What did you get for Christmas?

Welcome to the Hobby Haven, everyone!

There's lots of good stuff coming up in the next few weeks! I'll be doing a bunch of media reviews, which you'll probably see in January and February. I lost my camera's memory card, so I have to re-take a whooooole bunch of pictures for some reviews that I don't have finished (UGH). Plus, I got the Monster Exchange Lagoona Blue and Marisol Coxi dolls for Christmas, so I need to review those. Also, we finally got confirmation via Ever After High Dolls that Kitty Cheshire is being shipped out to stores as I type, and that our girl Duchess will be hitting stores in January. I'm seeing weekly toy hunts in my future...gotta get that swan princess! (We'll also be getting a lot more Ever After High this coming year: a playset with Ginger, two lines with three dolls each, and a special two-pack with Apple and Raven.)

We had a very low-key Christmas this year, since we had a big party for my grandmother's birthday last week. We all needed to relax, I think. After the morning gift exchange and Christmas lunch, we ended up watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, then driving around to look at Christmas lights. I personally topped off the day with the Christmas episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Pretty good, I think!

I got a copy of Persona Q, and the first four Batman movies on Blu-ray, so I was happy with that; I got a few other odds and ends, including some gift cards. I'll be using one (Amazon) to order Persona 5 once it's available, and one (Jo-Ann's Fabrics) to do arts and crafts projects. One of my good friends also sent me some Sailor Moon posters she got at a convention, and Pokemon Christmas tree ornaments. She knows me so well. :) My Funimation.com Cowboy Bebop LE also arrived, so Merry Christmas to me! My Right Stuf holiday sale orders also showed up, so it's going to be anime-palooza at my place for a while.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Oh my word! Today has been simply, as the Monster High ghouls would say, to die for. Welcome to the Hobby Haven.

First of all, we finally got high-quality pictures of the Duchess Swan basic doll! No news on availability yet, but she is simply stunning. Her official artwork--what Mattel based the doll on--was given a redesign to look much more...hmm...simple? She doesn't look as close to her webisode design anymore. But she is just too gorgeous for words, and I am hanging on the Ever After High Dolls page with bated breath for more news.

Secondly, my doll-collecting friend Miss Moon (I hadn't chosen a name for her yet, but this will do nicely, unless I think of a better pseudonym) and I exchanged Christmas gifts. Yes, it's a little early, but we'll both be rather busy in the days leading up before Christmas and won't get to see each other before then. And of course, I had to open my present now, because she hinted that it was Monster High related.

Oh my good lord, she bought me Monster High dolls! SHE BOUGHT ME MONSTER EXCHANGE LAGOONA! She also bought me Marisol Coxi! It's hard to convey emotion properly through writing, but I am just floored that she not only A. Wanted to help me cross items off of my doll-collecting list, but B. Got me two. She's a good friend, that Moon. :)

I'll be putting reviews up after the holidays--I might be keeping Marisol in the box, though. I'm kind of wishing I did that with Elissabat.

Thirdly, I have the beginnings of a cold, so I am positively drowning in DayQuil, vitamins, and chicken soup. I have been sick on Christmas before, and it has been far from fun. Yuck, yuck. Stopped at the drugstore today to stock up on tissues in case this drags on.

Odd and ends

I'm thinking that I should title all my quick news updates as "Odds and Ends." Hmmm.

The Monster High "Haunted" doll line will be getting a Wal-Mart exclusive doll! Rochelle Goyle's Haunted doll will only be found at that retailer; she's been found in the wild, so happy h(a)unting! Haunted will launch on DVD in spring next year.

The Ever After High movie "Spring Unsprung" will be Netflix-only. It's scheduled for "early 2015," no specific date announced yet; same goes for the third season of EAH episodes. The Kitty Cheshire basic doll has been spotted in the wild--Mattel, this is cutting it a bit close to "the holidays." With any luck, Duchess and Ginger won't be far behind.

The Good Smile Company is making an Elsa Nendoroid. Yes. It is a thing. You can pre-order her at retailers like BigBadToyStore right now; I have no idea how long pre-orders will go for. They were asking about $45 for her, which is about what most new Nendoroids cost. She'll be released in May of next year. (She also comes with a tiny Olaf.)

Apropos of absolutely nothing, the anime Kamisama Kiss (Kamisama Hajimemashita) is getting a second season this January and I am stoked. I loved the first season, and even bought the deluxe edition when it was first released. I am probably going to do an unboxing/review of it in honor of season 2, so you can look forward to that in early January.

Slightly related to the above, my Cowboy Bebop order has shipped, and I'll be doing an unboxing/review as soon as it gets here next week. I haven't really worked out a place to put it yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

Also, Atlus USA finally sent out a confirmation that they are bringing over both the PS3 and the PS4 versions of Persona 5. We...kind of already knew they would, but hey, it's nice to be reassured. FVII's PC port will also be ported to the PS4 next year. (Sony had a big press conference about 2015 releases this past weekend. Street Fighter confirmed for PS4!) And Grim Fandango's re-release is January 27th! I've heard so many good things about it from my friends that I'm really excited to pick this up.

RightStuf has finished adding new items to their holiday sale. I placed my order this morning, so we'll see if I get them before the holidays or not. I'm excited to cut down my anime backlog, even just by a bit! If I had more spare cash, I could have done a lot more damage...but given that I just got my PS3, I need to keep a close eye on my spending. (I did get a free downloadable copy of Mirror's Edge this past weekend! Sony was offering it as a promotion, and I'm all for free games. Plus, I traded in some games for Amazon credit, and am picking up one of the Atelier games. Looks fun!) I'll probably do a quick post on that when my order arrives.

Miss Scarlett, signing off!

Disney Store Classic Princess Anna Doll

Brrr, Elsa! Enough with the cold and snow already! I'm frozen solid here. ;) Welcome to the Hobby Haven.

As you might recall, the last review was of the Disney Store's Queen Elsa "classic" doll. I'll be reviewing her little sister, Princess Anna, today. (As a clarification, I am not getting the classic dolls of Prince Hans or Kristoff, just the two heroines.) I've already gone over the background of this doll in the last post, so let's get right to it!

All sorts of doll news!

You guys are all used to my random little updates, right? Well, here's some more news!

The following Monster High toy lines have gone live on Amazon and Mattel.com: Haunted, Monster Exchange Program, Gloom 'n Bloom, and Freaky Field Trip. Some of them seem to be going in and out of stock, so if you see one going for more than, say, $25 from a third party seller, wait until Amazon gets them back in stock. They should retail anywhere from $17-$25. Mattel also announced that they will be creating additional dolls for the Monster Exchange Program and Geek Shriek lines. The Exchange dolls will be new characters, while Geek Shriek will offer existing characters (Catty, Gigi, Ghoulia). No pictures yet, though.

The following Ever After High toy lines have also gone live at the same retailers: Mirror Beach (the first budget line), Into the Woods, and Spring Unsprung (which seems to be the new deluxe line). Same as before about prices and stock. Kitty Cheshire's Spring Unsprung doll will be a Walmart exclusive, but no news on a release date yet, although we did get a leaked picture of her. Still no news about the release dates for Kitty, Duchess, and Ginger (and still no official pictures of Duchess!), nor any further info about Darling Charming and Rosabella Beauty. The latter does have an Amazon listing with a description of her doll's outfit, though. So who knows?

(Allow me a little rant here: why oh why is Monster High spewing out dolls like there's no tomorrow, and Ever After High struggles to release the characters' basic dolls? It seems so ridiculous, compared to Monster High's release schedule. Also, weren't the aforementioned dolls supposed to be a "holiday 2014" release? We're about three weeks away from Christmas, not not even an Amazon listing. C'mon Mattel, get your act together.)

Good Old Games has launched their Winter sale (didn't they *just* have a sale?) that will run until the 15th. Steam's just ended, so we might not see another Steam sale until closer to the new year.

In defiance of my painstaking attempts to predict the start of their Christmas sale, Right Stuf launched it December 1st, and will be unveiling new items until the 12th. The sale will end after Christmas. (I personally have yet to see anything that I really want on sale. Come on, Right Stuf!)

Okay, that's it for now. Miss Scarlett is le sleepy and needs to go to bed. Signing off!