I ponder and eye the AG fall lineup
Sep. 10th, 2012 02:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyOh cleaning off the cell phone, cleaning off the cell phone. So boring.
Annnnnnnd now here's where I need opinions, of which you lovely people have many. Just possibly not on this particular issue.
Cassy's birthday is coming up. Originally, when she was still living out of state, it was going to be road trip times. That fell through when they were sent packing and came back home. I... honestly have no idea what is happening for her birthday now because I will be working. This itself only makes me feel a little bit bad, and if that feeling grows, I'm fairly certain I can switch with someone if they're willing. (Never a sure thing.)
But that leaves present time. I wasn't too worried about this previously because expecting me to drop $300+ on your birthday trip means maybe I'll buy you a drink at dinner. Maaaaaaaybe. But I cannot afford a trip even if they're doing one so... yeah. I can, however, afford a present. Not as awesome as the year she got Sonali for her birthday, or the year she got me to foot the bill for a pair of Bitty Twins, but y'know, a gift.
The best thing about gifts and Cass is that she's got a mile long list of interests AND she's not prone to buying herself gifts in the immediate birthday zone. Fine, that's two things but who's counting here? Anyway, I've got ideas. But I like to ask the birthday person what they would like whenever possible, because sometimes you really, really want something and I can make that happen. (See Sonali.) I asked. And asked. And eventually got a shrug of an answer. Which I can understand as well, as sometimes you just don't know.
But I've also found that whenever I'm given the shrug, it means you want something but you're not going to let me know what it is until I've already bought something.
I've already bought her a little something that I think she'll enjoy. And I found these really pretty silver mercury glass pumpkins at Tuesday Morning that I think she'd love, but they're kind of limited for how much use she'd get out of them and I'd bet good money they wouldn't survive a move.
Then there's the AG stuff. For the past four years (maybe only three? I don't remember whether 2010 yielded an AG birthday or not) I've bought her something AG related. Usually this is the big part of her present (or all of it, depending on the year.) It's getting to be tradition, and I kind of like it and while she's not exceptionally fired up about AG at the moment, she's also not exceptionally fired up about anything, frankly. Also? She's big on tradition, and I think if we end up at year (possibly) five, it'll hit tradition status.
Aha! 2010 was the year of the BT, so we've got '08: bitty baby outfit for the BB she bought at the store, '09 was Sonali, 10 was BT, and last year was me putting down more than half for Kanani.This would be year 5! Tradition, people!
Finally, this year's holiday dress is this:
Which is pretty much
in everything but the price tag. Or the fact that there are accessories she might also be eying. But the dress! *flails* I want one for my army, so is it possible I'm projecting that onto her birthday present? I don't think so, but the problem with these things is that one never knows for sure. But she's a purple fanatic, she loves the holiday dresses more than I do, there are black accents which is totally a Cass thing, and I honestly think it would look good on ANY of her mini-army.
Also, there's a code and I can easily swing it up to meet the price required to use the code. Plus tradition!
This leads us to the MyAG/Bitty section of the new releases for Fall 2012.
We begin with the holiday dresses:
Purple Party Outfit $36
I've been mentally bitching about the price tag on this before I realized about thirty seconds ago that the holiday dresses have always been exceptionally expensive for the modern line and that last year's were just as expensive and not nearly as pretty. I love that this isn't red, blue, or silver (though any of those could have been lovely) and could actually be used at any time. Another selling point for me, as though this needed one, is that it's lined in green/teal.
Just. Take. My. MONEY.
Holiday Accessories $32
The accessories are pretty but that price. That price! No. Not even for the loverly watch or the nutcracker or even the jacket. I think this is a case of the company jacking up the price simply because it's the holiday set. Otherwise no, a jacket, a pretend watch, a nutcracker, and two slips of paper/cardboard should not cost $32. At least not for a doll.
Rosy Red Outfit $36
I can't quite figure this one out. Mums is right, it's the holiday outfit with the superior shoes. But it's got a lot going on for my tastes, so I'll just leave it here. It's their usual red dress of the year. (They've done quite a few over the years.)
