Marie-Grace's Vanity

Willow's birthday gift!

Maplelea vs. American Girl Items

Hi everyone! Willow and Honey here.

Today we are going to compare some American Girl and Maplelea items. This is not a review, since we don't own any of these items this is more of a Item vs. Cost thing. The company that offers the most items in each set for the least amount of money wins. So, here we go!

1. Basketball Outfits

This is the American Girl outfit. It includes 7 items for 34$

Here is the Maplelea version. It includes 8 items for 32$ CAD. Canadian money is usually worth a tiny bit less, so this one is even less money.

So, for the Basketball Outfits, the Maplelea one gives you more bang for your buck.

2. Ballet Outfits

I thought this would be an interesting one because of the Isabelle "craze" right now. Here are the two American Girl options (Isabelle and generic).

Here's what the outfit includes according to AG:

• A ballet leotard with criss-cross straps and an attached georgette skirt
• Knit legwarmers, opaque tights, and pink ballet slippers for dance lessons
• A tulle pancake tutu for a fancy touch
• Two hairbands to keep her style tidy while she dances
• Includes a "Fair" square charm for the doll's charm-keeper necklace

So, like the AG basketball outfit, the Ballet outfit has 7 items, although for 30$ not 34$. This is consistent with what I've seen with AG. This is an older outfit and the basketball one is fairly new. Each time AG releases a new version of a MyAG outfit, they tend to raise the price a little. Now to Isabelle...

Here's Isabelle in the outfit... which actually comes in separate pieces.

So, as you can see here this "outfit" is actually made of three sets.

So 36$ for the whole thing, huh? Well it does include two pairs of legwarmers but... No ballet shoes!

That'll make it difficult to dance ballet. Turns out you can get ballet shoes separate- but a price.

That's right folks! For 44$ you can get those desperately needed dance shoes. Along with other stuff you may or may not want.

If we include just the three sets from before, you have 5 items for 36$. That generic outfit seems like a pretty good idea unless you are super specific about Isabelle's things. Now for Maplelea.

This outfit is a whopping 47$ but includes lots of goodies. 11 items. In order to get that amount of things in Isabelle's collection is wait for it... 94$. And that's ignoring the towel in the Maplelea set (although I guess if you replace the towel by the extra pair of legwarmers in the Isabelle set it's okay). Also, We are having the journal pages stand in for all the hair elastics in the Isabelle hair case.

 BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

 Here's Maplelea's set that is specific to their Brianne character. This one is more comparable to the generic AG one, at 35$. However you still get more for your money with this maplelea set because it has 9 items.

So, who has the best deal? It would appear that on both accounts Maplelea wins!

3. Tennis Outfits

So, this one is 38$ and has 8 items.

This is 36$ for 11 items.

 Maplelea wins again.

Maplelea has, overall, proven to offer the most for your money. This doesn't say anything about the quality (or how "fashionable" they are, although that's a matter of opinion) but in my experience Maplelea items have really great quality. Quality comparable to American Girl, anyway. As a last word, Maplelea items are not available in the US so uh... yeah. Unless you have wonderful Canadian grand-parents or other relatives it might be difficult for you to get these. If you do, take advantage of this wonderful company. If you live in Canada, even better. You can support a Canadian company.

 

Some Quick Updates

Did I mention that Marie-Grace and Cecile are retiring?

Yes, it has been confirmed by an American Girl employee. Actually, I asked her if they were carrying  Marie-Grace's Skirt Set in the Palo Alto store because it wasn't on the display. She answered that they didn't carry Marie-Grace and Cecile anymore. Now, that's not true- a quick glance at the AG website will prove it but when I asked if they were retiring she said yes. So it's true, unless this employee was misinformed. Oh, and it may be true but it's not official. Still if you wanted to purchase any of their things, some of them are on sale (the vanity and desk are 40$ instead of 80-85$) so you might want to think about it.

On a happier note...

We published two PVE episodes in the last week and are working on the magazine! Wooohooo!

Until next time,

Doll Diaries Giveaway

I am super excited about this particular giveaway!


http://dolldiaries.com/my-studio-girls-travel-buddies-make-great-doll-friends/

The prize is ADORABLE!!!!!

Dear Addy...

Dear Addy, you have really changed the way I look at the world and others.

You have taught me that good things take time.

And reminded me not to change who I am for others.

You have showed me that joy can be found at all times.

Thank you and Happy Birthday.