Can anyone explain the excitement about American Girl Dolls?

[teresah00]

DD got her first bc a friend had one. We ought it from a CS. I think the quality is better than the target doll. She likes the accessories (any brand ). I like the stories.


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[karstmama]

i remember when they first came out, from a pleasant company. i wanted one SO BAD, but i was like 16 & knew i'd never play with it. i loved how realistic all their stuff was, like the swedish bed with painted hearts for kirsten and four-poster for felicity. sigh. and since i have a ds, i guess i'll never have to worry about having to live in envy of my dd as she plays with one when i didn't get to.

[jerseygirl07067]

Haven't had a chance to read the other posts but the only reason my girls are into them is because my Aunt got them started with a Bitty Baby, and we wound up on the mailing list. I try to hide the catalogue every time it comes, lol.

The dolls are of better quality and they have good customer service. For example a little button came off one of the dresses - I could have easily sewn it back on - but I called CS since that shouldn't happen when you spend that kind of money. They sent us a new one and allowed us to keep the old one, no questions asked.

The history concept is nice too, and they get into a lot of the girl empowerment too, which is also nice!

But I do have a problem with a doll called "American Girl" that is made in China, lol. I think it's China...it may be somewhere else in the far east, but for that money, it should be made here. I actually posted about this a few years ago and learned that they used to be made in the US.

[lizzywednesday]

Lizzywednesday-I've heard the old craft kit subscriptions they had were amazing!

....

I seriously wish I'd had the sit-down-and-do-it place & time to spend with my mother (or even on my own) to complete more than the Valentines, straw ornaments & sampler (though I botched some of the stitches in the sampler - I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to do French knots) ... I started the weaving loom (it was a VERY well-made kit - loom was all wood, nice weight cotton yarns, instructions for some simple patterns as well as more complex Scandinavian patterns - and the why's and how's of weaving in Kirsten's day) and knitting nellie projects, but never finished them - of course, by then, I was 13 and starting to make time for things other than play, like term papers and algebra homework.

You could either subscribe to a craft of the month OR you could buy the whole collection at once & do each one at your leisure.

They were all packaged in individual boxes, so you would almost always have a place to store the materials when you weren't working on a project ... and the instruction booklets not only had specific instructions for one craft, but also historical tidbits of how the crafts were used in that doll's time period. That's part of the reason why I copied and reconstructed my knitting nellie booklet for my cousins - I thought the instructions there were so clear and the historical information so much fun that it would make a great gift to pass on, since I only had one kit myself but there were two of them.

[June Mommy2]

My DD is not even 6 months old, but I so hope she is into AG dolls one day.

I have loved the historical dolls since I was probably about 10. I remember being absolutely enthralled with the catalog. This was when there were only 3 dolls: Kirsten, Samantha and Molly. I received Kirsten for Christmas the year I was in 6th grade, probably 1988? I was really too old for dolls, and I didn't really "play" with her, but I loved the stories, the history and all the little accessories. I have some of her clothes and accessories, but I SO wish I had bought more when they discontinued her a few years ago. My mom always loved Samantha, and wanted me to have her, and now I wish I would have gotten her too! I remember when they introduced Felicity as the newest character. I've always gotten the catalogs over the years. I really don't have any interest in the Girl of the Year and Girl of Today (or whatever the modern dolls are called.)

Lizzy, I think we would have gotten along great! LOL! I had some of those craft kits too...the weaving loom and straw ornaments, and a cookbook. I also still have Molly's Christmas dress for girls that I wore when I was about 12.

[wimama]

I will probably wind up getting my DD a Bitty Baby once she is old enough.

I would have no problem getting her one of the bigger girl dolls once she is old enough to take care of it and understand the stories. But, likely not before 6 or 7 years old at the youngest. I just went looking around the toy store the other day looking for Christmas present ideas for our kids. After looking around and seeing some of the dolls out there now, like Monster High and Bratz dolls, the American Girl dolls are looking a lot more appealing to me. I know the accessories seem to be quite overpriced, but dolls seem like they are decent quality and I would rather buy a few high quality dolls than a bunch of lesser quality dolls. I figure the accessories can be bought elsewhere or used. Maybe I am just used to shelling out money for DS's toys like Legos and Playmobil. The American Doll prices seem on par with other quality toys.

[mommyp]

This is timely for us too. I do like them for most of the reasons as the PP. I prefer them to Barbie or Bratz or any of those type.
DD got Bitty Twins from grandparents for Christmas when she was 3, but is much more into them this year. She loves them so much! Currently one is strapped into her car seat so she will be with us when we pick up from preschool. She spent a long time with the most recent catalogue and later she asked us if she could spend her money from her bank on a baby. We were surprised since she has never asked us to spend her savings on anything yet!