I just want to kindly point out that Lucianne Walkowicz, the astronomer whose likeness and career story was used by AG without their permission, is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.
And .... how is this relevant with what this yound woman is talking about the dolls? Take your unicorns and mermaids away. Yes., I said that. Is not necesary to mixed that non sense of the unexistent pronouns here. Get out.
Right? I was like, sure I've already watched one just a few months ago, but why not another? And I did end up learning some new things, so it was totally worth it!
Right? And all McKenna did was break her ankle and have a friend who didn’t want to do gymnastics anymore over Kirsten immigrating to a new foreign country and losing her best friend because she died.
well, I think all the historical dolls faced significant challenges and overcame obstacles. They serve as role models, IMO. The GOTY, well....most of them lead quite privileged lives with more routine issues. Bullying was the worst thing endured.
The way they almost had a Black GOTY and then takes-backsies-ed it at the last minute for another light-haired light-eyed doll never fails to make me boil with rage! Also, Maryellen's childhood polio makes her the first doll with a physical disability, as she's described in the books as being overall weaker, especially in one leg, and having residual breathing issues. You'll often see collectors making little duct tape braces for her and such. It's all very cute.
@@hello-ef4bnThat’s not racism. Wanting a doll of color is not being racist. In the twenty three years since the goty line started, we had only a handful of dolls of color. We can count on our fingers how many poc goty dolls we had. In 2025, we still won’t be getting a doll of color.
The felicity movie also had a random shot where the slaves of felicitys grandfather are mourning from a distance presumably because they are not allowed to attend the grandfathers funeral. Like you said, on one hand bold and valid not to censor that part of history. But also so wild to include it and totally gloss over it in felicity’s story
Honestly, ignoring it or outright erasing it is so much worse. More mourning from a distance, please! It's completely historically accurate that it wouldn't even cross many characters' minds to think about slavery, but it should still exist in the world they live in.
@@vanyadollybut isn’t it wild that they’re portraying these enslaved people as mourning their master in the first place? Like yeah, definitely let’s not gloss over their existence but there’s something to be said by their depiction. Idk I haven’t read/seen these books and movies but there tended to be this trend back in the day where the relationship between slaves and master was depicted as amicable mainly to paint the white people as kind even though they owned humans. lol this was a lot of words but it’s pretty interesting that that’s how the slaves are shown
@@gabriella9897It's a complex issue that can't be summed up as easily as saying all slaves felt entirely negatively about their owners either. Besides, mourning is a public performance in many ways, and a slave-owner's death would bring on other concerns like, is the next one going to be worse, or are they going to start selling people off and separating them from their families? Considering how slavery is handled in both in the books and the movie, this was like the least offensive bit 😂
So I worked at an AG store in Kansas from 2012-1019. Here's my insight into the sales part of it: - Julie was the most popular doll, followed by Kit. Kaya's doll and accessories basically collected dust (except her horse, people loved her horse). Josephina was stuck in the Bitty Baby section. Poor Cecile almost never sold as well. - The movies played on rotation on a TV and for the most part I found them adorable. I genuinely recommend the Kit and Molly movies, which in theory are on DVD somewhere. - Gabriella was doll #46 with a hairband. Which is why doll #46 was "retired" - We were taught that "retired" dolls and accessories went away forever, but "archived" dolls were dolls that were temporarily taken off the shelves. Not that it matters - AG will pitch new versions of formerly popular lines whenever they feel like it. - Some of the larger play sets were super fun to clean up/reorganize. Luciana's Mars station was very cute and interactive. Ditto for the incredible French bakery set. And the Wellwishers playhouse. But to be fair we did notice a drop-off in the quality of materials and construction over the years. - Our peak year was probably 2016. That was the last year when I remember Black Friday being amazingly busy. For Blair, the 2019 doll, January 1st was very lackluster in comparison. I think 2016 or 2017 was the last year the store had an event before the Girl of the Year movie debut. - In 2017 there was some kind of hold-up from the Chinese factories that produced the Bitty Baby line, so we had tons of baby stuff out of stock for months (then they changed the design of the toys anyway SO take this with a grain of salt). - We got a girl-sized ear-piercing booth in 2018. It was mostly successful. There was one incident where a very cute, VERY young girl got upset because (I assume) the piercing was too painful. - Most of the books are really good. Some read like well-done, kid-friendly self-insert fanfic. Kaya's books are great. Kit is super boring. Tenney is basically a Taylor Swift riff. The quality of the Girly of the Year books is decent. - I acquired a few accessories and dolls that I'm trying to sell off, hit me up if anyone wants a discontinued table & chairs or an unopened Logan doll (guitar sold separately).
Good points! I was at the AG boston store from 2014-2016 and would like to add: - I'd say our most popular dolls were the Girl of the Year, followed by "Truly Me/My American Girl" dolls (our store had a 2nd floor and most people would head right up the escalator to the modern dolls and accessories), then historical characters, then Bitty Baby. I was always so sad to see everyone bypass the dolls that were the original foundation of the company. - Our best selling historical girls were probably Julie, Kit, Caroline, and Samantha. Poor Addy, Kaya, and Josefina 's cases almost never changed. - Girl of the Year launches (prior to the GMA announcements of course) were about as big as black friday. My first GOTY launch, people lined up just inside the mall and wrapped around the corner, halfway past an anchor store. - I also enjoyed setting up the displays and cleaning up in the morning before the store opened. Lots of the little pieces always went missing from the bigger sets (Mary Ellen's diner, Grace's bakery, the cast and crutches kit). Putting together displays with the dolls and their accessories behind glass was super fun, although historical girls collections couldn't mix and match (sorry Sam, egg chairs don't exist in the edwardian era). I'm very sorry they had to close our store, but at least we can drive a bit to NYC.
Hey I am interested! I don't have any big items only clothes and one doll bed so I would like to get one for a decent price. how can I get a hold of you? Do you have Instagram or Etsy?
It’s so funny that Kaya never sold well cus when I was younger she was my absolute favorite. I had a couple dolls but played with Kaya endlessly because she was the only doll who was from near me (I live in the PNW). I played with her so much that her braids came out and I cried and begged my mom to take me to the store so they could fix her hair
Kind of sad that Kaya never sold well because Kaya was the only one I owned (my sister had Josephine, Kit, or Rebecca, I think) because I liked her the best.
I completely agree about the newer face molds!! I feel like they're just slimming down their faces (especially their jaws), painting their lips and giving them bigger eyes to make them appeal more to modern beauty standards (they remind me a bit of the instagram face. it really looks like they put them through photoshop or a snapchat filter). they also remind me more of modern fashion dolls and animated characters. the molds aren't ugly but they just...don't look like American girl dolls anymore?? lol
i don't like the newer face molds either-i don't collect anymore but my mom and sister do and the faces of the newer dolls look closer to my anime figures than to my older historical dolls. it's really a shame, i think that look on an 18 inch doll is creepy
I got the Corinne doll (the only other dolls I have are Lanie and Molly) and I was so shocked when I saw her eyelashes are... painted on. It looks so bad, especially when her eyes are closed. I love the look of the dolls with no painted on makeup, they look cuter and more their age to me.
