Meygana's new clothes, plus some other odds and ends

Finally...at long last, I'm getting around to discussing Meygana's new outfit.  Remember a few posts back when I promised you a review of it?  Yeah, I didn't forget.  The past couple of weeks have been nuts (again) but I'm finally getting around to actually picking apart something I own, taking pictures, discussing all the good things...and the bad things.  This particular post won't consist entirely of stock pictures, though there WILL be a couple...there's been a new development that relates indirectly to Meygana and directly to the Bratzillaz in general.  There's also the subject of finals, but more on that in a bit.

Now to the point.  As I mentioned in a prior blog post, each Bratzillaz character has their own customized outfit and accessory set.  I mentioned liking Cloetta's clothes the best, but since I have Meygana I bought her particular outfit and accessories first.  Here's what she looks like in the full outfit:

What you're seeing is a combination of the main outfit and the accessory pack.  The main outfit looks like this.

Like Meygana's stock outfit, this wouldn't have flown at my high school.

The dress is a two-piece set in different shades of blue.  The top part is made of a satiny aquamarine fabric that compliments Meygana's fiery hair beautifully.  It has three silver "buttons" down the front and a sky blue bow at the top.

The skirt has two layers.  One layer is black and blue tulle with some glitter painted on, and the lower layer is made of this stiff sky blue stuff.  It has a canvas-like texture that I'm not in love with; when it comes to dolls canvas is usually reserved for small childrens' toys.  Like the top layer, the blue layer has a light sprinkling of glitter.  Not too much, just enough to catch one's eye.

The skirt also has sewn-in underwear.  I must say that this is a massive improvement over the older Bratz clothes, which left the dolls au naturel underneath.

Along with the top and skirt comes a blue cropped jacket and a matching hat.  Both the hat and the jacket look like either denim or faux denim.  The jacket is nicely hemmed.

This fabric has no stretch at all, but the sleeves have Velcro closures at the cuffs.  This helps those skinny sleeves fit over Meygana's huge hands.  A huge help it is, too!

I can remember a time when MGA used real denim in their products, but I can't tell if this is real denim or not.  It feels substantial enough that it could be, but just thin enough that it might not be.

Now let's take a gander at that hat.

It's trimmed with sky blue ribbon, which helps tie the whole outfit together.  There's also something pretty critical that's MISSING!!!  Can't tell from that pic?  We'll come back to that.

Finishing off the outfit are a plastic purse:

Plastic boots, typical of the Bratzillaz:

And a matching "outfit" for Wingzy:

It's the same denim-and-ribbon combo as Meygana's hat.  It looks pretty good on him.

Now to the add-ons.

There's a shawl, a backpack, a hat, and a pair of shoes.  Notice that this time the base color is green instead of the blue that was used on the main outfit.  Now I love green...it's my favorite color, in fact.  But does it really go with aquamarine and sky blue???

You be the judge.

I'm going to go through this piece by piece, as usual.  First, the shawl.  Or maybe it's a scarf.  I can't tell, really.  It doesn't really matter, either; the...OBJECT functions as either one.

Whatever it is, it's green and blue plaid with fringe at the ends.  The material is thin and stiff, and it doesn't really drape like either a scarf or a shawl.  It's covered in glitter, much more glitter than the dress has.  But it doesn't shed much...yet.

Now the hat.

It too is made of the glittery plaid material.  I don't mind the stiffness so much here since that helps the hat keep its shape.  The hat is decorated with the school crest and some navy blue ribbons, one of which is tied in a minuscule bow.  It also has THESE!!!

Those ribbons help keep the hat on Meygana's head!!!  Let's take a look at Meygana's other hats and compare.

None of these hats have any stretch to them, and even if they did it would be impossible to cram such a tiny hat onto Meygana's huge head...especially with that mass of hair!  So those ribbons are a tremendous aid in keeping the green hat in place.  Meygana's original hat has a thin elastic band which holds spectacularly well.  I worry about how well that elastic will hold up over time, but that's not a huge issue.  The blue hat has...nothing.  No ribbons, no elastic band, no clips, no Velcro, nothing.  This is, in my eyes, a huge oversight.  How on earth does MGA expect us to keep that hat on Meygana?  For it certainly doesn't stay very well by itself!

That definitely doesn't look right.

I wonder why MGA did that?  I would assume that they wouldn't just give us a hat that simply rests on the top of a doll's rather large head.  But they did.

Moving right along...the backpack.

It's large and made out of stiff black plastic.  Not hard plastic, just stiff; it does have some flexibility in it, just not a lot.  The backpack has some gold trim on the sides, and what appears to be a green and gold school crest.  Not the school colors, but green and gold.  Interesting choice.  Maybe MGA decided that putting the school crest on two different pieces was enough.

Lastly, the shoes.

They're not the boots one would expect for Bratzillaz, but rather a high-heeled wingtip or oxford.  Hmm...high-heeled oxfords?  That's something I've only heard of.  Anyway, they're green with blue toes and blue heels, helping tie the whole outfit together.  They're also of a softer material than Meygana's other two pairs of shoes.

