 was trying to teach and educate about accepting differences. Then came the complete erasure of beloved characters for this same exact reason. Getting rid of Ghoulia and replacing Spectra with Ari was the wrong call, especially Ghoulia, who many had felt represented by her neurodivergence. After that, many of us already had a bad taste in our mouth. Adding to all this the complete removal of stands, terrible quality control, and very limited deluxe doll releases, it was just meant to flop. Sure, I wont go on and say G2 didnt have good dolls cause they did (Shriekwrecked, Party Ghouls, Ghouls Beast Pet), but even when the dolls looked alright, it was still a quality control issue with many misprinted faces and messed up hairtyles in box. And I wont even talk about the oddly animated miniseries on UA-cam. Overall, it was set to fail from the start. The heart wasnt there anymore.
Dracula and Harriet were pretty cool for adult/parent characters. There was nothing wrong with them in general but the movies and dolls felt lackluster
What upsets me the most about the G2 faces is that the characters that had the "puppy eyes," as I call them, in G1 like Rochelle and Howleen, lost something that made them unique. Like with EAH and how they gave all the dolls smiles. Kitty lost what made her special and everyone looked just as offputting as she did. It worked for her, but only her. HOLY CRAP THIS GOT ALOT OF LIKES thx 💕
EXACTLY!!! I swear Mattel needs to learn what makes their brands unique! The same thing happened with the Kaya face mold in AG! She was the only one with the mold because it was created to be respectful of Native American culture and then Mattel got a hold and suddenly the boys were using the Kaya mold!
@@Mack-gn3tuthat ones even worse cause it carries a racist undertone-why are they usinf a facemold for an Indeginous girl for white boys?? Its implying her face is somehow “masculine”
One of THE worst things about G2 happened not at the start, but around 6 months down the line. They started introducing these new bodies with gappy joints that were just horrible, they rendered the articulation practically useless. At first it was just on Venus but the Garden Ghouls and Ballerina dolls had it on all of the characters. And what's so baffling is that they'd already made new G2 bodies - and they were actually really good, with thicker limbs and joints that didn't feel like you were gonna snap her arm off trying to bend it.
THIS!! A thousand times THIS! There hands were no longer removable and those joints were SO gappy and weak feeling. They were horrible (which is a shame because the extra detailing on some of their bodies -Venus especially- was great as was the heavier duty bodies).
I have a single gen 2 doll and totally agree that the bodies were quite odd. The plastic feels different somehow and even the beginning "deluxe" dolls had a little bit less articulation. I don't know if this is a widespread issue with gen 2 but my Dance the Fright Away Draculaura cannot sit. Every single other doll can sit just fine but for some reason her hip joints don't allow full movement.
Having never seen these dolls before, my first thought was that the esthetic is extremely Disney Channel. I could see Hannah Montanna wearing most of these outfits.
G2 is a bit of a ‘a broken clock is still right twice a day’ type thing imo. I think Lagoona looks the best out of all them tho. I wouldn’t mind it if Moanica or Silvi made appearances in g3 either, but that’s incredibly unlikely ig
Things I liked about g2: -Frankie’s core outfit was honestly pretty cute -I liked that we got to see Dracula and Clawdeen’s mom, because I always thought it was weird that the kids’ parents hardly existed in g1 -Moanica was a really interesting antagonist, and I wish g3 was actually making an effort to add new characters the same way g2 did. -That little ice crystal thing and Webby the spider were so stinkin’ adorable, I miss them and I wish they’d come back as pets or something -The art style for the movies was actually really unique and cool to look at! But that’s really all I have to say that’s positive. Everything else is kind of “meh”.
@@sweethistorteathe parents were a big part of the Lisi Harrison series, but I don't remember them in any of the others. It's been awhile since I read all the Monster High book series (of which I own almost all of the books), so I very well could be wrong.
@@princessravendiamond4288I honestly wish they’d kept Ghoulia around alongside her to show that not all zombies are bad (the same way that if one person is bad, that doesn’t mean you should stereotype any group they’re part of because of it)
I appreciated the line trying an entirely new background for everyone, with Draculaura and her dad founding the school, the way the ghouls all come together, and the threat of normies being a thing again (Ghouls Rule is still my favorite animated MH movie because it was very much a "monsters in the real world" rather than "the monster world is ours with puns and there seemingly aren't humans"). I could get behind the sweeter looks for the dolls - they seemed younger than G1 by a couple of years. I think I head-canoned that they were middle schoolers, whereas G1 were clearly juniors in high school. The best thing to come out of G2, for me, was Moanica. I loved her sculpt and her theming. She was the one doll that was always on-brand, to me, and she's the one character I'd like to see in G3 who was introduced in G2. I did like the G1-throwbacks, like Nefera and Amanita, and the SDCC Frankie-Ghostbusters doll, and I bought the heck out of G2 to support my favorite brand (and because I hadn't quite gotten to the "oh, wait, my obsessive tendencies are talking rather than my actual liking of the dolls"). The siblings line... the Cleo that came with siblings in a pack looked so tired in the screening I had, that she became "teen mom Cleo" - like her parents and Nefera had all noped out and left her to look after he siblings day in and day out. Alivia was an interesting concept, and she's the only sibling doll I kept. I hated Fangelica. And as time has gone on, more and more of the G2 dolls I bought are ending up in the donation box for the next time I make a goodwill run or we have a yard sale.
20:32 Frankie doesn't really have an articulated arm, thats only on the stock picture prototype. I wish you would have mentioned her weird body with a sculpted skirt, that with the lamp coming out of her head really takes the cake for the freakiest execution of a gimmicky doll I have ever seen in MH.
I didn’t even know the Screams and Sugar line was g2, that Nefera is a grail of mine. It’s surprising bc so much of g2 looks straight of of a dollar store’s budget play dolls in terms of design
The best thing to come out of G2 was definitely Shriekwrecked. I know it's probably a repurposed G1 line but it had some really cute dolls, especially Draculaura and Rochelle, and I really like the pirate themeing (But to say that it doesn't have some medicore dolls is a lie. I ain't a fan of the Gooliope doll. Her outfit is plain, I don't like her color pallet and her hair reminds me too much of Amaya Raine from RH.).
I will praise G2 for one thing: the boxart. It felt like an upgraded version of the original G1 artwork and it looks really good! Highly detailed, nice aesthetic, and with clear effort put into it (which isn't something I can say about the dolls)
its so funny to me (maybe im just really impressionable idk lol) but whenever i hear like xCanadensis talk about G2 im always like "ah yeah i remember g2, i didnt like it but i guess it wasnt that bad. i liked Party Ghouls..." but then i hear people talk about G2 at length like you have here- and im reminded of how actually terrible 80% of them were... you put it best- a good g2 doll is just passable, not terrible but not really great, a good g1 doll was actually AWESOME. impressive, imaginative. thanks for another video!
