It was an interesting experience, and Kira's collection was definitely not what we were expecting. All reviews and comments below are purely my opinion, but I hope they help some of you who cannot see these items in person, because it's so hard to order from the stock photos.
It was interesting, because aside from one glass case in Kira's section having a little red "NEW" sticker on the corner -- you would never have known she was a brand-new GOTY. There was nothing to mark the area as special or different, staff never asked if anyone had seen her (which is usually the case) . . . but it didn't seem to matter, because of all the other people in the store, we were the only ones that looked at her area for the hour and a half we were there.
Slideshows below will show all of her collection. I'll start with the doll and then work through sets, ending with the large Tent.
Kira: Doll & Meet Outfit
All in all, she's a cute doll. She does bear a strong resemblance to Julie, though I have to say I prefer the wavy hair and lighter eyes for this combination. Kira is a cute doll, but nothing outstanding for someone with a lot of dolls already.
In photos, I totally love her meet outfit. In person, the colors are great . . . but it's the thinnest fabric they could get away with on the shirt and skorts. They were very wrinkly on every Kira there, whether the open display or in the cases. The wrinkles don't show much in photos, but they were really bad in real life. The boots are the new thinner vinyl on top, but the nice rubbery bottoms.
Kira's Accessory Sets
The backpack looked to be REALLY nice. We could only see it inside closed display cases, but it looked super. The felt hat is the absolute thinnest stiffened craft-type felt I've ever seen. The display doll in the first photo above had the hat on, and you could actually see through the hat to her head.
The scarf looked like the same type as Z's accessories and other AG sets. There was no open display showing it, though. The jacket was the one Kira thing that I've been absolutely positive about buying since the first photos were leaked. But seeing it on the display doll was so flattening. It's made of the thinnest fabric, more of what you'd expect to see in seasonal fabrics at JoAnn's than a quality doll jacket. If you saw this at Wal-Mart in the My Life line, or even in one of the little outfit sets from Our Generation, you'd be okay with it -- but this isn't what you expect from American Girl. The cords to tie the jacket waist on the displays were already stretched and frayed.
Kira's Animals
Kira's Outfits
Casual Outfit: This has an Australia T-shirt, a wrap-around skirt, pink vest, sandals and headband. The vest was nice. It was a slightly heavier weight fabric than anything else in Kira's collection, and it was the only non-wrinkly piece there. The t-shirt has a super cute graphic on it and looks like it is a similar cut to the skyline store shirts -- though it may be a little tighter around the torso. The white fabric was quite thin, and you could see the body fabric through it. I don't think it would work on the medium and dark body fabrics.
Koala PJs: Rather unusually, there was only a display doll wearing the PJs under glass. Usually, the PJs are the one GOTY outfit that Columbus has displayed all over the store! They looked to be very thin fabric. The shirt was quite short, and the pants very tight -- making the doll's thigh gap really obvious. I would say they are similar to a lot of the Truly Me PJs from the last couple of years. The slippers look like little koalas! I'd say they are the same pattern as the Coconut slippers from the last set of PJs, just with fuzzy Koala ears.
Comfy Camping Outfit: Another of Kira's outfits that I think is absolutely adorable in the photos. Surprisingly, it's an odd mix of fabrics that doesn't look right in person. The shirt is knit and was thicker than the Australia t-shirt from the Casual outfit. The jumper is a very thin fabric that did not match the weight and texture of the shirt. They are the wrinkliest piece in Kira's stuff. Even the tacked up outfit in the flat display was very full of wrinkles. You'd definitely need to steam this each time you want to use it or pose a doll in it.
Wildlife Rescue Set
The walkie talkie is really cute and was actually very well scaled to the doll.
Comfy Camping Accessories
The table looked to be pressboard. There's a photo of the underside in the slideshow above.
Fairy Bread
1) Get a piece of doll bread.
2) Print out a picture of sprinkles.
3) Glue the printed paper onto your doll bread slice.
Literally, that's what this Fairy Bread is. I'd expect something like this from Wal-Mart, but not AG.
[Added 18 Jan 2021]: The sprinkles are literally a shiny layer printed on the bread. I took some more photos on a subsequent visit to the store and have added them into the slideshow above. The first photo above shows how the image is printed in three distinct stripes.
Animal Exam Table
The tables are a one-piece unit due to a large speaker inside. The computer is permanently attached to the table. If you don't mind shiny plastic, then the tables might work. But this gives you the real feeling of Mattel's Barbie pieces and not the promised "return to quality" supposedly coming to American Girl.
Comfy Platform Tent
The camp sink inside is really cute, though it's also solid one-color plastic. None of these sets were out in the open, so there was no way to handle or really check out the accessories.
That said, it definitely looks like AG is getting ready for some kind of big change. More on this in the next entry (hoping to get it up tomorrow), because I got some photos of the new packaging and displays. It will also include photos of the new TM stuff and the International outfits!