Can anyone explain the excitement about American Girl Dolls?

[jenmcadams]

DD has a few AG dolls (one was a gift and she saved up her allowance for the other two). They are overpriced. I wouldn't buy her one myself, but if she wants to spend her money on them or if her aunts and uncles want to go in together and get her one, I won't stop them. From a parent perspective, I like the following:

1) The stories show the girls with traits that I like. That said, you can get all the books at the library - no dolls needed!
2) The dolls really are good quality. If they are going to get played with at all, these hold up much better than a knock off doll.
3) The accessories are really kind of too cute for words. I'm embarrassed to admit that, but there ya go! The range of things available is amazing. For example, DD loves the kit that comes with casts and crutches, she has the wheel chair, etc. They have a nice variety of things available, from just cute outfits (which I don't really care about) to sports stuff, musical instruments, school things, etc. DD can look at the catalog and see things that she feels represent her (clever marketing, for sure!). They even have food allergy stuff now.
4) They are modest. I'm not a huge prude, but I do like that everything is age appropriate and not all Barbie-fied

Again, I do think they are overpriced and have not and will not buy a doll, but I don't mind paying $32 for an accessory kit for birthday or Christmas.

If your kid isn't into dolls, I would absolutely NOT get one.

Sounds like our situation (all the way down to getting one as a gift and buying 2 with allowance )

[anamika]

Oh forgot to mention - I get roped into playing with DD sometimes and I love playing with the accessories.
We "read" the catalog and have fun checking the prices. *I* want the camping gear set so badly. We camp a lot and it would be so fun to bring the dolls with their tent to camp (I can never find the bag over the head smiley!!)

[maylips]

Thanks for sharing the history. We don't have the dolls - DD got a Bitty Baby for Christmas that she wanted and she honestly just isn't a doll girl, despite her attempts.

However, we own the Molly books and I checked out the first Addy book from the library for her the other day. I read a lot of it to her and was BAWLING when Addy and her mom were running from slavery and made the heart breaking decision to leave the 1 year old baby behind. DD couldn't figure out what was so sad!

I love history, so I want to share that with DD and those books are a great way to do it. A $350 Beetle car is NOT what I have in mind, though - sorry, Mattel.

[lizzywednesday]

My aunt ordered a pair of slacks for her daughters Samantha doll in maybe 1991-1992 and even though they were over $20 when they arrived she commented that they were a wool gabardine blend. She was amazed. There is nothing like that now.

Okay that is about right, my sister bought her Looks like you doll somewhere between 1995 and 1997 so before the Mattel takeover. She would have been between the age of 8, and 10 then.

That's what I'm talking about - Samantha's things, for example, were all very high quality and had prices that were comparable.

The whole "world" pre-Mattel was more of a "collectible" culture than a "consumable" culture, so they took the time & effort to live up to their wonderful reputation. I mean, the catalogues included a "letter" from Pleasance Rowland and various historical tidbits sprinkled across the pages ... they are VERY different now, even though they still use the boldface nouns for things relevant to a story or whatever.

Plus, the dolls were made in a WI factory by US workers rather than in China or wherever. IDK if that's still true today - it may be, as I know we've discussed the backlash surrounding them at some point around this board before.

Eventhough I never had it I remember all of that stuff too. Didn't they have a Dorothy costume for Samantha, and her dog? My cousin with Samantha loved The Wizard of Oz.

I don't recall any special costumes for Samantha beyond her school and Christmas outfits. I wanted the girls' version of the school dress (and those huge hairbows!) in THE worst way, but I wasn't particularly interested in Samantha until I had "outgrown" dolls.

So, the Gotz dolls at PB Kids might be a better quality doll? I haven't really looked at them yet, but they are pretty.

I don't know if I would say "better" in terms of quality, but they are comparable to the AGs my nieces have, possibly a little nicer.

[AnnieW625]

..... A $350 Beetle car is NOT what I have in mind, though - sorry, Mattel.

I did a triple take when I saw that. I just about died. Cute car, but no way.

[squimp]

It's a doll, with which some kids like to play. It's somewhat realistic (that is, it's not Barbie or Bratz). It's fun for mostly moms and daughters to bond over. There are books that go with it, so it can seem somewhat educational. Molly gave me a reason to talk about WWII, which I had not done before then. There are stores you can go to and enjoy looking at things and have a meal.

Cons: Some people take it over the deep end and buy many dolls, all the accessories. Just like any other consumer issue.

The fact that Mattel bought the company makes complete sense! In so many respects, it is like Barbie when I was a kid, but is arguably more realistic and more educational.

[newnana]

We camp a lot and it would be so fun to bring the dolls with their tent to camp (I can never find the bag over the head smiley!!)

If you are okay with knock offs, Wal-Mart has a new line of accessories that I saw last week. They had a pink and white tent that looked cute at first glance, but I didn't really inspect it. Some of their stuff is garbage, but some accessories are pretty great. We love the campfire/s'mores/ marshmallows on a stick we got there last year and they were in the toy clearance when I went. $7. YMMV

[newnana]

Here's what I love about them:
1. Their business model is aimed at keeping girls young. WHUT? Exact opposite of the disney approach. When we go to the store, there are girls that are well into the late tween years still crazy excited about their modestly dressed dolls.
2. The motto of the company is something to the effect of: encouraging strong girls of today, so they will be strong leaders tomorrow. Very paraphrased, but gotta love that. it's on the back of the menu.
3. They are well made- years of daily use and they still look new
4. They encourage creative play- DD plays with her dolls more than any other thing in the house. She typically looks at the catalog for ideas of stuff she can MAKE! Love that. She makes all sorts of things for the dolls
5. DD worked to save up to buy her own doll
6. DD loves to read and all the stories are great for her. She typically avoids anything scary or sad, but with these there is the context of the dolls and that makes them palatable for her. Laced with historically significant events. Bonus


DD's first doll was a Gotz from Tuesday morning. I wanted to see if she would like it/play with it. When we were out of town on a trip and daddy got sick and was on the hotel couch passed out on cold meds, we decided to kill some time. she had her doll so we went across the street to the AG store to check it out. DD never asked for anything and just wanted to introduce her doll to the other dolls. Obsession begins. Next year for Christmas, mega score on eBay resulted in doll and oodles of accessories. DD worked hard to save to buy her own doll this past spring. They are played with constantly. It's wholesome play. DD got the catalog last week and saw something in it. Saw how much it was and asked if she could try to make it. Absolutely. She never even asked for it.

We got a table and chairs and bunk beds on Craigslist that were all homemade. Because I paid less $20 for them, I didn't care if they got bumped or scratched or stickered. So I let DD paint them how she wanted.

For us it's completely worth it. But we don't buy much at the store and extremely rarely full price. DD adores them and we have definitely gotten our money's worth.

[lfp2n]

I wanted to agree and defend AG somewhat- of course AG can be a consumerist nightmare but then again look at the price of lego kits or a whole range of kids toys. While kids love looking at the accessories in the catalogue and store, in reality we've rarely paid full price for any or bought any that are expensive. In addition we have a whole range of non AG items and home made items in the mix (I've even made a sleeping bag- my one and only sewing machine project!). I think if you have 7-10+ yr old girls and they still play with dolls you are going to think that's pretty awesome

[lizzywednesday]

...Thank you for that description. I would have been very interested in a doll like that for my daughter. I think I would have even got excited about the doll and her story myself. It sounds like to me they used to be very special. All i see now is how expensive they are and all their cute accessories. Maybe as my daughter gets older, she'll be more interested in a AG doll as a replacement to all the tween rubbish toys out there. Maybe then, the stories will draw her to the dolls. We'll see! Thanks again for the responses.

Happy to oblige. My AG dolls are among my more special "treasures" from my childhood.

I have Kirsten & Molly; I saved my allowance & birthday money in a "Christmas club" account to purchase them as my "big gifts" for two Christmases in a row. My mother "matched" the money I'd saved and bought the hardcover books & accessories package in addition to the doll & her intro book. For Molly, she got the slipcase & golden bookmark; I don't remember if they'd had that for Kirsten yet.

Another year, I got the craft kits - they had all kinds of historical crafts, like Victorian Valentines and an embroidery sampler from Samantha; a paper marbling kit from Felicity; straw Christmas tree ornaments and a weaving loom for Kirsten; a "knitting nellie" for Molly (which I still have somewhere and duplicated the instructional booklet & kit for my two younger cousins one year as a special birthday gift; I'm thinking my nieces might like it, so I might try to find it again) - which are no longer sold, though there are AG craft kits sold in stores.

The ones sold today are not the same things - they were historically accurate (mostly) with all kinds of tidbits on how/why each craft was chosen and why Pleasant Company had chosen that craft to represent their AGs.