Reviewing Monster High's River Styxx Skullector

Hey guys! Ironically, AG just did a major 40th anniversary release today... I'm not loving the direction AG has been taking lately. Maybe it's fine for some people (mostly, I think, for people who aren't collectors), but it's not my thing. And I've mostly made peace with that. 

All that to say, in terms of new releases, Monster High has been stealing my heart this past year. I've been into MH for a while, but only somewhat recently have I really been interested in some of the things they've put out. I've (unfortunately, for my wallet) fallen into the trap of buying a few of their collector dolls this year. So naturally, when I saw that they were doing a River Styxx collector doll, I decided I needed to bring her home! 

She managed to arrive on the same day AG released their 40th anniversary stuff, as well as during my first AP test. I squealed when I saw that she'd arrived! 

I took these photos on my phone, so they're really bad. I could not be bothered to use my camera. Also, they're not watermarked because I don't think we're going to have a problem with anyone stealing my bad iPhone pictures.

This doll retailed for $90, so after tax and shipping, I paid about $110. That's important because I'm going to be referencing her price a lot to determine if she was worth it!

This was her box set-up. I do consider myself an in-box and out-of-box collector, despite the fact that I only have two dolls in their boxes currently. Maybe I should say I'm a hybrid collector with a strong preference for out-of-box dolls instead. Anyway, I wasn't blown away by her box presentation and didn't plan to keep her in-box. A big reason for that is because they used AI art for her backdrop. *Sigh.* AI art shouldn't be used in doll packaging at all, but it should ESPECIALLY not be used for a $90 collector doll. 

Here's the side and back of the box. That picture was teased a long time ago. The written part on the side seemed really cheesy to me, and I'm not totally convinced it wasn't written with AI. 

She did have this hourglass gimmick inside the box, which I wasn't too crazy about. This on top of the AI use felt juvenile and just annoyed me. To me, the hourglass threw off the composition of her in-box display, and it didn't work very well as an actual hourglass. 

Also, she was very difficult to remove from her box. 

I took this picture because I thought her stand was stuck in her hair, but you can also see some of the AI art better. 

And as soon as I got her out... her hair looked like this! I verbally went "ew." I paid $110, can you maybe not give me a doll with a rat's nest please, Mattel? American Girl collectors are extremely lucky because we don't have to worry about getting a doll whose hair looks like... this... right out of the box. Unfortunately for Barbie and Monster High, doll hair *never* looks good straight out of the box and I'll never take good box hair for granted ever again. 

I will eventually give River a hot water dunk to fix the frizz. 

Luckily, I'm out of bad things to say. Once I got her on the stand, I was able to focus on the positive aspects of River's design, and there are a lot of cool details! River is in Monster High's movie "Monster High: Haunted," which I truthfully haven't seen yet. She's the daughter of the Grim Reaper and the niece of Charon (Greek mythology ferryman of the dead), which I ADORE so much. (Get it?? she's named "River Styxx" like the River Styx!!!) 

A big design element for this doll is that she has an inner skeleton that you can see through her translucent skin! In this shot, you can kind of see her skull.  

Her hand doesn't have finger bones, but she does have a palm. 

And these are her legs! I don't like to undress my collector dolls because I like to keep them all together and looking nice, but I've heard that River does not have any skeleton pieces in her torso. Also, I realise I didn't take any other pictures of her shoes. MH has a bad track record of making tacky shoes, but I think River's are cool! 

One little thing I wish was different was this little handle for the scythe. The handle only goes around her thumb and it's just a bit heavy, which makes posing harder. 

But the scythe is one of my favorite parts! It's solid plastic, but the details in the molding are really cool. There's a little skullette (MH's logo of the skull with the bow) hiding at the top. The swirls on the scythe make me happy, and the ribbon looks fairly ribbon-esque for a piece of plastic.

Her hourglass can be flipped! I think that's a great detail. Again, however, it doesn't really have a good handle. 

This doll does have a good amount of detail, which makes the price tag easier to justify.

Here's a snapshot of her torso. She has a cool ribcage corset, which I think helps elevate her outfit. I'm also a big fan of her choker thingy. This is actually River's second-ever doll, even though her character debuted in 2014, and her original doll had a very pastel color palette. For this doll, MH darkened her color palette, and I like it a lot! 

Her cloak is really neat. It has a lace texture to it, with an iridescent underlay. 

I love her hairstyle and crown, too! Her face screening leaves a little to be desired compared to other collector dolls, but her outfit details make up for it, plus it's faithful to her original doll. You can see some of the other components of her outfit better in this picture. She has a layered tulle skirt, and bow bracelets. 

For the fun of it, I pulled her hood over her face. 

I didn't know this until I unboxed her, but River's stand can be raised! She has what's called a saddle stand, which is the bane of my existence, especially when the doll is wearing a short skirt (you can see the clips on her legs!!). BUT the fact that it's adjustable makes up for some of my resentment. This opens so many possibilities for display! I really wish MH had done this on their Fang Club Scarah doll's stand earlier this year. 

Overall, River's doll reminds me a lot of Sweet Screams Twyla, who was released for the San Diego Comic Con last July. 

I had to get a picture for comparison. :) This is my favorite Monster High doll from a design standpoint... look at that in-box display!

And of course, I had to get a shot of River with my other unboxed collector dolls! The angle is bad and I feel like I need to pose all three of them better, *but* they make me happy, and that's all that matters. Deadfast Ghoulia (2024) is on the left, and Fang Club Scarah is in the middle. As you can see, I tried to make Scarah look like she's floating, hence why I wish her stand was adjustable. Scarah is a banshee and Ghoulia is a zombie. 

In conclusion, I'm happy with my purchase! I think $90 is an insane price (I know, I know... I'm an AG collector, that price is nothing new), but in comparison with MH's other collector dolls, there was plenty added to River's doll that warranted the cost. For reference, on my shelf above, Ghoulia was $75 (but that was before tariffs) and Scarah was $50. My one wish is for Mattel to stop using AI in packaging, but no big complaints on the doll herself. I don't buy a doll unless I think it's a solid 10/10 on design, and River met all expectations and then some! 

This post is mainly to tide JD over until I get to the school year, so thank you so much for reading! I hope to have some AG stuff in a week or two (I know that's what people come for). 

Until then, have a great week and remember to eat your veggies! Bye! <3