I think that this was an impeccable reboot for Lagoona in particular - the pet line especially is one of her best ever dolls - and I like that Deuce had his larger framed webisode body (so did the uncovered Clawdeen and Clawd 2 pack) - but as a whole I think the problem is that it felt too rushed in general and that there was almost a 'panic' in how things were designed. They never found a footing because they were too busy not having one. If nothing else, this failure clearly was in mind when conceptualizing G3 because that one is MILES ahead.
My jaw dropped learning there were new characters introduced in G2- like it makes sense, of course there would be some new ones but i literally never ever heard anyone mention them while talking about this gen.
14:38 Rochelle's Shriek Wrecked look is PEAK fucking design and its genuinely such a shame it came from G2 because shes unironically one of my favorite MH designs of all time
I feel so out of place in the MH collectors space bc I only have two G1s that I've gone out of my way to get over the last two years, FCA Honey Swamp and a worse-for-wear GR Frankie, bc I wasn't able to get any as a kid. I'd been deeply parentified and forced to grow up before they even existed, so I was deep in my "I'm too old for dolls, I need to be an adult" phase way before they even existed. Bc of this, I am only getting into MH (and dolls in general tbh) as an adult. I have two G3 Dracs, Abbey, and Venus so far, and I have plans to get more when I have stable income...but every time someone talks about G2 I'm just like "how tf did Mattel fuck up *so badly*" I hear complaints for G3. Fair enough, I understand, and I can respect a difference of opinion (I love their more diverse body shapes, race-coding, and wacky clothing/colors, tho I do also think Lagoona is a mess conceptually) but G2 IS SO AWFUL I GENUINELY HESITATE TO ASK WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA
“The kids were scared of them” wasn’t exactly wrong. I admit- I was one of kids who found monster high scary when I was younger. Maybe it was because it first came out when I was in preschool and I didn’t understand the puns and how it wasn’t that bad, but my mom didn’t like them ( she liked gen3 tho) and when I went to the doll aisle I would literally race past them. Of course I tried to get over it but the first doll I picked up was peri and Pearl ( that 2 headed mermaid) which scared me off for years lol. I started liking them later on and now they’re my favorite ironically!
I’m just saying what I personally felt about monster high when I was younger. I can recognize they were pretty cool but 7 year old me was a bit of a scaredy cat. I’m not saying all kids were scared of them but saying that nobody was is technically incorrect.
Gen 1 all the way. The skin tones are ART. Gen 1 is edgy, fresh, vibrant, diverse. No cookie cutter beings in the group. 🥰 The reboots are all watered down. I have some skullectors and SDCC's, AND Gen 3's, but "Be A Monster, Be Unique", it's been virtually erased, just my opinion.
G2 truly was a time, i remember the Facebook groups (when i actually was active in them) being absolutely on fire all the time, the few quieter times like some people actually enjoying adventures of the ghoul squad and some lines, but it was a shitshow. I stuck around for mh the whole time and i think there was some real potential but more lore wise, not really the dolls as much. I will defend garden ghouls til im dead lol but many lines were... they exist. Still collected back then but geez i will never forget every Lagoona i ever found being so wonky and her budget doll always having the eyes waaaay too low. True in the trenches time
I actually liked Clawdeen's siblings because they were like lycanthropic Chelsea dolls, but that was before I saw Sandy and...yeah, Sandy's bad vibes are enough to ruin the entire line.
I’ve been with MH since the beginning and own quite a few G2 dolls. And some I got when on shelves. But I’m a Lagoona collector so I own every single Lagoona doll in every single Gen I have the worst Gen 2 Frankie and Draculaura cause they were like 3 for $5 at my supermarket still in box Draculaura and her dad, Moanica is an amazing doll I have her and Draculaura 2 pack course I got Lagoona’s entire family I wish I’d gotten Gaga I definitely was keeping up but I did grab some when I saw them
Electrified and garden ghouls where also lines conceptualize during g1, especially garden ghouls, at a convention Garett Sanders posted prototypes pics of insects dolls, there was a spider, a snail and a dragon fly that where supposed to be part of a garden line.
They tried so hard to do things that kids would be into that it looked like they put no effort into the dolls at all half the time. I swear the G2 fabrics are so loud and tack that Hawaiian Shirt makers would be giving them the side eye...
I remember when G1 and 2 were on shelves I was gonna go ever and buy a G1 doll.... There were none, g1 was off shelves, I was so disappointed and I was 8!
I also got into MH when they came out in 2010. When G2 arrived, I was also disappointed, but still adopted a few dolls. I liked their sturdier bodies and some of the new sculpts. Today, I'm surprised that among the roughly 20 MH that I kept from both generations, there's still 4 G2s, all of them from the Electrified collection! The fact that they didn't suffer from any glue seepage did help a lot, though...
I remember getting Ari Hauntington, Treasura Jones, and Silvi Timberwolf as gifts, and being so unimpressed with the lackluster quality that I basically gave up collecting Monster High on the spot.
Some of the G2 dolls were actually pretty nice, but apparently we never got any of the nice ones here in Australia 😢 The only articulated G2 dolls I remember getting here were the electrified line and for me at least that was also the LAST line I saw, they just sort of disappeared suddenly.
While I totally understand that in the outfit department she was lacking, I loved the look of Ari. The pearlescent skin just gave her such a ghosty look, and I loved the colors and the concept. I bought her first day of school look right away. My sister repainted her face, and I gave her an outfit I liked better. I also bought the music class one cause I was in love with the hat and piano. I have Spectra, and they are too different vibes (and qualities). So, I completely understand people not really being all that into Ari.
I feel like alot of the lines in g2 that were meant to be for g1 really twisted ppls persective into thinking g2 is actually really good & underrated (its not) Like you said with shriek wercked that was made for hg1 and the amaita + nefera two pack is also very clearly for g1 they didnt even bother changing their faces to fit g2 Very few original g2 dolls were pretty alright, garden ghouls toralei is really cute so is music class cleo & the party dress draculaura & frankie are fairly solid But its not enough to claim the reboot itself is actually underrated I get why people would say that with g3 - to me it started out as very heavily hit or miss but its been legitmently improving overtime(even if i do think it still some of the same issues as g2 like cleo just straight out sometimes not looking like cleo) & unlike g2 it doesnt reuse scrapped ideas from g1 Also yeah i agree on zombie gaga-the doll is cool but the outfit is so …mid
The only thing I like about the G2 lines was: The boys have Ever After High boy bodies. They aren't too skinny and look more dashing. Wish we got a Raythe's doll. I like the new bodies, mostly the additional detail, Clawdeen's furs on her wrist and ankles; Dana constellation skin; Cleo's mummy wraps (wish it was in different skin color or even painted); The faces are either a hit or miss for me. I like Ari, but wish she had better clothing designs. Moanica is the best new mean girl from the series. The only thing I like in the extended family was Dracula (wish he had articulation) and Clawdeen's mom (wish she had a doll)... there were too many children/siblings was questionable. Wish we knew more about Silvi and a her signature doll.
