Who collects the guys? And why/why not?

[Maniah]

I do collect the boys. I do dislike the square heads and distant stares. No matter how I pose Deuce (scaris) or Clawd (Forbitten), they seem to be staring past you, thinking about what's for dinner, or how to kill someone and hide the body. It's hard to tell >.>

Jackson (sig) seems to have a warmer face for some reason. Maybe the glasses help hide his unfeeling eyes? lol! I have frankie (B&W) posed next to him in a ball gown, with her hand in his, looking up at him adoringly. He is looking down at her, and they just seem very warm and alive.

Clawd is currently cozying up to Sig and Forbitten Draculaura, but I may have to change that because he still seems vacant.

Deuce has been posing with Jinafire and they also had no life. But currently I have him laying on a chaise lounge spooning a Clawdeen who I have plans to customize. And I really like that! It seems like he has some life now! I think maybe he will be better when I find a Cleo that I like.

For me, as you can see, the boys are mostly accessories for the girls. I adore posing them together. I adore matchmaking. I do adore the boys by themselves, but I like my dolls best as couples for the most part. I even have a few girl girl couples going on.

I think I would like the boy dolls better and more stand alone if they also had fashion packs like the girls have, and if they didn't have such beady vacant eyes. I think their eyes could stand to be a bit bigger. Their lips could stand to have a hint of a smile to them like the girls have. And they need more screen time without being focused on the girls for sure.

[saply]

As if I would taint my utopian Amazonian wondershack with boy dolls.

[andibgoode]

There aren't a lot of male fashion dolls I completely love. I love my vintage Ken and Allan, and my childhood Kens (am I the only MH fan who actually likes Barbie? ) because of the nostalgia. And I think Malibu Ken is pretty handsome for a doll. Ha. But overall it takes a lot for me to LOVE a male fashion doll. And the MH boys just don't do it for me and I haven't figured out exactly why either. I don't watch the webisodes all that much so I don't think it's their characters (or lack of) but there is just something about them that doesn't interest me.

However, there is a hilarious webseries about Barbie one of my friends once recommended to me since I liked the MH webseries. It's called "Life in the Dreamhouse" and it is one big pisstake on the entire Barbie franchise. Ken is great in this series! He creates robots and faints regularly.

I keep meaning to watch all of this! I've loved what I've seen. I like that Mattel can poke fun at itself a bit

[Icecrystalline]

I am a collector of the males, although I am slowly selling some of my collection off, the boys are staying with me, except Signature Jackson who I didn't love as much as the others so sold on ebay a month ago to help my bank!

Gil is just unique, and I think it's the fact that he was so rare, and Lagoona's boyfriend that flared my love for him and I had to have him. I paid over the odds for him, but meh, I like him, so I was prepared to pay that.

As for Deuce, LOVE him. He's so cute and funky looking and super sizzlin' style.

Holt? Meh, ok. Not my fave, but wouldn't be happy to part with him.

So yah, that's my take.

Post Merge: March 02, 2013, 04:17:27 AM

And forgot to mention, my Deuce is also paired up to Jinafire, they're great together in my eyes!

[Nana-Rena]

Doombunnies put it really well, I don't really have much to add on the boys personaliies, because of that in depth analysis.

I like the boys because they do have personalities, although they aren't as fleshed out as I would like, but it's a very good start. The idea of having MH as a fashion doll line for both girls and boys would be great as I think ot does have the potential for that. The message of be yourself and everybody has flaws, so let's embrace them is a very good one.

Barbie is just... pink, so substance, no depth. I did play with barbies as a girl, there weren't any other options here up north. But I have no love for barbie as i have for ponies. I loved them as a child and still love them now. Barbie I grew out of and never looked back.

Ken... eh, to me he is boring, he looks just... uninteresting and does nothing for me. I described him to a friend just yesterday as a young dude (supposedly) who looks and dresses like a bland middle aged man. All my old Kens looked old compared to Barbie and the all had the same haircut and face, no personality or individuality at all.

That's why I like the MH boys, they have personality and a cool design, especially Holt, I adore him.

The oly boy I'm not keen on is Gil, if there is a signature release, I'll buy him, but the beach version I dn't care for, like Gloom Beach Jackson, I don't care for that one either. It must be the beach theme, I don't like any of the beach doll girls, so I guess that explains it.

[ShortyBoo]

I don't collect the guys, but that's mostly just because I got into collecting too late and can't afford any of the boys besides Scaris Deuce. I do have Scaris Deuce. I like his character and I like how his doll looks, so I wanted him. I'm still hoping to get my hands on a pair of Signature Deuce's pants to put on him, though since I'm not a huge fan of the shorts.

