Rambled Opinions and General Snarkiness: Wishes and Wellies, DeeDee Books, and Mix and Match Moddie Musings

--help they're super cute i like them--

"Nethilia! Where have you been for a month, woman!" my blog readers go, hands on hips, staring at the post about Sam's birthday and wondering when I'd effing update because they need more regular snarkitude in their lives.

"See what had happened was," I start. See, what had happened was, indeed. In order: Went to work A-Kon, yo that was stressy. Got home, because the visit to my mom is changed with her not living in Texas anymore. Promptly got my ass handed to me by Con Slime, which completely fucked up my sleeping schedule. Like, completely. So for about two--two?--weeks, I literally was falling asleep in the middle of my days every day, and couldn't get anything done that wasn't laying in the bed or falling backwards in my chair and passing out asleep over and over out of nowhere.¹ But it's fixed, I'm awake and bright eyed and bushy tailed, and there's really cool new things! Also old things I need to review or at least take pictures of so I can review them better. Let's get this show on the road.

June 23rd was when we'd all hope we'd have a lot more Melody in our lives. Well, we didn't. She's not out til late August, which will be post my Milwaukee trip. Boo. Silver lining, at least that means more saving up for her and some of her stuffs. But there still was a huge release. A really huge one.

Laddies and Gentlewim and others, AG has released an actual all-new line! Which hasn't been done since I started blogging, and really hasn't been done since I really started collecting now that I think about it.² And damn it's a cute line. As I said before and will continue to say, full sized 18" dolls aren't always appropriate for small girls. Not only are the books advanced and now generally pictureless, the dolls can get super messed up by children too young to understand how they should take care of them. Even the clothes might be too big to dress like the doll. There was also a gap between the toddler and preschool focuses of Bitty Baby and Bitty Twins, and the eight and up of the main AGs. This gap had been attempted before by the Hopscotch Hill School, but this petered out and became no more. AG's new shot at aiming for the five and up crowd is five girls in delightful colorful wellies, ready for puddle time and good feels--the WellieWishers.³ And fuck me but they're cute. Super cute. "One came home with me without question" cute. No prizes to guess who it is, especially if you follow me on AGC or my Instagram. There's also some good moddie stuff that came out as well, shiny and new and actually useful.

...but I should address the twin elephants in the room. Or, more accurately, the twin elephants no longer in the room. A new line in meant a new line going out, much like Historical removal. And the line thrown out to let the Wellies in was the Bitty Twins. The twins--not much of a diff from the Bitty Babies, same loosey bodies and though more of a preschool feel, wasn't enough to keep them about. We sort of saw the writing on the wall with them not getting anything for a year. So they have been put out to pasture. Bye-bye, babies.⁴ Now when I complain about not paying attention to Bitty Shit, it's just Bitty Baby. Who got two things with this release but lol Bitty shit.

To the new stuff!

Muddily-Puddly Dolly Boots: Welcome the WellieWishers!

Five Little Girls and their Fancy Shoes

Leaks on the WellieWishers came out at the end of February from Mattel's publicly available investor documents, post the NYC Toy Fair: five early elementary dolls in wellies--a British term for rain boots derived from Wellington boots. Smaller than American Girl Dolls and all vinyl, the line aims for the early elementary school group--too old for Bitty Baby feels, too young for the BeForever/GotY/moddies for the most part. And unlike the Hopscotch Hill Gang, they don't feel so out of place. The dolls themselves are a little less moving parts: fixed set eyes and flange style joints, with no cloth middles. They still have wigged hair, though, so I wholly suspect later on there will be customs with new hairs. The illustrated chapter books and animated series are not out yet, but they will debut this fall. But y'all wanna know: what do I think about them off the cuff?

...

*SQUEEEEEEEEE~*

Precious babbus~!

I love them. I love them so much. If I was a bajillionaire with the house space, I would have gotten at least three of them off the cuff, but I had to be sensible and get just one. They're not only perfect to maybe pull some of the younger kids away from wrecking up a full sized AG they're not ready for, but it's a line that is pretty unabashedly aimed for the kids. And while it's not aimed at me, other than my delightful squee, the potential of the line and the books⁵ coming out got me geeked to see.

