Like I said in my earlier Invisi-Billy review, there are two Manster on the market right now Two Monster High boys at once - I know, I'm still shocked at this myself. Here's the thing. Mattel ... don't exactly market their boy dolls all that well. I'm not entirely sure why this is but I'm going to assume it's something more to do with the fact that for their dolls at least, the primary demographic tends to lean towards younger girls. Not that they aren't aware of their adult collectors - I believe Garret Sander who is a member of the Monster High team enjoys joining in the searches for new dolls and posting pics of them on tumblr. But yeah. long story short, the boy get the short end of the stick. So to my surprise, I found Neighthan. Yeah, even the staff in the store were surprised - the boys don't stay on the shelves.
And I'm going to get this out of the way before I do anything else. Yes, I have read his diary. Yes, bits of it make him sound ... kind of a bit of a creeper, not gonna lie. It could be argued as a teenager just over-romanticising things, but it just comes off a little bit creepy. That being said, I find some irony in that he wants to be a psychologist, and yet is unrealistically idealising this one ghoul he just caught a glimpse of. With any luck, maybe he'll clue into that himself. Okay, onwards with the review!
Neighthan in his box. He's the only one of the new characters in the Freaky Fusion line who does not stand on his one. Except he's a boy doll, so he sort of does, but you get my meaning. His box has the same jagged design of all the others in this line, and his box art is.... alright, I guess. I dunno, I've not really much been into the box art as such, especially since they switched to using the CGI models of the characters. It'll do, that's about as much as I can say for it.
Back of the box. Neighthan (I think I'm just gonna end up calling him Than) describes himself as a ZombiCorn. I fall in love a little bit because that is just awesome. (Please note, this was prior to me reading the diary, so I was allowed this little bit of shallowness. I was aware it was shallow, as well, which is always a helpful thing to keep note of) There's also the description of the upcoming Freaky Fusion movie. I don't really keep up with the movies, but my little cousins really enjoy them, so when I next see them I'll ask how it was. Maybe they'll want to write a review.
Out of the packaging but still on the backslip. I quite like this backslip. Not entirely sure why I do, but I do. Eh, it was bound to happen at some point or another. At this point I bring out my small nail scissors and begin removing Than and accessories. Why nail scissors? Because they insist on putting those plastic t ties in the back of the doll's heads, and bigger scissors means you run the risk of cutting the hair. It's an easy enough job though, and I got him out within a couple of minutes, so kudos to Mattel, I guess. I've hard far worse packaging to deal with - looking at you Jakks.
So the stand and brush colour for the Freaky Fusion line seems to be yellow. I have no opinions on this apart from a very obvious comment that well, it's a very bright yellow they use. It's the normal waist grip stand, which is alright, but I really wish they'd use saddle stands - it would work better with some of the more complicated clothing some of the ghouls have. (Though looking at pics from the upcoming Haunted line, I may get my saddle stands. And in case you're curious: I want the pirate ghost girl, and the daughter of the grim reaper. Also the Scottish monster ghoul.)
And here is Neighthan on his stand, wearing his hat. This hat is actually kind of annoying to get on, or at least I found it annoying to get on. It's made out of a very rubbery material, and has a lot of bend to it, so that is good for stretching it over his ears and horn.
And here he is minus hat. He's got an interesting sculpt - personally Invisi-Billy wins for me as most handsome sculpt - and I like how they've taken the time to show at least half of his face being zombified. Which... actually seems nothing like the other zombies they've released previously. (Ghoulia's skin seems very tight, and Slow-Mo is just... blue.) Oh, and as for why he's standing on two legs, in the MH verse, unicorns can transform themselves into two-legged creatures. First impressions? He's a very colourful chap, which I like.
Yes, he has a tail! It was a bit messy right out of the box, and I really should have tried to tidy it up, but one of my aims when I do these reviews is to show you how it looks as soon as I unbox it - especially if it's something brand new. Older things, I'm sorry, you'll just need to deal with however I get it. I'll do my best, though.
