A-Tisket, A-Tasket: Picnic Casket Two-Pack, featuring Frankie Stein and Jackson Jeykll

Way back in November, Toys R Us Canada had the new Picnic Casket two-pack featuring Frankie Stein and Jackson Jekyll up for pre-order. It happened to coincide with their Black Friday sale, so I of course jumped on that and pre-ordered my set for 30% off! It was supposed to ship at the end of January, and then at the end of February, but I didn't actually get mine till the end of March. And then I ripped into the shipping box, super excited, aaaand...Frankie's makeup was smeared and Jackon had hair stuck in his lip paint. Sigh. You can see pictures of that original messed up set over at my tumblr. I was so disappointed!

Luckily, I do live close to a Toys R Us, and really only pre-ordered to get the discount, so on the weekend, we went off to do an exchange. My Toys R Us had an absolute ton of these two packs, and nearly every single one of the shelf was better than the one I actually received, so I grabbed a new one, did the exchange, and we were off! I was excited to finally be able to crack into the box and get my hands on these dolls, since Frankie is always a favourite, and I loved Jackson's outfit, though his hair needed a bit of work.

And I wasn't disappointed! Click on through to see lots of pictures, and my thoughts on the Picnic Casket two-pack!

I love how Jackson is posed in the box, like he's tripping and dropping all their snacks! I really enjoy Jackson in the webisodes, I can't help but relate to the nerdy guy who doesn't quite fit in. I do wish his doll looked a bit more like his cartoon self, but he's still pretty cute. Frankie is gorgeous, as always!

And here they are, with everything they come with. They also each come with a stand (yes!) and they come with one brush. The little table their snacks are on is my own, and was actually made by my grandfather many years ago. It makes me smile to use it with my dolls now!

Don't they look cute together? Jackson's always had yellow in his hair, and I love them bringing that colour to Frankie to tie them together. Yellow really works for her!

I'm going to look at both dolls individually, and of course, ladies first! Frankie is one of my favourite MH characters, and I think her dolls are usually gorgeous, and this one is no exception! I think the last Frankie I bought before this was her Picture Day version, or maybe Swim Class, and interestingly, there's definitely a common colour theme throughout all three of those releases. Maybe I just love Frankie in yellow and blue?

Frankie is one of the most straight-up pretty dolls Monster High has released, in my opinion, with her big eyes and full lips. It's her scars and pale green skin that really pull her into the monster world, and I love the juxtaposition of those things! This Frankie has her eye makeup done with bright blue eyeshadow, surrounded by a pale, bright green just above the crease. I like that they didn't go yellow with the makeup; sometimes MH has a tendency to go matchy-matchy, but the hint of green really works without being too much. Her lips are bright, what I would think of as a Barbie pink, and it looks great on her her! You can also see in this picture that it perfectly matches the ribbon trim on her cardigan, and it also matches the soles of her shoes.

In addition to Frankie's signature white and black streaks, this time she has a panel of bright yellow hair rooted along her part. It blends in really nicely, and I love that they've started mixing in new colours with Frankie's hair! The white is so striking to begin with that any colour you add it going to stand out beautifully, and just be even more striking.

Style-wise, she has side-swept bangs and a side part, and the rest of the hair falls straight down to her elbows. It's straight, but there's a bit of a bend to it from being strapped into the package. It's simple hair, but sometimes that's a good thing! These are toys that are meant to be played with, and while collectors might love elaborate updos, those same hair-dos can be frustrating to a child who wants to take the hair down and brush it or style it themselves. This simple hair is nice and smooth to brush, and I can see it being very fun and easy to style.

Accessory-wise, Frankie is going for one bold statement. Her earrings are bright yellow lightning bolts dangling off of stylized stitches. I really like these earrings, and I love how bright they look against the backdrop of her hair!

Her outfit is adorable, and totally perfect for a picnic! She's wearing a dress with a yellow peter pan collar, a black bodice with a bolt pattern, and a blue skirt with a black and light blue stitch pattern. It's all topped off with a big yellow bow around her waist. The skirt is a satin-y material that has good movement, and it's long enough that she can sit well in it, which is kind of important if you're going on a picnic! Her final piece of clothing is her grey knit cardigan, with stitches on one arm and trimmed in pink ribbon. This is so, so cute! Not nearly enough dolls come with cardigans, and this one in particular is darling!

The dress is pretty dang cute all on its own too, in case it gets a bit warm on the picnic. Frankie definitely rocks the school girl look well!

Here's a shot of the cardigan on its own. It's pretty well-made overall, and looks like it would stand up to play.

I feel like we've seen these shoes on Frankie before, but in a different colour....I Heart Fashion maybe? And I think they were blue? Regardless, they're very cute shoes, and I like the big bolts as the heel and the stitches on the toe. They feel very Frankie!

Now, Frankie's going to take a backseat for a minute while we talk about her man, Jackson Jekyll. Jackson's basic doll was the first boy doll I ever got and I love him, but I may actually prefer this version!  I just love the colours, and well, you know what I just said about dolls and cardigans!

