I hate being sick and... new AG stuffs

[impy]

Ugh. Just when you think you're out, they pull you back in again. Or something. A couple of weeks ago I had a super fun sinus infection that took half of forever to leave. I felt good for about four days and then around Thursday my poor, evil wisdom tooth on the left started to talk. Unpleasantly. Then Friday during the day I realized ahoy, holy sinus infection on the left! (Don't judge.) Soooooo... I dosed myself appropriately and called out of work when sleep actually helped but only while I was asleep. :P At first I thought "oooh, Psych marathon!" but um, no. I tried concentrating a little on E!'s airing of The Face but I kept waiting for Nigel to introduce Tyra and instead we got Naomi. Honestly, I was/am sick so I wasn't really tracking much but holycrap did it feel an awful lot like ANTM, complete with "um, why'd they win?" questions at the end. Also, Karolina Kurkova looks like a bird.


Moving along, I woke up this morning to feeling marginally better but with a new issue that Mums seems to feel isn't a huge deal and I'm inclined to believe her. However, Kali was acting funky so... not fun.

To distract myself from my list of woes, I present to you most of the February release from American Girl.

You ready? I don't think you are!

First up, the MyAG line, since they were getting sneak-peeks posted on Facebook:


Sweet Spring Dress: $30
  This is my favorite thing from this release. It was also the first thing AG leaked online via their FB account, so... there's that. Anyway, I think it's super pretty and I don't mind that there are sparkles woven into the dress, but some people threw hissy fits the likes of which I was unprepared for. You get the dress, shoes (so cute!), and a little hairclip in addition to the charms I don't collect. There's a corresponding dress for the Bitties, if that's your thing. This is going on my short list of things to buy when my tax refund hits and free shipping is announced. (Any day now, guys. Any day now.)



Plaid Party Dress: $30
  I'm torn on this one. In theory, it's cute as hell. In the promo pics I'm... enh. But I'm not sure why. I think the shoes are cute, I like that even with the pink it's not super overly girlie, and odds are good that I would've worn this as a kid. Sooo... maybe it's just the monochromatic doll they've got it on? *muse* Not sure. It's also possible that it's simply not as pretty as the other dresses out there that I want. (You get the dress, shoes, and a diamond shaped hairclip in addition to the charm that comes with every MyAG outfit these days.)


Easy Breezy Outfit: $28
  Aside from giving me Covergirl and ANTM flashbacks, there's the added "yay, another $28 outfit!" from fandom. Dude, no. Prior to seeing the outfit, fine, but afterwards? This thing is not a $28 outfit. No. NO.
   I think the shorts are cute, I think the shirt is kind of meh, and I'm unsure of the shoes. Soooo no. Not at this price. On sale, yes. Shorts!


Cycling Outfit: $28
*shrug* It's an outfit. I see it and all I see is Lance Armstrong which is not the association you want made, so my brain keeps trying to substitute Abby or Kristy in there from the BSC. It's almost working.


Lots of Dots Bath Wrap: $24
  It's cute but I don't need it.


Trail Bike $100
  It's a bike. I don't need it either.


Pet Trailer: $48
  To go with the bike. Again, nope.


Pet Party Set: $20
  Cute as hell but not likely to show up here, either.


Happy Birthday Set: $40
  That was the sound of them pricing this out of contention for me. I think it's cuter than cute and would probably buy it except that price. No. I draw the line for certain things and this? This is my line.



Next we peek into Bitty World.


Fresh-Picked Sundress: $24
  Normally I look but don't pay a lot of attention to the Bitty stuff because Bitty of the Damned is, well, BotD and Hope is cute but I forget I have her half the time. This outfit, though? It's meant for her. I will buy it for her. So cute!
Seriously, I... love this. I don't even know how that happened, but I do. I also wonder how it'd look on the normal sized AGs. It'll look like ass on BotD, though.


Sunny Fun Outfit: $24
  Aww. How preppy.