Fun fact: the POC dolls DO sell better. Marisol saved the GOTY line (before her their sales were SHIT) and Corrine's release saw the only profitable quarter for the company in several years. They're just run by a bunch of old farts who don't want to put in any effort to make diverse & accurate dolls. Currently AG is such a mess that I feel like we're on the brink of another massive overhaul, and honestly I hope so 😭
@@dollahlah-54321personally I’d pin that on the area the store is located at, and it isn’t really common to purchase toys at a big box store in my opinion
marisol was my first american girl doll and my favorite!! i loved her dancer outfits. i later ended up also getting samantha, but i have a soft spot for marisol
Can you provide sources for your assertions? Because your comment is giving huge ‘trust me bro’ not-credible vibes. I’m all for POC dolls and I have a great many of them in my AG collection, but the fact is they do not sell as well as the white dolls. It’s been that way ever since American Girl’s existence. Look at the ‘World by Us’ collection. Absolutely stunning POC dolls, I have them all. But they didn’t sell well, and that’s why they’re retiring the whole line instead of adding to it like they were supposed to. Facts don’t care about your feefees, I’m afraid.
lmao ikr, i would circle like half the items in a catalogue with no concept of just how much money AG toys cost and hand it to my mom with pure obliviousness in my eyes
No but actually I was big mad like "what do you mean you won't shell out $150 for a bed for my doll? 😤" I was always obsessed with the furniture and accessories; rarely did the clothes interest me lol
If I had worked at American Girl, I'd have given myself room to do one "future" doll, who's gimmick is that she's a time traveler from a distant tomorrow. Tarla46. She makes historical crossovers viable. "Meet Tarla46" "Tarla46 Causes a Paradox" "Tarla46 Discovers the Multiverse" (This one can even enable crossovers with other Mattel Properties.) I'm why most toy company headquarters have a sniper positioned on the roof.
I doubt they'd ever do that... but holy shit, I really want them to. I haven't bought an American Girl Doll since I was a little kid, but if they did a future doll that time travelled and caused time paradoxes, I'd buy her entire collection in encouragement.
I’ve actually been writing a fanfiction similar to this! I haven’t released it yet but it’s very similar! I’ll probably send a link to anyone who wants to read it when I publish it :]
Very fascinating to watch the transition into and then out of the period I remembered and got the catalog for... definitely reinforced your point about the hobbies for Girl of the Year not being repetitive from a customer base perspective, since though I was definitely thinking "wow, another horse girl?" watching the video, as a kid I always thought the girls of the year were very unique.
“At least the Penny I have for my Felicity won’t be lonely…” I literally had an entire stable worth of the American Girl Horses, yes I got a Steps High and a Sparks flying too, I had so many of those horses
My family was lower middle class to lower class so we could never afford an American Girl doll. I loaned the books from the library and got the catalogue to pour over the dolls and the accessories and items that came from the stories I was reading. My aunt and uncle paid for an American Girl magazine subscription, and it came with a paper doll insert based on the family history of a real girl chosen from among their readers who applied. I kept those for years and had them stored so they would stay nice, but they disappeared in the 20+ years since! I wish I had them still, they were so cool.
if AG were to continue the trend of releasing historical girl dolls from more recent eras, it would be very interesting to see a 2000’s Arab-American doll dealing with the islamophobia after the 9/11 attacks. i think a doll like that would need to be released at least ten years down the line (and i can’t even imagine the conservative outrage). it’ll probably never happen bc of politics but i’d be really excited to see some west asian representation in the doll line
As someone who’s frequented the ag online forums since 2012 (since I was 9), you’d be surprised by how they actually do listen to suggestions online..people had been wanting a disabled girl of the year for a while, which they did. Same with boy dolls and more stem dolls. I’d say anything is possible.
I don't think they'd have the courage to. Apparently the hoffman twins live in 1999, and for some reason they decided to make the historical event affecting them y2k (which was kind of happening in the background thanks to their mom working in tech), instead of things that affected kids in public school at the time like columbine and the rising fear of terror attacks. And they're marketing them hard. I'd like to see it too but I doubt it would happen
they'll never do that because we're the one market that can't be pandered to because white people pearl clutch and cry "terrorism!!!" at arabs and muslims even existing. sucks :(
i dont know how to describe my relationship with AG as a kid, but it was probably my first ever special interest. i am far too passionate about the decline in quality of this children’s toy brand than i, a 23 y/o with no kids, has any right to be. this video is everything i desired in an AG history. thank you!!
I can see how you can see them as toddler, but it's strange to me because I had an American Girl Today doll that looked like me and I named Rose. I thought of her as the same age as me (I was in middle school) and would bring home extra homework for her and made her little schoolbooks. It was pretty cool to know what's become of American Girl though.
I don't think that's what's going on because if Sarah's first doll was later than my first doll I have a feeling she's younger than me so I doubt it's an age thing. It likely has to do with the dolls they were made from were originally used for dolls designed to be younger, but they tried their best to make them feel older and other than new face molds the dolls have changed very little.
They've always looked like baby dolls which are designed to stand up and are styled as if they're normal, more Barbie-esque dolls (but for like, modest rich white families.) Their hands are pudgy and their buck teeth are reminicent of newly grown-in baby teeth. I think the dolls are intended to be wishy-washy on what age they are because the original idea for them was spawned from the gap between "pretend you're my mom" dolls and "pretend you're me" dolls, so they can either be projected onto or treated like a little sister.
It's wild seeing all the stock photos of the girls in their meet outfits, because when I was little I got a big bag of old AG clothes from a teenage friend, so when I see some of the early 2000s dolls I'm like "Oh!!! I have those pants!!"
Two minutes in and I’m giggling at how much of a kindred spirit u are, as someone who spends way too much of their personal time buying dolls and restoring them it really is so much fun seeing the payoff of a good wash and re style lol. I’m not much into AG but I live for your sense of humor and anecdotes, and it was so much fun watching this video and learning more about a doll brand I’ve never put much thought into. Ver excited for your future content, keep up the good work!
A Colonial Williamsburg doll wasn't one of the first characters, even though she was the first one thought of, because the company couldn't afford to make bangless wigs at first, and bangs would have been really innacurate for an 18th century girl
@@leifmeadows3782 They were, but it was a little bit more plausible and wasn't going to be noticed by most people who didn't have a lot of knowledge about different decades of the Victorian era, whereas people would have known instinctively that they looked wrong on a Colonial doll
@@hopetikvah4906nope, that’s a bunch of BS lol. As if ‘everyone’ is going to know that bangs are fine on Kirsten but not on Felicity. Thanks for the laugh 😅
@@ALT-vz3jn Well sure, not everyone, I never said that, but most people have seen paintings of Colonial women and none of them have bangs, whereas some late Victorian women do in photos. Therefore, people are a lot more likely to pick up on them looking 'wrong' on someone with Colonial attire, whereas most people aren't going to be able to distinguish 1850s fashion from 1880s. Kirsten having bangs is only off by a couple of decades, Felicity is like a hundred years too early for them, so that's obviously going to make it a more obvious historical inaccuracy to more people.
This is the content that I’ve been looking for. An hour and a half of a woman going into detail about a specific piece of childhood nostalgia that I nearly forgot about but hold very dearly. What a time.
as a former little girl whose African American who loved and still loves history, i remember seeing Addy as a kid and i wasn't really into in American Girl dolls but i liked the books. i remember you, Addy!
1:17:04 the joss mold looks very uncanny in the stock photos but also VERY different than the dolls actual release. The mold is very gorgeous in person and it feels like a blend between Josefina and Marie-Grace
surprised you didnt mention the American Girl pets other than Coconut! For me they were such a big part of my childhood (more than the dolls almost), so it would have been cool to see!
They will release another blonde/ strawberry blonde white girl interested in horses/dance/gymnastics/music before releasing a black girl (with the addy mold)
It wasnt mentioned, but I only had 2 Dolls Felicity in 2006, and Nicki from 2007, but current dolls are also a lot thinner then their older counter parts. It isnt just the faces, but their physical bodies too. If you get a modern outfit and put it on a doll from the mid to late 2000s it doesnt really fit because of the shrinking waist of the dolls and AG has been cutting the clothing patterns to fit the smaller size. You can even notice this on clothing from 2015ish
@@crys_cornflakez i dont know anything for sure, but im gonna guess probably not. the main AG doll line’s thing was that they were 18 inches tall so i doubt theyve made them shorter. idk about materials, but im gonna guess honestly the changes are because of beauty standards :(
Im so happy you uploaded, i saw your tinkerbell history video then binged all of them and was sad there werent more which surprised me because they are so well made. Thank you and keep up the work 😎
I never had an American Girl doll despite somehow being subscribed to the catalog, and I always wanted a Samantha doll so bad, her outfits were adorable!! She was too expensive though, lol. Side note: you briefly mentioned Angelina Ballerina, were you ever into the series? I had a VHS tape growing up and loved it, would love for you to do a deep dive on that sometime!
