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Monster High Create A Monster Gargoyle and Vampire Starter Pack
Manufacturer: Mattel
MSRP: $19.99 at Target – price may vary by retailer
Availability: Mass retail, now
Website: MonsterHigh.com
Related posts: Monster High Create-a-Monster Vampire and Sea Monster Review
Monster High Create-a-Monster Werewolf and Dragon Review

Less than five months since I reviewed the first series of Monster High Create A Monster Starter Packs, a new series has started showing up in stores!

The second thing that I noticed about these new Starter Packs was that my concerns about the torso-to-parts ratio have been addressed. The Starter Packs now come with two torsos wearing one full outfit each, meaning that you can get two complete dolls! …If you don’t mind one doll being barefoot and bare-headed. The Add-On Packs still come with only one pair of shoes and one wig.

The first thing that I noticed, of course, was that we finally have more boys!

Create a Monster: Gargoyle and Vampire Starter Pack

Back of packaging, showing different combinations and the upcoming Puma and Ghost accessory packs, as well as the Create a Monster Design Lab.

My first line of inquiry: are the new boy body parts compatible with the existing Create a Monster parts?

The wig has the same basic construction as the wigs in the existing Create A Monster sets (left: Create a Monster Vampire/Sea Monster wig).

It fits the werewolf head well, if not flatteringly…

…but this particular wig has been cut and styled to fit around the boys’ heads, leading to an awkward side view.

The dragon head seems fare a little better…

…but the ear-notches don’t quite line up with the ear placement.

On to the main attraction: the heads! Here we have a pink-skinned red-eyed vampire, and a granite-toned Gargoyle. Unlike the female gargoyle Rochelle, his ears are at a normal human position.

One significant difference between the male and female Create A Monster bodies… the male body has an additional point of articulation at the ankle.

The Gargoyle body parts are pretty similar to the Vampire parts. I did notice that there were some rough edges and leftover plastic still attached. I was able to scrape off the extra plastic, and I might be able to get rid of the rough parts with some sand paper… but I wasn’t confident that I’d be able to maintain the nice finish of the plastic.

The Gargoyle’s most interesting features are probably his wings. The Vampire can wear them too, of course, but the speckled stone pattern matches the Gargoyle’s body better. At first, I thought they were identical to the Dragon CAM’s translucent green wings…

…but it turns out that the peg length and angle are completely different.

It’s a pity that the Create a Monster Gargoyle wings aren’t quite as detailed as Rochelle Goyle’s, but at least that means they won’t get mixed up?

Left wing: Rochelle Goyle. Right wing: Create A Monster Gargoyle.

Continuing Create a Monster’s tradition of mixing up the torsos and fashions, the Gargoyle-skintone torso comes dressed in a blood-dripping t-shirt.

The t-shirt has a v-shaped notch in the back to accomodate a tail hole, as well as a finished cut-out hole for the wings.

I was going to try placing the female head on the male body, but the neck holes and neck posts are very different.

Here’s the completed Gargoyle boy, next to Gil Webber! His big eyes and relatively chubby cheeks make him look much younger than Gil.

I feel like he might have less defined muscle-tone than Gil, but that could be my imagination (or mold degradation, since his body is presumably based on previously released male torsos.)

Side view. Note that the wig is almost perfectly cut to go around his ears.

A size (and wing) comparison with Rochelle Goyle.

After all the excitement of the gargoyle, I found the vampire a little… lacking. He’s got a bat tattoo on one arm, and… uh… that’s about it, really.

I did find it interesting that the vampire is a different shade of pink than the Create A Monster female vampire as well as Draculaura.

My Vampire has a very slight printing error, where one fang is much lighter than the other.

The default wig doesn’t quite fit his ear placement. It’s possible to shift the wig so the ear fits into that gap…

…but then the gap on the other side is completely misaligned.

The outfit on the pink vampire body is a bit disappointing for me. I tried to find a silver lining… at least it goes with the Physical Deaducation outfit that comes with Classroom Survival Guide Ghoulia, right?

As it turns out, his outfit is made of a different fabric, and the colours and design of the t-shirt are different than Ghoulia’s. (I’m willing to give him a pass on the shorts… although Ghoulia’s shorts have a different design, they do have the same pink-and-white satin rick-rack on them.) It looks like he’s wearing an imperfect duplicate or the actual school athletics uniform.

I know it’s an extremely minor point, but compared to the female Create A Monster sets (which generally come with neat themed tops, bottoms and sometimes dresses), the outfits in this set were unimpressive. The one separately-sold fashion pack for male Monster High dolls was Deuce Gorgon’s Casketball uniform. Between that, this set, and the upcoming Puma Accessory set, I think we have enough short-sleeved tops and shorts for the lads now.

Finally, a size comparison between the various male bodies. Looking closely at the limb lengths, I’m fairly certain that they’re actually all the same height. But the different facial proportions certainly give a very different impression.

Overall, I’m very pleased with this starter pack. I feel the inclusion of a second torso vastly improves the playability, and my only real complaints are the wig (which shed little black hairs all over the place) and the somewhat lack-luster fashions. In a toyline where there haven’t been that many interesting separately sold fashions for the boys, it’s an unfortunate oversight.

PS: Yes, the male Create a Monster bodies are compatible with the female Create a Monster wigs and tail.