Monster High Swim Class Holt Hyde

I've been sitting on these pics for what feels like forever, just forgetting to post - so this will be a quick review. Holt has been widely available here for a good few months now, and I've sent a few off to people but never really looked at him. Eventually I got curious and couldn't resist grabbing him to see what the hype was - turns out he's a pretty cool doll. (at least this version!)

If you're a NIB collector, be warned of buying online - most of these guys look like this in the box - not the greatest look:

I really like the art for the Swim Class line, and the dolls' themes. Holt looks cheeky and the girls' outfits are really cute - I'm dying for Rochelle but she's suddenly disappeared from stores here. Sigh.

Here's Holt still in the box (see, the glasses fell down again!). This line doesn't come with stands - just glasses, bag and beach towel. Holt's accessories are all transparent neon orange, which is a little eye-blinding with the blue skin and orange hair.

I love the little shark on the box interior:

Out of the box, Holt stands just fine on his own. His backpack sits comfortably over his shoulder and his glasses are elastic-banded to his head, but that towel is useless! He looks like he's trying to be a waiter. Also, he doesn't have his yin-yang tattoo that the basic one has - go figure!

He has serious leg seams up his shins, which seems pretty common for the MH boys - about half of mine have this problem. It's not a good look.

Here's a face snap. As you can see, mine has slight eyebrow flaws but is otherwise fine. Holt has deep orange-red eyes, a khaki-ish shade round his sockets and an eyebrow piercing. His lips are unpainted, which I think is the best solution for most of the guy dolls, because it can look a little lipstickish. I think they tried lip paint on Holt's basic rerelease and the guy definitely looked a little too made up, so it's an improvement.

My Holt's tattoo is very fuzzy.. like it's been airbrushed and the stencil moved - quality control flaw?

Holt's hair is a plastic cap with a red-yellow gradient. It looks great from the front and from the side:

From the back you can see glimpses of a blue scalp - looks like they don't paint the boys' heads like they do the girls'. It's kind of distracting, fire shouldn't be blue.

Holt's backpack is a reissue of his basic one. I really like it in transparent orange, it shows up the details well for being unpainted:

It opens - you could easily keep his towel in there!

I took off his glasses, shoes and towel for a second to compare. I love the glasses. They're tacky and bright and so much fun. I'd wear them to the beach. They match his shoes perfectly, which is a plus:

Holt's boardshorts are dark grey with a flame outline pattern and big plastic flames sewn onto each leg, with the edges sticking out jaggedly. My guy's plastic is a bit dented - I assume from the box.

I think it looks really cool from the front. The translucent plastic does give the effect of fire and the light hits it so it makes boring swim shorts far more interesting!

Holt's shirt is a simple sleeveless red flame print with a checkered skull - spiky hair and a flame on the forehead? I swear there's a Doctor Who villain with a flaming third eye, so that creeps me out a little. It's a nice shirt though:

 

As far as budget lines go (and this line is pretty budget - although not as bad as Ghoul Spirit), I think they did a really good job here. Holt's clothes and accessories are bright and fun, and he's fun to pose in all his colours. I guess I do see what all the fuss is about. :-)

Oh, Webarella!

Okay, so Webarella a.k.a. Wydowna Spider may have been released six months ago at Comic-Con - but she's new to me! I got my paws on her just a couple of days ago and she's absolutely gorgeous. I'll keep it short, but she is SO fun to photograph. Pic bomb below.

And some snaps with Webarella and Catty - their black skin and shiny makeup make them pretty twinnish actually!

Monster High Ghoul Spirit Slow Mo

Yep, that Slow-Mo. The guy who showed up on Amazon a grand total of twice, and then was deemed out of stock and inaccessible via preorder - hopefully just to fix and then redistribute. I snagged the last one. For the last week and a half I've been stalking the tracking page, hoping that I wouldn't end up with a Frankie instead, but nope - I just got really, really, really lucky here? Or maybe Amazon is just being nice because they lost my last order. Hrm.

Tore open the box immediately and this guy! He's adorable!




He has quite a serious face.

Here's the back of his box. I didn't know his full name was Sloman Mortavitch - big name for a guy who only speaks in groans.

He's holding a hash sign. It took me a deboxing, every photo in this post (bar one) and then a quick look at the box again to figure this out.

 

His tongue is green. His face looks totally different here too, actually.


The sign makes more sense here.. Alone, it's just confusing. Or maybe I just need to use my brain more.

