Monster High Review: Lagoona Blue
Oct. 3rd, 2012 12:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leia131I've mentioned this a couple of times, but the hour is finally here! I am going to start doing Monster High doll reviews, mostly because I feel like it. If you're not interested in this, that's fine, it will all be under a cut and you can just scroll right on by. But if you want to see just what I've sunk hundreds of dollars into over the past three years, now's your chance!
These reviews were inspired by those on The Toy Box Philosopher, a doll/toy review blog I stumbled across a few weeks ago. It's a great blog, and you should check it out.
Once upon a time,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cleolinda mentioned in her journal something about a vampire doll called Draculaura and a tiny top hat. I looked into this, and was instantly interested. Then I saw the dolls in person in Target, and was sold. I saved up some money and bought my first doll, Lagoona Blue, from Amazon a few weeks later, intending for her to be the only one I would ever own. Let me warn you now, if you think you can buy just one Monster High doll and be happy, you are wrong. They are addictive, and I regret nothing.
Anyway, I picked Lagoona because she was the closest thing to a mermaid being offered, and since she was to be my only doll (yeah, right) she would fit in the best with my extensive Little Mermaid collection. This turned out to be very shrewd on my part, as her diary had several Little Mermaid references that made me laugh.
If you know nothing about Monster High, here's the short version: they are young, fashionable, teenage children of classic monsters. Each 'basic' doll comes with a diary, pet, brush, and stand and then there are expansion lines centered around a theme (beach, dance, etc.) I own (and will therefore be reviewing) basic dolls, special dolls, and additional outfits that I've bought over the years. Ready?
All right, here's my first doll: Lagoona Blue, 15, daughter of the sea monster:
These reviews were inspired by those on The Toy Box Philosopher, a doll/toy review blog I stumbled across a few weeks ago. It's a great blog, and you should check it out.
Once upon a time,
cleolinda mentioned in her journal something about a vampire doll called Draculaura and a tiny top hat. I looked into this, and was instantly interested. Then I saw the dolls in person in Target, and was sold. I saved up some money and bought my first doll, Lagoona Blue, from Amazon a few weeks later, intending for her to be the only one I would ever own. Let me warn you now, if you think you can buy just one Monster High doll and be happy, you are wrong. They are addictive, and I regret nothing.Anyway, I picked Lagoona because she was the closest thing to a mermaid being offered, and since she was to be my only doll (yeah, right) she would fit in the best with my extensive Little Mermaid collection. This turned out to be very shrewd on my part, as her diary had several Little Mermaid references that made me laugh.
If you know nothing about Monster High, here's the short version: they are young, fashionable, teenage children of classic monsters. Each 'basic' doll comes with a diary, pet, brush, and stand and then there are expansion lines centered around a theme (beach, dance, etc.) I own (and will therefore be reviewing) basic dolls, special dolls, and additional outfits that I've bought over the years. Ready?
All right, here's my first doll: Lagoona Blue, 15, daughter of the sea monster:
Hi everyone!
First of all, one of my favorite things about these dolls (in contrast to other 'fashion' dolls out there) is that they all have distinct personalities beyond "I love boys and fashion and shopping, tee hee!" Lagoona likes sports (especially surfing) and is more or less a laid back hippie. I love her. This info comes from her box and diary, but here's a link to her official MH page so you can check it out for yourself.
Her pet is Neptuna, and she definitely wins the 'best named pet' contest. It's a pun, it's a fish name, it's a feminized version of Neptune, it's pretty much perfect. Some of the other pet names are... less good. Being a fish, Neptuna comes in a bowl, which also happens to function as Lagoona's purse.
Tangent: I love nothing more than changing these dolls' clothes and shoes around, and when I only had two or three of them to trade things around, the fact that her purse was also her pet annoyed me a little. But that was a long time ago, and is really not a problem anymore. Also, a lot of my opinions on these dolls are probably going to center around how easy it is to dress, undress, and trade their outfits around, because that's how I roll.
Anyway, Lagoona is blonde, with blue streaks in her hair, and is wearing a cute, beachy outfit with lots of fishy details. (Best thing about MH in general is the attention to detail.)
With the hood down, and Neptuna out of her bowl.
