Review of The Everyday Accessories Set (intended for boy dolls)

I was one of the people excited to see American Girl introduce a line of boy dolls.  I think it was something that was missing from their collection that was a no-brainer.  I’ve seen plenty of customs in the past where people turned girl oriented dolls into boys, so there was definitely a market for it.  Plus I think of all of the little boys who have been in an American Girl doll store because they have siblings who love the dolls–why not have something that would interest them?

Along with the boy dolls, they have introduced some clothing items that while they are intended for the boy dolls, aren’t so stuck in the theme as such that you can’t use them for girl dolls as well.  Good thinking on the part of whoever developed this line!  There have been a couple of sets that I’ve been interested in, but this set in particular was one I just had to have–and I will explain why later in the review.

 

Here’s everything out of the box.  It’s really a nice assortment of stuff and truthfully it’s not gender specific.

 

 

The backpack is really cute with a skateboard design all over it.  It is decently made, although I would have liked it to have had a front pocket separate.

The headphones are very cool, I’d like a set for myself in this color!

I loved the water bottle, and the top does come off!  I’m tempted to mix up some resin “water” to fill it.

And the jacket!  This is the piece I wanted most out of the set.  Any guesses as to why???

Okay–I doubt most of you would get this (except for Evil Twin maybe).  The logo on this is very similar to the logo for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  I’ve been an Indy Car fan since I was a kid, been to the Indy 500 multiple times, and when I saw this, I knew it would have to be part of my collection!  I’m actually surprised that they did a logo so close to the actual Indy 500 one, unless perhaps they got special permission.

The phone comes apart so you can change the screen.  I’m tempted to try and make some of my own as well.  I like that it has a handle so the doll can hold it.  I think we are going to see this more and more on certain items, and I for one am thrilled.  I get tired of trying to manipulate things using clear rubber bands!

I’m not going to talk about the money that comes with the set–it’s paper and I’m not even taking it out of the package at this point.  We all know what play money looks like!

Here is the hoodie on, the fit is good and it looks very realistic, even with the hood up.

Here you can see the backpack and headphones on, the fit is great on both of these pieces.

And with the rest of the goodies, Ryan looks ready to head out the door!

I give this set an A+ as I think it’s well done and nicely made.  I’m not sure who is going to end up with this, although Mimi seems the obvious choice for the hoodie!  This set sells for $30 at regular price, I happened to have some rewards that I used towards it, so I got a good deal on it.  I’ll be curious to see if the boy clothing gets a revamp whenever they redo the Truly Me girls stuff the next time around.

 

Advertisements

Review of Axe Heaven Miniature Guitar Replicas

A few days ago I posted a story about guitar lessons and in it you probably noticed that Allie and Mimi were playing different guitars than what you’ve seen before.  I stumbled across those guitars a few months ago while doing some online research and was a bit intrigued.  I ordered Allie’s first and was so impressed by it, I decided to get Mimi one as well.

Made by a company called Axe Heaven, there are plenty of details on these little replicas!  They are both cute, but I think the Fender Stratocaster (Allie’s) is better made than the Gretsch Duo Jet (Mimi’s).

According to the Axe Heaven website, these guitars are 1/4 scale.  Here they are side by side with the American Girl acoustic guitars I already have, which would be 1/3 scale.  I think they are actually closer to the AG scale, electric guitars of these two models are just slightly smaller than acoustic guitars.  However, AG has perhaps scaled their down a bit too since they are supposed to be “kids” guitars.  Regardless, they still work well for the dolls.

The detail even carries over to the back!

A close up of some of the Fender details:

And the Gretsch details:

The Gretsch doesn’t have a name actually on it, I think perhaps because of licensing issues.  They seem to have a deal in place with Fender.  Please disregard the fingerprints.  Just like a real black guitar, it’s an issue here too! (which is why I will never own a black guitar for myself. 😉 )  I also wasn’t wild with how the tuning pegs on the Gretsch were a bit wonky, not as well done as the Fender.

Each guitar comes with a stand.  Nice if you want to display them.

I loved the boxes they came in, made to look like guitar cases!  They do sell mini guitar cases for these as well if you really want to go that extra mile.  Straps too, although I found it just as easy to make ones out of ribbon.  It all depends on how accurate you want things to look and how much money you want to spend.

I think these are a great option for anyone who wants to have accurate guitar models for their dolls.   If you go to the Axe Heaven website, they have tons of different ones available.  I got both of these through Amazon though, I found the prices on some models to be better there.  I’ve also seen them on Ebay, but do your homework before you buy, pricing is all over the place, depending on the model and popularity.  Rock on!

The Guitar Lesson

Evil Twin was recently here to visit and Zoe and Raynia came along with her.  While the girls were here, they decided to take Allie up on an offer she made to teach them a few songs on the guitar.  Mimi joined them as well, and they all had a great time!

Allie has been playing the guitar for several years, she started when she was only 7!  She knows how to play all sorts of cool songs, and the girls decided they really wanted to learn a couple of Tom Petty songs.  Allie said that once you learn the basics of Tom Petty songs, it’s pretty easy to get the hang of all of them.  They started out with “You Wreck Me” and moved on to “Yer So Bad”.

 

When the girls had a little trouble with some of the fingerings on a few chords they weren’t used to, she was very good about helping them out.  Zoe was excited to finally get the hang of barre chords!  (If you are a guitar player, you know just how frustrating those can be sometimes. 😉 )

After they got the hang of those two songs, Allie decided it would be fun to teach them a Gin Blossoms song.  They learned how to play “Mrs. Rita” and she gave them some pointers on how to sing and play at the same time.

The last song she taught them was “Til I Hear It From You”.  Zoe, Raynia and Mimi all played the backing parts while Allie did all of the solos.  It sounded really good!

I think the girls all had a good time and look forward to the next time they get together so they can learn more songs!

(And in case you are wondering about Mimi and Allie’s guitars, stay tuned, a review on those is coming in a few days!)