Last Thursday I enjoyed the Truly Me launch at AGPSF, though I did not bring home any of the beautiful new dolls (TM #62, #63, #64 and revised #54). However, a few days later I returned to AGPSF and brought home a doll that I believe has been flying under the radar for many doll collectors.
Welcome home, Truly Me 21!
The new Truly Me packaging is a pretty and soothing lavender (my absolute favorite color--my bridesmaids wore this color!) with terrific doodle patterns on the front and sides of the box.
It should be noted that the new TM boxes are excessively difficult to pry open as the fit between the top piece and bottom is very snug. The sales assistant at the store was very helpful, but she struggled mightily to open up just two boxes for me to compare two dolls. I joked AG needs to invent a box-shoehorn for those extra snug boxes.
All of the Truly Me doll boxes, GOTY Grace doll boxes, and nearly all of the BeForever doll boxes now feature a round placard on the front of the box with the doll's image on it. I presume as BeForever doll stock turns over that the silhouette-and-name design that was part of the BeForever launch will be replaced with the above configuration. The image makes for quicker doll and outfit identification, but the previous box design with the silhouettes was truly lovely and I miss it already.
The TM dolls come with a boxed set of activity cards. The activity box is packed/set in a plastic sleeve which slips over the bottom of the doll box (similar to the plastic sleeve that holds the Meet books), however I was surprised and a little dismayed that the plastic sleeve was secured to the cardboard doll box with clear packaging tape. Once I carefully stripped off the tape (if the tape is pulled with a very slow and patient hand it can be removed without any major damage to the doll box itself) the reason for the tape became obvious--the activity set is heavy!
Cute ideas on activities cards. I think it adds some value to the TM doll experience, especially for the 8-and-under crowd, but I will need to do a fuller review later. Super darling outfit pictured on the above card--a sneak peak at a fall outfit?
Finally, our first close view of TM 21. She was originally introduced in 2001 and features curly strawberry blonde hair with pin curls on either side of her face. Her eyes are hazel and she is one of the few dolls remaining in the TM line up with line eyebrows.
The new meet dress, which is currently available for separate purchase as the Lilac Dress, is a light raspberry cotton with silver mesh trim with sequins and with a silver threaded woven sash.
Oh, how I love examining a new doll in the box. Pristine and full of promise! The teal shoes from the meet outfit have glittery silver accents.
TM 21 out of box! I adore her pigtails right out of the box.
The back of her wig has short hairs to cover the wig cap.
Pin curls! It will be interesting to work with the pin curls to keep them neat and springy.
Another close up of her pin curls.
The bottom left of her dress has a metal American Girl tag sewn onto it, just like the dresses for girls.
Close up of the teal meet shoes. These slipped on and off like butter--clearly AG has been listening to customer complaints and requests about shoe fit. I do wonder what could be lost if AG only produces buttery slip-on shoes, though, since I love some of the boots of recent years that were a real challenge to get on, such as Saige's boots. So I hope AG doesn't sacrifice all smart and fashionable shoes and boots on the altar of butter.
Madly in love with this beauty. I'm glad I noticed her even in spite of (or perhaps because of!) a bevy of new and sparkly dolls.
It is difficult to predict when a doll from the modern line will be retired as we are not given as much advance notice as with the historical dolls. Considering that TM 21 is one of the older dolls in the modern line and she was not revised to the newer eyebrow style last fall, it does at have me pause to wonder if she may be one of the next dolls quietly retired sometime in the next calendar year.
