u/AustisticGremlin

I’m glad I was a tiny child during this time so never saw any of this given I couldn’t read yet. All I remember from magazines are wanting the cool clothes and stuff (crochet everything and inflatable furniture) 😅

I feel like this is moreso ‘children with ASD are more inclined to chew on things as a stim, including plastics/etc’.

Unfortunately it won’t let me add a pic but my parents’ coffee table is riddled with bite marks down the outer edge from when I was teething I’d just bite the fucking table edge (and probably ingested a good amount of wood varnish lol)

Have you tried using the ‘search by image’ function on eBay (I often use this to find bootlegs as they usually don’t have consistent names) and on sites like Taobao and Xianyu?

I made a guide for these! I wish they weren’t as hard to find as they are, different lines are exclusive to different countries 😵‍💫

Because they’re in OP’s main post :)

Mermaze 110% (I even own 3/4 of the unreleased ones lol) but My Pretty Mermaid is a close second as a lifelong MLP collector

LaTeenaz was an unproduced line and their sculpts were used for these prototypes. As they were the very first iteration of the MH concept they were created by Garrett Sander ‘kitbashing’ various existing components together, hence the reused pieces.

Afterwards came the dolls in the pic I have attached - these are the second round of prototypes after Mattel asked Lily Martinez to also create a take on Garett’s concept (as I believe he had not yet worked directly on dolls being primarily a packaging designer whilst Lily had headed My Scene for some time).

As you can see the final MH dolls use the sculpt from the second prototypes but the styling from the first ones.

https://preview.redd.it/bd8ikalb57qh1.jpeg?width=822&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51c46a6273d2cd852b5ee75a3c3c8c5ee7cfb4bc

No they are mass-marketed!

I’ve never seen them for sale secondhand so I would also guess they never released - which sucks as they’re adorable and such a cool example of the mod fashion at the time!

That looks like UV damage 😵‍💫

“Girls rule”

Oh she’s super cute! Regarding the makeup, she’s a kogal, hence the lack of typical gyaru makeup - these are gals who are still in school so their style is somewhat constrained by uniform rules!

I theorise that the online release was likely the ‘leftover’ dolls as in order to send PR to influencers they would have needed to ship a full case or pallet from the factory.

This also kind of explains why two characters were missing for the online release - characters are often stocked in different amounts per shipping box (based on how well they think they’ll sell), so if you have a box consisting of 2x each of Amora/Blaze/Akiko/Luna but only 1x each of Suki/Shai and you want to send all six as PR, you wind up with extras of the first four.

No, I have had no contact at all and to be honest I’m not in the best place because of this.

It feels like nobody is able or willing to help, I have reached out to what feels like every entity available and nobody can do a damn thing.

I’m sorry to just vent at you but it’s genuinely painful for me to just… sit here and feel completely and totally helpless in this situation.

I feel like I’ve let the entire community down and even though I know it’s not something I ever could have predicted it still weighs on me constantly and feels like it will never leave until I know what happened.

The not knowing is the hardest part.

Another stab to the heart, as if I wasn’t already in a spiral to be honest 🫠

I really understand your desire (in your position I’d be going nuts!) but I’m currently undecided.

I’m concerned that GenAI would be used to scam people once there was a verified image available and additionally I don’t think I could handle seeing the images spread around.

I have not been able to look at the images myself as every time I even think about the situation it feels like being stabbed in the heart.

I’ve still not gotten over feeling genuinely suicidal over this situation - and I know that’s silly, they’re just dolls - but I feel as if my choices led to them being lost, and thus a loss for the entire doll community that I feel personally responsible for.

This is something I still cry and break down about even two years later, hell I’m in tears just putting this all into words now. Not having a definitive answer is slowly destroying me and it feels like nobody can or is willing to help me.

I know this isn’t the answer you wanted and I apologise for that, but it’s still too raw for me and I hope you can understand that.

Nope, I’m currently unable to find any info about the outcome of the court case/s - or if they’re even still ongoing. I have no idea how to proceed or who to even reach out to about resolving this situation 😭

OP I think you may be colourblind.

To be honest it really depends on price point and execution. I don’t want to come off as harsh but I don’t really see anything ‘new’ which makes them stand out.

The designs are gorgeous (especially the fruit-themed girls!) but they resemble a cross between Mermaze (in terms of fashion doll execution/proportions) and the majority of mermaid blind box BJDs (theming/execution thereof).

Additionally the story themes you have mentioned (namely human transformations and colour changing, so the ones which would translate most directly to a toyline) were also the main gimmicks of Mermaid High and Mermaze respectively.

Story-wise it sounds great but before you even get into the multimedia aspect, you need the toy to stand solidly on its’ own as not all of the target audience will be able to access or even be aware of the associated media.
As an example - G3 Monster High is likely not as popular with the intended target demographic due to the show being exclusive to (often region-locked and/or paid) streaming services and thus limiting its’ accessibility to international viewers.

And then there’s target audience - which I’m assuming skews older given the articulation and detail present (also the more adventure-focused stories)? I would probably recommend conducting some kind of market research to be honest.

Overall I can tell you’ve put in a lot of effort, and I hope you achieve that doll design dream! 💕