And here we have my camera refusing to play ball when it comes to showing details yet again. I don't even know what is going on with it - it seems to have moods. I was trying to show the more zombified half of Neighthan's face, but it decided it didn't like the colour of his plastic, and wouldn't show up any detail shots of the sculpt and body mold I tried to take. This also shows off his mane, which he seems to enjoy putting bright colours into. That#'s pretty cool. He seems fond of the mane and tail, so why not jazz them up a bit.
Not gonna lie, I wouldn't mine a top like this myself. It's a sort of pop art version of the innards of the body, and it comes across as really cool with all the bright colours. Not totally anatomically correct as far as I can tell, but who knows, it could be for a zombicorn (I want art of more zombicorns. They need to be a thing.) It's a cool top, not really much else I can say about it design wise. It closes with Velcro in the back, but not all the way down because the bottom part did move to the side when I put him on the stand to keep him steady.
So I think this design is meant to be showing the muscles of the leg, if we're taking the cue from his top. Again; pretty cool and the type of thing I actually wouldn't mind having in my own wardrobe. They close with Velcro as well, and are a little looser than most MH pants, but I haven't tried to sit him down yet, so they probably do have the same opening when sitting problem that the others do. He doesn't have a belt, a rarity with MH, but he doesn't really need one.
And as we can see, his sneakers match his hat. Because your sneakers and hat must always be matching, or something like that. They're alright, I guess, just personally not fond of them being the bright yellow. They're covered in little spikes making them again the type of thing I'd wear, but just ... not yellow. They don't try to paint the spikes a different colour, but if they did there would probably be a lot of paint sloppiness because that is a very small area.
Okay, so what are my overall thoughts on Neighthan? He's alright. He's certainly very brightly coloured compared to Invisi-Billy but between the two? I think Billy just sort of wins a little more with me. Not that I don't like the ZombiCorn, I really do, I just... find myself glancing at Billy more. It's a thing, I don't pretend to understand it.
I don't know when the Freaky Fusion movie is due out, so I suppose when it's out, we'll know more about the character. Just hope they expand him beyond coming off as a bit of a creeper. That is not a thing I want in any sort of media, especially if they're not going to show it as inappropriate behaviour - and yes, I do have the slight worry they're going to make his obsession over this one ghoul he saw come off as charming. Just, I don't know, have him admit he knows he's probably just building her up in his mind? Dude's meant to be into psychology, so ... he should be savvy to that, yeah?
And I'm going to get this out of the way before I do anything else. Yes, I have read his diary. Yes, bits of it make him sound ... kind of a bit of a creeper, not gonna lie. It could be argued as a teenager just over-romanticising things, but it just comes off a little bit creepy. That being said, I find some irony in that he wants to be a psychologist, and yet is unrealistically idealising this one ghoul he just caught a glimpse of. With any luck, maybe he'll clue into that himself. Okay, onwards with the review!
Neighthan in his box. He's the only one of the new characters in the Freaky Fusion line who does not stand on his one. Except he's a boy doll, so he sort of does, but you get my meaning. His box has the same jagged design of all the others in this line, and his box art is.... alright, I guess. I dunno, I've not really much been into the box art as such, especially since they switched to using the CGI models of the characters. It'll do, that's about as much as I can say for it.
Back of the box. Neighthan (I think I'm just gonna end up calling him Than) describes himself as a ZombiCorn. I fall in love a little bit because that is just awesome. (Please note, this was prior to me reading the diary, so I was allowed this little bit of shallowness. I was aware it was shallow, as well, which is always a helpful thing to keep note of) There's also the description of the upcoming Freaky Fusion movie. I don't really keep up with the movies, but my little cousins really enjoy them, so when I next see them I'll ask how it was. Maybe they'll want to write a review.
Out of the packaging but still on the backslip. I quite like this backslip. Not entirely sure why I do, but I do. Eh, it was bound to happen at some point or another. At this point I bring out my small nail scissors and begin removing Than and accessories. Why nail scissors? Because they insist on putting those plastic t ties in the back of the doll's heads, and bigger scissors means you run the risk of cutting the hair. It's an easy enough job though, and I got him out within a couple of minutes, so kudos to Mattel, I guess. I've hard far worse packaging to deal with - looking at you Jakks.