I also love dolls in glasses, and I particularly love Jackson's bright yellow specs! If you're going to wear glasses, may as well make them a statement, right? I do think Jackson's wide jaw and chiseled features don't quite capture the dorky-cute guy I love from the webisodes, but I can't deny that he's a pretty good looking doll. I can see why Frankie likes him!

Without his glasses, you can get a better look at his face. I'm glad that he was packaged with his glasses on his head so I could get a good look at his eyes, because he seems to be pretty prone to wonk. His eyebrow ring isn't molded, it's actually pushed into two holes on his face, and sometimes this causes a lot of distortion in his eye, making it look almost like it's half closed. You can see a bit of that distortion here, but I tried to pick a pretty decent one. His right eye is also a wee bit closer to his nose than his left is, but that bothered me less than a droopy eye.

As for his hair, well...the idea was good, but the reality not as good. The hair was absolutely chock full of styling product. It was sticky and covered in white flecks, and as you can see here, strongly resembled a mullet.

See? Ick. I didn't even want to touch it, it felt so sticky. Now, I'm no hair stylist, and I was pretty terrified I was going to ruin his hair, but I couldn't leave him like this! So, I washed his hair really well to get all the gunk out of it, and then I went in carefully with my hair cutting scissors just to take some of the bulk and mullet-y length out of the back, and trimmed it up around his ears. I also cut his fringe to be a bit choppier, trying to emulate the look on the box, and while it isn't perfect, it is so much better and I'm much happier!

Not much different from the front, just a bit neater.

But from the side, I think the difference is pretty huge! After these pictures I actually went in and trimmed a bit more around the ears, and it's even better!

On to his outfit! He's wearing a bright blue tee with a green yin yang printed on the front, and green trim. Over that, he's wearing a grey checkerboard patterned cardigan, with two bands of green ribbon on one arm. I love this cardigan so much, and I wish it existed for actual people. It's just so nice! There's also rubber trim inside the sleeves to help keep them pushed up like that, which is a nice touch.

Down below, Jackson is wearing the yellowest pants in the world. They're cut like jeans, but they're not made of denim, or anything denim-like. They're made of a very light cotton-y material, potentially even the same material as basic Jackson's yellow shirt. This is actually really nice, because it means they move better than jeans would, and he can sit down easily too, without his pants opening in the back or limiting his movement. Plus, yellow pants are just cool!

His shoes are really basic, just grey slip-ons with a green yin yang printed on each.

Without the cardigan, Jackson kind of looks like a surfer. I know that sleeves would be tricky underneath that cardigan, but I'm just not crazy about this shirt when I see it on its own.

Also, underneath that shirt, Jackson has his yin yang tattoo between his shoulder blades. Basic Jackson and Holt both had this tattoo, but it was missing on Swim Class Holt, for some reason. I like hidden little details like this, so I'm glad it's back!

The set comes with his-and-hers Monster High water bottles, two drippy little cakes with spiders on top, and a picnic basket purse that holds absolutely none of these pieces. I think the purse is a re-use from Clawdeen's Scary Tales dolls, Little Red Riding Wolf, but I would have appreciated if even one of the water bottles would fit inside it.

And here they are, together again! I had a lot of fun posing these two, they just look so cute together, and their colours are so bright and fun!

"Jackson, are you sure you don't need any help with that?"

"No, no, I've got this Frankie!"

"...Okay, maybe I haven't got this."

"We'll just brush it off, it'll be fine!"

I wonder what monsters do on a picnic? Watching the clouds seems a bit...normal, but then Jackson's kind of a normie when he's not Holt, and Frankie is still learning about what it means to be a monster, so who knows! Maybe they'll find their own perfect balance of sweet and spooky!

This is a little thing, but the height difference on these dolls is just perfect, and really adds to the fun of posing them together. I love that she can rest her head on his shoulder! I'm such a sucker for the couples in this line, and I don't know why. They're just so cute!

See? So cute!

And before we go, Frankie just had to see how she'd look in Jackson's glasses.

Turns out, she looks pretty awesome!

Like a sexy librarian or something. This makes me want to put some knee socks on her, really go all the way with it!

My cousin once told me that when shopping for sunglasses, you've got to make sure they look cute on your face AND on your head, and I think these glasses pass that test! This probably won't be the last time Frankie steals Jackson's glasses, good thing he doesn't mind.

But for now, the glasses are back where they belong, and these two have found their place on my shelves. I was actually pleasantly surprised by just how much I love both of these dolls. I mean, I knew I liked them from the pictures we'd seen or I wouldn't have pre-ordered them, but once I got my hands on them, I just love them! Jackson's outfit is really great, especially considering what the boy dolls often get, and this Frankie is stunningly gorgeous to me! They may not be the flashiest set, but sometimes simple is better, and Frankie and Jackson here are the perfect example of that.

What do you think of Frankie and Jackson? Do you have room in your life for this sweet set?