I was on the fence about adding Mattel’s 13 Wishes Lagoona to my collection. Why? Because she looked so different from the other versions of her that I just didn’t know what to think. Instead of the muted colors we usually get on our Lagoona’s, this 13 Wishes Lagoona is bright. With bright blue skin and highlighter yellow hair, Lagoona definitely stands out in this 13 Wishes line.
13 Wishes Howleen, Lagoona, and Twyla
In the end, I did buy her and while I don’t love her look just yet, she’s growing on me! Let’s start off with the question on everyone’s minds– why is she so different looking? Read her journal and it becomes clear. (I’ll admit it– I don’t always pay attention to every journal that comes with these, but this one totally explains the reasoning behind the massive changes to Lagoona in her 13 Wishes release!) The short version of the story is that Lagoona makes a wish and slowly starts changing from her sea monster self into a freshwater fish (like Gil). Not only does this affect her coloring, but it also seems to influence her actions and thoughts. I’m sure there is more to it than what we see in the journal, but until Mattel releases the movie, we will just have to speculate!
Had I known this back story, I might have not been so slow to decide on buying Lagoona. She is essentially a different Lagoona than we’ve seen before, which is kind of awesome! Now that we’ve covered that little bit of info, let’s get on to the review.
13 Wishes Lagoona
Right off the bat, you’ll notice two things– her bold blue skin and her highlighter yellow hair. Separately, those are strange choices, but together they actually look pretty good! I don’t know much about fish, but I’m assuming the bright colors mean freshwater fish are brighter than fish found deep in the sea? That would account for this trip back to the 80′s color pallet.
13 Wishes Lagoona
Lagoona’s lips are done with teal and her eyes are brightly highlighted with pink, which with the blue skin tone, looks a bit purpley. I’m not a huge fan of the color’s used on this freshwater Lagoona. However, I do love her freckles! (Which is usual for me and dolls!) One strange thing about her face around the eyes is that it is textured. It’s almost as if they meant to put glitter on her and missed most of the forehead. Honestly, I’m not sure what was going on there!
13 Wishes Lagoona
Once I got over the color of Lagoona’s hair, which I like quite a bit now, I decided the styling wasn’t too bad, either! Lagoona’s hair is in a twirled ponytail that is heavily sprayed down and looped at the bottom. It’s that reason why I find the fact that we get a comb with Lagoona so funny. This is not hair you’ll find it easy (or necessary) to comb.
As far as Lagoona’s body, she is the first doll I’ve purchased in a long time that doesn’t have a loose limb. Unlike the first set of dolls where it was expected that the majority of their limbs would be loose, the new releases haven’t had many problems on that front other than a loose wrist or elbow here and there. Lagoona, however, is tightly put together all around. The only major change they did on this freshwater Lagoona is to her fins. They are different than the usual fins we see on her.
13 Wishes Lagoona
13 Wishes Lagoona
While I am a fan of Lagoona (the character), I am not always a fan of her clothes. 13 Wishes, however, has a very cute outfit! Also included are some stylish turtle accessories (necklace, bracelet) and super cute earrings. As usual, Lagoona is wearing stylish shoes that match her outfit well.
Neptuna
And we can’t forget Neptuna. These 13 Wishes dolls all seem to come with their pets. Neptuna has transformed a bit, as well, in this release with a new color scheme.
Don’t trust Lagoona’s stand to hold her whatsoever. It just won’t happen. (And if it does, count yourself very lucky!) Be prepared to be super-gluing Lagoona’s stand together! If you watch my video review, you’ll notice my Lagoona quickly loses the stand!
As far as cons go, I don’t have many. I don’t think I’ll ever love her make up. I wish they’d chosen a different color for her eye make up, in particular. Besides her stand being useless, the biggest gripe I have is that I don’t think Mattel prepared us for this ‘new’ Lagoona. And that might not work out her benefit. Because the movie hasn’t been released yet, people might just look at her (like me) and think ‘wow, that’s a strange Lagoona’ and pass her by. But, if they only knew it was a ‘new’ Lagoona from the get go, they might give her a second, well deserved look.
Sea Monster vs Freshwater
In the end, 13 Wishes Lagoona is growing on me. I’m super happy to have her because she is, essentially, a new character. A retelling, so to speak, of the first Monster High character I ever purchased. That being said, I do hope that this is a one time event. One freshwater Lagoona is enough for me!
13 Wishes Lagoona
As usual, I put together a video review on 13 Wishes Lagoona.
What do you think of 13 Wishes Lagoona? Share your thoughts below!
Tagged: dolly review, mattel, Monster High, video review
