Guitar (RETIRED)

[Darthstar76]

Felicity's Guitar was introduced in 1992 and retired in 2001. It was made of wood and had a burgundy ribbon. It was reintroduced in 2005 (this time in plastic with a pink ribbon) and then retired again in 2008. It is pictured on the cover and is part of the story in Happy Birthday, Felicity!

PC description: When Grandfather came to visit, he gave Felicity a precious gift - an exquisite guitar that had once belonged to her grandmother. The carved rosette in the middle of the wooden guitar and the beautiful burgundy ribbon made snooty Annabelle green with envy.


First version, wooden guitar.

I have had two of the original guitars, and I have the new plastic one. Honestly? I like the plastic version better! Call me crazy!

The original wooded guitar has a glazing which crazes and cracks very easily. It seems fragile, and the paint is poorly done.

[agcollector293110]

First version, wooden guitar.

Ag4alison, I'm going to disagree! I have both of them as well and I think the plastic one looks like just that...plastic. I was lucky enough to score the old variation for 10$ on ebay (my best deal so far) and fell in love with the quality (in my opinion of course). However both are nice but I think the retired version appears more like something Lissie would play. I also think it shows more details. I didn't notice a glazing on it but I should probably go downstairs and check...

[QNPoohBear]

Revised version (plastic)

The guitar is mostly very lovely. It's plastic but the body of the guitar is nice. It has real metal strings but the turning knobs (sorry don't know the real name) are plastic and fixed and don't really tune the guitar. There is a salmon pink satin ribbon on the guitar, like Felicity's birthday dress ribbon, so Felicity's can hold the guitar. It is hard for Felicity to hold because her arms don't bend inward but it makes for a nice pose. It doesn't have a bow on top like the older version. The guitar comes with trading cards about lessons with Miss Manderly.

Grade: A- for looking too much like a hunk of plastic and not much
playability.

[shiniker]

Revised version (plastic)

I got the guitar on sale and so paid $8 for it. I think it is a very cute piece for $8. In my opinion, it is not worth regular price. It is plastic and looks very much like plastic, which to me says cheap.

Regardless of what one personally considers as cheap looking, plastic is cheaper to buy and manufacture. I'm not saying that the wood one is superior (I have never seen it), just that this one is not worth full price. $8 on the other hand seems just about right.

I think had I paid more than $8 for the guitar I would have returned it and ordered something different.

[JeanieD]

Revised version (plastic)

A
This piece is lovely, and elegant, and I'm perfectly happy with it.
As far as being made of plastic - I've seen many violins and guitars whose finish is as shiny as this - the sounding board (is that the right term?) even has wood graining. I don't think it looks "obviously" plastic!

[FelicityFan85]

Revised version (plastic)

I got this a few months ago (yay for sale items). It's really nice and I love the design. I don't mind that it's plastic too much-the modern one is, too. I've heard mixed reviews about both since everyone has their own preference. This gets an A from me.

[libbysey]

I give the wooden guitar an A for an adult collector, B for a child.

It is very nice, but I understand why AG switched it to plastic. Although my daughter's is fine, may other people have had broken tuning pegs and/or strings. If you are giving it to a girl, the plastic one is a better bet.

My daughter has both the wooden version and the newer plastic one as well. The wooden one does not have any of the crazing that others are complaining about- the quality is great.

Side by side, they look almost identical, except, obviously, for the color of the ribbons. The wooden one has a burgundy one which is quite a bit longer so that you can tie a bow where it meets the head of the guitar. The plastic one has a salmon-pink one which matches her birthday dress quite well-in fact it is almost identical to the color of the hair ribbon for her spring gown.

Another difference is that the wooden version had the ability to turn the tuning pegs while the plastic one they are fixed.

I have to say that neither looks "cheap" to me, they both appear to be quality construction.

[missygirl]

Revised version (plastic)

I have never seen the old version except in pictures, but I am enjoying this revised piece. I bought it on sale and highly recommend it for the sale price. It is bigger than I expected, and I am greatful it's plastic. I have not let any kids play with it yet but I very well might because of it being plastic. The ribbon (which I think is a nice touch) is a little big, but it will do fine for me. I am not picky on historical accuracy for this piece, I do not know if it's historically accurate. It's definitely a great piece for kids, and I enjoy using it for display as well.

A+

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[Tiffany]

First version, wooden guitar.

Here's a photo:

[horsemom]

I give the original wooden guitar an A for a collector but more like B- for a kid.

It survived my childhood (and more tellingly, my sister's childhood- she was a bit rougher) with only one broken peg. It's not very noticeable as the bow kind of covers it up. I'd still take the old version. I've compared it to the new version in person, and it's just personal taste- I dislike plastic items.

Other than the one broken peg because my sister insisted on playing and tuning it a lot when she was about 6-ish, my guitar has survived great (it was one of the very first runs of production). I've never done anything special to store it except keep it in a climate-controlled environment (i.e., closet instead of attic or basement) in a box well padded with tissue paper. I've had no flaking, crazing, or anything so I guess I'm lucky.

[skukla]

Revised version (plastic)



The plastic version of the guitar is good from a distance (indeed, I thought this was a picture of my wooden one until I realized that the ribbon was pink, not a washed out picture of a burgandy ribbon!) Up close the plastic doesn't work for me. Too smooth, too shiny, too light. I was happy to get it on sale, but I packed it away when I purchased a lot with the wooden version in it.

[skukla]

Wood on the left, plastic on the right.

I dusted, I dust like a fiend, why is there dust on the table?

[FreakTM]

Revised version (plastic)

I bought this on sale, but I don't really care for the fact it's plastic. A for solid playability, but nothing else.

[Megan]

Revised version (plastic)

I'm glad I got this for the sale price, I would never have paid full price for this chunk of plastic. It's okay for pictures but it just feels so fake.

[rosieangel]

Revised version (plastic)

I recently bought this from a board member, and I think, aside from the cheap-looking pegs where you can actually see the mold seams (ugh), this is a very cute piece. The double rosette design is quite elegant, and the finish makes it look like an actual guitar - it doesn't look plasticky at all (except for the aforementioned pegs). I like that you can strum the strings - and tune them - albeit, not very well, but I managed to tighten them enough to make four notes. The pink ribbon is also a nice touch.

Felicity's limbs don't allow her to hold the guitar properly... I know, because I did everything in my power to get her to do it. She just looks kind of silly with it. But she liked it so much in the book that I had to get it for her.

Felicity rocking out on her guitar:
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[Deleted]

Original guitar:

[thevintagelover]

A+



Mine is the plastic revised version, and I think it's beautiful. The first thing I noticed is that it is very light. There's almost nothing to it, weight wise. However, that isn't a bad thing. The workmanship of it is beautiful, and I personally don't find it being made of plastic to be an issue.


It looks to me like real wood, and it has the texture of real wood. The lighter front 'wood' is like a smooth laminate, while the back is a darker type of blend.


The ribbon is beautiful, and it matches the birthday set perfectly. This isn't by any means an essential, or even functional part of her collection, but it is beautifully made and makes displays look extra pretty.