Post by mamared on Mar 7, 2023 1:03:13 GMT -5
I purchased this fun set earlier this week. It’s part of the fantastic AG x Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams collaboration that was officially released on March 2nd (and in stores a few days beforehand). Here’s the official description along with additional thoughts and photos …
SKU#: HMF27 $45
Savor a favorite flavor (or two or three!) with this set designed in collaboration with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.
A waffle iron with a flat waffle that fits inside—and smells just like the real thing!, a working ticking timer, and a bell that dings when it’s done. I really like how this set enables you to go through almost the entire process of dishing up some delicious waffle cone sundaes, starting with making the waffle on this cute waffle iron. It’s made of lightweight silver colored plastic with the American Girl logo unobtrusively embossed on both sides. The waffle iron surface is black plastic and is textured with the waffle grid, and the top part of the iron opens with a light blue handle. The front of the waffle iron has two knobs or dials that really turn - one for the temperature, and the other for the timer (which also activates the ticking sound). The sound feature is fun and it doesn’t require batteries (yay!), but the quality is questionable. All of the ones I’ve seen make the ticking sound when the timer is turned, but the first one I bought didn’t make a bell sound when the time ran out. It was an easy replacement, and I wouldn’t have been too sad to miss the bell (since that’s not what I bought the set for), but it’s also kind of satisfying to hear the ding when the timer stops ticking, and it's something you may want to check out if you’re buying in person or soon after it arrives if ordering. Grade: B
There’s one flat waffle included, which is golden brown in color and has the sweet smell of waffle which seems to fade a bit over time. The waffle has the textured grid to match the waffle iron on both sides, and one side also has the American Girl logo embossed on it. I appreciate that the flat waffle is included with this set! Grade: B
The waffle iron closes nearly flat with the waffle inside:
A waffle-cone maker to form the two waffle cones, and a waffle-bowl mold and tamper to shape the two waffle bowls. The cone maker, bowl mold, and tamper are all made of thick, off-white plastic that size-wise fit really well with the waffle cones and bowls. These seem very well made, and I think it would be fun (at least for awhile) for kids to act out shaping the pieces, although they might eventually put them aside. Grade: B+
Two waffle cones and two waffle bowls are included. These are proportioned well when compared to the flat waffle, and have the same uneven edges, golden brown color, and grid texture on the outside. The inside of the bowl and cone are smooth. It’s nice that two of each are included! Grade: B+
Two double scoops that fit inside the waffle cones and two triple scoops that fit inside the waffle bowls. The double scoops, as the description says, are shaped to fit inside the cones, with just a bit of overflow at the top of the cone. The flavors aren’t named, but one is white with yellow specks (I’m guessing that this might either be Brown Butter Almond Brittle or Banana Cream Pudding?) and the other is the color of milk chocolate (so I’m guessing Milkiest Chocolate). One of the triple scoops is a pinkish purple that looks very much like Wild Lavender, while the other is a less distinctive cream colored with brown dots that could be Goat Cheese with Red Cherries, Skillet Cinnamon Roll, or maybe some other yummy concoction. All of the ice cream looks pretty realistic in texture and coloring. The triple scoops look similar on top to the scoops that come with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream tote, but these aren’t scented, and the bottom is shaped differently (rounded like the shape of the bowl) so these won’t fit in the pint containers. Still pretty yummy-looking, I think. Grade: A
Two bowls that hold waffle bowls and scoops and a cone stand that holds waffle cones and scoops. The bowls are fairly lightweight red and pink plastic, nothing too special in my opinion, but the cone stand is a more substantial translucent blue tinted plastic that really helps highlight the ice cream cones. I don’t see any branding on these., and I think they’re all useful additions to the set. Grade: B+
An ice cream scooper and two spoons that dolls can hold, plus a doll cone holder. The blue and yellow plastic spoons are pretty basic, but essential. Their light weight does mean that the dolls can “hold” the spoons between their fingers - a little awkward but doable. Grade: B
The silver-colored scooper is great! Not only does it have a handle to slide over the doll’s hand, the scooper size matches up perfectly with all the ice cream scoops. I love that attention to detail, whether on purpose or coincidental. Grade: A.
The translucent white cone holder fits over the doll’s fingers, with a cone-sized ring on the opposite side. It’s a clever piece and nice addition; it would be even better if the set came with two of these. Grade: A-
An orange Jeni’s ice cream box with a lid. This box is made of very thin cardboard - actually more like card stock - which is unlikely to hold up to much play. I like the coloring and design (it has labels saying which side is up and something that looks like tape), but what I like most of all is that it can hold all of the pieces of this set, other than the waffle iron. I wish this were more substantial, but I’ll be careful with it and I'm very glad to have this piece to hold all the others. Grade: B
Overall, I’m really enjoying this set and I think it has a lot of play value (both by itself and in combination with the other Jeni’s pieces. I love the concept of creating something (like waffle cones and ice cream!) from start to finish, and I think it would have been even more awesome if the set included some ingredients, recipe books, etc - although that might have been cost prohibitive. Still, as is, I think this set deserves a B+ for the concept, design, playability, and appeal.
