American Girl unveils newest historical character

Today on both Facebook and Twitter American Girl revealed their newest historical character MaryEllen Larkin, who will be debuting most likely this fall.

The book cover for MaryEllen Larkin, the newest historical character.
Image credit: American Girl Facebook

There's been quite a lot of hype around her from the leaked photos that we saw a few months ago. However I did see a nice constructive comment on the AG Facebook page that said something along the lines of 'why not just keep Caroline if you're just going to introduce another white character'. That is one of the things that I'm sad about. SO MANY people have been calling for more diverse dolls. I've heard everything. Asian dolls that actually look Asian, more dolls of color, dolls with disabilities, diabetes accessories and so much more, those are only on the top of a long list of requests.

My personal thoughts:

• Ugh, another white doll after so many requests for a black one. But at least we have the 2016 AA character coming next year. 
• Love the red hair, have been missing that without Felicity or Emily. 
• I believe her year is 1950, but this is intended to just be an echo of official information, so I'm not sure
• "follow your heart, not the crowd" Haven't we had this message before? With some other doll? 
• Hope she looks cute modern. 

What do you think about MaryEllen? 

New Ever After High Doll Lines!

Today I finally found 2 new Ever After High doll lines! (I don't keep up with EAH news like I do with AG news) Let me just say, the new lines are beautiful! I'll post screen-caps now with thoughts and critiques of all of the new dolls and play-sets! (Yes, more play-sets!)

These images both come from Ever After High checklist

Ever After High Enchanted Picnic line

This line is really nicely done! I love the spring-ish feel to it and all 3 dolls look beautiful! However i think my favorites from this line are Raven Queen and Blondie Locks. I especially love Blondie's stock photo, she looks so cute! I am excited for this line to come out!!!

Ever After High Way To Wonderland Line

Here's a doll line I'm even more excited for- Way To Wonderland! This looks to be another big line, just like spring unsprung. The play-set is so unique and is totally going on my wishlist. I also LOVE the bright colors and flashy outfits, I want all of these dolls!!! My favorites would have to be Maddie and Kitty, as their hats are just so awesome!!!

So what do you think of these 2 new doll lines? Will you be getting any of the new dolls?

Who is Monster High's Newest Ghoul?

A few weeks ago, Monster High revealed a new doll at the Time To Play Mag toy showcase, Gooliope Jellilngton. This doll is very unique, and I thought I'd share my thoughts about her.

The new Gooliope Jellington doll
Image Credit: notimemommy.com

The doll first off is very unique. I think she has either the large body mold or a completely new body mold, which is so cool! She's also got some new hair colors and what looks to be detailed molding on her arms and legs. Gooliope is apparently a "blob creature from someplace" and "Daughter of the blob" according to the Monster High wiki. I also love the fact that we don't know exactly who she is. I mean, that leaves a lot of opportunity  for fan fiction writers. Gooliope is also "a tealanted basket ball player" (no surprise there, with those legs) and is part of the Freak Du Chic line (Monster high wiki).

Here's some more interesting facts & trivia about Gooliope from the Monster High wiki:

"Her first name is a reference to the name Calliope, the muse of epic poetry in Ancient Greek mythology. A calliope can also be a musical instrument, based on compressed air (in her first release she wears a calliope on her head).

In her doll box, in the Monster Parent section of her bio, it said she is the daughter of the ..., revealing that either it is a secret until further information is revealed by the franchise, or it is simply unknown what her monster type is.

The radiation symbol in her eyes might imply that she might have been exposed to some kind of radiation at some point in her life."

So what do you think about this new Ghoul? She hits stores soon!

Book Review: American Girl Nellie's Promise

Nellie's promise is one of the few Samantha books I have, and is really my favorite in the series. I love the book because it focuses on Nellie's struggles with her uncle. Before I give a short summary and some of my thoughts, here's a picture of the book cover, which is from Mattel as the book was never produced by pleasant company.

Nellie's Promise book cover
Image credit: American Girl Publishing

During this book Nellie starts off living her new wonderfully happy life with Samantha's family. (Samantha, Nellie, Bridget,Jenny, Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornilia) But one day as Nellie is walking home she is visited by her mean old Uncle Mike, who threatens her and says he'll be back soon to take Nellie and her sisters away. Nellie is terrified but decides not to tell the rest of Samantha's family because  she doesn't want them to be worried. I won't spoil the rest of the book, but it does turn out okay.  I love this book because of how real it is. Of course it doesn't use cursing (this is children's literature of course) but it does show little girls that people can be mean. The book also illustrates principles of friendship and family, which is nice for little girls to read. 

