Dolly Dress Discussion: Our Generation revisited

I know these posts regarding AG clothes have become more and more sporadic as time goes by, but since I'm chronically short on cash I have to review things as I get them.  I've touched on Our Generation clothes in the past, noting that my OG Sadie's stock dress fit my AG Denise like it was made for her, shoes and all.  This time I have some of the extra outfits that Battat has available for Our Generation dolls.  I've been fortunate enough to acquire two of them, the first being a summer getup called "To Our Hearts Content."  It is listed as a deluxe fashion on the OG website.

The outfit consists of the items that you see in the picture, with the exception of shoes.  The original shoes look like this (Sadie is wearing them).

These are too small for Denise's big Pleasant Company feet, thus she wears red Madame Alexander mary-janes.  The rest of the outfit fits, but it's a little tight all around.  The sweater's armholes are a chore to get around Denise's wrists, and the dress is hard to close in back.  Ironically, the headband is easier to put on Denise than it is to put on Sadie!  In short, this outfit is tight, but not so tight that Pleasant Company-era American Girl dolls can't wear it.  Just make sure you have a pair of matching shoes on hand!

Outfit number two is a winter outfit entitled "Color Me Plaid."  It is listed on the OG website as a regular fashion.

This ensemble comes with a scarf and a pair of black plastic ankle boots, but I forgot to put on the scarf and much to my surprise, the boots did not fit.  Denise got shackled with Molly's pair of mary-janes this time, but she also has her own pair of black shoes if I ever were to put this dress on her again.  Like "To Our Hearts Content," this getup is a little tight in places.  The blouse and skirt went on with no problems, but the tights had to stretch quite a bit.  Also note that the sleeves are a teensy bit short on Denise.

With the exception of the shoes, these outfits fit old-school American Girl bodies without much fuss.  Granted, the two outfits I've shown you do have a lot of stretch in them, so they fit the pudgy PC bodies better.  In order to give y'all a completely thorough review I'd have to put Denise in an outfit that DOESN'T stretch and see how well she wears it.  "Just Gowning Around" appears to be made out of sateen, so that might be a good dress to try...if I can find it!  I must say that I'm disappointed that the shoes did not fit Denise; that does not bode well for the retro outfits that I'd like to get for Molly.  Molly's measurements are similar to Denise's, so that may mean that she won't be able to squeeze into the skates that come with "Roller Disco."  If you've read Molly's books then you may know how she occasionally likes to roller skate, and I'd love to get her a pair of skates that fit.  There are no guarantees that the skates won't fit, but after this little experiment, I'm not betting on it.  Disco is ahead of Molly's time anyway; that would fit a character like Julie better.

Yours truly,

RagingMoon1987

Signs of life: return of the Bratz

RagingMoon1987 here, with a very small tidbit of news.  Kewpie83 has reported that the Bratz are FINALLY coming back.  Sheesh, it feels like that hiatus lasted longer than the year it was supposed to!  Anywho, Kewpie83 says that the new Bratz dolls are available for pre-order here in the U.S., and will be available in stores by July 25th.  Toys R Us has some additional odds and ends on its website.  The new line apparently is entitled "Hello, My Name Is..." and has the four characters we all know and love (or hate, depending on your opinion of the Bratz).  Yasmin, Jade, Sasha, and Cloe will all be returning to store shelves, along with Cameron and a new character named Raya.  Wikipedia points out that there was a character named Raya once before, but this character is supposed to be a completely different doll.  Here's what the old Raya looked like; she was from the Magic Hair line.

Tan, blonde, dark eyed.  In other words, she wasn't that different from other obscure Bratz characters like Tessa and Rina.  Let's hope that the new Raya doesn't look like this.

Here's the kicker:  no one, not even Toys R Us, has released pictures of the new product yet.  All TRU's website has are silhouettes.  Here's all they have on Jade, the one I'm most curious to see.

TRU's description of the product states that Jade will have a "Plaid Meets Punk" sort of style, good news for me since I love plaid.  If all the descriptions on TRU's website are correct, then these dolls may be very similar to the dolls that I had when I was a teenager.  The dolls in 2003 had mix-and-match fashions, plus several accessories, and the new "Hello, My Name Is..." line appears to be going in that same direction.

If the picture that Kewpie83 uploaded is accurate, then these new Bratz may only be available at Toys R Us stores.  This is problematic since the nearest TRU to Malden is eighty miles away, and I'm not in much of a mood to drive eighty miles just for a doll that I already have several examples of.  Guess I'll just have to wait until the official release for images!

So this new release certainly sounds interesting, but I can't help wondering what MGA is going to do to try and keep the Bratz afloat this time.  They've done joints, hair play, dress-up, pop stars, you name it!  They even made the main characters taller, like this!

I don't know how popular these taller Bratz were, but they were released shortly before the hiatus so I doubt there were many made.

Oh yes, there were also the Bratzillaz, a line which was more of a Bratz-LIV-Monster High mosh-up than anything.

Oh sure, the Bratzillaz were cute and all.  I liked them enough to snap up five of them (the fifth didn't fit into the picture), but apparently these weren't a success either.  MGA has said absolutely nothing about the return of these witchy women, and the Bratzillaz' Facebook page hasn't been updated since June of 2014, a full THIRTEEN MONTHS AGO!!!  Too bad too, because look what could have been!  Bratz Boulevard has prototype pictures!  That doesn't mean these awesome products ever would've been released, but it certainly would've been fun if they did!

As a final thought, I certainly hope MGA has ditched the nylon hair this time around.  That crap made the first wave Bratzillaz virtually un-usuable.  My Meygana's hair is still a mess, and Miss Emily reported that Yasmina's hair was no better.  My budget Meygan had a similar problem; her hair was so bad that I ended up having to cut it.

I still have a lot of trouble getting Meygan's hair what I want it to do, so I desperately hope MGA chose a different fiber this time!  If any of y'all get one of the new dolls, please let me know what their hair is like.  I'd love to hear from you.

I think Talolili may have a dolly review in the works, so keep your eyes peeled!

Best wishes, 

RagingMoon1987

UPDATE:  Purple Monkfish has the new Jade already!  Her review of this new doll can be found HERE.