Do your part to stop SCALPING!

It's time for those of us who are doll collectors or toy collectors to take a stand against SCALPERS.  As a MH collector I am sick to death of hearing about how this scalper or that got the new shipments of stuff first, how they wait at the store's front door parking their car extra early so they can be first to get the items.  It's time to open the blinded eyes of the toy companies.  Mattel is the maker of MH, make your voice LOUD!!!
TELL THEM TO URGE STORES TO STOP UNLIMITED MONSTER HIGH PURCHASES!  This is a move that NEEDS to be done to discourage scalping.  It probably won't eliminate them completely but if we can reduce it that will be a move in the right direction.

This is what I wrote to them, you can use this as an example but I wouldn't copy it word for word.  ;)

I belong to some Monster High groups and have been hearing countless stories from people around the US where scalpers are being allowed to purchase unlimited numbers of new dolls, playsets, etc. The stores where this is occurring includes Justice and Toys R Us. One person informed me they spoke to a TRU manager (didn't say which store) who told them and I quote "I was told by the manager Mattel has to send a paper telling them to place a limit and they will." I am therefore asking you to at least consider implementing such a move effective at all Toys R Us stores. As for Justice, I have not spoken with anyone who's talked to a store manager but I have also heard stories of scalping where whole cases of product were purchased off the shelves (ex. 3 or more per character) with nothing being done to stop them. Scalping is hurting your customer base. Yes you are making money but the scalpers are making more and, in a sense, robbing you. I urge you to submit a paper demanding stores to cease unlimited purchases of Monster High products (again as I said 3 or more of a new character or playset). Thank you.

Vacation finds!!!

Even tho I didn't get much sewing done on my vaycay, I did manage to find and acquire a lot of MH goodies...
Nude SC Holt
Nude 13 Wishes Lagoona
La Dee Da clothes for my MH & EAH dolls
Bratz clothes for my MH & EAH dolls
Ghoulia's scooter clothes
Bratz wig for my soon to be insect twin ghoul
SC Rochelle
13 Wishes Gigi
DOTM Draculaura's clothes
DT W1 Lagoona's clothes (from Hydration Station)
I Love Shoes Cleo's shoes
PD Spectra's clothes and accessories
Bratzillaz fashion pack for my MH & EAH dolls
Bratzillaz Jade (I got her partly for her shoes, and partly for her body LOL)
Deuce's Scream uniform fashion pack
and....fabric to make clothes for Spectra, Holt, Deuce, & Cleo!

Now all I need to get are Scarah & the Headmistress & I will be caught up with the new characters.  I do still need  Heath's jacket, SC Holt's things, PD Operetta's stuff (everything but doll), PD Frankie's stuff, PD Abbey's boots, EAH Maddie's shoes, and some more patterns for ghoul clothes.
WHEW.

 

For those of you interested in body swapping (MH & EAH bodies, primarily)

If you're like me and you want to add new characters to your MH or EAH world, you might like to keep your dolls' bodies similar.

As for MH, there are so many variations you can find of nude doll bodies....and with all the new characters released, it makes it a little more difficult.  (At least for me anyway.)  But suppose you want to have twin ghouls, for instance and you think about checking out a site such as aliexpress.com to get some cheap MH  dolls.

Whoa there, pardner.  There's a few things you need to know first.
FIRST, as most of you know, there are probably hundreds of knockoffs on aliexpress made with cheap Bratz bodies.  Those are useless unless you want them for the heads or clothing.

Then there are the knockoffs that LOOK pretty good, but upon getting them you discover their bodies and hair are really poor quality.  Case in point:  aliexpress has tons of "Dark Queen" dolls.  These dolls sometimes wear knockoffs of MH outfits.  They look decent in the pics.  I purchased a set just to see if they were any good.

They're not.  The clothes are OK, but look as if they were made hurriedly, and sadly probably by child labor.  (Makes me wonder if those kids sewing them had a boss with a whip in hand, telling them to work faster.)  They're articulated, but the wrists do not bend like regular MH ones do. The joints are loose and swingy.  There is no way these dolls can hold a pose.  The heads are slightly smaller and are held in place via a built-in peg on the neck.  They have the typical ball joint neck knob.  Also, the shoes they come with are glued on and even those resemble dollar store shoes made with the cheap plastic. Nothing fancy.  So overall, if you want them anyway just for the clothes try and get them as cheap as possible, because those are all about they're good for.

OK, so those are a no go for replacement bodies.  What about the sellers offering nude headless MH bodies for cheap on aliexpress? 

     Caveat emptor!

When shopping for these, LOOK CAREFULLY at the pics.  Make sure you can see the feet.  (That is, unless you want your MH ghouls to have what I call "Barbie Feet Syndrome" meaning they have tiny Barbie size feet.)  Those Chinese toymakers sure are clever, they managed to whittle down MH feet to Barbie size!  There are a few listings for the nude dolls with the tiny feet and if you don't check them out completely before hitting "purchase", you could be misled.  Fortunately, there are also a couple listings on there for nude dolls with the correct size feet. So always CHECK THE PICTURES.

That's about it for MH bodies.  Now onto doing body swaps to add new characters to your EAH curriculum.

OK, first we already know EAH is still fairly new so the odds of getting some nude bodies for head/body swaps is low.  Also, the nude dolls out there are running about $20 to $30 each before shipping, and who wants to pay that much unless you have to?  Not me.  I also already know that EAH bodies are different from MH in that the waistlines aren't so narrow and the heads are pretty wide.   But I can't be picky just yet.  So, I went back to good ol' aliexpress to see what they offered.