So that gives Meygana two outfits and an accessory set to play around with.  That may not sound like much, but it has more options than you might think.  Heck, I wish I had that many options for some of my other dolls!  My copper-topped beauty can do quite a bit with those extra little pieces.  But that blue hat really bugs me, for some reason.  It probably shouldn't; the hat (and the whole outfit) is sturdy, after all.  And there were no missing pieces.  It just surprises me that MGA will do one thing for one outfit, and not for the other.  It really makes me wonder.

Poor little hat, it's too cute not to be worn!

Oh well, I suppose I can always find some ribbon of the correct color and sew it on.  I've always been good at such things.  I'll probably do that once I can find some ribbon in sky blue satin.

Now, on to other Bratzillaz news.  Remember when I said that I was probably going to only buy one doll?  Yeah...there may be a possible ixnay on that.  Check these out:

This is the line of new Bratzillaz; obviously this is a swimsuit set.  There are no new characters, just Cloeta, Jade, Meygana, Yasmina, and Sashabella.  Okay, admit it...how many of y'all are looking at these and asking "why on earth are they GREEN???"  Well...you can probably figure it out when you see other publicity pics of these dolls.  (I hate Sashabella's swimsuit, by the way...it looks more Jungle Girl than Beach Bunny)

Yep, you probably guessed it.  These dolls are glow-in-the-dark dolls.  Interesting choice for a gimmick; I haven't seen a glow-in-the-dark dolls since Mezco Toyz released Revenant (a Living Dead Doll, in case you are wondering).  And just between you, me, and the coconut tree, I had no idea Revenant existed until maybe eight months ago.  LOL

Anyways, MGA Entertainment is releasing a second line of Bratzillaz.  But wait!  Does anyone notice anything?  We have a horror theme and a swimsuit theme.  Where have I seen that before???  Oh yes...HERE!!!

These are two of my Monster High girls, first wave Gloom Beach Cleo and Clawdeen.  So far Mattel has had three swimsuit/beach-themed lines for Monster High, two Gloom Beach lines and one entitled "Skull Shores."  None of the Monster High beach dolls glow in the dark; indeed, I can't name any MH doll that DOES glow in the dark!  My black-and-white Skull Shores Frankie Stein appears to glow in certain lights, but it's just an optical illusion.  But that's way off the subject.  The new Bratzillaz are cute, and I'm probably going to want one (in spite of the terrible hair I'll probably stick it out with Meygana).  But it's looking more and more like MGA Entertainment is scrabbling for ideas.  First they released a jointed, wigged doll (Moxie Teenz) to compete with the LIV dolls.  Now there are these Bratzillaz, and they appear to be imitating the hugely successful Monster High dolls more and more!  I may take a severe verbal stoning from die-hard fans of the Bratzillaz saying that no, they're not imitations, that MGA would never do such a thing, but you can't convince me of that.  MGA must feel threatened.  Why else would there be so many similarities?  Backstories, individual personalities, pets, individual colors and appearances, a school theme, a horror theme, and now this swimsuit line?  Definitely sounds like MGA is hot and bothered and itching to compete.

Not that that upsets me, of course.  A little competition can be a very good thing, especially in the doll world.  The competing companies are kept on their toes, trying to come up with a cute new idea that will sell.  That allows for some really cool items...and some spectacular flops as well.  Both add to the fun of being a doll collector.

Regarding other dolly news, I've spotted the third line of La Dee Da dolls running around in stores.  So far there's been the first Dee (the New York-themed doll), a candy theme (Sweet Party), and a foreign lands theme (Runway Vacay).  I like all three lines; the New York Dee, Sweet Party Sloane, and Runway Vacay Tylie all have tempted me during past shopping trips.  But I never bought any of them and since I would really really REALLY like to stick to my one doll rule this time, I'm glad I didn't.  The newest line is SO CUTE!!!

This is the Garden Party line.  I had no idea they were being released, but they're already hitting store shelves; Poplar Bluff, Missouri's Super Wal-Mart has them.  I went there to find do-dads for my Cutie Pops doll, but I almost threw those down and walked away with Dee (the bumblebee second from left).  Frankly there isn't a doll in this particular line that I wouldn't have, so I may have to draw straws to determine who to pursue.  Or it may boil down to whatever I can find...these look like they're going to be popular.  But I can't help but pine for the La Dee Da dolls' predecessors.  Why, oh why couldn't a line of LIV dolls be produced with this theme?

Hey, it just occurred to me...do these new La Dee Da dolls have BENDABLE ARMS???  They certainly look like they do.  That will help fill the void the LIV dolls left...a little.

I do believe that's enough blogging for tonight.  Oh wait...I should probably tell you...I passed my accounting final!!!  With a big fat B, no less!  I'm hoping and praying that'll keep my C.  I aced the last two tests, but kinda sorta flunked the last quiz.  We'll SEE about that C!  Haha.

Happy St. Nick's Day,
RagingMoon1987