Reindeer PJs $28
I'm torn. I think this is adorable. The reindeer are fingerprints, people. That's adorable! But I've got enough pjs as it is. So I give it a thumbs up and I tell my impulsive side that I do not need this. It's easily my favorite set of pajamas from the modern line that I don't already own, in part due to the color scheme. They snuck some pink in, but it's not overpowering. We approve!
Snowboard Outfit & Gear
This is one I feel I should like in pieces and yet... not so much. The Snowboarding Outfit is $34 and you get the jacket, the pants, the socks, and the mittens (plus the ubiquitous charm they include with their MyAG stuff) for that price. I want to like it, but every time I look at it, I get a headache. I love the blue socks though.
Snowboard and Gear are $38 and that alone is enough to make my eyes glaze over. Thanks for playing, AG, but no.
Snow Outfit $34
The earmuffs are an additional $10 but I've got Molly's so no worries there. I feel like I should see this outfit and run screaming in the other direction. Truthfully? I love it. I don't know why, I can't explain it, other than it's just so insane that I couldn't help but love it. The sweater is perfect for other outfits, as are the leggings, and I'm thinking Molly's skates should make this a skating outfit, yes? It's just absurd. I love it. (not the price, though. I'm hoping enough people balk at the fact that she's dressed as a snowball that it'll go on sale and I'll scoop it up then.)
2-in-1 Skating Set $48
DAMMIT, AG. You give us the pretty blue but you charge more than fifty bucks for it! (Taxes or shipping or both, depending on your area.) You can stab yourselves repeatedly with little dolly iceskates, dammit. Even if the price didn't make me do much more than blink slowly, I'd refuse to buy it full price because otherwise it's just encouraging them to overprice stuff. My line, you have crossed it.
Pretty Pink Coat Set $34
Let's take a moment and admire the fact that she looks like she's a flasher. Not disturbing at all, AG. Not at all. That said, I kinda like it. Again, not full price worth, but it's cute.
Sugar & Spice Baking Set$58
Know what's fun? Realizing that even with my limited craft-fu, I could probably replicate this for less than $58 and have a spare set for Cass or Jess or someone. It wouldn't be quite as pretty, probably, but it also wouldn't cost damn near sixty-bucks either. :P
Casual Chic Outfit $34
I like the pants? I don't loathe the hat? I cannot unsee the description that it looks like a bitty top that got thrown on the larger dolls and not even Mums liking it will make me like it.
Dreamy Nightstand Set $58
So... I think this is adorable, but if I haven't even bought myself a nightstand for $68, I kind of doubt I'll buy my dolls one. Nicely done, though. I think this goes with the last few bed sets, not to mention the older ones.
Winter Chalet $150
There's a 360 view if you wanted to see the little chalet in all its glory. I'll be passing, but I can see a lot of parents falling for it as a "look what Santa left!" thing.
Pretty Purple Outfit for Bitty $28
This is Bitty's version of the dress. Slight difference between it and the 'grown up' version, but both are pretty. I actually want this for my Bitty Twin since BotD has her red dress of evil.
Oh, and the historical movies are $5 each. Hey, Felicity's movie! You will be mine.
Annnnnnnd now here's where I need opinions, of which you lovely people have many. Just possibly not on this particular issue.
Cassy's birthday is coming up. Originally, when she was still living out of state, it was going to be road trip times. That fell through when they were sent packing and came back home. I... honestly have no idea what is happening for her birthday now because I will be working. This itself only makes me feel a little bit bad, and if that feeling grows, I'm fairly certain I can switch with someone if they're willing. (Never a sure thing.)
But that leaves present time. I wasn't too worried about this previously because expecting me to drop $300+ on your birthday trip means maybe I'll buy you a drink at dinner. Maaaaaaaybe. But I cannot afford a trip even if they're doing one so... yeah. I can, however, afford a present. Not as awesome as the year she got Sonali for her birthday, or the year she got me to foot the bill for a pair of Bitty Twins, but y'know, a gift.
