The historical American Girl Dolls are being traded for newer, flashier models.
If you dreamed of buying your future daughter Kirsten the pioneer or Felicity the revolutionary, now you’ll have to settle on McKenna the gymnast or Lanie the gardner.
In exchange for the “Girl of the Year” dolls, the American Girl Doll brand has decided to “archive” dolls Kirsten, Felicity and Samantha.
These three dolls, along with the rest of the “Historical Characters” line, all came with six books that depicted a historical period through the doll’s perspective.
But unlike the original American Girl dolls, these new 21st Century dolls won’t include a history-rich background story. They won’t inspire young girls to overcome adversity by reading about about young women who lived through the the the Great Depression or World War II. Instead, these new dolls will encourage girls to adopt hobbies like baking and gardening.
While the American Girl store will continue to sell other historical characters, like Addy who escapes slavery and Molly whose father fights in World War II, the renewed focus is on these newer dolls like McKenna, who combats “balancing school and sports,” and Mia, who sometimes loses skating competitions.
“To make it possible for girls to meet new characters and learn about additional periods in history, American Girl archives select characters,” the American Girl website explains. These new “additional periods in history” include horseback riding, gymnastics and gardening.
Hope you didn’t chop the hair off your American Girl Doll, because she might be a collector’s item now.
