| Dolls | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Re-releases | Unreleased |
Rainbow High is a multimedia franchise made by Michael Scott Anderson. MGA Entertainment is the company that produces, promotes, and sells the Rainbow High fashion dolls, similar to most high school themed doll lines. Rainbow High’s dolls are all themed after a color of the rainbow.
A notable factor is that the brand launched during the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020, a time of which fashion dolls were losing their relevance quickly due to the low quality fabrics being used and gimmick "surprises".
Across the span of only a few months, Rainbow High shot up in popularity, enjoyed by both a younger audience and older demographic of collectors. It especially sparked the interest of people who had previously grew up with similar high-school themed fashion dolls, such as Monster High, Ever After High, and MGA Entertainment's own brand, Bratzillaz.
Releases[]
Dolls[]
By Line[]
| Rainbow High | Sport | Vacation |
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| Combination | Pacific Coast | Junior High |
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| Band | Shadow High | Rainbow Vision |
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By Character[]
Cheerleader Squad, Winter Break, and Rainbow Junior High Series 1 consist of Series 1 characters with the exception of Avery Styles and Amaya Raine.
Rainbow Junior High Series 2 consists of the Series 2 characters.
Rainbow High Costume Ball consists of Violet, Bella, and Robin.
The Rainbow High x Shadow High 4-Pack consist of Rainbow High Series 3 characters and Shadow High Series 1 characters.
Doll Characteristics[]
Rainbow High only has two body types, separated as female and male. The female dolls all share the same body molds. All dolls are 24cm. The bodies are made of high quality, hard plastic, and the doll's hair is made out of nylon. The dolls are fully articulated, girls with 11 points of articulation: at the head, arms, elbows, wrists, hips, and knees; boys with 13 points, all the same with additional articulation at the ankles.
After the release of Laurel De'Vious and Holly De'Vious, the franchise has released multiple new and modified head sculpts.
Similar to its sister brand LOL Surprise, Rainbow High's dolls and accessories are manufactured in China.
Each doll has their own signature color, packaged with their stand, comb, and hangers usually reflecting that color. Stands feature a thick, circular semi-transparent base in the given color, with the "RAINBOW" logo embedded on the side. The stand and waist clasp, as well as the comb, are made of the same colored plastic. Hangers are an opaque, brighter version of the theme color.
History[]
"Rainbow Surprise" was the first time the name "Rainbow High" was mentioned and the inspiration for the doll line. Rainbow High was designed by Michael Anderson. It first launched in July of 2020, aat the time only available at Target. They are now available across several stores.
The first release showcased the main six characters making up Series 1. This release set the standard of having six characters introduced in a series, with any additional characters being either parts of playsets or released as special edition dolls.
The first playsets were released in early August, 2020, with the introduction of the Fashion Studio, Hair Studio, and Hair Salon. The Fashion Studio and Hair Studio sets came with Avery Styles and Amaya Raine dolls respectively, while the Hair Salon was the first playset to be sold standalone.
The first themed dolls were released only 5 months after the debut, with the Cheerleader Squad dolls, featuring budget versions of the main six characters in cheerleading uniforms.
Laurel De'Vious and Holly De'Vious were the first characters to be released with new head sculpts. Series 3 furthur exanded on this, now currently showcasing 12 new and modified head sculpts. With Rockstars, they introduced sculpted baby hairs. There are currently five different designs for the dolls.
Associated products[]
- Rainbow High exists is a sister series to LOL Surprise.
- Rainbow High branding now covers what was once under the Poopsie Slime Surprise branding. This includes Fantasy Friends and the surprise makeup slime kits.
Terminology[]
- Case: Cases are the selection of items within an assortment that are made available in a certain period of time. For instance, if an assortment contains dolls W, X, Y, and Z, and the assortment's cases contain six dolls, then the first case could be filled 2xW 2xX and 2xZ, with Y omitted from the first case. The second case could then contain 1xW 1xX 2xY and 2xZ, and a third case could hold 3xX 2xY and 1xZ, and so on. Cases can be changed in as little as three months time and once a case has been changed, the old one no longer can be ordered.
- Cast: A cast is a product created with a mold. That is, a liquid material is forced into a mold and made to solidify, causing the material to take on a form opposite to the one of the mold. The mold is subsequently removed and the cast taken out to be worked into a doll with other, complementary casts.
- Faceup: The paint on a doll's face is what is referred to as the faceup.
- Mold: A mold is the tool with which casts are created. That is, a mold is filled up with liquid material that is made to solidify inside, causing the material to take on a form opposite to the one of the mold. The mold is subsequently removed and the cast taken out, after which the mold can be reused for the next cast. Since one mold represents multiple casts, the term is also used to talk about a cast or even a full set of casts in general.
- Price point: Big brand toys are manufactured with the knowledge there has to be something available for every wallet. Price points are set store prices (with a small range each) which serve as a guiding point for the manufacturer in deciding how to finance the design a particular new toy. Lower price points correspond to "budget" toys and, high price points to "deluxe" toys, but are more specific as to how budget or deluxe a certain toy is.
- Scalping: Scalping is the practice of buying rare and popular toys with the specific goal of reselling them for a profit. Not only do scalpers profit from the shortage they help create, their actions also get in the way of those who enjoy the 'hunt' for new toys.
- Sculpt: The design of any separate component of the doll as it is without paint, hair, and accessories.
- Shelfwarming: When a particular item's availability far exceeds the demand (at the time) and it stays on shelves for much longer than it should, it's a shelfwarmer.
- Shortpacking: Stores such as Target order cases from the manufacturer and then make the contents individually available on their own shelves. New cases are only ordered when enough dolls of a previously ordered case have been sold, regardless of which dolls of it remain on the shelves. This means that, for instance, if a case contains six dolls set up as 1xX 3xY and 2xZ, only one doll X is available per case, meaning that it requires the sale of those other five dolls before another doll X will appear on the shelves. Dolls that are barely in a case compared to the other dolls are shortpacked, although the term is often reserved for dolls that never get a compensating proper amount in another case either.
- Toy swapping: Toy swapping is the practice of buying a toy from a store, taking it out of the box, putting another toy in, and then returning that toy to the store to get the money back. It is a form of theft with the potential to cause further harm, because the returned toy is put back on the shelves. People who buy toys for themselves aren't likely to be tricked because they know what they are looking for, but there is a good chance someone who only buys toys as gifts is. Due to stricter store rules in other countries, the USA is the only one where toy swapping really happens.
- Variant: Sometimes, a doll or its accessories are manufactured one way for a while and then there's a change made in the process, resulting in two (or more) versions of a specific doll. These versions are called variants and the one initially produced tends to be the rarer one.
- Wave: The entirety of an assortment usually is not in stores all at once, but the contents are released in steps. These steps are called waves, which is only a loosely defined term. Playsets are generally excluded from counting as a wave on their own, but they don't have to, and it depends on the nature of a multipack if it is considered a separate wave or not.
- Exclusive: Stores are able to request a doll and ask if it could be an exclusive to their sole store! This is so they automatically have a leg up since their competitors are unable to carry the same product.