I'm Going Nuts (and Bolts): A G3 Frankie Roundup

Back in G1 and my original doll collection, Frankie Stein was not necessarily my favorite character, but she was the character I had the most dolls of. Those hold exactly true for Frankie in G3, as they've had hit after hit and they're still going. I wanted to bring in some new Frankies and revisit the ones I had.

This won't even be the last post I have in mind featuring them, because when their awesome refresh "second signature" edition drops, that's certainly going to feature here! I haven't been closely following the G3 fiction like I did the G1 media, but these Frankie dolls, man! This monster has something special.

Part 1--A day out on a budget

The first thing I wanted to look at was Day Out Frankie. The Day Out doll line is a budget slim-box range of dolls featuring what could be considered remixed alternate takes on the characters' signature dolls, as the Day Out characters feature several shared fabrics and clothing cuts in ensembles that are strikingly similar while still being new and distinct dolls. These are not just the signature dolls repacked with fewer pieces, nor are they the signature doll bases shunted down a separate production line into a new outfit. They also feel pretty substantial; there's not a stark feeling of there being a lot less to them compared to their signature counterparts. 

After the horrors of G2, where the signature characters fell within the G1 budget tier and budget dolls had five or seven points of articulation, G3 seems to bring its budget dolls back on par with mid-G1 standards, after slim-box dolls lost their stands. G3 budgets so far are fully-poseable to the G1 standard, have finished, polished outfits, and even a few accessories. I've already discussed one such case with signature Heath, though he's not a budget in the sense of being a cheaper alternative to a more deluxe edition. The Day Out dolls are, being directly designed to substitute for the full-price signature dolls.

There are even cheaper budget dolls in G3 with fewer accessories and one-piece outfits, but they're no less articulated than the Day Out dolls.

The reason I wanted Day Out Frankie was because I'm a sucker for MH nostalgia.

Stock photo of Day Out Frankie.

Doesn't their outfit look oddly familiar? Yes, indeed, I was attracted to this budget doll because the clothes they're wearing transform the G3 sig outfit into a deliberate shape/style reference to the iconic G1 signature Frankie design, who was, through her Creeproduction doll, my first review here!

I got my Day Out Frankie secondhand sans accessories. I believe I've only ever seen a Day Out doll in person at a Kohl's, so these dolls might frequent that kind of low-price department store retail sphere. They're not at Target, but I don't know if they're in Walmart stores. 

I immediately dropped Day Out between G1 sig and my hair-modified G3 sig on the Fearidescent body to highlight the uncanny blend Day Out represents between the two signature designs.

Day Out Frankie's hair is rooted and shaped in a subtly unique style. Like factory sig, it's center-parted, but it has two mini-ponytails symmetrically pulled out of their face. The barrettes their signature design included are relocated onto the unique right ponytail on Day Out. The color-blocking of the hair appears identical to sig.

The stock photo had a hairstyle more like what the signature doll was packaged with, and only the left ponytail was there, but I like the produced hairstyle much better. It looks great with the outfit and is a really strong alternative to the G1 sig hairdo. I also like how white-dominant their hair looks on this doll with the way it's been tied. I've always been intrigued by the Frankies that have felt mostly white-haired. It tends to flatter them, regardless of which generation of Frankie it is.

Unfortunately, this Frankie's face is wonky, which is far more apparent in some lighting and these photographs. Their left eye is not properly placed on the sculpt. This is not always obvious in all settings, but pictures like this make it very clear.

Their faceup design does not appear to be different from their signature doll, even down to their eyebrow ring being poorly filled-in. This means the only real production differences between the sig and the Day Out doll heads were the addition of a second mini-ponytail and the different placement of the barrettes.

Day Out Frankie's earrings are dangling bolts in translucent neon yellow-green (the stock photo showed opaque earrings). Sig Frankie's are lightning bolt outlines in an opaque equivalent of the same color. 

Day Out Frankie wears a puff-sleeved blouse that appears to be identical to the piece worn by G3 sig, under a strapless dress in the same pink, yellow, and blue plaid used for G3 sig's pleated skirt. Above the outfit is a collar with a chain connected to a metal belt (both pieces are vinyl). The chain with the collar ends in a small hook that goes into a hole in the belt, so the pieces can separate. All of the shaping of this outfit imitates G1 signature's dress, necktie, and belt.

