Surfboard Set

[mamared]

There’s nothing Joss wants more than to learn the frontside air and win the video contest so she can meet her surf idol, Tina Hart. She spends time practicing in the waves at the Break nearly every day. Includes:
A colorful surfboard with Tina Hart’s signature, an ankle leash, and foot straps
A pretend action camera that attaches to the front of her board to capture her tricks
A bottle of roll-on sunscreen for long days in the sun
A bar of surf wax to help her feet grip the board
A colorful, striped beach towel to dry off after a surf session and to protect her hearing aid case while she’s in the water
SKU#: GKX62 $50

I didn’t initially plan on getting this set, but I think it’s a great addition to Joss’s collection. Here it is with Joss at the beach:

The underside of the board is aqua with a berry colored stripe and the American Girl branding running lengthwise. It has three flexible fins that feel like they’re made out of silicone or rubber.

The top of the board is decorated with berry, aqua, yellow, and pink, the same colors that are used in all of Joss’s branding and packaging. The signature of Joss’s idol is near the nose of the board, and there’s a wave logo partway down that also shows up on some of her other gear.

The nose of her board also has a holder for the camera. The holder rotates and pivots easily but also stays in position when it’s not being moved, and it holds the camera securely. Here are some photos of both sides of the camera.

The other end of the board has a leash firmly attached with a strap that can Velcro closed around Joss’s ankle. The leash is pink and measures around 8 inches long, but can easily stretch several inches longer, and the strap that goes around her ankle has a mostly pink and grey design.

There are also two clear foot straps on the surfboard to help Joss stay in place. They hold her feet snugly in place.

Overall, I love the surfboard. It measures 19 inches by 5 inches at its widest point, but I was surprised by how compact it seems in person. With the relatively small size and flexible fins, it will be easy to store when not in use. And technically, even if the board gets dinged up, that will just make it more accurate to the condition of the board in the book (this is supposed to be a dinged-up shortboard handed down to Joss by her brother) - although that’s not in my plans. With all of the extra features, too, the board is an easy A from me.

The towel is the other big item in this set. It’s a nice plush beach towel with a light blue and dark blue wave pattern on it, which is reversed on the back.

The towel measures 17.5 inches by 11.5 inches. This seems really generous when compared to Nanea’s towel (the yellow one below), but it’s oddly just a tad too short for Joss to completely lay down on without getting her feet in the sand. It still gets a B+ from me.

The three small items - the camera, sunscreen, and board wax - don’t have a lot of detail but are nice to have in the set. The camera photos are included in the pics of the surfboard but the directions are included below. The lid of the sunscreen comes off, and the board wax says “SURF” on one side and “WAX” on the other, but otherwise they don’t have a ton of detail.

While the detail on the little items may not be very impressive, I do like that they’re included, and not having sunscreen or board wax (or the camera) would have been a miss on AG’s part. I’ll give them a C for that reason. Unfortunately Joss’s bag isn’t big enough to carry everything, which is kind of a bummer when heading to the beach.

Even though some of the individual items are lower, my overall grade for this set is still an enthusiastic A.

[SarahK]

I love everything about the surf board set but there is one down side I just realized. The decals are just stickers on both sides . I don’t plan on putting it in the water but something to consider if you are planning some elaborate water shoots. I like it as a more decorative piece but still the edges of the sticker decals could get fuzzy or bent up with play. I love the colors and the board has a nice feel to it.