Our Generation Irish Setter Pup

I purchased this adorable Our Generation Irish Setter Dog a few weeks ago. Our Generation products are sold at Target and the dogs retails for about three dollars each. He was attached to the piece of carboard with three plastic ties and was easy to remove.The packaging was Our Generation's usual recycled cardboard and had the heart shape in the barcode, which always makes me smile. 

This dog has soft brown fur with fuzzy ears, his eyes and nose are stitched on.The white part of his left eye doesn't seem to be as circular as the one in his right eye, like it might have a loose or extra stitch.The Our Generation dogs have soft bodies and stand approximately 3 inches tall. They include a ribbon collar with a leash stitched to it. The leash has a small loop on the end that I was able to get one of Bria's fingers in. There is also a pink plastic og logo "tag" attached to the collar and it seems really large in proportion to the dog's body. I think the pup looks really small compared to Bria. It seems the Our Generation dogs would represent puppies better than full grown dogs, at least for 18 inch dolls.

What do you think of the Our Generation pups?

Meet Bria

I've been wanting to write about this particular doll for awhile now just because she was such an incredible find. Bria is an American Girl of Today made by Pleasant Company in the mid 90's. she has blonde hair with pie bangs and blue eyes. She was found at a yard sale for a dollar, yeah I couldn't believe that either and if I wouldn't have been there I would never believe it. Her vinyl was very dirty and her hair was really matted and dry. After a lot of cleaning, hair brushing, and braid spray she looks a lot better than she did and I think she is adorable.

Ever After High "Next Top Villain" Book Review

I just finished re-reading Suzanne Selfors's Ever After High novel "Next Top Villain," and thought I would share a quick review.

Main Character: Duchess Swan

Length: 212 pages

Author: Suzanne Selfors

Summary (contains some spoilers, I tried not to reveal too much): "Next Top Villain" is the title of one of the newer books in the Ever After High franchise, it is not part of the original series but a stand alone book. This story centers around Duchess Swan and her interactions at Ever After High. 

Young Duchess is being raised by her Grandmother who informs her of her destiny after Duchess's feet start to turn into webbed feet. 

Fast forward to the new school year at Ever After High. Duchess has learned to control her changes and can now change into a swan at will. Duchess doesn't like her destiny and wants a happily ever after, preferably with her crush Daring Charming. Daring however can not even remember her name and seems to be interested in her roommate Lizzie Hearts. 

Duchess is assigned to take General Villainy with Mr. Badwolf and wants to be transferred to a different class since she isn't a villain. Mr. Badwolf tells the class they must do something villainous by the end of the week in order to get a good grade. Duchess is upset and doesn't want to do the project because she can't figure out why she is even in that class. Blondie Lockes does a Mirror Cast about the class project and titles it "Who Will Be The Next Top Villain?"

Duchess overhears Mr. Badwolf ask Headmaster Grimm why he assigned Duchess to that class. Headmaster Grimm responds by saying that he thinks maybe Duchess has a bit of black swan blood in her. He also says that if she did well in that class she could go on to learn black magic and change her destiny, which could then make her the next Evil Queen. Duchess wants to change her destiny so bad that she decides her General Villainy project will be to ruin everyone else's project.

Duchess succeeds in ruining most of her classmates projects and by doing so she alienates Lizzie who is one of her only friends. When the rest of the school starts treating her differently she is upset. Raven tells Duchess she will not be liked if she decides to continue with being a villain. 

The Next Top Villain comes down to Duchess and another classmate. When that classmate's project threats Lizzie's safety Duchess manages to rescue her. As a result of saving Lizzie, Duchess receives a grade of DG (Do Gooder),the worse grade you can get, on her project for General Villainy.

Final Thoughts: I really enjoyed learning more about Duchess's character and background. I might even get the "Destiny Do Over" for this book and see what it would have been like if some of the choices had been made differently. I'm looking forward to the next book, which from the cover looks like it will be about Ginger Breadhouse.

AGP DC Trip and Out of Stock Items

I took a trip to the Washington DC American Girl store today and a LOT of items were temporarily out if stock. 