Yes unfortunately not everyone can afford them (I had a my life as doll from Walmart for my 1st 18 inch doll about 15-20$) that’s why some people when they’re adults save up for them I’ve seen plenty of people do that
I used to love playing the games on the American Girl website! I'm so excited that you made this video; I've never seen anyone talk about this topic before!
My love for American Girl has definitely depleted since I was a child, but I still had a huge smile on my face the moment you mentioned Kit! She was my introduction to AG and she remains such a beloved character from my childhood. I had Kit and her best friend Ruthie as dolls growing up, and I was obsessed with the books and Abigail Breslin movie! The brand has gotten much worse as time has gone on, but I still I still love Kit Kittredge just as much as I did back then. I was told I looked like her once and almost cried from happiness, and she was such an inspiration for me as an aspiring writer.
1:22:15 You don’t sound ridiculous at all, I totally agree! The new face molds feel a bit uncanny valley to me; the eyes seem a bit bigger (and slightly wider set too?), the cheeks are slimmed down, and the chin comes to more of a point. After looking at a bunch of pictures comparing the Corinne Mold to other AG face molds, it’s deeply weird to me that despite obviously trying to make Corinne look older, somehow she looks kind of like a baby doll? Like, I see Corinne’s face and it just screams “baby doll you could buy at Walmart”. Also, though it’s hard to tell through photos online, it almost seems like her face has less depth to it than older molds, like it’s flatter. Maybe it’s the lack of chubby cheeks? Idk, it just doesn’t feel American Girl to me. It’s sad :(
This was so informative to watch as someone who grew up loving these dolls, but from afar. Thank you for making this! It was so fun, alongside your humor and commentary.
When I was like 9, my mother was mildly obsessed with collecting AG dolls. I remember her specifically seeking out the #4 face mold. She's still in a glass cabinet in the living room with the 1st five historical girls, Kaya, and Cecile. She used to switch out their seasonal outfits for the corresponding season, but they've been in springwear for several years now. Which is fine. Cecile's yellow spring dress is the cutest of her outfits anyway.
this is also how i feel about "the frankie drake mysteries" - lemme throw together a 20s outfit from the sales rack at express. funny for tv but so disappointing for dolls!
I've been making a list of all childhood video games I forgot about and you helped me add American Girl Premiere to that list today. I literally would've never remembered it without this
I always wanted an American Girl doll when I was little because we randomly got a catalog in the mail once and I was obsessseddddd. But we were too poor to afford anything so I would just pour over the catalog longingly lol. I didn’t even realize American Girl dolls were common/popular because no one in my city had them, we were not in the right tax bracket for them 😂 so I was surprised when I realized there were whole stores with a little tea party to play at. 🥲 I loved the OG historical girls so much because I’m from a very homogenous Mexican city so that was my first exposure to “other” cultures and the books taught me a lot as a kid, I loved it so much. I wanted them all lol. In retrospect I should’ve realized I had the “collector” itch lol. I also loooooved the mini rooms cuz I (still to this day) have an obsession with teeny tiny miniatures 🤏🏽 and I thought the interior decor was so cool but looking back they were sooo early 00’s 😂 Anyway this is just to say I loved the overview of everything American Girl doll because my younger self wanted to be invested in this but couldn’t 🥲 I’m def going to buy my future kids American Girl dolls though to make up for the childhood I didn’t get 😂
When I was seven I went to the American Girl store in Chicago and saw a musical there. I don’t know if it’s the same as the original, but I remember I had the soundtrack and what some of the songs sounded like. I remember saving $72 from Christmas and my birthday to buy stuff myself there and I was so proud of myself for saving so much money.
Interesting! I never knew the history of how Pleasant Company came about. Our daughter was born in 1985 and I remember getting the catalog in the mail. We ordered her a dress out of one which she took a liking to. She never owned any of the dolls, just the one dress. I believe the design was from Kirsten's era. To me, I think Kirsten is about the cutest the way her hair comes in looped braids.
this was such a nostalgic watch 🥹 i had kit when i was little, and i spent every year until i was about 13 flipping through those catalogues. i would spend hours looking at them. this brought back so many memories
new sarah video!!!!! lets gooo!! I was given my older sister's Addy doll when I was little. I remember taking her to the doll hospital because she was a little torn up lol
Loved this! I enjoyed AG as a little girl in the 90s. I’m now back into them for my daughter and am excited to share it with her. Any AG content you want to bring us, I’m here for it!!
Nellie is by far the best one. Something about Samantha's abject wealth makes me irrationally angry which I suppose somehow connects to my inability to buy her as a child during the 2008 housing crisis and recession. Oh well. Anyways this was fantastic as always
We never had the money for an American Girl doll, but they still had our address sending us magazine of all the new dolls, and picked out the ones we'd want if our parents had the money.
please keep making content like this, it’s so good!! i love how you explain things!! the work you put into these videos are so inspiring and interesting!!
Wow, I accidentally stumbled upon your video and just can't help but share how much I enjoyed your presentation... excellent job, not only did you cover a lot of content, it's obvious you did your homework... plus, you were so diplomatic when it came to controversial topics and you handled them like a pro!! I'm 70+ years old and I have one American Girl doll, the small 9" Chinese doll. American Girls were, sadly, not a thing when I was a kid and I would have loved them but, I digress... you, young woman, are a natural orator, you're charismatic and knowledgeable and have a fantastic speaking voice and presence about you!! Thanks for all the work you put into this, I completely enjoyed it! Wishing you all the best!
I loved American Girl as a kid. I owned 4 dolls (found 3 for very cheap at an estate sale and got a just like me doll for my 10th birthday). Only one of them was white. I was allowed to pick what dolls I wanted and actively chose the nonwhite dolls. Maybe I wanted to see myself in the dolls idk. But I remember feeling disappointed when all the girl of the year dolls that came out when I was a child we’re all white. It made me disinterested in the line as a whole.
I found your account randomly and subscribed because I love to have background noise but something that's interesting and scary stories is sometimes just too much. Happy about this channel
Interesting that people think of American girls to be more like toddlers. I always thought of them as being 10 to 14. I associate their doll look as a style choice.
Okay, imagine in 10 or so years, they'd release a 2009 historical doll... That would probably have Chrissa as part of her collection. That'd probably make me feel kinda old, and nostalgic at the same time, because I was around 10 in 2009.
This was amazing and so comprehensive! I forgot about the Angelina Ballerina collab and I never realized that Girls of Many Lands was actually part of the brand. Also your explanation of what a catalogue is had me dying 😂
Yes please book follow up...please do 2 parts so you can cover the 8 or nine principal historical characters 6 of whom have 6 books, but a minimum of 3...
This was a blast from the past. I had read most of the American Girl books up to, I think, 1997. I had one of the baby's that you could get, and then I had two dolls from the doll maker Gotz (but weren't American Girl dolls). But you could buy outfits separately from the dolls, and since they shared the doll maker, I had a lot of the outfits from some of my favorites.
1:01:50 - I wanted to add to this! I haven't read her books BUT from what I've hard, because of experiencing Polio as a child, she is disabled. So she's the first ever disabled American girl character! I also heard she has one leg that is made to be shorter than the other because of this but again, I could be way off - I haven't read the books.
