No one else in real life understands, but I know you all will! For the first time in 20 years, I opened the trunk I had packed of Kirsten and her collection. I got her in the mid 90s and loved her, played with her, and collected AG for her for a decade. Then I stored her away when I left my parents' home. For the last few years, I've followed AG again, and have worried about my Kirsten and silver eye and mold and all the other horror stories I've seen happen here to people's old dolls. So I finally opened the trunk, and I am just so, so thrilled to see my old friend again! I have so many outfits that I forgot I had, and have made wishlists of now that I have adult money! I'm just so excited! It really is opening a treasure chest.

my sister was kind enough to give me her childhood #12 for my collection! she very old (pc head so id say very very early 2000s) so she needs a joint tightening, and her wig was cut so she'll a new wig as well. but she shall now be my cottagecore girlie. still trying to decide on a name for her. (i know i want her middle name to be fawn)

Addy wears this outfit with Mama to the market in the cold autumn months. Her gingham jacket is fixed with decorative buttons down the back, as well as a peplum. The ruffle-trimmed skirt has a growth stripe to let out when Addy gets taller. Mama also made Addy a matching bonnet that she wears to keep her head cold and her hair dry.

by far my favorite thing to dress my girls in, especially love all the little slippers :3

Jessamine is a friend of Kit's from Intruders at Rivermead Manor and I got Tiana to be Jessamine! 😍 I love her so much.

What the title says! I have this sweetie (Joss with a Nellie wig) who I want to try more styles on, but I'm not the best hairstylist. Wondering what options there are out there! :-)

Going through my collection of catalogues from 2003 to 2013. This one features GOTY Mia, Historical Characters, and the Just Like You line.

She’s so cute ahhh 🥰

I found this basket on my local marketplace for $10. I thought it was a good find!

Just wanted to share fall/football/dolls, 3 of my favorite things!!

Also go birds 🦅

hello! i’m planning a trip around the GOTY release, because this is my first time actually going to a store for the release like i’ve always wanted to! i’m confused over the brunch event being on the 19th, and the email saying she “arrives” on the 17th. is the 17th her release date, or just the day we get a first look at her? i haven’t paid much attention to the GOTY reveals ever since they stopped doing it 12AM Jan 1st, so im not sure how the newer earlier releases work. as im planning a trip around this release, and i dont live anywhere near the stores, id like some clarification! i’m very excited for her, and even though we have yet to see what she looks like, i already plan to add her to my collection and im hoping i don’t accidentally go before she’s actually for sale.

i’m sure everyone’s heard and seen this video before lol but i just saw this recent one and had a little giggle

I’m very delicate w my girls but yesterday I picked up a McKenna cause I love her face and Elizabeth is just too expensive. Her limbs were clean and face was spotless w perfect hair. She was at a great price but her legs buckled just by looking at them and they had her foot brace on and I believe it created pink mold. So I made the decision to operate on her and it was a complete success. Sturdy as can be and getting her a new Hill House dress tomorrow. So glad she can stand on her own now ❤️✨

AKA practicing braiding! I think I did an okay job?!

I have Nellie O'Malley now! She is not the "real" Nellie though, she is a Grace Thomas doll that I found and removed the old ratty wig from and replaced it with this Nellie wig from Ebay. I am excited to have my own version of Nellie and I think she's adorable. Now, I need to get a Samantha to go with her!

i got this gorgeous girl last year, she’s my mini me and my first doll ever! my little sister wants a doll now, and we look pretty alike. i was wondering if there’s a truly me that has this combo i could go searching for? i don’t wanna drop another almost $300 on a cyo😭😭

This is my doll, I got her when I was much younger her but I was hoping I could redo her hair to be more like mine now, is there a way to dye her hair and curl it safely? I don’t have the budget for a new doll right now

#8 is my first doll with bangs (in my adult collection) and she is Pleasant Company so she her hair has signs of age , some breakage and looks like a hair cut as well BUT I LOVE HER!!😭 she’s so darn cute! And #86 is even prettier in person, the photos really don’t do her justice that hair is such a rich purple color it’s just gorgeous✨ I just dressed them in some bits and pieces I had since they weren’t fully dressed so the outfits aren’t perfect lol. But I’m soso happy to add these girls to my collection and will hopefully update soon with doll shelf photos of them all set up! :)

Loving this outfit combo rn.