I love the way the collar/belt piece works. The collar clips beautifully under the fabric collar of the blouse to lend the outfit some more dimension, and the piece is a fun punk way to reference Frankenstein restraints and the original Frankie costume. The back of the belt has a pin and hole closure. 

The collar might also help define Frankie's neck a little better. The G3 sig outfit tends to swallow their neck a little, but it doesn't feel like that's happening on Day Out, maybe because the clip around the neck from the collar piece is keeping things tight. I love their signature vest, but form-fitting, it is not.

Here's the two G3 outfits together to show the shared fabrics.

The signature doll has a greater emphasis on black with their vest, but the lighter outfit and lighter hair of Day Out work together really well. 

The shoes of the two dolls are uncannily similar but every detail is unique. The biggest differences in the Day Out shoes are the tiered cutout shape on the back and translucent lightning charms dangling at the heel.

These dolls were sold with the same leg design (left); my sig Frankie traded bodies with their Fearidescent edition.

You almost have to wonder if maybe the Day Out dolls were rejected design drafts for the signature characters in G3, and they're getting re-released as budget dolls so the ideas are still put out there. Frankie evoking the G1 sig design so much might make more sense if this was a draft for their core look first, and I could see it being turned down for being too dependent on the G1 look, but I can also see this being fully designed afterward as a throwback. I just don't know how I'd handle the design prompt of "take this pair of shoes and change everything about them while making them look extremely similar" if the Day Out designs were fully conceived after the core designs. Like, who'd voluntarily do that? It's pretty above-and-beyond stuff.

Because the Day Out costume is two pieces, Frankie can enjoy a complete outfit and alternate look without the blouse:

The dress fits much nicer with the blouse under it, but this still works.

I really appreciate G3's consistent use of layered doll costumes to provide more clothes play and display options on as many of its dolls as it can. G1 signature Frankie cost more in her own day and had a one-piece outfit, while most of the budget dolls in G3 have layers or optional fabric pieces! Day Out Cleo promises to have a one-piece outfit, breaking the streak, though in her defense, the costume design she has wouldn't be easy to make layered.

The one costume piece of the Day Out doll I didn't get was their "ZAP"...knuckle-duster? Yeah. I don't know. I found that to be an extremely bizarre and possibly inappropriate choice. I can only think of brass knuckles when looking at a huge chunky hand jewelry piece like that, and none of those associations are tonally right for a fun high school character. Either it's alarming or it's just awkward and I'm not at all disappointed not to have gotten the piece.

The only notable production downgrade with the budget femme doll bodies is the absence of the torso joint used in the full-priced dolls. This results in a one-piece static torso which brings the body down to the still-quite-luxurious level of a G1 doll. Since the boy dolls don't have torso joints in deluxe form, their body sculpt has appeared unaltered in the budget format.

Given the body diversity of the femme dolls in G3, I'm not sure how economical of a move this was for Mattel, given that there needs to be a budget-tier alternate torso sculpt for each distinct body shape, but I'm grateful for this level of reduction because it's hardly a downgrade to me personally, and I know just how much worse it can be. 

We're not quite done with Day Out Frankie because they're here for another purpose than simply having them around or discussing the G3 budgets, but we'll be back to them later while we wait for things to come together. Meanwhile, I might as well discuss Neon Frights Frankie!

Part 2- Baby, you're like lightning in a bottle!

My other deluxe Frankies investigate.

I got Neon Frights Twyla and Ghoulia to see if their second G3 dolls could help me come to peace with their portrayals, and they certainly did. I got Neon Frights Frankie because I was simply obsessed with their vibe. If you're the sole monster in the series who can make the dumb suspenders look downright cool, you have powerful energy. (Read the previous reviews I linked for a better picture on the third Skulltimate Secrets series, and read Skulltimate Secrets Series 2 Frankie's review here!)

Here's what's under the doll door. 

The pink door was open at the start and I had to close it. Couldn't the lock system be a little tighter? Maybe it won't matter come Series 4, since those are meant to have a new box design altogether.

