Monster High: What is this I don't even.

[AnnetheCatDetective]

I never cared for Barbies-- and even when I got into collecting BJDs, I didn't much look at fashion dolls! I had always been a stuffed animals kid when I was very small, and then got into action figures. The dolls I did collect as an adult were a far cry from anything you'd find in your local Target...

But... I LOVE monsters. I dug the whole idea behind them, and that they had such different personal styles... and the detail put into little things like their shoes! For a while I thought I would be content to admire my sister's collection, and then they started coming out with stuff that I needed for myself!

[Tribble79]

I'm with Zombellina and Salli.... I have always loved dolls. I had a huge collection of Barbies to play with as a child. Course I think my favorite dolls to play with was The little mermaid doll (I loved the red hair) and a Maxie doll. I did of course interchange heads also. It was the only way I knew how to have a doll with a body I liked with the color hair I wanted... Hadn't even dreamed of customizing at that age.

I loved and have wanted the monster high dolls since I spotted the webisodes and watched them. I don't want all the dolls, I mean - good gravy that is a LOT of dolls. BUT... I need all the clothing and accessories from every one they release! LOL - now, how do you suppose I'm gonna do that? I also really like the signature dolls because they come with their pets, and I was always in to pets as a kid, and now also. My Barbies always had animal kids while I was playing with them!

I also love monsters and this is such a cool way to introduce kids to monsters they have never heard of... GOOOO MONSTERS

[Flutterwonder13]

I had about a bazillion barbies as a kid, but I only really played with them when I had friends over. I was never in love with them. But after becoming a brony, then a g4 collector, then wandering into the MH section, the uniqueness and beauty just pulled me in due to my collector's nature. 

[tuneful87]

Excellent thread.

I would never normally collect dolls either (although I did have a few as a kid). I really loved the monster aspect of the line. I originally though the big heads would bother me, but that only lasted about a day until I accepted my Gloom Beach Frankie for how she was. I was simply fascinated with her mold and proportions when I first got her too - I LOVE long legs.

[bewilderness]

I had maybe three or four dolls total as a kid; it was ponies all the way for me back then.  Since I've been an adult, I've had a few Barbie and Bratz, but ponies were still #1.  Now the dolls pretty much take up all my toy funds, lol.  What pulled me in to Monster High (besides the awesome fashions) was that they were so different from any other dolls out there....Mad Science doll?  Yes please!!  It was seeing Mad Science Lagoona in the store that I knew I'd eventually cave and start buying these.

[spherogirl]

I was a big Barbie fan as a child. I played with Barbies nearly nonstop. I also had a sizeable MLP collection, Lady Lovelylocks dolls with castle, and more. When I started feeling "too grown up" for these toys, I sadly sold off most of them at a family yard sale (with the exception of my Barbies). I have regretted that for years!

When I first saw the monster high dolls, I didn't want to like them. I kept telling myself that I'm too old to buy dolls. Well.... I found out that my friend was collecting them and that gave me the open door to purchase some. I didn't feel so weird anymore....and now here I am on this forum!

It's good to see there are so many adult collectors around.

[PandaBerryInSpace]

I wasn't into Barbie as a kid, but I LOVED Bratz. I was in third grade when they first came out, and I had a whole bunch of them. When it came to dolls, I always loved the big head with heavy makeup look, so Monster High was right up my alley. I don't even care as much about the monster aspect, as the only real experience I had with monsters previously was Twilight. But, as a former "emo kid", the gothiness certainly helped!

[Flutterwonder13]

I remember liking bratz too...it's really a shame that some overly attached soccer moms have thrown tantrums over the dolls being "slutty". 

It. Is. A. DOLL.

[Bergamot]

Hey. I used to think that Bratz were kind of trashy, too-- Even as a high school / college student. I was too old for them when they hit the market (says the adult who collects MH and MLP), and I didn't understand them.

They sure don't have the same allure as Monster High, but I can understand them a little better, now. If parents don't want these things in their households, I think it's responsibility to talk to their children and provide them with toys that they deem appropriate. The industry can't babysit and make toys to everybody's standards, after all.

In the Monster High discussion thread, somebody said that the prototype spider doll reminded them of Lolth. That kind of made me aware of another reason why I like Monster High so much: I've always been a huge tabletop RPG player, so the "mythical creatures" thing is that much cooler to me.

Their proportions are indeed interesting, Tuneful. They look a lot like fashion drawings.

[EmberBright]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who doesn't understand why I love these dolls!

I hated Barbie when I was a kid. I had a few, but she only came out to be the bad guy who oppressed the My Little Ponies. Seriously, SUCH a witch. I hated Bratz when they came out (I was too old for them by then, and I thought they were super trashy-looking). No other dolls do anything for me.

