( Draft for Spellentine review ) (posting anyway cuz lazy)
Artwork/box
Skullettes r kinda bland (just hair??? Imagine if Draculaura came out TODAY. Mattel would just make her skullettes a skull with a very 1:1 version of her core look pigtails 😭😭 they lost the art of making interesting skullettes)
Artwork critiques I already said on the wiki (mismatched line weight, Kieran w wrong face shape, unclear/convoluted spelldon silhouette ) (I understand the idea is that he's holding the potion close to his heart bc he's in love; but I wish the heart shape of the bottle n the magic fumes where highlighted better shape wise)
(lack of Spelldon's witch gimmick in both skullette & artwork - no which hat on skullette, potion isn't the focus of the art)
Accessories
Potion prop is a bit too cartoony imo
I never liked the rose 😭 sorry it feels like a knock off of the Rochelle/Garrott one
AWFUL Potion textbook . Very generic cover? (lacking enough of a MH twist) (Could have been designed to look more like a school book, just about potion)
Brush for boy dolls!! HOW COOL? But it's only for Kieran's texture :/ (god knows he needs a better hair cut tho)
Dolls - Valentine
New hair looks awful srry 😭
I think his eyes (pupil & iris) r smaller than the SDCC doll?
Outfit super bland. Literally just a genderbent version of Draculaura's core outfit. (Same vest & collar & mesh sleeves....) Could have built on the pun of him being "EMO vampire" instead. The MCR inspired fit felt more original & tailored to his character. The redeemed fit is generic n forgettable.
Patterns everywhere to try n hide how bland n how much of a Draculaura ripoff the fit is. Lace of the collar + pattern on the vest + pattern on the sleeves + pattern on the pants + ai looking pattern on the shoe side + pattern on the soles..... Too many. Not even the artwork bothers to feature them all cuz it would look convoluted n awful
Dolls - Spelldon
LOVE
Torso part of the outfit is 1:1 to his comic design, no notes (jacket's pin also has a Skullette variant - unfortunately also bland - is placed over the heart n was a gift from Kieran 💞)
Pants :/.... With a stupid pattern. The V+S thing looks stupid n the fact they mentioned it in the diary story makes it sound stupid too... Like he says he's scared to admit his feelings. Yet he walks around with V+S pants before confessing?????? 😭 make it make sense
TALL BOOTS. Initially I was scared the high shoes that make him look taller might have been Mattel embracing the fan idea that he's the tall one n valentine the tiny smol one (😒) which I was scared of bc I associate it to racist fan art that makes valentine super twinky cuz he's white n spell the hyper masculine one just cuz he's black. LUCKLY IT WASN'T THE CASE!!!! Spelldon isn't hyper masculinezed n the tall boots r just part of the punk vibe 💞💞💞
Cool way to re-imagine the "Object heels" on a boy doll with the herbs pack detail 💚 at first I was worried it was gonna be only one shoe like the "mismatched object heel" gimmick they've recycled in many designs. ITS NOT!! It's on both which imo makes it more polished + I LOVE THAT THIS IS A WITCH GIMMICK!!!! I feel they don't embrace his monster gimmick enough, as his character is often reduced to a valentine accessory low key, BUT HERE THEY DO !!! THIS IS SO COOL I LOVE THE DETAIL!!! 💚🌿💚💜🌿💚🌿💚💜
Object SOLES (?) :/ idkk... I think there's a pun with soles/souls bc all the little 'teeth' of the boots r tombstone shaped . BUT: I don't like it 🤪. I understand it's generically monstrous, but bc it doesn't add to the Spellcaster gimmick I find it unnecessary. N redundant(?) since they already had an object gimmick with the herbs. Not every MH shoe needs an object gimmick. Matter of fact none of the wave 1 dolls had object heels. I don't understand why Mattel thinks they're so essential to their brand nowdays 😭
Diaries - Spelldon
They remembered he's greek too!! :D 🇬🇷🏳️🌈🇬🇷🏳️🌈🇬🇷🏳️🌈 I think his writing font is also meant to look more greek to highlight he's used to writing in both languages? How cool!! 🖤🖤 (also imo SO IMPORTANT that black-european characters get to have their European side acknowledged too!! It battles the racist narrative the European right tries to push that European countries are white monocultures, which is INSANELY FALSE + dangerous to the poc living here)
He gets characterization!! Although unfortunately not much imo T.T
Spelldon doesn't have a character voice I feel. The writing feel less of a diary and more just.. narrative at points. Like the way he reports dialogues feels a little immersion breaking? It doesn't feel like he's writing them down from a diary pov, rather they're being told to the reader in a more story-style.
