Being Frank: The Monster High x Universal Monsters "Frankenstein" Doll

I started this blog with reviews of Creeproduction Frankie Stein and the Skullector interpretations of the monsters who inspired her, so there was never a question that the second, female licensed version of the iconic Monster would be joining my collection and my unofficial Universal Frankenstein  doll family.

Keeping Mum: A Custom Monster High Mummy and the MH x Universal Monsters "The Mummy'" Doll

This post started with a custom project...and that may never have finished if it hadn't become clear Mattel was dropping competition! This is a review of a new mummy doll by Monster High now too, as well as the original plan of detailing the mummy I designed from an older doll of theirs.

REVISIT: Headless Headmistress Bloodgood

This doll deserved so much better than the factory gave her, and she was one of the casualties of being an early review where I wasn't yet doing justice to all of my dolls. Headmistress Bloodgood was overdue for a revisit, and the actual completion of the revisit was also overdue--it began in 2025 and stalled out!

It's Whatever It Wants to Be: The Monster High Skullector "Ghostbusters" Gozer Doll by Mattel Creations

Monster High Pride isn't over with Spelldon and Valentine! Mattel dropping a pretty darn genderqueer licensed horror character during June simply couldn't be coincidental, and I saw what they were doing! I love my queer dolls, and I love having multiple to celebrate for Pride in one year. I had a lovely time in 2025 with Welcome Committee Frankie and the Witch Weaver. The Weaver was a '24 release in autumn which I selected for last June, but Mattel did have two covert Pride releases last year with Frankie and Elvira v2. I just didn't get Elvira. Shame on me, I know.

But what about Gozer?

Why Do Mansters Fall in Love?: The Monster High Spelldon Cauldronello/Kieran Valentine Couple Pack by Mattel

On the one hand, this doll release seemed inevitable. On the other, it seemed absolutely impossible. 

Happy Pride! Do these dolls celebrate it well?

In a Garden of Unearthly Delight: Monster High Designer Series Lenore Loomington by Mattel Creations

Two springs ago, the Monster High Designer Series was announced, with the exciting concept of debuting brand-new G1-style monster characters reflecting the signature of one designer on the MH team--naturally, senior designer Rebecca Shipman, responsible for some of my favorites, was the first to make a doll for the line: Lenore Loomington, the Gothic garden ghost. And she was revealed to the sound of thunderous...crickets. 

Picking Bones, Part 4: Did River Reap the Rewards?

Well, isn't this a poetic moment.

Venus McFlytrap Just Won't Quit: G1 Boo-riginal Creeproduction and G3 Self-Scare Secrets!

When given the opportunity to get Creeproduction Venus, I said yes. She has enough bright spots to be worth reviewing. I also took this as my opportunity to catch up on the G3 character, who has given me no reason to pass on her yet. 

BONUS PHOTOSHOOT: Skullector Scarah Screams

This is a fairly quick return to an older doll subject, and won't be a long post, but I'd promised it in the review itself. 

Mechanical Marvels, Part 3: Robecca Returns!

I hadn't expected my first post in this series to get a sequel, let alone a third installment! Here, we're bringing back attention to Robecca Steam, because after years of inactivity in the brand (she was last seen in 2016), Robecca's finally come back both ways--with a Creeproduction of her signature G1 doll and with her signature G3 debut! Both of these dolls have felt fairly overdue--it's been a couple years of asking "when's Robecca coming back?"

"Now SERVING" or "Dolls Divided 3/2": The Monster High Skullector "Beetlejuice" Waiting Room Two-Pack, and a Zombini/Viv Revisit!

...so Mattel made a fool out of me. Remember how last year, I did a two-half project about two-half gimmick horror dolls which split apart at the waist, comparing the body designs of brand-new Monster High manananggal Corazón Marikit and classic Living Dead Dolls' unfortunate magician's assistant Viv? Yeah, well, turns out I should have waited a year, I guess, because it turned out Mattel was adapting the bisecting concept to the exact same murdered magician's assistant concept as Viv. It's a real Doofenshmirtz's Nickels situation here. There aren't many dolls in this type, but weird that it happened twice. Poor Viv never got her timing right--first an incomplete solo review in 2024, then a review of her full two-pack set ahead of her ideal MH counterpart! And now I don't know what this post is. I can't very well add a third half to the two I wrote. It's unmathematical. Is this a third in a series or a separate review that happens to be a follow-up to a duology? Yes. 

Warnings for very bloody imagery as pertains to the LDD half of this discussion, and discussion related to, and imagery alluding to, suicide as pertains to Miss Argentina.

An Unforeseen Surprise: Monster High Skullector Scarah Screams by Mattel

So Mattel's next in-house Skullector release is a forgotten character, done basically as close to perfect as possible? How'd that happen?

Picking Bones, Part 3: Monster High 2025 Dia De Muertos Skelita Calaveras by Mattel

In 2023, I did a run of discussion on Monster High's Skelita Calaveras dolls, including, in my second feature regarding Skelita, her first two dolls made to celebrate the Dia de Muertos holiday--2016's standlone collector doll, and the first Howliday Skelita doll in 2023. Now it's time for another one, which I decided to group into my previous posts as a belated installment in their series!

Queen of the Golden Screen: Monster High Reel Drama Cleo de Nile by Mattel

That cover photo is edited, but only for shadows. That's a full-color photograph! That means it's time to finally talk about Reel Drama!

Get In, Beasties, We're Buying Lipstick: The Monster High G1 "Maul Monsteristas" Five-Pack by Mattel

Let's talk about the tradition of the Monster High five-pack!

Swimming in Thunderstorms: Monster High Skull Shores Frankie Stein (Black and White) by Mattel

I don't normally go for beach dolls, but this was an interesting one!

Is it Okay to Like This?: Monster High "13 Wishes" Lagoona Blue by Mattel

Shiver Me Timbers: Monster High "Haunted" Vandala Doubloons by Mattel

Pirate season is just something I have to live with now. There's no fighting it. Through no intent of my own, I fell into a tradition of blogging about pirate dolls in the summer, despite having no standout affinity for the pirate genre of adventure stories. At this point, why not just go with it? Meet Vandala.

Big Emotions: The Monster High "Fearfully Feisty/Fangtastic Love" Inner Monster by Mattel

This toy changed my life forever, and it's possibly the most overdue topic on this blog by now.

REVISIT: The Monster High Monsters Frankenstein

For a doll so compelling and gorgeous as Monster High's Bride of Frankenstein, I really didn't do her justice. Nor, for that matter, her Monster mate or Mattel's derivative character, G1 Frankie. Their reviews were too early in the blog (like, literally my first two reviews) for me to have gotten into my current photo practice.