Overall, I would give this book 5/5 stars, for the story is amazing! I would recommend this book to any little girls who would like to read it.

Are American Girl's "Modern Outfits" Modern?

Once again here we are questioning the decisions of major companies. Today I'm basing this question off of a post on the blog AG outsider- Are the MAG outfits actually modern? (Beware some of AG outsider's other posts have a minor amount of cursing in them)

In this review I'm spotlighting AG outsider mentions that "fashion trends cycle" and "the 80s are back in fashion". The review is on AG's "School Stripes Outfit" that was introduced last year and retails for $28. Some of the characteristics that make this outfit like the 80's include the layering of the dress, the heather gray background color of the dress , the drop waist and the style of the shoes. I do recommend you read the review (skipping over the several curse words... but the review is still good), as I don't want to post the pictures here for fear of plagiarism.My personal take on this that it's sort of exciting. I have had no experience with anything but 2000's society, so popular TV shows, clothing trends, slang etc. are just not me. But now with trends cycling I get to see a new take on older looks! This topic also sort of correlates with many people saying that the Beforever fashions are inaccurate. I may or may not do a post on that, you'll have to let me know if you would like to see that in the comments below.

American Girl Caroline is retiring, what next?

For those of you that haven't seen already, American Girl announced yesterday on their Facebook page that Caroline Abbot is going to be retired this year. I feel that this is both a mistake and a blessing. It is nice, because the historical line was getting overwhelming with 3 blonde characters and no red head, but the fact that she's only been out for 3 years is sad, but becoming the norm. As for me personally, I do want Caroline but not at full price because she would be modern. The one outfit I want from her collection is her travel outfit, without the Spencer and hat. As for the future of the Beforever line (where characters will never be forever) we have no idea what is in store, besides the new 2015 Mary Ellen character and the new 2016 AA character. What do you think of this abrupt retiring?

Do toys that don't deal with race sell better than toys that do?

This is a question that's been on my mind a lot recently and I wanted to bring it out to the public. As most of us well know, race in the toy industry is a big issue. American girl and barbie face the same criticisms of their ethnicity choices, which are often lacking. Now of course things have gotten better. For example Barbie now has plenty of friends from different ethnicity and AG still at least has darker skinned dolls. But the question I'm posing today is very different, do toys without race have less controversy, and do they sell better.

By "without race"I am basically talking about any toy line that doesn't deal with natural skin tones. Everything from Legos to monster high dolls. I do feel that the Lego friends line is great at incorporating girls of all races into their play sets. Monster high dolls aren't really human, so they're a great example of this as well.

Let's just say that researching this post was NOT easy at all. Everything I googled came up with nothing relevant until finally I found some information. From one Huffington post article that I've seen often floating around, Barbie sales have been plummeting. Another thing I found was a chart on toyassociation.org which has sales data for 2013-2014. You'll have to look at the link yourself because there's no way form me to post it on the blog. It's interesting because as you see here, dolls rank just below infant/preschool and outdoor sports and toys.

So what do you think? Are toys without natural skin tones free of controversy and better selling? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

American Girl Hawaii slated to close April 26th

According to bizjournals.com "American girl is closing it's store at the Ala Moana Center this month". The store opened last October in order to "test the waters in the Honolulu market to see if the market could support a permanent American girl store".“While we were pleased with the overall performance of the store, we do not have plans to build a permanent American Girl store in Hawaii at this time,” Stephanie Spanos, spokeswoman for American Girl, told PBN in an email." 

I personally am sad to see the store go. It was a great option for those in Hawaii who may not be able to fly into the US. I actually wonder why the Hawaii market apparently wasn't good enough. However, this article has other information with it. "She [Stephanie Spanos] noted that it [American Girl] is always exploring new opportunities to extend the American Girl brand, so it’s possible it may consider an American Girl retail location in Hawaii in the future." This is interesting, makes me wonder if they'll do anything else like this in the near future. 

So, what do you think? Were you sad or glad to see the store go? The store is closing at the end of this month and they have a 30% sale on all inventory that's still available.