Cleo in the ice cream line's boxart looks cute, and the headpiece would be a good idea if it were designed better. But in box, it looks like they just taped a circle of paper around her head to fulfill an accessory quota.
It's funny to me that G2 had two big movie lines in its short existence but in the span of G3 running for about the same time... neither movie got a single doll (which feels so confusing for a movie meant to promote a DOLL brand)
I currently collect the Electrified Line. I love the uv effect. Back then i hated every single G2 release so much xD And the reboot kinda made the second hand market its 1st price jump up.
With 11:20 i love a lot of the barbie movies and some of the monster high specials. The gen3 monster high show is awesome. Just because its made for kids doesnt mean it jas to be lower in quality.
it feels wrong to say that's the G2, somehow I think it would've been better (?) if G2 was actually G1 and, then, G1 was G2. like, you'd be able to see the progress, yk. but still they went from cool to cheap and now G3 is cool again
1:10 your point here is so right because its the mindset a lot of people who dont even care about MH to begin with has with G3, and then when you actually bring up the doll lines from G2 they have no idea what your talking about and will continue to argue with you on, aint no reason to insist dying on a hill over something you dont actually care or know about to begin with
The ballerina Cleo remains my absolute favourite doll of hers. The colours and cut are just so good and I would have loved to see more in that vein for her.
This video was too funny, I especially loved the rant about the little kid dolls. 😂 This line really had some real choices. The Shriekwrecked was glorious though.
This is kind of controversial, but I actually like it and it is also not as great as G1 or G3 G2 is still really great in my opinion and a lot of the budget dolls with a little articulation would be a whole lot better with articulation
I actually like G2, but not for the dolls. I wasn't into Monster High when they came out so my experience with G2 is the story. Especially the webseries, Adventures of the Ghoul Squad. I like the plot of the reboot, with Monster High being built by Draculara and her dad, and the ghouls going out and finding other monsters in the world and introducing them to a place where they can be accepted. It gives more plot to the characters, as opposed to the original webshow which mostly focused on High school drama, like dances, relationships, cheerleading, etc. It was more fantastical which I found more interesting. I also adore Draculara, Dracula, and Fangelica, they make the reboot for me. I thought they were such a cute family, I'd love it if they brought Fangelica back. I also prefer G2 Dracula over G3. He was a super cute dorky dad.
"How am I going to explain to aunt Patricia that my favourite fashion doll line is rebooting and ruining my life." That's such a uniquely relatable feeling, man and honestly...good call. Like, even if you have the coolest most accepting family in the world, this is a kind of pain we need to suffer alone.
I think it's really funny that the fandom has so collectively agreed to ignore G2 that if you say "both generations" in reference to MH no one asks you to specify which 2.
I’ve warmed up to the media of G2 but really only that. The dolls are ABHORRENT and ESPECIALLY because they didn’t even really announce the reboot well it just suddenly happened. (I’m autistic for context) Monster High has been my special interest since 2010 and when I saw the reboot and especially when I saw the announcement where they say “people think we’re scary, but that’s not who we are” I remember having an actual meltdown over it and it genuinely sent me into a depressive episode afterwards because of how much of a backstab it felt like for G2 to basically come out and go against everything the original brand had built, in the name of censorship to appease to parents. Felt the same to me as when teachers would tell you to “be yourself no matter what” but then tell me personally that **me** being myself was bad. It felt like the same thing was happening to my ghouls.
The only thing I liked with G2 dolls was the fact they had "Ever After High" bodies (especially for Clawd and Deuce who are closer to their G1 animated version). I always thought that the G1 bodies were too skinny for play and I saw A LOT of broken dolls or with loss of articulation at fleat markets.
G2 was a rebrand for parents. Being a kid in 2013, I wanted a Monster High so bad, but my mother told me " Those are monsters and people use them to do satanic rituals". The new ones being watered down makes sense.
Amanita's name is pronounced with a long "Ah" sound like you had it the first time. Also, not sure if this is what you meant to indicate, but I think most of the G1 head sculpts were transferred to G2 with the faceups being very different. I think the only returning G1 character with a new face sculpt was Draculaura.
7:00 Did you mean face up? Because as I remember, the molds were the same. At least the main characters. They’ve had stamp 2008 on the back of their had, as the old ones.
I hope when G4 comes and face it we know one day it will, they’ve learned something but rate Alumni being going idk if Mattel learns anything. Hopefully even with the issues with Nickelodeon they’ll find a way to continue G3
I honestly do hope sanders comes back-he wasnt scared to actually go out there & do things that you wont useally see from fashion dolls Even his concept art for a collector catty noir looked legitmently rlly good Mattel just refuses to actually be different & research into altarnative fashion they just do whatever they did w barbie fashionista
@@Man-wolf-be great if they’d bring back Garrett the thing is does he want to come back? I’ve ask for them to collaborate with him for a collector at least!
Not saying everybody has to love G3 (I personally do, but i know people have different tastes), but anybody saying that G2 was better is just straight up delusional, no way around it lol
13:32 i remember my sister really wanting to customize dolls. Got this one at the thrift store, cut off her hair. and failed very bad trying to replace it with different hair. I felt very bad for that doll, she just kinda stayed in a closet after that
I mean if they really wanted to make g2 designs apply to the parents, they could’ve made the designs much more fashionable and aesthetically pleasing. cause who said modest clothes can’t be fashionable????
A few of the dolls weren’t too bad specifically the Science Lab classroom Frankie as there was a lot of neat things that happened with the playset if you used water such as color changes or a flower instantly growing and the Cleo, Amanita, and Nefera line that was based on cafe sweets. And honestly I didn’t mind Clawdeen having new siblings and Lagoona having a few as both were canonically stated to have large families. The one Draculaura that had those hair accessories that popped into her hair and that huge hair decoration was also really cool and fun to play with,
G2 was also college for me and I had loved G1 so I did feel a little confused by the reboot but I was also going through a parallel aesthetic shift in my own fashion and art (brighter/cuter) so I secretly thought G2 might turn out as my favorite. I ended up feeling lookwarm-disappointed when the actual dolls started coming out though. G3 feels like a “cuter” Monster High, with a better budget/execution and I’m glad we’ve got them
I remember my grandma didn't know what monster high was and I said I wanted Original G1 Monster High LagoonaFire Freaky Fusion...... And I got the unarticulated, molded top, budget lagoona..... I decided to just customize her.
I always liked Moanica. I have her ballet and dance dolls and her details are really cool. The ballet doll in particular has nuclear hazard symbols on her dress. Rad. I feel like Mattel was trying to throw things at consumers and see what stuck. Kids like Emojis, Blam! Kids like Food themed things, Blam! Shopkins! BLAM BLAM! So Ship Wrecked, Garden Ghouls, Party Ghouls, Scream and Sugar and the Ballet line stand out so much because they feel a lot more complete then the others. More concepts, more imagination and more details and material used. Makes a HUGE difference. Compare Freaky Field trip Toralei to ANY of the g2 budget dolls. She is going to an aquarium and her dress is covered in fish bones, her drink has a shark on it, she bought a skeleton lantern fish souvenir, her shoes have more fish skeletons on them and her heals have shark faces. The back of her box reads that she thinks its fun even though they dont give samples. Its quirky, cute and shows story. G2 budget is....hey kids look emojis! And Catrine has a pretzel on her head.....its painful. Get a Fashionista, at least they are interesting. I liked this dive. Thank you Darling!
