An Action Figure Collectors take on Monster High
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- Опубліковано 22 чер 2024
- Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to watch this video on my ramblings about Monster High. Not sure how productive it is but it's been fun learning about a new side of collecting that I've been adjacent to. Also it's interesting to see what we could take away from it if we were to get another 12 inch figure line at retail. That being said I'm not an expert so my thoughts shared here were merely my observations. With that if you liked what you saw here please like, comment, and or subscribe for future releases. Until then I hope you all stay safe and I will see you all next time.
- Filmaholic
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Great video!
Thank you I truly appreciate it! Also thank you for your content as well as it's been a great resource for me and I'm sure many others out there. Keep up the great work and I wish you nothing but the best.
@@filmaholic17congrats dude, you got noticed by the big corn
@@paulbunyangonewild7596 😊🙏
The release of the Hissfits 3-pack is honestly kind of a mystery even to the doll community. We actually originally heard of this set, like, over a year ago? Originally just the two twins, but later as a 3-pack with Toralei in her outfit for the Monster Ball (which is what we got, but it's been so long that this set is probably closer to being part of the Monster Fest line now) and it went from widely released, to hopping between different store exclusives, to eventually not being exclusive to anywhere but still not being available at most retailers. We really don't know why it took so long or why they've changed retailers so much, but the main takes I've seen are:
1. Retailers didn't think Toralei would sell because she's "too scary" or not pink enough, things along those lines.
2. Retailers didn't want to invest in a 3-pack because the "Ghoul Spirit" 6-pack didn't sell well (which is ironic bc a lot of people want it now that it's no longer in stores)
3. Retailers didn't think the twins would sell well because they're gray.
Whichever one it is, or if it's a combination of them, or even something else entirely, I don't really get it since every Monster High collector I've seen wants this pack (if only just for the twins. Meowlody specifically seems to be really popular, although I personally prefer Purrsephone... when she isn't wonky, at least.)
As for hair grades, while it's just objectively true that polypropylene is bad, I think saran vs nylon is more of a difference in opinion kind of thing. Saran is widely preferred because of its soft, waxy feel and how light and "flippable" it is, but it has the downside of not being able to hold curls very well, and having a much lower selection of colors. It's also very thin, which is a good thing if you want it to look more like real hair, but I consider it a downside because that means it's easier for me to break the strands. I personally prefer nylon, which is much thicker and sturdier, and not only is it good at holding curls, it's very easy to work with- you can get some nice light curls with just your finger and some water. It's also got a HUGE selection of colors, and is also very soft and slippery, unlike the "waxy" fewling of saran, which is the problem a lot of people seem to have with it, that it feels more plastic-y and looks more "fake" due to being more shiny, but I don't really care about that, and feel like even still the pros far outweigh the cons. There's also a few different grades of nylon but I dont know much about that, everything I've said applies to, like, standard nylon, and I'm not sure if "premium" nylon is a different thing or just a way to market it, I'm also not sure if "kiwi nylon" is a different thing or if it's just a name for standard/premium nylon, but there's also metallic nylon, which has kind of a metallic sheen to it (hence the name) and I've _heard_ it feels really bad but I've never encountered it so I wouldn't know. Overall I'd say nylon and saran are both good, just different preferences, while poly is just straight up bad.
I only ever got interested in these dolls because of how far they strayed from Barbie or Bratz! I was never a doll fan- I gave them all to my little sister growing up. But THESE. These!
That's fascinating and rather unfortunate, when it comes to the action figure side of things we have seen it scale back so much that we don't even get large playsets or vehicles. All of which are typically crowdfunded and sold for exorbitant amount of money afterwards. It's rare that an action figure that is set to be an exclusive doesn't show up to market you know.
Interesting I get where you're coming from. Personally I don't think I've come across nylon unless my Smart Dolls had it or my action figure heads had it but I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I knew some hair had better finishes but I didn't realize there was a vast array of materials used for their hair. It's got me wondering what's used for some of my action figures now 🤔
It's kinda why I got into them as well. They have a unique look to them 🙌
i feel like i should mention the comic con doll that's coming next month of g1 ghoulia (the nerdy zombie) dressed up in cosplay as her favorite superhero Dead fast with little dead fast action figures on the heals of her shoes and a little mini action figure in a blister pack and a comic book. I should probably also mention that shes 70 usd and probably gonna be impossible to get, shes only available at the con itself and on the Mattel creations website and she'll like sell out in 2 minutes. I figure an action figure collector would be interested in an action figure themed doll even if you aren't actually able to get her.
