Hiya, Lea!
- wingedmermaid
- Jan 4, 2016
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 30, 2021
Yesterday, my family and I made a quick trip to our local pop up store to see Lea Clark, the 2016 Girl of the Year, and her collection! It was a little tricky to get good shots of the displays. As you can imagine, Lea’s very popular right now, so I had to grab shots in between swarms of people rushing up to see her.
Like so many American Girl dolls, Lea is a lot cuter in person than some of her stock photos, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the dolls I saw did not have “angry eyebrows.” There definitely is some variation to her eyebrow shape, though. I saw some dolls that had a more demure look and some that looked more determined. So if you do have the option of choosing a Lea from the store, it’s worth it.
Lea’s hair is nice and thick with soft waves. Her hair seems to stay out of her face well enough on its own, and there are plenty of accessories in her collection to help tie back her hair otherwise.
My mom was not impressed by the sewing on Lea’s meet dress. The area where the top meets the skirt is sewn in a crooked curve that looks really messy – a little disappointing for a company that is capable of sewing intricate pieces.
Overall, Lea is very pretty, but with limited funds (and space), I’m not sure if I’ll be adding her to my collection this year.
Like Grace, Lea has her own set of unique earrings that are only available when you get her ears pierced. The lime green butterflies are so cute, and I love the neon and yellow gold color combination!
Lea’s pajamas are cute, but a little louder in person than I expected. Thinking about how these compare to the other pj’s in my collection, I feel like these would stand out too much in a group photo or display. I like the dolls to wear the clothes, not the clothes to wear the dolls (if that makes sense). They’re a pass for me.
I didn’t take any good shots of the sloth, but he’s pretty cute, too. I can see why so many people have been snatching him up!
When I first heard that Lea was going to be into photography, I was so excited! I thought AG would give her an awesome camera and maybe even some accessories to go with it – a camera bag, maybe a laptop, things like that.
It turns out I was close about the laptop – the Rainforest House does come with a tablet that, according to the item description, can be used with Lea’s “cameras” from other “sets”. So maybe she’ll be getting more cameras in the future? Hopefully her future devices are nicer than the camera that comes with her accessory set – it’s a little sad.
Sienna’s camera is a keychain that costs only a few bucks and looks more like a real camera than Lea’s, has sound effects, flashing lights, and can come in a variety of colors. I noticed that although Lea’s camera has a pretty strap, it looked like it was already fraying in areas. *shrug* I’m not impressed.
The accessories set also includes photos that are akin to Grace’s postcards, Lea’s passport, a National Geographic Kids book about sea turtles, a bracelet with a sea turtle charm, and a cute braided headband. The headband had me tempted, but not enough to spend $32.
I was also pretty tempted by Lea’s Rainforest Hike Outfit. I really like the shirt and there is some definite mix ‘n’ match potential for each of the pieces, but I decided to pass for now. I’m not sure if those shoes would match anything else in my collection and even the pants might be had to coordinate.
I did get one thing, though…
I don’t normally like the embroidered eyes look for the pets, but this guy has such a ridiculously mischievous expression, I love it! I haven’t settled on a name for him yet, but it’s gotta be as impish as he is. The margay cat is very soft and floppy. I haven’t removed him from the box yet, but he seems to be similar in size to Tutu the cat.
And then there’s this little guy. Lea’s sea turtle friend is $2 cheaper than the margay cat – which is weird, because he’s about the same size. I’m curious why they chose to price them differently like that.
The pop up store didn’t have the rainforest house, but it did have Lea’s Fruit Stand. It’s really bright and cute! I love the little cooler and shelves at the front of the stand, and the little table to the side. I’ve never seen Kanani’s shaved ice stand in person, but from just the pictures of it alone, I like this stand a lot better. It looks like a more versatile piece – the dolls can be ordering, cooking, eating, all depending on which way the structure is facing. And I love the toucan hanging out near the roof. Really, really cute. 🙂
Lea’s collection has a lot of neat pieces – especially the margay cat (he’s adorable!). I’m curious to see what comes out for her next.