First off I must say I loved the video it was such a fun and great watch you really went the extra mile with all your videos second off my most favorite part of the video was you talking about the historical girlies the way you explain things with their accuracy of their era is like a match made in heaven, I would love videos on each of the historical characters like you could talk about their appearance, names, collections, and books in one video I think that would be fun since I think they have the most dimension out of the whole brand I would watch all of them back to back. Still really love this it was great to spend an hour with you on my screen
I’ve thought about doing that! I think Babbity Kate here on UA-cam is doing a similar thing, she recently posted a 5 hour deep dive into Kirsten (I haven’t finished it yet haha)
Watched that video already twice and it’s great, but I would still love your opinion cause you and her very different personality wise plus I love how you go in-depth on every thing and explain all the little details which I love plus their are a lot of ag doll UA-cam channels that haven’t gone through the historical character’s individuality surprisingly like a asides from you two their is only two other channels that has gone through every girl is thedollplace channel which it is hilarious and a good laugh and lady Rebecca fashion who is a fashion UA-camr who is going over all the historical outfits but aside from them no one has gone through each of them. Channels usually do ranking of the doll itself against others or their collections as a whole which I’m kind of disappointed by because each girl is unique in their own way and I looked for videos like that trust me I looked and haven’t found any. That something I noticed. It would be great to see you do them but if you don’t want to do it I understand it’s your channel and I will watch your future videos on whatever you make. I’m just glad your doing American girl videos at all😍🥰👍
American Girl is the reason I was a history major in college. The OG three will always be my favorite. I remember how excited I was when the Samantha tv movie came out in 2004. I was 10 years old, my name is also Samantha, it was perfect. That was also the year I got my Samantha doll. I also really really miss the American Girl magazine lol.
The pictures of the early catalog pages reminded me of things I desperately wanted, but had long since forgotten. I am old enough to remember when Addy was released.
Actually, Nicki’s books were about her raising a service dog named Sprocket. However, she does live on a ranch with horses and pigs.
5 місяців тому+1
i remember so vividly my mom taking me to the american girl fashion shows when i was very, very young. american girls were such a foundational part of my childhood, truly my favorite toy (probably ever created)!!
I have been watching a TV series that I’m deeply invested in every time I get some free time or relax time. But today I had the chance to continue watching it and instead I watched this entire video. I have no regrets.
I loveeedddd looking at the catalogs, I still do! As a kid I got a doll that looks like me for Christmas one year (brown hair, brown eyes) and I named her Natalie, then at some point I got Kit! I loveddd her little cardigan, and I really wanted the different play sets but they were so big I didn’t have space for them especially Kit’s roll top desk, I loved that thing! One day I’ll get a real roll top desk for me to live my dream 😂
I was obsessed with Samantha! I never had the doll but had the books and would get the catalog. I would just stttttare at her items and pictures. I believe she started my obsession with the Victorian Era. Including The Little Princess and The Secret Garden.
The 90s section is bringing back sooooo many childhood memories. I've seen all these catalogs. I've admired all these doll outfits and accessories. The grin pins, the clothing line, the books... Wow, talk about nostalgia. For a long time I was obsessed with saving my money to get an American Girl of Today and all her accessories. I never got that far, though :)
I love your honesty 😂 I love your channel. It’s clear you thoroughly research the history of each topic. Every video is informative. The fairy videos got me hooked. I was so upset when they discontinued the Tinkerbell movies
I enjoyed the video and got a lot out of it, especially for the years that I was too busy with life to keep up with the company. It was a wonderful effort on a large subject. Well done! Thank you.
thank you so much for making content of american girl stuff!!! i’m actually on the social media team for innerstar u rewritten :D it’s really nice to have a history video with like. events i specifically remember especially since american girl was one of my biggest special interests as a kid
This was so fun to reminisce on! I was in a few American Girl fashion shows as a kid, I think I dressed as Marisol the year she came out? The only thing you skipped that I wish you’d talked about were the AG Mystery Party games. One of my friends had one for her birthday one year and I remember it being so cool but strange to sort of role play / mystery solve with the historical stories.
I’ve never heard of the mystery party games omg! I was having trouble researching a lot of that physical media stuff (craft kits and board games) so I left it vague bc I knew I was missing stuff (especially the dates considering I structured this as a timeline)
I really appreciate this video! You put me on to a few things I didn’t know American Girl released. I use to have American Girl Catalogues sent to me growing up and I had a few of the girls books and an advice quiz book but I fell off literally around the time Kit was out and now I got myself reguided back to the franchise. I’m going to finishing and editing a Part 1- maybe 3 series of the evolution of their website. I can definitely let you know when I’m done. I also will say as an African American woman I do appreciate you being honest about how the company mainly catered to white representation. You are right as well by how we all need to not only see representation of ourselves but other people as well but of course equally though. Definitely keep up the great work. 🙂
Very interesting video! I loved how you explained which face mold was used for each doll. My daughter was born in the mid 90s and she had a Molly Doll and one that looked like her. For her 10th birthday we went to the AG Place in Chicago with her two cousins (and their moms) and their dolls and we had a meal at the cafe and watched the Circle of Friends musical, which was lovely. We have the cd of the songs from that musical as well and it was a very special memory. She was able to get her photo on the "cover" of an AG magazine, too which was cool. So sad when she outgrew the dolls, but they are definitely heirloom quality dolls that can be passed down if she has a daughter. Really enjoyed your thorough overview. My daughter loved the interactive books they had one year that had maps, etc you could pull out and put back into the book.
I just want to kindly point out that Lucianne Walkowicz, the astronomer whose likeness and career story was used by AG without their permission, is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.
LMFAOOO
@@gabrielahamilton1066 what are we laughing at, gabriela 🤨?
@@muckpuppy you
And .... how is this relevant with what this yound woman is talking about the dolls? Take your unicorns and mermaids away. Yes., I said that. Is not necesary to mixed that non sense of the unexistent pronouns here. Get out.
@@gabrielahamilton1066i agree
Felicity is the McRib of the American girl doll world. She is always popping back up right when you start to forget about her. Then retired again.
😂😂
if i had a nickel for every over an hour long history of american girl dolls video i'd only have two nickels but it's weird that its happened twice
Right? I was like, sure I've already watched one just a few months ago, but why not another? And I did end up learning some new things, so it was totally worth it!
yas fellow ashley norton fan slay
Same
Wait what’s the other one
@@user-uj2ji2cu9xHi, the UA-camr Ashley Norton made also a Deep Dive Video on American Girl Dolls. Check it out if you can!
The range in struggle is uh… well… Addy: escapes slavery, Blair: Lactose intolerant
Right? And all McKenna did was break her ankle and have a friend who didn’t want to do gymnastics anymore over Kirsten immigrating to a new foreign country and losing her best friend because she died.
I mean those aren't really comparable plus they're from two entirely different lines /LH /NM
well, I think all the historical dolls faced significant challenges and overcame obstacles. They serve as role models, IMO. The GOTY, well....most of them lead quite privileged lives with more routine issues. Bullying was the worst thing endured.
@@dontmindme.imjustafraidofe9327 KIRSTEN WATCHED HER BEST FRIEND DIE OF CHOLERA FFS
@@dollahlah-54321Agreed. The goty line is meant to reflect modern girls and modern struggles.
The way they almost had a Black GOTY and then takes-backsies-ed it at the last minute for another light-haired light-eyed doll never fails to make me boil with rage! Also, Maryellen's childhood polio makes her the first doll with a physical disability, as she's described in the books as being overall weaker, especially in one leg, and having residual breathing issues. You'll often see collectors making little duct tape braces for her and such. It's all very cute.
YES! That "here's the only black GOTY we are ever going to offer but lol jk here's the REAL goty" really upset me. Like COME ON people!
Along with Maryellen’s polio her doll apparently has a slight leg height difference, I cannot verify tho because I’m broke lol
Then we have Claudie, first Black historical character since Melody, then BOOM! The two White twins.
The racism your showing is scary… the skin color of dolls should not make you so angry. Everyone’s story is valuable doesn’t matter what color.
@@hello-ef4bnThat’s not racism. Wanting a doll of color is not being racist. In the twenty three years since the goty line started, we had only a handful of dolls of color. We can count on our fingers how many poc goty dolls we had. In 2025, we still won’t be getting a doll of color.
I had Kaya and ALL her books, as a native I *LIVED* for the representation that showed both the good and bad side of Native Americans
i'm not even native and kaya was my favorite. i loved her so much
The felicity movie also had a random shot where the slaves of felicitys grandfather are mourning from a distance presumably because they are not allowed to attend the grandfathers funeral. Like you said, on one hand bold and valid not to censor that part of history. But also so wild to include it and totally gloss over it in felicity’s story
oof I want to talk about the movies but I’m waiting until the sag strike is over, I don’t think I’ve seen the Felicity one yet (also hi!!)
