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Post by RiceDoll on Mar 29, 2015 20:50:46 GMT -5
I knew I wanted to add this set to my collection as soon as I saw it and I'm so pleased to have it here! First up is the teddy bear. She's nonjointed, but is still a cute little thing nonetheless, and she has a big long tag on her backside. One eye is slightly higher than the other one, but it doesn't bug me too bad. The slight defect gives her a bit more personality. Her fur's nice and soft and the bow's sewn on tightly, so there's no chance of it coming loose unless someone really yanks it hard. A-My dolls can never have too many books, so I was happy to see that Samantha's book is included in this set. It's a little larger than Molly's textbook and will look nice on a doll's bed or on her desk. A+I've included a picture of the scrapbook with Emily's for comparison purposes. They're both the same size, but I think Samantha's has a few more pages. The scrapbook's cute and I love the flowery cover, but it seems a bit fragile. Like Emily's, the cord tying it together is coming loose and I know I'm going to have to retie it soon. There's a paper pocket on the inside that holds all of Samantha's cards. I had a bit of trouble opening it and think it might rip in the hands of a child. B-The postcards are really pretty, but only two are postcards and the rest are just pretty pictures that Samantha may have cut out of a magazine to make a decoupage box or something. There are seven in total and all are blank in the back. I think it would've been nicer of the postcards had a little written message on the back or something. I think they might be stickers since they feel so smooth, but I can't get the back off, so I'm not sure. BThe music box is my favorite item in this whole set. It's made of wood and has a lovely flower design on the lid. The lid on mine is just a teensy bit crooked. It bothers me a bit, but not enough to return the set. There's enough space on the inside for Samantha to store her necklace and maybe a hair ribbon or two. The inside has a sticker that reads "Merry Musical Box, Wiegenlied (Mozart's Lullaby)". AOverall, I give this set a B+. I love the book, music box, and teddy bear, but I think the scrapbook and its paper pieces are a bit flimsy. I would've given it a slightly higher grade if it had come with a little memento to store in the box, like a brooch or ribbon.
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Post by RiceDoll on Sept 20, 2014 19:07:58 GMT -5
I own a PC set, but I've recently acquired a partial Mattel set and decided to take some comparison pics. For most of these, the PC item will be on the left and the Mattel one on the right. First up is the tea tin itself. My camera has a mind of its on when it comes to the flash, so it's a little hard to tell the differences in color. My PC tea tin is heavily tarnished, so I can't comment on color differences, but the Mattel tea tin is a nice and bright gold color. They're both the same size, but with a few slight differences. The differences are most apparent in the handles. The PC tea tin has a raised handle and the Mattel one has a smooth handle. The rim of the Mattel tea tin is smoothed over while the PC tea tin is not. The little bolts in the PC tea tin are larger than the Mattel one. The PC tea tin has a sticker on the inside and one on the bottom saying "Made in China especially for Pleasant Company". The Mattel one just has a stamp saying "Made in China". The lids are virtually the same, but I found that the Mattel lid is a little harder to pull off than the PC one. To be perfectly honest, I don't remember which one is the PC napkin and which one is the Mattel one. They're almost identical, except one is a teeny bit larger than the other. The smaller one also has brighter embroidery. Neither one is tagged and they both feel exactly the same. Close up of the embroidery. The one on the right has brighter colors and a smoother look to it. The Mattel set I received only had the peach and sandwich, so I won't be able to show comparison pics between the gingerbread and egg. The PC set only had a half, but the Mattel one comes with a whole sandwich. The bread is patterned and the watercress on the PC sandwich is lighter than the Mattel one. Closeup of the sandwiches with the PC one on top and the Mattel one on the bottom. They both feel hard and a teeny bit rubbery. The Mattel peach is ridiculously huge. It feels a bit more rubbery than the PM peach and can be opened into two halves, which makes a nice display and is probably easier for Samantha to eat. Comparison shot between the peaches and a doll's hand. The Mattel peach is larger than a quarter and a little tricky for the doll to hold, but then again, so's the PC peach. Overall, I think this is a cute set and either version is great, but I prefer the Mattel tea tin and the PC food. The Mattel tea tin just looks a bit more finished to me, but the PC food is cute and doesn't come with a monster-sized peach.