OMG that PB&J set is so pointlessly random 🤣 I have the electrified Ari Hauntington doll, my brother gave it to me as a gift, I honestly didn't realize till rather recently that she was part of the dreaded G2 😅 I still like her anyway. 😉
You've actually summed up my feelings on G2 really well, the only place where my opinion diverges slightly from yours is with the Monster Family line. (NOT Sandy de Nile! That baby is an abomination!) Monster Family was probably my favorite G2 line, and definitely the one I have the most dolls from. I'm not saying the line is great, far from it, but I really appreciate that it existed at all. One thing I always disliked about G1 was how weirdly absent most of the families were, and how the few we did see never got dolls despite having really cool designs. Daddy/daughter two packs of Ramses and Cleo and Wade and Lagoona, anyone? So, I like that Monster Family actually gave us dolls of characters like Dracula and Kelpie, even if their quality really could have been better. I think most of the little siblings are pretty cute as well, I've mostly turned them into little sibs for OCs and G1 characters who we didn't know as much about. (I've wholeheartedly turned Ebbie Blue into Finnegan's little sister!) And in my head canon Frankie's parents decided a few years after creating Frankie that they wanted another kid and made Alivia. I'm honestly disappointed this line had such a negative reception, because I'd love to see it make a comeback in G3!/gen Especially since G3 has had so much better designs and quality and has already shown more of the characters families than either previous generation. I really want a two pack of Apollo and Selena Wolf, not gonna lie. Slight tangent aside, excellent video as always!/gen Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!
I remember seeing the announcement video on the MH Forums (rip) and everyone was so confused! The dolls and movies were alright despite being super budget and kind of cheesy at times. The emoji line was so cringe!! I still have signature Drac and Frankie and I love the movie animation! (besides Frankie's uncanny eyes sometimes), but it wasn't the same. Moanica, Shriekwrecked, the budget Drac and Frankie science pack and MH Minis were cool though! :D
I visited a local toy store in search of g3 monster high dolls and the ONLY monster high dolls they had were g2 draculaura and clawdeen, in the year of our lord 2024. It took me a while to recover
I actually don't mind G2 or their cutesy looks, however I'm a Draculaura collector and own all of G1 with G2 and with that I think the theme of 'cuter looks' was just less... hideous on her, seeing the line ups now, ones like Cleo really did suffer from the sanitization. I'm a personal fan of Zomby Gaga but I love your videos and this one was very interesting to watch !!
Gen 2 came out when I was a kid and I liked it. It was monster high and I grew up with gen 1 with all of its dolls and movies. Shreikrecked was one of the best lines I had the gold girl and the tall tree girl too. But that was it. I didn’t really love it. But as a kid I was monster high content so it was something I loved plus ever after high just got canceled back then and I was DEVASTATED. And when gen 3 came out I was sad because it wasn’t the same. BUT, I now collect the dolls because they have grown on me. And I LOVE Venus, Abby, catty, and spectra’s new dolls! I’m conclusion I loved gen 1, liked gen 2, but because I have lived through the knowledge of gen 3 it may be my favorite!
I remember seeing the G2 new face announcement and feeling kind of hopeless because i was never allowed to have Monster High dolls in my parents house and it was around the time in my life where i would occasionally have some cash i could spend on my own. i was so excited to buy my first monster high dolls when my parents weren't looking, but then the dolls looked like that. I can forgive them (mattel) now that im much older and no one can stop me from buying dolls they (parents) think are creepy. It was just soul crushing at the time to be a goth teenager begging for Monster High dolls and then one day the creepy got sucked out of them and suddenly it was okay for me to want them, but the new aesthetic felt so distant from my semi-closeted goth identity
The second I saw a budget G2 in a store, I knew I was done with the line. Like, by the second, I knew I was done and then slowly it dawned on me that the whole line was done for.
I think the reason g2 made people so upset was because it was just like "hey remember the characters and storyline we worked so hard to build and you all loved so much? forget it all! heres that thing you love minus all the good stuff!" whereas g3 is more of a parallel universe to g1 that acknowledges the former brand frequently.
G1 should’ve gotten a proper ending, probably with the girls graduating and heading off to college. It’s lame that the story just kind of… stopped
The issue with G2 had more to do with the sudden and stark change that occured so suddenly in front of our eyes. The launch of the rebranding was the first mistake. The official announcement was basically a smear campaign for the G1 dolls, its felt icky and hypocritical of everything G1 was trying to teach and educate about accepting differences. Then came the complete erasure of beloved characters for this same exact reason. Getting rid of Ghoulia and replacing Spectra with Ari was the wrong call, especially Ghoulia, who many had felt represented by her neurodivergence. After that, many of us already had a bad taste in our mouth. Adding to all this the complete removal of stands, terrible quality control, and very limited deluxe doll releases, it was just meant to flop. Sure, I wont go on and say G2 didnt have good dolls cause they did (Shriekwrecked, Party Ghouls, Ghouls Beast Pet), but even when the dolls looked alright, it was still a quality control issue with many misprinted faces and messed up hairtyles in box. And I wont even talk about the oddly animated miniseries on UA-cam. Overall, it was set to fail from the start. The heart wasnt there anymore.
Draculara's dad being hot is the plot twist G2 needed. Kinda wish I had his doll, despite my grievances with other parts of the G2 lines.
Not Draculauras dad being 50 dollars and up on resale out of box 👀
That’s literally all I took from the video, lol! 😅
Dracula and Harriet were pretty cool for adult/parent characters. There was nothing wrong with them in general but the movies and dolls felt lackluster
What upsets me the most about the G2 faces is that the characters that had the "puppy eyes," as I call them, in G1 like Rochelle and Howleen, lost something that made them unique. Like with EAH and how they gave all the dolls smiles. Kitty lost what made her special and everyone looked just as offputting as she did. It worked for her, but only her.
HOLY CRAP THIS GOT ALOT OF LIKES thx 💕
EXACTLY!!! I swear Mattel needs to learn what makes their brands unique! The same thing happened with the Kaya face mold in AG! She was the only one with the mold because it was created to be respectful of Native American culture and then Mattel got a hold and suddenly the boys were using the Kaya mold!
@@Mack-gn3tuthat ones even worse cause it carries a racist undertone-why are they usinf a facemold for an Indeginous girl for white boys?? Its implying her face is somehow “masculine”
One of THE worst things about G2 happened not at the start, but around 6 months down the line. They started introducing these new bodies with gappy joints that were just horrible, they rendered the articulation practically useless. At first it was just on Venus but the Garden Ghouls and Ballerina dolls had it on all of the characters. And what's so baffling is that they'd already made new G2 bodies - and they were actually really good, with thicker limbs and joints that didn't feel like you were gonna snap her arm off trying to bend it.
