Tuesday, May 3, 2016

*REVIEW* Lea's Beach Picnic Set + Truly Me Shirt

 

AG had a Truly Me event setting up when I arrived on Thursday. So cute tee shirt and scrapbook for girls.


Two sets of stickers.

Bookmark.



The free Truly Me shirt is great.



Lea's Beach picnic set is a very cute set, but it costs $34.








 

Great American Girl quality, but $34 is high especially when OG accessory sets run around $17 when not on sale.


Journal coordinates with her meet dress.


Brigadieros.



I wish this set was more around $24.
-Madelon

7 comments:

  1. I agree about the price being too high. The O G Luau set has a cuter pineapple drink. A fun project for girls would be making the basket out of plastic canvas. You could make your own design on the basket or copy the A G design. Thank you for your review Madelon. I always enjoy them.

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    1. Thank you. I really appreciate that! Madelon

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  2. Madelon, I am curious of how you like the material used to construct the basket? I love the set and I just love the mat and colors for the basket, but I wish that it were made from wicker or another type of wooden, stick-like material. The overall set is really cute.

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  3. I agree that a wooden basket would have been nice and more authentic. I think little hands might break a straw basket. Madelon

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  4. I agree with Madelon on the pricing of the products in comparison to other similar items available. The set looks really nice.

    Really off topic of the picnic set:
    When I look at the older accessories it seems that enough was there for two dolls. (two drinks, two plates). I don't know if this is completely true. I'm thinking about Julie's or Kit's birthday set. I think this is short sighted for AG, as if they anticipate you will only own 1 doll or are they trying to keep the quality and give you less. I don't buy a lot of Barbie dolls and accessories because of Mattel's marketing strategy. For example, they make outfits for Barbie, but my daughter wants the outfits that were only available if you buy a doll. I would be buying 10 dolls just for the outfits,which I don't have enough storage for all those dolls (like I have it for AG dolls, lol). The Disney dolls don't have any outfits. But each year they come out with the princess dolls in different outfits, so you could end up with several of those. AG is using similar strategy with Lea, one outfit is only available through special purchase. However, when Lea went on sale, they didn't put that dress in the package. How many are now going to turn around and buy a second doll just for the dress. Being inspired by LADL, I went and searched for Mattel's earning reports. I found this, for the 2015 year end, " ....Okay, moving on to American Girl. While American Girl did not perform as expected this past holiday season, there were notable positives, including our successful strategy to re-energize the brand's foundation, the BeForever line. Unfortunately, the relaunch of American Girl Truly Me line and last year's Girl of the Year doll underperformed and failed to drive expected traffic.
    That said, we are confident that we understand the issues. We will be addressing price value, improving distribution, and expanding consumer engagement as part of a larger strategy to return the brand to growth. As the very first toy brand to partner with Amazon Studios, we will be making much greater use of content to drive American Girl demand. This brand-new multiyear plan includes live-action specials beginning this year, as well as options for several seasons of episodic content. While this new content will reinforce fan loyalty, the greater opportunity is for the brand to reach an entirely new audience of girls beyond today's doll and retail experience.
    We're also expanding the American Girl product offering with an all-new line of differently scaled and priced dolls for younger girls. They're called Wellie Wishers. These are the first differentiated dolls from American Girl in more than 10 years and target an underdeveloped opportunity for the brand. Wellie Wishers evolves the powerful American Girl formula of character-based stories that encourage imaginative play, reinforced by content and experiential retail.
    The full line will be offered in American Girl channels and very likely go beyond that. I will have much more to share in future updates, but here is a quick preview of Wellie Wishers." which comes from this website on Page 9 of the document. http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/MAT/1891843503x0x882428/80203667-BD27-49D4-9606-A6E9773BADEB/MAT-Transcript-2016-02-12_final_.pdf

    I was surprised that Grace GOTY sold poorly compared to Isabelle. Most of the Grace baking items were backordered (those were Williams-Sonoma), close to the end of the year Grace's items were sold out. Yet, there are still Isabelle items on the sale page. I see that AG has a new cookbook at Williams-Sonoma. That the Truly me disappointed is not a surprise. Did they think that everyone would buy another doll just for the outfit? There is also information on the web that AG sales for the first qtr are down 11% , compared to last year, same quarter. Is Mattel missing the boat?

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  5. Thanks for the review Madelon! Being from Canada means that we can't afford to buy anything AG. The exchange rate plus shipping is simply outrageous, so it is nice to see these reviews! We usually just make the things that we want ourselves. :)

    ginnie / www.fakingitmostly.com

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  6. As others noted I would love this set more if it was seating for 2 or more - she has siblings and friends with whom to picnic. Also if the basket were more basket looking like Kaya's.

    With regards to Lea's bundle sale. I did get Lea with the special dress and her swim suit and accessories - the outfit and accessory set came up at the discounted price.
    ~Xyra

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