AG maybe finally has the chance to pull that kiddo market they couldn't get with toddler babies for the past decade-some with the Twins and that petered out with Hopscotch Hill in the early 2000s. I plan to give this line as much of my support as I can. Also, diversity right out of the park, thank you, it's not hard. Three of the girls are plausibly DoC right off the hit. Once the books are out, I'm going to see about getting at least one of them immediately, if not two. And as they get new stuff, I'll be blogging about it where I still overlook Bitty shit. For those who are big on the 18" dolls, these are going to be a good way to give some of your Historicals and 18" girls little sisters--I'm already on the idea of Kendalls as Esthers and Willas as Beverlys, and Emerson already has a role in my gang once she gets here.

Okay, less squeaking with delight To the stuff itself.

Kendall, the creative artist and the black one.

Kendall: Kendall is our Black girl with natural afropuffs, a striped top with a front tie, matching headband, and a floral print skirt that gave us our first hit at WellieWishers from Lissie and Lilly when a skirt too small for AGs came out on eBay. Her wellies are pink floral with yellow toes. She likes to do arts and crafts and build and design. At $60 she (and the other WellieWisher dolls) come at a higher price point than dolls from Target or the Heart for Hearts⁶ line, which is about the same size--but at a lower cost than a full AG. You're paying for wigged hair, nicely set eyes, and the AG name.She also has panties--they all have plain pink knit panties.

Remember how I said there were no guesses on which WellieWisher came home with me?  Yeah. No guesses at all. Y'all know me. I walked in, took a few pictures for the blog to be a good Nethie, and then proceeded to put her in the bag. Not only because she's adorable and black, but she likes art. It's a mini me in doll form! Hells yeah. Welcome to the gang, Kendall. There will be times you will take on the role of Esther Walker.

Ashlyn, the Ambiguously Brown Pretty Princess.

Ashlyn: Ashyln is our social princess, with whatever racial category you want from an ambiguously brown character. She's got tan skin, brown eyes, freckles, and straight brown hair with bangs, which could put her in a whole lot of racial categories. South Asian? Latina? Light skinned black? Go fucking nuts, she's whatever race you want! She princesses it up in all pink--pink tiara, pink lace front top, pink tutu like skirt, and pink wellies with "lace" and gold glitter mary jane overlays that do shed a bit.

She pops as pink all over, and I for one am glad that the pink one isn't also the white and blond one, as was the case with so many toys in the eighties, Lady LovelyLocks I'm looking right at you. Bar those really pissy mothers that think calling their daughter or any other child a princess is going to warp them into a sparkly brat and/or an object because they as a parent suck at things,⁷ I suspect she's going to be the popular one with the pretty pink faction of children. I will probably get her third, someone else hit second place. I've a weakness for brown skin with freckles, though I'm hit and miss on pink.

Willa, the red-headed Nature Girl.

Willa: Willa is the red-headed, hazel eyed white nature girl with a hedgehog on her shirt, nature prints on her skirt, a headband that makes her look like she's sporting bunny ears, and wellies that resemble ladybugs. Nature all the things, this one. Get out and climb a tree or seven. Just DO IT.

In most images she's the one in the center. Does this make her the main character? Actually no. The line seems to be balancing the characters so each one has some of the spotlight. I suspect she is going to become a lot of Beverlys for Ellies, Nans for Felicitys, and such on. I like her--I like them all--but if I rank them she's in the bottom two. I'm all about the dolls of color first. So if I do get her, it'll be after Ashlyn and--

Emerson: East-Asian ballet and performance.

Emerson: Emerson is the East-Asian (pick your specific culture) performer with black hair and brown eyes who's about dance, acting, making up songs, and the love of the stage. She represents this in a wrap style top, star-sparkly skirt, tulle ponytail holders that hide some seriously long hair underneath--yo, I saw a shot of her hair down loose and it boosted her up to second place--and wellies that resemble ballet shoes, only they do the wrap up the calf thing that actual shoes shouldn't do, that is the peeve I have.