My breakdown:
Theme: Fish/water.
Evidenced in: Fins on her hood, arms, and legs; scale pattern on her top; seahorse necklace; fishnet pants. I'm not sure exactly what her earrings are meant to be, but it's clearly something nautical. Also, I'm going to choose to believe that the pink flower in her hair is a nod to Ariel, and you can't stop me.
Favorite thing about the doll: Body details. Her arm and leg fins add a lot of character, and are a fantastic detail. Also, the leg ones are removable, so that Lagoona can change clothes easily, and wear taller shoes/boots. Despite this, they stay in well, and I haven't lost them. Her hands also have webbed fingers, which is awesome, and she has the cutest freckles on her face. I think she's the only doll with freckles, actually.
Least favorite thing about the doll: Ummm... I really don't have anything bad to say about her. Her arm fins can make wearing long sleeves look a bit awkward, but there are still plenty of fashion options for her.
Favorite thing about the outfit/accessories: The hair flower. Not only is it reminiscent of Ariel, it's also one of the cutest hair accessories I have, as well as being easy to take off and put on other girls.
Least favorite thing about the outfit/accessories: The jacket looks cute when the hood is up, but hangs funny and pulls off her shoulders when it's down. It also tends to bunch up in the front with Lagoona goes in her stand.
But she still looks cute without it on.
Just a quick note about stands: The dolls used to come with a colored stand, and matching brush, but the newer ones just have plain black stands. I don't know why, but I don't like them as much. Lagoona has a nice opalescent, off-white stand, like a pearl, that suits her very well.
Bottom line: I hesitate to name any of my dolls a favorite, but Lagoona would have to be near the top. She's almost a mermaid, she's pretty, she's detailed and unique, and her pet is awesome too. She's pretty hard to find nowadays (selling for $145 on Amazon, YIKES. I only paid $30 for her, and even that was overpriced. They usually retail for around $20, if you can find them in stores) but I would definitely recommend her.
First of all, one of my favorite things about these dolls (in contrast to other 'fashion' dolls out there) is that they all have distinct personalities beyond "I love boys and fashion and shopping, tee hee!" Lagoona likes sports (especially surfing) and is more or less a laid back hippie. I love her. This info comes from her box and diary, but here's a link to her official MH page so you can check it out for yourself.
Her pet is Neptuna, and she definitely wins the 'best named pet' contest. It's a pun, it's a fish name, it's a feminized version of Neptune, it's pretty much perfect. Some of the other pet names are... less good. Being a fish, Neptuna comes in a bowl, which also happens to function as Lagoona's purse.
Tangent: I love nothing more than changing these dolls' clothes and shoes around, and when I only had two or three of them to trade things around, the fact that her purse was also her pet annoyed me a little. But that was a long time ago, and is really not a problem anymore. Also, a lot of my opinions on these dolls are probably going to center around how easy it is to dress, undress, and trade their outfits around, because that's how I roll.
Anyway, Lagoona is blonde, with blue streaks in her hair, and is wearing a cute, beachy outfit with lots of fishy details. (Best thing about MH in general is the attention to detail.)
With the hood down, and Neptuna out of her bowl.
My breakdown:
Theme: Fish/water.
Evidenced in: Fins on her hood, arms, and legs; scale pattern on her top; seahorse necklace; fishnet pants. I'm not sure exactly what her earrings are meant to be, but it's clearly something nautical. Also, I'm going to choose to believe that the pink flower in her hair is a nod to Ariel, and you can't stop me.
Favorite thing about the doll: Body details. Her arm and leg fins add a lot of character, and are a fantastic detail. Also, the leg ones are removable, so that Lagoona can change clothes easily, and wear taller shoes/boots. Despite this, they stay in well, and I haven't lost them. Her hands also have webbed fingers, which is awesome, and she has the cutest freckles on her face. I think she's the only doll with freckles, actually.
Least favorite thing about the doll: Ummm... I really don't have anything bad to say about her. Her arm fins can make wearing long sleeves look a bit awkward, but there are still plenty of fashion options for her.
Favorite thing about the outfit/accessories: The hair flower. Not only is it reminiscent of Ariel, it's also one of the cutest hair accessories I have, as well as being easy to take off and put on other girls.
