My Opinion on Lea Clark, GOTY 2016

Hi everybody! Today I will be writing on my opinion of American Girl's new Girl of the Year (GOTY) for 2016, Lea Clark.

DISCLAIMER: this is my own opinion!! Please don't fight with me over it, but feel free to leave your opinions in the comments!

Here is an image of the doll if you are not familiar:

This is the stock photo for Lea from the American Girl website. 

According to the American girl website, she is inspired by real girls. This is nice to see, considering that in the past, the GOTYs have been extremely unrealistic when it comes to talent for their age. Isabelle was a stage performing dancer in an unrealistic High School Musical like setting. Saige was an amazing artist, with the ability to paint hyper realistic portraits of horses as the age of 10. Although this is a captivating story, GOTYs tend not to be relatable for the everyday girl. At age 10, I certainly wasn't a champion anything, nor am I now. Not to mention, they are supposed to be 10 years old, an in my own opinion, Isabelle, Grace, and Lea all look much older. Grace appeared to me to be wearing makeup (not to say 10 year olds can't wear makeup- it's just not what appeals to most 10 year olds), and Lea looks as if her hair is highlighted. Of course, this is really pushing it, but I do think they look older than 10. Now that I've covered my opinions of GOTYs as a whole, I can move onto Lea herself.

I do not find Lea a pretty doll. I've never liked that facemold, which is probably why I don't like her very much. Her eyes are beautiful, but a little unrealistic, but not as bad as felicity's. Her eyebrows are gorgeous, goals actually, but they do make her look a bit angry. I saw a nice edit on AGIG of her eyebrows moved slightly to fix the "angry face" and it looked great. Her skin tone is beautiful, I absolutely love it. Her hair is very nice too, but from the photos I've seen so far, it's a little bit too high up on her head, making her forehead look very large. I think the girl on the book looks very realistic, but to me, the doll's overall coloring (the hair and the eyes and the skin) look a bit odd. It might just be the photo, though.

I think her collection is one of AG's best. Her outfits are very cute and really reflect the doll's character from the story. I think her purse is adorable, but I heard the dress can be an issue; it might stain the vinyl if left on too long. Her hiking outfit is also super cute, and I love her animals. I think her collection can be compared to those of Lanie and Kanani and Jess. They have similar collections, but Lea's is unique in it's own way. 

Overall, I think Lea is a pretty cute doll, aside from her eyebrows making her look a bit angry and her face mold is not my favorite. Her collection deserves an A+, and her story is pretty nice, but not the most original AG has done. I will not be purchasing this doll, but I think many people will benefit from her original looks. 

I hope you guys enjoyed reading my opinion of Lea. Feel free to leave your opinions in the comment section below.

Lynne