THIS!! A thousand times THIS! There hands were no longer removable and those joints were SO gappy and weak feeling. They were horrible (which is a shame because the extra detailing on some of their bodies -Venus especially- was great as was the heavier duty bodies).
I have a single gen 2 doll and totally agree that the bodies were quite odd. The plastic feels different somehow and even the beginning "deluxe" dolls had a little bit less articulation. I don't know if this is a widespread issue with gen 2 but my Dance the Fright Away Draculaura cannot sit. Every single other doll can sit just fine but for some reason her hip joints don't allow full movement.
Having never seen these dolls before, my first thought was that the esthetic is extremely Disney Channel. I could see Hannah Montanna wearing most of these outfits.
The dessert ones strongly reminded me of Harper on 'Wizards of Waverly Place'
Sandy DeNile Will Ride Again
Nothing in the doll world ever truly dies
She needs a jump scare warning ⛔️ 😂
Sandy DeNile is to Monster High what Manny Heffley is to the Wimpy Kid franchise
🤣🤣🤣
G2 is a bit of a ‘a broken clock is still right twice a day’ type thing imo. I think Lagoona looks the best out of all them tho. I wouldn’t mind it if Moanica or Silvi made appearances in g3 either, but that’s incredibly unlikely ig
I think Gen 2 really lacked the "freaky fierce" fashion that Gen 1 had.
Things I liked about g2:
-Frankie’s core outfit was honestly pretty cute
-I liked that we got to see Dracula and Clawdeen’s mom, because I always thought it was weird that the kids’ parents hardly existed in g1
-Moanica was a really interesting antagonist, and I wish g3 was actually making an effort to add new characters the same way g2 did.
-That little ice crystal thing and Webby the spider were so stinkin’ adorable, I miss them and I wish they’d come back as pets or something
-The art style for the movies was actually really unique and cool to look at!
But that’s really all I have to say that’s positive. Everything else is kind of “meh”.
In G1, there was a book series and I remember the parents being far more active in that one.
@@sweethistorteathe parents were a big part of the Lisi Harrison series, but I don't remember them in any of the others. It's been awhile since I read all the Monster High book series (of which I own almost all of the books), so I very well could be wrong.
Yes Moanica was great as a true villain but she also replaced Ghoulia and gave zombies a bad look for that generation
@@princessravendiamond4288I honestly wish they’d kept Ghoulia around alongside her to show that not all zombies are bad (the same way that if one person is bad, that doesn’t mean you should stereotype any group they’re part of because of it)
@@braindrippings I completely agree. That would've been much better
I appreciated the line trying an entirely new background for everyone, with Draculaura and her dad founding the school, the way the ghouls all come together, and the threat of normies being a thing again (Ghouls Rule is still my favorite animated MH movie because it was very much a "monsters in the real world" rather than "the monster world is ours with puns and there seemingly aren't humans"). I could get behind the sweeter looks for the dolls - they seemed younger than G1 by a couple of years. I think I head-canoned that they were middle schoolers, whereas G1 were clearly juniors in high school. The best thing to come out of G2, for me, was Moanica. I loved her sculpt and her theming. She was the one doll that was always on-brand, to me, and she's the one character I'd like to see in G3 who was introduced in G2. I did like the G1-throwbacks, like Nefera and Amanita, and the SDCC Frankie-Ghostbusters doll, and I bought the heck out of G2 to support my favorite brand (and because I hadn't quite gotten to the "oh, wait, my obsessive tendencies are talking rather than my actual liking of the dolls").
The siblings line... the Cleo that came with siblings in a pack looked so tired in the screening I had, that she became "teen mom Cleo" - like her parents and Nefera had all noped out and left her to look after he siblings day in and day out. Alivia was an interesting concept, and she's the only sibling doll I kept. I hated Fangelica. And as time has gone on, more and more of the G2 dolls I bought are ending up in the donation box for the next time I make a goodwill run or we have a yard sale.
20:32 Frankie doesn't really have an articulated arm, thats only on the stock picture prototype. I wish you would have mentioned her weird body with a sculpted skirt, that with the lamp coming out of her head really takes the cake for the freakiest execution of a gimmicky doll I have ever seen in MH.
wait what
I didn’t even know the Screams and Sugar line was g2, that Nefera is a grail of mine. It’s surprising bc so much of g2 looks straight of of a dollar store’s budget play dolls in terms of design
The best thing to come out of G2 was definitely Shriekwrecked. I know it's probably a repurposed G1 line but it had some really cute dolls, especially Draculaura and Rochelle, and I really like the pirate themeing (But to say that it doesn't have some medicore dolls is a lie. I ain't a fan of the Gooliope doll. Her outfit is plain, I don't like her color pallet and her hair reminds me too much of Amaya Raine from RH.).
G2 also gave us a third Nefera and a second Amanita doll and both were amazing. Cleo from that line was also incredible.
@@kenthuang436 Actually, the Nefera and Amanita 2-pack was released during the G2 era, but both are G1 dolls, and not G2.
Same thing with the rockstars line that I remember coming out during the G2 era
I will praise G2 for one thing: the boxart.
It felt like an upgraded version of the original G1 artwork and it looks really good! Highly detailed, nice aesthetic, and with clear effort put into it (which isn't something I can say about the dolls)
its so funny to me (maybe im just really impressionable idk lol) but whenever i hear like xCanadensis talk about G2 im always like "ah yeah i remember g2, i didnt like it but i guess it wasnt that bad. i liked Party Ghouls..." but then i hear people talk about G2 at length like you have here- and im reminded of how actually terrible 80% of them were... you put it best- a good g2 doll is just passable, not terrible but not really great, a good g1 doll was actually AWESOME. impressive, imaginative.
thanks for another video!
I think that this was an impeccable reboot for Lagoona in particular - the pet line especially is one of her best ever dolls - and I like that Deuce had his larger framed webisode body (so did the uncovered Clawdeen and Clawd 2 pack) - but as a whole I think the problem is that it felt too rushed in general and that there was almost a 'panic' in how things were designed. They never found a footing because they were too busy not having one. If nothing else, this failure clearly was in mind when conceptualizing G3 because that one is MILES ahead.
My jaw dropped learning there were new characters introduced in G2- like it makes sense, of course there would be some new ones but i literally never ever heard anyone mention them while talking about this gen.
That's because they were just that forgettable/gen
Man I heard a lot of people talking about the new characters, but because they resented Moanica and Ari for existing where Spectra and Ghoulia didn't.
