A Visit to American Girl Place New York City

Back in November, we took my niece on a trip to New York City to celebrate her 13th birthday.  While we were there, I had a chance to pop into AG Place NYC (which is in a new location while the original is under construction).  I thought I'd share some of my photos from that visit.

The historical line, including archived dolls.

Out of the Box: American Girl Mini Melody

I have to apologize for not being online very much this month. I've been doing quite a bit of travelling for family obligations and that's been eating up most of my free time. Still, I wanted to pop on to share the mini version of American Girl's newest historical doll, Melody (and thanks to Debbie Behan Garrett of Black Doll Collecting for the tip on finding her at steep discount!).

Melody, the newest American Girl character doll.

Out of the Box: Carpatina Diya

A few months ago, Carpatina - the doll and medieval fashion company - announced an upcoming new doll, Diya. I was excited enough by the hype to preorder her, and today she made her grand arrival.

Carpatina's dolls are 18" playline dolls with full vinyl bodies which are slightly slimmer than the similar-height American Girl type dolls (I reviewed this body type last year in the form of Carpatina's Veronika, so I won't go into the body in depth with this doll as the engineering and size are identical). The new features of Diya are her face sculpt and her unique skin colour. As with all Capatina releases, one of her selling features is the detail in her clothing, in this case her Anarkali Dress with what hand embroidered trim.

Before we begin, I need to apologize for the photo quality: the rainstorms that I mentioned the other day are still ongoing, so it was quite dark for most of these.

And with that out of the way, let's open this box and take a look at Diya!

Out of the Box: Wellie Wishers Ashlyn

Less than 24 hours after commenting on my own (and other) blogs that I was on the fence about the new 14" doll line from American Girl I found myself back in the store picking one up (if my auto service place was in a different location this would never have happened).  It was a moment of weakness, I suppose!

The Wellie Wishers are aimed at a slightly younger target market than the standard American Girl line, and as such are smaller, fully vinyl, and lower priced. I picked up Ashlyn, who has brown  eyes and hair (with bangs/fringe) and the medium skin tone.  Other than the hair/eye/skin options, all of the dolls have the same body (I'm not sure about the face moulds - there may be three of them? I don't have a great eye for that, so if you know for sure, please correct me!).

Battle of the 14" Play Dolls: Who would you choose?

I took my car in for service this morning, and since the dealership is near the local American Girl store, I popped in and took a look at the new Wellie Wishers (a line of 14"/36cm full vinyl play dolls aimed at the 5-7 market).

The Wellie Wishers and their bunny sidekick.

They're cute, but the question I found myself asking was whether they're actually significantly different from similar lines from companies like Paola Reina or Corolle. I don't have an answer to that, but thinking about it, I'm considering doing some comparisons, but at the moment I only have a couple of examples of the doll around: a Hearts for Hearts Surjan, and a Paola Reina Las Amigas Carol (who has just arrived and so been photographed yet). But since I have a collection of unused giftcards sitting around, I'm thinking of hunting down another doll in this size.

But I since I haven't quite decided which one I thought I'd put the question to you: do you have a favourite playline doll in this size range?  Which ones do you think have the best faces, bodies, and/or hair? Any thoughts about quality, price and availability?

Clearance Shopping at Hancock Fabrics

I'd actually never heard of Hancock Fabrics (a US fabric and craft chain) until someone on the American Girl Collector's forum mentioned that they were going out of business - a quick search told me there was one not too far from me, so I decided to check them out.

The place was in chaos, so I actually didn't realize how reduced some of the items were - as it turns out, all of their pattern packets were selling for $1.25.  Not realizing that was the final price I only picked up a couple of things, but now I'll definitely need to go back - and if you live near one, it might be worth checking out!

Two of my purchases: patterns for outfits for AG-size dolls,
and for plush mermaid and pirate rag dolls.

The Rainy Season Blues

I've snagged a couple of new pieces lately, including a clearance articulated Barbie and a surprisingly low-priced Eaglemoss Hellblazer figurine, but the weather is not cooperating and giving me the sunshine that I'd like to have for detailed review photos.  So while we wait, how about a few photos of American Girl dolls (Cécile and Truly Me #44) on an overcast day?

