Toralei was one of my favorite characters and dolls in G1, and it’s been driving me crazy that her G3 doll wasn’t showing up in Canada. It still took 5 stores and 2 states to find her when I came to the US for a visit, heh. What is up with the distribution of these dolls?
The first thing that stood out to me when I unboxed this doll, after squeeing over finally getting my hands on the crafty kitty of chaos, was that the jacket is disappointingly cheap, especially compared to G1 Toralei’s jacket. I wish the collar was double-sided or at least not raw-edged, and I really wish it had the spikes like in the character art/animation. I hate the painted purple “claw marks” all over the jacket, they look really stupid.
I’m sad about the changes from the character art.. even the box art has spikes on the jacket, actual rips instead of the purple marks, and a shorter, less high-waisted skirt. She also has a double eyebrow ring and red-painted claws in all the art. Seeing that stuff on the box art but not on the doll inside the box makes you feel like they really cheaped out. The animated character is even more different, with short hair more reminiscent of G1 Toralei, a purple skirt, and a totally different purple cat on her shirt, plus stripes on her tail.
And why the long hair on this doll? I mean, I know why because hAiR pLaY but damn, can one Monster High doll have short hair ffs? And even bad-ass mean girl Toralei has been pasteled in this generation, her pinkish hair color is so milquetoast. At least there’s almost no pink in her outfit, I should just be grateful for that I guess. Thank the gods she has red lips.
As with most dolls of this generation, they overdid the thematic elements in a thoughtless way – Toralei has scratch mark designs on, like, everything she’s wearing, even the pendant on her choker. It’s just too much, man. And yarn balls on her boots and belt.. they’re cute, but that used to be more the twins’ thing, imo.
All of the accessories that come with this doll, except the pet, are very cute. Sweetfang’s collar comes off and also fits Toralei, which is nice. The backpack is pretty dang cool, and even has sculpted details on the back. The little food items are thematic and fun and highly detailed. The mic stand with the hand-shaped piece holding the microphone is everything I love about Monster High.
The cat face shirt is ok, but childish for a teenaged character. If it was, like, a memey cat like Clawdeen’s howling wolf shirt that would be one thing but this is just a generic cartoony cat face, not even a tiger or something. The Hissfits shirt is pretty great but doesn’t go with the skirt. I really wish she had a pair of pants.
For a character whose last name is Stripe, she doesn’t have very many, only some tiny ones on her forehead and a couple on one leg, and that seems to be it. Why doesn’t the doll have stripes on her tail – it’s even part of her character logo ffs? I do really like the sculpted fur details at wrist, ankle, and tail tip, but can we also please get some painted details on these dolls?
This is one of the least pastel G3 dolls so far, and I love that. She’s not quite as dark and edgy as I’d like of course, but she’s probably the closest we’re going to get with this generation. I like her color scheme for the most part, though I’d prefer to see more orange accents instead of the white, but I’m certainly not going to complain about red and black.
Ideally, this doll would have short hair in a bolder color, better clothes, orange/black instead of white accents, and more stripes on her body, and if I was really dreaming, a poseable tail. For all my nitpicks though, this Toralei might be one of my favorite G3 Monster High dolls so far tbh. She begs for a fair bit of restyling, but her faceup is on point, she’s not too pastel, and she comes with some great accessories. After a haircut and a couple of new clothing items she’ll be close to perfection.
Doll Nerd 