The best thing about gifts and Cass is that she's got a mile long list of interests AND she's not prone to buying herself gifts in the immediate birthday zone. Fine, that's two things but who's counting here? Anyway, I've got ideas. But I like to ask the birthday person what they would like whenever possible, because sometimes you really, really want something and I can make that happen. (See Sonali.) I asked. And asked. And eventually got a shrug of an answer. Which I can understand as well, as sometimes you just don't know.
But I've also found that whenever I'm given the shrug, it means you want something but you're not going to let me know what it is until I've already bought something.
I've already bought her a little something that I think she'll enjoy. And I found these really pretty silver mercury glass pumpkins at Tuesday Morning that I think she'd love, but they're kind of limited for how much use she'd get out of them and I'd bet good money they wouldn't survive a move.
Then there's the AG stuff. For the past four years (maybe only three? I don't remember whether 2010 yielded an AG birthday or not) I've bought her something AG related. Usually this is the big part of her present (or all of it, depending on the year.) It's getting to be tradition, and I kind of like it and while she's not exceptionally fired up about AG at the moment, she's also not exceptionally fired up about anything, frankly. Also? She's big on tradition, and I think if we end up at year (possibly) five, it'll hit tradition status.
Aha! 2010 was the year of the BT, so we've got '08: bitty baby outfit for the BB she bought at the store, '09 was Sonali, 10 was BT, and last year was me putting down more than half for Kanani.This would be year 5! Tradition, people!
Finally, this year's holiday dress is this:
Which is pretty much
in everything but the price tag. Or the fact that there are accessories she might also be eying. But the dress! *flails* I want one for my army, so is it possible I'm projecting that onto her birthday present? I don't think so, but the problem with these things is that one never knows for sure. But she's a purple fanatic, she loves the holiday dresses more than I do, there are black accents which is totally a Cass thing, and I honestly think it would look good on ANY of her mini-army.
Also, there's a code and I can easily swing it up to meet the price required to use the code. Plus tradition!
This leads us to the MyAG/Bitty section of the new releases for Fall 2012.
We begin with the holiday dresses:
Purple Party Outfit $36
I've been mentally bitching about the price tag on this before I realized about thirty seconds ago that the holiday dresses have always been exceptionally expensive for the modern line and that last year's were just as expensive and not nearly as pretty. I love that this isn't red, blue, or silver (though any of those could have been lovely) and could actually be used at any time. Another selling point for me, as though this needed one, is that it's lined in green/teal.
Just. Take. My. MONEY.
Holiday Accessories $32
The accessories are pretty but that price. That price! No. Not even for the loverly watch or the nutcracker or even the jacket. I think this is a case of the company jacking up the price simply because it's the holiday set. Otherwise no, a jacket, a pretend watch, a nutcracker, and two slips of paper/cardboard should not cost $32. At least not for a doll.
Rosy Red Outfit $36
I can't quite figure this one out. Mums is right, it's the holiday outfit with the superior shoes. But it's got a lot going on for my tastes, so I'll just leave it here. It's their usual red dress of the year. (They've done quite a few over the years.)
Reindeer PJs $28
I'm torn. I think this is adorable. The reindeer are fingerprints, people. That's adorable! But I've got enough pjs as it is. So I give it a thumbs up and I tell my impulsive side that I do not need this. It's easily my favorite set of pajamas from the modern line that I don't already own, in part due to the color scheme. They snuck some pink in, but it's not overpowering. We approve!
Snowboard Outfit & Gear
This is one I feel I should like in pieces and yet... not so much. The Snowboarding Outfit is $34 and you get the jacket, the pants, the socks, and the mittens (plus the ubiquitous charm they include with their MyAG stuff) for that price. I want to like it, but every time I look at it, I get a headache. I love the blue socks though.
Snowboard and Gear are $38 and that alone is enough to make my eyes glaze over. Thanks for playing, AG, but no.