Review: Grace's Bistro Set (American Girl)

Every year American girl puts out a new "Girl of the Year", a limited one-year doll with a number of tie-in books and accessories.  Some of these sell out before the year is over, but the ones that don't usually go on sale.  I happened to be wandering through the American Girl Place Houston shop in December, and came across the 2015 doll's bistro set at a 30% discount.  Given my great love for doll chairs, it ended up coming home with me.

Grace's Bistro Set

Random Toy of the Day: American Girl Truly Me #44

AG Truly Me #44

One thing that I'd never realized before moving to the US is how often American Girl has sales.  This time around the value was even more impressive than the last one (where I was able to pick up Kaya and an extra outfit for 66% of the cost of the doll alone), as the deals offered included a doll from the modern "Truly Me" line, an additional outfit and two accessory sets for a similar discount.

So even though I wasn't really looking to add another AG to my collection, it was too good a deal to pass up, so I decided to order one.

Unfortunately it was raining when she arrived, so I wasn't able to take many photos, but I felt the need to share even so (I unboxed her in my home office, so I apologize for the cluttered backgrounds).

Doll Clothing Review: Yoga Chic (My Life As)

American Girl Kaya in the "My Life As" Yoga outfit.

I was wandering through Wal-Mart's toy section the other day planning to take photos of a ridiculous Barbie (the subject for a future post), when I spied the "My Life as a Yoga Instructor" doll on the opposite shelf.  I was tempted to pick up the doll just for the mini yoga mat that was included with her, but saner heads prevailed and instead I picked up one of the tie-in outfits, called "Yoga Chic".

The "My Life As" is a line of 18" play dolls that retail in the $25-$30USD range.  They're similar in size to American Girl/Our Generation/Maplelea/and other dolls of that style.  The individual outfits are generally less than $10USD, which puts them in a significantly lower price range than comparable pieces from American Girl, so I was curious to see how they would compare.

Random Toy of the Day: American Girl Mini Grace

Grace

This is a quick follow-up post to the duelling Samanthas of two weeks ago where I mentioned that I'd also picked up one of AG's modern dolls: the mini version of Grace, their 2015 Girl of the Year (a limited-run character doll that they release each year).

Mini Grace here is my first foray into AG modern dolls. I thought the full-sized doll was charming, but I'm trying to limit my full-sized AGs to one per face mold, so this one would have been a duplicate.  But not picking up the big one was no reason not to buy the mini, so when I found her on Amazon for a significant discount ($14USD versus the $24 price direct from AG), I decided to add her to the collection.

AG Showdown: Mini-Samantha vs. Mini Samantha

"She's right behind me, isn't she?"

As followers of the American Girl dolls know, their historical character doll line was revamped earlier this year, and rebranded "BeForever".  Part of that revamp involved both a new style of mini-dolls and a re-release of my personal favourite, the 1904-set Samantha, so naturally the new mini-doll was the first thing I picked up.

I'd originally wanted to get some photos of them fighting it out, but sadly they're too cute, and those fight photos all turned out looking friendly instead.  Ah well, it was a funny idea while it lasted!

Coming up after the move...

Moving day is just over a week away, so while I do have a few unboxed items to photograph, I'm going to be spending the next week putting things back into their boxes, so I think I'll wait on opening those up.

Still, before I get into the packing, I thought I'd take a quick photo of the toys that are newly arrived but being packed away immediately:

Coming soon...

It's not a huge backlog: just two Minimates sets (a Dragon Age set of four and a Marvel set of two) and two American Girl mini Dolls (Grace, the 2015 Girl of the Year and the new version of Samantha), but they'll just have to wait! ;)

Ivy's Adventures in Thailand Part II

Continuing on from yesterday's post...

Ivy rides the Skytrain in Bangkok

Ivy's Adventures in Thailand Part 1 (and the limitations of camera phones)

I'm back from Thailand, so it's time to share some of AG Ivy's adventures.  Before I start though, I should mention that in packing light for this holiday I didn't bring an actual camera, and while I missed it less than I expected, sometimes the limitations of the camera phone were fairly obvious.

Mini AG Ivy at Surin Beach

Out of the Box: American Girl Kaya

In the box.

I wasn't planning on picking up another American Girl doll, but last week they had such a good sale that I couldn't help myself.  The AG historical dolls were revamped last year, and this sale -which offered a doll plus an extra outfit for half the regular price of the doll on its own seemed to be aimed at clearing out old stock.

