Mega Bloks Mega News!

Mega Bloks American Girl has showed up in a Kentucky Toys R Us store!

No word yet if the early stock was a mistake or if we can expect these sets to show up in all state side stores soon. The Toys R Us Canadian website has many of the sets listed for pre-order and has both artist renditions and stock photos along with prices.

GOTY Items

Grace's Pastry Cart - $14.99 CAD

Grace's 2-in-1 Slumber Party and Patisserie - $109.99 CAD

Isabelle's Dance Studio - $59.99 CAD

Saige's Art Studio  - $22.99 CAD

McKenna's Gymnastics Training - $14.99 CAD

Nicki's Horse Stable -  $44.99 CAD

* * *

Truly Me Items

Girls #1 - #6 (each sold separately, shown above is Girl #6) - $6.99 CAD each

Uptown Style (3 girls and accessories) - $22.99 CAD

Downtown Style (3 girls and accessories) - $22.99 CAD

These Mega Bloks American Girl scenes and girls are cute! But I am still holding out. And no sign of Kanani...

Melody Debut on CBS!

Melody Ellison doll debut! What does this mean? A peek at the actual doll? Or will it mean more, such as a surprise early spring launch of the Melody doll and collection?

Tune in tomorrow!

Grace's Slumber Party & Patisserie: Canadian Preview

Thanks to a Canadian friend, stellabella, Poppets & Posies is able to share photos from the Canadian preview of AG's Mega Bloks line. Photos shared with permission!

The event was held at a Toronto Toys R Us store today and featured Grace's Slumber Party & Patisserie.

While the release of the AG-themed Mega Bloks in the United States rumored to be in July, Canadian consumers will have a shorter wait--the Mega Bloks American Girl line will be offered through Canadian Toys R Us stores starting March 18th.

Grace's 2-in-1 building will retail for $109 CAD--approximately $79 US. The package includes the two buildings seen above which can be configured separately or stacked for one giant building/house. (See the final picture for interior and accessories.)

Above and below is the 2-in-1 set configured as one giant house.

The 2-in-1 set comes with Grace, her two friends, her dog BonBon, a patio and table set, floor lamp, plants, and a fully stocked kitchen that comes with both bakery foods and baking equipment: a mixer, rolling pin, blender and more. The kitchen has a sink, counter space, and a refrigerator and oven (doors open on both). Also included are a lounge couch, sales counter, and computer screen. The bedroom area comes with a bunk bed and trundle to sleep three. There is even a bathroom with toilet and sink (lower right).

The Mega Bloks line will include other dolls from the Truly Me line and many specific characters and scenes from previous GOTY dolls. Besides Grace and her bakery, look for Isabelle and her dance and sewing studio, Saige and her artist studio, McKenna and a gymnastics scene, and Nikki with her horse, stable and dog. No word or sight of Kanani yet!

Are you excited?

Wellie Wishers! Wow!

New from American Girl in 2016!

Wellie Wishers is a new 15" doll line aimed at the 4 - 7 year old audience. The new AG doll line will have character driven stories so we can likely look forward to books or videos along with the dolls.

Nature. Dance. Outdoor adventures. These are the big themes that seem to emerge from the initial promotional photos which feature five girl characters.

Doll #1 (upper left, dark hair and asian features) wears a dance themed outfit and her skirt features stars. Like all of the dolls she is wearing colorful "wellies" or better known by some as rain boots and seems ready for outdoor adventures. The boots appear to be soft rubbery plastic. Her simple circle skirt of starts sports an elastic waist band, likely a nod to easy doll dressing for the younger consumer.

Doll #2 (dark skin and dark curly hair that may be lightly textured) features a colorful floral theme in her outfit. Like all of the Wellie Wishers, her eyes do not open or close. The Wellie Wisher body appears to be all vinyl and the head is able to both turn and tilt.

Doll # 3 (above left, long red hair and freckles) wears darling ladybug themed wellies--in all the dolls there appears to be themes around nature, animals and hobbies. This doll seems to love animals as seen with her darling bunny top and bunny-themed headband.

Doll #4 (dark skin, straight dark brown hair) looks to be another dancer, perhaps a fan of the ballet with her tiarra, ruffled tulle skirt and "swan lake" styled tunic top.

Doll #5 (above left, blonde with blue eyes) looks to be a fan of the water with her little fish themed boots and lovely aqua tones of her water-colored handkerchief hem skirt and "waves" of the ruffles. Check out the little red "fins" on the sides of her boots! Squee!

The photos with the young girls helps to show the scale of the Wellie Wishers dolls but also reenforces this line of dolls will be aimed at the 4 - 7 age group.

With the introduction of this exciting new line of Wellie Wishes will be the quiet retirement of the Bitty Twin line.

Will a Wellie Wisher be coming home with you?

Sweet! Mega Bloks to Offer Grace's Bakery

For cute! Fall 2016 Mega Bloks will offer this play set based on Grace's Bakery.

The 2-in-1 bakery and house offered by Mattel's Mega Bloks line will come with Grace and her two friends, accessories for the two rooms, and has a suggested retail price of $69.99. The accessories seen in the stock photo are a table, two chairs, flowers, 3 cupcakes a tiered cake, and some sort of counter or display. The house appears hinged, so perhaps it folds closed or can be configured into different layouts.

I am a bit beyond the target age group for Mega Bloks or Lego so I will probably pass but I can imagine plenty of parents with little ones might give this set at least a gander. Even so, I can't wait to see more pictures and what is on the other side of the wall!

Groundhog Day News! Spring Rumors and Releases

Happy Groundhog Day! The critter has officially predicted spring is on the way without delay!

Lea's Three-Toed Sloth was the closest I had to a murmeltier (aka groundhog) to share all the following happy news! Groundhog Day was one of my favorite holidays as a young child--no fuss, just fun songs and crafts about a magical critter who could predict the coming of spring. So how fitting to talk today about all the coming arrivals at American Girl.

Rumored for February 11th at American Girl is the spring release. Social media has reported Truly Me additions of an Ice Cream Stand and Sprinkles Outfit and other summer/sporting outfits. While we will be soon saying an official goodbye to the Bitty Twins, the Bitty Baby line will be getting several spring items during this release. Stay tuned to Poppets & Posies for an AGPSF in-store report!

Looking further ahead, coming March 1st will be Lea Clark's third book, Lea and Camila.

Rumored for sometime this late-spring or early summer will be a NEW line of 16" dolls by American Girl called Wellie-Wishers. Small leaks has led many to believe that Wellie-Wishers will be similar in size (tall and slender) to an earlier line of dolls from AG called Hopscotch Hill. Will this be the doll line in which we finally see the rumored "little brother" doll?

However, what we will not be seeing in the spring release are any BeForever "Limited Edition" outfits and we will have to wait until summer for both Melody and any more Lea Clark outfits or accessories.

And finally, to follow up on an earlier blog post, I received my big Lea purchase--but it is still sitting packed inside of the shipping box. The unboxing will surely be soon! I would have loved to have opened it last month but life and the winter flu temporarily derailed my plans. What is now needed is little bit of Lea sunshine!

Have you heard any other spring rumors? What do you hope to see this spring at AG?

Side by Side: Lea's Rainforest House vs Kit's Tree House

Thank you to Forever Friends Dolls for their side-by-side comparison photo of Lea's Rainforest House and Kit's Tree House!

The two structures are similar in overall size, and while Lea's Rainforest House is slightly smaller overall it offers nearly double the useable and accessible play space inside because of the fully open front. Additionally, the height for the Rainforest House was utilized for a high sleeping loft bed rather than for the cute illusion of the Tree House being up in tree branches.

Kit's Tree House was retired in 2011 and for its price of $250 came with a chandelier, a lantern, photos and a cute bucket on a rope.

In contrast, Lea's Rainforest House is $395 but comes with a hammock, an outdoor oven with many cooking and eating accessories, a table and chair, a woven storage basket, a shower unit with a towel and soap, a moveable loft bed, mattress, blanket, pillow, a tablet, lantern, wind chime, paper butterflies, one frog and a colorful parrot.

I have loved the idea of finding Kit's Tree House for the longest time, but inch for inch, the design of Lea's Rainforest House plus its plethora of clever accessories makes it the five-star option for exciting play.