Monster High returns again!

[Taffeta]

As an autistic person, I'm debating whether (to a non-autistic institution/gaggle of flappy parentals) the perception of a 'zombie' or 'bogeyman' (bogeygirl)? would appear more offensive?

I honestly don't care, I think zombie and bogeycritter are probably both realistic given how much autistic kids get marginalised in school, but I can totally see them having a big discussion about this and how to 'be more sensitive' and blah.

But the thing about Ghoulia doesn't necessarily correlate to Twyla being autistic now. I know Ghoulia also felt representative to people from non-native English communities living in majority-English countries (specifically I saw a lot of comments from native Spanish speakers in the US, but not just them), as well as people who communicated differently (the eternal debate about non-verbal vs different language speaker). That being the case, I don't think Twyla being autistic erases the rationale for Ghoulia staying as Ghoulia.

From what Zapper said, Twyla is also a verbal autistic person. The communication is still normalised and 'standard' (American) English. However you interpreted Ghoulia, she offered a different nuance to that equation.

This is kind of hard to explain what I mean, but Ghoulia made herself understood by atypical communication. If Twyla is disclosing and explaining herself to her NT schoolmates, it sounds like she's communicating neurotypically, rather than atypically. In other words, she's masking and adjusting her communication to meet the needs/expectations of her companions, rather than just being herself (as Ghoulia was) and being understood.

Wow, that was unnecessarily cerebral. And I may be overanalysing (so unusual for me! LOL!) because I haven't actually seen Twyla yet.

I do actually like the Twyla doll though. I don't mind her being 'the one'.

[Carrehz]

No no I get it, I totally agree with you. Thing is it doesn't even need to be a "one or the other" thing! We could have classic!Ghoulia and autistic!Twyla coexist just fine.

(Which again brings me back a bit to my previous points of the way G3 does "representation" feeling "token" and "tickbox" - I'll concede I haven't seen the cartoon so maybe they're doing it better than it sounds - but Ghoulia was just Ghoulia, you know? You could read her a bunch of different ways, whereas it sounds like G3 Twyla is just being defined as "the autistic one"? idk I'm trying not to be too harsh on the dialogue Zapper quoted since this IS a kids show and maybe it's just the one scene that's awkward, but like... I can't imagine G1 having dialogue like that. Not sure if I'm wording this properly, sorry.)

[Lady Frostbite]

I haven't seen the cartoon either, which is weird of me considering I adored the G1 cartoons so much and the humour is what got me interested in MH and to take it seriously in the first place. From what I'm hearing, 'tickbox' is pretty much it, though perhaps more ... 'sledgehammer representation'? Let's take Frankie; she's canonically clumsy because her stitches can come loose. Could you read that she has dyspraxia? Absolutely! Could you read her as having a 'omg so relatable' main character clumsiness that's been parodied because SO many leading girls in youth fiction have that as a 'relatable flaw'? Absolutely. The canon explanation is that sometimes her stitches can come loose, which is very reasonable, and she isn't defined by it as she is still mobile enough/co-ordinated enough to take part in all the same activities as her friends and be on the Fearleading squad. You can take or leave her freaky flaw, and interpret how you want.

The best autism representation I've seen is when it is completely unintentional. You could read Ghoulia as being on the Spectrum if you want, or leave it due to her zombie character design, it's totally up to you. You could interpret G1 Twyla as being on the spectrum as well, just in a different placement. Abbey as well, considering her occasional difficulty with social interaction and disregard for pleasantries if they don't make sense to her (see her refusing to advise someone to be coy or shy about their crush, advising them to just be upfront about it as she has no patience for these sort of games, or when Toralei tried to move her out of 'her' seat and Abbey completely refused to take the hint). Again, you could just chalk it up to cultural and language differences, as the episode often does, or read into it she is a little on the spectrum.

