Ty Girlz clothes on Moxie Teenz

The Moxie Teenz are among my favorite playline dolls but their clothing options are limited due to their oddball 14" height. The line was cancelled after three years so they didn't have a chance to build up a large wardrobe. 

MGA released three waves of MT dolls, several wigs and accessory sets, and some fashion packs. How many outfits? I can't find a good source for detailed information about these dolls, apparently they weren't popular enough (please post a comment if you know of a website that shows all the available fashion packs). All I know is that my local TRU has had the same three MT outfits on sale for well over a year, but Google Images indicates there were some MT fashions released earlier that I didn't see in person.

This is how I display my Teenz:

My collection has all four dolls in the 1st wave (plus an extra Arizona from a thrift shop), no dolls from the 2nd wave, and two new dolls introduced in wave 3 (Gavin the boy and Leigh the redhead). Wave 3 dolls have rooted hair, don't buy them if you want to play with the MT wigs.

You can see how tall the 14" Teenz look compared to a Monster High doll on the far left and a Liv doll on the far right. Liv dolls make good little sisters to the Teenz, despite being manufactured by a different company. Both lines feature wigs, big heads, inset eyes, and articulated bodies.

Ty Girlz, the clothing donors

A sample of some of the Ty Girlz produced before their cancellation in 2012

You might think the Ty Girlz look kinda cute in this photo, but the dolls are so much worse in person. I don't mean to insult anyone who likes them, they're just not my taste at all.

Ty Girlz clothing is far from a guaranteed perfect fit on Moxie Teenz dolls. I think most of the TG pants are too small, but I haven't been able to try all of the styles available. Stick to skirts to be safe. If pants fit over the thighs they'll look like capris or clam diggers. Sleeves look short on the longer MT arms, but they can be rolled up to the elbow or left alone for a 3/4 length sleeve. Some shirts reveal the belly, which isn't always a bad look, especially on dolls with a flat stomach.

thrift store score

I've found several Ty Girlz at thrift shops, plus the one carded outfit shown above. At the usual $2 or $3 thrift price I don't mind picking up a doll just for her outfit, especially if it'll help the Teenz expand their wardrobe. (I'm not sure what their retail price was but the Ty Girlz are discontinued so it no longer matters, and I never saw them in regular stores anyway.) I don't buy every Ty doll I see because some of the clothes are boring or they don't look like they'd be a good fit for the Teenz.

Three Ty Girlz outfits on Moxie Teenz (shoes are MT). 

The Paris shirt seems appropriate for a doll named Bijou

The skirts look short, but compare them to this official Moxie Teenz skirt shown on the right (below):

Ty Girlz skirt on left, Moxie Teenz skirt on right

Above: the two Arizonas, both first wave but their lips are different shades of pink. After this photo I swapped their wigs, the casual straight style looked better with a more casual outfit. 

I also decided there were too many short skirts in the MT lineup on my shelf, so preppie Arizona is now wearing Bijou's original skinny jeans. I like this look even better:

Here's another Ty Girlz outfit modelled on Moxie Teen Leigh. As you can see, the jeans look like clam diggers:

Wanna go clamming?

TG jeans have velcro sides to ease in redressing the stuffed fabric bodies. This feature also helps slide the tight jeans over plastic MT thighs, but it was still quite a struggle putting the jeans on Leigh. The sides don't close completely on MT legs, so it's not a good fit. It looks OK from the front but I don't recommend you buy a TG outfit with jeans for your MT dolls, unless you really love the shirt. TG pants made from stretchier fabric would likely fit fine around MT thighs, but they'd still be short.

Most of the Ty shirts have Velcro down the back but this preppie shirt made things a little more difficult:

There's no opening in the front or back. I almost gave up and cut it down the back, I thought her arms were going to break! In hindsight I should've tried to put the shirt on starting at her feet, it looks like the neck opening would stretch over her hips.

