Review of Journey Girls Bistro Table Set

I don’t know what it is about this year, but it seems to be the year of the table and chairs!  AG came out with a new set for Truly Me as well as a set for Melody, Our Generation came out with a set right around the new year, My Life As came out with a set recently and so did Journey Girls.  Take your pick, they are all cute!  I have the prior AG table and chairs set, but I’d been contemplating a smaller set for when I do set ups in the bakery, using that set was just a bit on the crowded side.  I’ve seen reviews on several different sets, but the one that appealed to me the most as far as looks was the Journey Girl set.  I think part of that is because it resembles Kit’s table and chairs set a bit, and that is a set that I’ve always liked.  The only reason I don’t have it is because it’s all metal and weighs a lot, and I would have difficulty storing it when not in use.

In my recent trip to Toys R Us, I decided to take a close look at this set, and after much debate, it came home with me.  I wasn’t sure what to expect after my last wrestling match with the packaging but I’m happy to report, it was easy as pie to get out of the box.  I guess they were saving the frustration for the assembly.  While the pieces appeared to be easy to assemble, they did require a bit of manual dexterity.  It was all worth it in the end though, this is one adorable set!

The accessories with this set are very well done, I especially love the tiered serving stand and the fact that the plates are removable, just like with a real one:

You get 4 macarons, 4 heart shaped cookies–and only 1 cupcake?! I guess the dolls have to fight it out over that one.

You also get 2 plates (saucers), 2 cups and 2 placemats. I like the sizing on these pieces, scale accurate.

  

I love the attention to detail on the table, so well done.  I think the top will be fairly easy to get off too in order to store it a little easier.

The chairs are very nice as well, about the only thing I’d be tempted to change are the cushion covers, not wild about the print, but that’s more of a personal choice. I was a little concerned about how easily they would tip with a doll in them, or how well the doll would stay on them, and my concerns went out the window once I tried them out. They are very sturdy despite their light weight.

Now the big question was, who would get to try them out first? I decided on Emily and Lanie for 2 reasons. 1) they haven’t done any modeling yet for the blog and 2) it shows how well they work for both sizes of dolls. Don’t they look so sweet, sharing a snack together? I laughed once I opened the photos up on my computer too, with them sitting by that window and it looking so pretty outdoors, it almost looks like they are at a real bistro!

I give this set an A+++++. This is well worth the $24.99 price and a fantastic bargain at that. Once I got it all assembled, I was tempted to stick it in the doll kitchen and take out the AG set, I like it that much! The only issue that I feel like I need to mention is that the assembly on this was not all that easy, so if you are buying it for a small child, be prepared to assemble it. Otherwise, it is perfect!

Review of Journey Girls Fashion Gift Pack

I don’t have a lot of Journey Girls items, but the few that I do have, I like a lot.  I check the Toys R Us website periodically to see what new items they have.  Recently, one item in particular caught my eye.  I decided to go pick one up and see if it was as nice as it looked online.

It’s called a Fashion Gift Pack. I’m not sure if they are going to have others like it, but this was the only version I saw at this particular store. They had a bunch of them too, so they must anticipate good sales. I thought it looked very cute though, and it was $9.99, very reasonable price.

After I got it home, the fun began. I think Journey Girls has just taken the crown from Our Generation when it comes to packaging and making it as difficult as possible to get the items out. I even suspect they hired some origami specialists to figure this packaging out. After a lot of wrestling and finally just taking scissors to the darned thing, I got it out of the plastic. I wanted to keep the box part intact so I could show it to you:

The box inside the plastic sleeve is a very nice, durable box that is suitable for gift giving and/or storage. I don’t quite understand the degree of over-packaging on this piece, especially since it’s $9.99. Whatever.

Both items are very well done. I thought the hat would not only be a nice accessory for outfits, but also for Abby to wear when she’s at a horse show. The fur collar will work with several different pieces I have. I wanted to show it on, and poor Cassandra just happened to be handy, so she got the job.

“You could have at least let me comb my hair!!!”

And a side view of the hat:

I think they are both very chic and well made. I definitely intend to keep the box to store the hat in so it doesn’t get squished. I give this set an A+. (but an F for the packaging!)

Review of Melody’s Electric Piano

A few posts ago I mentioned that I wanted to get Melody’s Electric Piano as my birthday present.  Originally I was going to wait until Evil Twin and I went to the new pop-up store in Pittsburgh.  My plans all changed though when we not only postponed our trip, but I also discovered that it doesn’t seem to be available in any of the pop-up stores!  I decided to just go ahead and order it so I was sure it was here by my birthday and after a bit of fuss and hassle, I finally managed to get the order placed.  It arrived this past weekend and I just had to show it to everyone!  Happy Happy Birthday to Me indeed!!

The first thing I got a chuckle out of was on the box where it said “adult assembly required”.  They apparently don’t know the same children I do, just about any of the kids I know could have put this together in seconds.  I did.  You basically just pop the legs into place.  Unscrew the battery compartment, insert batteries, put the cover back on and you’re ready to go!

I was very disappointed when I got everything out of the box and discovered that the sheet music was just floating around in the box, all by itself.  Mine got a little bent up because of that, fortunately not mangled.  I thought for sure it would come in some sort of envelope, or in a plastic bag with the instructions, but nope, just floating around in the box.  Weird.

Here it is assembled:

A shot of the underside so you can see where the legs pop in:

And a view of the on/off switch (which is also the volume control) and the battery compartment.

One thing I was very pleased to see is that the speakers on it are in the right place!  This is where they would be on a real piano keyboard or even the more modern synthesizer type keyboard we have now.  Very cool.

Overall, I’m really thrilled with this piece.  It’s a toss up between this and the camper as to which I like the best!  I think this is a terrific accessory for the price too, $48 is not horribly out of line, especially if you compare it to some of the other items they have for sale that don’t do anything special.

I had a couple of questions that I suspect others do too, so I decided to do a quick demonstration video of how it works.  I apologize for the poor lighting, one of the drawbacks of living where I do, even natural light doesn’t always do the trick! (unless you go outside)  And ignore the barking dog in the background, I don’t know what she thought she heard, but you all can hear her!🙂

You can view the video here:

**note: If you noticed the keyboard rocking in the video, it’s not a reflection of the keyboard. It’s more an issue of the very old and warped surface I had it sitting on!  I later moved it to my dining room table and it didn’t budge.  Unfortunately the light there is almost non-existent.😦