Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Out of the Box: Bratzilla Illiana Honesty

I've talked before about my ridiculous fondness for the Bratz Boyz line, but I've never branched out into picking up any of the dolls from the other Bratz lines.  Or at least that was the case until last week, when I found the Bratzilla Illiana Honesty (from the "House of Witchez"/"Back to Magic" international-themed series) available for a reasonable price.
Bratzilla Illiana Honesty



The Bratzilla line is closer to the standard Barbie-type fashion dolls than the older Bratz line dolls, having taller bodies and lacking the standard Bratz peg-shoes.   These dolls also feature inset rather than painted eyes, and twelve points of articulation rather than five.  Given those details, I was expecting a doll of noticeably higher quality than the main Bratz line.  In reality, my impressions were mixed.

In the Box
The doll is packaged in a basic front-plastic/back-carded style, with the doll attached to an inner lining.

The Back of the Box.
Once released from the packaging, the first thing I noticed about this doll is that her legs are made of a softer material than the rest of her body.  In and of itself, that's not terribly unusual for a fashion doll, but in this case the dolls legs were so soft that it's impossible for her to stand upright.  Given that the old style Bratz dolls are known for their solid standing ability, this seemed like a huge sacrifice for the new body (which incidentally doesn't have jointed ankles, so the doll doesn't even have that excuse).
The inner lining.
Complaints about the legs aside, I did appreciate the jointing of the torso and arms, and found the doll to be a solid poser in that area.  Her inset plastic eyes also give this doll a more dynamic expression than I'm used to seeing from the painted-eyed Bratz releases.
Out of the box (and supported by the window).
Having been originally drawn to these dolls by their outfits, I found the clothing on this doll to be decidedly lackluster.  The inspiration is supposedly India-meets-Hogwarts-meets-High-Fashion, but frankly the pieces just look like pink shorts and a shirt to me.  The plastic witches hat is a cute touch, but the matching shoes do nothing to help the doll stand, despite being large enough that they could have been constructed with that in mind.

Complaints aside, I do like the faux-gold earrings and the long black-with-gold-streaked hair appears to be decent quality and well-rooted.

Compared to one of the older, shorter Bratz Boys
Overall, while I'm less than thrilled with this doll and won't be picking up any other Bratzillas, I'm not disappointed with having added her to my collection.  With a new outfit and a doll stand, I think the appeal of her positive features (in particular her eyes and hair) will outweigh the negatives.

A parting glance.

13 comments:

  1. Bratzillaz are... difficult. Your Ilana has a gorgeous face, as so many of the Zillaz do, but MGA really got spotty with overall quality in the line.

    The only one I have is Fianna Fins, where they worked on the outfit but cut corners on hair quality.

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    1. You're right - "difficult" is the perfect word for it. So much potential and yet they didn't quite take it far enough. Ah well...

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  2. I feel the same as you. I'm glad I have the two that I did get when they first were released, but I definitely didn't want anymore. The body construction was just so poor.

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    1. It's true.

      Did you keep your two on their original bodies or swap them? I'm debating doing a body swap for this one, but it would depend on finding a vinyl colour match.

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    2. I left them on their bodies. If I would have been able to shrink their heads I might have considered a body swap. That would have ruined their eyes though so I left them alone, wonky bodies and all.

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    3. Ah, that makes sense. I wonder if there are any larger bodies that would work with the heads...

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  3. Interesting, but like you I would be very disappointed that she couldn't stand.
    Hugs,
    X

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    1. Yes, I love seeing playline dolls that try to expand into new features, but when one step forward comes along with other drawbacks it's hard not to bea little disappointed.

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  4. I never got into these dolls and she is cute. I swear you have some cool items!!

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  5. I never got into these dolls either. I love the inset eyes, and I find the combination of Megara's flaming red hair and blue inset eyes especially attractive to me. But I wouldn't buy one.

    They would have been better off giving Illiana a skirt that matched the top. Of course then, it would have looked a lot like one of the Barbie Dolls of the World: India. This just looks like different pieces pulled out of the clothing box and thrown on.

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    1. Yeah, I can see why you wouldn't buy one - they certainly made some strange missteps with these.

      Your outfit idea is definitely at least 10x better than the one they went with. I'm going to need to give her another post at some point once she's been restyled, because I think her face (and those eyes!) deserve the something better.

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  6. I also had two of these on my wishlist for a while (Carolina Past and Siernna Calmer), but I'm kind of glad I never got them. I love them for their eyes, and like you mentioned, some of their creative outfits, but I think I'd rather spend my money on a Monster High doll which have more pleasing qualities to me. Lovely review though, and your particular one is really pretty!

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