And a look at their locker artwork.

Up top, there's a spare hand, a miniature dressmaker's dummy, and a small mannequin whose proportions do not quite match a Monster High doll. It would have been cool if it was one.

If this was G1, I'd wonder if those safety pins were for sewing or if they were earrings!

In the middle, a tour poster for a pop star called Phoenix dominates the shelf. I'd love to see more of this character and get a doll of her, because that's a monster type that hasn't been done yet and it could be a stunning design. I think it's past the point now where it'd be acceptable for G3 to begin making dolls of its fully-new characters, because I think they've sufficiently proven a greater commitment to reviving the old cast of characters than G2 had--we've already gotten or know about the imminent toyline returns of multiple characters who were absent from G2, like Ghoulia, Spectra, Catty, Heath, and the werecat twins. There's room for all-new characters now, and Phoenix would be a fun doll!

We can also see an image of Amped Up Frankie, an Amazon-exclusive G3 edition themed on rock music, in the top left. That's a doll design I'd probably really like if their palette had neon yellow like this Neon Frights doll. We can also see some crafting tools on the bottom and a 3D printing machine producing a figurine of G1 Watzit! We can also see a screen modeling the Neon Frights purse she has. I love the fact that the pincushion in the bottom right looks vaguely brain-like. 

A sticky note reminds Frankie about their duties in a welcome committee. We'll see them in action in that role in a stunning doll coming next year, called Welcome Committee Frankie. It has Frankie's most upfront queer iconography yet and is also gorgeous.

The bottom shelf shows Watzie sitting down and a snack cabinet. I think all of these snacks have been in Frankie dolls in G3, but my favorite is the box of cereal clearly referencing Franken Berry, which was included in Frankie's Series 1 Skulltimate Secrets doll. 

Here's Frankie and their backdrop out.

Frankie's color-reveal key paint notably does not match their signature neon color--they're coated in blue rather than neon yellow. Why? 

You can already tell this Frankie is cool on the level of it being completely unfair because they're the only Neon Frights doll who looks nice in their doll-compartment outfit!

My biggest gripe with G3 signature Frankie was that they didn't have the side-shaved hair of their cartoon counterpart, so I took pains to cut their hair and paint the space myself. However, other dolls of Frankie have included the shave. Their Ghoul Spirit 6-pack doll has a pale pink side-shave, and their hair rooting colors and faceup don't correspond to the signature design, so they can't be redressed as a more accurate base doll for the sig look. Neon Frights has a neon pink side shave. The pop of color this provides is amazing, and it ties their looks together really well. So much changes when their head turns!

This alternate head sculpt with the shaved hair is obviously much tidier than my imprecise haircut on the sig version, but again, neither official shaved Frankie can reflect the sig look adequately, so my method still proves justified. 

While my custom head-shave haircut is much wider than the official shave "cut", I had to go as far as I did--their hair was center-parted and I had to remove everything on one side of the part for the look to work. Otherwise, I'd have a visible part and hair going two directions next to the "shaved" patch.

In G1, shaved hair was depicted with flocking on the sides of the head, which created a nice texture. However, this was prone to damage, and abrasion and water could result in flocking rubbing off and getting patchy. A sculpted alternative makes sense, and use of sculpting in conjunction with rooting even allows for some other asymmetrical hairstyles to be achieved--G3 Venus McFlytrap is depicted as Black, and she adopts the character's traditional asymmetrical hair silhouette, but rather than the side of her head looking shaved, it's sculpted to look braided down in cornrows while the rest of her hair is long flowing microbraids. That's something that wouldn't have been possible without sculpting, so I'm happy to see Mattel embracing the strengths of that method for durability and artistic possibility.

The rooted portion of Frankie's hair feels like polypropylene and is white, black, and light blue. I'm a little nervous that more and more G3 dolls are turning to poly after having editions that have been other fibers. However, time will tell if maybe poly might be more resistant to yellowing than other doll fibers. One of the biggest problems with Frankie dolls, including my Creepro and the G3 sig, is that the white hair fiber will yellow to an off-white tone with time, and that can spoil the contrast and drama and Frankenstein colors that were intended. I still can't claim if poly is better at keeping pure in its color, but here's hoping it has some kind of upside. At the least, the poly Frankies are enjoying the whitest hair for the time being.