There's no EAH dolls or knockoff on there yet, but there are Bratzillaz knockoffs on MH bodies!  What a neat concept!

This gives new meaning to the term Freaky Fab!

I can honestly say I'm not into the Bratzillaz dolls, because they all share the same head mold and there's no diversity.  So for me I'd think nothing of decapitating this girl's head, using her clothes, and transplanting a different head (which for me might be a Fairy Tale High one) on there. BUT.....
LOOK AT THE PICTURE AGAIN.

Notice anything wrong?
Here's a better view of the problem with this doll.

  Dang you Chinese manufacturers!

I know it's kinda hard to tell, but these dolls appear to share the SAME WHITTLED DOWN FEET as their MH knockoff counterparts!  MH does not have shoes in this style but BARBIE does.  Those Chinese would never go to the trouble of enlarging (?) the molds of such nice Barbie shoes to fit the big MH feet.   Nor would they come up with a unique new MH shoe.  If I ever see a listing for "Bratzillaz nude" on aliexpress with these bodies, I will share it here so you can see.

GRRRRRRRRR!  Strike 2 in my quest for replacement bods.  OK, one last try.

These would almost work, but the twisted legs indicate swingy limbs.

Now THESE girls might have the proper size feet.  It's hard to tell, since the shoes do look like they could be for MH feet, but I don't know.  The wrists might be articulated, but again it's hard to tell.  However, since some of them have their legs twisted, this is a sign the joints are loose on the doll.  I *MIGHT* try to buy just ONE doll with these just to see.  I really don't want to buy a set of them only to discover they have Barbie Feet Syndrome.  So, stay tuned.  Meanwhile, if any of you HAVE bought this particular doll with these shoes, let me know!

SDCC Scalping

Look at the pic of the SCALPER with all the Mattel bags filled with SDCC Webarella dolls from "take5aday.com".  This person bought TWENTY.  The limit is six.  So why the heck did this fool get 20?

I've heard "he bought them for friends."  Yeah right.  I'm so touched by that, but don't you think 20 is a bit excessive?  Especially when you know this person got in line early to get all of these?  That most of the other people who only wanted ONE for themselves or a friend won't get them because of this greedy scalper?  Oh and did I mention the jerk had them ALL autographed too?  Try and tell me none of these will be resold for at least $300 or more.  Please, give me all the details.  We ALL want to get this and that for our friends who can't come to SDCC.  But rules are rules.  There was a limit of six of an item which should be ENFORCED.  I don't give a rat's back end who the person is.  I could care less if  he is the son of the company president, has special needs, etc.  NO EXCEPTIONS.  Personally I think even six is too many.  These things are already ultra limited and manufacturers know that.  I would prefer a limit of maybe three at most. 


Oh and special thanx to Mattel for showing us customers how much you DON'T care.

what the...?

Why do I feel like such a dummy today for not backing up my pc? I keep finding mp3s that I knowingly purchased digitally, mostly accompaniment tracks, then proceeded to put them on backup drives. Now, upon doing a search for some of them, they can't be found. The only thing I can think of is that possibly they were on one of my former puters who died. In the past 2 years I've gone thru 3 puters. This includes the one I'm currently using. SO of course now since I can't find the digital files, I've been having to re-purchase them. (Cha ching cha ching.) I'm not about to invest in one of those "online backup" sites unless it's free. I'm already paying for internet subscriptions, memberships, etc. I'm also trying to SAVE money. ;) Just had to voice my frustration over this! AAACK!!

BOYCOTT RESELLERS AND SCALPERS!

As a collector of newer dolls like Monster High (MH), I am all for boycotting resellers on sites such as Ebay, Amazon and others.

These are often the same types of people who will buy several of 1 or more items, then charge double, triple or more for the same item. And yet people relent and buy from them.
There have even been videos on Youtube & elsewhere of resellers/scalpers making mass purchases and in some cases clearing the shelves of an item. Such a practice is allowed to go on, stores for the most part do nothing, and potential customers are cheated because of the selfish ambitions of one or more scalpers.

Incidentally, some of these scalpers also call stores like Toys R Us (TRU) ahead and ask them to hold CASES of products. WHOLE CASES! And as you can tell from the pic above, SEVERAL CASES!!!!!!!! No store should be engaging in this practice, they are only feeding the scalpers/resellers and cheating customers. I'm sure some use this as a way to make money. IMO it's more like a way to cheat the public for personal gain. If that is how you make your living you should be ashamed because you are more of a thief than a reseller.

I really wish stores would DISCOURAGE HOLDS of mass numbers of products. I have learned of instances where people do ask a store to hold ONE or TWO of a product, or occasionally hold 1 case of a product. Oftentimes they do it to save time and money. This is fine. I do maintain stores should refuse to allow purchases of MUTLIPLE BOXES or CASES of a product. For instance if one box contains six of the same product, a customer should NOT be allowed to request a hold of the entire box. Especially repeat customers who do this over and over. When stores sell whole cases to a customer, it sends the message that they only care about money.

And stores like TRU and Justice where there have been incidents of customers actually witnessing store employees grabbing boxes of items from trucks and then purchasing them all just so they can resell for triple the original price need to be called out.  If you see this happening in ANY store contact their web site and tell them!  I would also advise letting the store manager know, even tho I realize they might be in on this and look the other way.


For the record, I am not against sellers of vintage items, things no longer available for purchase in stores, etc....that is different from selling items that are currently available (even if only select parts of the country) at ridiculous prices.

These are just my opinions, so please keep that in mind.