I wish there was some kind of "insert" to contrast this and embrace more the "diary" medium form. I mean remember when deuce had a page with just a post-it note w a recepy he wanted to try placed among his writing?? Or hoodude w that magazine quiz cut out. That would have added a lot of characterization*&* character voice!! Like imagine if among the writing there were illustrations meant to look like herbs taped/pressed inside the diary??? Maybe a post-it with a list of potion ingredients, w the pressed herb next to it??? That would have added so much personality to the booklet :P
I don't like that Casta is at MH?? 😭 She's 19, graduated, an international pop star and NEVER ATTENDED this school (so she's not even an alumni) 😭 why tf is she randomly at her brother's school during his lunch break ??? (Also y'all know I think it's more interesting if ppl don't know Spelldon's sister is famous.... Matter fact I wish he kept a low profile on who his mom is too by just saying he's "son of a sorceress" or something.... )
Interesting he said valentine didn't know who Casta was!!
His mom being skeptical about mixing alchemy n chemistry was kinda boring :P I understand it's like a metaphor for parents of gay ppl or something, but y'all know I wish she wasn't just some "mystic witch" character n instead worked as a vet so this felt bland/generic to me (but it was fine!!! 👍even if mid to me personally)
The friendship w Venus is interesting!! But I wish we were shown he knew even more of the MH cast LoL 😅 like he's in this environment club, so does he know Batsy too?? I wish he knew Neightan (they're both magic boys) or Deuce (both greek mythology boys, who probably take home ick together)
(off topic?) I wish the promotional boomuda triangle comics of the twopack didn't waste the story doing pointless multiverse bullshit, n instead were 5 "webisodic", one-shot style issues, focusing on showing how Valentine n Spelldon go about their life at MH, n how they relate to the rest of the cast (instead of yk, themselves but in a vaguely regency outfit 😒).
This so that we could have seen Spelldon actually get characterization OUTSIDE of being Val's bf, yk interacting with CASTA, VENUS, WHISP ect... N actually see Valentine become friends w Draculaura (i didn't like how that was just a simple mention w no explanation) also maybe interact w Toralei, Gory, Bram...
There's an entire entry wasted on reinforcing that wrong lore about kieran inventing Valentine's Day . Why????? Low-key cuz Spelldon doesn't get to exist as a character outside of valentine, even in his own debut diary 😔. Like 5 whole lines WASTED on repeating a wrong "retcon" that in valentine's diary gets a whole paragraph anyway. COULD HAVE PUT THAT PRESSED HERB ILLUSTRATION I was talking about IN THAT SPACE YK??? Sometimes that would have actually been about Spelldon's character 😭🙏
Anyway the crush stuff was cute - I know I'm criticising irrelevant stuff n being nitpicky, but that stuff was LOVELY!!!💞👍
Diaries - Valentine
Don't like how him being friends with Draculaura is Just a simple mention. I think they should just be acquainted. N that this should have been included/explained in the (instead useless) promotional comics.
HIM SAYING VALENTINE'S DAY IS NAMED AFTER HIM WAS A LIE!!!! IT ANNOYS ME SO MUCH THEY TRY TO MAKE IT REALITY IN CANON INSTEAD WTF😭😭 makes him OP for no reason
While Spelldon's family gets mentioned , Kieran mom isn't in the diaries :/ weird. I think if they were trying to do some metaphor with Circe they should have done it with Ms. Valentine instead :P
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That's it idk how to end this 😭 I really love them I've been taking pictures of them with my Nintendo 3ds all day
I made them kiss a lot + bicker about whether Catty or Casta is a better pop star (Val is a fan of catty cuz she's the queen of the love song OFC, while Spelldon is his sister's biggest Stan). Lots of fun with my new homosexual touys