Bottom line: It's worth taking a second look at Ty dolls in thrift shops if your Teenz need more clothes. Keep the limitations in mind (avoid pants and accept the sleeves will look 3/4 length if you don't roll them up) and you probably won't regret buying a Ty Girl for her clothes, especially at cheap thrift store prices.

$30 is still a lot of money for a toy, right?

Yesterday I received an unexpected bonus so I decided to spend some of it on a new doll. First stop was TRU with quite a selection of dolls, the shelves haven't look this good in ages. They had all six dolls from 13 Wishes, the Werecat two pack (remember when that was HTF), the new Scaris two pack, most of the other Scaris dolls (including Rochelle Goyle, HTF around here), all three new Music Festival dolls, Picture Day Abbey, and Spectra from Ghouls Night Out (plus more dolls from last year's lines like the roller derby ghouls, etc).

This was the first time I saw Ghouls Night Out in person, so I almost bought GNO Spectra because her face paint looked great and I still don't have a Spectra.

Side note: I've passed over at least twenty Picture Day Spectras since they were released due to BAD face paint or unfortunate rooting at the hairline. Maybe an eyebrow was smeared, the lips were slightly fuzzy, or there were stray marks that may or may not be easily removed. Listen Mattel, I will not spend $20+ on a doll with wonky paint on their faces. I don't care if you can't see the flaws from a few feet way, there are flaws! That's something I expect on a doll at the dollar store. This has been a problem with MH dolls since I started collecting them. I don't remember consistently bad face paint on playline Barbies when I scrutinized them for my collection 10-15 years ago. Anyway... that was a pre-rant before my main rant. :)

I had GNO Spectra in my hands ($22) but then spotted Ghoulia with her scooter for $30 and quickly decided the scooter was worth another $8.

Apologies for using a promo photo, my camera batteries are dead and it's 2 AM

I've been wanting this Ghoulia since she was released last year but $30 is a lot for me to drop on one doll, even if she does have a kick ass scooter -- and those boots, drool. The bonus money made it easier though, GNO Spectra went back on the shelf.

Before I left the store I got a good look at the 13 Wishes dolls. Notice the two different prices.

WHY? What makes the three "Haunt the Casbah" dolls worth $30?

Compare 13 Wishes Clawdeen and 13 Wishes Howleen:

13 Wishes Clawdeen ($30)

13 Wishes Howleen ($22)

Click on these two pics to make them a lot larger.  

What's going on here? Clawdeen's small lamp isn't all that special, it's plastic and doesn't light up. Clawdeen's skirt has multiple layers, I'll give Mattel credit for a fancy skirt (which isn't exactly a skirt, maybe it's called a wrap or whatever, I don't know these things). Howleen has a hat, a hedgehog pet, a bag, tights (!), awesome boots, a jacket, and a journal. I wish more fashion dolls came with tights. Clawdeen has a layered skirt and a lamp. In my opinion Howleen wins this one, no question.

Now consider Ghoulia with her scooter. TRU has the scooter without a doll priced at $20.

 

For another $10 you can get the same scooter with a doll:

Why is a doll w/ vehicle the same price as a 13 Wishes Casbah doll? This seems ridiculous to me, but Mattel will sell thousands of Casbah dolls at $30 just because Monster High is so popular. It's a playline doll, not a collectible!

As I sit here I wonder if Ghoulia and her scooter cost more when they were new at TRU. That's possible, but it doesn't change my opinion that the 13 Wishes Casbah dolls are overpriced.

By the way, I checked the 13 Wishes prices on Walmart's website and they are identical to TRU.

I love Ghoulia and her awesome scooter, this set was even better than I expected. :) I think spending the same amount of money on a 13 Wishes doll would've left me feeling ripped off. Now I feel like a granny who complains that candy back in the day cost a penny -- or a nickel for the good stuff.

Good thing we can vote with our wallets! In the end, these are just toys, and there's nothing in the toy aisle we need to be happy.