Yeah I saw Courtly Jester cover it recently and it's definitely cool. Thank you for sharing and I agree odds are that it'll be impossible to get haha 😅
Thankfully for the most part a majority of their 2023-24 releases have been using Saran hair since a lot of customers have been complaining about the poor hair quality in a lot of online spaces and product reviews. Unfortunately they still use the hair type for the surprise doll spin off skulltimate secrets due to them having to balance the budget of the doll with the locker display cases
That's something I've noticed as well and I'm glad they're making that change. However I do find it curious about their reliance on that gimmick to sell figures. It was interesting the first couple of times but how many lockers can you get you know 😅
Nylon is THE best hair type for dolls. MGA dolls tend to use Nylon exclusively unless they are doing a budget doll. Saran is 2nd to nylon, if you've ever felt nylon in person you could tell why. Then Poly is bottom tier because it's so dry and naturally just fizzes up and requires a bit of maintenance, Abbey has poly.
Looks like I got to get ahold of a MGA doll 🤔
OOO great video! As a completionist myself, generation 3 has been a wild ride, from Certain lines not hitting my country to trying to find the Saran variants 😅
At least they look nice on display 🤣
Thank you and I wish you luck on finding the ones you need! As any collector knows a little luck can go a long way 😅
Poly is the lowest of low hair fibres-it disintegrates faster then other hair fibres meaning in at least a decade dolls with poly will be straight out bold
Monster high (and mattel as a whole) used to use kankilion i think is how you spell it-instead of poly, its a very thin wispy hair fibre that better mimicks real hair , its a much better hair fibre rhen poly but is lower then nylon & saran due to how easily it can break
They stopped using it due to the store making it shutting down, people do hope mattel will swap to nylon but they likely cant cause they now burn the hair into the scalp and nylon has a high burning point then saran & poly
Really 🤔 that's rather unfortunate, no wonder I've seen the saran variants go for a bit more on the aftermarket. Thank you for sharing!
Also be careful with kanekalon hair, it was discontinued for use because it would become toxic after exposed to heat. The older hair method was to put glue in the head and it would seep out of the head and was awful so I’m glad that’s no longer a thing we have to worry about
Love the video! It’s great to hear from someone who’s just getting started!
It’s a refreshing perspective to hear and how similarities exist with figures 🤗🤗
Thank you for the kind remarks! 😊🙌
Hey, welcome to the hobby! I am fellow doll collector with a channel of my own! I dabble in to figures and action men an others. So kind of like you but the other way around!
Loved the video and the point of view! Also I love MH!
Thank you for the warm welcome! Here’s hoping you’re finding something to your liking in the action figure space. ☺️🙏
Loved your video! Recently I've seen many action figure collectors (mostly Facebook groups that focus on Marvel Legends, Neca or McFarlane) get into Monster High and not necessarily g1, but g3. They praise the body diversity, hair types, clothes and that every character has their own face sculpt. I used to collect Marvel Legends, now I only collect dolls, but I'm still on the groups lol. When I was in the hobby and just collected ML, circa 2015, they were super toxic and misogynistic, mostly straight men, but with time I've seen that they have grown positively as a community, now adding dolls and even sharing photos of their Monster High dolls next to their action figures. At the end of the day, they are basically the same, our communities go through the same things w companies, distribution, inflation, resellers, inflation and scalpers. I'm really glad times have changed and ppl slowly are starting to realize that we are the same, doll collectors and action figure collectors haha. Loved your video, and sorry for my English, saludos from Chile 🇨🇱
Yeah I used to collect legends as well but got tired of the hype culture and straight up infighting. Sure it happens in every community but it's like cmon we're already outsiders for collecting toys so why do we have to fight one another. Personally I can appreciate anyones interest as I can always learn from what they share. At the end of the day we're on the same rock so might as well enjoy it as best we can.
