Of Toys and Co: Steady January 2012

My last January issue! This is Steady January 2012 which comes with a large Agnes B. tote ^.^

I really like Agnes B. freebie totes for their cute signature heart and logo print as well as the fact that they are often made with washable cotton canvas or cotton polyester mix rather than just polyester (like the makeup/toiletry travel case that came with June 2011 issue), so this was a must get for me.

I didn't get a "Tsutaya walk-by" this time (let's face it, if I walk by that place too often my tiny apartment would be filled with magazines!), so this freebie tote surprised me in more ways than one. First off, it's huge! My American brains work in inches (haven't gotten with the program yet, have we?), and so even having seen the dimensions for the totes in metric online, the numbers still didn't exactly register ^.^ So when I opened it up, I was taken aback that the tote would easily fit several magazines and then some! So yes, it's big alright, measuring a whopping 29(height) x 45(length) x 13.5(width) cm!

But other than that, it's a nice tote. The fabric feels like a mix of cotton and polyester and is very soft and not rough like cotton canvas. The pale pink heart and glittery silver logo print is really cute, and the tote even comes with matching pink zipper closure with a tiny heart charm attached to the zipper handle. It has very clean and even stitchings, nice craftsmanship overall.

An added bonus to the tote is the lining made of matching polyester fabric and a small inner pocket.

With all that said, I did find 2 major design faults with the tote. First off the handles aren't adequately secured for such a large tote - they are only attached to the tote by a single line of stitching at the tote's opening. So despite the tote being large, it won't be able to carry much weight at all. Secondly the zipper is too thin and flimsy for the tote's large opening. I tested it by putting a few things into the tote, swung it over my shoulders and then tried to get the zipper open and close as if I'm walking down the street and had to get something out of it. As expected, the zipper didn't open and close smoothly at all being way too small. So unfortunately, this will be a nice tote for the gym or to carry your wallet and reusable bags for the grocery, just not the actual groceries. Oh well.

Nice steals.