Frankie's face is maybe less heavy and dramatic than I'd have expected for the Neon Frights line, but it's still quite bright. Their eyeshadow is subtly asymmetrical to complement their heterochromic eyes. They're also the only Neon Frights character with a small face-paint design, having a black lightning bolt under their left eye. It feels perfect for their electric modern artsy-pop punk look. Their eyebrow ring is also neon pink.

Frankie's first outfit is a patterned black crop top that's not halter-style even though the neck looks like it, and half-black half-white vinyl shorts, all under pink suspenders. Because this Frankie has enviably cool vibes, they successfully make the suspenders look intentional and stylish rather than dorky or out-of-place.

I really do think there's just something about this design that makes suspenders appealing. This Frankie is so bold, so slick, so colorful and confrontational and alternative and poppy, and perhaps even so queerly iconic that it all looks incredible on them. None of the other Neon Frights ensembles and stylings justify suspenders to me, but Frankie kind of demands them because they actually add something to the doll!

The back of the suspenders includes a triangular voltage-sign shape.

Frankie's Neon Frights boots are not both thigh-high. This kind of asymmetry has previously been done for their Coffin Bean doll. Both times, the bionic prosthetic leg has had the shorter boot. Frankie's outfits overall tend to throw emphasis to their prosthetic leg--their Series 1 Skulltimate Secrets doll had a pair of translucent tall boots--the same length, but the one over their metal leg had no exterior graphic patterns obscuring it, and their upcoming Welcome Committee doll has asymmetrically-cut trousers, with the pant leg on their left being much shorter so the entire prosthetic is uncovered! These outfits characterize Frankie with a wonderful sense of ownership over their limb difference, and it reminds me of how Operetta accessorizes her scar to demonstrate a lack of shame and turn an atypical physical feature into a fashion signature. 

The prosthetic itself debuts a third color for the leg sculpt, after its previous new color in the previous Skulltimate Secrets series. Like that one, the leg is not printed with doodles. This time, it's translucent turquoise, while it was translucent white for Fearidescent Frankie, and pearl silver with the same doodle printing for all other G3 editions so far. So far, there hasn't been news of an upcoming Frankie with another leg variation in the near future.

Left to right--standard (worn on Fearidescent here), Neon Frights, and Fearidescent (worn on sig here).

Frankie's first key was for the black glitter door on top, so I was wondering if I was really going to have all three Neon Frights dolls with the same directly linear down-the-box unlocking sequence. The two Fearidescent dolls I opened had none of the same doors opened at the same point in the sequence!

Here's the surprise-packet design.

Here's the second-outfit pieces.

The skirt's pattern reminds me of the Fearidescent vinyl top, but the pattern here is different, and includes pink . 

The Fearidescent top (photo of the equivalent second-outfit packet from that doll).

And here's Frankie redressed. 

I tried out the hair streaming out of the front of the hood like the illustration to see if that worked. 

The hood accents are blue lightning bolts and there's no collar accent.

It's a little voluminous and messy, but I like it. 

Here's the hair through the back of the hoodie.

This hoodie feels prone to folding open or falling off the shoulders. Many times, I had to pull it back over their torso. These hoodies are a rare case where I think the clothing fabric would have been better with less flow. Something stiffer would sit in place more easily.

I'm not impressed by the second outfit base pieces. Despite the skirt being an optical pattern, it doesn't create nearly as much POP as the basic black-and-white shorts do with their simple high contrast, and the graphic tee works with the street-fashion theme of the hoodie, but the grey color can make it feel like a bit of a dead zone in the hyperactive, bright tones of this doll. 

The reason this doll grabbed me so much was because their use of neon yellow resolved the use of bright pink and blue I otherwise struggled with in their G3 designs. The addition of yellow creates a neon primary triad of colors that feels artsy, modern, and incredibly powerful, and the three colors give each other a lot of visual purpose. I couldn't aesthetically defend pink on most other Frankies, including in G1, but on the odd occasion where pink is mixing with blue and yellow on a Frankie (hello, Gloom Beach) it's right in place! That's why I think the Amped Up doll, which is going for its own kind of hyper-modern pop, would appeal to me so much more with prominent neon yellow. The blue, pink, and green of the design don't work for me.