The only other boy I'd love to get would be Gil, but I can't afford him. If they make a Signature Gil, though, I'll snap him up in a heartbeat. I'd also gladly buy InvisiBilly if they made a doll of him. I'm still undecided on Heath. While I like Clawd's character, I'm not a big fan of his dolls. I don't really like Jackson or Holt at all, so I wouldn't want either of them.

[WildLace]

I don't really like the boys. They just dont look as awesome as the girls. I might like Gil. The pictures I have seen of him look really cool,but  I will have to see him in person again. I saw him about 2 months ago in my toy store, this was in the beginning of my MH collecting so i didn't know his value or that he had awesome detailing down his spine. I will probably find him again. MH is not very popular here so there is a very good chance that i will see him again.

[Mandy85]

I never used to be into collecting boy dolls to be honest (though I did have a lot of male 'action figures' growing up). Many of the characters included in other doll lines have just never really had much appeal to me, and that sentiment kind of transferred over to Monster High when the line first debuted. I remember initially being miffed that I was going to have to pay extra for Cleo just because she came with her boyfriend, who I didn't even want, lol.

I kept saying I was going to sell him off before I even got them. Then of course, once I tracked down a set and opened them, I completely changed my mind. I had all the dolls they first released at that point in the same week. Frankie, I grabbed the second I found her, fell in love with the dolls, and then a few days later I went back for the rest.

It would have felt weird to split up the band, and Cleo wouldn't have felt right to me without him. I also found Deuce to be pretty cool once I was able to look him over and read his diary. I have such a soft spot for reptiles and I really loved how they incorporated the Gorgon elements into him. I was also pleasantly surprised that his personality wasn't at all what I expected it to be from his artwork, so he was to stay.

Then Holt was revealed at SDCC 2010 and I was kind of thinking "Who/what the heck is he? Guess I'm safe on not wanting him." True to form, once I finally tracked down Ghoulia, who he was released alongside, they were the last two Monster High dolls on the shelf (I assume someone had them set aside and never came for them) so I just bought them both. I figured I could use another boy so Deuce wouldn't look so alone, and it was then that I also came to the conclusion that I would be collecting at least one of every character from there on out. I liked Holt's stark contrast to Deuce, and found that he was definitely another doll that looked better out of his packaging and in person.

Then came Jackson, Clawd, Gil, and Hoodude, and I was hooked. I think I love the boy dolls just as much as the girls at this point. They're also kind of special because they're so few in comparison, and, of course rare/sought after now, which is something I never would have guessed a few years ago. Heath may be my most anticipated character to be released this year, I can't wait! I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for Invisi Billy, his design is too cute. Fashion packs as well! 

However, there is a hilarious webseries about Barbie one of my friends once recommended to me since I liked the MH webseries. It's called "Life in the Dreamhouse" and it is one big pisstake on the entire Barbie franchise. Ken is great in this series! He creates robots and faints regularly.

I keep meaning to watch all of this! I've loved what I've seen. I like that Mattel can poke fun at itself a bit

I am so in love with this web series that it's seriously made me re-evaluate Barbie, it presents their characters in a very endearing and slapstick kind of way. If anyone hasn't seen it yet, be sure to check it out and give it a chance:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB4C82F2A68D62AA8

I went in a bit skeptical and found myself laughing at something in every webisode. It reminds me a lot of Toy Story and I love it's self deprecating humor. I'm always happy to see a new one pop up.

[Ravie]

I just like boy dolls. One of my friends had all five New Kids on the Block dolls when i was a kid, so jealous but she let me play with them so it was cool I never really liked Ken and his fake hair though, so while I didn't actively buy him or anything, I had one or two over the years, but my Alladin was my absolute favorite for while he and Jasmine were my prides and joys for a long time and I was always ticked that I could never talk anyone into getting Eric for my Ariel. Until...I have no idea what happened to all my old dolls and things tbh. Maybe I wore them out and they got thrown away.

I think it also in large part has to do with the fact that I have a brother very close to age to me so I also grew up playing with trucks/cars and action figures and Ninja Turtles (oh man we had so many of them! whhhhyyyyy didn't we take better care of our toys so no one would toss them? >.<)

There's also the romance aspect I suppose. I like it. Despite a one-time friend trying to force me into Pullips, I wasn't interested until they came out with TaeYang (Namu was just hideous).

Boy dolls are a big draw. Initially, I was just interested in MH for the unique monsterynous, but the fact that there was a boy doll was just awesome. I love them! There needs to be more. And more clothes!

So it satisfies the tom-boy part of my psyche, and the romantic and the creative writer. Boys exist and a world without them is just silly.

MH boy dolls themselves have tons of character in my opinion. They are unique unto themselves and I think they're very creative Except the shorts n crap in the CaM packs. super suck and uncreative.