Also, most dolls scare the crap out of me. Porcelain dolls and a lot of BJDs are the worst, but Barbie freaks me out, too.

Then came Monster High... I didn't like them when I first saw them. I thought they were just more of the same weird, unrealistic (OK, they are that...), kinda trashy-looking fashion dolls. I didn't even like the first few I saw out of the box, at my niece's house. I think I was turned off by their extreme skinniness and their weird posture.

I started to like them because so many people here at the arena were collecting them, and then ANTM really tipped the scales for me. They're so BENDY! And FUN! And PRETTY!!! That last bit shouldn't matter to me so much (never been a girly girl), but they're just a whole lot of awesome in a little plastic package. So much more fun and diverse and versatile than Barbie.

I think my husband secretly thinks they're really cute, too. He kind of encourages my habit, and got me Rochelle for Christmas.

I just bought my 10th MH doll today. Not so much to some people, but quite shocking for me!

[roselalonde]

I really loved fashion dolls when I was little, and I had so many Barbies and Bratz. Oddly enough I never had too many ponies, never really got into them the same way I did Barbie. Looking back though, I'm not really sure what I saw in Bratz. I know fashion doll faces aren't realistic but even so Bratz was a little too extreme.

With Monster High I just love how each doll has an individual personality and face. I understand wanting different body types, trust me I wish there was a chubby Draculaura out there, but I also understand why they can't.

[Trystrid]

I had had lots of Barbies growing up, mainly my sister's hand-me-downs. I was about 10 or 11 when I first encountered Jem. I went bananas for those dolls and bought pretty much all of them, would race home to watch the show, etc... But it wasn't long before I felt like I was a little too old to be playing with them, even though it felt like I had just started.

I've always loved looking at dolls. Whenever I found myself in a toy store, I'd always check out the doll aisles. I get such a thrill from looking at all the fashions, types, hair styles. I don't even need to buy one. Just looking at them in their boxes is a lot of fun.

When I had my daughter and when she was old enough to play with Barbies, it was so much fun being able to buy them again. When she was about 4, I came across the MH dolls. I bought her the DOTD 3 pack on a whim and...the rest is history! I love arranging her MH dolls. I've also made her some MH rooms and a refurbished doll house. And I've even started to buy myself a few dolls. I sort of collect Ghoulias- but only the Ghoulias that I like! I'm a huge horror movie fan and love anything creepy or macabre.

[Aeryala]

I had a HUGE collection of Barbies, Jem dolls, etc. when I was a kid, but my favorites were always the unique ones like Synergy from Jem, and any fairy or mermaid dolls, and the ones that were the most articulated.  I've always liked cool creatures and "weird" stuff, and I've had a passion for werewolves and vampires since like 1987.  There is no doubt in my mind that Monster High would have been my most favorite thing in the world when I was a child.

As an adult.. I'm still kind of a child at heart.  Also, I'm an artist and a feminist with a goth aesthetic and I really appreciate things like how beautifully detailed all the sculpts are, how wonderfully poseable they are, the fact that the dolls aren't all frilly and packaged in pink, the excellent graphic design and branding, etc.  I think it's the details that go into the whole production that make me love it the most. 

[DazzleKitty]

I detested dolls as a child. I don't actually remember this because I was too little, but according to my mom it's my brother's fault. He ripped a baby doll's head off in front of me and scared me away from dolls for life. Having two older brothers, I was influenced by them and played with many 'boy' toys.

I never even wanted to get into doll collecting. I saw signature Draculaura at the store and fell in love. I figured, what's wrong with just one doll? Then she led to many more.

For some reason, these dolls kinda reminded me of anime characters, and I have liked anime for many years. I also adore anything that's really colorful, and dolls with colorful hair really appeal to me. And a doll with pink skin, a doll with blue skin, a doll with blue hair, a doll with cat ears......the whole line was an instant win for me.

[empirical]

i played with barbies as a child but i was always getting the one with the funky colored hair( ie: the rockstar barbies) and putting their heads on the paler skinned ones( or dying the blonde hair black) and piercing them and giving them tattoos. i "customized" dolls more than i ever actually played with them. i always had to make my own "different/unique" dolls. nothing on the market really appealed to me as i've always been something of an oddball. i never really fit society's norms and i still don't. i'm in love with monster high because they are everything i wanted in a doll when i was younger. hell, operetta has tattoos on her arm! i feel it's a bit late but better late than never when it comes to teaching girls/women/even boys that it's alright to be different and that you are fine just the way you are. i never felt like i had to fit into the cookie cutter mold that all of my friends seemed to fit into... it just would have been nice to have had these dolls to back me up.