So this second outfit doesn't work because this Frankie is optimized to go all the way there with visual contrast and color pop. The skirt and graphic top don't push the doll as far as they need to go for me. 

Yes, this Frankie is kind of cheating and breaking the mold by embodying three distinctly different neon colors while the others get one or two. Yes, this is even more unfair because they've also unfairly demonstrated the superpower of wearing suspenders well. Yes, they're so cool they get away with both of these.

Frankie's next key was for the very next door down, leading to their choker, purse and earrings. I don't know why all of my dolls in Neon Frights have had the same unlocking sequence. Did Mattel not create individual character sequences here, or are the sequences somehow randomly mixed on different copies of each character and I've gotten all identical ones through dumb luck?

I love the simple geometric chain earrings, and the black color is perfect for the color arrangement of this doll. I wish they hung straight down, though.

The choker is also nice.

The purse is shaped like a voltage sign, but the handle loop is too small to fit over the doll's wrist. It has to just slide onto the fingers, but this is not a secure attachment and it's easy for the purse to fall off the hand.

I wish they had made the handle a little taller. 

Frankie's next key confirms the sequence of unlocking is straight down. The short shoes and keyring were next.

The shoes are very nice and totally fit the theme of Frankie's outfits, but this is the only Neon Frights doll where I'm wholeheartedly favoring the neon boots. They'll properly increase the level of neon yellow in the doll's look and they suit the audacious aspects of this doll's fabulous fashion. Frankie's the rule-breaker here wearing the stuff I tossed aside on the other Neon Frights!

The last bag was the accessories. Frankie has a laptop, a hairdryer, electric clippers, and a snack pack of pizza chips. 

This monster must really like pizza; slices of the real thing were included in their signature and Day Out dolls! I can't blame 'em; pizza's good! I would much prefer the slice, though. The chips would probably disappoint me.

The laptop is the same molds as Ghoulia's, but Frankie's is blue and has different (printed) stickers on it.

I can't tell for sure whose hand they're depicted pinky-promising with in the heart sticker, but I'd assume it's Cleo, given that the two have developed feelings for each other in the cartoon and the background is, y'know, a heart.

The laptop screen shows Frankie's been looking up hairstyling tutorials on GhoulTube. On the left is what they've got, sans the lightning-bolt color designs, and on the right is G1 sig Frankie!

Foreshadowing...

I'm not bothered by the doll's hair shave not having the extra designs shown here. I like the effect of it being a solid block of pink. 

But Frankie, dude. Your desktop background pattern stresses me out!

Frankie's clippers are a great accessory to pair with their shaved hair, and I love the story being reinforced by the laptop indicating they've been following a tutorial to achieve the very look they have for this doll. It all comes together in a fun way.

Then, I took their hair for a boil wash, and that let them get use out of the dryer while they waited!

I think the handle for their hand should have been on the outer side of the hairdryer handle sculpt.

Then, I put them back in the doll-compartment stock and added the hoodie and jewelry. And I tried adding G1 sig Frankie's blue sunglasses. I think this creates an anime-cyberpunk-esque look and finally gives those tricky glasses a good home.

I then added the Coffin Bean edition of Watzie, which is uniquely silver and neon green, and their Coffin Bean phone (I never got their doll, but their extras and Deuce's all came along with the Coffin Bean Deuce I got secondhand). I think this creates a good ensemble. The glasses stick pretty well in their suspender belt.

This doll really feels like the intersection of avant-garde futurism, modern art, and street fashion in such a way that I'm getting heavy MGA vibes from the design. Not to discredit Mattel on anything because design can come from anywhere, but this particular kind of modern poppy edgy fun fashion with bold color blocks and vinyl fabric just screams of the kind of MGA doll designs I've fallen in love with in the past.

And I needed to put together a proper photoshoot with this doll. I grabbed Bristol board and pieces of colored paper and put together a modernist backdrop I thought flattered the doll properly and played into their vibe. Here we go.