Honestly, ignoring it or outright erasing it is so much worse. More mourning from a distance, please! It's completely historically accurate that it wouldn't even cross many characters' minds to think about slavery, but it should still exist in the world they live in.
@@vanyadollybut isn’t it wild that they’re portraying these enslaved people as mourning their master in the first place? Like yeah, definitely let’s not gloss over their existence but there’s something to be said by their depiction. Idk I haven’t read/seen these books and movies but there tended to be this trend back in the day where the relationship between slaves and master was depicted as amicable mainly to paint the white people as kind even though they owned humans.
lol this was a lot of words but it’s pretty interesting that that’s how the slaves are shown
@@gabriella9897It's a complex issue that can't be summed up as easily as saying all slaves felt entirely negatively about their owners either. Besides, mourning is a public performance in many ways, and a slave-owner's death would bring on other concerns like, is the next one going to be worse, or are they going to start selling people off and separating them from their families?
Considering how slavery is handled in both in the books and the movie, this was like the least offensive bit 😂
@@gabriella9897maybe he was nice to them ? I don't think they were slaves , just workers on the plantation .
So I worked at an AG store in Kansas from 2012-1019. Here's my insight into the sales part of it:
- Julie was the most popular doll, followed by Kit. Kaya's doll and accessories basically collected dust (except her horse, people loved her horse). Josephina was stuck in the Bitty Baby section. Poor Cecile almost never sold as well.
- The movies played on rotation on a TV and for the most part I found them adorable. I genuinely recommend the Kit and Molly movies, which in theory are on DVD somewhere.
- Gabriella was doll #46 with a hairband. Which is why doll #46 was "retired"
- We were taught that "retired" dolls and accessories went away forever, but "archived" dolls were dolls that were temporarily taken off the shelves. Not that it matters - AG will pitch new versions of formerly popular lines whenever they feel like it.
- Some of the larger play sets were super fun to clean up/reorganize. Luciana's Mars station was very cute and interactive. Ditto for the incredible French bakery set. And the Wellwishers playhouse. But to be fair we did notice a drop-off in the quality of materials and construction over the years.
- Our peak year was probably 2016. That was the last year when I remember Black Friday being amazingly busy. For Blair, the 2019 doll, January 1st was very lackluster in comparison. I think 2016 or 2017 was the last year the store had an event before the Girl of the Year movie debut.
- In 2017 there was some kind of hold-up from the Chinese factories that produced the Bitty Baby line, so we had tons of baby stuff out of stock for months (then they changed the design of the toys anyway SO take this with a grain of salt).
- We got a girl-sized ear-piercing booth in 2018. It was mostly successful. There was one incident where a very cute, VERY young girl got upset because (I assume) the piercing was too painful.
- Most of the books are really good. Some read like well-done, kid-friendly self-insert fanfic. Kaya's books are great. Kit is super boring. Tenney is basically a Taylor Swift riff. The quality of the Girly of the Year books is decent.
- I acquired a few accessories and dolls that I'm trying to sell off, hit me up if anyone wants a discontinued table & chairs or an unopened Logan doll (guitar sold separately).
Thank you for this valuable information 🙏
Good points! I was at the AG boston store from 2014-2016 and would like to add:
- I'd say our most popular dolls were the Girl of the Year, followed by "Truly Me/My American Girl" dolls (our store had a 2nd floor and most people would head right up the escalator to the modern dolls and accessories), then historical characters, then Bitty Baby. I was always so sad to see everyone bypass the dolls that were the original foundation of the company.
- Our best selling historical girls were probably Julie, Kit, Caroline, and Samantha. Poor Addy, Kaya, and Josefina 's cases almost never changed.
- Girl of the Year launches (prior to the GMA announcements of course) were about as big as black friday. My first GOTY launch, people lined up just inside the mall and wrapped around the corner, halfway past an anchor store.
- I also enjoyed setting up the displays and cleaning up in the morning before the store opened. Lots of the little pieces always went missing from the bigger sets (Mary Ellen's diner, Grace's bakery, the cast and crutches kit). Putting together displays with the dolls and their accessories behind glass was super fun, although historical girls collections couldn't mix and match (sorry Sam, egg chairs don't exist in the edwardian era).
I'm very sorry they had to close our store, but at least we can drive a bit to NYC.
Hey I am interested! I don't have any big items only clothes and one doll bed so I would like to get one for a decent price. how can I get a hold of you? Do you have Instagram or Etsy?
It’s so funny that Kaya never sold well cus when I was younger she was my absolute favorite. I had a couple dolls but played with Kaya endlessly because she was the only doll who was from near me (I live in the PNW). I played with her so much that her braids came out and I cried and begged my mom to take me to the store so they could fix her hair
Kind of sad that Kaya never sold well because Kaya was the only one I owned (my sister had Josephine, Kit, or Rebecca, I think) because I liked her the best.
30:25 I was convinced you called Coconut a “little white CRUSTY dog” and had to keep rewinding to catch “Westy” 😂
I would NEVER disrespect coconut like that lol
Thank you for specifying what a "meet" outfit is. I imagine you understood that most of us were thinking of Lady Gaga when you said it.
I was thinking Scout dressed as the ham from To Kill a Mockingbird
I completely agree about the newer face molds!! I feel like they're just slimming down their faces (especially their jaws), painting their lips and giving them bigger eyes to make them appeal more to modern beauty standards (they remind me a bit of the instagram face. it really looks like they put them through photoshop or a snapchat filter). they also remind me more of modern fashion dolls and animated characters. the molds aren't ugly but they just...don't look like American girl dolls anymore?? lol
i don't like the newer face molds either-i don't collect anymore but my mom and sister do and the faces of the newer dolls look closer to my anime figures than to my older historical dolls. it's really a shame, i think that look on an 18 inch doll is creepy
this is so true--nanea's doll was honestly a jumpscare for me lmao😭
I got the Corinne doll (the only other dolls I have are Lanie and Molly) and I was so shocked when I saw her eyelashes are... painted on. It looks so bad, especially when her eyes are closed. I love the look of the dolls with no painted on makeup, they look cuter and more their age to me.
Fun fact: the POC dolls DO sell better. Marisol saved the GOTY line (before her their sales were SHIT) and Corrine's release saw the only profitable quarter for the company in several years. They're just run by a bunch of old farts who don't want to put in any effort to make diverse & accurate dolls. Currently AG is such a mess that I feel like we're on the brink of another massive overhaul, and honestly I hope so 😭
At Costco right now there are many dolls of color from the "Donut Dreams" collection left on the shelf, but not a single one of the Blonde dolls.
@@dollahlah-54321personally I’d pin that on the area the store is located at, and it isn’t really common to purchase toys at a big box store in my opinion
@@suhocidal maybe not, but Costco sells them every year
marisol was my first american girl doll and my favorite!! i loved her dancer outfits. i later ended up also getting samantha, but i have a soft spot for marisol
Can you provide sources for your assertions? Because your comment is giving huge ‘trust me bro’ not-credible vibes.
I’m all for POC dolls and I have a great many of them in my AG collection, but the fact is they do not sell as well as the white dolls. It’s been that way ever since American Girl’s existence.
Look at the ‘World by Us’ collection. Absolutely stunning POC dolls, I have them all. But they didn’t sell well, and that’s why they’re retiring the whole line instead of adding to it like they were supposed to. Facts don’t care about your feefees, I’m afraid.
Me shoving my list of everything I wanted from the American girl doll catalog to my parents being totally oblivious to the recession 😂
lmao ikr, i would circle like half the items in a catalogue with no concept of just how much money AG toys cost and hand it to my mom with pure obliviousness in my eyes
No but actually I was big mad like "what do you mean you won't shell out $150 for a bed for my doll? 😤" I was always obsessed with the furniture and accessories; rarely did the clothes interest me lol
I love how helpful your parents are
they are the best
If I had worked at American Girl, I'd have given myself room to do one "future" doll, who's gimmick is that she's a time traveler from a distant tomorrow. Tarla46. She makes historical crossovers viable.
