Tuesday 3 December 2013

Art Class: Skelita Calaveras!


Just the other day, I posted on my Tumblr, I asked which of the two Art Class ghouls I have should be reviewed first, Abbey or Skelita. 



And the votes were unanimous! Everyone wanted to see more of Skelita, and that's a good pick since this is, after all, only her second doll! Let's jump right in and get a closer look at this beauty, because she IS a beauty!






I absolutely love her box art! She looks for adorable and sweet, like she'd be just the nicest skeleton girl you ever met. The back of her box also has excerpts from the Art Class journal she comes with, detailing why she decided to make the vase that she did. I really like the connection to history, heritage and family they've built into Skelita's backstory so far, even in the limited amount of info we have about her. It's a lovely detail.


God, I loved her in the box, but I love her even more out of it! She's so colorful, from the streaks in her hair to her eye-catching shoes, how could you not love her?


Something I noticed while putting her stand together; the waist clip is a different shape than usual! This is really great, as one of my issues with Scaris Skelita is that she wobbles quite a bit on her stand due to her body shape, but this solves that problem. Rather than trying to hold her up around a waist she doesn't actually have, the new clip sits just perfectly around the width of her rib cage. I love when Mattel sees an an issue and corrects it in a simple but effective way!


Skelita's face is lovely! It has similarities to her first face-up, with the lines on her lips and around her mouth simulating teeth, her cute little nose, and the swirls coming down below her cheekbones, but everything else is new! I love the light purple shade of her eyeshadow with the rich brown of her eyes, and the simplistic pink flowers underneath her eyes are very cute. Her lips are a warm orangey-red, a colour that reminds me of clay which her perfect for this doll.


Her hair is black with orange and teal streaks that match her headband. The pattern on the headband reminds me of tooled leather, and the big teal flower is a graphic, interesting touch. The texture of her hair feels smoother than the original Skelita's, which is a good thing. Scaris Skelita definitely had some hair issues, but I like this Skelita's hair a lot! It falls in lovely soft waves around her shoulders, and has nice volume to it.


There's a lot going on in Skelita's outfit, but I like all of it! She's wearing a sleeveless dress, with a pink bodice and black skirt. The bodice has a neat pattern on it that is clearly meant to echo her ribcage, with a small lace detail at the neckline. The skirt is trimmed in the same lace, and features an allover print of multicoloured flowers that look a bit like dripping paint. Over that, she's wearing an open front short-sleeved top with a peplum, which is black with teal stripes. She also has a belt which matches her headband, except the flower is the same orange colour.


Her shoes are GREAT, there's a lot of detail in these things! The main colour is the same as the headband and belt, with a large teal flower accent on the front. The heels are shaped like skull vases with flowers in them, very much like the one Skelita actually comes with. There's also a band of flowers around the ankle, and a smattering of raised details on the sole and the heel.

Now, one of the reasons I love Skelita so much is her body. When I first got her Scaris doll, I was so amazed that Mattel just went there, taking it all the way! They didn't just give her a skeleton face, or arm or legs, no. They made her whole body look like a human skeleton, and I could hardly wait to have another doll with this amazing design!


 I mean, come on! Right down to the details on her pelvis and hip bones, she's incredible. She even has individual bones molded into her feet! This body also makes her very flexible, since she's made of a much softer plastic.


I would love if they put Skelita in a swim line, but I don't think that'll happen. That might be a bit too far, even for Mattel!


 Her spine! Gah, I love it.


I just love looking at her, she's so interesting!



In the box, she comes wearing a plastic form over her body to help the clothes fit a little better. I discard this though, because I like the way it looks when her clothes are a bit loose. She is a skeleton after all!



Just a quick side-by-side with Scaris Skelita, to show the differences.


I love them both!


This is the vase Skelita comes with. It's very ornate and quite cute, especially with the flowers in the top. The base actually spins too, like a potter's wheel!


 So there she is! I think I like her better without her little overshirt, it sits a bit funny and seems unnecessary. All in all, Art Class Skelita is a more than worthy follow-up to Scaris Skelita, and I'm glad we're getting to see more of this gorgeous ghoul!


Stay tuned in the next few days for Art Class Abbey, aka CHAINSAW ABBEY! Because how many other play dolls marketed to little girls come with a CHAINSAW! Can you tell I'm excited?

Are you interested in this Art Class line? Which doll is drawing your attention most?

14 comments:

  1. Her eyes are a slightly different shade of brown, aren't they? They look a bit less bug-eyed than the original Skelita, which is one of the (okay, the ONLY) problem(s) I have with my current Skelita. I was a little undecided on whether I wanted her, but seeing how different she is, I am convinced I need her. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There may be a slight difference in the colour, but you're definitely right about the shape of her eyes! They are a little less round at the bottom which makes them look less buggy. Glad my pictures helped you make a decision, I think she's definitely worth having!

      Delete
    2. And she can now look directly AT the camera, instead of around it, haha. That annoyed me quite a bit when trying to take pictures of Skelita.

      Will you be doing a review of New Scaremester Jinafire as well? I love her Scaris doll to bits.

      Delete
    3. As soon as I can get my hands on her, I probably will, yes! Those haven't made it to Canada yet, and I haven't seen them just over the border either, but she's definitely on my list

      Delete
    4. Yay! I'd love to see how she compares. The only good thing about having to wait four months for new shipments of dolls to arrive is that I get plenty of time to see which ones I really, really want (which turns out to be most of them).