BTW, Diary Holt is freakin' awesome. That is the only Holt that should ever exist. All the retconning they did afterward s just unfair in my opinion. And webisode/special Holt is just wrong.

sorry if none of that made sense. I'm suffering from a cold and i seem to spazzing all over the place.

[Mandy85]

BTW, Diary Holt is freakin' awesome. That is the only Holt that should ever exist. All the retconning they did afterward s just unfair in my opinion. And webisode/special Holt is just wrong.

I agree with this sentiment so much! I loved how Holt was presented in his diary, he just seemed like such a cool character. I was really anticipating his inclusion to the webisodes and was completely let down the second he opened his mouth, lol. He went from being an interesting character, to an annoying, spazzy loudmouth. I really wish they would have toned him down a bit, he's just too ridiculous.

I also hate Deuce's "surfer dude" personality they gave him once Yuri Lowenthal was no longer voicing the character, it just made him sound like such a goofy mimbo. That, thankfully does seem to have been taken down a notch with his newest VA, but I really miss the way he was first presented.

[Ravie]

BTW, Diary Holt is freakin' awesome. That is the only Holt that should ever exist. All the retconning they did afterward s just unfair in my opinion. And webisode/special Holt is just wrong.

I agree with this sentiment so much! I loved how Holt was presented in his diary, he just seemed like such a cool character. I was really anticipating his inclusion to the webisodes and was completely let down the second he opened his mouth, lol. He went from being an interesting character, to an annoying, spazzy loudmouth. I really wish they would have toned him down a bit, he's just too ridiculous.

I also hate Deuce's "surfer dude" personality they gave him once Yuri Lowenthal was no longer voicing the character, it just made him sound like such a goofy mimbo. That, thankfully does seem to have been taken down a notch with his newest VA, but I really miss the way he was first presented.

I completely agree about Deuce. He was so chill and awesome when he was first introduced. Then he was just all 'dude-this' and 'dude-that' and I'm all like 'dude-stfu' >.< but he got a little better in the GR special. He still sounded stoned (haha, little joke) most of the time, but his personality was slightly better. I haven't seen any of the newer webbies though so I'm not sure how he's being presented now.

[Dorriebelle]

I actively seek the guy dolls - and just bought the last one I wanted, an out-of-box DotD Deuce. For all the well-stated reasons already presented, and a couple more, I love the guys in some ways even more than the ghouls.

It's weird, but when I was a kid, I had the only Ken doll in the neighborhood. There were six girls I played with on our street, between us, we owned a city-state of Barbie paraphernalia. And that didn't include cardboard box apartments and bedroom slipper cars. But I possessed the only Ken, a Malibu with the 'swoop' - every new girl, visitor or resident, always grabbed him and de-pantsed him, first thing. If we were lucky, she quit giggling long enough to actually play. You'd think that, since every parent on the block gave in to Babs, they'd have no problem with Ken, but for some other unexplored reason, I seemed to be the only girl who wanted one.

In fact, I wanted more guys, so my five Barbies weren't fighting for his attention, but that never happened. Mostly because it was kind of a waste of time and limited 70s resources, all Kens were clones. Same hair, same slightly icky grin, same skin tone, not much new or different out there until a couple months after I gave mine up. (There might actually have been, but I never even heard of PJ, Francie, or other Barbie friends 'til decades later - local shops didn't stock them)

So, like everyone else, I really treasure the variety and characterization we get with MH. No slightly creepy Pepsodent smiles, and when hair is molded, there's a reason. You can't put any two guy characters in a row and crow, 'Clone !', as even the same character is often quite different from one version to the next. I can't wait for Heath, and yearn for a Slow Moe - I like to match my dolls up, and I love my 'ships ! It's like a 3-D fanfic in here sometimes.

Even now, Ken is kind of a yawner, and almost always looks the same, even with pink plastic hair. But I'm glad to see Mattel take the plastic risk of doing something different with him. I hope they never stop doing new and fun things with MH guys !

[roselalonde]

The main reason I don't collect the boys is because they're so hard to find! It's ridiculous! And honestly, If I have $200 to spend, I'd rather get a Wave 1 MIB or even a SDCC exclusive than Gil.

[MissSleepless]

I love the lads!
But they are expensive if you don't catch them on the shelves right away. Most times it's not even a production/distribution issue (unless it's Gil) it's now one wants them till they're gone.

You always want what you can't have, eh?   

[tuneful87]

I have all the boys with the exception of that dorky white boy, but I put them in different outfits. I don't have great photos of them, but I do have a few:

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Panthro Jr. by tuneful87, on Flickr
(He now has a grey wig)

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Seawolf Pups? by tuneful87, on Flickr

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024 by tuneful87, on Flickr
Oh, and Clawd looks absolutely fabulous in drag

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013 by tuneful87, on Flickr