TOY FAIR 2017: Mattel (Part 4)

http://toyfair17.asmzine.com/gallery/mattel/showroom/index.html

I have to dash to work, but check these lovely photos out! DCSG, MH, Enchantimals, Barbie, American Girl, and Kuu Kuu Harajuku!

NEWS: Wellie Wishers

This is likely not news to most, but I wanted to post it anyway.

Wellie Wishers are at Toys R Us!

I first heard this a few weeks ago, that they were coming, but my store is a very low level store and I figured we wouldn't get them.

I was wrong. That's the real reason I'm posting. Even if you have a store in a less populated area, there's still a chance you could see these in your store. We have a huge display and everything, with loads of outfits and accessories.

My mom treated me to Camille and her accessories and Emerson and her dance outfit for an early birthday gift. Now that I've seen them in person and they're right at my fingertips, I plan on getting Kendall and Willa as soon as I can. They really are all so very cute!

REVIEW: American Girl Wellie Wishers Ashlyn

Arrival!

Ashlyn arrived today after a week of waiting for her. They actually shipped her in a box that was the perfect size to fit this one, not some giant oversized thing. I like the box design and the photo of the girl on the front, too. I didn't save Ashlyn's, but I will likely save the box of my next Wellie to store all my AG and WW items.

My getting Ashlyn is a bit of an interesting story. I agonized for days over which doll to buy, since I could only get one. I was disappointed when the Wellie Wishers didn't go live right at midnight Thursday morning, considering that's also midnight AG time. But I followed up on my secondary theory, that they'd go live midnight Pacific and I was right.

I skimmed down the page, gleefully looking at all the things I didn't want. Yay. My final wishlist for this particular release is all 5 dolls, Emerson's ballet costume and Camille's Ocean Treasures set.

This is the only place you'll see the tiara.

That's it. All of the accessory sets are cute, but I only really want the mermaid-themed one. Although maybe I'll get Kendall's tools when I get around to buying her. The PJs are also cute, but for $20, I opted to hold off and see if any other clothes fit these girls. The bunny set is adorable, but way overpriced. Although if it was guinea pigs, I'd get it.

And how cute is that butterfly doll carrier?!

So then the debating began.

If I wanted Emerson's ballet outfit, I should get that with her, but did I want to spend that much right away? Also, that tutu is kinda short and I'd love to see someone else's owner pics first. Although who are we really kidding, it's GRAY and purple and that's really enough to get me to buy it.

She's cuuuuuuute.

Second consideration: if I only wanted the ocean set, I should get that and Camille. I put the ocean set in my cart and then stuck Ashlyn in there because I was on her page and wanted to see the $5 come off in the cart. It did. So I went back to Camille's page and was going to debate whether I had firmly decided on her or not. And her add to bag button had turned from pink to gray. I was surprised she of all dolls had sold out so quickly. I poked at Emerson and she was still there, then I tried to go back to the main sales page and it took me back to "arriving in just 0 day" page. I freaked, thinking either they were selling like hotcakes or the site was crashing. I noticed I still had my bag, so I quickly deleted the ocean accessories and zipped through checkout with Ashlyn.

Then after checkout, the website was fine.
Apparently fate decreed Ashlyn was for me and so she was.

The torso is hard plastic, the rest is vinyl.

Deboxing was a snap. She's only held down by the rubberband around her feet and one of those white thicker paper ties around her neck, not elastic like the AGs. Her hairnet came right off and she was good to go.

Ashlyn is 14.5" tall. She's a nice height. Her torso is made of hard plastic, but her limbs and head are all vinyl. For the $60 price tag, a vinyl torso would really have been nice. Her poseability range isn't that great. She sits with her legs splayed. Unlike AGs, they can't be brought together more. Her arms swing out a little to the sides, but not much. Her eyes are inset with painted lashes. Her wig is soft and smooth, but thin. Think Julie's hair if you have her. I'm honestly okay with all of these things though, because they're not inappropriate for a doll that's intended for younger children and the entire line encourages outdoor play. Dragging a cloth body doll around outside when you're 5 is going to not be good for that poor doll.

Bear in mind that Ashlyn does photograph orange. She's a warm brown, not orange, in person.

The Wellies!

Ashlyn's clothing is decently-made. The shirt and skirt go on and come off easily. The boots are a nice soft rubber and they're lined in fabric so they slip on and off easily, too. Perfect for younger kids.

Those gold glitter Mary Janes though? Prepare for glitter shed.

Ashlyn is the character that got the most outfit changes from leaked photos to final product.

Final vs. leaked

Starting at the top, the tiara got the worst change. You'll have to skim back up to the boxed pic to see it, because I didn't even take it out of the bag. They added a giant ugly faux diamond at the top and it makes the entire piece look dollar store cheap. Something like that has no business on a $60 doll.

Her shirt went from textured to patterned, though the ribbons got better. The skirt seems a bit more pink, but otherwise looks the same. The wellies went from patterned all over, which I liked more, to just a little lace print near the tops. I do like the shade of pink used for them though, so I'm a bit torn on this change.

Overall, her outfit used to look far more luxurious than the final version, but the final is still cute. I thought I was going to change her right out of it, but it actually won me over.

