Sweet Screams Frankie Stein (and Birthday Haul!)

I've not only got a review today, but also a bit of a preview of what's going to be coming up! My birthday was on the 22nd of June, and I was lucky enough to receive a few dolls as gifts. None of these are particularly new and may not be super exciting, but I was very excited to get them as they all filled holes in my collection!

I got Art Class Draculaura, finishing out my Art Class collection, basic Raven Queen, who is the last of the (readily available!) basic Ever After High dolls I needed, and finally, Sweet Screams Frankie Stein! Frankie is my review fodder for today, because I think she was the one I was most eager to get my hands on. Her and Draculaura have been on the shelves for awhile, and with the announcement of wave two featuring Ghoulia and Abbey, I was getting a bit antsy. You just never know when a doll is going to disappear forever, you know?

So, click through to see what I think of Frankie Stein, and watch my unboxing video to see my first impressions!

As with Draculaura, Sweet Screams Frankie's box is pretty amazing! Not as amazing as the American box, but the art is still so, so cool. There's a lot going on, but it just barely stops from crossing over into too much, I think.

To see some of my very first impressions of Frankie as I open her, check out my unboxing video on my YouTube channel!

And here she is! I just love these Sweet Screams dolls so much! They're so over the top and almost high fashion, and there is just so much to look at at. I thought we'd start with a few quick shots of the inside of her diary, which is really more of a storybook in this line of dolls.

Even though I'm disappointed with the amount of text inside this storybook as I was with Draculaura, I am definitely not disappointed with the art! I particularly like the picture of Frankie hugging Watzit. So cute!

And on to the doll! What better place to start than the top, right? She has a large headpiece made of pieces of candy. Frankie's theme is sort of peppermint-inspired, but obviously Monster High-ed up a bit with the colours! The headpiece has a comb on the back that kind of tucks into the large bump of her hair, but it's also stitched in with some thread. I'm planning to keep this doll completely as is, so I didn't want to mess around with it too much!

As for her hair, her bangs are done in thick black and white stripes, and as you can see, are completely rock hard with styling product. Doll bangs can be pretty dicey so I do understand the need for it, but I don't like how on Frankie here, you can see the crease of whatever they used to hold her bangs in place while they dried.

The top half of her hair is pulled up into a high bump, and the rest of it falls loose down her back. It's really long, coming below her knees! The majority of it is bright, stark white, with bold stripes of black and red. Frankie has never had red in her hair before, and I love when they add colour to her hair! Swim Class Frankie with the blue, Picnic Casket with the yellow and this, I love it all. It's just such a gorgeous, graphic look on her!

Frankie's face really has a lot going on! Her eyebrows are a bright blue, and the blue is continued throughout her faceup. The same blue appears as eye shadow under her eyes, the little jagged swirls that give the impression of lower lashes, on her cheek scar and as stripes on her red lips. The rest of her eye shadow is red, and her eyelashes are long with little dots at the ends. Finally, her pupils are shaped like octagons instead of the normal circles. Phew! That is a detailed face!

Her earrings are black, dangling peppermints that are dripping some kind of black goo. The dripping is definitely a theme! You can also see that Frankie's neck stitches are blue instead of the usual black.

I like how this outfit, despite being super over the top, still manages to give a little nod to Frankie's usual preppy style. She's wearing a tie that clips around her neck, with a peppermint acting as the knot, and the red and black stripes continuing down to the flowing tails.

Her outfit is made up of a red pleather jacket and a black and white striped dress. That's putting it pretty simply though! The jacket is amazing, with a great shape, high collar and large black cuffs. The hem is slightly high-low with a scalloped edge, and the jacket closes in the front with one piece of velcro. We'll look at the dress underneath in a bit, but trust me when I say it's great!

Her shoes are pretty great, but I feel like that goes without saying with Monster High! The soles are made up of thick, black drips and are lined with balls of candy. Winding up her legs are red straps, and those are dripping too, with a few spirals that match those on her belt and under her eyes.

Accessory-wise, she's wearing one red glove and one black glove, and two bracelets. Both bracelets are red, and the one on her right wrist is dripping candy, and the other is a fairly simple twist.

To get a better good look at the dress underneath, I took off the belt and the jacket. You can get a better idea of the shape of the jacket off of Frankie I think. The belt is black, and made up of spirals that resemble peppermints, complete with drips.

And here she is in just the dress. Shape-wise, it's pretty simple, with a fitted, slightly dropped waist bodice and full, A-line skirt.

The shape is about all that's simple though! The fabric is thick and shiny, and holds it's shape really well. It's done in a black and white stripe pattern, but the black stripes are dripping.

Where it gets really fun though, is underneath! There's black tulle underneath to help the skirt hold its full shape, and the tulle is trimmed in this crazy tinsel-y stuff. It's black and sparkly, and looks super cool poking out from underneath the dress!

Her purse is a cranky little candy! He looks like he's made of twisted cellophane, with a handle made of candy. One of his eyes is a blue wrapped candy, and the other is a peppermint. His mouth looks to be made of a blue gummy worm or licorice rope, and of course, the whole thing is finished off with drips!

And finally, candy Watzit! I like that these Sweet Screams dolls come with candy versions of their pets, I think that's a cute detail. Watzit is made of the same translucent red plastic as Frankie's purse, and his legs are made of candy canes and peppermint sticks. His eyes are both swirly peppermints, and his ears are like the twisted wrappers of candy. He also has what look like little wings that match his ears, and his tail is a cute little curlicue. He's very cute, and I think he looks great with Frankie!

And here she is, back in her full glory! These dolls are definitely the type that I want to keep as pristine as possible, in terms of not playing around with their outfits or hair. I love the way they look out of box, and with the exception of maybe trying to smooth out the ridges in Frankie's hair, I think she's perfect the way she is.

Beauty shot time!

I love how despite all that's going on with this doll, Frankie's usual sweetness manages to shine through. I think it helps that the dolls in this line so far have had really big eyes. It gives them an innocence that contrasts with the darkness and almost spookiness of their outfits.

And that's it for Sweet Screams Frankie Stein, serving up spooky-sweet realness! I'm so glad to have gotten her, and it just makes me that much more excited for Ghoulia and Abbey to come out. Especially Ghoulia, because if you've been around here for any length of time, you know how I feel about Ms Ghoulia!

Here are Target's stock photos of Ghoulia and Abbey. Are you looking forward to these two as much as I am? Tell me in the comments who your favourite is!

Coming up next, I'll be reviewing my other birthday gifts, Art Class Draculaura and Raven Queen, so stay tuned for that!