First of all, more Asian acting representation. Second, congrats on not making the other "pink" one the white girl as well. More girly DoC! Third, I love her entire outfit--even a little more than Kendall's. When I get number two, it'll be her probably. She can be Lori's little sister and her full name will be Emerson Soo. Yes. Yes, I quite like that.

Camille, the blond in the ocean stuffs.

Camille: AKA the other white girl, and the blonde one. Camille is the sensitive blonde blue eyed girl with a little mole under one eye. Her outfit though, more focuses on her love of the water and ocean nature where Willa is land nature: blue shirt with gathers, handkerchief hem blue waves skirt, a starfish hair clip that puts her in the "SMALL PARTS, DO NOT MAKE THE ONION SAD" territory same as Emerson and her hair bows, and wellies that are fishes complete with side fins. She's the Naiad to Willa's Dryad, is what I'm saying.

Should I eventually buckle and get all five of them, she'll be the last one coming home. It's not that I hate her. She's cute in her own way, and I like blue and water stuff and sometimes mermaids. She's precious. It's just that someone has to go last in the line up, and it would be her. But this is more like last in the top ten percent of a graduating class of five hundred, not last as in blah bitty shit don't care.

Little people dressing like the dolls. Not pictured: Emerson.⁸

Matching Outfits: And if your kiddo wants to dress like their doll? The WellieWishers have your body covered. Each character's outfit--minus hair decs--is available for children in sizes 4-7, just the right span for the line. They didn't have mannequins for everyone, but they had the items available, and they match near to exactly.

Little people again. This time, no Ashlyn.

But Neth, you say as if you didn't know, what about the wellies? is AG selling five different wellies for each character? Nah fam, but they gotcha covered.

Socks and wellies!

WellieWishers Sock Set and Peek-a-Boo Wellies:  AG thought this out. Rather than selling five different sets of boots, they have one set of clear boots--sizes children's 8 to 2-- and socks based on each WellieWisher that come in a five pack for $20, which is about fair for socks overall seeing as I've seen socks sell for five each that aren't from AG.

 ...I want those socks. I swear if those socks could even possibly fit over size eight and a half feet, I would already have new socks but they say they only go up to shoe size 2. I'm still tempted to have socks. I'm super duper tempted to have cute socks. Socks are my weakness. People, talk me out of buying socks that might not even fit.

tool set tool set tool set--

Make-It-Great Play Set: Along with five WellieWishers, there's five accesory sets, and buying any accessory set with any WellieWisher doll gets a discount. While not tied like "Addy's Accessories" are, each one is kind of heavily tied with each character in a way, so you can match them or mix them around. Kendall gets the Make-It-Great Play set: safety goggles, a tool apron, a hammer, a carpenter tape measure, notepad, faux scissors, and faux pencil. 

---dolly tools dolly safety goggles can you see how she became my fave? I got this with Kendall no shame in my entire game. Dolly craftsman! Now to get her a power drill.⁹  

Ballet, red noses, and all the world's a stage.

Giggles and Grins Play Set: Emerson gets the Giggles and Grins playset: a carrying case with Groucho Marx style mask, red rubber nose, "prank" cushion, rubber chicken, and star shaped glasses which happened to be on Camille at the time of the picture. All the staples of comedy, it looks. There is something greatly amusing about a doll whoopee cushion. I will probably get it when I get Emerson.

Showtime Ballet Costume: Well, this is the shot I got of it so this is when I'll discuss it. Like the accessories, the outfits appear to somewhat tie to each character, but only two are out right now other than PJs. I suspect this might have a role in Emerson's book, The Muddily-Puddily Show. We've got a pink and purple metallic ballet dress, grey plastic shoes, and a fan headband. If you hate plastic shoes, then you're going to hate the shoes that come with this, because they are certainly plastic. I am not feeling this as much as the girls themselves, but them coming out with various outfits sounds like a good deal.

