'Haunted' Porter "Paintergeist" Geiss

I know that this may not be the most exciting review, since this isn't exactly the newest doll, but he's new to me, and I thought it would still be worth reviewing! There's no video to go with this review, because I actually got stung in the eyelid by a hornet the other night (I'm fine!) but I certainly was in no shape to be on film for a few days!

Anyways, the doll that I'm reviewing today is Porter Geiss from the Haunted line, and I actually wasn't sure if I was ever going to pick him up. When the dolls came out before I'd seen the movie, I though Porter was cool, and I liked the doll quite a bit, but I just wasn't sure. I kind of wanted to make sure I liked the character before picking up the doll, since all too often new Monster High characters (especially male characters...) turn out to be kind of bland. That might not matter to everybody, but it can make a big difference to me, and this time, it did! Turns out, Porter was pretty funny in the movie, and a really unique male character, and I decided he needed to eventually join my collection. 

Luckily, all the stores around me still have a lot of Haunted dolls, so I wasn't worried about being able to find him, and I decided to wait and see if they went on sale. At regular price, these Haunted dolls are about $30 up here in Canada, and I'm starting to get to the point with my collection that I really am happier waiting to get some dolls a little bit later for a better price, rather than rushing out and buying everything at full price. So, this is all basically a very long story to tell you that finally, all $29.99 Monster High dolls were on sale for 40% off at Toys R Us this last week, and with the last of my birthday money in hand (thanks Aunt Gail!) off I went to pick up Porter! I also picked up Kiyomi, so look forward to that review coming soon too!

But this post is about Porter, and I think I've rambled on long enough, so let's get to it!

Here he is in his box, which is the same as the all the other Haunted dolls. I don't really like these boxes honestly...for some reason they are WAY harder to get into than the other new boxes, so I'm glad this style was unique to the Haunted line, which I'm (probably?) done purchasing. I do like Porter's art though, I love his smirk!

And this is everything Porter comes with. He comes with a diary, as well as a stand in the same style that allows him to float that we first saw with Vandala and River. He doesn't come with a brush, since the boy dolls usually don't, and honestly, I could care less if I ever got another doll brush. I'm overrun!

 He does come with a diary, which tells us a little bit about Porter, and sets up some of the events of the movie. As per usual, there's not a ton in the international version, but it's still something! You can click the images to embiggen them if you want to get a better look at what it says.

And finally, on to Porter himself! Overall, he's a pretty cool looking dude! As with the other Haunted dolls, he's basically head to toe pastels, and I like that they didn't really shy away from doing these pale colours on a male doll. It's something a bit different, but he still has some edge to him with the chains and his shorts.

His skin makes him pretty hard to photograph, however. He's a very pale green with a kind of milky translucency, and thanks to his lack of lip paint, he tends to lose his nose AND his mouth in photos. They are there though! I also looked closely at all three of the Porter's on the shelf, and all of them had something funny going on with the right eye. This one was the least wonky, but there is definitely still more roundness on the bottom of the right eye than on the left. I'm not particularly fussy on wonky eyes, so Porter here doesn't bug me, but I still wanted to mention the potential issue, if wonky eyes DO bug you!

His hair is shades of green, and styled into long, swirly waves on one side. There is a lot of styling product in this hair, so I'm probably going to wash it...hopefully I don't regret that!

As with the other Haunted dolls, Porter has a lot of plastic stuff happening over top of his actual clothes. I'm going to look at all of that stuff first, and then look at what he's got on underneath them. He's wearing a silver chain harness over his shoulders, which holds his ghost paint, and loops of chain around his waist. In the movie, we learn that the students at Haunted High have to wear detention chains if they break the rules, and Porter is definitely a rule breaker, so that explains all the chains!

On his right wrist, he's wearing a thick silver cuff, with a dangling padlock.

Here is what his belt looks like on it's own. It's made up mostly of rectangular links...

But with a few links shaped like paint palettes and splotches. 

His harness is all silver, but looks like it's meant to be made of both chain and leather straps. It doesn't open anywhere, but it slips on and off easily if you just bring both of his arms around back. The harness also serves to hold his ghost paint, which we'll look at closer in a bit.

Outfit-wise, he's wearing an oxford style shirt and shorts. The shirt is grey, with pastel ombre at the top, dripping down towards his waist. It opens in the back, but has seaming down the front to simulate a placket. The string around his waist was actually not suppose to be there and was just a stray, but I didn't pull it away right away so just ignore it! His shorts are knee length and feature a brick pattern with paint splotches all over. I really like his outfit actually, and I think it speaks really well to Porter's personality!

His shoes are pretty simple, but super cool because they're clear! They're a bright turquoise sneaker, but they're really impressively see through. I know the girls often have transparent or translucent shoes, but for some reason, Porter's really tickle me!

Porter's body is the usual Monster High male body mold, but he does have one difference. his right hand is molded into this position, just so he can hold his ghost paint.

The cans look like this, with a little hook to hold the cans on his harness, though that can be used to help him hold the can in his hand as well,

The cans fit perfectly like this, and his finger is perfectly poised to create some art!

And here's the other can hooked onto the chain. It's a bit finicky to get the hook into the links of the chain, but once it's in there, it stays put pretty well.

So that's Porter! He's really cool, and I'm glad I was finally able to pick him up. He stands out amongst my other boy dolls with his pastel colour scheme, and he definitely has his own personality! 

One of my favourite things about Monster High has always been how unique each character is and how they all have their own personal style, and I especially love that they extend that to their boy dolls. The focus of the line is always going to be on the girls as it should be, but the boys don't feel like afterthoughts, and I like that. If you're going to tell me that the girls are interested in dating these boys, I appreciate them being more than cardboard cutouts!

All in all, I've really enjoyed the Haunted line. I still have Kiyomi to review, and that'll probably be it. I don't love any of the budget dolls, and I'm unsure about Rochelle, especially since Wal-Mart here just jacked her price up to $32.47, which is completely insane.

I have to admit that I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed with Monster High...I enjoy all the dolls I have and I don't see myself as being able to part with them, but I also don't know how much sense it makes to keep growing what is becoming a fairly massive collection...But of course, I LOVE so much of what we've seen is coming out, and I still don't have the Freak du Chic line, so I'm definitely not stopping collecting any time soon...It's just something I think about every once in awhile when I realize how many dolls I have, and that I have half of them stored away even now. I should probably sell a few to make space, since there are definitely some I bought because they were new, and less because I loved them at the time, but when I look at them, I remember buying them, and I can't part with them. Anyone else struggle with that aspect of collecting from time to time? This is a crazy ride I'm on, and I'm not sure how (or even if I want to!) get off it at this point!

Anyways...that's it for now, and I'll be back soon with a review of Kiyomi Haunterly, and something else I have coming in the mail!