Least favorite thing about the outfit/accessories: The jacket looks cute when the hood is up, but hangs funny and pulls off her shoulders when it's down. It also tends to bunch up in the front with Lagoona goes in her stand.
But she still looks cute without it on.
Just a quick note about stands: The dolls used to come with a colored stand, and matching brush, but the newer ones just have plain black stands. I don't know why, but I don't like them as much. Lagoona has a nice opalescent, off-white stand, like a pearl, that suits her very well.
Bottom line: I hesitate to name any of my dolls a favorite, but Lagoona would have to be near the top. She's almost a mermaid, she's pretty, she's detailed and unique, and her pet is awesome too. She's pretty hard to find nowadays (selling for $145 on Amazon, YIKES. I only paid $30 for her, and even that was overpriced. They usually retail for around $20, if you can find them in stores) but I would definitely recommend her.
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no subject
Date: 2012-10-03 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-03 10:41 pm (UTC)I've been brewing them up in my head for a few weeks now, trying to decide on a format, and I finally just went for it. I realize most of the dolls I have are old news, but eventually I'll catch up to the newer ones. :)
no subject
Date: 2012-10-03 07:28 pm (UTC)Do you have a favorite version of Lagoona other than the signature one?
no subject
Date: 2012-10-03 10:39 pm (UTC)I really wanted to like DotD Lagoona, but her super-awesome mohawk just didn't translate as well from art to doll as I would have liked. I had DDG Lagoona in my hand, but I really don't like her dress. And finally, if I were going to get a third Lagoona it would probably be Roller Maze, because I think her weird-ass hair is pretty cool. :)
/much more info than you wanted.
P.S. If they ever make an epic GR Lagoona, though, I will be all over that white on rice.
no subject
Date: 2012-10-04 12:03 am (UTC)I've never seen the DotD Lagoona in person & I'm dying to! I have the DDG Lagoona, only because I had the other 5 & wanted to complete the set (I do love the other 5, though, even if I'm a bit confused by the dresses on the dolls in the DDG 3-pack), but she's kind of meh. I do love my Roller Maze Lagoona, both for her ADORABLE hair & her "hang 10" hand gesture...her outfit is pretty cute, too.
Oooh, a GR Lagoona would be great...or if they could somehow expand the Scary Tales line (IDK the Little Mermaid), I would be very happy :)
no subject
Date: 2012-10-04 02:11 am (UTC)And yeah, I passed on the DDG 3 pack because I just... I don't know, it didn't do it for me. But I also love RM Lagoona's hand! If I manage to scrape up some extra dough from my new job, I'll probably pick her up.
Oh, yes, and I liked Mad Science Lagoona's outfit mostly because it was the first pair of pants I had for my dolls. ;)
no subject
Date: 2012-10-04 12:40 pm (UTC)I don't get why the 3 individual DDG ghouls had those pretty sheer overlays on their dresses, but the ones in the 3-pack didn't. When stood side by side, you'd never know they were from the same line. (Don't get me wrong, I like the dresses from the 3-pack...Ghoulia's especially...but how hard would it have been to put some sheer overlays SOMEWHERE on their dresses?!?!)
I think the outfit with the pants that came with my MS Lagoona was wonky lol. I had her wearing it for a long time (she was the first doll I got & it wasn't until about a month ago that I changed her into her fashion pack), but the shirt & that bow or whatever on it were all bunched up & twisted and ironing didn't help & it just looked terrible on her. Maybe someday I'll find a new shirt without 'issues' that matches the pants or something ;)
no subject
Date: 2012-10-04 03:28 pm (UTC)If you can ever get ahold of Toralei's fashion pack, the black shirt would probably work well with those pants. Or possibly Rochelle's black and white top. No, I don't know waaaay too much about doll clothes, shhh.
no subject
Date: 2012-10-03 11:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-03 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-03 11:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-03 11:37 pm (UTC)Also, Target has provided me with probably 95% of all the MH dolls I own. YAY TARGET!
no subject
Date: 2012-10-03 11:42 pm (UTC)Also, YAY TARGET! I love it.
no subject
Date: 2012-10-03 11:51 pm (UTC)