WHY are we getting the same characters for wave 2 of Core Refresh?? Don't get me wrong, I like Clawdeen and Cleo and Frankie is okay, but if we're getting a wave 2, why not introduce new characters into the line??
Like, just to name a few that they could've done instead: Jinafire, Abbey, Spectra, TORALEI?? DO Y'ALL KNOW HOW MUCH I'D LOVE A CORE REFRESH TORALEI?!?!!?!?!?
My point is that, while I mostly like these dolls based on what we've seen so far, I'm disappointed that we're just getting the same characters that already HAVE Core Refresh dolls.
One year ago today, I watched Saw for the first time. One year ago today my life changed forever.
There was a time in my life when I'd never EVER thought about checking out the Saw movies. I'd seen bits of trailers over the years and I swear I caught one of the movies on TV once, but it just never seemed like it was something I'd be interested in, so I never looked into it. I just moved on and never really thought about it until the Saw franchise would end up crossing my path again, so to speak, and the cycle would just repeat itself. I'd briefly acknowledge, 'oh yeah, that's a thing', and move on, never thinking about it beyond that.
But all that changed last year, around the time Saw X came out. I remember seeing trailers and TV spots for the movie and thinking, 'They're making another one, wow, how many is that now?'. I vaguely recall seeing trailers here and there over the years every time a new Saw movie came out, but like I said, it never seemed like something I'd be interested in, so I never gave it much thought.
Saw X, however, changed all that. By then I was curious, especially once I found out X was the tenth movie in the series, I can still recall the surprise I felt. Like, wow, I knew there were a bunch of Saw movies, but TEN?? That got me curious. For a franchise to go on this long, with that many movies in the series, there had to be something that kept people coming back, right?
So I decided, one year ago today, to watch the first Saw movie and see what all the fuss was about, to see if the hype was warrented.
That was a day that changed my life forever.
It might sound dramatic and even crazy to say that I fell in love with Saw, but I honestly can't think of another way to describe what that first viewing in particular made me feel. I just...fell in love. Not in a romantic way, of course, that WOULD be crazy. But I genuinely can't recall another time in my life when I felt such a deep emotional connection to a movie. And I'm a person who forges emotional connections with media pretty dang easily. Whether it be a TV show or movie as a whole or a particular character or two, I almost always feel an emotional connection in some way to whatever piece of media that currently has my attention.
But with Saw, it just felt different, deeper somehow. For reasons I still can't quite pinpoint to this day, the connection I felt to the first movie just hit different, in a way that nothing else has before or since. I quickly came to love the franchise as a whole with the first viewing of each sequel, I got more and more hooked with each one I watched, but it's the first movie that I have the deepest connection to and I think I always will.
I will forever remember the feeling of sitting right here at my desk as the final scenes played out, the best plot twist I've ever seen in my life happening before my eyes for the very first time. I will never forget my feelings in that moment.
And now here we are one year later and it feels like a whirlwind, the fact that it's already been one year since Saw came into my life.
The fact that I wasn't into the franchise for a whole month before I made this blog says something too. My favorite TV show of all time is The A-Team, it's the only other piece of media I can think of that I have a SUPER strong connection with, it's probably the only one that's even CLOSE to rivaling what I feel for Saw. I've loved that show for over 10 years. But do I have an entire blog dedicated to it? No, no I do not.
I started a blog dedicated to the Saw movies not even a month after getting into the fandom, but I don't have a blog dedicated to a show I've loved for the past 14 years. That's amazing to me. That alone shows me that the connection I have with Saw is different, beyond any connection I've felt with any other media I've ever been into in all my life.
Why that is I'm not sure. Saw is just special, it's become very important to me and I'm so glad I was able to make this blog dedicated to such a big part of my life.
I will forever be thankful that I decided to give Saw a chance, I wouldn't be writing this post right now, this blog wouldn't even exist if I hadn't decided one year ago today to make what turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life.
So I guess I'll end this by saying that Saw will forever be super important to me and I will treasure my connection to this movie for the rest of my life.
Take a moment right now and close your eyes. Notice that you're breathing, and how it's one of the many ways your body keeps you alive. It's done so much to keep you around. Reflect on that. And there's a reason why It's because you are a gift to this world.
As excited as I am for Jinafire's Skulltimate Secrets doll, it looks to me like the packaging will be difficult, if not impossible to peek into to check what the doll inside looks like. At least with the previous types of Skulltimate Secrets packaging, it was pretty easy to open it just enough to look inside, I did it when I got my Neon Frights Toralei, no way do I want to risk getting a wonky as hell doll, especially considering the price. But with this newest wave? I can't really see an easy way to get the package open without completely tearing into it, which wouldn't exactly be the best idea in the middle of the store. Ugh, they just had to make it more difficult, didn't they 😭
As much as I LOVE Buried Secrets Toralei, I gotta admit, now that I finally have her and have been able to personally handle the less articulated body that the Buried Secrets dolls have, I have to say I'm not a fan.
It's not terrible, per say, but I just don't really understand the way they did it, I guess. Like, why make the wrists articulated instead of the elbows? I know Mattel did limited articulation on some budget Ever After High dolls, but they did it the way I just mentioned, with articulation at the elbows and not the wrists, and that just makes more sense to me? I mean, if you're going to limit the articulation, seems to me like that's the better way to do it.
Bottom line is that I'm not a fan of the Buried Secrets body and am seriously considering rebodying my Toralei the first chance I get.