I was surprised to be able to post about this doll today.  I've made a few purchases from American Girl over the past year, and every time the packages have taken more than a week to arrive.  But not this time: for the first time, I had a shipping notice within 24 hours and a package in my hands within a few days.

But enough about the logistics, let's talk about the doll!

Random Toy of the Day: Mini AG Josefina

I didn't quite make it through all of the Minimates last week, so those posts will continue in a few days, but in the meantime I thought I'd quickly share a couple of photos of the newest addition to the doll posse: the mini version of American Girl's Josefina.

American Girl revamped their historical doll lines last year, and one of the changes was to change the style of their mini dolls from soft-bodied (like their larger counterparts) to full vinyl bodies.  Because of that, some of the in-stock older versions have been discounted, which is what tempted me to bring this end-of-line doll home.

Height Comparisons Across Doll and Figure Lines

Earlier this morning a co-worker asked me about the relative sizes of BJDs with American Girl dolls, and at almost the same time I read Vanessa's question about the size of MA's International Travel Friends relative to playline dolls over on Black Doll Collecting.  And since a couple of weeks ago I also received a PM on Den of Angels asking about Teen Trends to MSD comparisons, I decided that I've amassed enough comparison photos to warrant it's own post.

First up is the Travel Friends/Playline line-up:

Back Row (L-R): Disney Classics (Li Sheng), Barbie (Princess of South Africa), Monster High (Clawd Wolf)
Front Row: Bratz (Cameron), International Travel Friends (Namaste), American Girl Mini (Ivy)

 The AG comparison:

 

 

L-R: Iplehouse EID model body (Chase), American Girl Cécile,
Illusion Spirit mini (ZhuQing), Monster High (Jane Boolittle)

The Teen Trends comparison:

L-R: Volks SD13 Long-leg body (Irvin), Soom ID51 (London),
Illusion Spirit Mini (ZhuQing), Teen Trends (Deondra)

And finally, a larger one:

Back Row: Angelheim Elderheim Angelo, Volks SD13 Irvin, Souldoll Vito Rouse, American Girl Cécile
Row 2: Iplehouse JID Boris, Ellowyne Wilde Lizette, Monster High Clawd, Girls of Many Lands Neela, AG mini Samantha
Row 3: Sideshow Toys Krycek, Hot Toys Wolverine, PlayArts Commander Shepard, DC Direct Tali, Figma Yukiko Amagi
Front Row: Hasbro/Marvel's Greatest Battles Captain Britain, Star Wars Black Series Mace Windu, Heroclix Pete Wisdom

Project Update: The Sew-Dolling/American Girl Hybrid

American Girl Josefina head on SewDolling's SewAble body

Back in April, when I reviewed SewDolling's Madison, I mentioned that while I loved many things about the doll, I wasn't a fan of the face.  At the time, I wasn't certain about whether is was the paint or the sculpt that bothered me, and mentioned the possibility of repainting her. 

Since then, I decided that it was actually the proportions of the face itself that weren't my style, and I decided to go the hybridization route and give her a new American Girl head. 

As a side note on hybridizing these two dolls, I've talked to a few people who have wanted to put one of the SewDolling legs on an AG body - unfortunately, I don't think that would work as easily as the head swap, due to the longer length of the SewDolling body's legs (in addition, while the basic construction is identical, the torso is shorter and the stance broader on the SewDolling body), so that would be a significantly larger challenge that this simple head swap.

The Josefina head

It's not difficult to find AG "head only" or TLC listings on ebay, so I knew I could find one fairly
easily, but my biggest dilemma was which head to choose - the SewDolling dolls are darker than AG's light skin, but lighter than medium skin, so there wasn't going to be a perfect match there.  Eventually I ended up choosing a Josefina head, primarily because it was the best priced non-classic mold I found (I have Samantha and didn't want a duplicate face shape). 

Once it arrived, the head actually turned out to be in better condition that the seller's description had suggested, so I was delighted to find out that the basic recovery work would be minimal.

Th Josefina head on arrival.
I cut the hair by about 33%.