"Meet Tarla46"
"Tarla46 Causes a Paradox"
"Tarla46 Discovers the Multiverse" (This one can even enable crossovers with other Mattel Properties.)
I'm why most toy company headquarters have a sniper positioned on the roof.
I doubt they'd ever do that... but holy shit, I really want them to. I haven't bought an American Girl Doll since I was a little kid, but if they did a future doll that time travelled and caused time paradoxes, I'd buy her entire collection in encouragement.
That would've been a cool idea for them to do right before the new millennium. The y2k thing was so futuristic
Why is this the funniest YT comment I’ve ever read
Get past the sniper somehow, we gotta get this one released
I’ve actually been writing a fanfiction similar to this! I haven’t released it yet but it’s very similar! I’ll probably send a link to anyone who wants to read it when I publish it :]
Very fascinating to watch the transition into and then out of the period I remembered and got the catalog for... definitely reinforced your point about the hobbies for Girl of the Year not being repetitive from a customer base perspective, since though I was definitely thinking "wow, another horse girl?" watching the video, as a kid I always thought the girls of the year were very unique.
“At least the Penny I have for my Felicity won’t be lonely…”
I literally had an entire stable worth of the American Girl Horses, yes I got a Steps High and a Sparks flying too, I had so many of those horses
My family was lower middle class to lower class so we could never afford an American Girl doll. I loaned the books from the library and got the catalogue to pour over the dolls and the accessories and items that came from the stories I was reading. My aunt and uncle paid for an American Girl magazine subscription, and it came with a paper doll insert based on the family history of a real girl chosen from among their readers who applied. I kept those for years and had them stored so they would stay nice, but they disappeared in the 20+ years since! I wish I had them still, they were so cool.
if AG were to continue the trend of releasing historical girl dolls from more recent eras, it would be very interesting to see a 2000’s Arab-American doll dealing with the islamophobia after the 9/11 attacks. i think a doll like that would need to be released at least ten years down the line (and i can’t even imagine the conservative outrage). it’ll probably never happen bc of politics but i’d be really excited to see some west asian representation in the doll line
thats such a good idea though
Would have been more interesting than the 1999 Y2K twins
As someone who’s frequented the ag online forums since 2012 (since I was 9), you’d be surprised by how they actually do listen to suggestions online..people had been wanting a disabled girl of the year for a while, which they did. Same with boy dolls and more stem dolls. I’d say anything is possible.
I don't think they'd have the courage to. Apparently the hoffman twins live in 1999, and for some reason they decided to make the historical event affecting them y2k (which was kind of happening in the background thanks to their mom working in tech), instead of things that affected kids in public school at the time like columbine and the rising fear of terror attacks. And they're marketing them hard. I'd like to see it too but I doubt it would happen
they'll never do that because we're the one market that can't be pandered to because white people pearl clutch and cry "terrorism!!!" at arabs and muslims even existing. sucks :(
i dont know how to describe my relationship with AG as a kid, but it was probably my first ever special interest. i am far too passionate about the decline in quality of this children’s toy brand than i, a 23 y/o with no kids, has any right to be. this video is everything i desired in an AG history. thank you!!
You are super engaging and amusing love the comments. I learned so much.
I can see how you can see them as toddler, but it's strange to me because I had an American Girl Today doll that looked like me and I named Rose. I thought of her as the same age as me (I was in middle school) and would bring home extra homework for her and made her little schoolbooks. It was pretty cool to know what's become of American Girl though.
They don’t look like toddlers to me either. Maybe it’s the boomers that see them as toddlers
I don't think that's what's going on because if Sarah's first doll was later than my first doll I have a feeling she's younger than me so I doubt it's an age thing. It likely has to do with the dolls they were made from were originally used for dolls designed to be younger, but they tried their best to make them feel older and other than new face molds the dolls have changed very little.
They've always looked like baby dolls which are designed to stand up and are styled as if they're normal, more Barbie-esque dolls (but for like, modest rich white families.) Their hands are pudgy and their buck teeth are reminicent of newly grown-in baby teeth. I think the dolls are intended to be wishy-washy on what age they are because the original idea for them was spawned from the gap between "pretend you're my mom" dolls and "pretend you're me" dolls, so they can either be projected onto or treated like a little sister.
They literally aren't toddlers. To me they look like 12. Maybe she is utilizing hyperbole. The toddlers are the Bitty Twins... or, they WERE...
@@ALT-vz3jnSarah isn't a boomer! She's not in her 50's!
the wayyyy josephina's mold was carrying the entire brand for a while omg they were using her for everyone...
It's wild seeing all the stock photos of the girls in their meet outfits, because when I was little I got a big bag of old AG clothes from a teenage friend, so when I see some of the early 2000s dolls I'm like "Oh!!! I have those pants!!"
I've never met someone who had an actual Grandmary. I'm in awe
Two minutes in and I’m giggling at how much of a kindred spirit u are, as someone who spends way too much of their personal time buying dolls and restoring them it really is so much fun seeing the payoff of a good wash and re style lol. I’m not much into AG but I live for your sense of humor and anecdotes, and it was so much fun watching this video and learning more about a doll brand I’ve never put much thought into. Ver excited for your future content, keep up the good work!
I feel so bad for the downgrade of the line, they were an expensive detailed line and now it's all tucky
i am begging you to make as much american girl doll content as possible i ate this entire video up
A Colonial Williamsburg doll wasn't one of the first characters, even though she was the first one thought of, because the company couldn't afford to make bangless wigs at first, and bangs would have been really innacurate for an 18th century girl
I'm petty sure they were also inaccurate for Kirsten too...
@@leifmeadows3782 They were, but it was a little bit more plausible and wasn't going to be noticed by most people who didn't have a lot of knowledge about different decades of the Victorian era, whereas people would have known instinctively that they looked wrong on a Colonial doll
@@hopetikvah4906nope, that’s a bunch of BS lol. As if ‘everyone’ is going to know that bangs are fine on Kirsten but not on Felicity. Thanks for the laugh 😅
@@ALT-vz3jn Well sure, not everyone, I never said that, but most people have seen paintings of Colonial women and none of them have bangs, whereas some late Victorian women do in photos. Therefore, people are a lot more likely to pick up on them looking 'wrong' on someone with Colonial attire, whereas most people aren't going to be able to distinguish 1850s fashion from 1880s. Kirsten having bangs is only off by a couple of decades, Felicity is like a hundred years too early for them, so that's obviously going to make it a more obvious historical inaccuracy to more people.
before watching this i didn’t know much about american girl, but now i feel i have the right to quote that vine
This is the content that I’ve been looking for. An hour and a half of a woman going into detail about a specific piece of childhood nostalgia that I nearly forgot about but hold very dearly. What a time.
as a former little girl whose African American who loved and still loves history, i remember seeing Addy as a kid and i wasn't really into in American Girl dolls but i liked the books. i remember you, Addy!
1:17:04 the joss mold looks very uncanny in the stock photos but also VERY different than the dolls actual release. The mold is very gorgeous in person and it feels like a blend between Josefina and Marie-Grace
Me and my mom always joked about watching When Calls the Heart to see what new clothes Kohls was selling. Great video!
Lol I love that
I'm super hyped for the books video. I was never able to get a doll but I had all the books including the craft and paper doll books.
surprised you didnt mention the American Girl pets other than Coconut! For me they were such a big part of my childhood (more than the dolls almost), so it would have been cool to see!
They will release another blonde/ strawberry blonde white girl interested in horses/dance/gymnastics/music before releasing a black girl (with the addy mold)
It wasnt mentioned, but I only had 2 Dolls Felicity in 2006, and Nicki from 2007, but current dolls are also a lot thinner then their older counter parts. It isnt just the faces, but their physical bodies too. If you get a modern outfit and put it on a doll from the mid to late 2000s it doesnt really fit because of the shrinking waist of the dolls and AG has been cutting the clothing patterns to fit the smaller size. You can even notice this on clothing from 2015ish
Is that maybe to do with costs? Are they vertically smaller too? Maybe material costs or the old dolls swell because of material???
