Original Ghouls Cleo DeNile

I still remember, wayyyy back in 2010, wandering through the toy department at my local Wal-Mart while doing groceries, and seeing an end cap full of dolls that stopped me in my tracks. I'm a lover of horror movies, especially classic horror movies, a lover of dolls AND a lover of collecting things in general, and from that first moment I saw Monster High dolls, I was a goner! That day I came home with Draculaura, and soon after, Frankie and Lagoona followed, as did Ghoulia, as soon as she hit shelves. At the time, I didn't pick up Clawdeen, though I got her a few years ago second hand, but until recently, I'd never bothered to get myself a Cleo. Interestingly, despite my love of Ancient Egypt, Cleo was never a doll that grabbed my attention. She's not as "monstrous" as some of the other ghouls, and I think the fact that she originally came in a two-pack hurt her chances of joining my collection. Now I don't blink at buying a two-pack, and I love the boy dolls, but back then, that was more commitment then I was prepared to make!

That's a very long story to get to here...I recently purchased the re-released basic Cleo, and I am very glad to have her join my collection! I've been feeling the gap left by her lately, as I've really grown to love her character. I saw her numerous times in stores before I finally decided to take the plunge and grab her, and she is definitely worth it.

Let's have a closer look at the queen bee of Monster High, shall we?

Gloom and Bloom Cleo DeNile

As I'm sure you've heard, Target is leaving Canada and closing all of its stores. This makes me very sad for a lot of reasons (loss of jobs, etc) but of course, one of those reasons is that it was one more place to look for dolls! And obviously, they have exclusives as well, that will now be considerably harder to get my hands on. I'm actually not sure if this doll is actually a Target exclusive...some are sure she is and some are sure she isn't, but regardless, when I heard Target's were closing, I went out to grab her, because they were the only place I'd seen her.

The doll I'm talking about is, of course, Cleo DeNile from the Gloom and Bloom line. Lots of Cleo over here lately, huh? The Jinafire from this line is also gorgeous, but unfortunately, I missed out on her at my local Target, so I'll have to get my hands on her another way. This entire line is beautiful, actually. I love the Venus, and I think I'll get her, and probably the Catrine as well. Jane Boolittle is really nice too, so who knows, maybe I'll get them all! The only one I'm not really wowed by is the new character, Amanita Nightshade, but I may change my mind when I see her in person, who knows!

But! This review is about the lovely Cleo up there, so let's get on with it, shall we? 

(Also, I've started linking my latest YouTube videos in the sidebar of the blog instead of in my posts, so you can check that out to see what's new!)

Monster High Vinyl Figures: Ghoulia Yelps, Cleo De Nile and Clawdeen Wolf

So, it's been a minute! Some things have been going in my life that have made blogging slip down the priority list, and though I'm not going to go into it, I am going to try to make this place more of a priority in the future, since I do really enjoy writing about dolls! I still have a lot of things I got for Christmas ready to review, and even have some of the photos and videos taken and ready to upload...but I'm taking a pause in working on that stuff to bring you something that I just bought last night, because I'm so excited to share them!

Remember back at San Diego Comic Con, when the reveal on the final day was a vinyl figure of Draculaura? Well, they've hit shelves, and I was lucky enough to find them at my local Target! I only grabbed three of the six that are currently available, because they are a bit pricey at $12.99, but I had to have them! They bridge the gap between my doll collection and my beloved collection of Funko POPs and Mystery Minis, and I think they're a really neat addition to the Monster High line.

That's a bit of a spoiler about how I feel about these things, but hey, I don't buy something if I don't love it, right? So let's take a closer look at the three I decided to pick up!

Black Carpet Cleo De Nile and Lagoona Blue

This is kind of a two-for-one post! I got Black Carpet Cleo way back after Christmas with a gift card, and she's been sitting on my shelf waiting to be reviewed ever since. There was just always something else that I decided to review first, and I'm not really sure why! Well, her time has finally come, and she gets a friend! Toys R Us had 40% off all Monster High dolls this week, and one of my choices was Black Carpet Lagoona. I'd kind of had my eye on her for awhile, but I sometimes have a hard time spending what budget dolls can cost up here in Canada, so this sale was perfect!

I figured since these ladies are budget dolls, and don't have quite as much going on as some other Monster High dolls, that it might be fun to review them together. And honestly, don't they just look cute?