Moxie Teenz Melrose Doll

There seems to be a drop in quality between the first wave dolls and these newer dolls. I bought Melrose, and she is a pretty big disappointment for $26.
First off, there was a weird chemical smell in the box, and some of the rubber bands that hold the doll in place felt wet/greasy and I had to immediately wash my hands. Yuck.
The wig is ok, but it feels greasy, the bangs are uneven and the hairs fall out easily...and it doesn't stay on the doll's head at all. I know people had trouble with the first wave wigs staying on, but this seems even worse to me. Part of the problem might be that this doll's head seems to be slightly smaller/flimsier than the older dolls (??).
The doll has very similar make-up to the first wave Melrose, but with lighter, less detailed lips. Lots of the shimmery paint around the eyes had dripped or bled down the face one one side...hard to see in the store but quite obvious after she's out of the box. The head articulation is floppy. Something rattling inside. Most of the dolls in the store had black spots on their faces, mine has a black spot on her chest. I would not order this doll online where you can't see what flaws you're getting.
The clothing is, to put it bluntly, pretty ugly. I like the little jacket, but the fringed top and skirt are all one piece, really stiff, and they look cheap. Bad materials. The fringe doesn't lie flat. The pants are better than the top, but nothing special. This outfit has none of the intricate details or class of Melrose's first outfit.
The guitar is hollow in the back and cheap-looking. I threw it away.
The purse is lacking all of the little details that made the first wave purses so awesome. It is simple and quickly-made.

In short: She smells funny, the pants and jacket are the only accessories I want to keep and I have to fix her face paint just to make her almost as nice as the first Melrose. Not worth it.

I thought the original Moxie Teenz dolls were brilliant. I loved all of the care and detail that was put into them for the price. The purses were amazing and detailed, the clothes were stylish and well-made with good materials and lots of interchangeable pieces. This new wave, if Melrose is any indication, has taken a lot of shortcuts without changing the price at all. :O(

This is my first 2nd wave Moxie Teenz doll and over all I am pretty pleased with my purchase. I collect the dolls to display, and have all the first wave dolls and accessories besides the pajama fashion pack and the accessory pack with the white boots. There have been some improvements that I've noticed while some aspects have suffered in quality. This is a comparison between this doll and the first wave dolls.

The improvements made over first wave dolls:

Tighter joints. This Melrose doll is better able to hold a pose than any of my 4 first wave dolls. They suffered from floppy hip and elbow joints. This doll is much better in the joint department.

Better fitting wig. This wig fits better than any of the wigs that came with the first wave dolls that I have.

What is worse this wave:

Poor quality wig. The wig fits much better, but I had to trim some excessively long hairs and trim out a tangled chunk of black hair that was not properly installed. Her bangs are not cut even so I had to do a bit of trimming there as well. I don't mind doing these kinds of fixes straight out of the box because I am only displaying the dolls. So while it doesn't bother me at all, it may be a large drawback if this were to be a present to a child. The actual wig hair feels the same as all the last wave dolls, is very brush-able and does not tend to frizz.

Rough patches on the body. I ran into a couple rough pieces of plastic on the legs of the doll. A couple small lines on the seams that weren't properly taken off, and one particularly ugly spot (about as big around as a typical pencil) on her ankle. I used a fine finger nail file to smooth them down, but the one on her ankle is still visible.

General details about the doll:

The first Wave dolls all came with a hair brush, this doll does not. While she does not have a brush she does come with a purse and a guitar. The purse is not as high quality/detail as most of the older dolls, but is actually quite similar in detail and quality as the purse that came with the first wave Bijou doll. The purse while not fantastic, is still quite nice. The plastic guitar is hollow on the back, but looks nice from the front.

Her clothes are a bit of a departure from her sense of style previously, but I gather this is supposed to be a "rocker chick" outfit where the last one was an everyday look. The dress has Velcro down the entire back which is nice for getting it to fit nicely over the dark gray stretchy jeans. All the clothing is relatively easy to take off or put on, and it is all made nicely (no loose stitching or damage).

Her eyes and face are the same, with slightly different make up. Her eye shadow is a little bit brighter blue and her lips are a lighter glittery pink. I also noticed that her earnings are nearly identical to the ones that come in the "punk" accessory pack with only the post being different.

Great doll for displaying, if you don't mind doing a bit of primping before hand.