14:38 Rochelle's Shriek Wrecked look is PEAK fucking design and its genuinely such a shame it came from G2 because shes unironically one of my favorite MH designs of all time
It was overall bad, but I wish some of the characters introduced will come back in Gen 3. Moanica is actually cute
I feel so out of place in the MH collectors space bc I only have two G1s that I've gone out of my way to get over the last two years, FCA Honey Swamp and a worse-for-wear GR Frankie, bc I wasn't able to get any as a kid. I'd been deeply parentified and forced to grow up before they even existed, so I was deep in my "I'm too old for dolls, I need to be an adult" phase way before they even existed. Bc of this, I am only getting into MH (and dolls in general tbh) as an adult. I have two G3 Dracs, Abbey, and Venus so far, and I have plans to get more when I have stable income...but every time someone talks about G2 I'm just like "how tf did Mattel fuck up *so badly*"
I hear complaints for G3. Fair enough, I understand, and I can respect a difference of opinion (I love their more diverse body shapes, race-coding, and wacky clothing/colors, tho I do also think Lagoona is a mess conceptually) but G2 IS SO AWFUL I GENUINELY HESITATE TO ASK WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA
“The kids were scared of them” wasn’t exactly wrong. I admit- I was one of kids who found monster high scary when I was younger. Maybe it was because it first came out when I was in preschool and I didn’t understand the puns and how it wasn’t that bad, but my mom didn’t like them ( she liked gen3 tho) and when I went to the doll aisle I would literally race past them. Of course I tried to get over it but the first doll I picked up was peri and Pearl ( that 2 headed mermaid) which scared me off for years lol. I started liking them later on and now they’re my favorite ironically!
Omg I thought I was the only one who ran from them in the isles lol😭
Totally! Like younger me was a total scaredy cat!
@@Lemon_Lime_Lily "Kids were scared of them!" Well, they're monsters, of course they're scary...scary cool!
I’m just saying what I personally felt about monster high when I was younger. I can recognize they were pretty cool but 7 year old me was a bit of a scaredy cat. I’m not saying all kids were scared of them but saying that nobody was is technically incorrect.
Gen 1 all the way. The skin tones are ART. Gen 1 is edgy, fresh, vibrant, diverse. No cookie cutter beings in the group. 🥰 The reboots are all watered down. I have some skullectors and SDCC's, AND Gen 3's, but "Be A Monster, Be Unique", it's been virtually erased, just my opinion.
G2 truly was a time, i remember the Facebook groups (when i actually was active in them) being absolutely on fire all the time, the few quieter times like some people actually enjoying adventures of the ghoul squad and some lines, but it was a shitshow. I stuck around for mh the whole time and i think there was some real potential but more lore wise, not really the dolls as much. I will defend garden ghouls til im dead lol but many lines were... they exist. Still collected back then but geez i will never forget every Lagoona i ever found being so wonky and her budget doll always having the eyes waaaay too low. True in the trenches time
Darling, please don’t say you’re ancient, I graduated from college 11 years ago 😭
I actually liked Clawdeen's siblings because they were like lycanthropic Chelsea dolls, but that was before I saw Sandy and...yeah, Sandy's bad vibes are enough to ruin the entire line.
The only people that enjoy G2 are the ones that weren't there when the rebranding happened
I'm here to prove your point bc i wasn't there when it happend and i really like Ari and many other dolls
I'm here to DISprove your point I started collecting right before the reboot happened
I have collected G1 from the beginning and I own several G2 dolls. They are all articulated and quite detailed.
g2 was actually when i got into MH, for the most part I did enjoy g2.
I’ve been with MH since the beginning and own quite a few G2 dolls. And some I got when on shelves. But I’m a Lagoona collector so I own every single Lagoona doll in every single Gen I have the worst Gen 2 Frankie and Draculaura cause they were like 3 for $5 at my supermarket still in box Draculaura and her dad, Moanica is an amazing doll I have her and Draculaura 2 pack course I got Lagoona’s entire family I wish I’d gotten Gaga I definitely was keeping up but I did grab some when I saw them
Electrified and garden ghouls where also lines conceptualize during g1, especially garden ghouls, at a convention Garett Sanders posted prototypes pics of insects dolls, there was a spider, a snail and a dragon fly that where supposed to be part of a garden line.
Yes. Next question 👀
Savage 💅
4:03 aunt patrisha just wouldnt understand the pain 😪😞
I spent years thinking the G2 dolls I came across were shitty MH knockoffs.
G2's faces were cute, fashions were bad, quality was outrageous... that's it
Short answer: Yes
Long answer: This video
They tried so hard to do things that kids would be into that it looked like they put no effort into the dolls at all half the time. I swear the G2 fabrics are so loud and tack that Hawaiian Shirt makers would be giving them the side eye...
I remember when G1 and 2 were on shelves I was gonna go ever and buy a G1 doll.... There were none, g1 was off shelves, I was so disappointed and I was 8!
I also got into MH when they came out in 2010. When G2 arrived, I was also disappointed, but still adopted a few dolls. I liked their sturdier bodies and some of the new sculpts. Today, I'm surprised that among the roughly 20 MH that I kept from both generations, there's still 4 G2s, all of them from the Electrified collection! The fact that they didn't suffer from any glue seepage did help a lot, though...
Actually electrified frankie doesnt have any arm articulaten
I had her
that Rochelle at 19:42 is SO CUTE IN HER FACE AND CURLS
You couldn't even take off the *SHOES* on those horrendous cheerleader dolls
Eww, gross
Terrible choice of doll design
I remember getting Ari Hauntington, Treasura Jones, and Silvi Timberwolf as gifts, and being so unimpressed with the lackluster quality that I basically gave up collecting Monster High on the spot.
Some of the G2 dolls were actually pretty nice, but apparently we never got any of the nice ones here in Australia 😢
The only articulated G2 dolls I remember getting here were the electrified line and for me at least that was also the LAST line I saw, they just sort of disappeared suddenly.
While I totally understand that in the outfit department she was lacking, I loved the look of Ari. The pearlescent skin just gave her such a ghosty look, and I loved the colors and the concept. I bought her first day of school look right away. My sister repainted her face, and I gave her an outfit I liked better. I also bought the music class one cause I was in love with the hat and piano. I have Spectra, and they are too different vibes (and qualities). So, I completely understand people not really being all that into Ari.
I feel like alot of the lines in g2 that were meant to be for g1 really twisted ppls persective into thinking g2 is actually really good & underrated (its not)
Like you said with shriek wercked that was made for hg1 and the amaita + nefera two pack is also very clearly for g1 they didnt even bother changing their faces to fit g2
Very few original g2 dolls were pretty alright, garden ghouls toralei is really cute so is music class cleo & the party dress draculaura & frankie are fairly solid
But its not enough to claim the reboot itself is actually underrated
I get why people would say that with g3 - to me it started out as very heavily hit or miss but its been legitmently improving overtime(even if i do think it still some of the same issues as g2 like cleo just straight out sometimes not looking like cleo) & unlike g2 it doesnt reuse scrapped ideas from g1
Also yeah i agree on zombie gaga-the doll is cool but the outfit is so …mid
The only thing I like about the G2 lines was:
The boys have Ever After High boy bodies. They aren't too skinny and look more dashing. Wish we got a Raythe's doll.
