A Review of the Journey Girls Bistro Set
Recently the Journey Girls line has been coming out with new accessories that can go with the dolls. This year one of the sets that came out was a very cute café set. It includes two chairs, a table , two plates, two cloth place mats, a couple cups, a stand for treats and then a few macaroons and little finger sandwiches. Journey Girls accessories can be very hit or miss, with some being high quality and others being low quality or poorly designed. Which one is this set. Well, let's take a look and find out!
Let's start by looking at the table. The table is made of four molded plastic pieces the need to be assembled to complete the table.
Putting the table together is simple if you follow the directions that come with the set. Once the table is together, you may notice that the table is a little wobbly. It won't break without some force, but is is not as stable as similar tables offered by Our Generation or American Girl. This is most likely due to plastic being a hallow or curved out mold, rather than being solid.
Doesn't mean that the table is bad, it's just not going to hold a lot of weight. Quality aside, the table is absolutely cute as can be, with an imprinted design on the top that makes it look like wrought iron.
The chairs are very similar to the table as far as the construction and material. Make sure you follow along with the directions though because they are a little bit more difficult to put together. "Difficult", probably isn't the right word. It is tricky to get all of the pieces to click into place. Once together the chairs are sturdier than the table but still disappointing as far as quality. Each chair has a nice cushion on the top that is has a pretty striped print on it.
One thing to note is that Toys "R" Us has again put their huge tag on the chair. Rather than putting it on the bottom, where it would be less obvious, it is on the top side of these chair. If you are going to take the tag off, be careful. Don't try to pull it off, cut it off. I tried to pull mine out a little bit to cut it and I pulled part of the cushion out of the chair. The back of the chairs has a beautiful curl wrought iron design. The legs are also a curled design.
The place mats match the seat cushions. With no hems, they look more like small swatch of fabric cut into a rectangle, than place mats. Nothing very fancy but it is kind of nice to have the place mat specially since it matches the seat cushion. The plates are a simple pink plastic plate smaller than some of the dinner plates the Journey Girls have out. They are a great size for tea time though. The cups are the same color as the plates. A very simple teacup.
The treat stand is a nice silver gray color and has three tiers each with small plates that go on to it. The plates fall off fairly easily especially if you tip the stand. Keep it upright and the plates should stay on just fine. There is enough room on the plates to put all of the macaroons, cookies, and cupcake that come with the set. The food items feel more plasticy and are hollowed out compared to the Our Generation food, which are solid. Still good quality; they look great and fit well in the dolls hands
Getting your doll to sit at the table is a bit of a challenge, partly because of how the Journey Girls legs spread as they sit. The size of the table makes it so that you can have one doll sitting there, but if you add a second doll, her legs will be all the way across into the other dolls lap.
Or if you have their feet touching the ground, their butt won't quite be on the seat and they slide off fairly easily. So you can make it work, but like many of the other tables that are out there, your dolls feet will be in each others laps.
Rating
All ratings are out of 10
Playability 8 – Though the quality of the table isn't extremely high, it is good enough. The set comes with everything you need to have a little tea party (well except a tea pot) The table and chairs are very cute. It would be nice to have macaroons that aren't the same color as the table though. The macaroons fit nicely in the dolls hands, as do the cups (with a little wiggling)
Value 8 – At $24.99, you get a good amount of items for that cost. The set often goes on sale for $19.99, which is really where it should be priced anyways. Although the set isn't quite the same quality as an Our Generation or American Girl set, it is costs less than a comparable set from these two companies. For the price, it is a good set, and the design of the chairs is just super cute!
Quality 5 –I could tell from the photos that this was not going to be a super sturdy table. The quality is okay, but not amazing. The table is able to twist, the chair cushions are not held to the plastic with anything but friction, the food feels dollar store quality. All of that being said, for the cost, this is a good set.
Overall 7 – Although it isn't the highest quality table set on the market, it is a good quality, and is similar in quality to all of the other Journey girls items. Only when you compare it to other companies accessories does it not look so amazing. The design of the chairs and table are very cute. It is a perfect look for a bistro set. If you can find it on sale for around $20, it is well worth the money. Just know it's not perfect.
