Sunday 9 November 2014

Sweet Screams Ghoulia Yelps!

Whoa, long time, no see, huh? Sorry it's been so long since I last did a review, but things have been changing a bit in my life recently. I got a job about a month ago, and going into a full time schedule again has been a bit of an adjustment (understatement!), and this blog has definitely suffered. I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things, and get reviews done on the weekends when I'm actually home while the sun is up! And hopefully, with a new income, I'll be able to buy a few more dolls, but we'll see!

Anyways, enough of that and onto the doll, right? After my first week at work, I went over to the states because I discovered I needed some new clothes if I was actually going to have a real job. And of course, I had to poke my nose in a few stores to investigate the doll situation. We went to Target, and I found SO many things that I was looking for, but I was good, and just picked up the number one thing I was hoping to find, Sweet Screams Ghoulia! The Sweet Screams line is one of my favourite lines of dolls that Monster High has come out with, and of course, Ghoulia is my favourite character, so she was a must have! Her and Abbey seem to be taking their sweet time to make it up to Canada, and  I was hoping to grab at least Ghoulia over in the states anyways to take advantage of the fully English packaging, so I was definitely excited that it all worked out!




Without further ado, lets have a look at this super neat doll, shall we?






So, I realized as I was taking photos for this review that I was so excited to open Ghoulia, I forgot to take pictures of her in the box. Oops! Luckily, I didn't destroy the box when opening it, so you can imagine what Ghoulia would look like inside. I LOOOOVE the art on the front of this box! Ghoulia chowing down on the little gummy bear's brains? I mean, seriously. Adorable!



If you want to see just how exhausted this new job is making me, I think this video gives you a pretty good idea haha...But it also gives you my first impressions of this doll!



And here she is, with everything that she comes with. Of course, she does also come with the stand brush, but I think we all know that that looks like at this point! I'm going to start by taking a look at some of the accessories that Ghoulia comes with, before delving into the doll herself.


First, like the previous two Sweet Screams dolls, she comes with a candy version of her pet, Sir Hoot-a-Lot. I love his candy corn ears, and the little gummy worm in his mouth! Secondly, she comes with a little translucent gummy bear purse, and he appears to be a little under the weather. The purse is pretty simple and small, but I think it's really cute, and looks great with her outfit.


And of course, it also comes with Ghoulia's section of the story in a little storybook, and the art is just as amazing as it was in the first two.


See? So cute!


Oooookay, finally on to the doll! She's definitely an elaborate doll, though she definitely has a bit less going on than Frankie and Draculaura, in terms of her outfit. Their outfits were made up of multiple pieces, and even though Ghoulia's has a lot of layers, it's all one piece.


Starting at the top of her head, she has this awesome lime green gummy worm headband, with a brain detail. I really like how the green stands out against the blue of her hair.


Her earrings are red dangling gummy worms with cute little faces, and a slight blue spray on the drippy ends. If you couldn't tell already, Ghoulia's theme is definitely gummy worms, and I love that for her! I loved her deluxe fashion pack that came with the worm earrings, and this is a fun way of tying the candy theme into Ghoulia's undead vibe.


As always, Ghoulia is wearing glasses, but these ones are definitely something else. They magnify her eyes like crazy, and give her a really cartoony look. On any other doll this might be annoying, but on this particular doll it totally works! The glasses themselves are blue, with worm-y texture (I can't come up with a better way to describe that..) around the rims. There are blue drips on one side, and both upper corners are adorned with red, swirling gummy worms.


The arms of the glasses are drippy, and painted red to match the worms on the front.


Underneath those glasses, Ghoula has a LOT going on. Ghoulia normally has eyes that are on the smaller side for Monster High, but on this doll her eyes are positively HUGE! She has blue brows, and blue eyes, and there is that wormy texture again in her irises. I like how the Sweet Screams dolls all have something different like this going on with their eyes, like how Frankie's pupils are hexagons and Draculaura's are hearts. Her eyeshadow is done in colours that manage to be soft and neon all at once. All around her eyes is a bright yellow-green, and then around that is a soft, bright pink. These are totally new colours for Ghoulia, and I think they're really fun! On her left eye, her lower lashes are longer and thicker, and end in little dots which mirror the drip detail on the opposite side of her glasses. Her lips are painted in an orangey-red shade which matches the red details on her outfit really well. I do think that Ghoulia gets red lips a lot of the time, and I wish they'd branch out from that a little bit. I know it goes with her general colour scheme, but still, I'd love to see a plum or even a really bright pink on her a bit more often!


Her hair is pretty different from the usual Ghoulia. It's wavy and quite fluffy, and reminds me a bit of Jane Boolittle's hair, texture-wise. It's also a bit brighter than usual, using more of the bright blue and less of the light blue than Ghoulia's dolls typically have. Underneath, there's also a lot of navy blue, which is a fun addition!