@@crys_cornflakez i dont know anything for sure, but im gonna guess probably not. the main AG doll line’s thing was that they were 18 inches tall so i doubt theyve made them shorter. idk about materials, but im gonna guess honestly the changes are because of beauty standards :(
Im so happy you uploaded, i saw your tinkerbell history video then binged all of them and was sad there werent more which surprised me because they are so well made. Thank you and keep up the work 😎
I never had an American Girl doll despite somehow being subscribed to the catalog, and I always wanted a Samantha doll so bad, her outfits were adorable!! She was too expensive though, lol.
Side note: you briefly mentioned Angelina Ballerina, were you ever into the series? I had a VHS tape growing up and loved it, would love for you to do a deep dive on that sometime!
Yes unfortunately not everyone can afford them (I had a my life as doll from Walmart for my 1st 18 inch doll about 15-20$) that’s why some people when they’re adults save up for them I’ve seen plenty of people do that
@@gwenmloveskpopandmorei had the magazine too. Probably specifically cause we couldn't afford an actual doll. Maybe I should get one sometime
@@wordydird yes you should
@@wordydird especially if u always had one
Marisol's outfit is the most 2004 thing I've ever seen
I used to love playing the games on the American Girl website! I'm so excited that you made this video; I've never seen anyone talk about this topic before!
My love for American Girl has definitely depleted since I was a child, but I still had a huge smile on my face the moment you mentioned Kit! She was my introduction to AG and she remains such a beloved character from my childhood. I had Kit and her best friend Ruthie as dolls growing up, and I was obsessed with the books and Abigail Breslin movie! The brand has gotten much worse as time has gone on, but I still I still love Kit Kittredge just as much as I did back then. I was told I looked like her once and almost cried from happiness, and she was such an inspiration for me as an aspiring writer.
i watched this video like its own catalogue being like “i wanted that one!! i wanna buy that!!” looooved this video
I love you holding josaphina so close to the camera to show us her earrings. It was very funny lol
1:22:15 You don’t sound ridiculous at all, I totally agree! The new face molds feel a bit uncanny valley to me; the eyes seem a bit bigger (and slightly wider set too?), the cheeks are slimmed down, and the chin comes to more of a point. After looking at a bunch of pictures comparing the Corinne Mold to other AG face molds, it’s deeply weird to me that despite obviously trying to make Corinne look older, somehow she looks kind of like a baby doll? Like, I see Corinne’s face and it just screams “baby doll you could buy at Walmart”. Also, though it’s hard to tell through photos online, it almost seems like her face has less depth to it than older molds, like it’s flatter. Maybe it’s the lack of chubby cheeks? Idk, it just doesn’t feel American Girl to me. It’s sad :(
This was so informative to watch as someone who grew up loving these dolls, but from afar. Thank you for making this! It was so fun, alongside your humor and commentary.
When I was like 9, my mother was mildly obsessed with collecting AG dolls. I remember her specifically seeking out the #4 face mold. She's still in a glass cabinet in the living room with the 1st five historical girls, Kaya, and Cecile. She used to switch out their seasonal outfits for the corresponding season, but they've been in springwear for several years now. Which is fine. Cecile's yellow spring dress is the cutest of her outfits anyway.
the comparison to "when calls the heart" had me laughing 😭😆 it's very "we have 'the gilded age' at home."
this is also how i feel about "the frankie drake mysteries" - lemme throw together a 20s outfit from the sales rack at express. funny for tv but so disappointing for dolls!
Great video! I see that G3 Drac in the bg...love seeing other collectors with G3 dolls!
I've been making a list of all childhood video games I forgot about and you helped me add American Girl Premiere to that list today. I literally would've never remembered it without this
I always wanted an American Girl doll when I was little because we randomly got a catalog in the mail once and I was obsessseddddd. But we were too poor to afford anything so I would just pour over the catalog longingly lol. I didn’t even realize American Girl dolls were common/popular because no one in my city had them, we were not in the right tax bracket for them 😂 so I was surprised when I realized there were whole stores with a little tea party to play at. 🥲
I loved the OG historical girls so much because I’m from a very homogenous Mexican city so that was my first exposure to “other” cultures and the books taught me a lot as a kid, I loved it so much. I wanted them all lol. In retrospect I should’ve realized I had the “collector” itch lol.
I also loooooved the mini rooms cuz I (still to this day) have an obsession with teeny tiny miniatures 🤏🏽 and I thought the interior decor was so cool but looking back they were sooo early 00’s 😂
Anyway this is just to say I loved the overview of everything American Girl doll because my younger self wanted to be invested in this but couldn’t 🥲 I’m def going to buy my future kids American Girl dolls though to make up for the childhood I didn’t get 😂
I loved the catalogs too. I was fortunate enough to find the books second hand but yeah all the dolls were wayy out of my price bracket too.
When I was seven I went to the American Girl store in Chicago and saw a musical there. I don’t know if it’s the same as the original, but I remember I had the soundtrack and what some of the songs sounded like. I remember saving $72 from Christmas and my birthday to buy stuff myself there and I was so proud of myself for saving so much money.
I love how helpful your parents are. I've never met someone who had an actual Grandmary. I'm in awe.
okay but your dad buying those books is so sweet
I have to say.... I think you DO know more about AG than me. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge!
Interesting! I never knew the history of how Pleasant Company came about. Our daughter was born in 1985 and I remember getting the catalog in the mail. We ordered her a dress out of one which she took a liking to. She never owned any of the dolls, just the one dress. I believe the design was from Kirsten's era. To me, I think Kirsten is about the cutest the way her hair comes in looped braids.
This video was so much fun to watch. So thorough and well investigated. Would’ve never thought it was this interesting to learn! Thanks so much❤❤❤
this was such a nostalgic watch 🥹 i had kit when i was little, and i spent every year until i was about 13 flipping through those catalogues. i would spend hours looking at them. this brought back so many memories
Kaya's books were my very first "American Girl" encounter ❤
(thank you Schoolastic Book Fair)
new sarah video!!!!! lets gooo!! I was given my older sister's Addy doll when I was little. I remember taking her to the doll hospital because she was a little torn up lol
I’ve never had a chance to own one, but I love dolls! I care about the history, and on the sole reason of one day starting my own collection.
You are my new fav commentary channel! I need an American Girl restoration tutorial:)
Thanks for this deep dive of American Girl. I just started collecting and you broke it down so simple but extensive for a beginner collector.
Loved this! I enjoyed AG as a little girl in the 90s. I’m now back into them for my daughter and am excited to share it with her. Any AG content you want to bring us, I’m here for it!!
Nellie is by far the best one. Something about Samantha's abject wealth makes me irrationally angry which I suppose somehow connects to my inability to buy her as a child during the 2008 housing crisis and recession. Oh well. Anyways this was fantastic as always
We never had the money for an American Girl doll, but they still had our address sending us magazine of all the new dolls, and picked out the ones we'd want if our parents had the money.
please keep making content like this, it’s so good!! i love how you explain things!! the work you put into these videos are so inspiring and interesting!!
Wow, I accidentally stumbled upon your video and just can't help but share how much I enjoyed your presentation... excellent job, not only did you cover a lot of content, it's obvious you did your homework... plus, you were so diplomatic when it came to controversial topics and you handled them like a pro!! I'm 70+ years old and I have one American Girl doll, the small 9" Chinese doll. American Girls were, sadly, not a thing when I was a kid and I would have loved them but, I digress... you, young woman, are a natural orator, you're charismatic and knowledgeable and have a fantastic speaking voice and presence about you!! Thanks for all the work you put into this, I completely enjoyed it! Wishing you all the best!
