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Post by QNPoohBear on Mar 4, 2007 18:12:10 GMT -5
Released in 1987, retired in 2000. After retirement, Kirsten's Snowshoes were sold as a separate item.On long winter days in the cabin, Kirsten would play with her thaumatrope, spinning the disk so the bird would hop into its cage—an optical illusion that’s as fun today as in 1854. Paper dolls helped fill the long hours inside, too. There were a treat for pioneer girls who had few playthings. And on days when Kirsten worked on the trap line with Lars, she would strap on her snowshoes and walk for miles on top of the deep snow.Kirsten's Winter Pastimes were a nice set because they include things she could actually play with. The paper dolls are neat because they have some history of fashion included and some in a special American Girl Paper Dolls envelope (not shown). The snowshoes are made from real wood and leather straps. They are very fragile and it is tough to get them to stay on her feet. The thaumatrope is kind of cool. It's a printed image on a piece of heavy duty paper with embroidery floss string. The original string broke, so I replaced it with embroidery floss and it's the same as it was originally. The paper items are also kind of fragile and I lost one of the paper doll's hats because it was so small. Grade: A- for being kind of fragile.
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Post by 12kizuna on Jan 6, 2013 23:18:19 GMT -5
Kirsten needs some entertainment if she's going to get through those long winters!! Her past-times set comes with a little paper thaumatrope toy. On one side is a picture of a cage, and on the other side is a little bird. There is red string attached to either side of the disk, and if you pull it taut with both fingers and twirl the red string, it looks like the bird is in the cage. I love Kirsten's paper dolls. It comes with a little white envelope which holds the doll, four hats and four outfits. It's very easy to lose these little pieces, so I always keep them in the envelope. Her paper accessories are fun to play with, but very fragile and easily lost. I can't believe I still have all of the pieces from my childhood. Kirsten's snowshoes are the main draw of this set, which were later sold without the paper toys. They are also very fragile, but detailed and so awesome. There is a leather strap that can be unbuckled, but I usually leave it buckled and slide it over the top of Kirsten's boots. There are two wooden pieces going across the snowshoe which are the exact width of Kirsten's boots (her red ones and probably her two-tone and black boots as well). As a result, her feet sort of "snap" into the snowshoes, but they don't always stay there too well. For display purposes, it's just fine, but play can prove a little aggravating. She stands really well in them, though. I give this set an A. I always love paper dolls, and fun little accessories. The snowshoes are just awesome. It is probably hard to find the paper items intact now, but I'm sure there are scans of them somewhere so you can print your own if you need to have them. Otherwise, the snowshoes themselves are totally worth it.
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Post by keeperofthepast on Jun 6, 2023 16:19:59 GMT -5
The paper dolls are beyond cute. The thaumatrope is fun to play with and the snowshoes are well made of wood.
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