Ashlyn and Hearts for Hearts Girls Surjan

The main line I wanted to check outfit compatibility with was Hearts for Hearts Girls. I was able to tackle this before I went to work, but then did the rest of the photos for this review after work, hence the different setting.

Some HFHG pieces do work for these girls. I tried 3 pairs of pants and they didn't fit, but both skirts I tried did work. All the shoes I tried (flats, flipflops and Dell's stock shoes) did fit, although you can see the lines of the toes in the flats. Any shirt with fitted sleeves will not work and any with a slimmer cut will not velcro closed. I tried Consuelo's stock from both her regular doll and her deluxe doll and neither fit Ashlyn properly. The white tee I had from one of the random fashion packs did fit though. It was a little short, but it worked. So there is some clothes-sharing possible.

Here's Ashlyn wearing her own shirt, deluxe Consuelo's skirt and sandals she borrowed from Surjan.

Global Friends Mariko and Ashlyn

The line that is perfect for Wellie Wishers is Global Friends. I popped off one of Mariko's shoes and tried it on Ashlyn when I got home from work and boom, perfect fit. No toe lines showing or anything.

I didn't want to undress one of my Global girls, since most of them are in complicated outfits, but the bodies are definitely comparable. The heights clearly are, as you can see here. Hats are a bit tricky though, because you can see how much bigger Ashlyn's head is.

Ashlyn wearing a Global Friends fashion

I tried Mei Ling's panda pants outfit on Ashlyn and everything went on perfectly! The sleeves and both shirt and jacket went easily over her hands. The hat is the only part of this outfit that doesn't work on Ashlyn, because her head's just too big.

Since Ashlyn is the character into princesses, I had to put her in Gretchen's princess dress.

Princess Ashlyn

Everything again fit very well. The sleeves on the dress were a smidge tricky, because part of them is that white mesh material, but I got them over her hands and up her arms, which I believe are a bit thicker than Global Friends arms, just fine.

So Global Friends clothing can increase the size of your Wellie Wishers wardrobe, something people might want to look into, because AG only released Ashlyn's princess dress, Emerson's dance outfit and the pajamas so far. The separate outfits can be harder to find, but the dolls themselves turn up for reasonable prices fairly often. Mariko's kimono would look really cute on Emerson!

Rebecca and Ashlyn

I think the Wellie Wishers are a nice addition to American Girl's doll lineup. They're definitely not the quality level of the 18" dolls, but they're also $55 cheaper. I think they're perfect for little girls who are younger and more active, who might play a bit too hard for one of the bigger dolls. They're a good starter doll that would be easy to clean up.

I do think the $60 price is a bit high. For $25, you can have a Hearts for Hearts Girl, assuming they're going to be the same price when they come back out. I think HFHG are actually better quality than these and you get way more than $25 worth of doll. However, American Girl has been around for enough years to be able to charge more just because they're American Girl. Frankly, I'd go with HFHG over these, but they work pretty well for young girls who are into AG, but aren't ready for one of the more expensive dolls yet. I'm looking forward to seeing more from the line, including the cartoons and books. And I will definitely be getting the other girls. I may prefer HFHG, but remember, that's one of my favorites ever, so that by no means says I don't like these!

PHOTO CREDITS: All mine, except the leaked image, which I combined with mine.

Who Should I Get?

Emerson, Camille, Kendall, Willa and Ashlyn

The Wellie Wishers are coming! I got an email today telling me a little about them. AG is being very tight-lipped on specifics. They won't discuss price points or answer people's questions about the dolls, saying we'll get all the info next Thursday.

For what it's worth, I can give a couple educated guesses in answer to the two main questions I've seen other than price point.

1) The bodies will be all vinyl, not partially cloth like AG. The necklines on Emerson and Willa are pretty low and we'd see fabric if they were using fabric torsos.

2) Those are wigs. I've never seen a rooted partline that looked like Camille's, plus Emerson's hair doesn't sit like rooted hair does when it's in pigtails. Kendall's hairline doesn't look rooted either.

The newer pics of these girls have them looking even cuter than before. I think I'll have enough to spring for one doll next week when they debut, but I'm torn between three! I ruled out Kendall, because I really don't like her outfit, and Camille, even though I like her a lot. My mom loves Willa, but even though I think she's the best full package of adorable doll plus adorable outfit, I'm more drawn to Emerson and Ashlyn. I didn't care so much for Ashlyn before, but these new pics of her are just darling. I don't like the tiara or boot changes they seem to have made, but I'd be redressing her eventually anyway. She, Emerson and Kendall are destined for better clothes. I have no idea who I'm going to order though! Which one would you pick?

Check out this article for more great pics:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/childrens-products/toy-reviews/news/a38990/american-girl-new-dolls/

UPCOMING EXCITEMENT: Wellie Wishers

Unknown, Ashlyn, Emerson, Unknown and Willa

American Girl will be unveiling a new doll line, possibly as early as this summer! While we don't know too much yet, I'm very excited for these girls.

