REVIEW: American Girl Nanea

American Girl's newest historical doll arrived at my house today!

Finally.

You see, Nanea was offered early to certain super special members of the AG Rewards program.

The rewards program that only gives you points if you shop on their website or in their stores.

Despite their partnerships with Amazon, Kohl's and Toys R Us.

I bought Melody and her pajamas on Amazon. I bought almost all the Wellie Wishers from TRU. My mom got me Lea from Kohl's. So even though we spent all that money, and it was a lot of money, I got no points for any of it, so I wasn't in a high enough tier to order Nanea early.

That left me with some pretty nasty feelings toward American Girl, because I've been with them from the very start and I HATE elitist behavior like that.

So I didn't buy Nanea right away and was angry that they'd tainted her for me, because I had been SO excited for her.

I did end up ordering her about a week ago and she arrived today. Now I can finally enjoy her and read her books, which I've had since early August.

Nanea Mitchell lives in Hawaii. She has a white father and Hawaiian mother. (If there's any more in there, I don't know. I haven't read the books yet.) She makes the second Hawaiian character that is half white. I don't understand why we can't get a fully Hawaiian doll. I really don't. Jess, the Girl of the Year from years ago that debuted a fabulous new Asian headmold, was also half white. Sigh.

Anyway.

Nanea has the medium skintone, beautiful hazel eyes (shot through with this fab lime green that I love), and dark brown wavy hair. Like all AGs with wavy hair, she's got nonstop flyaways. Those front curls have a life of their own, too. But her hair is nice and silky. She's got a bit of a permasurprise expression, but I've seen worse ones, so I'm happy mine isn't that bad.

She comes with a hibiscus hairclip that thankfully is not a barrette. It's one of those that bites the hair and makes it more stable. I'm not sure that's correct for the time period, but they researched A LOT for almost two years to bring us Nanea, so hey, maybe they had those in 1941.

Nanea's outfit is a lovely orange/coral top that buttons in front, a pair of white shorts with an elastic waistband at the back, a silky pair of undies, and brown sandals. She does not have the modern "permapanties" some of the other dolls do. I love all the pieces except the sandals. I find them a bit dull and I wish they'd stop using that stupid clear elastic to hold shoes on. Just make another strap.

Here's Nanea with my Roslin, my fave AG doll ever. They're going to be hanging out on my scanner in the AG place of honor.

I love Nanea. I think her new headmold is lovely. I'm not a huge fan of the new painted eye corners, because one of hers is messed up, but I can't pick out dolls in person and Mattel customer service is trash, so I'm settling for it. Her outfit is excellent, minus the sandals, and I love that we're finally getting a Hawaiian character, although she leaves me still needing a fully Asian historical doll in the primary character position. (Sorry, Ivy, but being the best friend is not good enough for me. Although I love you.) I am looking forward to finally reading her books and bonding with her, although believe me, I'm not going to get over how AG runs its crappy rewards program anytime soon!

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.