Garden Theater Stage: For acting needs and desires, the WellieWishers turn a garden trellis into a theatre stage complete with curtains with clothespins, dual sided cardboard props, and mason jar lanterns that actually light with batteries. It costs $90 bucks, which is about the standard for AG playsets. Will I do it? If I do it would be post any of the WW gang, but I love the idea.

Dryad and Naiad.

Nature Explorer Set: Willa's "set" is ready for a hike to look at animals: binoculars for seeing, a canteen for drinking, granola bar for snackage, a compass for directions, a bird guide for guiding birds, and a nature looking bag to put it all in. I like it, especially the bag. It's a solid maybe, that.

Ocean Treasures Set: Camille, however is going under the sea with Ariel, or at least pretending to. We've got a cloth fin, a seahorse pillow plushie,  and a treasure chest with a seashell, hourglass, and bottle with a faux message. I really am meh on the fin and need to see what it's about bookwise--it looks a little aprony to me. But the rest of the stuff makes up for it.

This tea party has bugs in it. And Emerson.¹⁰

Tea for Two Party Set: Ashlyn continues her girly girl streak by having tea parties. Her accessories include a owl teapot and dinnerware for two, including plates tea cups. Tea for two and two for tea. I like that it's not overly sparkle and shows a nice nature side to it. It goes in the maybe with her pile.

Garden Party Table and Chairs: Garden parties need places to sit, and so we've got a table resembling a pink tree--must be spring in Japan. Also two unique chairs--one owl, one butterfly. And twelve little bees and bug rocks for--I dunno, the Ladybug Picnic?¹¹ I don't know that my WW gang will need tables and chairs for the cost of one of them. Maybe to no.
 
Berry Sweet Snack Stand: What kinda party doesn't have snacks? A bad one. Two jam sandwiches with heart cutouts, two cupcakes, and two berry clumps looking suspiciously like we swiped them from one of the bigger girls--maybe Grace. Nomp. It's only a little more than an accessory set and I remain a sucker for tiny doll food, ugh my weakness for tiny doll food.

Hi I'm Daisy!

Daisy Princess Costume: For Ashlyn's semi-tied outfit, we continue her pink and girls with a crown headband, pink and purple daisy-print princess dress, and purple slip on plastic shoes. Again with the plastic shoes. I like her meet set better, and if I princess her out it'll be on a different style. So it's mostly a pass. Too busy for me. Perfect for the target little kids.

Willa shows it off, but everyone can wear it!

Enchanted Garden PJs: What kinda girl from AG doesn't have PJs? A neglected one, I tells ya.¹² All the girls get the same PJs to share: pink top and bottoms with a print based on the line itself, and green plush slippers with birds. Nice and warm and simple, they are. I liked em, I got them, Kendall has comfy PJs for sleep time. Though since their eyes don't close I'm thinking of making them some sleep masks. These also come in kid sizes, for all the matching sleepings, including slippers that, again, are too small for my feet.

The playhouse attacks!

WellieWishers Playhouse: Of course AG wants you to buy a huge playset for the WW gang to play in, complete with lots of little bittles and bits to entice you. There's a mud pie stand--complete with felt flowers and leaves--a bench, hooks representing each of the girls, and even a place upstairs for snoozes. It's...well, it's not bad, and the price point of $250--given the $500 bakeries of the past--is okay for AG stuff. And it's made of wood, which is a nice bit. I like doll houses, and in essence that's what this is. But it's gotta wait if it ever comes here. I mostly just like the felt mud pies and stand.

Bunny and hutch.

Carrot and Hutch: The mysterious bunny rabbit from Lissie and Lily has a name and a line: Carrot, and he's the bunny that apparently lives in the garden that the WW hangs out in. Along with him and his hutch, there's a food bowl, water dispenser, and carrots. First of all, bad on you AG for perpetuating the idea that bunnies eat carrots mostly.  Feed bunnies other things, like leafy greens. Carrots are actually not bunny food.¹³ $42 is high for a pet set. I might just get them another bunny if I get them a bunny.

Specific hairbrush.

Little Ladybug Brush: A cutesy ladybug hairbrush, for brushing doll hair. If you want your brush to match the line, then go for it--it's the same cost as a standard AG brush, and sized a touch better for smaller hands (or bigger hands with joint issues). Maybe the next time I have to replace a doll hairbrush, but right now I have like five of them around this house.

Fluttery Byes.

Flutter Wings Doll Carrier: Want to encourage doll carrying and pretending to be a butterfly? This bag has all your sparkle green needs. There's a tube to carry one of the WW about, and it also has a backpack component for storage of stuffs, making it doubly useful. Is it worth it? Not for me, but a sproglet might adore it.

Charms and bracelets.

WellieWishers Charm Bracelet and Charms: Little charm symbols of each WellieWisher--Butterfly for Kendall, Shell for Camille, Ladybug for Willa, Crown for Ashlyn, and Star for Emerson. $5 each, and a bracelet to clip them to with a green wellie charm included for $10. So bascally, $35 for a whole charm bracelet. If that had been the cost point for Grace's set, I'd have got it, but I didn't. As it is, I bought two of the Butterfly charms. Why two? They're going to become dangly earrings that I'm going to sport next time I go to the store. Because I like dangly earrings more than bracelets.

So this line overall has my adoration. Gods, they're adorabibble. So adorabibble. I was more geeked about this than any of the Tropikenna stuff, let me tell you, and still am.. A line that I'm going to adore talking about the new stuff for. Gimme more!

DeeDee Chickie: Books But No Doll

Melody Ellison is still not out--the new ETA is later this summer, so probably late August. While this gives me more time to save up, I want her NOW. The main AG store does not have her mini-doll out it looks, but some bookstores do. I'm gonna be as patient as possible to get my full sized one first. But her other two books are out, giving us all the reading before the doll. Go read books, they're good for your brain.

Never Stop Singing, DeeDee.

Never Stop Singing: Book Two I'm going to read it tonight, though I did some quick skims and DeeDee goes on a trip down south, her older sister is involved in Freedom Summer, and the book doesn't shy away from talking about the Mississippi civil rights workers' murders, where three men--two white Jewish men, one black--were killed in the summer of 1964 because they were helping black people take the power to exercise their legal right to vote which had been oppressed by whites in power. Don't take shit for granted, people. People who want to oppress you and stop you from excising civil and personal rights will do anything they can to do it, because power does not concede easily. Will this one make me cry like the first one? Anything's possible when it comes to learning about the shit Black people endured just to try to get anywhere close to respected.

Music in My Heart: My Journey with Melody: Time to trip back in time with Melody. The Protag (who I am pretty sure is black or black passing) gets to 1964 with the help of her singing Lift Every Voice and Sing, and gets to enjoy delightful things such as singing, picnics, and the utter panic that Melody's brother gets when he's pulled over for DWB--Driving While Black. Good times. I only skimmed to check things and will do a proper Adventure through like I did with Romeo and/or Juliet¹⁴ later. Still no new BeForever stuff other than DeeDee's books. I'm hoping when she launches, we get some more BF stuff.

Moddie Mix and Matching Musings

The WellieWishers and DeeDee's books aren't all we got--the Moddies did their Big Summer Blowout Release. Lots of new things, some of which I like and some of which I don't. As is the way.

Mix and Match Part 1: Try All That Shit!

Mix and Match Items: Rather than releasing three or four outfits and forcing me--and everyone else--to pick the parts I like, AG has done what people have wanted for some time and done a mix and match collection.¹⁵ Twelve items that can be purchased individually, each component ranging in cost from 10-14 dollars, as well as two new pairs of shoes on their own so they'll get their own talk.Each component also has a children's sized component, so I won't point them out one by one. A full outfit can be--sans shoes--as cheap or as expensive as you like. Let's jump on in! I'll cover as much as I can with each picture--two shots I think got everything--because individual component shots weren't happening. I had to go to the candy store after this, after all.¹⁶

Pretty Plaid Shirt: Need plaid flannel for all your queer dolls? Here you go! It's not technically flannel but it's gay enough for government work, and as we all know plaid flannel is for queers like me, sorry I don't make the rules. Had to get it.

Hooded Denim Jacket: The whole 80s thing of jersey sweatshirt knit and denim continues. I like this, but held off for now. Will on my next trip maybe.

Kitten Sweater: Cute and coral. The bow on the shirt is about the only part I don't care for, and that's why there's seam rippers if it just really gets on my last damn nerve. Later.

Star Quilt Skirt: Wasn't sure about this one until I saw that the quilting is actually shaped like stars. Also, I like aquas and teals. Soon, but not this time.

Playful Print Skirt: It looks like a plain white skirt got into a fight with a dye bath and won by becoming colorful. I don't know that I could match it like I want, though.

Mix and Match, Part 2: Wardrobe Boogaloo

Purple Play Shorts: Not bad, not bad at all. Simple and to the point for shorts. I like shorts they're comfy and easy to wear. Later.

Indigo Bubble Dress: Dissenting opinion! I don't like this one mostly because of the hem. I hate bubble hems so much. If it didn't have that I'd get it. I need to inspect next time to see if that can be made into a standard flair hem. Then we can be friends.

Coral Skinny Pants: eeeeeeeh--i like plain brown and dark jeans with flairs at the bottom not skinny jeans in bright colors ehhhhhhhh ehhhhh neeehhhh--

Side-Cinch Tank: Why only on one side, tank? Why only on one side? Both sides for balance. We'll see, it's in the meh pile.

Silver-Print Cat Tee: I was ready to shit on this left and right for being ugly in the catalog shots. Then I saw it up close and hot damn it's cute. Proof that pictures can lie. I got it.

Indigo and Dot Leggings: Two, count em two pairs of leggings for the cost of $12! That's $6 a set! Nice. I kind of want a second set to go purely into the 80s pile for Kimmy and Tyanna; the set I got is for the Moddies first.

Overall, I love that I don't have to get one component from this or another component from that to make an outfit I like. Also the mix and match potential is the best. I might end up getting every component, even the bubble hem skirt as long as I can tweak it. Except the pants. eeeeeens *falls down and whines*

Those are bright indeed.

Bright Stripes Flats: I continue to not like the way coral and aqua go together, even more so in a shoe. Pass.

Sneakers! Huzzah!

Two-Tone Sneakers: Oh praise the shoe gods actual sneakers, I love plain sneakers, I'll take one. Well, I'll take one next time.

Spoopy Skuury Skeletons

Skeleton Outfit: Hmm. Well. That is a thing that is. I'm goth and spoopy, but skeletons aren't my aesthetic--I'm more of a vampire werewolf ghosts and nerd zombie kind of girl.¹⁷ Still, good on AG for mixing up the Halloween offers instead of sticking to witches and more witches.

Dog pajamas that are not for dogs.

Pomeranian Pajamas: They're aqua blue, which is my thing, but they're animal focused, which is only sometimes my thing, and also I think I actually have enough pajamas, and they're capris, and a lot of things cancel each other out to make this a *shrug.*

Latest in a line of Trundle Beds.

Trundle Bed and Bedding Set: Another trundle bed style bed: Ag has done this twice before for the moddies, the first time in 2000 and the second in 2002. I don't really make space for modern doll beds, but if I did I'd consider it.

Blue ballet! Oooo.

Ombre Ballet Outfit: Holy crap it's blue and ballet and it's gonna look so good on Marisol! Gimme! I want it gimme. The shoes kinda suck--AG did you forget how to ballet shoe?--but the rest is choice. The only reason this isn't home yet is because I decided to stick to my budget and the budget went to Kendall.¹⁸ Such is the ways of the budget.

Business in the front--

Sparkle Star Cutaway Tee: It looks okay from the front. It really does. Hmm I wonder what the "cutaway" part is--

Party in the back!

--oh. Oh that's a backflap thing and a midback opening. Okay then let's not on that at present, indeed.

Tote.

Mini Doll Tote: Here's the new tote for dolls, there's a full sized one for carrying dolls, I just use my Nevermore tote from shirt.woot because then it's a touch less obvious I'm hauling dolly things around in public and it holds a single doll, if I need to carry two or more for something then I will use my carry on suitcase, and I only take as many as fit in one arm for photoshoots outside my housespace. Moving on.

Ring's the things.

Three-in-One Ring Set: Hey, they're not too ugly or plastic-looking this time. I'll have to consider it.

Earrings for elegance.

Elegant Earrings Set: I really don't like that AG went down to only two earrings and two danglers for a set now. These are okay but I'll wait for a sale before Kimmy, Tara, and Abbi get any more earrings.

Bracelets.

Butterfly and Gem Bracelet Set: *wrinkles nose, makes own doll bracelets out of random things about the house, pass*

Glasses ahoy!

Brownie Ombre Glasses: These remind me too much of old people glasses. That's just me, I know, I don't like the half clear look. Nah.
 
Glitter Glasses: Well, if Abbi ever gives up wearing her Raspberry Glasses, I know which one's she's liable to switch to. They're fairly nice.

All the great outdoors you'll need. Maybe.

Adventure Sleeping Bag: Avoid sleeping on the cold, merciless ground while you camp with a sleeping bag and pillow. I like it more for the potential bedding for a full bed than as a sleeping bag itself. It's not my favorite color combination but it's not hideous. And sometimes that's the best you can get with AG's wild and crazy colors.

Adventure Campfire Set: Want to make sure there's food and fire and a place to sit while you food and fire? Enjoy food that's been stuck into fire like people did for ever? Get some fire, fire pie, fire griller, a chair and a water bottle for water. And a marshmallow on a stick, because hot gooey food.

Sleeping under the stars, for those that like bugs.

Adventure Tent: Need more cover for your gang member in the nature than a sleeping bag and your own sense of dread? Also like storing things? Here's a tent. I like it much better than the last tent, because it looks a lot more like an actual tent. Also it'll hold two, or three if they're cozy, or one if you're a hater who likes to store things other than you in the tent. 

Pop up camping for people into that sort of adventure.

Adventure Pop-Up Camper: Into the great outdoors, but the tent life isn't for you? Want to haul a trailer out there as well, because fuck the idea of sleeping with only cloth between you and a bear? Move up in the world with a pop up trailer that is slightly out of proportion on the bottom, but interesting nevertheless. I don't camp and if I make my dolls camp it'll be with a tent, so not my bag of Fritos. Mmm. Fritos. I should have Frito pie for dinner. 

For lounging about.

Cute and Comfy Lounge Set: AG Seattle didn't actually have this in stock, what gives? Have the catalog pic until I can get a good one. I like the idea of stars and sweatpants but I reserve full interest for when I see it in person.

Adorable Souvenir Accents and Adorable Everyday Accents: I missed looking hard for these, so picture next time? It's just hair stuff. I had to go buy throwback scents at Bath and Body Works.¹⁹

Smooth and bald!

Bald Dolls: Not really new seeing as they've been around for four years now, but being openly shown now. If you want to represent a child that, for whatever reason, doesn't have hair on the head--be it cancer, alopecia, or any other hair loss--you can now see the bald dolls in the store direct. They still can't be ordered or picked up at the store, because each doll has to be ordered through customer service. But the fact they're openly in the store and catalogs now will give them a lot more visibility. Good job, AG. Push the differences.

The Current PwP.

ETA, 6/28/16: Summer Hoodie Set: Our current PwP is the Summer Hoodie Set--a sleeveles hoodie, pull on skirt, and bracelet. It doesn't come with the shoes shown--or any shoes--but it does come with the bracelet. I like the design and got a set. Summery enough, though AG's handling of hoodies is always weird.

*~*~*

*Hugs Kendall*
*Loves the WellieWishers Line so much she can't help it*
*reads books for Melody* 
*Wants a goddamn release date on DeeDee so I know what day my money stops being a thing and Edith can have the girl she's crushing on so hard*

--Neth

¹ For me, falling asleep before midnight? Meant waking up at anywhere from 3 to 5 in the morning unable to go back to sleep at all, being unable to focus on anything properly in the morning because my body was screaming that I shouldn't be up at this hour, then crashing out at 3 pm, waking up at 9 pm, and then doing it all again. Completely fucked up sleep. My standard sleep hours are from 4 am to noon, thereabouts.
² Were there any major all-new lines since 2005? Renaming the moddies line several times, BeForever, and revamping the Bitty lines doesn't technically count.
³ No space. As I found out. And then recoded every page and image on the Wiki to fix the category while it was early enough to do.  Don't say I never do nothing for you.
⁴ Also, I'm laughing at all you people on AGIG who claimed that the Bitty Twins just couldn't leave you loved them so much when there wasn't a hint of one on your feeds and you overlooked them left, right and upside down. Like, c'mon, you cry over shit leaving because it's leaving but you never wanted it. It's Caroline all over again--you hated her replacing Felicity, shit all over her being around, and then when they said she was going away for Ellie suddenly she was your best friend and a crucial part of the Historical Line that just couldn't leave. 
⁵ They're by Valerie Tripp. But the previews on the site don't have me gagging. They're actually intelligently written. I can't stand books for children that are too childish and have all the conflict of none.
⁶ Rumors abound on them returning, including an updating website in October. I have all but one of them--the Brazilian--and I can if you like compare Kendall to Lauryce, Nyesha, and Rahel later on.
⁷ Footnote rant time! So there I was, looking up what the technical title for the daughter of a princess was--it's princess, by the way--when I came across two terrible articles about women getting pissy about their daughters or other peoples being called princess, because oh my god Disney Princesses vapid objects they'll demand to be treated like they run the world, they're not really royalty anyways Cinderella ate my daughter girl things are bad. And both articles were utter gobshite. Let the princess stage happen, parents. If your kid gets to teenage stage and is still acting like an entitled princess--also where are the entire Disney Princesses, please point out all of them, please find me the Disney Princess that is a vapid bossy brat--that's both your fault and something to address. But if they just like pink and ruffles and tiaras? Let them instead of trying to force the more masculine because you have this warped idea of what social equality is. Methinks the mummies are projecting their insecurities.
⁸ I couldn't find a shot with all five. So I went with the shot that showed most of them both times.
⁹ Disclaimer: Don't give actual power drills to five year olds without supervision.
¹⁰ This was a bad shot of the dress. Go down for the better one. Damn glass.
¹¹ Ladybugs 12 at the Ladybug Picnic!
¹² *Stares at Ivy's collection. And Nicki's Collection.* Nicki didn't even get pannies!
¹³ So why do we associate bunnies with carrots (and mice with cheese)? Tweaked from the Cracked article "Five Ridiculous Animal Myths That You Probably Believe":  It goes back to Bugs Bunny and an old Clark Gable movie--yes, the Rhett Butler guy--from 1934, a romantic comedy called It Happened One Night that was a huge hit at the time. There's a scene where Clark Gable is talking around a carrot he was chewing on. Animators for Bugs Bunny six years later depicted Bugs doing the same, straight up parodying the scene which audiences of the time would have immediately recognized and adored (like several other parodies in older cartoons/movies or even some now). It morphed into standard Bugs Bunny behavior, so now we think of bunnies munching on carrots. It 's also where we get the "lady lifts her skirt to show her leg, get cars to stop" thing from the actress, Claudette Colbert. Media's a fucking gas.
¹⁴ Romeo and/or Juliet is awesome and funny and has tons of cool endings. Go read it. I got to do the Nurse Sidequest! Her name's Angelica! Juliet lifts weights! Romeo can be less of a stupid! Huzzah!
¹⁵ A mix-and-match that isn't just about sparkly ballet shit. I'm looking at you Wonderbread.
¹⁶ Oh my god the candy store near the AG place is the best. I love Lolli and Pops so much.
¹⁷ Monster High.
¹⁸ That's fucking right. The WellieWishers outranked me getting a ballet set, that's how cute Kendall is. 
¹⁹ Who told them it was legal to discontinue Cucumber Melon? I have been using that since I got turned on to Bath and Body Works, thanks, now I had to buy a bunch of bottles to continue smelling like I rubbed fruit on my body after showering.