I like the new bodies, mostly the additional detail, Clawdeen's furs on her wrist and ankles; Dana constellation skin; Cleo's mummy wraps (wish it was in different skin color or even painted);
The faces are either a hit or miss for me.
I like Ari, but wish she had better clothing designs.
Moanica is the best new mean girl from the series.
The only thing I like in the extended family was Dracula (wish he had articulation) and Clawdeen's mom (wish she had a doll)... there were too many children/siblings was questionable.
Wish we knew more about Silvi and a her signature doll.
The articulated lines were absolutely fangtastic. I wish to manifest all the shriekwrecked dolls 🎉🎉🎉
Cleo in the ice cream line's boxart looks cute, and the headpiece would be a good idea if it were designed better. But in box, it looks like they just taped a circle of paper around her head to fulfill an accessory quota.
It's funny to me that G2 had two big movie lines in its short existence but in the span of G3 running for about the same time... neither movie got a single doll (which feels so confusing for a movie meant to promote a DOLL brand)
I love g2 the movie, animated series, the dolls and the new characters introduced
There was actually a couple G2 dolls I wouldn’t mind having.
6:14 the designs aren’t even that bad imo
I love Frankie’s outfit
I currently collect the Electrified Line. I love the uv effect. Back then i hated every single G2 release so much xD And the reboot kinda made the second hand market its 1st price jump up.
With 11:20 i love a lot of the barbie movies and some of the monster high specials. The gen3 monster high show is awesome. Just because its made for kids doesnt mean it jas to be lower in quality.
It’s like the designers were sitting there going “kids like ice cream… and emojis… and… music? Yeah let’s make dolls based on those”
watching your videos is so relaxing, i love hearing these niche topics and just chilling
it feels wrong to say that's the G2, somehow I think it would've been better (?) if G2 was actually G1 and, then, G1 was G2. like, you'd be able to see the progress, yk. but still they went from cool to cheap and now G3 is cool again
It’s the misdirection that really killed it 😢
As someone who was there during the g2 transition I loved the movies and think some of the dolls were really cute. I hope g3 brings back moanica.
1:10 your point here is so right because its the mindset a lot of people who dont even care about MH to begin with has with G3, and then when you actually bring up the doll lines from G2 they have no idea what your talking about and will continue to argue with you on, aint no reason to insist dying on a hill over something you dont actually care or know about to begin with
g2 lots of looks was the budget version of skulltimate secrets loll
The ballerina Cleo remains my absolute favourite doll of hers. The colours and cut are just so good and I would have loved to see more in that vein for her.
This video was too funny, I especially loved the rant about the little kid dolls. 😂 This line really had some real choices. The Shriekwrecked was glorious though.
This is kind of controversial, but I actually like it and it is also not as great as G1 or G3 G2 is still really great in my opinion and a lot of the budget dolls with a little articulation would be a whole lot better
with articulation
I actually like G2, but not for the dolls. I wasn't into Monster High when they came out so my experience with G2 is the story. Especially the webseries, Adventures of the Ghoul Squad. I like the plot of the reboot, with Monster High being built by Draculara and her dad, and the ghouls going out and finding other monsters in the world and introducing them to a place where they can be accepted. It gives more plot to the characters, as opposed to the original webshow which mostly focused on High school drama, like dances, relationships, cheerleading, etc. It was more fantastical which I found more interesting. I also adore Draculara, Dracula, and Fangelica, they make the reboot for me. I thought they were such a cute family, I'd love it if they brought Fangelica back. I also prefer G2 Dracula over G3. He was a super cute dorky dad.
"How am I going to explain to aunt Patricia that my favourite fashion doll line is rebooting and ruining my life."
That's such a uniquely relatable feeling, man and honestly...good call. Like, even if you have the coolest most accepting family in the world, this is a kind of pain we need to suffer alone.
If they wanted to bring back Moanica D’Kay I wouldn’t complain. That pretty much sums up my thoughts on g2.
I think it's really funny that the fandom has so collectively agreed to ignore G2 that if you say "both generations" in reference to MH no one asks you to specify which 2.
I thought you was so much younger, not in a bad way tho, you're very youthful and sweet.
I’ve warmed up to the media of G2 but really only that. The dolls are ABHORRENT and ESPECIALLY because they didn’t even really announce the reboot well it just suddenly happened. (I’m autistic for context) Monster High has been my special interest since 2010 and when I saw the reboot and especially when I saw the announcement where they say “people think we’re scary, but that’s not who we are” I remember having an actual meltdown over it and it genuinely sent me into a depressive episode afterwards because of how much of a backstab it felt like for G2 to basically come out and go against everything the original brand had built, in the name of censorship to appease to parents. Felt the same to me as when teachers would tell you to “be yourself no matter what” but then tell me personally that **me** being myself was bad. It felt like the same thing was happening to my ghouls.
The only thing I liked with G2 dolls was the fact they had "Ever After High" bodies (especially for Clawd and Deuce who are closer to their G1 animated version). I always thought that the G1 bodies were too skinny for play and I saw A LOT of broken dolls or with loss of articulation at fleat markets.
G2 was a rebrand for parents.
Being a kid in 2013, I wanted a Monster High so bad, but my mother told me " Those are monsters and people use them to do satanic rituals". The new ones being watered down makes sense.
Stupid sensitve parents!
22:18 this is so funny! 😂 I had to screen Record
Amanita's name is pronounced with a long "Ah" sound like you had it the first time. Also, not sure if this is what you meant to indicate, but I think most of the G1 head sculpts were transferred to G2 with the faceups being very different. I think the only returning G1 character with a new face sculpt was Draculaura.
7:00 Did you mean face up? Because as I remember, the molds were the same. At least the main characters. They’ve had stamp 2008 on the back of their had, as the old ones.
Thank you for the video! I always love hearing your opinions
"You might have to move from side to side...you make eye contact with her and you tell me there's hope for this reboot" ☠
Shriekwrecked Lagoona and Draculaura are 2 of my grails. I want Dayna as well because I like her gold skin.
I hope when G4 comes and face it we know one day it will, they’ve learned something but rate Alumni being going idk if Mattel learns anything. Hopefully even with the issues with Nickelodeon they’ll find a way to continue G3
I honestly do hope sanders comes back-he wasnt scared to actually go out there & do things that you wont useally see from fashion dolls
Even his concept art for a collector catty noir looked legitmently rlly good
Mattel just refuses to actually be different & research into altarnative fashion they just do whatever they did w barbie fashionista
@@Man-wolf-be great if they’d bring back Garrett the thing is does he want to come back? I’ve ask for them to collaborate with him for a collector at least!