Back to Catty; the edits to the boots are MUCH better. I didn't mind the original slight weirdness with the pets, like Clawdeen having Crescent when Toralei exists, but the design made it clear that Crescent was more on the 'monstery' side of cats, if that makes sense? Plus Toralei is explicitly a WEREcat, as in 'man-cat' so is part-animal by default. The pets just seem to 'normal' and cutesy compared to the owls, bats, mammoths, piranhas, etc.

I still think making Catty plus-size is not a good idea or at least her proportions, and again I feel bad saying that considering real-life people DO have her figure. Her leg ratio still bothers me!!

I thought her whole thing was that traditionally unlucky things are lucky for her, i.e. broken mirrors and the number 13, as well as being a black cat (which is funny and a bit annoying as black cats are considered LUCKY in the UK, it always irritates me seeing that. Not every dang country thinks that, America, stop it!!!). I didn't hear anything about the love part.

[Zapper]

Just wanted to pop in and say that Twyla is not just a token in the G3 show. She is the only autistic student so far but she is given a story that goes beyond that. What I find interesting about her is that so far we've been given a couple clues that Twyla might be able to hop dimensions using the boogey sand we already know from G1.
There's also fun Easter Eggs on her dolls, like the Skulltimate Secrets Twyla has a G1 Fearbook in her locker. I'm currently debating if I should try and get that Twyla once she's on sale.
Problem is that most G3 dolls have the horrendous polypropelene hair. They really don't bother with hairstyles anymore. Almost all dolls have poly hair down to their waist.

PS, here is the Twyla scene I was talking about that had the cringe dialogue. I noticed that in other eps Draculaura is mostly used as a mouthpiece of the writers. She often sums up lessons of the day and such. In this scene she also directs the others a bit. I guess I just dislike G3 Draculaura. She is a social justice vampire but lets her dad be racist all the time I really do have issues with the writing and here is the only place I can say that. On the Mattel forums they'd delete me, lol!

https://youtu.be/9X0pi3UKoCo?feature=shared

I just noticed the MH youtube channel has a mind control compilation... wtf.

[Carrehz]

I do love how we can have a normal, nuanced discussion about this sort of thing on here. <3 I feel like if I said this anywhere else I'd have been raked across the coals (at best! haha).

Lady Frostbite - ahhh I agree with everything you said, you took the words right out of my mouth AND worded them way better than I could've! Don't have anything useful to add, just wanted to say I totally agree with you here.

as well as being a black cat (which is funny and a bit annoying as black cats are considered LUCKY in the UK, it always irritates me seeing that. Not every dang country thinks that, America, stop it!!!)

Omg FINALLY someone says it!! This has always driven me nuts, lol.

I just noticed the MH youtube channel has a mind control compilation... wtf.

That's um.... strange. o.O To put it mildly.

[Taffeta]

Black cats are 100% lucky. This one has always really irked me too xD.

The best autism representation I've seen is when it is completely unintentional.

I basically agree with this. I think when people try and represent it they usually get it wrong. Sometimes horrendously so. And when they don't, it becomes all signposty virtue signalling...and just awkward.

The problems people still have with autism is that it's invisible, and most of the time there is a reliance on experts, parents, family members etc to build the narrative, even though there are a lot of people on the spectrum capable of putting their own points forward. For some reason they seem to think autistic people don't read, watch, or react to the same media/world everyone else does. (We do).

Basically we still aren't trusted enough with our own narrative, so the narrative is still...uncomfortable :/

So I watched the clip, I'm putting my remarks in spoiler tags for anyone not interested.

Spoiler

Aside the awkward disclosure, I think Twyla is actually fine. The others, meh. I can see what they're trying to do, but it's still...a very neurotypical perspective. Like the idea Frankie never noticed Twyla. Twyla said she likes to be in the shadows, but that clashes with her saying the sleepover sounds fun and wanting to join it. So either she likes to be alone or Frankie has been ignoring her for years.

In reality most (not all) autistic kids want to make friends and be included. Saying "wow, we've been in the same class forever but I have no idea who you are" is rude. I have actually been that autistic kid in that situation. When you're trying to make your point of view heard, being told you basically don't exist is unpleasant. It undermines your ability to speak up and makes it harder the next time to be heard.

Honestly, Frankie is really really awkward in this whole clip. "I don't know who Twyla is" "I'm going to keep shouting despite knowing she doesn't like noise!" "I'm going to loudly make a stupid unfunny joke about brains!" I'm going to crowd Twyla by climbing on the table (Twyla backs away)"...

I'm less bothered by Lala because her position is more believable "yeah, I know who you are, I noticed this about you, I'm sorry we disturbed you" although I feel her apology is a bit cringy. But if she's the infomercial ghoul holding the narrative together, it makes sense. I've no comment on the witch/vampire thing largely because Lala in the live action movie is basically a complete other ghoul from the one in this animation clip.

I think Twyla herself is depicted ok. I just think bits of the interaction is unnatural. :/ But at least they tried. And maybe, if I play devil's advocate, Frankie being awkward with all these things is realistic? I dunno. It leaves me unsure what they're actually going for.

I do think little details of Twyla - her unconsciously putting her hands to her ears, her telling them they're loud, her interest (it's a bit forced into that moment but it's viable), her backing off when she's crowded...those are nice touches.

Final observation on Twyla and details. Twyla knows about Clawdeen's amulet or whatever it is. She knows, because she's been watching, observing and listening. Unlike Frankie, she has an interest in other people as well as books. I liked that, because it felt real. I knew the names of everyone in that first class, too, even if I only ever really had dialogue with a handful of them.

Also, someone get Toralei a proper book on bugs before she wrecks the whole school.

The mind control thing made me think immediately of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIslDJZAxxg

[Zapper]

The mind control thing made me think immediately of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIslDJZAxxg

I love the Stingers But the weird hypno sh- in G3 is odd. I found out that it's a fetish and so, putting compilations of that on your channel looks like you are trying to attract a secondary audience of adult pervs.

G3 Frankie in the cartoon is just a real dumba$$ instead of just being clumsy. For some reason Frankie knows modern gender theory and has bodyparts of famous people from all over the world, resulting in high intelligence, problem solving skills, even superhuman powers such as biting rocks into shape, lol.
But Frankie still fails at the most basic stuff because she is just a couple of days old. The writers kept that from G1, that Frankie is naive and clueless about a lot of things and has to learn them. But now Frankie also knows about some rather college level concepts so a lot of the behaviours come across as just plain childish (having Frankie crawl over the table was probably supposed to show overexitement).

What I enjoy about cartoon Frankie is her them being so obnoxious. It creates some comedic moments. Draculaura and Clawdeen are always so serious it's obvious Frankie is supposed to be the comic relief of the three. In one scene Frankie is told to do something dangerous and Frankie just does it and walks into a trapdoor. Maybe I just have a mean sense of humor but that makes me chuckle and I prefer it to Draculaura's and Clawdeen's problems.

Just edited to correct Frankie's pronouns in case someone takes it personally.

[Lady Frostbite]

Hypnotism is absolutely a fetish (mods, let me know if I can even say that  ) hence I rose a biiiiiiig brow when you mentioned a playlist, I immediately thought 'someone on the team is either incredibly naive or knows precisely what they're doing). It's a reason that if you search Kaa from Disney's The Jungle Book you have to filter a LOT of garbage fanart.

It sounds like they've combined Frankie and Ghoulia, which is something they tried in G2 I believe by making Frankie smart? Frankie's character was always upbeat and eager but naive and inexperienced. She went into things with her whole heart, but often missed nuances because she got the majority of her information from teen magazines rather than her peers (which I think is something a few girls have done in their silly tween/teen years; copy something they see in movies or TV and end up falling flat on their face). Ghoulia was not as sociable but was exceptionally clever, she was always the first one mentioned whenever 'brains' were needed in a plot or scheme. With Ghoulia it was likely a pun on the classic 'brains' zombie groan, and while it DOES make writing sense for G3 Frankie to be smart if they have combined brains from being made out of multiple people, it doesn't sound like they really have a different trade-off for it. They come across as Twilight Sparkle 2.0; book smart but maybe not good with social cues or interaction. G1 Frankie naturally drew people to her - because, let's be real, she's a sweetheart! - and it was an entire plotpoint to Freaky Fusion when the ghouls used that to save her.

I dunno, I'm not sure the writers/designers know what to do with the ghouls. Again, some clever puns and twists that are MH's signature are there; G3 Frankie having a prosthetic? Great! Fits their character origin from being made out of body parts! The fact they're non-binary? Again, makes sense as they are literally made of multiple people! But what exactly is their personality? Why change what made G1 Frankie so sweet in terms of personality? Why did they feel the need to change it? The looks are toned down and very much made for a slightly younger demo than G1 MH, where the ghouls looked closer to older teens because - like I've said before - high school students (secondary school to us UK ghouls) always look far more mature and adult to younger kids. Then you get to adulthood and realise they're just as childish as elementary/primary school kids lmao  This gen looks like it's years younger, it's got that look and feel, and I think it's missing what made G1 stand out so much and missing that key demo of 'not kiddy but also not adult' that MH fitted in so well.

[Zapper]

I immediately thought 'someone on the team is either incredibly naive or knows precisely what they're doing.

I vote for "knows what they are doing". Same way Nickelodeon shows produced by a special someone always had the kids shove their bare feet into the camera or pour liquids on them.

Or how the show Totally Spies became infamous on the internet for accidentally (?) pandering to grown men's niche """interests"""

I hate how subtle stuff like this is in shows for kids but girlshows especially. Gives me flashbacks to the times kids couldn't google the words "My Little Pony" anymore, even with safesearch on. Something about the cuteness attracts creeps.

I'm honestly a little shocked how doll fandoms remained relatively creep free for such a long time although the source material was always curvy and leggy girls/dolls in various outfits and heels.

Brings me back to G3 and how the cartoon makes them all look so squishy and adorable. None of them look "hot". Something I honestly prefer to G1's animation that always had the girls do a catwalk and really sway their hips. So maybe that's why I was so negatively surprised to see a weird hypno moments video. Thankfully the comment section is not available.
I'm just sensitive about that.

In other news, Mattel doesn't ship internationally at the moment due to undisclosed problems and a lot of international people suddenly had their Fang Vote Jinafire refunded. The preorder window has closed so a lot are worried about not getting their Jinafire. This really sucks, I'm glad I saved my money.

[Taffeta]

I'm a cynic. I tend to interpret undisclosed problems as one of two things: "We didn't fleece the international buyers enough/shipping is more expensive" or "can't be bothered."

My general experience with sellers who refuse to ship internationally, just generally, are in one of those two categories (plus "international people are scammers, but I don't suppose Mattel think that).

It's a shame though. I hope they manage to figure it out. There is a big issue with US companies not really caring about the international markets because their domestic market is so big it can hold firm without any external help.

The only special dolls I have had from Mattel were the Egyptian dig Ghoulia and Cleo, and I had to get those with a pony friend's help, since shipping in the US was free. Apparently it cost half as much as Mattel were quoting to ship the set to me (my friend sent it at cost). So I'm imagining this is either about not charging international people way way more than is necessary, or administrative fail.

Going back to the discussion...I don't see any of G1 Ghoulia in G3 Frankie. I did see elements of G1 Ghoulia in G2 Frankie, but not G3, either in the live action or that clip of animation Zapper just linked (true I haven't seen any other scenes). This may sound terrible but that brief clip made me feel like oh, here go Mattel with their Pinkie Pie random character attempts...the brain joke is just...the kind of thing...Pinkie Pie would have said in the middle of an unrelated conversation. The annoying thing is that I also think G3 Frankie's premise is great - their being non-binary makes sense given their construction. I just don't think they've carried it forward very well (it seemed to fly better in the movie for some reason).

