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!
LOTS of doll news for 2015. Let's start with Monster High. First, the 6-pack re-release of the basic Ghoulfriends dolls is out! It's an online exclusive, and can be found at Walmart.com. I haven't found it at other retailers yet, but I'll post if I do. My doll-collecting friend (tried giving her the pseudonym of Miss Moon, but it doesn't fit, I'll have to think of something else) and I are planning to split this, so we need to get our act together and get this ordered. The Gloom & Bloom line is getting a new character, Amanita Nightshade, who is the daughter "of the Corpse Flower," which makes absolutely no sense. (HOW DO FLOWERS MAKE HUMANOID CHILDREN HOW) She should be released late January/early February. Some fans are reporting finding the "Ghoulebrities in Londoom" 3-pack with Viperine Gorgon, Elissabat, and Catty Noir, but I can't find any concrete info on retailers or price. A second wave of the vinyl figures will be released, featuring Skelita, Venus, Spectra, Abbey, Rochelle, and Twyla. Info about the release TBA. The next Monster High movie being released this year is "Boo York Boo York: A Monsterrific Musical." (Ohhh dear.) It will get several tie-in dolls, featuring existing characters Nefera de Nile, Catty Noir, Cleo de Nile (looking fiiiiiine), Deuce Gorgon, Draculaura, Operetta, and Clawdeen Wolf. The last three dolls look a lot simpler than the others, so they might be budget dolls. The movie will feature TONS of new characters: Mouscedes, the daughter of the Rat King, Luna, the daughter of the Mothman, Elle, the daughter of a robot (looks like Spectra, borrows Robecca's schtick), and Astra, a...space alien. They are realllllly stretching it. Astra comes with a playset that seems to function like an iPod speaker. The other line announced is "Freak du Chic," a circus-themed line. Returning characters are Jinafire, Toralei, Honey, and Frankie, who actually does not look very cute here. I might skip it. Rochelle is also in this line, part of a circus playset. There is also an unnamed (for now) 17-inch-tall ball jointed doll who seems to be a new character. Daughter of a giant, maybe? We're also getting: Lagoona and Gil 2-pack, a school playset, a budget "school fair" line with Heath, Scarah, Howleen, and Draculaura, and a series of vinyl centaurette "Fright-Mares" toys. Whew.
For Ever After High...Kitty and Duchess should be hitting stores in the next few weeks, and Ginger is apparently soon after. There's a Raven and Dexter 2-pack announced, still haven't heard when we're getting that. We got announcements and images for new basic dolls. Rebels: Rosabella Beauty, Darling Charming. Royals: Alistair Wonderland, Bunny Blanc, Faybelle Thorn. So that's 8 new basic dolls this year, evenly split between factions. Not bad! There is also a Raven and Apple 2-pack, a picnic-themed line with Cerise, Blondie, and Raven, and a candy-themed line with Cedar, Holly, and Maddie. This candy-themed line will also have a playset and exclusive Ginger doll release, too. There will also be a Wonderland-themed playset with Apple, Raven, Lizzie, Maddie, and Kitty. We've started getting new webisodes, too! And remember, the Spring Unsprung movie will be on Netflix on February 6th!
After looking over all of the dolls for this year, I've arrived at this conclusion. With the exception of splitting the 6-pack with my friend, I will probably skip the Monster High dolls announced so far. My interest lies primarily with the Ever After High dolls. I'm definitely getting Duchess, and then Darling, Rosabella, and Ginger are on the "Maybe" list. I like what I've seen from the Candy and the Picnic lines, but I might or might not get them,
In figure news, Sailor Chibi-Moon's S.H. Figuarts has been listed on Amazon for pre-order, streeting in June. I don't like the character, so will be skipping, but wanted to mention it for the rest of you. In Good Smile Land, the Queen Elsa Nendoroid is now sold out, which is not entirely surprising, given Frozen's massive popularity not just in the USA, but also in Japan. I have a feeling that is why Good Smile licensed Elsa, a character from a foreign-owned franchise, instead of a domestic franchise. In fact, I think that's the first time GS ever did that. I am very much hoping that this leads us to getting a Princess Anna Nendoroid, as well. Funko, makers of the POP Vinyl figures, have started making mini versions of their figures! I snagged a Walking Dead mini for my mom, and may pick up the Frozen versions. The minis seem less creepy than the full-sized ones, somehow.
I've got a bit of sad video game related news. Nintendo has decided to shut down their "Club Nintendo" rewards clubs. They've assured fans that something will be taking its place, but, I'm not entirely optimistic. Club Nintendo started off with a bang, and over the 6 years that it existed, got progressively lamer. I hope it doesn't happen this time. In not-depressing news, Grim Fandango's re-mastered/re-tooled version's release is next week, and this gives me hope that if it makes a decent amount of profit, that this can help prove to developers that fans are interested in--and willing to pay for--re-mastered versions of classic video games. Here's to hoping that this gives us lots of freshly re-mastered games in the future! (And the obligatory: no news yet on Persona 5, although Atlus has hinted that they'll be dropping some info at an upcoming concert event in a few weeks. Eeeeee!) Continuing the video game train here, Nintendo has announced that they are bringing the next iteration of the Nintendo 3DS, the "New Nintendo 3DS" (yes, that's the name) next month. More info on that later.
In ultra-exciting news, the DCF is going on a trip with her boyfriend to Japan in a few months, and I am already furiously drafting a list of the top 10 anime/video game artbooks that I am searching for. Fingers crossed that they're sitting in a clearance aisle in a specialty game shop in Tokyo somewhere. Failing that, she's been instructed to find awesome Sailor Moon things. We'll see what happens.
I'm sure that there's more stuff I could natter about, but I need to refill my coffee and then clean the snow off my car (siiiiiigh), so I'll have to stop here. I will give you a quick heads-up as to what's coming down the pike for the first half of 2015 from the Hobby Haven:
Toy and figure reviews for: Monster Exchange Lagoona Blue and Marisol Coxi, Ever After High Duchess Swan, Queen Elsa Nendoroid, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Tuxedo Mask Figuarts. Mini-review for some assorted Sailor Moon merch that I picked up off of eBay.
A Throwback Thursday post with some vintage '80s toys.
Media reviews for the limited edition sets of Cowboy Bebop, Kamisama Kiss, and the next two Sailor Moon sets.
A New Year's Craft Exchange post (I'll explain more later).
Stuff I'm not sure about: Reviews for Spring Unsprung dolls? Reviews of video game LE's?
Miss Scarlett, signing off!