The side of the box has stitched flags! Cute.

There's an invite to a pep rally on the back of the box:

 

Slow-Mo's art on the front makes him look like he either doesn't understand what a flag is or he's having the time of his life blowing on it and making it wiggle. I don't think Mattel thinks very much of Slow-Mo's intelligence:

 

I couldn't resist snapping a shot of his hair - it's gelled right around the sides but almost totally clean on top. It feels like a big ol' shaving or foundation brush! Weird:

 

And finally - here's the guy straight out of the box. He doesn't come with a stand or any other accessories except this flag (which I think is a reuse from the Ghoul Spirit 3-pack). This is one of the more 'budget' lines - ones like FCA are far more intricate. And this no-stand trend kind of sucks.. but this guy stands like a champ anyway, so it's no issue here.

 

Slow-Mo's face is fascinating. His eye sockets are shaded olive with a thin line of blue that matches his irises - the art has this as a bruisy pinky purple, wonder why they went with green? His eyebrows are huge, comical sad brushstrokes done in a tealish shade. If his mouth wasn't moulded in a slight smile he'd look like a kicked puppy because of these brows. They're ridiculously exaggerated. I love it. The way they've painted his lips is kind of odd - they're a bright powder blue, but it's done eratically - like they used a sponge to smudge the colour on and just kinda hoped for the best. I think it works though; it's less structured and lipstickish than the usual lip paint. (It's also less garish in person, I swear!)

 

As you can see, his hair sticks straight up like a scrubbing brush. It's well rooted - I had to dig to see scalp, which is nice. But the hairline is sparsely rooted which is kind of a shame. Hopefully it doesn't become a trend in future:


The sides are flocked in a warm grey shade and it's not the best job - one side of my 'Mo looks a little bald where the actual hair starts. Not a huge deal though, and it's a nice effect. Also, the guy has one hell of a butt chin:

 

His nose is rounded with a slight bump and  the bridge of his nose and his eye sockets are deeply sunken. Perfect for a zombie. His ears are rounded but with a distinct point at the tips - interesting. Ghoulia's ears are plain rounded, so it's not a zombie thing.

If gossip is to be believed, the reason that Slow Mo's been pulled is his hands. He has claws:

 

Discard flag, acquire brains.

I pulled out Clawd to have a look, and yep, they're a recast of his hands. It's not hideous, just odd on a humanoid doll. I hope they're just fixing the issue and not shelving him for another few years - the promo shots show regular 'human' hands on him. We'll see what happens.

 

The rest of his body is a stock-standard MH boy body, so there's no need to go heavily into it. His clothes are very simple; this bright purple tee with a drippy MH logo emblazoned on it:

 

And these blue shorts with white accent stitching:

 

Even his shoes are simple: basic black and white high-tops with a skull on the outer side of each. I love these shoes. They give Slow-Mo great stability on his feet, and without a stand, he needs it. The articulated ankle and sandal combo of some MH boys make them a pain to pose, but Mo stands just fine by himself.

 

 

In fact, he stands so fine I pulled out all the other MH boys I currently own to compare them.

 

 

L-R: Heath Burns, Clawd Wolf, Gil Webber, Slow Mo, Holt Hyde, Deuce Gorgon.

Slow Mo's skin is a distinctly different shade to all the boys - it's a bluish grey, maybe even a lavender grey. Next to him, Gil looks turquoise and Holt looks neon. (Not that he didn't already, but you know.)

I couldn't resist having some fun posing this guy:

Nor could I resist pulling out Ghoulia (the matching one - Fearleading Ghoulia!) to compare the two. They match!

Awwww.

The interesting thing about these two is that they're totally different shades of grey. Ghoulia is a warm grey, Slow-Mo looks cool bluey-lavender next to her:

 

 The difference is less distinct with their faces - and they're adorable together! This picture shows how his lip paint is sort of messy compared to the usual style:

 

 

 

 

 Slow Mo may actually be my favourite doll of 2013, and he's certainly my favourite guy doll ever. The more MH keeps creating dudes, the better they're getting - Mo is cute with a unique head mould, stands well and looks awesome next to his lady zombie. I love the unique use of colours in his face, the ridiculous eyebrows and hey, even the claws are kind of endearing in their own way. I really hope this guy makes a roaring comeback and that everyone who wants one can get their paws on him - he's seriously brilliant, and I look forward to seeing his next incarnation!