Chocolate Lab Puppy

Himalayan Kitten

Jeweled Collar and Leash

Pet Treats and Eats Set

Coconut

Blossoms Collar and Leash

Grace's Welcome Gifts

Grace's French Bulldog Bonbon

Charming Pet Collar

My American Girl #55

Service Dog Vest

Grace's City Outfit

It seems like all the pets are selling well with the 20% off sale (or maybe they are going to revamp them again).

Grace seems to be selling very well, I saw several girls saying "look, look, it's the doll from the commercial." I also saw several girls with their dolls dressed in the  City Outfit, it looked really cute on a Kaya I saw. One of the sales people told me that Grace is selling better than Isabelle did last year.

The child outfit inspired by Rebecca's limited edition set was also really popular.    There were only a few left in stock and I saw two being purchased while I was there.

There were a few things on my shopping list that were sold out, but I did get some other things I wanted. 

Samantha's gazebo is gorgeous, if I had enough space for such a display it would definitely be mine.

What are your thoughts on the temporarily out of stock items? What sells well in your area? 

Frozen Sequel Annouced

According to Yahoo News, Disney has officially announced a sequel to the insanely popular movie Frozen. The movie will likely not be released for a few years according to the article possibly 2018. You can read the article here. So for all the Frozen doll fans out there that means that when the movie is released, those dolls will be produced by Hasbro. I'm anxious to see the Hasbro Disney dolls, are you?

American Girl Backorders

Update March 17

Coconut is listed as Sold Out online

Caroline's Parlor is listed as Sold Out online

Himalayan Kiiten is backordered until April 2

Addy's Dress and Sewing Set is backordered until April 17

The following is a list of American Girl items listed as backordered on their website:

Kit's Chicken Keeping Set backordered until April 17

Treats and Eats Pet Set backordered until May 29

American Girl Sales

As of today March 12, American Girl has several sales and specials going on.

The current in store Purchase With Purchase will be available until April 12.

There is a 20% off Spring sale online and in stores for a variety of items including the limited edition sets that were just released.

The other American Girl sale that has been online for awhile has discounted some of the prices even more.

There is also an American Girl special on Zulily right now.

Also until March 24 you can use the code SPRINGFUN for free shipping on orders over $100 on American Girl's website.

Possible Archival of AG Caroline

There is a very active rumor right now that American Girl plans to retire Caroline this year. Caroline was released in 2012 and seems to sell well.
It seems that the possible archival could be a result of a pending lawsuit in Canada over the name Caroline. With American Girl expanding into Canada and Mexico its not surprising that they would run into at least one trademark conflict, it happened to Journey Girls and Springfield dolls as well. You can read the news article here.
How do you feel about the possible archival of Caroline?

Upcoming American Girl 2016 Historical (BeForever)

Update January 2, 2016

Melody's first book was released yesterday and I picked up a copy while at AGP Washington DC. Melody is the upcoming Beforever doll, and this is the first time a book was released before a doll. Her story starts in the Spring of 1963 and Melody is the youngest of four children. She lives in Deteoit but her family is originally from Alabama. She has  two older sisters and an older brother who wants to be a Motown star. Her oldest sister Yvonne goes to Tuskegee College, the same college her parents attended. Melody's mom is a school teacher and her dad works at the Ford Motor Factory, he was a mechanic with the Tuskegee Airmen during WWII. Her grandpa (Poppa) owns a flower shop and her grandma (Big Momma) gives piano and singing lessons.

Update August 29, 2015:

Amazon has American Girl Historical 2016 book available for ore-order with the release day as January 1, 2016. While there is heavy speculation that the date is a place holder since American Girl does not usually release a Girl of the Year and BeForever character on the same day.

The books have been tagged, African American, 1900s, racism and prejudice, giving more support to the idea that the new character could be from the 1960s (or even possible 1920s). 

What are your thoughts on the possible new character?

It was revealed recently that there will be a new historical/BeForever character released in 2016. American Girl had recently posted on their Facebook page that the upcoming 2016 BeForever character would be a doll of color, confirming the release of a new historical character next year.