Amazing video! I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts diving into the doll collecting world. Subbed🎉
Thank you for the kind remarks! I hope you enjoy your stay 😊🙏
From what we know as of now Monster high doesn't use Nylon hair. The only hair fibers the use as of now is Poly and Saran. Great video though! Love to see new collectors joining the hobby!
Thank you! 😊🙌
Great video! I love to see people taking interest in Monster High (I'm a MH collector). Lately, I've been diving into Action Figures as well, mainly the Universal Monsters (I own Frankenstein and The Bride from Jada Toys) and Scarlet Witch ones (I got the West Coast Avengers Scarlet Witch and the Marvel Legends one from Multiverse Of Madness) and I totally agree with every point made in this video.
I would love if Marvel had an agreement with Mattel and made some doll-sized figures of the heroes (maybe with "real hair"), because, honestly, when it comes to dolls, Hasbro is kind of known for it's poor quality. I would die for a 12-inch doll of the Scarlet Witch (and not for $350+ like the Hot Toys releases, more on a budget, as per say)
Thank you! I agree I wish there was some agreement or at least someone willing to bring back 12 inch figures back to retail. Shoot with the comments it seems like the market is there to hit both groups it’s just a matter of matching the quality people would want.
unfortunately the hissfits still dont look like there coming to the uk anytime soon but im happy to see you enjoying them :D its nice to see how you feel about dolls :)
also its worth mentioning because you were talking about price and quality that in the uk not only do we not know if dolls are coming over or when but we also have to spend 30pounds for a basic doll! (and we dont have the budget dolls here) thats 38dollars! almost 40!!! for a basic doll! in America I think the doll community are fine but in the uk (and I think most of Europe but we get stuff differently ;-;) I feel Mattel are shooting themselves in the foot. we need tp have the dolls at the same price Americans do because they dont advertise here so people see the prices, wonky faces and the ploy hair and dont get the dolls!
I feel like thats important to say while talking about prices and such
great video :D
That's another thing I forgot to mention as well, we face the same problem in the action figure space as certain markets don't get releases or get price gouged. An action figure that would be $20 here would easily be upcharged to 40-50 for whatever reason. Not to mention store exclusives that pretty much close off foreign markets all together. If they were able to tighten up quality control and work on the pricing I think they'd find great success but then again I'm not a numbers guy so I wouldn't know 😅 Thanks for commenting
For your next vid you should do a side by side comparison of G.I. Joe and Monster High. Examine the quality and pros & cons of each one.
That’s not a bad idea! Definitely going to be a part two so I’ll try to expand upon the comparisons ☺️🙏
THANKS FOR THIS COMPARRASON my parrents dont mind the fact i buy dolls but they would clearly rather me get more manly things whitch i dont really get but oh well. where exactly did you buy the 3 pack tho? most omline retailers dont have it and ebay is just a bunch of pre-orders for way too much
No problem thank you for commenting! Hey at the end of the day collect whatever makes you happy as you are the one who dictates your happiness no one else.
As for where I got them I bought them from a seller on eBay who had them in stock. I got them just in time before they skyrocketed. Seems like scalpers run rampant in the doll hobby too.
I too look at Barbie and wonder why Hasbro doesn't do a 12 inch GI Joe.
you could totally just buy a barbie looks ken and dress him up like gi joe. there are muscle kens that could easily just be a gi joe if you buy him the out fit on etsy.
This is so brodorable! ❤
I've had those same thoughts and even more so now getting into this line. It's like we can learn from what's out there and apply it to Gi Joe but no one wants to do it.
@@filmaholic17 I think they would need to make a new gi Joe show and I don’t think as much parents want to buy their kid an army man as much as they used too.
@@jiggerblayne See that's the great thing about Gi Joe, most people associate him with the military but there was a spinoff called the Adventure Team. Same figures but they leaned more towards an adventure theme about exploring and what not. We just typically say gi Joe as it encompasses everything in the line. I do agree it would need some media backing but it's not impossible.
