Tell me about American Girl Dolls

[SuzySunshine]

Sooooooo A wants one! ACK! She will be 5 in December and there is a store here so she picked up a catalog when we were at the mall last week and basically won't put it down. She's never really been a doll girl, she has the blonde doll in this picture, http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/8409021/ and she plays with her in spurts. She'll play with her for several days and then she'll sit on her bed for several days, then she'll be lost until she "needs" her again. I was never really a doll person either until I got into barbies.

So anyway, she wants one of the big girl dolls, I'm thinking one that looks like her. Of course she wants ALL the stuff that goes with her.

So if your daughter has one, does she play with it regularly? How old was she when she got it? Is 5 to young for a $100 doll? I'm thinking it would be her birthday present from us with one major accessory and then I'd suggest other accessories from family who will be here for her family party...

[Deebs]

S got one for her 5th birthday from my parents. It was the only gift from them, we took the train downtown, and made a huge deal of it. She loves that doll and is SO careful with it. All of the accessories we have are from Target and were much less expensive. I'd totally enable you and say go for it. BTW - S is not a doll girl either.

[Phoebe]

None of my girls were baby doll girls. We have several AG dolls. My oldest likes to collect stuff. AG is an expensive collection. However, I will say in the last year, they have played with them more than previous years. They spend a lot of time sitting there, but they do get used. The AG experience is fun going to the store and picking the doll out. Like Deebs mentioned, I would forgo the expensive accessories, except, the Target outfits don't fit AG very well. If you have ever seen the Our Generation (Target Brand) horses, we have about 10 of them. Don't ask why. My girls play with those over the dolls.

[Flynn]

DD never got into it but liked to play with them at friends houses. There isn't a downside except the $$ in my book.

When girls are older there are books about the different characters and DD has read some of those. They are very positive and "girl power." Some are historical fiction about a time and place long since past. They have fantastic American Girl books about puberty, money, being safe on the internet, getting ready for middle school etc. They are age appropriate but practically written. I really like them.

I'd say go for it keeping in mind once you start it's a slippery slope. Your DD will always want new outfits and new dolls but it's a very positive "hobby" to have for a girl if you spin it right.

[peggyfromwastate]

My oldest dd was really into them. She has 4 AG dolls. Her first one was st age 5 and she cut her hair while I was napping-- she had to earn money to send her to the doll hospital to get her hair fixed!! Anyway, 5 is borderline. I'd wait for 6 maybe.

Dd11 was given 2 AG dolls bc dd16 loved them so much and she has not played with them once. She doesn't love the stories as much as dd16 did either.

Dd4 has seen the AG dolls and accessories around (I kept dd16s in storage in a plastic bin) and she's very interested. I think dd4 is more similar to my older dd though-- the middle girl just wants to craft. Craft and read, read and craft. Dd16 and dd4 are more into imaginative play and AG is great for that.

[moonlight]

DD is 2yrs old and we bought her a Bitty Baby doll. We are waiting to give it to her for her fall birthday. When she's 5 or older Mom wants to buy her a big girl doll if she is interested. My nieces also got american girl dolls when they were about 6 yrs old and still play with them yrs later. When I go home to visit we try to go to the American girl store in Texas. I didn't want DD to feel left out when we take my nieces. If my nieces didn't have the dolls and it wasn't such a big event for us every time we went to visit I don't think I would have bothered to buy her a doll this year... or ever. Those accessories are expensive. A couple weeks ago I had mom order two clearance items off the website for DD's new Bitty Baby doll for her birthday. $16 for new outfits isn't a too bad for birthday gifts. A new doll, two new outfits, and I feel like that's enough for her to play with for the next year until her next birthday or Christmas.

[Vanquisher]

Just Target Brand here. $100 for a doll is silly, IMO.

[SoonerTexan]

I was in the first generation of girls that were into them--they were more historically based then, which I think was a little more educational than they are now. My SILs (8 & 10) are OBSESSED--they have about 20 dolls between them. When I had mine, my grandmother and mom would buy outfits from a craft fair type place near my grandmother's house that was much cheaper. I took very good care of mine and eventually packed her and all the accessories away for my daughter when I was about 12. You can find accessories and clothes on etsy, ebay MUCH cheaper--I'd go that route.

Get one that doesn't have braids...the hair is completely unmanageable if you take out the braids.

[diggitydot]

Just Target Brand here. $100 for a doll is silly, IMO.

Same here, but our girls were given them as gifts. Neither one has ever really been into them and rarely, if ever, even take them out of the box.

[MrsK]

I want an AG doll for myself! I would have gone absolutely crazy for those if they were around when I was a girl. My friend's dd was never a doll girl but I was surprised when she got very interested in AG at about 10 yo and still play with them still @ almost 13yo.

[spotty_dog]

It's the slippery slope that gets me. $100 for the doll is the tip of the iceberg.

In addition, I have a deep and intense aversion to mass marketing machines. I'm sure my daughter would like Disney Princesses but I just can't stomach the insidiousness of the whole campaign. Same goes for AG.

I have to say that when I was 11-12 I wanted a Samantha doll SO badly. We got a catalog randomly in the mail and I used to pore over it for hours thinking about her gorgeous velvet dress and her snazzy steamer trunk and her beautiful brown hair. But even though I was aware that we were pretty well off, I never dared to ask my parents about buying one. I could read those prices and knew they were ridiculous even then. Although that was also largely because I was "too old for dolls" by then.

[GrayMatterWife]

The doll costs $100?!?!?!

NFW. What Vanquisher said--Target all the way, baby.

[GrayMatterWife]

My SILs (8 & 10) are OBSESSED--they have about 20 dolls between them.

That is $2000 in...dolls. That seems insane. Call me overly judgmental, but think what you could do with that $2000 if you socked it away now for college.

And why does any girl need 10 baby dolls?

[SoonerTexan]

I agree, but I'm not their parents so I keep my mouth shut. They've been into the dolls for the last 4 years and usually ask for one for Christmas and birthdays. I don't know on what occasions they got the rest. I will say that my youngest SIL plays with them ALL DAY EVERY DAY, so they are definitely being used.

[ladymoreta]

My MIL had two boys, so she's been dying to buy DD a Bitty Baby since I found out I was pregnant with a girl! She's definitely not into dolls yet, but the older girls who come over for playdates have had fun with it. It's really well-made, so I'm pretty sure it'll last through lots of playing.