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Monster High Create-a-Monster Starter Packs (Vampire and Sea Monster, Werewolf and Dragon)
Manufacturer: Mattel
MSRP: $26.99 each at Toys R Us, less at other retailers
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
NOTE: This review was written about the original release of the Create-a-Monster Starter Packs on December 16, 2011.

Although each Create a Monster Starter Pack provides enough parts for multiple combinations, the real fun begins when you collect different packs for a wider variety of mixing and matching… or just matching, if that’s your preference.

Who knew there could be so many different shades of pink in Monster High? From left to right, we have the Create-a-Monster Vampire, “Dead Tired” series Draculaura, and Create-a-Monster Dragon.

Here, you can see that the Create-a-Monster Vampire actually has a lighter skintone than Draculaura.

Here’s the Dragon girl on the torso from the Vampire/Sea Monster set. Unfortunately, it’s not a perfect skintone match. The lighter color on the torso makes it look like she got sunburned while wearing a turtleneck swimsuit. Still, the difference would be negligible once the doll was dressed.

I like how the grey Werewolf torso looks with the purple Sea Monster parts, so I’ve combined them (plus the green dragon wings) to create a doll I’m calling “the Daughter of the Lovecraft Monster” as a nod to Monster High’s scrupulously generic monster parent names. “Daughter of the Elder God” has a certain ring to it, too!

I do wish that the Sea Monster had more paint applications, particularly on her leg-fins and tentacles. She looks so plain next to the Dragon girl! Overall, though, I had a lot of fun putting her together, and I hope that Mattel releases more parts (more torsos! more wigs!) and more fashions for this fun little line.