Rambled Opinions and General Snarkiness: Ski Free in Aspen: Corinne Tan of 2022 and Her Entire Collection (With Bonus Kira B. For Some Reason)

The mountains are calling, and Corinne must attack them.

In 2015 I opened the year of AG blogging not with talking about Grace Thomas, then-current Girl of the Year, and her then-the-most-expensive item ever bakery. (That was about four days later.) I started a fresh new year of doll blogging by pointing out that, in fourteen years of having a Girl of the Year, the characters had been overwhelmingly white. At the time, there had not been a Latina character since Marisol twelve years ago, an East Asian character that wasn't half white, a South Asian character that wasn't a sidekick without her own book, or a Black character at all. Nor had there been many characters of color. Lindsey was and has been the only Jewish doll in the line and most of them were long spans of whiteness--four characters in a row, generally, and often with brown hair or eyes but not both at once--that really didn't have to be so. Frustrating. There was nothing in Lanie's story that had to make her be white other than she was from Massachusetts. Hence me promoting--off and on, but still--the hashtag and campaign #AGDoCGotY: asking AG to give us Dolls of Color for the Girl of the Year.

Now it's been seven years and one president (with a four-year gap of fuckery) later¹ and AG has done some major improvements on the Girl of the Year diversity.  Lea was a lot of choices that I didn't care for one bit, but the doll at least wasn't light skinned. Hazel eyes, yes, lightish haired, yes--but she wasn't pale, and a lot of people got her and ditched the very off kilter story to give her more representation than her story gave her. This was followed by: Gabby my Babby--last minute and overshadowed by someone with a guitar but still there; Luciana the STEM Space Ace Latina we all adored; Blaire who...was Blaire but at least wasn't fully boring even if her focus wasn't exactly a focus at all; Joss who was the first disabled doll in being deaf² and the first white one to have both brown hair and brown eyes; and Kira, who gave us gay aunt representation in a land down under.

Yes, three and seven-eighths of them are white, but each of them had something more appealing to them other than being white and fantasy wish fulfillment. Even if I owe myself a read through of many of their books to learn more details. Look, I haven't sat down and read as many books as I'd like--not just AG, but across the board--thanks to my brain wonk. At least I'm not saying with my whole IG account that Samantha was a full fledged suffragette, Saige wasn't radical enough by discussing school art programs, and Felicity never liked a nice dress. The push for more representation from AG has been not perfection, but progress. 

Then at the end of 2021--because that's when they've been formally releasing the new girls now--we got the first Girl of the Year East Asian character: Corinne Tan of Aspen, Colorado. Corinne³ is Chinese-American--which means for the first time in the line, a character offers East Asian rep without a side dish of whiteness to help the ethnicity go down!

...Mostly.

Her parents have, at the start of her story, divorced due to stressed exacerbated by the pandemic, and her mother Judy is preparing to marry her new boyfriend: a well-off Swedish man, Arne Karlsson.⁴ So not only is Corinne dealing with personal worries about what being in a blended family means and moving to a new place, but what it means that her white stepfather got that money money to the level of "has a personal decorator," "her little sister wanted to start ice skating so he just paid for it," and "No, Corinne, put anything you want on your pass at the ski lounge, I'll pay it." She's big into being outside and exploring the woods and mountains around her home, feeling like the outside and nature with it has a lot to give, and she loves to ski. She also gets a new puppy who she wants to train to be a rescue dog, helping find people lost in the woods. Put a sticky note on that, we'll get back to it.

Is this like Nicki from 2005, also from Colorado with a dog being trained? Yes, but Nicki didn't have anything in her book about skiing while Corinne is very much about it left and right. Also Nicki didn't have any underwear. Plus it's been long enough we can return to Colorado skiing. If we can have dancing based collections three times we can go skiing twice. The target age of AG, even at twelve, wouldn't have existed when Nicki had her year.

But it's not all ski slopes and more money woes for Corinne. There's also realistic occurrences of anti-Asian sentiment in book one and some rescuing involved in book two. I think. I need to finish a lot of reading and document a lot of things. I have a lot to do before November.

She's also due a movie on Cartoon Network followed by HBOMax and I'll get to it when I get to it.⁵ In the movie she's been bumped up to thirteen, in part because of the actress. I'm very curious for how the adaptation will go--we haven't had an AG Moddie movie since 2016, and that was a mess.

All these pics will be, of course, promo images and catalog shots, a first for me. Until Corinne's release, I was able to see every GotY since Mia face to face at least once during their active year--the ones until Kanani down at AG Dallas, and all the rest at AG Seattle until it closed. But given that it's October and I'm not planning any impromptu trips down to the LA store, I'm unlikely to see Corinne in the store before 2022 is up and maybe not even after. It's above me now. Other people will have to take pictures in stores of things. Hopefully they won't suck. Also her giveaway item was a poster, which she can't even wear. So I missed out on nothing that I'd later trade money for goods in a Safeway parking lot.

Ski jump under the cut for Corinne's entire collection so far--and a bonus that sets a very strange precedent.

Dat's my sister~ And my puppy~

Corinne Tan: The Powder's Fresh and So Is She

Corinne, Gwynn, and Corinne. Not in that order, per se.

Corinne Tan and Meet Outfit: Corinne Tan has brown eyes, light skin, and brown-black hair with turquoise streaks underneath. Unlike Isabelle all those years before her--the girl would be eighteen now--hers are fully integrated and don't clip out for the pearl-clutchers that might faint at seeing blue hair and pronouns. Wave of the future, guys, we're letting the youth express themselves with hair colors before college! It does play into the trope of Asian Girl with Colored Hair Problem, which other media has explained better than I can. Hence the link.  She also debuted with a new face mold that is similar to the Nanea mold but different enough to stand on its own. At the time of her release the face mold was only used for her. It also has slightly larger eye sockets, which means eye swaps weren't as easy as before.⁶

Her meet outfit is simple: a white long sleeved knit sweater to stay warm when walking around a cold mountain, lavender sparkly leggings, and turquoise boots with bobbles for decor to wear where you wander. And panties. As I said long ago, always assume panties. Unless it's Nicki. Poor girl got a horse but didn't get no draws. I really like her meet set; it reminds me in part of the Après Ski Wear from way back in 1997. I bet she'd look cute in that too. 

I honestly don't know that I'll get Corinne. I've got a lot of dolls to sort through and while I like her stories--back on that in a tick--I am really adverse to those hair streaks and how they really limit her coordination possibilities. I might get her non-streaked version, which we'll discuss in a later post after I've gone back 100 years. I have to think on it.

Corinne's Accessories: Along with the meet set, there's accessories to be had: a pink knit ribbed hat with a bobble, sunglasses--because fun fact, the sun reflecting off the snow can blind you same as a sunny day at the beach; pink leg warmers to keep the legs warm in 80s throwback feels; a glittery see through backpack to put stuff in, and her ski pass that Arne lets her put all the things she wants on without thinking about it. I'd only get all this if I get Corinne because I always get the accessories--and as I said, I'm not sure that I will.

Gwynn Tan and Meet Outfit: For the first time since Chrissa, the girl of the year has a companion with her--and in a super first, she's Wellie-sized. Gwynn Tan is Corinne's seven-year-old little sister, and she's the skate side of the collection. Gwynn has the same dark hair and eyes as her bigger sister, but no hair colors. She's also light toned but darker than her face mold twin, Emerson. She's also the exact same size and build as Wellies, which means she can wear all the stuff they do! Though you may want to get the older stuff rather than the more fantasy froofy stuff. More on that later.

She has a meet outfit similar to Corinne's in that it's got a sweater (purple knit) leggings (white), boots (also purple, with the fur) and panties, but also with a fuzzy pink skirt over it. Because she's seven and she's wearing more clothes. If I didn't already have six wellies and the money to set aside for a seventh, I'd get her. But she's not worth it to me unless I got Corinne. Gotta keep the sister brain together.

Gwynn's Accessories: Accessorize Gwynn's clothes with a multicolored beret that's furry like her boot trim, pink mittens, and a sparkly drawstring backpack. I wouldn't bother with it myself. The only part I kind of like is the hat, and $25 for a hat is not my steamer of bao.

Corinne: Books! They're not just packing ballast or things to pirate and justify by claiming that the poor Europeans just have to have the books and can't ever import them across the vast Atlantic or buy anything digitally. I have opinions on book pirates. They involve more cussing than I normally do. Fuck 'em. The book's available on Amazon in the UK and they don't even have a queen anymore.

I ordered both books in a "coupon I need to use" order, and I read the first book pretty quickly. As was said, the book has Corinne dealing with the changes that come with a blended family, money, worrying her friend Cassidy might be mean to her because Cassidy doesn't have money money like Arne, and anti-Asian sentiment: a boy being an ass to her, a pair of racist white guys making her sister cry, and her mom telling them off and Arne learning that yes, Virginia, there is a Racism in Aspen. It's Aspen. The book is good from start to finish, culminates in a rescue party involving the puppy Corinne's been training to do that--you can remove a sticky note now--and was a quick read that would have been quicker if I hadn't been doing wiki work at the same time. But, as Reading Rainbow says, you don't have to take my word for it. But go buy the book. It's eight bucks. That's less than doll shoes and you can order them as e-books. At least check it out through your local library. Book pirates are assholes.

Send a search party! But not for me. That was the last book.

Corinne to the Rescue: The second books starts out at the end of the ski season and the start of a pregnancy for Corinne's mom, with Corinne wondering what a baby means and what changes to her blended family they'll bring, including plans for the summer. And then there's a rescue in the middle and a baby gets born at the end. Put a sticky note on that, we'll get back to it. I haven't sat and read the second book yet, but I'm hoping to in a few weeks before the Nano hits me. I'm hoping it's as good as the first. So far it's been, the few chapters I sat and read.

Ice capades for the whole family.

Corinne's Casual Outfit: One must have other outfits in your collection than your meet one, unless your name is Sonali Matthews or Gwen Thompson and you're just some side piece to the main girl. Or Lindsey Bergman and all you have is a scooter and a laptop. Corinne is chilling for the day in a blue shirt telling you she's from the C-state in the middle of the country, multi-print leggings, a very purple and very fuzzy coat, a white headband to band the head, and some very ostentatious boots. I like about 3/5ths of this. The jacket is a lot for me personally and I'm really not into those shoes. I like shiny things but not that shiny. I'd prefer just some nice white boots. 

Gwynn's Ice Skating Performance Outfit: Soon after the Tans move in with their stepdad, Gwynn wants to start doing professional ice skating, and Arne just slaps down the American Express Platinum and says to go for it. And while she doesn't have a casual outfit--just go buy her some Wellie clothes!--she does have a performing outfit: a pink marbled velvet skating dress with a floral design, a matching pink and purple hair clip, skating tights to keep her legs warm, purple sparkly skates, and skate blade guards.  It's super cute and I may consider it for my own wellies, maybe. Now if Corinne only hadn't had a crisis of self during Gwynn's performance and had her fall during her jump.

Corinne's Ice Skating Accessories: Even though Gwynn is the skater in the collection, Corinne's also going out on the rink for more casual skating times with her bestie Cassidy--and hopes that one jerk classmate I'm not remembering doesn't bump into Cass and then blame her for getting in the way. Along with the bright teal skates and blade guards--guard your blades! Blade Guards--there's a very simple white fleece scarf and white mittens with pink wavy lines on them. I'm not into ice skating--not even watching it much now--so I'm not likely to bother. Maybe it's for you if you really love those skates, but that scarf is but fleece with a hole in it. I'd rather they have put that with the outfit and the jacket with the accessories.

Ski as long as you like, but understand that eventually, the yeti will eat you.⁷

Corinne's Ski Outfit: Now we're getting into the sport of it! Corinne's dad David is a ski instructor and Corinne has been on skis for years. In keeping with the pinky-purpley-teal theme of her collection--and being very visible on the slopes--she's got a very bright pink and teal jacket,⁸ matching pants, another fleece headband, purple fur-trimmed gloves to keep her fingers warm, and pink socks that you can't see in this pic. But not the boots. They're sold separately. 

Another case of "if I was into the sport and/or completing Corinne's clothes collection, I'd get it--but I'm not so I'm not." I've been to Colorado quite a few times and I've never been anywhere near a ski lodge. I don't even think I'd be comfortable on a set of skis. And while I haven't been surfing either, I can fake that with Joss easier.

Corinne's Ski Accessories: Here's where the ski boots go, as well as the forest-themed skis and poles to go with them. Extra bits include her helmet and ski goggles--keep the sun out your eyes and your brains in your head--her ski pass on its armband that Arne's paying everything on, and a sheet of stickers for sticking on something. See above: I have no need for the outfit so I have no need for the accessories.

The dog and the ski ramp? Put a sticky note on that, we'll get back to it.

Stay warm, sip drinks. It's on the stepfather.⁹

Corinne's Ski and Snack Shop: One builds up an appetite on the mountain, with the going down and going up and going down and going up and all that. And when Corinne does, she then stops in the lodge and buys all kinds of snackables and drinkables on stepdad's card. There's the base stand and the components for showing stuff off to buy, souvenir gettables, and the components of eating--drinks, snacks, parfaits, brownies, pretzels, et cetera. I'm not listing every tiny piece on it, c'mon fam. There's a lot of stuff, and while I enjoy tiny doll food, I don't need or want this. This is becoming a theme.

This is not the big piece in the collection. Put a sticky note on that, we'll get to it.

Corinne's Ski Lodge Fire Pit: After Arne and Judy marry, David takes the two girls out to a personal night together at the ski lodge he works for, where they sip cocoa and look at the stars. Very heartwarming and important for family bonds. Corinne and Gwynn--Dad not included--can sit cozy on the bench and its cushion under a blanket with a pillow and their cups of hot steamy death from the Thermos¹⁰ it came in, with the fire in its pit flickering courtesy of some batteries. I don't have this--but I might get to take pics of it. I have friends. Who have this.

It's good to have friends.

To bed, I said, and don't you dread.
Also don't put all your stuffies on the ski chair, Gwynn.

 

Corinne's Powder Blue Pajamas: All that skiing and family anxiety has worn your girl out. She's heading to bed now--and unlike Z and Ivy before her, the third named East Asian character actually got pajamas. We're tucking in for the night in some very cozy powder¹¹ blue pajamas with a hooded top, shorts, and pompom slippers. While generally not a fan of shorts for pajamas, these are stupid cute. This set, I like. This I might get from the collection. 

Gwynn's Powder Pink Pajamas: Gwynn also needs sleepy time wear. Her set is powder pink, and it doesn't talk about the mountains, but it's deceptively simple: a nice button down with long pants and slippers. She too can be cozy and wear PJs. We're all wearing PJs now!

Corinne and Gwynn's Bedroom Set: Ah, here we go. This is the big set. After the wedding--or before, I'm not getting up to get the book and get distracted by reading Corinne To the Rescue--Arne has his former guest room turned into the girls' bedroom. Complete with his interior designer--yeah, he got one of those, the money don't jiggle jiggle it folds--designing one of the walls after Gwynn and Corinne asked to paint one purple. We got two beds--bunk--a chair--ski--and a desk and other bits, including baozi and zongzi, a candle that initially came with a typo on it, a furry cube, and window-view changes. And the ski ramp from earlier? It's the roof over the top bunk, which can lift off for doll ski shenanigans; the other side can be the outdoors. Please, people, don't ski off the roof. We just got that replaced and you don't want to break your leg. It all folds up for storage as well, unlike a certain bakery I could discuss. I just want the extra small bits. Maybe.

Okay, you can pull like two sticky notes I had you plop down with this. Keep the sticky note for the dog though. At least, until this next part. 

Puppy goes to camp! And then saves everyone, next time on Neth Reads a Book.

Corinne's Camping Outfit: Ever since 2005, AG has done all the big stuff up front and the second outfit and stuff around mid year or so, depending on when they want to toss things out. That's been happening since Nicki, so something else Corinne has in common with her.¹² Corinne's is to go camping and then have a crisis with the fam, and her outfit is on the cover of book two: a tee and leggings--I sense a theme in her outfits--sandals, and a vest. It's an okay outfit--but I just don't like the vest. I really have always hated vests on myself. Ah well. It's not for me. 

Corinne's Camping Accessories: And while camping--and rescuing--Corinne has to carry the goods to make sure she makes it: a backpack, a hat for sun off the face, an apple snack, granola bar, a water canteen, and a map to know where the hell we're headed on the trail we're headed. Again, I semi-like it, but not as much as I like many other things, and it doesn't work away from the outfit anyways. 

Corinne's Dog with Backpack: Okay, Flurry actually came out at the start of Corinne's year, but this was the best picture I had with her and all her stuff, and it means grouping things nicely. So here we are. Deal with it. 

Corinne, after turning down free ski lessons, asks for a puppy as her "so stepdad's handing out money and gifts for what we want" thing. Arne--who is not exactly fond of dogs--is initially against it, but once they go to the shelter just to look they end up walking out with Flurry, a mixed breed puppy with a white tummy and paws and the cutest disposition. And when Corinne--spoilers--has a crisis of self and runs off into the woods, it's Gwynn's idea to get Flurry who Corinne has been training for just this kind of thing! Good dog, have a treat. I assume she also helps the rescue in book two, since she's on the cover. Anyways the collection set comes with dog treats, a vest, and a ball and throw stick. She also has a big plushie version, if you want a squishy cuddle version of her. That one comes with an open mouth and a bandana.

And that's it! We've covered all the stuff that Corinne has. On to the--oh wait that last sticky note--

Tiny human baby brother person.

Corinne's Baby Brother, Blix: That's right, the baby! Now Gwynn gets to be the middle child seven years after she was born, like I did. Like Polly before him, Blix Yong Karlsson is born after family disaster while not at home--albeit several months later instead of on the side of the road because someone couldn't stay home, Mrs. Wentworth. The doll version of Blix comes in a white bear onesie and diaper, with a bottle and padded carrier as accessories. If I was going to do the whole family yes, but I have another tiny AG baby and they came with more. Later talks. 

Blix is described in Corinne to the Rescue as having green-grey eyes at birth, but the doll has brown. The production is likely just so they didn't have to make three versions of the current AG baby, which we'll discuss later, but I'm headcanoning it as the fact that white babies are often born with eyes lighter than they'll later be and a few months later once he was old enough to sit up, the green grey just became really dark. But if it bothers you the whole baby is plastic and the eyes are painted on. Get some acrylic.

Now, we're actually done and go to--

Aw, what, really Kira?

*~*~*

Bonus 2021 Round: Kira's Still Here?~

 

The 90s, but it's on the Girl of the Year. For 2021.

Kira's Adopt Don't Shop Outfit: Wait, what? Kira B., your year is over. Why are you getting another outfit?! It's 2022, you are still hanging around for buying--but you're not the star of the show. This is such a weird first of a character getting something post-year. I suspect there was like some weird supply chain issue that meant that this outfit didn't come out in 2021 or something and AG wasn't about to let it just faff off. Anyways, since she was the GotY, this is the best post to stick this in.

Anyways. Bucket hat, shirt about how pets shouldn't be bought and instead gotten from shelters, white shorts, flannel shirt, and boots. I'll just steal the whole thing for grunge looks if I feel like getting around to it. It's cute and I love the whole 90s vibe, what with having been a 90s teen. 

Now, now, I'm done with the items. To the salon finale!

*~*~*

 Even if I'm unlikely to get Corinne for my collection herself, I love who she is as a character. Her books--of what I've read--are really good. And she's not only important representation for Chinese Americans, but for blended families like Courtney before her and the struggles of wondering at her age what it means when the family is changing and how you fit in it and if everyone is as worried about this thing as you are, but they probably aren't. Maybe. Sometimes. I probably could have done without the "but what do I do with having money" subplot, but it actually does work out and make sense for who she is. Gods know when I went from growing up poor to "oh, middle class life is all right actually."

Good job, Corinne. Ski on and enjoy your year in the spotlight until you, like Joss, retire.

Now let's see if you get something next year or if Kira was just a very weird fluke possibly caused by supply chain issues.

Tuggy tuggy for the buggy.

--Neth

¹ I said what I said. I ain't got no less political just because it's been a year and change.

² Which had a bunch of jokes on social media about how saying Joss was the first deaf doll meant that all the rest of the dolls could hear us, so spoopy! I didn't care for it.

³ Fun fact: I keep typing her name as "Corrine" and then have to go back and fix it manually. Because I have a character in a self-indulgent book series I've been writing since the '90s named Corrina, so I've been spelling it with two Rs forever. The same thing happened with me failing to spell Michael right for years, but that's just because I'm a bad speller.

⁴ The books don't give any first names for her parents or last name for Arne. The upcoming movie does. So we'll take it as canon enough for the Wiki and my purposes here. 

⁵ Speaking of which, HBOMax been fucking up left and right lately since some dumbass decided tax write offs for more money was worth destroying IPs left and right. How's that drop in value taste? Now I have to find other means to watch Infinity Train. Hateful. Shitty. Smelly. I do it legal unless I can't. Keep circulating the tapes.

⁶ Didn't stop people immediately trying to give her blue eyes and blonde hair. Too many damned people in this fandom jump on whitewash like a fence in a Mark Twain book. Ahem.

⁷ Did you not get that reference? You might be too young for this blog. Or just not a gamer from the early 90s.  Here's an XKCD for it, because there's one of those for almost everything. 

⁸ The jacket has Est. 1986 on it. AG has been for a hot minute leaning into their foundation year. I think it's cute. 

⁹ Technically it's not; the time at the fire pit is with Dad. But it's a caption.  

¹⁰ Thermos--like Jell-o, Coke, and Comic-Con--is a protected trademark that just gets used frequently as a generic term. The word is still under trademark--which is why AG has to call it an "insulated bottle"--but I grew up with people who said to go to the store and buy the cheap Pampers and don't waste all the Kleenex, and all my carbonated beverages are cokes. So I just do what I want. I'm not a business.  

¹¹ I see what you did there, product namer. I appreciate it. 

¹² Fun fact, Nicki would be around twenty-seven now and her twin sisters would be on that metronome app probably.