Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Mini Doll Discussion

I know there's been a lot of hype lately about the new historical dolls being released by American Girl:  Cecile and Marie-Grace.  Some of you may have wondered why I haven't had much to say about them.  Frankly, it seemed like I had nothing valuable to add to the countless announcements and opinions already in cyberspace.  And it seemed silly to bring up a discussion about them when everyone else had already been talking about them for weeks.

So, for those of you who even care about my opinion, I think Cecile is pretty, but her curly hair does NOT look fun to work with.  I've pretty much decided I won't ever get a doll with hair that curly (unless someone is giving them away...I think I could live with a free curly-haired doll). :)  I don't mind Marie-Grace's coloring, but I'm not completely sold on her face mold. 

Anyway, the reason I'm bringing this up now is because I was just on Amazon.com and saw that they had pictures of the Cecile and Marie-Grace mini dolls. :D

Now, I don't know how many of you saw the pics of these mini dolls on Barnes&Noble.com.  For those of you who didn't, I've included them here:



I have no idea whose brilliant idea it was to photograph the dolls from this angle (hint: sarcasm warning).  Marie-Grace looks okay, but Cecile?  Yikes!! She looks a little bit on the creepy side.

After seeing the above pics, I'd pretty much decided that Marie-Grace was cute, but I'd pass on Cecile.  Even Marie-Grace wasn't an "Oh, wow!  She's cute," but more of a "Hmm, cute."  Then, I saw the pics on Amazon.com today:




Can I just say I am completely in love with mini Cecile now?  It's amazing what a difference a picture makes!  She is just darling!  Interestingly enough, Marie-Grace actually looked better in the Barnes & Noble picture.  While the lighting and coloring is better, I really don't care for the way they painted her face.  And the new face mold tends to make her look buck-toothed!  You can't tell as much from this pic, but if you go to Amazon.com and zoom in on her face, you'll see what I mean. 

So, I guess the main point of this post is that I'm really excited about mini Cecile now.  Funny, this is the most excited I've been about anything in the new collection.  Which I guess is a good thing, considering that I have my heart set on My AG #55. :)  But every doll needs her own doll, right? ;)  I think mini Cecile would be perfect for Hayden. :D


15 comments:

Jen said...

Awww, Mini-Cecile is pretty adorable! She may have to come join mini-Rebecca on my work computer.

(Big Cecile is also pretty, but far too similar to #46, who is next on my AG Acquisition list. I may get some of her dresses for Addy, though.)

As for Marie-Grace...I don't dislike her, but my main interest is seeing how people use the new face mold and new eye color in custom dolls! :D

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Jen! Great to hear from you. :)

I think mini-Rebecca would love having mini-Cecile as a friend. ;)

I love #46 too, but I think if I got a JLY with Sonali's mold, I'd go for #47, since she has easier hair.

I'm also really curious to see how M-G's eye color and face mold is used. I'd really like to see a pic of her eyes in person. I'm thinking they may actually be close to my eye color (my eyes are grey-green and change color depending on what I'm wearing).

Carolyn said...

I have to agree with you about the first photos. YIKES! They are crazy weird! Someone must have opened up Cecile and played with her hair before the pic was taken. And as far as MG goes, I'm not sure I like the new face mold. It will have to grow on me, I guess.
The second photos are better, IMO, even though MG does look a bit buck-toothed. Her eyebrows are too dark too, making her expression look strange.

Claire said...

I love mini Cecile! She'll have to come home with us eventually...maybe after #41 comes home first...;)

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Thanks for the comments, gals! :)

Anonymous said...

Some of us on the blogs would do a lot better at photographing things for the companies .. it is like they have so much to photograph they just do one shot and are done with it and they never turn out as cute as some of our photo's .. lol

Poor kids,
Taryn

Elliebob said...

I have loved Cecile ever since she came out. I am with you on Marie's face mold. It seems...weird in some way. :) haha. Anyway, i do care about your opinion. :) I just got my karito kid today. you should visit me on my blog and check her out. :) Thanks!

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Taryn, I agree. I think it would be great to have some of the AGPT photographers take pics for AG instead of whoever they have now! :) I bet they'd sell a lot more that way.

Elliebob, I got a chance to check your blog post. Piper is lovely. :)

Thanks for commenting! :D

Elliebob said...

thanks

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

You're welcome. :)

Elliebob said...

:)

Anonymous said...

Hi Beastsbelle,
I looked at your downy dunk post and I watched the youtube video you suggested and I am thinking on doing it on my Kirsten doll who I bought on ebay... her hair has been trimmed on the bottom and is VERY frizzy! Have a nice weekend.

-Alexis-

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Alexis! :) That's great! I hope it goes well for you. You'll have to let me know how her hair turns out. :)

Claire said...

Sorry for getting off-topic here, but I may start a search to possibly get a Tess of my own (I absolutely LOVE yours), and I had a quick question:

Does she fit into AG clothes and shoes? Just wondering, because I don't own very many non-AG clothes. :}

Thanks for your help!! :)

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Claire! No problem. :) Tess is one of my very favorites, too. She's pretty compatible with AG clothes, but her body is more similar to Pre-Mattel dolls than the current Mattel ones. Right now, my Tess is wearing the purple capris that are part of the My AG meet outfit. She can wear them, but they are pretty snug (her bottom is bigger than some of my other dolls). ;)

Her shoulders are also a bit wider. Most things from AG will fit, they just tend to be tighter than they are on AG dolls. Hope this helps! :)