I Really Like The Adventures Of The Ghoul Squad And The Movies
Not saying everybody has to love G3 (I personally do, but i know people have different tastes), but anybody saying that G2 was better is just straight up delusional, no way around it lol
13:32 i remember my sister really wanting to customize dolls. Got this one at the thrift store, cut off her hair. and failed very bad trying to replace it with different hair. I felt very bad for that doll, she just kinda stayed in a closet after that
I mean if they really wanted to make g2 designs apply to the parents, they could’ve made the designs much more fashionable and aesthetically pleasing. cause who said modest clothes can’t be fashionable????
13:51 This Frankie, for how kiddie she looks, is pretty, and I like her enough to want to buy her.
A few of the dolls weren’t too bad specifically the Science Lab classroom Frankie as there was a lot of neat things that happened with the playset if you used water such as color changes or a flower instantly growing and the Cleo, Amanita, and Nefera line that was based on cafe sweets. And honestly I didn’t mind Clawdeen having new siblings and Lagoona having a few as both were canonically stated to have large families. The one Draculaura that had those hair accessories that popped into her hair and that huge hair decoration was also really cool and fun to play with,
G2 was also college for me and I had loved G1 so I did feel a little confused by the reboot but I was also going through a parallel aesthetic shift in my own fashion and art (brighter/cuter) so I secretly thought G2 might turn out as my favorite.
I ended up feeling lookwarm-disappointed when the actual dolls started coming out though.
G3 feels like a “cuter” Monster High, with a better budget/execution and I’m glad we’ve got them
I remember my grandma didn't know what monster high was and I said I wanted Original G1 Monster High LagoonaFire Freaky Fusion...... And I got the unarticulated, molded top, budget lagoona..... I decided to just customize her.
Clawdeen having plenty of younger siblings makes sense for her
I always liked Moanica. I have her ballet and dance dolls and her details are really cool. The ballet doll in particular has nuclear hazard symbols on her dress. Rad. I feel like Mattel was trying to throw things at consumers and see what stuck. Kids like Emojis, Blam! Kids like Food themed things, Blam! Shopkins! BLAM BLAM! So Ship Wrecked, Garden Ghouls, Party Ghouls, Scream and Sugar and the Ballet line stand out so much because they feel a lot more complete then the others. More concepts, more imagination and more details and material used. Makes a HUGE difference. Compare Freaky Field trip Toralei to ANY of the g2 budget dolls. She is going to an aquarium and her dress is covered in fish bones, her drink has a shark on it, she bought a skeleton lantern fish souvenir, her shoes have more fish skeletons on them and her heals have shark faces. The back of her box reads that she thinks its fun even though they dont give samples. Its quirky, cute and shows story. G2 budget is....hey kids look emojis! And Catrine has a pretzel on her head.....its painful. Get a Fashionista, at least they are interesting. I liked this dive. Thank you Darling!
I really enjoyed the Gen 2 Monster rescue webshow
OMG that PB&J set is so pointlessly random 🤣
I have the electrified Ari Hauntington doll, my brother gave it to me as a gift, I honestly didn't realize till rather recently that she was part of the dreaded G2 😅
I still like her anyway. 😉
Can you imagine if we never got g1? that we started off with g2 instead? would the series even be as beloved and iconic as it is now?
You've actually summed up my feelings on G2 really well, the only place where my opinion diverges slightly from yours is with the Monster Family line. (NOT Sandy de Nile! That baby is an abomination!) Monster Family was probably my favorite G2 line, and definitely the one I have the most dolls from. I'm not saying the line is great, far from it, but I really appreciate that it existed at all. One thing I always disliked about G1 was how weirdly absent most of the families were, and how the few we did see never got dolls despite having really cool designs. Daddy/daughter two packs of Ramses and Cleo and Wade and Lagoona, anyone? So, I like that Monster Family actually gave us dolls of characters like Dracula and Kelpie, even if their quality really could have been better. I think most of the little siblings are pretty cute as well, I've mostly turned them into little sibs for OCs and G1 characters who we didn't know as much about. (I've wholeheartedly turned Ebbie Blue into Finnegan's little sister!) And in my head canon Frankie's parents decided a few years after creating Frankie that they wanted another kid and made Alivia. I'm honestly disappointed this line had such a negative reception, because I'd love to see it make a comeback in G3!/gen Especially since G3 has had so much better designs and quality and has already shown more of the characters families than either previous generation. I really want a two pack of Apollo and Selena Wolf, not gonna lie.
Slight tangent aside, excellent video as always!/gen Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!
I remember seeing the announcement video on the MH Forums (rip) and everyone was so confused! The dolls and movies were alright despite being super budget and kind of cheesy at times. The emoji line was so cringe!! I still have signature Drac and Frankie and I love the movie animation! (besides Frankie's uncanny eyes sometimes), but it wasn't the same. Moanica, Shriekwrecked, the budget Drac and Frankie science pack and MH Minis were cool though! :D
The dissapointment i felt when i got the G2 Lagoona for easter when i thought that G1 was still around is crazy
I visited a local toy store in search of g3 monster high dolls and the ONLY monster high dolls they had were g2 draculaura and clawdeen, in the year of our lord 2024. It took me a while to recover
I actually don't mind G2 or their cutesy looks, however I'm a Draculaura collector and own all of G1 with G2 and with that I think the theme of 'cuter looks' was just less... hideous on her, seeing the line ups now, ones like Cleo really did suffer from the sanitization. I'm a personal fan of Zomby Gaga but I love your videos and this one was very interesting to watch !!
Gen 2 came out when I was a kid and I liked it. It was monster high and I grew up with gen 1 with all of its dolls and movies. Shreikrecked was one of the best lines I had the gold girl and the tall tree girl too. But that was it. I didn’t really love it. But as a kid I was monster high content so it was something I loved plus ever after high just got canceled back then and I was DEVASTATED. And when gen 3 came out I was sad because it wasn’t the same. BUT, I now collect the dolls because they have grown on me. And I LOVE Venus, Abby, catty, and spectra’s new dolls! I’m conclusion I loved gen 1, liked gen 2, but because I have lived through the knowledge of gen 3 it may be my favorite!
I remember seeing the G2 new face announcement and feeling kind of hopeless because i was never allowed to have Monster High dolls in my parents house and it was around the time in my life where i would occasionally have some cash i could spend on my own. i was so excited to buy my first monster high dolls when my parents weren't looking, but then the dolls looked like that. I can forgive them (mattel) now that im much older and no one can stop me from buying dolls they (parents) think are creepy. It was just soul crushing at the time to be a goth teenager begging for Monster High dolls and then one day the creepy got sucked out of them and suddenly it was okay for me to want them, but the new aesthetic felt so distant from my semi-closeted goth identity
G3 is my favorite because they're the right dolls at the right time for me. After having moved out I have received Monster high dolls as gifts.
The second I saw a budget G2 in a store, I knew I was done with the line. Like, by the second, I knew I was done and then slowly it dawned on me that the whole line was done for.
22:15 is so funny, sandy denile hate train!!
My first MH doll is Shriekwrecked Draculaura. She was on sale for five bucks at Walmart so I was like “Why the heck not, it’s only five dollars.”.