Both of these go with the Lemonade Stand which is too old for what I consider the BTwins to be, but whatever. Said stand is $24.


Ocean Blossoms Swim Set: $26
  Based on the body of the Bitties, I don't like sleeveless stuff for them. It's just weird. Pretty color, though.


Little Lady Dress: $26
  The matching dress for the MyAG Sweet Spring dress. Likely also coming home with me for Hope or BotD.


And now the really interesting stuff. The new Historical goodies. Nothing new for Addy and Rebecca as various workers hinted, but there is a surprise or two. We begin with Caroline...



Caroline's Work Dress: $32
  I wish they hadn't cheaped out on the apron over the dress. This is sort of them doing a combo thing and it vexes me just a tad, but it does come from the book so there's that. Sadly, I'm not really sure where I stand on it. It's awfully busy. But you see, I'm also distracted by...


Caroline's Calf, Garnet: $28
  Who is fairly important(ish) in the books and also wow. That is a red (velvet cupcake of a) cow. Wow. Evil!

As I recover from these things, I eventually noticed new PJs on the site.

New PJs for...

Molly.


Molly's Floral Pajamas: $24
  That was the sound of Molly being one step closer to being archived. It's not likely that she'll survive the year, especially given her other new item. But it's take a moment to admire the cuteness of these PJs, even if they aren't really all that Molly-rific. Seriously, they're really cute and her red & white striped ones are ugly as hell in person. (They hurt my eyes and feel rough. Not cute.) So this will be coming home with me soon. Soooooooon.


Molly's Bed and Bedding : $94
Molly gets a new bed. Every doll has a bed or bedding so since this (and her PJs) are both limited editions (likely for a year like C&Mg's stuff was last year) it's just another nail in her coffin. Her bright, cheery coffin. Good lord, I love this bed. It's like Kit's only wooden. And yellow. And I wants it. But I hate that price, so definitely free shipping or nothing.


Overall, I'm sitting on the "meh to good" side of this release. I don't love everything and after the hopes for new stuff for other historicals, I'm a little letdown by the lack of historical stuff. BUT I really do like Molly's stuff, even if it breaks my heart to know she's pretty much signed, sealed, and delivered to the chopping block.

Oh, and they're also selling this:

Starry Doll Holder: $24
  Like the ones in the bathrooms of the stores! This tickles me endlessly.

Any way, there's what, three confirmed yeses and nothing that sent me recoiling in horror so far. Good job, AG. Good job. Can I have my money and my free shipping code now?

Comments

[luxken27]

Sorry to hear you're still feeling crummy! Ugh, sinuses WTF. I swear they're only there to make us feel so sick we can't enjoy it :(

The sweet spring dress is very cute! To me, at least - it has that classic, timeless feel to it. And it's a neutral so you could dress it up a bunch of different ways (even with the pink sparklies). And the bitty version of it is also adorable! :D Win-win, for sure.

I...do not see the appeal of the halter top/shorts combo. Shorts, okay, but a halter top? Really?! ...

And seriously - a bike? With a pet trailer? Good grief.

The fresh-picked sundress (aka, the lemonade dress) is so cute! :D Something about the yellow just makes it feel very fresh and spring-like. Hell, I'd wear something like that myself, which should give you some insight into my (lack of) fashion sense :P

So, help me out here...Molly getting a new LE PJ/bed set means she's one step closer to being archived? How does that work? :-/ She's the last of the original 3! Quite sad...

[snarky-imp.livejournal.com]

Sinuses can die in a ditch. Ugh. Apparently I missed snow flurries yesterday because of them! D:

*nods* I agree on the timelessness of the Sweet Spring Dress. I think the sparkles give it just enough oomph to keep it from fading into the background, but some people see sparkle and immediately leap to Vegas showgirl or something. :p

I'm still trying to work out that halter top. Points for something a kid might've worn sometime, ever, but points off for it showcasing bits of the doll that aren't all that loverly.

