Oh, I have a hard time choosing~ But I can give you some reasons why I like a few of them an extreme amount!

It should be noted I don’t watch the cartoon or follow any of the other story stuff they have woven around these things; I’m only in it for the dolls.  So my preferences are based on just owning the dolls and maybe reading a diary or two, not on personalities from the show or anything.

I found Monster High when they first came out because I love weird toys and I’m always looking for new ones.  I saw Lagoona in a display case in a WalMart or a Target or something among all the boxes of Frankies and Draculauras and decided I needed the weird fish girl.   I went to three stores to get her, haha, I was just so excited that she had fins and webbed fingers and her eyes bugged out a little.   When I got her home and saw she had non-human ears, I was so excited.     

So I have a ridiculous soft spot for Lagoona. She was my first one, and I’m always really drawn to aquatic creatures, blues and greens, and swirls and curls like the shapes in her hair.   I only collect the first issue of the dolls and don’t buy duplicates of the characters, but Lagoona is one of the ones whose other versions I love looking at, just to see what they’ve done to her.

Purely to look at them, though, I love Venus.  I love her half-shaved head, I love all her teeth and her swirly spiky plants, I love her neon pink and poison-green color scheme.   I love that she wears some fucking leggings instead of just a tiny skirt like nearly all my other dolls.  Venus looks like I designed her and she’s ready to kick ass, she’s wonderful.

Childhood wish-fulfillement-wise, I adore Avea.   I have wanted a centaur doll since I was six or seven.  It took me over 20 years to get one, but I finally have one!  And she look to be in proportion to herself and heavily features one of my favorite shades of blue~  And the tiny wings~  Seven-year-old Lady made the purchase of that doll, I think.  I’m still so happy to see her on my shelf.   I very nearly sent Mattel an embarrassingly emotional thank you letter.

Annnnd then as far as ‘holy shit, this is an amazing doll’, Wydowna.  Fucking six arms, and all those eyes, oh my god.   I love looking at her, I love owning her.  I think of all the dolls I own, just on a purely doll standpoint, she is the most fun to play with, and I love that she just slightly unsettles some people.

(Skelita comes into this list because of that last bit.  I have mine displayed mostly naked because I think that she’s literally just bones is fucking awesome and I don’t really feel the need to cover her with a whole dress.  People find the bones a little creepy but kind of beautiful and I am ALL ABOUT THAT COMBO.)

I really like buying the dolls with an obvious physical difference from being human with just some features painted on.  I don’t own a Draculaura because of this, nor a Cleo. I also like getting dolls that make a good representation of what they’re supposed to be.  I broke this rule with both Ghoulia and Twlya.  Ghoulia because I loved the juxtaposition of 'nerdy’ and 'zombie’ - also PANTS AND GLASSES - and Twyla because I loved her colors and swirls (glow in the dark eyes has not hurt, haha).  All my childhood, I wanted dolls with extra limbs, or dolls who were scary, or ones with wings or tails or animals parts, or strange colored skin or even just non-traditionally-colored hair. 

Annnnnnd that’s why I fucking love these dolls~~~  Now I have a girl with snakes grafted to her head, and a mermaid who isn’t just legs in a sheath, and a swamp girl covered head to toe in spikes and swirls, and a gargoyle with wings and stone-textured skin, and a Yeti with claws and a huge heavy jaw, and ghosts with transparent limbs and a girl with bolts in her neck and aaaaa, I am so happy Monster High is a thing.   I hope there are some small creepy girls like I was out there who are pleased with these~

 WHO DO YOU GUYS LIKE?