Monster High "Sweet Screams" Frankie Stein

Let me tell you a story that takes place a long time ago...a young girl, whom we'll call Little Miss Scarlett, liked to collect dolls. Mostly fashion dolls in particular. As she got older, Little Miss Scarlett discovered all kinds of fun pastimes like video games and anime, and her interest in dolls fell by the wayside. Years later, Little Miss Scarlett--now somewhat older--watched the movie Frozen and fell in love with the characters. Deciding that she wanted some merchandise from the movie, she desperately turned to Google and found a Youtube review of the Disney Store's Queen Elsa doll, made by a doll collector named Chad Alan. Intrigued, Little Miss Scarlett started to watch some of his other doll review videos. and was particularly struck by one from the Monster High Dolls.

That doll was Sweet Screams Frankie Stein. Little Miss Scarlett was me. Welcome to the Hobby Haven.

(This was also a victim of the Great Memory Card Loss of 2014. Sorry to get this up so late!)

Mini news post!

Hey, everyone!

The next review will be up tomorrow, but I wanted to share a little bit of news here before then. First, (and this isn't really "news"), I'm going to try to go shopping tomorrow if the weather is good, so I can finally get Duchess! (Assuming our local Target has her, I might have to call beforehand...)

Ginger Breadhouse is now available for purchase on Amazon, no word on if her basic doll is in stores yet. The "Just Sweet" line has been popping up sporadically in stores, and if you want Blondie Lockes, she's a Target exclusive. Remember, the Spring Unsprung movie will be available on Netflix next Friday!

Funko POP is riding the Frozen merch train with a bunch more of their normal-sized Frozen POP vinyl figures (Coronation and child versions of the princesses), mini-sized figures, and a series of Mystery Minis. Although Miss Scarlett loves Frozen, she's gonna have to pass on these. Just not up to her stringent cuteness standards.

I'm getting a lot of new shinies in this week, so I'll be very busy writing up reviews. Actually, since I don't have to go into work until much later today, I might try and use the rest of the afternoon to get some writing done.

Miss Scarlett, signing off!

Yes, I just posted a bit ago...

I have a bit of downtime at work so I thought I'd mention a few things quick.

First, I realized that I never posted the Sailor Saturn S.H. Figuarts post. That will be scheduled for the first review of February, the 13th. ::smacks forehead:: This pushes the rest of the reviews a little further back. You'll still see Duchess Swan, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and the media reviews, never fear. This actually helps ensure that there are enough reviews to last until May, when a craaaapton of stuff is released.

Second, I took a quick glance over post viewcounts, and the most highly viewed posts were those listing sales, be it for toys, electronics, etc. I'll try and post more deals when I see them, but there might not be as much to list as there is during the holiday season. For those interested, Good Old Games is running up to 90% off selected adventure games this weekend, and the Playstation Network's online store is running a special offer where you can get 10% off of a single purchase. One-time use, and the sale runs until the 26th. I think the details are on the site; I haven't bought anything yet, though.

I'm going shopping this coming week to see what toys have hit the shelves yet. With any luck, I'll find some awesome dolls. Fingers crossed!

Catching up time!

Well, this year has gotten off to a hectic start! I got sick, a family friend had a baby, and I finally managed to wrangle out a new health insurance plan that should save me quite a bit of money each month. (Except that money should be going towards bills, not toys. Sigh.) Plus, my dad's having surgery next month, so a fair bit of time will be spent with him, helping him recuperate and do physical therapy. So with alllll of that, there simply hasn't been any time to do some of my famous little news update posts. But you get one now, so yaaaayyyyy!

Ever After High "Thronecoming" C.A. Cupid

Welcome to the Hobby Haven, everyone. Today's review is from the glittering world of Ever After High, and is the first deluxe-style doll I've picked up in a loooong time. I debated over whether or not to take her out of the box, but I eventually just bit the bullet and unboxed her. She'll look really nice on display. Who am I talking about? Why, none other than Miss C.A. Cupid, one of the candidates for this year's Thronecoming Queen!

Before I start the review, I'll quickly explain that this is the first big themed line for EAH. The concept is basically the EAH version of Homecoming: a big game, a parade, and a dance where one girl is picked to be the "Queen." Mattel decided to go all out for this one, and it got a 45-minute long special, plus an online campaign where fans could vote for their choice of four Thronecoming candidates: Raven Queen, Apple White, Blondie Lockes, and of course, Cupid. Voting went on for a month, and in the end, Miss Queen triumphed over her rivals--well of course she would, her last name is "Queen," after all!

(For those interested in watching the special, it's up on Netflix, and on Youtube. Also, please be aware that I lost the memory card with the original pictures I took. I've tried to re-take them, but I had to use some pictures from Google for the pictures of the box.)

A bit of an update

Well folks, I've looked and looked, but my camera's memory card is still missing, and I'm going to have to give it up as lost and gone forever, oh my darling Clementine. So now I get to re-take lots of photos, substitute some Google images for the pictures of the dolls in boxes, and hope for the best.

In supremely amazing news, Duchess Swan's doll will be available for sale soon! Some 3rd party vendors got access to her and posted her for sale on places like Amazon, but for inflated prices. I'm going to wait until she hits store shelves and get her for a reasonable price. Kitty Cheshire should be hitting store shelves soon, as well--apparently, she got delayed due to manufacturing issues.

We also got TONS of news regarding new and upcoming EAH and MH dolls and playsets, but I'll save that for a little later. Just keep an eye out for it!

Also upcoming: the much-delayed MH and EAH that were supposed to be posted in December, some media reviews, and hopefully a new doll review!

Miss Scarlett's gotta run, so see you guys later!

Miss Scarlett, what are you buying this year?

A.K.A. What can you expect to see reviewed at the Hobby Haven this year?

I figured I'd do this to give you guys a general idea of what I'm planning on reviewing this year. It's all subject to change, of course, so please don't hold me 100% to anything!

The 2014 Holiday Shopping Guide (Sticky)

Welcome to the Hobby Haven, everyone! I'm your hostess and small-time-blogger extraordinaire, Miss Scarlett! And this is an extra-special bulletin: my first-ever Holiday Shopping Guide! (I'm still working my way through figuring out the best way to do this, so be gentle with me!) I will be doing my best to provide a one-stop guide listing sales, deals, and coupons to make holiday shopping a little easier! I'm going to keep this "stickied" at the top of the blog until the holidays are over. I will also be updating this whenever I find information, so check back frequently!

I should probably clarify that the majority of the information I'm posting will be related to hobby items. I'll be posting information on big box retailers like Amazon and Target, but also focusing on electronics, toys, etc. Also, I'll be posting generic Black-Friday-related posts, like this one from Kinja on how to prepare for BF shopping.

All the info is after the jump.

11/5: Published this to get it on the main page! Just two entries for now, but I will continue to add more!