American Girl Dolls

[MINE!!]

My daughters are facinated by these right now. Which I am suprised, cause neither of my children are the "girly girly, pretntious type" that I personally associate with these dolls. But , they have 2 each right now and they want the beds, clothes, acessories, etc, for Christmas.

So, if you liked, or played with, or had American Girl Dolls, (they came around after I grew out of the doll stage.. well.... I wasn''t really ever in the doll stage) At what age did you stop playing with them? My kids are 8 and 11.. so are they (the dolls and etc) worth spending this hellacious amount of money for?

 

[swingirl]

They''ve only been around since the late 80s, early 90s, but became popular and available around 1998 but it was mostly though catalog. I knew a group of girls that liked the dolls in 4-5th grade when they were able to read the books, but not much after that once they hit Middle School.

 

[poptart]

I had an American Girl doll, and I only played with it for a couple years before I moved on. I know they really want it now, but I think girls grow out of them quite rapidly.

*M*

 

[Miranda]

Well, I''m 31 so the AG dolls were after my doll playing days. But, my niece (almost 7) isn''t really a *girly girl* either, but, she too loves American Girl dolls. I wonder what it is about them. They are really well made and have so many great accessories so I think that adds to the fun. Hmmm...At the ages of your girls I''m not sure I''d spend a huge amount of money on all of the accessories. I''d probably just get a few. My daughter (4 in Jan.) has had the Bitty Baby for a year now. She loves her "Sophie". OMG, the bitty baby is the cutest doll ever for little ones. My parents are going to get her a bunch of accessories for her B-Day. I know she''ll play with them for years. Now she is a TOTAL girly girl. She''s never without her ballet slippers. Her regular attire is a gown of some sort. She cracks me up...Especially after having 2 boys. I think AG dolls will be around for us for a while.

Have you ever seen the My Twinn dolls??? My MIL is getting DD one for her B-Day and I was wondering about them as I have never seen one in person.

 

[Kaleigh]

My daughter was never into them, but some of her friends were. Maybe check out ebay for the accessories?? I have no clue what they normally run??

 

[Cind11]

My oldest daughter who is 14 now stopped playing with Samantha when she was about 11 I think. My other daughter who is 12 !/2 still plays with her Felicity, Marisol and Bitty babies. In fact, she has asked for some more American Girl doll stuff this year for Christmas. I''ll probably get it for her because I like the idea of her playing with dolls. Kids grow up so fast these days and they give up the doll stage so early sometimes in favor of video games, boys and other things.

The way I look at it is that yes the stuff is somewhat expensive but it''s nice quality and I assume my girls will keep the dolls and perhaps pass them on to their own daughters. It certainly beats Barbies and those awful Bratz dolls-lol. And they''re learning a bit too by reading the books that come with the dolls.

 

[MINE!!]

I agree Cindi.. Those Bratz Dolls Are disgusting!!

 

[Sundial]

My daugher had Samantha and many accessories for her. It made for great Christmas gifts and we enjoyed the books as well. I think she stopped playing with it about the time she went into the sixth grade. I think I almost loved the doll more than she did!

 

[CaptAubrey]

Date: 11/8/2006 5:45:04 PM
Author: MINE!!
I agree Cindi.. Those Bratz Dolls Are disgusting!!

There is a girl in my oldest son''s kindergarten class who sports a variety of Lil''Bratz accessories, including a backpack with the full Bratz logo across it. I''m still trying to get my mind around the whole thing, since these kids are 5-6.

But, having seen her mother (one of those "I May Be a Mom But I''m Still Hot Stuff!!!" types), I''m not surprised she sees nothing wrong with them.

 

[laine]

I had Kirsten when I was young (my best friend had Samantha). I think I was probably in second grade (I got mine the first or second year they came out--only three dolls to choose from and not so many outfits). I''d guess I played with her through 6th grade or so. Once I stopped really playing with her, I still changed her outfits on ocassion, and she''s still on the shelf in my bedroom at my parents house.

I never had any accessories or furniture, just some outfits. My mom helped us sew some more, using her dresses as patterns. I was never much of a girly-girl either. I really liked the books and the historical aspect of it all.

I just went to the webpage, and as best I can recall, the doll and outfits are still the same prices that they were 20 years ago. I''m a little suprised.

Anyway, I think the doll, clothes, books, and maybe a few accessories are worth it, I see it as something I enjoyed and will keep for my daughter. Things like the furniture and plastic accessories are a rip off. If you must have some of these things, buy generic ones from a toy store, they are simply 18 inch dolls and other clothes and furniture should fit.

 

[reader]

My daughter wanted one at six, so we got one on ebay...she quit playing with it at 11...however, at five she got a set of rag dolls made by MerryMakers for Colonial Williamsburg...she still has all the dolls, and the colonial accesories we collected....
FWIW, go to Michael''s or the equivalent craft section, you can find some knockoff furniture scaled to AG size there.

 

[Mannequin]

MINE, my little cousin is 12 and has Kira the Native American doll. She has had it for about two years and still plays with her regularly.

As an alternative that may be an investment in a future family heirloom, might I suggest a My Twinn doll instead? These are very similar in that they have multiple accessories and play sets, but the company makes the doll to look EXACTLY like your daughter or son. A few years ago, we had a doll customized for each of my grandmothers for Christmas presents. The dolls were made to look like both women around age 5, based off of old photographs we had. They turned out strikingly lifelike and my grandmothers loved them. If you were to get one of these, the company offers a Doll Hospital package to restore the dolls to a keepsake condition once your daughters outgrow daily play with them.

 

[Tybee]

Date: 11/9/2006 5:27:20 PM
Author: equestrienne
MINE, my little cousin is 12 and has Kira the Native American doll. She has had it for about two years and still plays with her regularly.


As an alternative that may be an investment in a future family heirloom, might I suggest a My Twinn doll instead? These are very similar in that they have multiple accessories and play sets, but the company makes the doll to look EXACTLY like your daughter or son. A few years ago, we had a doll customized for each of my grandmothers for Christmas presents. The dolls were made to look like both women around age 5, based off of old photographs we had. They turned out strikingly lifelike and my grandmothers loved them. If you were to get one of these, the company offers a Doll Hospital package to restore the dolls to a keepsake condition once your daughters outgrow daily play with them.

I hope I don''t offend anyone if I say that the My Twinn Doll idea scares the pants off of me

Makes me think of some scary horror movie... the dolls come alive... eat your soul... I don''t know. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.

 

[poptart]

I have a my twin doll, too... She scares the crap out of me, haha. Well, dolls in general do. My family thought I loved dolls so they kept buying them for me, but I actually hate them. I wanted the my twin doll when I was younger because I thought it was neat that she would look like me... let''s just say when I got her the resemblance was too close. So I gotta agree with ya there!

*M*

 

[Mara]

Random thought!! my Mom liked to travel when I was young, and she would always bring me back some beautiful exotic doll from another country. I used to draw on the dolls' cloth bodies with marker and crayon, aka making a 'work of art'. The clothes would hide it but eventually Mom would find it.

Soon she stopped buying me these collector's dolls and I just got more basic porcelain bodied dolls from Toys R'Us...haha. It's so funny I remembered that while reading this thread. I was definitely a wee devil...my poor Mom!

 

[monarch64]

I never had any of the AG dolls, but I do remember reading the books when I was a pre-teen (what do they call that age group now--"tween?") Anyway, I think I stopped playing Barbies around 12-13, and even then I wasn''t telling my friends I was still playing with dolls.

That was the year most of my Barbies'' got haircuts, lol...my mother had gotten me Seventeen and Vogue subscriptions around the same time.

I do like the concept of the AG dolls...I think they are educational, and they seem to be marketed toward the 7-11 yr. age range. A couple of my nieces are between 3-6 and we had them as flower girls in our wedding outside Chicago. The day before the rehearsal dinner, they went downtown with their mom to the American Girl store and had tea and all that fun stuff, and she bought them each a doll and an outfit of their own to match as a special treat/memory of Chicago. It was SUPER cute to see them with their dolls, dressed in matching outfits, and they loved it. I think they liked their AG dresses/dolls better than their flower girl dresses...it was definitely a toss-up between the two!