Snow Outfit $34
The earmuffs are an additional $10 but I've got Molly's so no worries there. I feel like I should see this outfit and run screaming in the other direction. Truthfully? I love it. I don't know why, I can't explain it, other than it's just so insane that I couldn't help but love it. The sweater is perfect for other outfits, as are the leggings, and I'm thinking Molly's skates should make this a skating outfit, yes? It's just absurd. I love it. (not the price, though. I'm hoping enough people balk at the fact that she's dressed as a snowball that it'll go on sale and I'll scoop it up then.)
2-in-1 Skating Set $48
DAMMIT, AG. You give us the pretty blue but you charge more than fifty bucks for it! (Taxes or shipping or both, depending on your area.) You can stab yourselves repeatedly with little dolly iceskates, dammit. Even if the price didn't make me do much more than blink slowly, I'd refuse to buy it full price because otherwise it's just encouraging them to overprice stuff. My line, you have crossed it.
Pretty Pink Coat Set $34
Let's take a moment and admire the fact that she looks like she's a flasher. Not disturbing at all, AG. Not at all. That said, I kinda like it. Again, not full price worth, but it's cute.
Sugar & Spice Baking Set$58
Know what's fun? Realizing that even with my limited craft-fu, I could probably replicate this for less than $58 and have a spare set for Cass or Jess or someone. It wouldn't be quite as pretty, probably, but it also wouldn't cost damn near sixty-bucks either. :P
Casual Chic Outfit $34
I like the pants? I don't loathe the hat? I cannot unsee the description that it looks like a bitty top that got thrown on the larger dolls and not even Mums liking it will make me like it.
Dreamy Nightstand Set $58
So... I think this is adorable, but if I haven't even bought myself a nightstand for $68, I kind of doubt I'll buy my dolls one. Nicely done, though. I think this goes with the last few bed sets, not to mention the older ones.
Winter Chalet $150
There's a 360 view if you wanted to see the little chalet in all its glory. I'll be passing, but I can see a lot of parents falling for it as a "look what Santa left!" thing.
Pretty Purple Outfit for Bitty $28
This is Bitty's version of the dress. Slight difference between it and the 'grown up' version, but both are pretty. I actually want this for my Bitty Twin since BotD has her red dress of evil.
Oh, and the historical movies are $5 each. Hey, Felicity's movie! You will be mine.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2012-09-11 02:01 am (UTC)I've always wanted to get one or two dolls, but they're SO expensive. Plus I'm not sure which historical doll I would want most since I don't really have an overwhelming favorite. I love Josefina, but do I love her more than, say, Kit? Actually, if I could have any doll I'd probably choose Samantha as she was my favorite growing up, but alas she no longer exists. I missed my chance there.
I'm not familiar with the modern dolls at all, although isn't there an option where you can design your own that theoretically looks like you? Maybe I could do one of those. But really, I think I'd just like one of the historical dolls and then stock up on lots of different outfits for her. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-09-11 12:38 pm (UTC)Doll wise, I have 13. Which was completely unintentional. Three are from when I was younger. And the rest are the result of either sales, ohnoes archival fever, or my doll a year habit. I do technically have a 14th, but she's still in her box and I'm 85% sure I'm either going to sell her at Christmas or gift her to a sort of niece if she shows any interest at all. Decisions.
If you're still a Sam girl (Sam! Sam! She was my first and still remains my one true character love.) she can be found pretty easily on ebay when/if you've got the money/time. Even if she's really ratty, you can send her in for a new head and poof! Essentially a new doll since they'll replace the limbs too if there's a serious color mismatch going on. I gather Sam was a lot of little girls' first doll and she's still the most well known, so there are a lot of her still out there. Which means that aside from Christmas time, she frequently shows up for a really good price. She'd probably, even if you factor in a new head, be the least expensive option.
I can understand not knowing which one to pick if none of the characters speak to you above all the others. Or, if you're like me and a lot of them speak to you. Mwerp!
Sort of, modern wise. You can pick from about 50 (it's a little less than that, but I don't remember offhand how many) different combinations but you can't have one specially made unless you customize her yourself. Which people do and there are tutorials out there.
But my heart belongs to the historicals mostly. Having one or two and stockpiling outfits sounds like an excellent idea. :D
Sorry this is so long!