Inner Monster "Scared Silly/Shockingly Shy"

Even though I do have quite a few Create-A-Monster dolls, they've never been my favourite thing that Monster High has to offer. Generally I've bought them when I think the character is really special, like the bee girl, or the three-eyed ghoul, or the blob girl...okay, maybe I do like them more than I thought! What I'm saying is, that for a doll like that to really grab me, it has to be super cool, and I think the Inner Monsters are super cool indeed! When we first saw photos I definitely thought they were neat, but I wasn't sure how they would translate in person. They have a lot going on and lots of pieces, and that can be awesome or it can be overwhelming!

As soon as they hit the shelves here, I knew that the one I wanted was Scared Silly/Shockingly Shy. Not only is she orange and purple, two of my favourite colours, but she has cool crossed eyes! They're a bit pricey up here, around $30, which seemed like a bit much, but Toys R Us had a 30% off sale and well, here we are! I also grabbed the matching add-on pack from Wal-Mart, because I love the extra face it comes with. Extra face! That's why I love Monster High!

Anyways, if you'd like to see some of the things this beauty can do, click on through!

So, here she is in her box! Let me tell you, this box was a challenge. So many more attachments and rubber bands and plastic prisons, I really had to fight with it. Her box was also a bit crushed which probably didn't make it any easier. I wonder if these Inner Monster boxes are a sign of the direction Mattel will be moving with packaging or not? There is considerably more plastic in this packaging than usual, and less cardboard. I guess we'll see!

And as always, if you'd like to see this lady (who needs a name!) in action, check out my unboxing video!

Here she is with everything that the basic pack comes with. She does also come with a brush and a saddle stand, which is nice. I love that she comes with a stand, however, the saddle stands are generally kind of...problematic because their feet rarely actually touch the bottom and instead they wobble around in the air and tip over if they're top heavy enough. And once you put those tentacles on her back, she is definitely top heavy enough, though they also make it so using a normal stand is impossible. It's not the end of the world, since most play dolls don't come with stands at all, but still, worth mentioning!

I realize now I should've taken a photo of her without her wig, but I forgot! Check out the video to see what she looks without her hair, but basically, underneath the wig, she's got a neon green exposed brain, and when you push it, her eyes change! My favourite eyes are the crossed ones, but I also really love the side-glancing purple ones too. So cute, and so much personality!

The wig itself is fine. It's pretty standard in terms of Create-A-Monster quality, which means it has a thick band around the edges, and because of the style of the wig, it's visible. It's also pretty gunky with styling product, so I recommend a good wash in hot water! There are two pegs in the back of the wig that plug into two holes on the back of the doll's head to hold it on. Pretty straightforward and seems to be sturdy too.

Her outfit is simple, but really, really cute. It's two pieces, a one shouldered top with a puff of tulle on the strap, and a full, tiered skirt with a wide waistband. The pattern is flowers and worms and hearts and all sorts of other stuff, and it's just really adorable.

The shoes she comes wearing are these aqua shoes made of leaves wrapping around her feet. These are actually gorgeous, and I can see them (maybe in a different colour) on Venus, or even some of the Ever After High characters. Lovely!

Now, of course, we've got to look at what's going on underneath those cute clothes, because we've never seen anything like it before! Her body is the same shape are a normal Monster High doll, and the same basic construction as a Create-A-Monster, with limbs that pop out at all the joints. What's different is that her torso is made up of two translucent pieces that come apart, leaving behind a blue skeleton. This construction does mean that the movement of her head is a bit restricted, but nothing really terrible.

This is what the torso pieces look like on their own. You can see the little slots and tabs along the sides where they attach. I have to say, they can be pretty tricky to get apart, but I'd prefer that to her body falling apart while playing!

And those little holes in her skeleton? That's where these little things come into play! These are meant to represent emotions, and the charms just snap into the holes so you can give your Inner Monster whatever feelings you'd like her to have.

And then the torso just snaps back on over them. I think this is actually really neat, and I'd love to hear the stories kids would tell about why they put the charms they did inside their monsters!

Okay, and now, let's dig into some of the other accessories that she comes with!

These purple tentacle shoes are maybe my favourite Monster High shoes EVER. I want them in my size so badly!

She also comes with this cool tentacle backpack sort of thing, It hooks over her shoulders and around her waist, and the curly ends of each of the tentacles are articulated and can spin around! I also really love this piece!

This piece is a little more complicated! I initially put it on as a belt, but it's meant to be a collar. Part of it goes around her neck, the long pieces wrap around her waist and then the vines wrap around her arms. Whew! It also comes apart, so you can use the whole thing or just the collar.

And of course, we have to look at her extra face plate! It just snaps right over top of her face, fitting into grooves in front of her ears. I love the flower over her eye and how sweet this face is!

She also comes with a black skullette purse, that does actually open.

And a pair of leafy green sunglasses! It's kind of tricky to get these sunglasses on while she's wearing her wig, but it's not impossible.

Next, let's have a quick look at her add-on pack! This was $10 at Wal-Mart, and I actually think that's a super reasonable price for what you get.

And here she is, wearing everything in the package. So cute!

This set comes with another face, this time with the tongue sticking out. This is definitely the reason I bought this set, and it doesn't disappoint! It also comes with this green rubber wig, with pigtail buns. It's also really adorable, and you can still easily change the eyes by pressing through the wig. I actually like this wig maybe more than the purple one that comes with the basic set, because it hides the edges of the face plate perfectly.

It also comes with purple tentacles that wrap around her arms and legs, and predictably, I love these!

The dress that the set comes with is really cute, and looks like it would be part of the same "collection" as the dress in the basic set. It has the same full, tiered skirt, but the top is attached, and it has a high halter neck, with a big purple ruffle.

Underneath that ruffle is a heart cut-out, which looks cute, but I'm not confident about the longevity of the unhemmed edges of that cut-out.

The shoes the set comes with are green, with tentacle heels, ruffles, and a big orange flower on the front. These are seriously great!

It also comes with four more charms to snap into her torso. A jester hat, a jack in the box, a heart with glasses and an ice cream sundae.

So there she is! Of course, I had to play around with some of the combinations of all this cool stuff, so scroll on down and see what's possible!

That was fun! There is so much you can do with these dolls, and I bet kids could have a total blast with all the options! I haven't decided how my doll is going to look when she's on my shelf yet, but it's fun to know that I can change my mind as many times as I want, and really make her something that is totally my own.

I don't know if I'll be getting any of the other Inner Monsters, but honestly, I can say that I totally recommend picking one up if you haven't yet! They're well made and really unique, even within the already unique world of Monster High, and I love that they can still come up with stuff like this!

What do you think about the Inner Monster dolls? I'd love to know!