I wish I had the setup to have lit the photos more evenly for better contrast and color, but I still think these turned out really well. 

And I also took a couple of photos in dim lighting and color-boosted the hell out of them in editing to simulate a neon glow for all of their bright colors.

!!!!!

In conclusion, Neon Frights Frankie is just about the coolest-looking person I've ever seen in my life and I'm a little bit mad about it. Their vibes are impeccable. When put together right, the colors are bright and balanced, contrast is high and poppy, and the look feels like trendy streetwear of a familiar fantasy future. I'm not a nonbinary femme person but I still feel a sense of envy toward their presentation here because this is pure fun artsy confidence. This is the doll that makes bad fashion choices like neon giant boots, vinyl suspenders, and hoodie "ears" all look effortlessly stylish and fun. That has to be admired. Frankie is really the exemplar of the Neon Frights line because they rock the formula of the doll line the absolute hardest. Twyla (and Toralei, from what I can judge) both look good in their outfits, but it's Frankie who feels the most inseparable from their Neon Frights stock. I could never imagine them wearing anything else.

I know this is going to be a one-off kind of aesthetic for them, but gosh, I'm glad they went here even once. It's just such a great ensemble.

Part 3-- Restyles

I got a loose Creepover Frankie, but not for themselves.

Their green short boots could be useful, as well as their fuzzy bathrobe coat and bolt stud earrings. The hair appears to be poly like Neon Frights and Fearidescent were. They're not as old as the signature doll because Creepover kind of fell in the "wave 2" of G3, but their hair isn't yellowed all the same, so maybe that's a positive sign...or maybe it's only a matter of months before the hair disappoints me and ages horribly through yellowing or dry-rot or some other accursed reason. Oh, to be able to have faith in mass-produced dolls holding up.

Creepover Frankie's face is wonky in pretty much the same way as Day Out's, but it's again negligible in the right lighting. Their lips are a more saturated pink than the sig/Day Out faceup, which I like.

The real reason I wanted this doll was not because of any of their outfit; this is one of the less cohesive or exciting G3 Frankies in my eye. I only got them clothed because there weren't nude Creepover Frankies on offer that were cheaper than this one. I specifically needed Creepover because, to date, they're the only G3 Frankie with a full rooted head of unparted hair, and their hair is also rooted in familiar thin stripes in front, so I was thinking I could follow that laptop tutorial and go in the opposite hair direction from where Neon Frights went...

And that's why I got Day Out, too. I'm mashing things together--to try a G3 Frankie that's even closer to G1 in nostalgia than they already were with the Day Out costume. 

The hair fortunately boiled down pretty nicely, and I carefully combed out the front of their hair using a needle and comb back and forth to separate the right plugs so I could have a ponytail to create the classic hair puff with. I chose to cut off the puff at the end of the big frontal blue streak, so I was very precise to separate it out cleanly for good color-blocking. I tied this up and then tied that to a small line of hair underneath with a second elastic band. This let me pull the hair under the puff to push the puff forward and keep it there. It was very helpful to do all of this while the hair was still wet.

I just spent a lengthy section praising a G3 Frankie for so many of the things that make them uniquely G3 Frankie, but I can't deny there was a sense of heartfelt satisfaction when I saw the G1 hair transformation in effect. 

I gave the hair some more boiling just to ensure it laid properly, and I waited for the hair to dry. Then, I remembered my Freaky Fusion Operetta had the perfect piece that had been lying in disuse because it didn't yet have a good owner--Frankie's G1 purse cast in pink. This was the only doll concept that would rock it...and they did.

Incredible. I think this looks so good!

The hair came out perfectly. The volume feels just right, and the hair even feels more on-model to the G1 cartoon and artwork silhouette than the G1 doll's hair because of how puffy and wide it is. The Creepro doll, at least, has hair with less presence. I think the length of the hair also helps emphasize the taller lanky frame the G3 character was made to fill. (I'm actually a little surprised and impressed that Creepover Frankie's hair hangs this long untied--I had expected shorter.) Their G3 signature doll doesn't convey a sense of height to me, especially not with the way their costume shrugs their neck down, but I'm struck by the length of the arms and legs with this restyle. It's really characterful.

