Monster High - Ghoul Spirit Spectra Review

So it has begun! I've finally started collecting Monster High dolls ;A;

I've always wanted to collect them because I love their crazy colored hair. The first few dolls that drew me were Venus McFlytrap and Catrine DeMew! I thought Venus was really cool because she was green (green is one of my favorite colors) and has a side shaved hair-do! Something I almost never saw in dolls until only recently. And Catrine's color scheme is purple - another of my favorite colors!

But I didn't buy any because I felt I didn't have the money to start a new collection (don't we all?) I was trying to focus only on Sylvanian Families, Zelfs, K-ON anime figures, Gambit and Lalaloopsy Minis back then.. but I guess that doesn't matter anymore; I've already failed a million times over till date lol *slaps self*

Anyway, my first Monster High doll is special because it was given to me as a belated birthday present. So I guess I have to blame my friend for making me start a new collection :<

My friend chose Spectra for me because I had purple hair back then. Also, he thought she looked alot like me.

Spectra Vondergeist - Daughter of a Ghost. Poltergeist definitely rang in my head!

I think the doll's face doesn't really look like how Spectra looks in the cartoon..

On to the doll herself:

Her earrings are black unlike those on her box-art. I don't mind it though. But they are abit large in scale. These are removable.

Cute shirt with the Monster High logo and some chains.

Her bracelets are actually the shape of a skull! I'm fascinated with her clear hands. I think they're really cool. However, Spectra only comes with one pom-pom. I was expecting two since she was holding two up in her box art :(

Her hands are removable! I'd be extra careful when removing and putting them back on though, they seem quite fragile.

Her skirt. Chains seem to be Spectra's theme though. I wonder why..

I love her hot pink heels and shackle cuffs. She can't stand on her own though. Also, she doesn't come with a doll stand. I used Ghoul Sports Spectra's stand for this – Yes, I've already gotten more Spectra dolls :x

She also has clear feet! I really love this detail of her which makes her look more spirit-like.

She's boo-tiful!

Gotta love Monster High puns lol! She wasn't really one of the dolls I wanted to collect in the beginning but I love her so much now! I'd want to try doing her make-up on myself one day :)

Mini Lalaloopsy: Haley Galaxy

About a month ago, I fell in love with these mini Lalaloopy dolls that I had come across in a departmental store. Lalaloopsy has been around for a quite some time already but I never really paid much attention to them until I saw the mini versions!

I immediately fell in love with Haley because green is my favourite color. And also, I love (cute) aliens!

The minis come with more accessories as compared to their large versions. Although I don't think there's much you can do with them. Haley is unable to hold onto any of the accessories as you can see:

They are non-functional and only good for display. But what surprised me was the quality of her accessories. They all have different textures and are beautifully detailed.

Now let's take a quick look at the doll itself.

Lalaloopsies are meant to plastic versions of ragdolls so it's no surprise that Haley can't stand on her own. Her legs can be moved independently it doesn't help her pose differently in any way. You can also rotate her head and move her arms up and down as well.

She has cute little bloomers underneath her skirt!

Back view

Front

Her head is made of a silicon-like material whereas the rest of her body is made of hard plastic. I'm really amazed at how she doesn't feel cheap.

There is also a larger version of Haley:

Both versions seem to really appeal to me now but I think I'd stick with only collecting the mini ones (I hope!). The mini Lalaloopsies are alot cheaper and don't take up as much space. Also, I think it'd be fun to create dioramas to display them :)

My Zaolls Are Home!

I'm so happy my Zaoll Luv twins came home just in time for Chinese New Year this week! I can't thank Meanae enough for the wonderful job she did on Abigail. She's absolutely stunning! <3

So happy with her look! I don't have any female clothing so she's wearing a male SD13 tank top. It's rather big on her but it'd do for now <3 I'm currently waiting on some custom orders from Monstro Designs and I can't wait for those to arrive! Abi shares the same dress style as me lol. I will write her backstory soon!

I don't have pictures of the other twin, Dakota, because I couldn't take nice photos of her :( But here's a link to Meanae's commission pics. I love the way Meanae did both their freckles and skin texture. They look so real!

Right now I'm having trouble deciding on Dakota's wig color. She's suppose to be the opposite of her sister (shy, demure, goody-two-shoes) so I don't think she dyes her hair.. Any suggestions? :)

SF Post Office & Postman

Sorry for the really long inactivity! I started on this blog post over a month ago but never had the attention span to complete it.

Anyway, I've finally gotten myself a camera! Which explains why there weren't any posts since January because I had nothing to take pictures with.

Now onto my review of the Post Office & Postman set by Flair which I'd gotten from ebay sometime in February this year:

This is my most expensive SF purchase till date. Costed me about 280 USD. It's a brand new set and I've not seen other Post Office sets for sale so far except a pretty used one by TOMY going at 145 USD including shipping. Still pretty expensive considering how badly worn the set looked but I will consider getting a used one to make into a police post!

The window sills are of a rustic shade of brown - very nice contrast with rest of the building.

And instead of stickers, the decorations for this set came in card form with double-sided tape attached. Personally, I prefer this because you can easily remove your decorations if you've pasted them wrongly the first time. I always tend to stick my stickers slightly off-center or slanted and it saddens me that I can't peel them off and re-apply without creasing or damaging the stickers :(

The set also came with some postcards, letters and delivery papers. I just love how SF made the words on these tiny documents readable!

The wordings on the special delivery card are actually readable! I hadn't bought my macro lens yet when I took pictures for this review.

And here's the little post box that comes with the building:

It can be opened so that Postman Samuel can retrieve those letters!

A pity my Postman Samuel had some staining on his head. Probably from the hat being on his head for very long.

And one last picture of Postman Samuel at work! His little bag is functional and I absolutely love the wall telephone behind him: