Mattel introduces some scary cute dolls

Barbie wouldn’t last a day at Monster High.

The latest fashion dolls from Mattel are a dramatic departure from the toy maker’s most recognizable blonde. As the offspring of famous monsters, the new Monster High girls are fearless, occasionally furry and a bit freaky.

There’s Draculaura, daughter of Dracula, who is vegan and faints at the sight of blood.

Her best friend Clawdeen Wolf, whose father is Werewolf, spends much of her time plucking and shaving her excessive, fast-growing hair.

And classmate Frankie Stein, who sports stitches just like dad Frankenstein, loves to shop for “scary cute clothes that are absolutely to die for.”

“They’re fun characters to build a world around,” said Tim Kilpin, general manager for Mattel Brands. “Who doesn’t feel like a freak in high school? It started with that universal truth.”

Six of the dolls – five girls and one boy – began hitting the shelves at major retailers and toy stores in recent weeks, with a suggested retail price of $16.99 each.

Shoppers can also buy related youth apparel and accessories (prices range from $3.90 to $42.90), see animated webisodes and character bios at www.monsterhigh.com and become fans of the franchise on Facebook.

A young adult book series about the characters hits bookshelves Wednesday, followed by a line of Halloween costumes and, in a couple of years, possibly a feature-length movie.

With its lineup of creepy characters, Mattel is capitalizing on the vampire and werewolf obsession that has infiltrated books, movies, TV shows and magazine covers in recent years and making it relevant for pre-teens, or “tweens.”

Analysts have praised the creative, quirky storylines at Monster High, where students play “casketball” and try out for the “fearleading squad.”

But the biggest challenge facing the brand will be whether young, image-conscious girls can get on board with dolls that look more like kids from the Addams Family than pals of Barbie or the American Girls.

“Fashion dolls are tricky, because fashion dolls have an emulative aspect or an aspirational aspect. Girls want to be Barbie … but I don’t know how many girls aspire to be Draculaura or Frankie Stein,” said Gerrick Johnson, a toy analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

“One reason why Shrek was never a good toy line – never has been, never will be – is because boys want to be Luke Skywalker, they want to be Optimus Prime, Spider-Man. They don’t want to be a green ogre living in a swamp.”

That wasn’t a concern for 8-year-old Ashly Garcia as she rushed over to the Monster High section at a Justice youth apparel store in Los Angeles, snatching up the remaining Clawdeen Wolf doll and a hot pink Monster High journal.

“I have lots of dolls, but in real life I don’t like them,” she said. “The only one I like is this one. I’m going to play with her a lot with my friends.”

For Mattel, launching a slew of toy, apparel and entertainment products all at once is a strategy that the company hopes to employ further in the future, Chief Executive Bob Eckert said.

“That’s a model that we’re keen on – franchise management, if you will. Not just creating toys but creating brands,” he said.

“We used to be just so myopically focused on the toy and its features. We’re now starting to think much broader.”

Retailers say they’re seeing early indications that the line will perform well.

Associates at the Justice store in the Westside Pavilion Shopping Center said they had trouble keeping the dolls in stock and were fielding calls throughout the day from kids and parents looking for specific characters (Frankie Stein is the most sought-after).

“It’s been a very long time since we’ve carried dolls in our store, and they’re extremely popular,” said Leslie Armour, who heads strategic partnerships for Justice, a mall-based retailer of tween apparel and accessories.

“What we saw was something that was fresh,” she said. “It took on the whole craze of vampires and made it fun and very comedic. It has a little twist to everything, and tweens really like that.”

Such was the case for 8-year-old Maya Reynoso, who rolled her eyes at the mention of traditionally girly toys, saying she hadn’t played with dolls since she was 4.

Yet the soon-to-be fourth-grader picked out a pink hoodie with the Monster High skull logo at the Justice store and even paused to admire the dolls before deeming them acceptable.

“They seem like they would kill Barbie,” she said.