Snowboard Gear (2004-2005)
Nov 12, 2009 11:09:35 GMT -5
Post by daughterofthedryad on Nov 12, 2009 11:09:35 GMT -5
The Snowboard Gear consists of a helmet, goggles, snowboard, & lip balm necklace. My friend recently got the snowboard outfit and it came with the helmet & goggles.
The helmet: It's made of a rather iridescent plastic which scratches easily. I can't say I was impressed with the quality of the plastic, although the helmet does fit quite easily and goes over both the doll's head and the fleece snowboard hat very well. The straps are made from black elastic and there's a little black plastic buckle to fasten under the chin. It took me about fifteen minutes of finagling before I could undo the buckle. Little hands might be able to undo it better.
The goggles: The goggles are molded to fit the doll's face very well. The green rim is cheap molded plastic, and the lenses are thin. It fastens with elastic straps that velcro together around the back of the head. The elastic straps are wide and say "American Girl" on them--nice quality. However, the velcro was a mistake--it snags the hair SO easily, you can't ever put on just the goggles; you have to fasten them over the fleece hat that comes with the snowboard outfit. Which seems like what it was intended to do originally, because the elastic fits quite easily over the hat.
Overall: I definitely wouldn't buy this set just for the helmet & goggles, as they're of rather inferior quality and are hard to manage. They do look cute on the dolls, though. I've never seen the snowboard so I don't know if the set is worth getting just for that. C for lack of quality materials, the helmet buckle, and velcro on the goggles.
ETA: I forgot to mention, there's always the possibility of little fingers getting pinched by that helmet buckle.
The helmet: It's made of a rather iridescent plastic which scratches easily. I can't say I was impressed with the quality of the plastic, although the helmet does fit quite easily and goes over both the doll's head and the fleece snowboard hat very well. The straps are made from black elastic and there's a little black plastic buckle to fasten under the chin. It took me about fifteen minutes of finagling before I could undo the buckle. Little hands might be able to undo it better.
The goggles: The goggles are molded to fit the doll's face very well. The green rim is cheap molded plastic, and the lenses are thin. It fastens with elastic straps that velcro together around the back of the head. The elastic straps are wide and say "American Girl" on them--nice quality. However, the velcro was a mistake--it snags the hair SO easily, you can't ever put on just the goggles; you have to fasten them over the fleece hat that comes with the snowboard outfit. Which seems like what it was intended to do originally, because the elastic fits quite easily over the hat.
Overall: I definitely wouldn't buy this set just for the helmet & goggles, as they're of rather inferior quality and are hard to manage. They do look cute on the dolls, though. I've never seen the snowboard so I don't know if the set is worth getting just for that. C for lack of quality materials, the helmet buckle, and velcro on the goggles.
ETA: I forgot to mention, there's always the possibility of little fingers getting pinched by that helmet buckle.