Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Out of the Box: Monster High Vandala Doubloons

Vandala Doubloons
In the past I've said that I didn't think I needed more than one Monster High doll (famous last words), and then it was two, and then three, so for now I'll just say that four is a good number but that I'm making no promises for the future.

Today's doll is Vandala Doubloons, the pirate ghost from the "Haunted" series.  This series is interesting in that, unlike the bulk of the Monster High dolls, there are no bright colours on the dolls.  Instead, presumably to go along with the ghost theme, they're all combinations of faded and muted tones. 

Vandala's body is a pale seafoam green while her hair is a darker green with white highlights.  Her dress is patterned with the same colours, while her purse and left shoe are a green tone that's in between the other two.  She also has a pink armour piece, pink hat (with a blue-green boat), a brown-pink prosthetic right leg (detachable in the style of the Create-A-Monster dolls), and a sea-blue stand.
In the box.

Her face screening is similarly muted, to the point that I actually had a hard time photographing it since the lack of contrast with her base colour made it hard to see if she was actually washed-out by the lighting in the photos or if it was just an accurate capture of her ghostly self.

The armour, purse and doll stand all reflect the nautical theme, and are sculpted with anchor chains (the purse and armour remind me of the barnacle-covered, semi-scaled characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies).  The stand differs from the standard Monster High stands in that it keeps the doll's feet off the base, so she "floats" rather than stands - appropriate for a ghost!
She's floating!
Unlike the hard plastic of the purse and armour, the large floppy hat is a thin, flexible vinyl (although the ship that decorates it is in the harder material).   Although it's a lighter shade of pink than the armour, it's a very close match to the doll's lip colour, which I thought was an interesting choice.

The hat.
I've mentioned before that I specifically collect dolls and figures with prosthetics, and this doll is an interesting addition to that collection.  The promotional material refers to it as a peg leg, but it actually isn't one since it has a foot.  I'm not sure why they elected to not make it an actual peg, since the main reason I can see for not doing it (allowing her to shoe-swap with other dolls) doesn't apply since a shoe is sculpted onto the foot. The sculpting it nicely done (in addition to the shoe, there's a chain and anchor pattern running the entire length of the leg), and I love the concept, but the shoe part baffles me.
A closer view of the "peg leg".

Annoyance over the sculpted shoe aside, I really like the concept behind the doll, and I'm impressed at how well this doll and the others in the "Haunted" series work with the rest of the main line Monster High dolls, even given the very different colour palate.  








13 comments:

  1. This is a very fashionable peg leg :-)! Vandala is a fabulous lady, I love all the details and the color scheme, and the hat!

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    1. Heh, she is! The hat is probably my favourite piece here as well! :)

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  2. An MH pirate *would* have her peg leg carved as a shoe because all her friends are sooooo into shoes. Can't be helped... and imagining her enthusing over the latest in Cutest Legs Evah at the MH equivalent of Forever 21 is kinda cheery.

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    1. Yeah, and I love the idea of a "cutest legs" shop, but having the specific shoe carved on means she can't be as into shoes (or share shoes) since the leg only matches that one specific shoe.

      Don't get me wrong, I still love the concept, but given the real-life challenges of shoe fitting with prosthetic feet I thought it was a shame that the doll couldn't have avoided that. But then I may be over-thinking it! ;)

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    2. I agree. MH dolls are totally into shoes. Seems like the more detailed, the better.

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  3. Seems rather limiting to carve a shoe as opposed to carving a foot whereby she could have matching shoes. I know she's supposed to be a ghost from under the sea, but I dunno, she's almost too muted for me.

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    1. It's true, I think the colours they used for this series are a surprisingly pale - I don't mind it on this particular doll, but a couple of the others fall on the "too muted" side for me as well.

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  4. She's definitely my favorite in the Haunted series...great review! I think she's a really cute doll...I would get her for the outfit alone! :)

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  5. I've seen a few of these dolls now, and I like this muted colour the best. I believe once you have one of these dolls, they become very addictive and from what you have said, this could be very true. :) ENJOY!
    Hugs,
    X

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    1. Heh, it's so true, "addiction" is just about the right word! ;)

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  6. I haven't seen this doll in the stores here! I would like to see her in person.

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    1. Hopefully she'll turn up in a store near you soon! :)

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