I second someone else''s suggestion of checking out ebay for the accessories. Your girls are getting into the age where dolls will be passe to them in a couple of years

, and those things are expensive when you''re paying retail, so hopefully you can find them some fun things at a reasonable price on ebay, or even a children''s resale store?

 

[njc]

I had Samantha and LOVED her, was probably somewhere in middle school... 6th/7th grade when I stopped playing with her. I always wanted the accessories, but never got them, so I made them myself! Old shoe boxes or other baby doll clothes. It was fun! I third checking on eBay.

My neice has the bitty baby and now this year for Christmas she wants a doll and I am dissapointed to find out it wasnt one of the history ones (Kirsten, Samantha, Molly, etc)... she wants the one that looks like her!

I tried to talk her out of out it, but she had none of that!

 

[robbie3982]

I got Samantha when I was somewhere between the ages of 8 and 10. I played with her for maybe about a month before I got bored and moved onto something else. I think that''s just how I am with things though.

 

[robbie3982]

Date: 11/8/2006 4:57:58 PM
Author: Miranda
Well, I''m 31 so the AG dolls were after my doll playing days. But, my niece (almost 7) isn''t really a *girly girl* either, but, she too loves American Girl dolls. I wonder what it is about them. They are really well made and have so many great accessories so I think that adds to the fun. Hmmm...At the ages of your girls I''m not sure I''d spend a huge amount of money on all of the accessories. I''d probably just get a few. My daughter (4 in Jan.) has had the Bitty Baby for a year now. She loves her ''Sophie''. OMG, the bitty baby is the cutest doll ever for little ones. My parents are going to get her a bunch of accessories for her B-Day. I know she''ll play with them for years. Now she is a TOTAL girly girl. She''s never without her ballet slippers. Her regular attire is a gown of some sort. She cracks me up...Especially after having 2 boys. I think AG dolls will be around for us for a while.

Have you ever seen the My Twinn dolls??? My MIL is getting DD one for her B-Day and I was wondering about them as I have never seen one in person.

I wanted a My Twinn doll soooo bad when I was younger! My parents wouldn''t get one for me after they saw that I had lost internest in my Samantha doll though.

 

[robbie3982]

Date: 11/9/2006 5:48:34 PM
Author: Tybee

Date: 11/9/2006 5:27:20 PM
Author: equestrienne
MINE, my little cousin is 12 and has Kira the Native American doll. She has had it for about two years and still plays with her regularly.


As an alternative that may be an investment in a future family heirloom, might I suggest a My Twinn doll instead? These are very similar in that they have multiple accessories and play sets, but the company makes the doll to look EXACTLY like your daughter or son. A few years ago, we had a doll customized for each of my grandmothers for Christmas presents. The dolls were made to look like both women around age 5, based off of old photographs we had. They turned out strikingly lifelike and my grandmothers loved them. If you were to get one of these, the company offers a Doll Hospital package to restore the dolls to a keepsake condition once your daughters outgrow daily play with them.

I hope I don''t offend anyone if I say that the My Twinn Doll idea scares the pants off of me

Makes me think of some scary horror movie... the dolls come alive... eat your soul... I don''t know. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.

I actually wrote a story similiar to that when I was obsessed with getting one of those dolls! Too funny. I think I found the story last year when I was moving out of my parents house.

 

[mrssalvo]

my girls are still too young but when we were in chicago I notice a bunch of the young girls carrying them around. There is also a huge American Girl store so that just adds to the excitment I''m sure. There were even little girls pushing the dolls down the street in the American Girl stollers...

 

[FireGoddess]

You guys are making me nostaglic for my Cabbage Patch doll...which we had to go on a year long waiting list to get. Those My Twinn dolls are....kinda creepy in a Chucky sort of way.