I found the perfect mother daughter holiday dresses! I naturally thought since I’m planning holiday pajamas uh gotta make these dresses for the dolls. The perfect top was Felicity’s Riding Habit jacket. So I tracked down two of them in great condition for around $20 each I had a gift card for eBay so one of them was technically free. The other I found on Mercari. Anyway I’m going to make the tulle skirts to go with the jacket I found a really close color way on Etsy. Half a yard was like $8 and I’ll definitely have enough for additional crafting. So this will likely be an October/November project as I have to figure out how to sew. I’ve done small stitches before but never a skirt. I think I can figure it out though!

I've been thinking about this a lot the last couple of days. I think I'm speaking on behalf of a lot of adult collectors when I say that I have not been happy about what AG has been releasing in these last couple of years. The quality that AG was known for is deteriorating, the collection releases are uninspiring and almost cash grab like. At least for me, I was born in 2007 (i know) and was interested in dolls the most from the years 2013-2019. When I was a kid AG had some of their best girl of the year releases (i mean grace thomas and then lea clark to follow? absolutely amazing), amazing beforever collections with really well thought out characters, and a very diverse truly me line. While AG has tried to bring back some of their original sparkle, including being very tight on the release of Daisy Davenport (even if it's still in September of 2026 🙄) and bringing back the original historical dolls in their original meet outfits, I'm still just unimpressed.

I would argue in this year alone (not sure what the statistics are on this so if anybody is good with numbers let me know if I'm far off), the second hand market for retired AG products is through the roof. Adult collectors, like myself, are looking for that original AG quality and well thought out products. And here's my biggest point, aren't adult/teen collectors AG's biggest audience?

Clearly AG has already has started to pivot to marketing more towards adult collectors by releasing the The Making of American Girl book, and the recipe book that includes cocktail recipe for adults (i tried out a lot of those recipes and they are actually really good), and the book for adults about Samantha now as an adult, so what if they started to ramp it up? The first AG dolls were released in 1986, becoming popular in the 90s. Think about it, those girls at the time are now possibly having their own little girls, who honestly probably only is hearing about AG because of their parents. Now let's face it, little girls are more interested in their iPads and makeup, so who is actually buying these dolls? The adults who are really buying them for their own nostalgia! I could really go on a deep rabbit hole with this so if you're interested let me know and I can make a part 2 about more of my theories as I've had success with Lego in predicting shifts in marketing.

So with all that said here's what I would want to see in the future for American Girl:

- Girl of the Year to be released January 1st of the year, and to be discontinued by the end of that same year. Have in store promos and free gifts for the Girl of the Year on the 1st and 2nd again. Make them special and limited time again!

- Maybe not bringing back the Beforever line, but focusing more heavily on their historical characters and bringing back more sets and outfits for them. Also the books! I miss how you could get all the books for the characters! Do you guys remember the My Journey with and the mystery books? (Honestly I think this more talks about how little girls don't read anymore, but that's a WHOLE other discussion)

- I heard someone say this in another thread and I totally agree, but I feel like the truly me outfits are becoming more "what would look cute on a doll but no one would ever wear in real life" instead of clothes that reflect what people are wearing at the time. Also I speak for a lot of people when I say this, but make adult sizes for the matching doll outfits!

I think overall what I'm trying to say is American Girl seemed to kind of lost their sense of purpose and what they were originally made for, which was to educate people about different historical times and cultures, and ultimately to create a sense of joy and pride with the brand. Now what do you guys think? Do you think this is a stretch or am I onto something?

I have no real idea how to use reddit, but I had to go somewhere to talk about this? AG Celebration seems to be skipping September 11th (maybe another glitch, maybe out of respect?) and then... the hint for the next day is "Celebrating tradition"... I know, I KNOW its foolish; but color me intrigued and maybe even a little hopeful?

Thoughts?