Ooo, honestly yea doll collecting can be a struggle LOL, especially with the Generation 1 dolls with Monster high. Honestly with things like Smart Doll i personally havent seen too much overpriced things being resold in the community which is why id gravitate twords that more. I still work on my Monster high collection though. Though i do regret deeply not getting much before 2020, when their prices went up greatly with the Skullector Pennywise's release. I somehow am only missing the grady twins from the skullector series so far so yay on that lol. Enough bout me now i think g3 prices are certainly.. stable at the moment. If you get them early enough especially resellers, they go crazy on the prices though before the product fully releses which i dont understand why lol.
But. With the rising g1 prices i suprisingly got a lot of dolls within 2020 which shows how much you can still actually get even if their prices are high as crap.
My personal advice for who wants g1 dolls is get the expenive ones first (minus Deadfast ghoulia and black and white frankie 2010) and work your way down from there. I personally started with wave 1.
Help sorry for the long rambling but just wanted to discuss important g1 stuff.. price wise atleast. Though if anyone seeing this wants to collect g1 i hope this helps! (Mattel needs to stop them scalpers for real lol) 😋
No worries I get the rambling haha it happens and just showcases the passion you have for the hobby. Thank you for the insight! 😊🙏
I've only glanced at these figures a few times in the toy section of various retail stores. The one thing I noticed is that the articulation seems far more "action figure-like" than most dolls. The bending elbows and wrists in particular are unique. Just speculation, but I'm guessing these joints are probably not as robust and sturdy as one would expect from an action figure? Any details you can share would be interesting to hear. Thanks for another cool video!👍
I currently own more than 15 G3 dolls, I've seen some people complain that the chest joint became loose. This happened to me once and it only happened because I rerooted her incorrectly and cause extreme stress to her. The male bodies and budget femenine bodies lack that chest joint so that is not an issue for them, male bodies do come with feet articulation (the barbie feet situation were they are feminine body characters are meant to wear hills or arched shoes while guys get simpler shoes. The dolls hold posses quite well and might only struggle if you put them under extreme stress like most dolls. They appear to also have fixed the issue which the original run of monster high had that included detachable parte coming loose easily, to be able to wear long sleaves and arm accesories all dolls come with removable hands and some characters have extra body parts like fins and tails which are secured tighter. Rather than breaking the dolls their issues are more related to ruining a poly doll's hair by trying to brush her hair dry or loosing the tiny accesories since they are not molded on but rather are actual plastic accesories that can be removed like rings
they aren't too bad especially for an adult using them, you might need to be careful taking their hands off but otherwise their pretty sturdy at least the g3 dolls g1 can be pretty sturdy and sometimes more sturdy then g3 but then you get one doll that seems like she could break at any moment. as for articulation, barbie made to move has a lot of articulation and there are boy dolls too that look nice like the barbie looks line the faces are nice and they have a lot of possibility. Now if you get into the ball jointed doll side of things, dolls have more articulation then a lot of action figures, articulated finger and toe joints are pretty common, one of my dolls has ear joints and..another joint i discovered on a male doll and i was not expecting. ball jointed dolls are very expensive but they can be so worth it. if you do just make sure you get it from a good place and not off ebay because the dolls are often made by a small group of artist or sometimes even one artist and recasts are mass produced stolen casts of their work. kika goods has small blind box dolls from china that are more affordable and pretty cool looking, like little centaurs and Chinese dragon dolls. Their usually more on the chibi side but i got a little Chinese dragon boy that looks like a little war general.
On one hand I'd say they're pretty robust since they're designed with children in mind. That being said it does seem like the joints are made of a different type of plastic that's more commonly used for accenting detail on action figures. Think of the details on clone troopers since that's the first thing that came to mind. I'm curious to see how the long run will be but if worse comes to worst they're relatively easy to repair or find replacement parts for. Also definitely read some of these comments as they're more likely to have insight on the doll side of the hobby.
Thank you for the info!
Thank you for sharing!
I believe why the fissfits threepack (the one you got) is online exclusive its cause at the start of this generation they did a 6 characters pack which includes 4 of the main 5 (Cleo, Draculaura, Clawdeen, and Frankie) as well as 2 more whose designs are store exclusive (Toralei and Deuce) and this massive 6 pack sold poorly. So the retails abstained from getting them so it became a none mayor retail exclusive. Also only 3 (1 more coming soon) dolls are region exclusives which are nicknamed the monsterista line, this is supposed to get 1 doll for each of the main 5 (lagoona is supposed to maybe come out next year, cleo is coming out on summer and the line started with the main 3 getting released at the same time, all 3 started with polly hair but there are new variants for drac and clawdeen with saran and frank's saran might release along side with cleo), the monsteristas are latina american exclusives as import prices on latinamerica are extremely high so core dolls that release for 25 might be selling between 45 to 65, so this budget dolls are created to sell for between 15 to 20 equivalents on the respective currency. This line lacks the ball joint that allows chest movement, but there are 2 budget lines that are meant to sell on the us and other countries, scareadise island is cheaper and lack the chest articulation, and day out (which has the same characters and also the similar release times like that of monsterista). The characters lacking the ball joints actually are more sturdy but the ball joint allow for better posing. Current G3 bodies are better than current G1 bodies cause alot of the reproductions from generation 1 have issues in their joints, while G3's issue might just be the hair quality. Also due to aesthetic Id suggest goreganizer drac or monster fest
Interesting and thank you for sharing this information! I do recall seeing that 6 pack online while looking for dolls and wondered how they ever got to retail. On the action figure side of things we always hear from toy companies that retailers don't want large items as it takes up to much space. So when I saw that they came out with that 6 pack I just assumed it was a holiday thing for Christmas since that would never happen in the action figure space.
Funnily enough I want that goreganizer Drac but haven't bitten the bullet yet haha. This all started because I found the budget Drac at Ross.
@@filmaholic17 the 6 pack was at the start of this generation, before this they released some reproductions that outsold basically instantly online and caused wars on the few phisical retails they were put on. They were thinking that the popularity of the previous generation would translate directly into this one. It's basically a booster pack to get your Collection started but it was quite expensive, and if you didn't like all of their designs for that release you could get their core versions for 25 instead of the more than 100 that pack was. It was a Walmart exclusive and seeing how it didn't perform as good they took it as a warning not to order that type of packs. They have done other changes like that, they started rereleasing their sets with characters included since at the start most of the ones that had none sold poorly, and they almost halted the production of boy characters due to them releasing the same boy character 3 times and none of them being that well received (all 3 are store exclusives), this last one might have been fixed due to how well the other 2 sold due to constantly being on sale and one of them being a budget price release.
Most of the bigger Sets like goreganizer drac and spa day Lagoona are able to enter retail because they have are more than just the doll, the goreganizer is an organizer and spa day is basically a bunch of accesories for human hair as well as for the doll. Another thing that they have done to secure the big sets in store is to release one of the main characters exclusively there so that if you want to have the line complete you need to buy the expensive set, happened with Drac on Monster Fest, Lagoona on Scare-adise and Toralei for both monster fest and monster ball since she wears that outfit both times. The one thing that they have had more issues is with Frankie as the pride themed one that was originally target exclusive got dropped due to last year's war against target employees, they are supposed to release on Amazon just like the Rupaul doll but stuff like that explains why there are no Couples 2 pack this gen so far. Also if they restock her on Amazon she tends to go for less than $20 on sale, but she has a high chance to come with her arms stained by her mesh shirt (it can wash off if you scrub her with toothpaste), also the organizer the hissfits come with is the same (with a different pattern) that comes with that Drac, including the mirror and the divider
Love monster high (just has quality control issues )
Ah yes the quality control is a common theme shared between both sides unfortunately. 😅
@@filmaholic17yeah. When possible I just try to get them in person but sometimes that’s not an option. I feel like they’re so creative.
@@elysia2022 I agree, I'm kinda dreading when Fearbook Toralei comes out as I know I'm going to have to look over each one to see which on has the best look.
I do agree they're very creative
@@filmaholic17 same!!!! Can’t wait though!!! Target runs until the perfect one is found!
