Swimwear dolls generally aren't that exciting, but MH always seem to make them covetable. These were exclusive to Smyths and with no store anywhere near me, it was down to buying online. I knew the exact day they were to come out and was lucky to bag all three with no problems. They sold out after I'd got mine, but they have been restocking, so it's worth keeping checking. 
I'm not a Draculaura collector (although I own a couple) and I didn't really want to get into Venus as I already buy so many other characters already, but all the girls appealed to me. They have this retro inspired look, but with bright neon and perspex and I just desperately wanted them all! Each doll comes with a bag, sunglasses and matching towel (to swimsuit) and other accessories. They don't come with a stand or hairbrush which I'd expect at £14.99. I personally don't grudge paying that for these dolls, but when you look at the Roller Maze line for example, they came with just as any accessories and a doll stand but were priced a couple of £'s cheaper.
There were some issues surrounding Venus after her launch in other countries. It seemed some places were getting the original Venus (makeup colours etc) but with the swim outfit. Already owning the original I really wanted the new swim one with paler pink lips and green eyeshadow but had no choice but to order her blind and hope it would be the right one.
Luckily it was. I think I'd have sold it, had it been the original (even although I prefer the swim outfit to her original), because I really don't need two identical dolls. Draculaura came with two bunches which were a little too 'sweet' for me, so I popped them into little buns on top of her head and she looks much better. All the dolls have little dents in their faces from the sunglasses and accessories they were wearing in the box which is annoying. I've also noticed because their hair is held in place in the box, more and more of the dolls are being left with permanent kinks or lines where the plastic held their hair (not just the swim line), it's really irritating. I don't want to and shouldn't have to go to the trouble of trying to fix that on a brand new doll.
Lagoona just takes my breath away, she's ridiculously pretty. She has that hippy 70's vibe going on and you'd think with her being a sea monster I'd get bored of seeing her in swimwear, but this one is totally refreshing. It's pretty rare that she gets poker-straight hair, so that made a nice change. I love her oversized sunnies, but with the way her hair sits and also the plastic band around her head, it's difficult for her to wear it all at once!
Our local Argos have placed some of their MH dolls out on the shelves and they've been selling like hot-cakes. I really hope the company take note of this and continue to let people see items like dolls that have multiple variations all included on the one catalogue number. It must be so frustrating for staff to continually search through the stock and bring out several items for the customer to choose from and it's just as frustrating for us to have to ask to 'view' before purchasing. Seeing them on the shelves is much more encouraging to buy and I'm sure if they analysed the stock turnover in the last couple of weeks compared to usual they'd notice a huge difference.
My sister spotted (after her work while Argos was closed) that they had the Super Hero dolls on the shelves (exclusive to Argos). Now there's been lots of drama over certain stores only getting Clawdeen or Spectra and not both. I'd like to add here that my store has been showing as 'out of stock at your 10 nearest stores' for months. There has never been one doll in stock ever, never mind a choice or continuous stock of one character. I was starting to think we'd never see them north of the border! I'd been deliberating buying Clawdeen and seeing as she was on promotion and in stock for the first time (and the only one on the self) my sister just got her for me.
Clawdeen is "Wonder Wolf" and looks pretty fierce in her metallic outfit and has lime green streaks in her hair. Her hair is a bit 'wild' and reminds me of Westley (or Madison for non-Europe readers) from MyScene. We haven't seen hair like this on a Clawdeen before. She had a fringe, but I thought her face was so pretty, I scooped it back into her hairband. I'm quite looking forward to trying out the metallic makeup on Monster High Monday one week.
My sister was ordering from Toys'r'Us recently and asked if I would like a couple of things while they had a few offers on. I really wanted the Lagoona doll from the Scaris multi-pack (exclusive to TRU), but she came with Cleo who I don't collect. I also liked the Ghoulia that came with the scooter but didn't need the scooter. I decided to get both and will sell the things I don't need. Ghoulia was reduced in the sale. She's a little more severe than I was expecting and I was so disappointed she didn't come with a spare pair of glasses.
She comes with red plastic glasses which attach to her helmet but that she can't wear alone. I would've liked a 'real' pair for when she's not wearing her helmet. I'd seen several pics on Flickr etc and assumed she did come with an extra pair. I only have one spare pair which I gave to a Frankie doll a while back and she looked so adorable in them, I don't want to steal them back for Ghoulia! I've taken the glasses from my Dot Dead Gorgeous Ghoulia until I come up with another solution. It's actually quite funny how certain glasses can't be transferred between Ghoulia dolls. Some really didn't suit her face shape/makeup.
Oh and Sir Hoots-A-Lot comes with his own helmet and glasses. How cute!
Lagoona Scaris...OMG, where do I start? She has to be the least monster looking Monster High doll I've ever seen, she's like a perfect, pretty, pastel princess (tremendous use of alliteration there!). Ok, so she did come with a sheer black and pink printed tunic over the top of the turquoise dress, but I took that off so you could see how pretty she is when she's all pastel!
Again she's without her curls and waves and just has big bouncy hair instead. You can also really see the issue of the plastic leaving a mark in her hair here, grrr.
Did I mention she comes with the cutest accessories ever? An octopus necklace, hair clip and these amazing wedges (I want!). They are fabulous.
Finally, I've been looking for Roller Maze Clawdeen for months. She was released later than the original line and was in short supply. I didn't want to panic buy her at the first opportunity, as usually when I do this, a few weeks down the line it's available everywhere. I saw her online and the prices varied, usually with shipping costs too and the majority of times I wasn't quick enough and she was gone, even if I had been prepared to pay that. Then I heard she'd popped up in B&M stores for £9.99 (slightly cheaper than elsewhere)! It's really unusual for them to get any MH dolls never mind one that was hard to find and just released. So off I trotted to my nearest store only to see the empty shelf with the price ticket for the Roller dolls : ( I asked the supervisor and she said they would get more in "cause they are dead popular eh?", her exact words if I remember correctly! I didn't know if she was just saying that to get rid of me or if she really knew they would be restocked. So I left it a couple of days and went back again, but still nothing. Last week I noticed Tesco got her back in stock but at £13 I was reluctant to jump in there, plus our local store are so rude when you use the click and collect service. So I left it and she was gone by the next day! Then I saw her on Sainsburys for £11.99 and realised they also have a click and collect service and we recently got a Sainsburys here which I could collect from (and the staff are much more pleasant). So I ordered her and she arrived a couple of days later. I've not had the chance to take her out of the box yet, but she's got awesome lilac hair!
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