The front and back of the trifold pamphlet that comes with the set:
SKU#: HMF27 $45
Savor a favorite flavor (or two or three!) with this set designed in collaboration with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.
A waffle iron with a flat waffle that fits inside—and smells just like the real thing!, a working ticking timer, and a bell that dings when it’s done. I really like how this set enables you to go through almost the entire process of dishing up some delicious waffle cone sundaes, starting with making the waffle on this cute waffle iron. It’s made of lightweight silver colored plastic with the American Girl logo unobtrusively embossed on both sides. The waffle iron surface is black plastic and is textured with the waffle grid, and the top part of the iron opens with a light blue handle. The front of the waffle iron has two knobs or dials that really turn - one for the temperature, and the other for the timer (which also activates the ticking sound). The sound feature is fun and it doesn’t require batteries (yay!), but the quality is questionable. All of the ones I’ve seen make the ticking sound when the timer is turned, but the first one I bought didn’t make a bell sound when the time ran out. It was an easy replacement, and I wouldn’t have been too sad to miss the bell (since that’s not what I bought the set for), but it’s also kind of satisfying to hear the ding when the timer stops ticking, and it's something you may want to check out if you’re buying in person or soon after it arrives if ordering. Grade: B
There’s one flat waffle included, which is golden brown in color and has the sweet smell of waffle which seems to fade a bit over time. The waffle has the textured grid to match the waffle iron on both sides, and one side also has the American Girl logo embossed on it. I appreciate that the flat waffle is included with this set! Grade: B
The waffle iron closes nearly flat with the waffle inside:
A waffle-cone maker to form the two waffle cones, and a waffle-bowl mold and tamper to shape the two waffle bowls. The cone maker, bowl mold, and tamper are all made of thick, off-white plastic that size-wise fit really well with the waffle cones and bowls. These seem very well made, and I think it would be fun (at least for awhile) for kids to act out shaping the pieces, although they might eventually put them aside. Grade: B+
Two waffle cones and two waffle bowls are included. These are proportioned well when compared to the flat waffle, and have the same uneven edges, golden brown color, and grid texture on the outside. The inside of the bowl and cone are smooth. It’s nice that two of each are included! Grade: B+
Two double scoops that fit inside the waffle cones and two triple scoops that fit inside the waffle bowls. The double scoops, as the description says, are shaped to fit inside the cones, with just a bit of overflow at the top of the cone. The flavors aren’t named, but one is white with yellow specks (I’m guessing that this might either be Brown Butter Almond Brittle or Banana Cream Pudding?) and the other is the color of milk chocolate (so I’m guessing Milkiest Chocolate). One of the triple scoops is a pinkish purple that looks very much like Wild Lavender, while the other is a less distinctive cream colored with brown dots that could be Goat Cheese with Red Cherries, Skillet Cinnamon Roll, or maybe some other yummy concoction. All of the ice cream looks pretty realistic in texture and coloring. The triple scoops look similar on top to the scoops that come with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream tote, but these aren’t scented, and the bottom is shaped differently (rounded like the shape of the bowl) so these won’t fit in the pint containers. Still pretty yummy-looking, I think. Grade: A
Two bowls that hold waffle bowls and scoops and a cone stand that holds waffle cones and scoops. The bowls are fairly lightweight red and pink plastic, nothing too special in my opinion, but the cone stand is a more substantial translucent blue tinted plastic that really helps highlight the ice cream cones. I don’t see any branding on these., and I think they’re all useful additions to the set. Grade: B+
An ice cream scooper and two spoons that dolls can hold, plus a doll cone holder. The blue and yellow plastic spoons are pretty basic, but essential. Their light weight does mean that the dolls can “hold” the spoons between their fingers - a little awkward but doable. Grade: B
The silver-colored scooper is great! Not only does it have a handle to slide over the doll’s hand, the scooper size matches up perfectly with all the ice cream scoops. I love that attention to detail, whether on purpose or coincidental. Grade: A.
The translucent white cone holder fits over the doll’s fingers, with a cone-sized ring on the opposite side. It’s a clever piece and nice addition; it would be even better if the set came with two of these. Grade: A-
An orange Jeni’s ice cream box with a lid. This box is made of very thin cardboard - actually more like card stock - which is unlikely to hold up to much play. I like the coloring and design (it has labels saying which side is up and something that looks like tape), but what I like most of all is that it can hold all of the pieces of this set, other than the waffle iron. I wish this were more substantial, but I’ll be careful with it and I'm very glad to have this piece to hold all the others. Grade: B
Overall, I’m really enjoying this set and I think it has a lot of play value (both by itself and in combination with the other Jeni’s pieces. I love the concept of creating something (like waffle cones and ice cream!) from start to finish, and I think it would have been even more awesome if the set included some ingredients, recipe books, etc - although that might have been cost prohibitive. Still, as is, I think this set deserves a B+ for the concept, design, playability, and appeal.
The front and back of the trifold pamphlet that comes with the set: