Following their release in mid-2020, the doll franchise appeared on multiple hot-toy lists including Toys "R" Us Canada [7] and The Toy Insider, [8] while The NPD Group reported in August 2020 that, Rainbow High was the No. 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.

Rainbow Surprise also included a series of blind-boxed Fantasy Friends dolls which were also incorporated into the Rainbow High brand. In 2019, MGA released a line of 14-inch fashion dolls under their Poopsie brand, named Rainbow Surprise. These four dolls were later re-released the following year under the Rainbow High brand in new packaging. The back story for the franchise revolves around an elite high school for visual arts, featuring students who represent colors of the rainbow. 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.This release set the standard of having 6 characters being introduced in a series, with any additional ones being either parts of playsets like Amaya Raine and Avery Styles in Series 1, or special edition like Kia Hart. 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. It especially sparked the interest of people who had previously grew up with fashion dolls such as Monster High, Ever After High, and MGA Entertainment's own brand, Bratzillaz, three doll lines that also have a high school element. Similar to its sister brand LOL Surprise, Rainbow High's dolls and accessories are manufactured in China.

Case: Cases are the selection of items within an assortment that are made available in a certain period of time. The first Playsets were released in early August, 2020 with the introduction of the Fashion Studio, Hair Studio, and Hair Salon. The first ever themed/budget dolls released only 5 months after the debut of the doll line with the Cheerleader Squad dolls, which featured the main 6 characters in cheerleading uniforms.At the close of 2020, the brand got independent from other MGA brands and got complemented with an audiovisual franchise of in-universe-branded web series of computer-animated shorts and episodes which were predominantly released on YouTube and later made available on Netflix. Cheerleader Squad, Winter Break, and Rainbow Junior High Series 1 consists of Series 1 characters with the exception of Avery Styles and Amaya Raine.

The mold is subsequently removed and the cast taken out to be worked into a doll with other, complementary casts. In February 2022, MGA released the franchise's first official spin-off known as Shadow High to be the brand's rival school, with the spin-off brand spotting/representing grayscale colors in clear contrast to their hosts. Each of the original dolls included two outfits and a doll stand, while the dolls themselves featured inset eyes and thirteen points of articulation. Each doll has their own signature color (which is occasionally left vague), and their stand, comb, and hangers usually reflect that color. 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.Rainbow Surprise was the first time the name "Rainbow High" was mentioned and the inspiration for the doll line. Surprise, and other goodies from hair chalk to costumes, so your little ones’ options for pretend play go on and on. 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. It’s unknown if fashion packs are coming, previously an MGA manufacturer said fashions of some sort would be able to be purchased in 2021 separately though nothing has been announced from Rainbow High officially in 2021 doll-wise.