Artist's Set (2007-2009)

[tara]

(Taken from my doll's blog, so if the wording is a bit 1775, that's why)
Artist's Set:

1. Easel: Tis plastic. It is painted most cunningly to resemble wood, but close up, it is plastic. However, it has 2 lengths, and a nice drawer. The pegs on the bottom must be put all the way down for it to stand. The clasp is actual metal, and if one pulls it up, the part where it is extends to fit the pad. Grade: A- (for the plastic)
2. The brushes are marvelous! They are made just like real artists' brushes with high quality tips. They are marked American Girl where a maker's mark usually goes on real brushes. Grade: A++
3. The pencils are nice, but more colors could have been included: there is one yellow, 2 black, and 1 white. They work and are apparently 'Watercolor Pencils'. Grade: A (for ordinariness)
4. The paint-box is made out of cardboard with an Indian print. It is very nicely done. Grade: A+
5. The paints are rather small, and there could have been another shade in the box, but they look quite realistic and come in Sunset Orange, Sunflower Yellow, Grass Green, and Sky Blue. Grade: A+
6. The smock is all right, and the paint splatters are different on each side. It could have been more realistic if the splatters were more spread out (So Tara says from experience), but the Grade is still A.
7. The palette is also plastic, but the paint looks realistic, so B-.

Average Grade: A


UPDATE: After a while of having this I have realized that I never use the palette. Grade has been revised. It just sits in a box because it's too awkward really to put on a doll.

[American Girl Rescue]

I've just seen this over the weekend when my d-i-l brought it over along with her Samantha for a visit. The plasticy-ness of it turned me off. The little paint tubes and the pencils were cute, but the easel and palette were100% plastic and looked cheap and breakable.

Man, I wish I'd taken some pictures and could have added to the reviews! Truthful, yet hateful!

ETA: Oh, yes, need to add my d-i-l's complaint: One of the colored pencils was WHITE! Like she's gonna need white to draw on her white paper. Since they only included FOUR pencils, you'd think that they could make them four COLORFUL ones.

[designerdiana]

I have it, and it's cute enough. The plastic that the easel is made of does look a little cheesy, but it's well engineered, and folds and collapses nicely, with spaces in an inside drawer to store supplies. I like the little things they've included with it - a paint-splashed apron, brushes, box of faux oil paints, pad of artists' paper, a palette with faux paint spots, and a box of colored pencils.

For the price, I would have liked for the easel and palette to be made of wood. But the easel/drawer is well engineered, folds up and stores items well. And the goodies that come with it are all cute and nicely detailed.

Yeah, $32 is a bit pricey, and so it would have been nice if the easel was made of wood for that price. But I love arts and crafts, and felt my scenes wouldn't be complete without having something like that in them, so I bought it and don't regret it. Overall, I would say that the set as it is should have been priced a little lower, maybe $24 - 26 or so. If they made the easel and palette out of wood, it would be more worth the $32 current price.

A nice set with good details. However, because of the plastic-y appearance, I would give the set an A-/B+ overall.

[starearedkid]

I have it; but don't care for it. However, my husband bought it for me as a gift for our anniversary, and he was so PROUD of it-I didn't have the heart to tell him it was ultimately won the Mr. Cheese award in cheesiness I do like the apron though.

Plus the price tag is a bit much; I might have been more willing to put up with its cheesiness if it was 16 or 18 dollars.

-Jordyn

[Firinel]

I licked it, it tasted of cheese

Okay, seriously, yes, the wood grain as Gen mentioned. And the really apparent seam marks, as least on the ones I saw. I also didn't like the fake paint splotches on the palette, nor the under-sizedness of it (it's too short to stand at). I also don't think it was well researched since you don't paint watercolours (see the pad of paper) propped up. That it came with pencils also struck me as on the lame side. Soft or oil pastels, or conte would've been far more appropriate and original.

I don't own it, but that's because I've seen it in person and it is very cheesy looking. I'm not necessarily "oh no, plastic!", but in this case it was just very bad in execution.

[kimpa]

Because I love how this folds away for storing I would give this item a A-

There are a lot of nifty details such as the paint brushes and pencils which I really adore.

Tara's description above is very accurate.

[kenzie]

My dd has been playing with it since it arrived. It comes with a lot of little pieces, but everything stores nicely in the drawer except for the paper pad. My only complaint is that my dd kept knocking off the easel part and I have to snap it back in for her. Overall this is a cute set. I don't think it is wort $34, but at the sales price it is a bargain.

Oops, I just realized that I didn't get any pictures of the apron. I will post it later







folded down

[emchhardy]

I bought this set from a board member NIB. It was worth every penny. My DD really loves this set. Her Daddy is an artist so that may be one of the reasons why - she paints a lot and is pretty knowledgeable about painting. She has her dolls paint and also uses it for art class when she sets up doll school. It's a great accessory piece and I highly recommend especially if you have a child who is interested in painting.

[ladoyle]

I have the 1999 easel set with the paints, but it is put away, so no photos. I also gave my DGD the 2007 Artist set, and I like mine much better. The 1999 version is all wood, which is a big plus in my opinion. Also it is bigger, sturdier, and not so difficlut to put up as the smaller one, which has problems when trying to get it to open up and STAND up, get the drawer to pull out, etc. The newer one is more trouble than it is worth IMHO. If you get a chance to get the 1999 easel, by all means get it.

[lara]

I just picked this set up off ebay for my DD, who loves crafts and painting. The accessories are adorable, but I am not sure the easel is sturdy enough for play, even though it is plastic! Jess agreed to try it out, and it was very frustrating to get the easel set with the legs at the right height - they kept collapsing down. It is cute, and Jess could hold the palette and balance the brush. My set came with pencils in black, white, yellow and green.

ETA: While I love the details of the accessories, I am switching this set out for the 1999 easel because that one is more sturdy, and I think will be less frustrating for my DD. (I added a review of the 1999 easel to the review board)

Jess painting, to show the scale!