REVIEW: Monster High Doll Ghoulia Yelps

Brand: Mattel

Type: Monster High Doll

Model: Ghoulia Yelps

Doll:
Durability: Ghoulia, while a little on the thin side (but hey, she's a zombie... I don't expect her to be anything but!) is actually a fairly sturdy doll. She has delicate arms and fingers, but they aren't prone to breaking, rather the plastic bends, and then springs back into shape.
The hands  and arms can be removed, which, while making the doll easier to dress, could be a dangerous choking hazard to small children. The glasses also detach, and she has a small necklace, small skull pendant on her shirt, headband and earrings that could come off easily as well.

Posability: These dolls are fairly poseable... but I wish their heads had a bit more range. Their arms/hands and legs pose excellently... but while their neck has a lovely huge ball joint, the range of motion is actually rather limited. They also have an unjointed torso, making for limited posing when it comes to bending and flexing their midsection.

Clothes: Well made and amusingly stylish, I love everything about them from fabric choice to color. Her red clothing looks stunning with her blue hair and skin.
She has a simple green headband that works perfectly with her hairstyle.
A piano key belt that is just adorable.
A Red/White/Black striped long sleeve shirt covered with a cherry tanktop with a small Monster High skull attached to it.
Her pants are red with black embellishments and small black spots and made of a corduroy style material. They go just below her knees and are more like capris than actual pants, but that's not obvious because of her very awesome, calf-high, high-heeled converse sneakers.... I wish I had a pair!
Her earrings are pink zipper pulls and sit well on her ears.
Her necklace is small, grey and pink.
She also wears black fishnet arm warmers.

 Makeup: The doll I got, which was the only one available in the store, had perfect makeup! I love her glimmery red lipstick, arched eyebrows and eye makeup. The only thing I'm not thrilled about is the white glitter eyeshadow, which doesn't cover the whole area, and is applied in strange little eyebrow shaped archs above the eyes.

Hair: Her two-toned blue hair is lovely, and falls straight, not messed up at all from being in the box. The style is adorable! It's soft, and after having shoved her rather haphazardly in my bag, it sprang right back to her straight stylish do with just a few brush throughs with my fingers.

Accessories: Her cassette tape bag is cute, but doesn't open. Her glasses, while cute, are... for me, just a tad bit too thick for her face. Had the frames been just slightly thinner you would have a better view of her eyes.
Her stand is adorable, red and covered with the Monster High emblem.
Her pet owl is cute, and it clutches her wrist and sits there... however the paint job on mine was a bit shoddy, and he has a large paint crack through his eye.
Her brush is red, and in the style of all the other Monster High brushes, which is to say a little skull with a bow on it. Very cute.

Packaging:
Style: BEAUTIFUL packaging. Everything from the black gloss on black ink to the beautiful illustrations of the dolls on the back. This is REALLY well designed.

Ease of Opening: One of the easiest packages I've ever opened. The doll was held down primarily with rubber bands, not those annoying twist ties and plastic tags. It was really easy to get her out, and she didn't get ruined in the process. My only complaint are the plastic tags they put in the back of their heads... the ones that are actually INSIDE the doll's head. I hate those... and I hate trying to get rid of them.

Price:
I paid about $16 after tax for mine at Target... but I have seen them ranging from $16-$40. You can find them at Toys R' Us for $19.99, or on Amazon for the higher prices, usually staring around $32.
I find the $16 price range affordable, but I'm not sure I'd pay much more than that for them. They are not so amazing as to warrant prices any higher than a Moxie Girl or Barbie.


Overall:
I would highly recommend Ghoulia Yelps to both adults and children (old enough not to be threatened by choking hazard pieces) who find this doll interesting. She's a beautiful doll, and truly unique, and I hope more people buy them and encourage Mattel to go a little more crazy every once in a while.
I believe she will easily withstand the rigors of play. I do have to say though, she's the prettiest zombie I've ever seen. It would be amusing to see a version of her a bit more... zombified.
I understand why they didn't do that though, the point is not to terrify children, lol!