New Monsters and old Livs on sale at TRU

This Friday the 13th was a grand dolly day for me. I went to TRU to buy the black & white Skull Shores Frankie for $4.13 (what an amazing promotion) and left with 2 of them and !SURPRISE! the new gargoyle girl Rochelle too!

They had two gargoyles on the shelf. Her vinyl is flecked to simulate the look of stone, which means some of the dark marks could land in awkward spots on her face, like a big blemish on her nose. I chose the doll that had a better placement of marks, but once the dolls are on display that sort of thing isn't really noticeable so I wouldn't worry about it if you order her online.

Those bangs need to be washed and brushed out

That reminds me, I looked over every SS Frankie and so many of them had face paint flaws. Some were minor, others shouldn't have gone past quality control -- if there even was any. They definitely pumped these dolls out to meet the Friday the 13th promotion demand and their quality slipped. Maybe my TRU got a bad batch. There must've been around 30 Frankies on the shelf when the store opened at 10 AM. It was cool seeing so many Frankies at once, there were several variations in the striping and shaping of her hair.

what a cutie

SS Frankie went on sale for $4.13 on 04/13 at TRU, but people are reporting that WalMart has been selling her for $4.13 every day so check there if you missed TRU's one day sale.

Another big surprise was seeing one first wave Abbey on the shelf, I'd never seen her in person before. I bought Skull Shores Abbey at TRU last week and she's gorgeous with her shimmery blue skin. The first wave Abbey at TRU today had serious greasy face problems. She was still there when I left 45 minutes later, even though several people had been by to pick up Frankie on sale. The other gargoyle girl was claimed by the time I left but poor greasy Abbey was still looking for a home. (I'm sure she was gone by the end of the day.)

Someone on a doll board told me tonight she's supposed to look like that and if so, then I'm really glad I never ordered the first Abbey online! Skull Shores Abbey looks so pretty and properly glittery and icey, not greasy at all. (Despite what that person told me, I still think something was wrong with this particular Abbey, but I'd have to see another one to have a more informed opinion.)

They had the new Jackson Jekyll boy doll too but I'm not interested in the MH boys (maybe someday on sale) so another shopper put Jackson in her cart after I put him back on the shelf, which made me happy for her. Gotta share the Monster love!

One important thing I learned today: If I want to try for a HTF Monster then I should show up on a Friday when they open at 10 AM. That allowed me to look over two Rochelle gargoyles, one first wave Abbey, one Jackson Jekyll, and a couple Operettas. If I showed up later in the day those dolls would've all been gone, leaving the usual Sweet 1600 dolls that it seems people have gotten their fill of around here.

I wasn't done once the monsters were in my cart, oh no. The Liv dolls were 50% off, even the clearance merchandise. I didn't have a Sophie yet so I bought an It's My Nature Sophie for $5.50...

Love those scissors, hat, and the puffy vest. She is a pretty doll.

...and this 1st wave Katie with two wigs was $1.00. Not a typo! She was hiding behind the It's My Nature Katie dolls and her clearance price was $2.00, so 50% off made her only a buck. This is why I often check prices at TRU using the scanner in the doll section, it has alerted me to many deals. (I quickly got in the habit once I realized they often neglect to display sale prices on shelf tags.)

I'll try to fix those eyes, they're even worse than usual

Katie's chocolate mint wig is so different! What's funny is that this 1st wave Katie cost less than the 1st wave Katie I bought at the Goodwill for $1.29 (and Goodwill Katie was missing her two wigs, sweater, hat, and scarf).

I then noticed the School's Out Alexis fashion designer playset was marked down to $10... which means it was only $5 on sale. Crazy! I really like the mannequin (it has articulated elbows and wrists) and store window display. The doll alone is still $10 at Tuesday Morning, so I couldn't pass up getting the doll and her playset for $5. I think the original MSRP for this set was $30.

Her lipstick looks sloppy (this is a problem with every School's Out Alexis I've seen in person) so I'll try to carefully remove the lipstick above her top lip. The goal is to accomplish this without having to wipe it all off and paint new lips on.

Ack, that Robert Smith lipstick makes me batty, must fix! But her eyes are nice.

Note: I think this 50% off Liv sale ends Saturday, April 14th. Call your local TRU before making the trip, I'm not sure if this sale is valid at all stores. Check online too!

So I blew my doll budget for April in the first two weeks, I'm going on a doll diet until May. :) The only dolls I really have on my wanted list are the upcoming Monsters (especially the robot and plant girl), but I'm not sure which of the 2012 dolls we saw at Toy Fair are due this spring.

These dolls will all be deboxed and probably photographed again in new settings. I wanted to get something up about the Liv sale before it ends (sorry about the ultra short notice) so the dolls will have to wait awhile longer before they're released from their boxes.

Thanks for stopping by!