G1 Frankie had this thing about being 16 days old, but that's kind of problematic when you watch her over several adventures because she can't still be 16 days old. Plus compared to Lala's very old 1600 years, it was a bit much. Again, clear what they were trying to do but not really working. But I do remember Frankie in G1 being freaked out by Hallowe'en and the rumours she'd heard about it - and that that was going to be her first Hallowe'en? I forget what the special was but it's the one with Jackson and Holt. I always liked that one best which is why I remember it.

I liked G1 Frankie better than Clawdeen or Lala - I feel like it's a shame they tried to move away from that character. It never seemed necessary, though G2 did seem like a desperate attempt to eradicate Ghoulia.

I agree that it's good they are not making the characters fashion models anymore...it's always irked me that you never seem to get a release of a doll where they're not looking glam and made up, even for a sleepover. I'm waiting for the bed hair and rumpled PJs sleepover release, LOL

[Zapper]

Ghoulia was the smart one and in G3 Frankie is still the smart one (it just doesn't show a lot but Frankie is supposed to be a genius). It's just sad that G3 can't be like G2 and just have Frankie smart, they have to give reasons for it any time Frankie has an idea. It's always "oh I have piece of the brain if *insert famous person here*".
I'm scared to think of Dr. Frankenstein in a time machine messing with the time continuum just to have fresh pieces of corpse of the most famous scientists and artists from various epochs

Btw, I got that Twyla now. I was prepared for her looking different than the beautiful prototype pics but wow, she looked like she had sanpaku eyes and her hair was crispy. I tried to style her a little, give her hair the old wax and heat treatment to make it softer. I also took a very thin waterproof liner to her face and darkened the whites under her pupils to make it look like she had the heavy eyeline from the promos. Finally, I noticed she had massive flaws on her arms: scratches all over and one area on her shoulder where not just paint but plastic had chipped.

I paid less than retail for her (which is a massive 43€) and I had free shipping but damn... the quality control on these dolls is bad. And since you can't see them in box you couldn't even go to a store and pick the best one.

Also, her book had its print misalingned and her harness was all bent and is now crooked. Her purse opens but you can put nothing in, maybe a small piece of paper? Lol...
Waste of money.

[brightberry]

I always thought the reason toys are more expensive in Europe than in the US is that toys are duty free in the States.  Or, at least, are not as costly.

[cowboyopossum]

Trust me, they are not... I wish!

[brightberry]

Trust me, they are not... I wish!

Which part?  Price or import fees? I know that I don't have to worry about any toys I buy from countries outside the US having any custom fees. 

And...

For reference, toys are officially classified with the HS Code 9503.00.00, under the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule. They are generally duty free, though the Merchandise Processing Fee and Harbor Maintenance Fee will still apply.

https://www.flexport.com/help/212-importing-toys-united-states/

Generally, the HTS Code for the toys is 9503.00.00. This includes:

    Tricycles, scooters, pedal cars and similar wheeled toys
    Dollsʼ carriages; dolls, other toys
    Reduced-scale (“scaleˮ) models and similar recreational models, working or not
    Puzzles of all kinds
    Parts and accessories thereof

For all of the products mentioned above, the current US duty rate is 0%.

So do you mean the prices are the same as in Europe?  Or that fees are somehow being added?  Or my information is old? 

[cowboyopossum]

Usually they are more expensive in stores and with state taxes though, that tends to vary. I'm not sure on the conversion rates of every currency but for example a single g5 fashion style pony is upwards of $20. I think this can also be linked to inflation, and the general state of the American economy.

Don't take me too seriously though, just complaining here!