So the stand and brush colour for the Freaky Fusion line seems to be yellow. I have no opinions on this apart from a very obvious comment that well, it's a very bright yellow they use. It's the normal waist grip stand, which is alright, but I really wish they'd use saddle stands - it would work better with some of the more complicated clothing some of the ghouls have. (Though looking at pics from the upcoming Haunted line, I may get my saddle stands. And in case you're curious: I want the pirate ghost girl, and the daughter of the grim reaper. Also the Scottish monster ghoul.)
And here is Neighthan on his stand, wearing his hat. This hat is actually kind of annoying to get on, or at least I found it annoying to get on. It's made out of a very rubbery material, and has a lot of bend to it, so that is good for stretching it over his ears and horn.
And here he is minus hat. He's got an interesting sculpt - personally Invisi-Billy wins for me as most handsome sculpt - and I like how they've taken the time to show at least half of his face being zombified. Which... actually seems nothing like the other zombies they've released previously. (Ghoulia's skin seems very tight, and Slow-Mo is just... blue.) Oh, and as for why he's standing on two legs, in the MH verse, unicorns can transform themselves into two-legged creatures. First impressions? He's a very colourful chap, which I like.
Yes, he has a tail! It was a bit messy right out of the box, and I really should have tried to tidy it up, but one of my aims when I do these reviews is to show you how it looks as soon as I unbox it - especially if it's something brand new. Older things, I'm sorry, you'll just need to deal with however I get it. I'll do my best, though.
And here we have my camera refusing to play ball when it comes to showing details yet again. I don't even know what is going on with it - it seems to have moods. I was trying to show the more zombified half of Neighthan's face, but it decided it didn't like the colour of his plastic, and wouldn't show up any detail shots of the sculpt and body mold I tried to take. This also shows off his mane, which he seems to enjoy putting bright colours into. That#'s pretty cool. He seems fond of the mane and tail, so why not jazz them up a bit.
Not gonna lie, I wouldn't mine a top like this myself. It's a sort of pop art version of the innards of the body, and it comes across as really cool with all the bright colours. Not totally anatomically correct as far as I can tell, but who knows, it could be for a zombicorn (I want art of more zombicorns. They need to be a thing.) It's a cool top, not really much else I can say about it design wise. It closes with Velcro in the back, but not all the way down because the bottom part did move to the side when I put him on the stand to keep him steady.
So I think this design is meant to be showing the muscles of the leg, if we're taking the cue from his top. Again; pretty cool and the type of thing I actually wouldn't mind having in my own wardrobe. They close with Velcro as well, and are a little looser than most MH pants, but I haven't tried to sit him down yet, so they probably do have the same opening when sitting problem that the others do. He doesn't have a belt, a rarity with MH, but he doesn't really need one.
And as we can see, his sneakers match his hat. Because your sneakers and hat must always be matching, or something like that. They're alright, I guess, just personally not fond of them being the bright yellow. They're covered in little spikes making them again the type of thing I'd wear, but just ... not yellow. They don't try to paint the spikes a different colour, but if they did there would probably be a lot of paint sloppiness because that is a very small area.
Okay, so what are my overall thoughts on Neighthan? He's alright. He's certainly very brightly coloured compared to Invisi-Billy but between the two? I think Billy just sort of wins a little more with me. Not that I don't like the ZombiCorn, I really do, I just... find myself glancing at Billy more. It's a thing, I don't pretend to understand it.
I don't know when the Freaky Fusion movie is due out, so I suppose when it's out, we'll know more about the character. Just hope they expand him beyond coming off as a bit of a creeper. That is not a thing I want in any sort of media, especially if they're not going to show it as inappropriate behaviour - and yes, I do have the slight worry they're going to make his obsession over this one ghoul he saw come off as charming. Just, I don't know, have him admit he knows he's probably just building her up in his mind? Dude's meant to be into psychology, so ... he should be savvy to that, yeah?
Comments
Post a Comment