I loved American Girl as a kid. I owned 4 dolls (found 3 for very cheap at an estate sale and got a just like me doll for my 10th birthday). Only one of them was white. I was allowed to pick what dolls I wanted and actively chose the nonwhite dolls. Maybe I wanted to see myself in the dolls idk. But I remember feeling disappointed when all the girl of the year dolls that came out when I was a child we’re all white. It made me disinterested in the line as a whole.
I found your account randomly and subscribed because I love to have background noise but something that's interesting and scary stories is sometimes just too much. Happy about this channel
Interesting that people think of American girls to be more like toddlers. I always thought of them as being 10 to 14. I associate their doll look as a style choice.
Okay, imagine in 10 or so years, they'd release a 2009 historical doll... That would probably have Chrissa as part of her collection. That'd probably make me feel kinda old, and nostalgic at the same time, because I was around 10 in 2009.
This was amazing and so comprehensive! I forgot about the Angelina Ballerina collab and I never realized that Girls of Many Lands was actually part of the brand. Also your explanation of what a catalogue is had me dying 😂
I love the timeline video. History is important, even within one line of dolls and even within our life times. Great presentation.
Yes please book follow up...please do 2 parts so you can cover the 8 or nine principal historical characters 6 of whom have 6 books, but a minimum of 3...
This was a blast from the past. I had read most of the American Girl books up to, I think, 1997. I had one of the baby's that you could get, and then I had two dolls from the doll maker Gotz (but weren't American Girl dolls). But you could buy outfits separately from the dolls, and since they shared the doll maker, I had a lot of the outfits from some of my favorites.
My favorite thing about McKenna was that her hair could be parted anyway. That was the only reason I wanted her. 😅
This was incredibly interesting and well put. I am totally going to binge the rest of your videos now lol
Right when you said the turn of the century when describing Samantha, I knew we were in sync iktr !
1:01:50 - I wanted to add to this! I haven't read her books BUT from what I've hard, because of experiencing Polio as a child, she is disabled. So she's the first ever disabled American girl character! I also heard she has one leg that is made to be shorter than the other because of this but again, I could be way off - I haven't read the books.
Books were more integral to my girlhood than the dolls, ngl. I had Felcity and Samantha, but I had all the books, and I read them over and over again.
First off I must say I loved the video it was such a fun and great watch you really went the extra mile with all your videos second off my most favorite part of the video was you talking about the historical girlies the way you explain things with their accuracy of their era is like a match made in heaven, I would love videos on each of the historical characters like you could talk about their appearance, names, collections, and books in one video I think that would be fun since I think they have the most dimension out of the whole brand I would watch all of them back to back. Still really love this it was great to spend an hour with you on my screen
I’ve thought about doing that! I think Babbity Kate here on UA-cam is doing a similar thing, she recently posted a 5 hour deep dive into Kirsten (I haven’t finished it yet haha)
Watched that video already twice and it’s great, but I would still love your opinion cause you and her very different personality wise plus I love how you go in-depth on every thing and explain all the little details which I love plus their are a lot of ag doll UA-cam channels that haven’t gone through the historical character’s individuality surprisingly like a asides from you two their is only two other channels that has gone through every girl is thedollplace channel which it is hilarious and a good laugh and lady Rebecca fashion who is a fashion UA-camr who is going over all the historical outfits but aside from them no one has gone through each of them. Channels usually do ranking of the doll itself against others or their collections as a whole which I’m kind of disappointed by because each girl is unique in their own way and I looked for videos like that trust me I looked and haven’t found any. That something I noticed. It would be great to see you do them but if you don’t want to do it I understand it’s your channel and I will watch your future videos on whatever you make. I’m just glad your doing American girl videos at all😍🥰👍
Kaya, Felicity Josephina, Addy, and Kit, were my faves. Then Nellie.
American Girl is the reason I was a history major in college. The OG three will always be my favorite. I remember how excited I was when the Samantha tv movie came out in 2004. I was 10 years old, my name is also Samantha, it was perfect. That was also the year I got my Samantha doll. I also really really miss the American Girl magazine lol.
The pictures of the early catalog pages reminded me of things I desperately wanted, but had long since forgotten. I am old enough to remember when Addy was released.
This video is so rewatchable! I keep finding myself wanting to start it over when it ends 💖
Actually, Nicki’s books were about her raising a service dog named Sprocket. However, she does live on a ranch with horses and pigs.
i remember so vividly my mom taking me to the american girl fashion shows when i was very, very young. american girls were such a foundational part of my childhood, truly my favorite toy (probably ever created)!!
I have been watching a TV series that I’m deeply invested in every time I get some free time or relax time. But today I had the chance to continue watching it and instead I watched this entire video. I have no regrets.
I loveeedddd looking at the catalogs, I still do! As a kid I got a doll that looks like me for Christmas one year (brown hair, brown eyes) and I named her Natalie, then at some point I got Kit! I loveddd her little cardigan, and I really wanted the different play sets but they were so big I didn’t have space for them especially Kit’s roll top desk, I loved that thing! One day I’ll get a real roll top desk for me to live my dream 😂
I was obsessed with Samantha! I never had the doll but had the books and would get the catalog. I would just stttttare at her items and pictures. I believe she started my obsession with the Victorian Era. Including The Little Princess and The Secret Garden.
Not gonna lie , this was the best 1 hour and 31 minutes
ive ever spent
The 90s section is bringing back sooooo many childhood memories. I've seen all these catalogs. I've admired all these doll outfits and accessories. The grin pins, the clothing line, the books... Wow, talk about nostalgia. For a long time I was obsessed with saving my money to get an American Girl of Today and all her accessories. I never got that far, though :)
I love your honesty 😂 I love your channel. It’s clear you thoroughly research the history of each topic. Every video is informative. The fairy videos got me hooked. I was so upset when they discontinued the Tinkerbell movies
I enjoyed the video and got a lot out of it, especially for the years that I was too busy with life to keep up with the company. It was a wonderful effort on a large subject. Well done! Thank you.
thank you so much for making content of american girl stuff!!! i’m actually on the social media team for innerstar u rewritten :D it’s really nice to have a history video with like. events i specifically remember especially since american girl was one of my biggest special interests as a kid
This was so fun to reminisce on! I was in a few American Girl fashion shows as a kid, I think I dressed as Marisol the year she came out? The only thing you skipped that I wish you’d talked about were the AG Mystery Party games. One of my friends had one for her birthday one year and I remember it being so cool but strange to sort of role play / mystery solve with the historical stories.
I’ve never heard of the mystery party games omg! I was having trouble researching a lot of that physical media stuff (craft kits and board games) so I left it vague bc I knew I was missing stuff (especially the dates considering I structured this as a timeline)
I really appreciate this video! You put me on to a few things I didn’t know American Girl released. I use to have American Girl Catalogues sent to me growing up and I had a few of the girls books and an advice quiz book but I fell off literally around the time Kit was out and now I got myself reguided back to the franchise. I’m going to finishing and editing a Part 1- maybe 3 series of the evolution of their website. I can definitely let you know when I’m done.
I also will say as an African American woman I do appreciate you being honest about how the company mainly catered to white representation. You are right as well by how we all need to not only see representation of ourselves but other people as well but of course equally though.
Definitely keep up the great work. 🙂
Very interesting video! I loved how you explained which face mold was used for each doll. My daughter was born in the mid 90s and she had a Molly Doll and one that looked like her. For her 10th birthday we went to the AG Place in Chicago with her two cousins (and their moms) and their dolls and we had a meal at the cafe and watched the Circle of Friends musical, which was lovely. We have the cd of the songs from that musical as well and it was a very special memory. She was able to get her photo on the "cover" of an AG magazine, too which was cool. So sad when she outgrew the dolls, but they are definitely heirloom quality dolls that can be passed down if she has a daughter. Really enjoyed your thorough overview. My daughter loved the interactive books they had one year that had maps, etc you could pull out and put back into the book.
Your parents were correct, that vine is incredible!
Wow!! This was awesome and fun to watch! You ARE funny, and as an adult AG collector, I appreciated learning new things and the company. ❤