Post-Haircut

Drying after a quick wash.
You might want to warn your friends and family before
setting this up - my husband shrieked when he saw this
in the bath without warning. ;)

The two heads together.  You can see the difference in facial proportions here.
Interestingly, because the vinyl SewDolling uses is harder than AG's, it reflects
more light, which makes the dolls look like a poorer colour match than
they do in real life.

The decapitation.
Aside from having a ziptie rather than a string, the method of attaching the head on
both types of doll is identical.

The AG head (left) has a longer neck and wider inner section than the
SewDolling (right) one, but the style is still the same.
This photo was taking with a flash, so the difference in light reflection
is even more obvious here.

New head/new body!

Dressed up and ready to go!

Amusingly, the reason it took me more than a month to share this project is because I'm still unsatisfied with her hairstyle.  But knowing me, that may take another year, so I decided it was time to stop procrastinating and  just put this up! 

Random Toy of the Day (Mace Windu - SW Black Series) & Daisy Chain Blog Award

I've talked about this size of Star Wars figure before, and this Mace Windu figure is standard for the line, so I'll just show off this photo and leave it at that (he joined the collection when I happened to be browsing for Spiderman figures for my nephew and somehow he jumped into my basket as well ;)).

But on to other things!

A big thanks to Traci of A Wild Review Appears for the Daisy Chain Blog Award Nomination!  It's an answer-some-questions/tag-another-blogger game, and here are my answers to her questions (there's an American Girl focus to these):

1. What's your favorite aspect of doll collecting? 

I think my absolute favourite part of doll collecting is watching how things evolve - both my own collection and the general trends in the toy industry.  But a close second is definitely the community!

2. How do you feel about changing aspects of dolls who have personalities that are pre-set by the company? 
I feel like it's inevitable.  Once a doll comes home, it's hard not to have them become their own character.  It's more immediate for the BJDs (since most of the pre-sets - when there are any - tend to be fairly superficial), but even character dolls like the American Girl historicals end up evolving (although for me, some of that may be a lack of familiarity with those bits of US history - I know next to nothing about 1850s Louisiana, so Cécile evolved into someone else because of that.  Similarly, my Samantha stayed in the same period, but since my perspective on the generation that became adults during WWI is more familiar with the Canadian, Belgian and South African history, my version of the character's future is coloured by that angle.

3. If you could buy just one (AG) doll's entire collection, which doll would it be and why? (retired ones too!)
Samantha's!  I always wanted that wicker table and chair set.  And the brass bed!  And the trunk!

I do have her school desk, and it's one of my favourite pieces of doll furniture - AG or otherwise.  I'm looking forward to seeing what new items come out when she's re-released.

4. Who is your favorite Girl of the Year?
Confession time:  I wasn't following AG's releases from about 2003 - 2012, so I've never actually read any of the GotY material.  That said, I do like the Jess mold in medium-skin, so I'll go with Kanani!

5. Do you collect things besides toys? If so, what, and if not, would you like to?
I own an embarrassingly large number of comics. I'm not a completionist, so I tend to think of myself as a reader more than a collector, but I think once you have more than a couple of longboxes (which I passed years and years ago) that's not a distinction that matters.

I also have a collection of thimbles, although I don't actively acquire them anymore (people who know about it do send me new ones fairly regularly though).

6. What pets do you wish AG would make that they haven't or don't?
Because I'm an egomaniac, I'll say I'd like the pets that I've had - so a California Giant rabbit, a German Shorthair Pointer, and a white Pit Bull with natural ears! ;)

7. Are there any partnerships you wish AG would participate in, for the cool swag/collecting purposes? (AG and Disney, AG and Marvel, etc.)

Don't know the MI:13
characters? This is them.

I'd go with Marvel because I'd love to see an AG-sized MI:13 gear.  Like the Captain Britain costume. And Faiza Hussain's Excalibur gear!  Pete Wisdom's mod suit! The Black Knight's costume!

Of course realistically, if it ever were to happen, they'd probably stick to characters from the Avengers movies.  I can dream though!

8. What's the one question you always hope no one asks you about your toy collection?
"I don't have to replace this if I break it, do I?"

And that's it! Thanks again, Traci - this was fun! In response, I'm tagging Barb the Evil Genuis of My Little Doll Corner.  In a twist on the Q&A, I'll ask you to answer the 8 questions that you wish someone would ask about your doll collection and your doll blog (if you have the time, of course.  No pressure!).