This isn't even their first bike! Molly had one, Julie has one, and this one has the added joy of it being shown in all kinds of promo pics with the trailer so your kid is going to think they're a package deal and that bike that costs as much as a real bike just jumped another $50. It's times like this I'm glad the Widget isn't interested in dolls and is content to swoop in, steal a plush or an idea (Kit's scooter, I think, got an attempted trial recreation) and run back out again.

Hee, I'd wear the lemonade dress, too. Huzzah for our shared special fashion sense! Obviously Claudia would approve, yes? But I think you nailed it with the yellow being just enough to make it a happy, spring-like outfit, so looking at it makes me happy which means they did their jobs well.

Molly: One of the few things to remain the same from the PC days and the Mattel takeover is that each historical doll has a bed, even in Josefina's case where a bed isn't mentioned in the stories, a bed or other sleeping arrangement is made. Molly's previous bed (the red one) and her red & white striped pajamas were retired and these are very clearly stated as Limited Edition. It's likely that they'll follow last year's model for Cecile and Marie-Grace's LE stuff and have it be around for about a year, which means that come the end of 2013, Molly (and Emily) will be without a bed and pajamas. Which is another checkmark on the list of Reasons Why Molly Is Doomed.

Other reasons include: she's the last of the original three, she's already had her movie and thus her collection expanded, there are serious rumors of there being a 50's doll waiting in the wings for next year, her advantage of having a war rip apart her family (and thus be relatable to kids who have a parent or two away in the military) was doused by Caroline's father being taken prisoner in her books, and the general fact that Mattel/AG seem to be intent on making way for the new by shuffling off the old.

And Molly is the old. Of the remaining older dolls, you've got Addy, Josefina, Kaya, and maybe Kit (not old but I think she's technically still under the PC-umbrella). You can't get rid of Josefina or Kaya without someone pointing out that hey, you just tossed out the only hispanic/native character, and Addy may not sell well but she's apparently outselling Cecile so even if the plan was to replace Addy with Cecile (and Marie Grace) the plan failed. Which leaves Kit and Molly. Molly's older and Kit's more popular.

Also, there's the precedent of AG making stuff (or tweaking things) right before shoving them off into the archival vault. Samantha got a new dress about a month before she was archived, Kirsten's table I think was revised, Felicity's table was definitely revised (thus losing all that was awesome about it) and while this is a more flashy revision, it takes two slow sellers and replaces them with something just modern enough to cross over from historical to now.

Finally, no new historical is set to debut this year and that opens the door for an archival since there won't be anyone new in the fall to do battle with in the sales department.

Doll geekery!

[irishgypsie.livejournal.com]

While I do like a lot of the outfits I still really dislike the way the dolls are constructed, with the super obvious seams at the neck and arms. A lot of the clothing they make just looks weird on the dolls because of that. And pretty much everything AG makes is ridiculously overpriced. :(

I do like those wall hooks though - that's a neat way to store/display the dolls!

[snarky-imp.livejournal.com]

Heheh, the ridiculous prices at least have stayed the same over the years. If anything, for awhile with inflation apparently they were actually cheaper but then someone pointed that out and it seems Mattel has been hellbent on correcting that error. :P (Which is why, despite my love of it, doll arm seams and all, the current 2-in-1 ice skating outfit will not be purchased until/unless they drop the price.)

I'm not a huge fan of outfits that show the arm sockets. Sometimes I can overlook it if the sheer cuteness of it all distracts me (last year's Valentine's dress) but if given a choice, I gravitate towards the outfits with sleeves. Which means pretty much no doll swimsuits aside from Molly's which looks like a sundress more than anything.

I can't wait til people buy the wall hooks and take pictures. Floating dolls! Which means the books will reclaim their bookshelves (most of them) and peace is restored to the land... until the posters revolt, anyway. ;)

I'm waiting semi-patiently for the free shipping codes. It takes the sting out of the prices, at least a little bit.