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Post by RiceDoll on Jul 7, 2013 21:07:05 GMT -5
Since there aren't any pictures of Saige's painting set, I've decided to add some of my own. Behold, my fabulous graduation present Saige's art set. The portfolio, sketches, tubes of paint, palette, cup, paintbrushes, and sketchbook. Honestly, I really love the portfolio. Not being an artist or knowing any art majors, I don't know what kind of portfolio they'd actually use, but I thought it was cute. The sketches included in the portfolio: cowboy boots and a hat, a desert scene, a horse, a house, and galloping horses. My favorite is the desert scene, but they're all cute and look like real sketches. The paper's not at all flimsy and feels like thin cardboard, so it should hold up to some play better than regular paper. I love the paintbrushes, mainly because they have real bristles instead of just being molded plastic. This is just a comparison shot between them and the ruler from Kit's school set. The palette and tubes of paint. These are all plastic, but the paint tubes feel more rubbery than the palette. The set only comes with five tubes, so I guess Saige must've mixed the red and yellow to make orange. The paintings: a horse, a saddle and blanket, a cactus flower, some hot air balloons, and a landscape scene. My favorites are the last three on the bottom row. It would've been nice if AG had made a blank canvas and an in-progress painting just to give the set some variety. The paintings are all different sizes with the horse one being the largest and the hot air balloon the smallest. Just the back of one of the paintings. Looks like sturdy carboard, thin cardboard, and the canvas material. The easel before being unfolded. It's all plastic and unfolds easily. There's a little . . . I wanna call it notch, but that doesn't sound quite right. Anyway, the bottom platform of the easel easily snaps on to keep it from falling down. Unfolded easel with the notch in the front for the plastic cup. It should hold up to very light and careful play. Sadie modeling a paintbrush and the palette. I'm not sure how to make her hold it realistically, so for now, it just rests on her arm. Hopefully she doesn't drop it or it'll ruin her dress. One last shot of everything together. Overall, I give this set an A-. I really like it and it's got lots of great pieces, but I wish it had included a few more things to justify the price.
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Post by RiceDoll on Aug 10, 2012 0:03:20 GMT -5
When I was younger, I used to get a kick out of the catalog pictures with Sam and her nutcracker doll. A doll with a doll with a doll. I thought it was the neatest thing ever. I also thought Clara herself was very pretty and she was always one of the first things I circled in the catalog. Years later, I finally have my own little Clara (the early PC one that I really wanted) and while my inner child is ecstatic, the grown up me feels a little . . . ehh. The one I purchased doesn't have the little nutcracker, so no reviews on that. However, the hand that once held the nutcracker has reddish spots that I will try to remove as soon as I can. Her darling little face is beautiful, but I can't help feel as though someone didn't apply Clara's lip paint properly. It's just a teensy bit uneven. Also, her face looks like she overdid it with the powder because it's lighter than her hands, but it's still cute. She just looks like she's wearing makeup. In the comparison with the other dolls for dolls I have, she's a wee bit smaller than mini Kirsten. She didn't come with a ribbon in her hair and has a bit of a sticky spot in the back where the ribbon might have been. The texture of her hair reminds me of my Lindsey because of the frizzies and overall dryness. Just like Lindsey's hair, her hair feels soft in some areas and rough in others. I think her wig is only secured at the top. When I pull her hair back, I feel like I could easily pull the wig off. Maybe it's just my Clara, but her left foot isn't as smooth as her right foot. It's almost like her left foot is cracked or something. I'm not sure why that is. The thing that turned me off the most was the lace quality, but then again, I am a pretty big lace snob. I guess I was expecting some sort of softer lace, but it's really scratchy and cheap-looking. In my opinion, it's a bit off scale for Clara's dress and makes me think that a lace machine sort of went crazy on the trimming, but smaller and more delicate lace might have been more difficult to work with. There's white, fluffy stuff inside the sleeve connecting to the arm. Pipe cleaner, maybe? It certainly looks like it is. I never knew that her arms were bendy. I don't think I'm actually supposed to bend them, but it's fun because it gives Clara different looks. For some reason, the fingers on one hand are more detailed than the other. Her body feels slightly squishy, but since her dress is sewn closed, I don't know what it's actually made of. Also, Clara says hello in the picture below. Overall, I give her a B-. She's still very pretty, just not quite what I was expecting. I'll try and post pictures later on. It's dark right now and every picture I take of Clara doesn't do her any justice. Edit: Took some pictures~! Hopefully, they're the right size. Last one's with Lindsey for size comparison.