I haven't spoken on American Girl yet, though I likely will soon. I need to tackle the second half of my Barbie post first, which I simply either haven't had the time for or didn't feel well when I did have the time. (Allergies. Woo.)  

So you guys have one guess as to why these girls excite me so much. 

Did anyone say "Because they look like Hearts For Hearts Girls meets AG?" Because that is the answer. I mean, look at Willa's face. (She's the redhead.) She looks like Dell. I wish these took a page from HFHG and didn't reuse faces in the first assortment, but AG isn't exactly known for its mold diversity. Seriously, there have been eight molds in THIRTY years. Man, wait, AG is thirty already? Dang. Are they even doing anything for this anniversary?

Sorry, got sidetracked.

Anyway, my primary complaint about the AG dolls is that they don't look anywhere near the ages they're supposed to be. Don't get me wrong, I love AG and I have several dolls, but those chubby arms and legs are not things usually found on 9-11-year-olds. And that's how old these girls are. The odd thing is that I bet the Wellies are meant to be younger than AG, but they look older than the regular 18" AG dolls. There are a few exceptions to the "look a lot younger" rule, like Julie, Jess, Marie-Grace and Grace, but mostly they do not look their ages. I loved the Girls of Many Lands, because they looked like the 12-year-olds they were in the books, but put one of their dolls next to an AG doll and there is more than a 2-year age difference there. 

My point? I do have one. Basically, I love dolls that look the age the characters in the books are. AGs don't often. Hearts For Hearts Girls do. Wellies seem to have learned that from HFHG, so that's a yay.

So let's take a look at the individual dolls. I'll go in order from the pic at the top. We know the names of all 5 girls and using the book previews, I was able to figure out 3, but the blonde and the black girl are currently unknown, which is why I labelled them as such. One is Camille and the other is Kendall. 

The blonde is up first. I think she might have my favorite outfit. I love those colors and the fish(?) boots are adorable. She's got a cute little beauty mark by her left eye, too. 

Then we've got Ashlyn. The fandom seems to have designated her as Latina, but she could be so many things that a lot of little girls will see themselves in her. And she has a pretty classy outfit. She might have some freckles going on. The leaked pics aren't very good quality, but her book art has freckles.

Emerson (what a name...yeesh) is the darling East Asian girl. I think she might be the one a lot of people get, lacking a strong East Asian character in AG. (One of my megagripes is that we still lack an East Asian historical character. Cute as she was, Ivy was a best friend and does not count. I'm talking about a lead.) She might be the first one I get. She doesn't have my favorite outfit, because that bulky top over what I'm presuming is a leotard gives her a weird silhouette and she has my least fave boots. But the doll herself is just cuteness personified.  

The black doll has adorable hair. Not a huge fan of her outfit though. The multicolored weird tie thing on the striped shirt and the general clashing. The skirt is nice though. Hmm, actually, all she needs is a solid color top and she'd be 100% better. 

And finally sweet Willa. Willa clearly is the nature girl. (Emerson is a dancer and Ashlyn probably likes princesses, but the other two I'm not sure.) I love all the animal motifs. I can't decide if she has my fave outfit or if the blonde does. But she has the Dell face and the freckles and I love this color scheme, so she's a contender for first purchase. It's either gonna be Willa or Emerson. (Ideally both.)

No one is sure how big these girls are. From the pic with the real girls, I'd say 15-16". A bit bigger than HFHG, but I still hope they can share clothes. 

Valerie Tripp has written 3 books for the line so far. Ashlyn's Unsurprise Party has 88 pages, while the other two have 96 each. 

Ashlyn's Unsurprise Party has her trying to throw a party for Camille, who has lost two teeth, on her own, because she wants to surprise everyone, not just Camille. But I'm sure things go wrong and she has to accept help from everyone. 

The Muddily-Puddily Show has Emerson in charge of putting on a show with the girls and trying to meet the challenges that go with it. I'm guessing she might want the spotlight, since she looks like the performer of the group, and has to learn how to make the show function so everyone can look good, not just her. 

The Riddle of the Robin has the girls learning about birds and such. Willa plays a major role. 

I had seen the doll images before today, but the books were something I only just saw this morning and I've been thinking about the line ever since. The art is really that cute. 

The three books come out on September 1st, so I'm guessing the dolls will either be out around the same time or possibly a bit earlier. 

I'm really looking forward to this line. Based on the blog comments I didn't want to read while I was researching, but couldn't help but skim, reception is mixed. Some people think they're adorable, but others complain that they're not "AG enough." I wasn't aware there was only one way AG was supposed to be. I mean, the baby dolls don't look that much like the 18" dolls, and we've had very different dolls before in the Hopscotch Hill and Girls of Many Lands lines. There is room in American Girl for a new type of doll, especially considering the more reasonable price of these, which is expected to be about $60. Seriously, that's half the cost of an 18" American Girl. Yes, they're going to look cheaper than the 18", because they ARE cheaper than the 18". I can't wait to get my hands on one! It's been years since AG did something this different and I think it's very welcome. 

PHOTO CREDITS: The doll pictures were leaked. I'm uncertain of the source. The book pictures are from here:

http://www.americangirlpublishing.com/product-category/online-catalogue/wellie-wishers/