User blog:Nyxity/You Could Have Done Better Mattel

I get the feeling that one of the major reasons MH has been rebooted is because Mattel took the wrong route in marketing the dolls. In the beginning it was great. You had the main ghouls, some mansters and you got to learn more about them through the webisodes, diaries and/or books – whichever route you wished to follow since the three really never coincided with each other.

The wrong route began when they decided to start producing more and more characters that received very little depth. They actually seem to be doing this with their EAH line as well. Followers of the lines constantly express wanting webisodes that flesh out the new characters more, but also gives a fair amount of interaction with the originals.

Both franchises basically give their new characters a single introductory episode that is like a small teaser to the fans who are sincerely interested. People like characters. People like development. The only long lasting franchise that never needed this is Lego, because their focus is on building and creating with one's imagination. The minifigures are typically rarely named and often can be changed into completely new looks for a brief time to represent an imaginary character or put on display.

You then have the Disney Princess and My Little Pony franchises. While DP has changed the looks of their dolls to go with the times, they have done it subtly that is doesn't send the fans into shock. They don't change their stories, their personalities or add in a constant flow of new characters. Instead they focus on what their characters' strong points are and expand on that. Instead they make themed versions of them... it can be as simple as a new fashion, interesting hair play, accessory set, collectible figures and so forth.

While My Little Pony definitely had a reboot, it was still after the series had a long running of subtle changes as well. Starting from the 80s and entering the 2000s, the MLP animations shifted from very horse-like faces, Barbie-like eyes and pastel colors to rounder faces with shorter snouts, more cartoonish, cutesy eyes and more vivid colors. This was a shift that took around three decades!

In the most recent Generation, they really got it right when it comes to the formula they used. Like DP they make a lineup of main characters and focus on them. There are tons of backgrounders that you meet through their interactions with the main characters. Just by focusing on the Main Six and sometimes the Cutie Mark Crusaders, you get great messages and depth that leads a fan to want to continue following them, watch them grow and develop.



I believe Monster High definitely should have gone the route DP and MLP:FiM have. Fashion dolls take a great deal of room to store even if you take them out of their boxes – Legos meanwhile can easily be taken apart, stored in a box and you can have millions of minifigures that take up a heck of a lot less space than a fashion doll that stands around a foot tall. People can collect their figures with more ease without the same sort of troubles in regards to space – this is why baiting collectors with a new MH character one after the other is troublesome. It can be hard enough making room collecting just one character or two, but every single character that comes out?

Then, there is the fact that the characters that were constantly being dished out got little information provided on them. Yeah, a single webisode usually and a small profile. Where is the depth? Delve into them a bit so viewers can actually get to know them and relate. If you cannot do that, then focus on the main ghouls and the mansters. Have them interact with the cardboard, seen once or twice characters if you aren't going to put the effort into breathing a bit more (un)life into them.

Pay attention to the fans also. MLP:FiM makes use of this some when it comes to their episodes, but when it comes to producing new dolls, latch onto this! If there is a growing fan base for a certain background character, grab hold of that! Develop the character a bit more and put a doll out their for that backgrounder! Have the character show up more in webisodes and movies so small bits of info is given on the character but said character doesn't outshine the main characters! If the fans are loving it put out another doll in a new outfit or something! That is where the imagination gets flowing for characters that aren't the main characters.

Anyway, I don't think the MH reboot is wrong. I just think it was done in a fast, in-your-face way. Change is inevitable and it can be good, but people often do not like change that throws them for a loop. As it goes, I think Mattel definitely went the wrong route somewhere after the time Scaris City of Frights came along. That is when they became more about churning out characters while providing fans with very little to go on when it came down to their personalities, troubles, hopes, dreams and just every day life.

The doll might be neat looking, the small introduction webisode gave a taste of what kind of character he or she is... but after that there is nothing more! They either become backgrounders or have small cameos... but overall they are “dropped” and thus easily forgotten or those who were really interested them cry into deaf ears and blind eyes, “I want more on [insert character]! Can't you make more webisodes featuring them?” (They even used the same formula with EAH. They have created so many characters they can't keep up with them all and in turn leave the fans frustrated and feeling ignored.)



Ultimately, I believe Mattel would have done better going a slower route without declaring a reboot. I'm not saying they should take decades to do this, but with each year they could have subtly changed the dolls. 2016, the faces are just slightly rounder, the eyes are a little wider, the lips with just the tiniest tilt upwards, the makeup is subtly lighter. 2017, continue the route done in 2016... add a slight more roundness to the faces, open the eyes up just a little bit more, the lips maybe looking like a tiny, but calm and confident smile, have the makeup just a tad lighter.

As for the clothes... I'll assume it is due to needing fine dexterity to remove them. So, less layers... okay, I get that. Still, instead of making their default look completely different, why not make the majority of the outfit like one-pieces? All the top and skirt combos could have been made stitched together as a one piece. All the top and pants combos could have been made stitched together as a jumpsuit. Frankie's original outfit then would have been a single dress with a tie attached to it. Easy to slip on and off then. 'Same with Draculaura, a single dress with a lace collar attached to it. Clawdeen a single dress and a separate jacket. Cleo, Ghoulia and Lagoona? Jumpsuits, with separate arm accessories and separate hoodie respectively.

The detachable arms, hands and legs causing problems? Keep them articulated, but do as you did with Barbie. Keep the detachable hands, though, for easier dressing when it comes to sleeves.

Is the extra accessories like jewelry a problem? Make them “optional” by creating accessory sets for older kids and collectors that can be bought separately from the dolls! In those sets can be character centered with all the detailed items that the original fans loved, like the detailed mini doll journals, the class survival books, the magazines, the tiny pens, the icoffins, the tablets, the laptops and many others!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Then of course the marketing... The website was really fun in the past when it was so interactive and had printouts and activity packs – it is actually kind of boring now. The doll diaries were great. The webisodes were awesome. The movies were and are still great for the most part. I'm afraid I couldn't stand the books and gave up on them after reading the second. Yeah, there was a lot of plot holes and plenty of things that didn't line up, but if one looked at the diaries, webisodes, movies and books as separate semi-alternate universes from each other... it kind of worked.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Nonetheless, suddenly throwing all the information from the diaries, webisodes, movies and books, however... that is hard to swallow. Fans from before 2016 had a blast learning about the characters, following their adventures. Those who got into MH in the later years likely had to absorb information quickly to catch up with the older fans... now all that goes to waste? 'Seems pretty mean, there, Mattel.