The gummy worm theme continues down onto her outfit. As I said, this whole thing is one piece except for the belt, but it's still very cool. The top is sleeveless, with large red and blue pleather accents on the collar and sleeves. The bodice is black with shiny black stripes that give the otherwise plain tops some interest. She's also wearing a simple necklace of black, red and blue beads.



Both of her hands are painted black to mimic gloves, and she has little bracelet cuffs on each wrist. On her left forearm she also has a translucent green gummy worm bracelet that wraps from wrist to elbow.


Guess what I'm going to say about these shoes? They're amazing, as per usual! They match her bracelet, and coil nearly all the way up to her knees. I also loves the red overspray on the soles, it makes them look particularly gory in a wonderful way.


And doesn't she just look so cute holding her little gummy bear purse? I really love everything about this doll from her gummy headband to her wormy shoes. The Sweet Screams dolls all feel like something really special and well-designed, and even though Ghoulia is a bit simpler than the original two, she definitely still feels special.



Speaking of the other two, I definitely had to get Frankie and Draculaura off the shelf and and get them together with Ghoulia, and I think they just look amazing together.


I love how the black in all of their outfits ties them together, but each of them have their own unique colour schemes too. Really, these dolls are just amazing! I thiiiiiink Frankie MIGHT be my favourite...but it's a close call!


I also bought a giant tub of gummy worms, because, well...Ghoulia loves candy, and so do I!


Maybe I don't love it this much though...


It DOES look pretty comfy though!



 So, that's all for Sweet Screams Ghoulia! It's pretty clear that I love this doll, but what do you think? Do you like this line as much as I do? I know that I'm really curious to see what Target's next exclusive line is going to be, since the previous ones (Scarily Ever After, Powerghouls and Sweet Screams) are some of my favourites!

And since it's been awhile since I've been around, what other Monster High stuff are you looking forward to? I saw that the Monster Exchange dolls have started hitting shelves some places, and that's definitely what I'm most excited for! I can't wait to get my hands on Lorna McNessie and Marisol Coxi!


11 comments:

  1. Ooo I love that ghoulia! And have you heard of the Dawn of the Dance re release monster high dolls? they look almost exactly like the original release dolls, and even though they're slim boxed, they have stands, two Dotd pictures, and multilayered outfits that make other slim box doll outfits look cheap(er than usual)! too bad they might be Wal-Mart black Friday exclusives. (I don't really know if they're black Friday exclusives, but that's what I've heard, I bought mines on ebay.)

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    1. I have seen those! If they make it to Canada, I'm definitely considering picking up Frankie and Lagoona, the only DotD doll I have right now is Ghoulia.

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    2. I only have DotD Frankie, the only other DotD dolls I really want are Deuce, and Lagoona.

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    3. DotD Lagoona is one of the best MH dolls ever, in my opinion. I'm still not sure why I passed her up the first time around honestly!

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    4. Ha, toy regrets, I remember when I passed up on wave one Lagoona for wave one Draculaura, not knowing that they would make not one, not two, but THREE Draculaura re releases, and to my knowledge, they never re released Lagoona up until now, in that 6 pack, but her faceup is completely different.

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    5. I'm really lucky that I've been able to get the dolls I REALLY regretted not buying for a reasonable price. I got both DotD Ghoulia and basic Jackson for about $30 each around a year ago!

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  2. First of all, welcome back! \o/ Hope work hasn't taken it's toll on you!

    Secondly, GHOULIA! I love that she has darker colours in her hair - that navy blue almost looks black in certain lighting conditions. It's such a change from her usual pale blue and I adore how different it looks. It also blends in really well with the neon craziness the outfit has going on. And that is one fantabulous outfit, by the way. I haven't eaten a gummy worm in years but I used to love them as a kid and this doll (and your lovely review) really harken back to my childhood. Those glasses are so cute and I get such a kick seeing how big her eyes are! She really looks like she's gone on a major sugar rush.

    I'm probably going to have to swallow the immense shipping cost and order her directly from an American seller but it will be sooo worth it for her! Congrats on finally getting her and completing your zombie collection once more :)

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    1. Thank you, it's good to be back! Work is definitely taking it's toll, but i'm doing my best! And I did have some new, fun things to review in the future, so I'm excited!

      I totally agree about the colour in her hair. I think Ghoulia could use some change in her hair...it's always the same, and just about everyone else gets different colour now and then, so I was glad to see this! And yes, the outfit is so great! It's so awesome to have another deluxe Ghoulia after basically FOREVER.

      I think this is totally a situation where the shipping is worth it to be honest. These dolls really are special! And thanks! I'm very happy to have her :)

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  3. You know, I initially had no interest in this one, but the colors have drawn me in, and I like her face. She has a good balance of crazy without potentially hurting the eyes like the first wave.

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  4. Hola, genil blog sigue asi!!!

    ¡¡¡¡puedes poner foto de todo el diario, por favor!!!
    Lo quisiera leer

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