Amazon.com: Monster High Catty Noir Doll : Toys & Games

Beautiful. This is my first Monster High doll, so I had no idea what to expect. I didn't buy her to use as a toy, or to play with; I wanted her as a visual figurine, because that's how attractive this doll is in person. I bought her with the intention of displaying her, so with that in mind...

Pros: Gorgeous design, a high amount of detail, and with the flowing dress and tall boots she has a striking silhouette. Definitely one of the most eye-catching MH dolls I've seen. Seems you either like her style or you don't - and I love it. She has her own personality, and the booklet she comes with (a faux journal of diary entries) is surprisingly endearing, even for a cynical grown-up like me. She comes with a stand to display her; it has a transparent bar that seems to vanish, which is perfect for such a colorful doll. She doesn't look picture-perfect when she comes out of the box, but save for a few tangled strands of hair (her long hair gets a little messy at the bottom), I was surprised with how display-ready she was.

Cons: For such a visually striking figure, I'm not thrilled with my options for displaying her. She can make dramatic and fun poses, but there's no way (straight from the box, that is) to display her in any position except for standing straight up. Her stand isn't very strong and it can't support much weight, so if she's tilted or leaning she'll fall over. Her feet can't touch the bottom of it, which would've helped a lot with stability. I've managed to pose her with one leg slightly bent for a little bit of style, but I can't do much else without feeling like she'll tip over, which is disappointing for a 'rock star'.

Also, the packaging. Can we talk about the packaging? I can't imagine a small kid being able to pull her out of the box without ripping her hair and tearing her dress, or who knows what else. I understand that it's important to keep her looking presentable in the box, but the way they go about this feels unnecessary. It took me roughly 20 minutes to remove her from her box, with small-tip scissors to carefully extract her from the several ties binding her to it - including tape that caught a few strands of her hair. There are better ways to do this, Mattel. I collect figures, and I've never seen such a puzzling series of small ties and strings everywhere.

Besides my gripes, I was very impressed with Catty. So impressed I just bought another Monster High doll.