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Post by RiceDoll on Jun 25, 2012 20:42:35 GMT -5
I honestly think this is one of the prettiest dresses AG has ever made. To me, it feels quite delicate and I'm always extra careful when handling it, but one of the bristles on the hairbrush I was using to comb Josefina's hair got caught on the dress and snagged it. So um, yeah, be careful when your doll's wearing this dress and brushing her hair. I feel like the ribbon never lays right on the doll's hair, but that's a minor thing. The flowers are okay, but the bouquet feels tiny, so I bunch them together with the flowers from Addy's ice cream set to make a fuller bouquet. I know it's a summery dress and probably wouldn't be used with a crinoline, but I can't resist adding extra poofiness to everything, so here's Josefina wearing it with the NOLA crinoline and her winter petticoat. For appearance only, the dress is a definite A, but the delicate nature of the fabric brings my grade down to a B.
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Post by RiceDoll on Sept 28, 2011 14:17:33 GMT -5
I've been collecting a few of the anniversary minis and so far, Rebecca is my favorite. Her hair is really big and fluffy. I haven't tried to tame it yet. Since the bow looks like it's sticking up in the stock pic, I was a little worried about how I would make it lie flat, but in real life, it's fine and lies nicely against her head. There's discreet stitching along the bottom of the ribbon to hold it in place. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a clear picture of it because my cell phone camera sort of sucks. Her dress is adorable, exactly like the doll-sized version. For some reason, her stockings feel much nicer and thicker than the ones that came with the doll-sized dress. The little shoes have ribbon bows and not much of a heel, but otherwise look like the ones that come with the Hanukkah dress Like mini anniversary Samantha, mini Rebecca didn't come with bloomers, but whenever we put her Hanukkah dress on full-sized Rebecca, we usually skip putting on her bloomers because they make her dress look weird, so it doesn't bother me very much. Overall, I give her an A+. She's such a cutie pie.
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Post by RiceDoll on Aug 24, 2011 17:18:39 GMT -5
I bought this item for twenty dollars on a whim. It's really cute, but I don't think I would have bought it for the original price. Since there aren't any other reviews, I took a couple of pics with my phone. Sorry in advance for the blurriness. ^_^ The hairnet, brush, combs, and bobby pins. The pins are smaller than a regular-sized bobby pin. They were a little tricky to get out of the card, but I can see them coming in handy for dolly hairstyles. Grade: A+ The combs are pretty and made from plastic. I don't really know how to use them for styling though. Thank goodness the curl kit comes with instructions. Molly's currently playing hide and seek with Lindsey, so Josefina volunteered to help me with this review. Here she is trying on one of the combs. Grade: B The hair brush is pretty meh in my opinion. It looks like the kind of brush you'd get with with a Barbie, except the bristles aren't hard plastic. Aside from looking pretty on a vanity table and in brushing scenes, it doesn't have much use. Grade: C+ Josefina's hand with the brush for size comparison. There's an actual hairnet in the little hairnet package. It looks very much like the hairnet my little sister's Rebecca came with. As with the comb, there's not much to do with it, although the package is cute. Grade: C- Josefina with the perma wave box for size comparison. I love how it matches the illustration in Molly's books. It's slightly flimsy, but it holds the rollers, permanent wave bottle, and end papers. Grade: A- I haven't tried it yet, but according to the instruction pamphlet, you can use the rollers to give Molly (or another doll) curls, which made me super-duper happy. The rollers look as though they're made of metal (I'm actually not sure if they are completely made of metal, but I'm sure the wires are) and look much nicer than the modern AG ones. The end papers are in the box and there's a nice supply of them. Grade: A+ The bottle is slightly see-through and made of plastic. The top twists off. It completes the scene, I guess. From what I remember, permanent wave solution smells horrible, so Josefina's glad that it's empty. Grade: B- I love the dolly hairdryer~! It's just so cute. I don't have any batteries, so I haven't tried it to see if it sounds like a real one, but it's still awesome. Though plastic, it has a nice, heavy weight to it. I was surprised to see that there's a little strap on the back so the dolls can hold it. The strap's actually a little tricky to get on and I think the hairdryer might be a little too heavy for Josefina. Grade: A+ Miss Victory cards, super cute, and instruction pamphlets, which I really need. Grade: A Overall, I give this set a an A. You can set up some nice scenes and actually use the items to give Molly her Miss Victory curls.
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Post by RiceDoll on Apr 11, 2011 23:46:35 GMT -5
I have two of Molly's desks. One I bought directly at AGPLA in June of last year and the other I ordered during a free shipping period. The one I ordered seems a little loose and has a stamp on the bottom, but it's still nice. I keep both in a school display corner of my room. One desk belongs to my Molly and the other belongs to Lindsey.
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