      Delete
    5. That is the problem with Monster High! I have a hard time making decisions because they're all so COOL!

      Delete
    6. I know right? Before this whole craze got hold of me the only thing I ever needed to spend money on was books. Now it's dolls, dolls, dolls all the way! I check amazon almost everyday like a stockbroker, waiting for some of the prices to come down.

      Delete
    7. I've always collected SOMETHING, books, action figures...but nothing's lasted as long as this for me. I've been collecting MH since 2010, and I see no signs of it stopping!

      Delete
    8. I used to be a very economical person.I didn't really need anything...until I stumbled upon MH sometime at the beginning of the year.

      Delete
  2. I noticed you don't get many comments just yet, so I had to figure out a way to sign in (I don't seem to have many of the requisite online i.d.s), because I read every entry and check back regularly for more. I love reading your reviews!

    And I am very interested in the Art Class line. I've realized that in the long run, I might even get Chainsaw Abbey. I'm not a great Abbey collector - in fact I picked up the very first Abbey who looks to be staying on permanently only a couple of days ago in the Black Friday sales. And I know this Art Class doll is widely regarded as very similar to many other Abbeys, but the more I see of her, the more I think she's at least an exceptionally pretty version of the usual Abbey - one of the best - and as I don't have the usual Abbey yet, this might be the version to go with!

    I'm trying to be patient about Skelita and wait until there are a few of her to choose from, because I think that'll help me find one with a really sweet face. I love that her dress actually has a separate jacket/vest! I didn't know that! It means that even if the dress is prettier sans jacket, the jacket might come in handy at other times, for other outfits. (I wish Draculaura's outfit also came apart, even though I do like it just as-is).

    On that note, though, I'm not sure if I'll get Art Class Draculaura, despite how much I admire her bright color scheme and her cute bell-shaped dress. I'm sure it's just the teeny eyes and the fact that she's not a character that's ever run away with my imagination. But she still *is* tempting, because her outfit and bright colors are just so great. Maybe she'd grow on me?

    I think it might be official that Art Class Robecca disappoints me, though. (And I've seen several of her in person, so I have had ample opportunity to bond with her). Robecca's my favorite character of these four, actually, and I know the mostly blue hair of this new doll mostly seems very popular, but I think sometimes they try to use so many colors on her that it starts to seem a bit incoherent. The cobalt blue and black of her hair against her warmer, more vibrant coppery skin is an interesting combo, and purple works with it, too. But the new Robecca has almost all bright blue hair, coppery-bronze skin, orangey lips, fuschia eye shadow, a purple streak, and a dress that's made up of particularly cool, silvery shades of grey and blue, etc. I want to love her, but I'm getting a lot of visual noise. Not a single one of those things is a deal-breaker for me - I actually love my Dead Tired Robecca who has a very similar face up - but I'm not feeling all those mis-matched colors crammed together on the same doll. (And if they've made her accessories that pinky copper color again, that's *yet another* color I'm not sure fits in. Weirdly, Robecca's metallic skin is flattered by *every other* metallic accessory I have, *except* her own pinkish copper boots and other items. They're the most wonderful boots ever, but they don't actually show her off, in my opinion).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I appreciate the effort for sure, I love getting comments! :) Thank you!

      There's definitely similarities in this Abbey to previous ones (I'll probably look at some of those when I do my review!) but I think there's definitely something special about her that drew me in.

      That's a good tactic to have! I suffer from a lack of patience, especially when it comes to new characters because you never know if or when you're going to see them again. With Skelita, I was so immediately struck by her body that I had to have her very first doll and if they keep making them this cute, I'll probably end up with quite a few! I also always prefer when outfits are made up of more pieces. I don't do a great deal of redressing of my dolls, or mixing and matching between characters, but it's a nice option to have, especially for play! One outfit I really wished was two pieces was Ghoulia's GNO outfit. I was so disappointed when the peplum overpiece was attached!

      I agree about Art Class Draculaura actually. I love the colours, the mix of pink and yellow is so fun! But there's something about her that's not grabbing me. I don't really like the new smaller eyes they've been giving her since Scaris so I'm sure that's part of it, but we'll see how I feel in the long run!

      Interestingly though I feel opposite about Robecca! I wasn't sold on her based on photos, which is why I only had my friend pick up Skelita and Abbey for me, but then the dolls hit our local TRU and I got to see Robecca in person and I was pleasantly surprised! I love her outfit, and I really like that her hair has more blue in it. The blue in her hair is really an exceptionally gorgeous colour to me, and I'm happy to see more of it! I do agree about the mixing metallics though, that's the one thing that's stood out to me about her since her basic doll, the boots are just a shade off from what would look best I think. Not close enough to her skin OR different enough to look purposeful maybe. Monster High dolls can get pretty busy though, so I totally get how one more thing can just be the straw that broke the camels back!

      Thanks again for commenting, I hope to see you around these parts again!

      Delete
  3. Oh, whoops! Now you have a ton(ne) of comments! I'm glad!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi I love your photos. I am hoping that you will allow me to use two of your photos for my post Skelita Monster High Character. I will leave a link back to your page and mention your name. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete