AGPSF Flash: Peeking for Perma-Panties

While I need to write a few longer posts on PantyGate, for tonight I want to give a short update on American Girl Place San Francisco and the presence or non-presence of perma-panties.

In brief, as of this Monday evening, AGPSF seems to still be primarily stocked with the older versions of the 18" dolls--no obvious signs of perma-panty dolls. I was only able to open a few boxes, such as the TM 55 pictured above and below.

It was surprising how happy I was to see the removable panties on the TM doll!

I peeked in a few more boxes in the TM area and then opened one Julie box and was pleased to see she was still sporting removable panties as well.

So now a on worrying note--the store was quiet, there were plenty of assistants doing what looked like stocking and arranging--but the # of doll boxes on the shelves in the BeForever area seemed extremely sparse. 

Where I might normally see BeForever doll boxes lined up in each character kiosk area at least 2 deep and all the way across I now saw boxes only 1 deep and not all the way across. My (irrational?) fear is that for the big debut of Tenney & Logan on Thursday that AG is also planning to pull, re-box, and "debut "the BeForever girls in some new atrocious full-window style box.

Note that AG has been known to pull out and re-box store-stock dolls in the past. For the big Truly Me debut launch in May 2015 the Visual Department at AGPSF took ALL the modern dolls out of their old boxes, redressed them in what we know as the current Lilac Dress, and then re-box them in the new Truly Me box. (I overheard some of this while in the store the morning of the Truly Me debut in 2015 and also managed to get a few behind the scenes tidbits of info when I found a chatty employee who told me that Visual hd been up until 4am making those very changes the night before.)

TL;DR

*AGPSF still has older dolls with removable underwear in stock. Go soon to avoid perma-panties.

*The BeForever box could change without warning and Thursday's debut is one possible (but not confirmed) switch-a-roo point.

AGPSF Flash: Taking Stock of Grace Thomas

The rains paused and this sunny Friday afternoon I took a delightful drive up to AGPSF to take a walk-through of Grace Thomas' displays and note her in-store stock.

This is a view into Grace Thomas' main display area at the front of the store. While there is a lot still to see of her collection, there is no grand attempt to fill in the display gaps, most noticeably the huge empty space right in the middle of the floor. There is floor space to do some cartwheels!

Not only is there extra floor space, the display cases themselves are emptying out. The open teal platform long ago held the French Bakery but there was no attempt to make any other display--just a rather well-loved Grace doll with frizzy hair. The pink platform with plexiglass case on the right held the Pastry Cart display just last weekend, but now Grace stands alone in the case.

And the light blue platform case is also emptying out--no more BonBon (he was there just last week!). There are plenty of dolls for sale--but only two of the Travel Set (Luggage) left on the shelves. The Travel Coat is long gone.

Back wall left side--dolls and Welcome Gifts.

Middle back wall--a few Bistro Sets remain.

Back wall right side--Pajamas, Welcome Gifts and City Outfit. Also the Sightseeing Accessories and Sweet Hairstyling Set (left column).

Around the corner and in other display areas are additional outfits and accessories including the Baking Outfit and Opening-Night Outfit. For many Grace Thomas items, going in-store is still viable option at AGPSF.

Available at AGPSF
* indicates sold out online

Baking Outfit*
Baking Set*
Bistro Set*

City Outfit*
Opening-Night Outfit
Pajamas*
Sightseeing Accessories*
Sweet Hairstyling Set*
Travel Set (Luggage)*
Welcome Gifts

Gone Both Online and at AGPSF
French Bulldog
French Bakery
Paris Accessories (Purse)
Pastry Cart
Travel Coat

Only Available Online

Sightseeing Outfit

AGPSF Flash: Hello & Goodbye to Grace's Store Stock

American Girl Place San Francisco had brisk business this Sunday! The store was full with shoppers young and old and many of their red shopping bags were stuffed with AG goodies. My brief visual survey saw that the shopping traffic was very doll-clothing-and-accessories oriented as I saw very few shoppers making 18" doll purchases today.

I wanted to check out Grace Thomas' in-store stock in light of the surprise AG Daily Deal spotlighting her collection--nine items up to 30% off, including the Grace Thomas doll offered at $84! As items become "No Longer Available" (NLA) on AG's website, how would stock at the local store compare?

Plenty of Grace dolls on the floor!

However, both on the website and at AGPSF, Grace's powder blue Travel Coat is NLA. The Travel Set (Luggage) is gone from the website now, but there are still plenty of her luggage sets at the store.

Missed out on the Sweet Hairstyling Set online? AGPSF has plenty in stock.

Grace's Charm Bracelet for Girls disappeared off of the website several days ago, but AGPSF has quite a few left for now.

Also, the Baking Outfit which has been bouncing off and on backorder status online has healthy stock at the store. Other items gone online but that can be still found at the store include the Baking Set (Mixer) and the Polka Dot Apron for Girls.

The only big observation to make on Grace's stock seems to be the obvious one--get what you absolutely want now before it is gone. With the 20% off all regularly priced items through December 12th plus the one day 30% off Daily Deal for Grace Thomas and a huge portion of her collection, the rush is on! 

A quick summary of the highlights:

Baking Outfit 

AGPSF: In Stock
Website: Back Ordered

Baking Set (Mixer)
AGPSF: In Stock
Website: NLA

Sightseeing Outfit
AGPSF: Out of Stock
Website: Back Ordered

Sweet Hairstyles
AGPSF: In Stock
Website: NLA

Travel Coat
AGPSF: Out of Stock
Website: NLA

Travel Set (Luggage)
AGPSF: In Stock
Website: NLA

Bracelet for Girls
AGPSF: In Stock
Website: NLA

Polka-Dot Apron for Girls
AGPSF: In Stock
Website: NLA

Truly Me!

A quick AGPSF Flash report from my quick trip to the store today to enjoy the revamp of the MyAG modern girl line to the Truly Me collection.

New with Truly Me are three new dolls, #62, #63, and #64 plus a special change to #54. The dolls come in the new Lilac Dress as their meet outfit and their boxes are also a bright lilac. 

The lovely #62 features a Sonali mold in medium vinyl, brown hair and amber eyes with a pinwheel iris.

The new #62 is a classic mold face in light vinyl with short, shoulder length blonde hair, and blue eyes with pinwheel iris. Her eyes are noticeably lighter in color than the #27 blonde.

And #64 is the Ivy mold (note her cut out eye corners) in light vinyl, black-brown mid-length hair, and dark brown eyes, also with pinwheel iris.

The Lilac Dress can be paired with the Love to Layer set. Above is #62 wearing the tulle skirt with glittery silver bow over the meet outfit.

The silver dots on the meet shoes makes more sense when paired with the Love to Layer tulle skirt with its silver bow.

Love to Layer comes with a rather heavy knit zippered vest in deep blue with an asymmetrical closure. The vest design reminds me of GOTY Isabelle's black dance jacket, though Isabelle's jacket was made of thinner material and I think I would have preferred that. The vest looks best zipped up, otherwise it hangs awkwardly on the doll's frame.

A gold glittery headband and bow is part of Love to Layer.

Vest close up.

The Lilac Dress s also available for girls.

Vest for girls. Is this the first JLY/MyAG/TM offering of a matching "Meet" outfit for girls? 

And finally the sleeper surprise. The darling #54 now features cut outs in the corners of her eyes, changing her classification from a Jess mold to an Ivy mold. She is now the best next thing to a !Ivy doll and besides that, she is stunning. I can't stop thinking of #54 as well as #64--both with the Ivy mold. I may have to go back to the store soon to get a closer look at them both!

The store also featured a number of limited-time summer "beach" outfits and accessories--look for more pictures tomorrow.

Caroline's Farewell (AGPSF Flash)

The news is all over social media and the blogosphere--Caroline is to be archived. 

No official word on the exact date of archival, but a few items are already gone (Parlor and the Party Set) and it looks like some items are already low inventory! To assess the situation further, I decided to visit AGPSF to take a look at the inventory and contemplate final purchases from Caroline's line before items begin to sell out.

AGPSF has two display areas still set up for Caroline, the main one (below) and a second area for her bed. All of her outfits are available in the store with the exception of the new Party Dress (aka the "Frozen" dress). If you want that dress, better hurry online--it is currently back ordered until June 5th, but I have the feeling that may be the last major batch!

Soon this display area for Caroline will be emptied to make space for the newly announced BeForever Maryellen, a strawberry blonde cutie whose story is set in 1954 (debut set for August 27th). But before she leaves, I will be bringing home her dresses, though I will be passing on most of the large items, such as her Parlor (long gone), her Skiff, and the Table and Chairs. 

I really like the color scheme of the Table and Treats. The ceramic tureen with the blue floral design is really tempting, but I can't imagine getting $150 worth of play or display from this set. I might be interested at a $50 price point, but even then I think I would pass.

I plan to post detailed reviews of the Caroline items that have come home with me, so I took photos of items I thought I would not have available for detailed pictures at home. Originally I had decided against Garnet the Calf (he is so overly magenta) but he will be traveling here soon!

So what is next for Caroline as she heads into the archives? While Caroline and her clothing and accessories will soon be gone from American Girl--I have a feeling that she will grow in popularity after retirement.

In celebration of Caroline's three glorious years as part of AG's Historical/BeForever line up and to wish her a terrific "Bon Voyage" for future adventures launched from my home and from the homes of thousands of other Caroline fans, I will be spotlighting Caroline's dresses, accessories and even her bed in a series of reviews!

I am pleased to introduce my poppet Charlotte, an original Caroline! 

Charlotte time-and-distance-travels between her 1812 canon storyline set near Lake Ontario, her home in Regency Era England (think Jane Austen!), and her modern day La Patisserie in Paris! She will be dazzling and charming us with her Caroline wardrobe in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

AGPSF Flash: A Sleepy Quiet After the Storm

Today I had business in Palo Alto so I decided to stop by AGPSF. What a difference a week makes! It was lovely to be able to shop the store while it was fairly quiet--no lines, no crowds, no crush around the new displays. I am fairly certain there were more sales associates and staff on the floor than customers!

There is not much new to report about Grace Thomas at the store, though I did get a chance to go upstairs and see her displays on the second floor (I avoided going upstairs on January 1st). I can not recall seeing Isabelle having displays on both floors last year at AGPSF.

Upstairs I noticed that MyAG 61 and MyAG 47 appear to be temporarily out of stock.

I did enjoy having peace and quiet to examine some of the new MyAG items which were quietly put in stores after Christmas and which are now also available online as well.

I spent some time scoping out the new Sit & Snooze Fold-Out-Bed for my twins Annika and Ingrid, though the price seems steep for the three piece set.

The lavender color is my favorite and I am in love with the sweater-knit blanket. It looks like something my mother or grandmother would have made at one time.

The felt flower-blossom pillow is a bit odd in terms of texture, though looks nice. I think the pillow just misses in the comfort department. The pillow base is spongy enough, but I can't imagine laying my head on the felt petals. However, even with all of these reservations, my birthday is next month and I keep coming back to considering this set.

And now for the AG Question of the Month. Lovely Leopard PJs: Lovely or Ugly?

I can't decide if the Lovely Leopard PJs are a tacky, hideous mess, or perhaps so tacky and so hideous as to be terrific. I ask my readers: Fuzzy leopard hearts shorts? Are they a marvel or a mess?

The pink top is cute, if a bit snug. I have also come to accept the bizarre pink tulle fringe. 

I think my biggest hesitation for purchasing the Lovely Leopard PJs stems from the felt hearts tacked onto the slippers. I absolutely love most of AG's fuzzy doll slippers, but these look a bit odd, like the hearts were last minute addition. I rarely (very rarely) alter AG clothing--but I am wondering if I could find cuter heart shaped objects with which to decorate these slippers.

Like the Sit & Snooze Fold-Out-Bed, I will think on the Lovely Leopard PJs this until my birthday trip to AGPSF next month.

I'd love to hear from my readers! What do you think of the Lovely Leopard PJs?

AGPSF Flash: A Second Look & The Haul

In the AGPSF store this morning I managed to snap a series of pictures, though I definitely felt more in a rush than usual because of my own excitement and of course from the throngs of other excited shoppers. What I did not recognize until I got home is that the photos I did manage to take were primarily of the items I was not going to purchase that day.

So I offer my readers some photos of what I did not buy followed by a rather revealing "The Haul" photo.

But before I launch into those photos, I did manage to catch a snap of the Take a Picture with Grace station when no one was posing with it, though it took some patience. The fabric awning is a great detail and I am obsessed with the tiled roof of the Mansard styled french roof.

Above the picture station one can see the Eiffel Tower. (Count the Eiffel Towers!)

The City Outfit--little Bonbon looks unfortunately startled in this picture. I leave this "Love" outfit to purchase a bit closer to Valentine's Day (though I do bring little Bonbon home today).

City Outfit shoes. (Count the bows!)

Gloves and purse from the Paris Accessories. The texture on the shorts is fabulous and interesting.

The Bistro Set table. (Eiffel Tower!)

The Bistro Set table, napkin, food, carafe, and menu.

The Bistro Set sidewalk menu board. (Count the hearts!)

Grace's Pajamas. Another purchase for later. I am definitely ready to head out soon! (More bows!)

Grace's Travel Coat. Love the texture of the fabric. But not today. (A bow!)

Grace's Opening Night Outfit. I love the pink tulle mesh over sequins look. I thought sequins would be gone after so many in Isabelle's collection. I must admit, I am not tired of sequins yet--however, this is also a February outfit if I can hold out.

Cute Eiffel Tower earrings--it looks like they can be doubled up with the heart or bow earrings (Eiffel Tower! Hearts! Bows!) I need to find time to go back and purchase the earring set but not actually pierce her ears.

The above picture also shows Grace's Pastry Cart. Wait. I did bring this home--they were flying off the shelves (so to speak) and I decided that I would add the Pastry Cart to my purchases in the final minutes before checking out. While I plan to eventually get Grace's "Whole World," this was the one impulse/early purchase based solely on the store vibe.

Check out went quickly but we needed assistance to take our haul to the car. Enter Nick, one of the most sincerely cheerful and helpful sales associates we have ever met at the store. He even agreed to pose with all of our purchases and gave me permission to use his image on this blog.

Nick shared with us that he really enjoyed working for American Girl. He confessed to owning one AG doll, an Isabelle which he won in a contest. When I asked him if he was going to get a Grace doll he said he wasn't certain, but when I pointed out they both had blue eyes, I could tell the idea to get Grace had crossed his mind at least once before! (Note it was Nick's idea to pull Grace out of the giant red shopping bag for this picture! Yay, Nick! Yay, AG!)

One can really see the real estate difference between the French Bakery (bottom box) and the Pastry Cart (top box). The latter is not only a wallet saver but also a space saver! However, I was obviously not detoured.

Today's purchases include

Grace Thomas

Welcome Gifts

Bonbon

Baking Outfit

Baking Set (the mixer, etc)

Pastry Cart

French Bakery

I am looking forward to begin unpacking and photographing all the new items over the coming days and weeks. First up in The Wonderful! World of Grace will be a blog post later this evening with the first pictures of Grace right out of the box!