Hey, just ran across your video & as a Monster High collector, had to watch. I assume you purchased the 3 pack on Entertainment Earth? I didnt realize they would sell out so fast there & from they told me in an email reply, is they re not getting more. And I can't find any info that they will be available anywhere else. I just bit the bullet & paid double from a 3rd part seller on Amazon. I know ! 😬 Its a pre-order, they'll be released July 4th. But i didnt want to miss out on getting them at all. Ive wanted them for a long time. 🤷♀️ If they come out later widely available for everyone at retail, well then my mistake 😅
I bought these from a seller on eBay right before the price skyrocketed. I saw they were on entertainment earth but I don’t have much luck when it comes to getting things on restock. Mine was above retail but it wasn’t what it is now but I hope you van get them closer to retail as I think they’re worth it.☺️🙌
Awesome job Greg!! That was very informative indeed! I was unaware of the different grades of hair, do they have different grades for the bodies as well?? I hope you continue the dive into this rabbit hole of monster girls, and please share what you have learned. I am also on the fence about these figures but I am looking at them for a fantasy type build, I admit I am a D&D Nerd and try to create figures from the D&D lore so....Again Awesome work Sir!! I hope this continues!!!
As someone in the doll collector space, the closest thing I can think of to different grades of bodies would be the amount if articulation. In Monster High G3, the standard articulation is 12 points (head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, bust) while the "budget" body has 11 points (same as 12 but with no bust articulation) which used to be the standard in the previous generations. A big reason why Monster High was originally beloved is specifically because of that articulation, which wasn't very common, as most dolls were 5-point articulation (head, shoulders, hips) which is one of many reasons G2 was seen as such a huge downgrade, often having 7-point (head, shoulders, hips, knees) and then later on 5-point for their dolls, which is now considered very cheap and low budget.
There is a Monster High line coming out soon that has a lot of people scared because the factory test shots appear to have 5-point articulation (although on closer inspection they actually have articulated wrists, which is very weird but probably just to make dressing them easier) but from what I've heard this line is an attempt to do the "Skulltimate Secrets" gimmick at a price that's more affordable to children of low-income families and international consumers, so it's probably not actually something to worry about... Uh, I feel like I kind of went on a rant there, but that's basically it.
There are basically 3 type of bodies in the market + one in development regarding articulations, signature (neck, arms, legs, chest, elbows, hands, hips and hands) budget (all the above except for chest), boy (all of the above but instead of the chest joint it's feet joint) and the extreme budget line (it's meant to be a Cash in in the toy reveal gimmic toys so it only has neck, arms and legs articulation). There is also additional articulation for any character that has a tail. Then there are the different femenine body shapes (they are consistent regardless of how many articulations they have), a slim body that with average height, a tall variant which is the exact same with slightly longer legs, a petite body that is a shorter version of the slim body, a slightly shorter than the average body that is curvier, the glam body that has wider hips and legs, abbey's body (dont know what it's called) which is taller than the tall body, has wider hips and legs and has bigger feet, and the +size body that is average height body bigger than the curvier body (it's very Unique, even most doll stands can't fit her torso so she is very different from almost any doll out there, and the boy body which is the same, Abbey is taller than the boys, but boys are taller than average and below dolls depending on the type of shoe the characters get. There is a possibility that if they release a certain character they might do a short curvier body, and a bigger muscular male body. I gues there are also 2 types of head consistency, hard and squishy which is specific to what country was the character manufactured at
if your a d&d fan you might want to look out for the fearbook Twyla that is d&d themed, she comes with tiny dice (i think its a d12) mini figs, little character sheets and a play board. i think she also has dice mixed in with the shadows on her legs and her eyes glow, shes the daughter of the boogie man and the dolls eyes glow in the dark. there was a monster high two pack long ago with two boys dolls duece and gill that was also dnd themed. the peices didn't look too much like dnd but back then the dolls came with diaries and the one that came with it was dungeon master notes.
oh and other dolls that would work for a dnd theme are core refresh cleo and draculara, cleo comes with a heart in a jar and an Egyptian scroll and draculara comes with a spell book and a witchy looking hat.
Thanks Tim I appreciate it! Like some have commented already there are differences in the body as well so they even balance the body when it comes to budgeting for their releases. It fascinating stuff so I definitely recommend checking out the comments since they're sharing a wealth of knowledge. Don't worry I'll continue my efforts haha
Can you do generation 1 Monster high like First wave operetta, robecca, and spectra in there original dolls
No guarantee but I'll see if I can get ahold of one 👍