January 2018 American Girl Releases

HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2018 be a better year than it was last year for all of us. 

Luciana Vega (Girl of the Year 2018) is now available in the online store, which is the only way to get her if you're not in a state 'cultured' enough to have AG grace it with an official AG Store. (My state is one of 'em, not to worry). She has a lot of space-related stuff, of course. No comment/complaints on my radar here.

We're ready for liftoff to a better GOTY that represents all girls of all interests. 

Blegh, I don't like the new Tenney stuff. Then again, I've never liked Tenney. Her face screams 'ahh I have the pox because my freckles are only on my nose'. Plus she's like AG's Taylor Swift. I also don't like Taylor Swift. Please comment below saying how awful I am for not liking your favorite artist's music and how I should be thankful to have to sell my organs on the black market to get T. Swift's tickets and snag a Tenney on the ride there.

The only good part about Tenney's new collection. It's cute, but I'm not gonna get it because of the T on it.

Blegh. Awful color, in my opinion, topped off with awful fringe. 

WAIT, WHAT? This is god-awful. Who in the name of Vera Wang decided that this dress was a good idea? Put some trim on the edges where the split is and maybe it won't look like Tenney's little sister got a little too adventurous with the scissors. Maybe do a high-low skirt next time, AG. 

I have nothing else to say about the rest of Tenney's collection except that why did it take AG so long to give her a microphone and wow, I can choose between plain black shorts or a pair of doll sunglasses to buy for $10. Sigh.

The everyday accessories for the boy dolls are cute! Headphones, a backpack (since it's for a boy, it HASSS to have 'skate' all over it right? Boys still like to skate... right?), cellphone (yes, because all 8-year-olds nowadays have to have a smartphone, computer and every gaming console known to mankind), a hoodie, water bottle and some other menial stuff that I don't care about.

I'm not going to fixate on Wellie Wishers for long, but I find their new stuff, as always, cute. I find that they made matching Wellie Wisher and AG pjs for those little girls who have to dress exactly like their big sisters (and for those girls who happen to have both a Wellie Wisher and an American Girl). They also have a cute guitar that's butterfly themed and their woodland vet set is cute. They've changed around the accessories that go with each girl. The rock star outfit is adorable.

Shaaaaade for daaaaaays. Or whatever it is that popular people say.

I don't like the new mix and match collection. The sequin shorts, mermaid shirt, the white skirt and the shoes are the only things I really like. Even then it's kind of... meh. Meh.

And last, but NOT least - Gabriela McBride (the poor GOTY last year who kinda got swept under the rug by that darn Tenney) is still up on the site as of 2:30 AM EST. That's a little odd, especially since she's still under the Dolls header with her own subheading of Girl of the Year: Gabriela. This means that they either a) still have so many Gabrielas in stock or b) are really keeping up with their promise to let her be the GOTY for 2017 'and beyond'. Her collection is still up as well, but without the names changed. (AG will change the names of their GOTY collections when they continue to sell them after their year... For example, they're still selling Lea's meet dress well past her year of 2016, and calling it 'Tropical Adventure Dress'.) I hope she sticks around this year, but I'm lacking faith in Mattel/AG after how they treated Gabby and how they tried to sell us on cheapening their dolls through attached underwear. (Yes, they did that!)

Hang in there, Gabby. Hang in there. 

All in all, it's a mixed bag more leaning towards the apathy and the dislike factor. Luciana has good potential, but so did Gabby. Maybe I'm a little sad because I wanted to see new releases for Nanea, but seeing as they only release new BeForever stuff maybe once or twice a year, I've got a long way to go.