The throwback comparison is even more uncanny now that the Frankie wearing the clothes has such similar hair, and I'll admit the visual crossover led to me flubbing the pronouns a couple of times when drafting this part about the G3 doll because they're so closely aping the look of a female version of this character. I felt like I'd pretty well unlearned my G1 familiarity bias and firmly cemented in my brain that G3 Frankie uses they/them by this point, but looking at them styled so close to the original girl-Frankie crossed my wires a bit and meant I caught myself accidentally typing the wrong pronouns a few times while writing out sentences in this segment.

G3 Frankie makes G1 look a little unflattering by reminding me of just how large G1 Frankie's head looks. G3 Frankie is also one of the smaller-eyed dolls in their generation, so their face looks that much more realistic in contrast. I think it also gives them more forehead and adds to the authentic big-hair look. While a lot of G3 is cartoonier in the face department, Frankie's face is strikingly less exaggerated than before.

Mattel hasn't been great at translating retro big-hair looks to their dolls. Marisol Coxi's hair was lifeless next to the 2D versions of the character, and even G3 sig Frankie's hair can't muster the huge swoop of the cartoon design after I cut their hair to the right style. I'm delighted to have gotten the most authentic G1 Frankie big-hair on my own, though...even if it had to be on a G3 doll!

Here's the three Frankies together now--signature G1, my hybrid signature-G1 throwback restyle, and modified signature G3.

While G3 sig is a good character design, their doll wasn't manufactured with accurate hair and can't quite embody the exaggerated fun of the style in the cartoon with a custom haircut. G1 sig has the same isssues...and yet G3 Creepover easily takes the task of wearing G1 sig's hair and pulverizes the challenge. 

I think I'll call them "Old-Skull Frankie"!

This inspired me to try to improve the sig doll further. I figured if I combed their hair all to fall the wrong way over the shaved patch and boiled it there, the hair would gain a little lift and volume when combed back the correct way after drying. This worked, to an extent. I'll happily take "an extent", though! I think it's meaningfully different and improves their personality. The hair feels more retro and I get more of their energetic, awkward vibe with the shaping tweaks. It's not on par with the cartoon, but it feels more structured and Frankie to me. 

I'm glad I could improve this! 

Now, to find what to clothe the Day Out doll in. I decided to lean into pink with some Frankie stock and two Ghoulia pieces. I think I managed to enjoy the blue and pink sans any neon yellow by emphasizing high contrast and saturation, and made a good look out of several pieces I rejected from their original dolls. This is Ghoulia's pink glasses, Frankie's bolt-stud earrings, Frankie's varsity jacket, Ghoulia's signature crop top, Ghoulia's Neon Frights shorts, and Fearidescent Frankie's necklace, tall boots, and purse.

I like it. It feels sassy and daring and weirdly chic in a nice way. They're like a runway nerd in a jock's jacket! Or a commanding office manager!

This really isn't a Frankie I would have gone out for if they were an official doll ensemble, but I think I made some good of spare parts and found yet another way to appreciate the G3 color palette.

Here are my three "basic" Frankies now. They all feel so different! I think doing the throwback-restyle was a good choice because factory Day Out next to sig, by design, felt less distinct.

And my two Skulltimate Secrets Frankies! You could hardly style them any more differently from each other. I loved Fearidescent for being colorless and I love Neon Frights for being all the colors!

Fearidescent is wearing a Porter Geiss belt that helped their outfit come together.

I guess what I've always admired about the broader Frankie, regardless of incarnation, is that she and they have been afforded so much range in the visual department. Like any character, Frankies have an established design repertoire, but not only do they tend to look really good, but they've gone to some really fun standout places, and Frankies tend to indulge in the kind of audacious modernist pop or camp I really love. I adore vintage and retro, too, but Frankie gives me the now and the future in some ways that I just can't get enough of.

I really like this assortment!

G3 Frankie is sure to be back here as soon as their refresh edition is on my table! Or their Welcome Committee doll. Or both in one post if the release is close enough?

I can't wait.