Are American Girl Dolls still popular?

[aristocatz]

Are these dolls still as popular as they were several years ago? With girls taking their dolls to the tea parties, hair salons, etc..? Hoping my daughters will skip this craze lol. I looked into the My Disney Girl dolls because they were way cheaper (from what I read), but it looks like those are discontinued.

 

[E&Cmom]

Yes, definitely. New stores have opened in the last few years.

My girls both have them but my older DD is more into them and has been for several years. We went to the Seattle store for her birthday last year.

 

[bsblady01]

yes they are still big my 9 almost 10 year old has a lot of them and my five year old is just starting to get into them

 

[fly girl]

Yes, they are still big. I know I've seen lots of cheaper versions at Target and Toys r Us. Not sure of the quality though.


DD was never into bigger dolls. Over here it's the tiniest dolls known to man with their 1 milimeter accessories -- a lot of which have seen their ultimate demise in my vacuum.

 

[GusGus77]

Definitely! My seven year old just got one for Christmas. They became popular when I was too old so I never dealt with the craze, but decided to let her get one over the generic dolls due to the quality. (Previously I was anti-American doll.) They really are heirloom quality. My daughter really enjoys her doll and she was never one to play with baby dolls or the like. The doll is buckled up into a booster seat if she goes anywhere with us in the car!!!

 

[TLSnell1981]

They are still very popular.

 

[clori]

Here they are popular around ages 5-8 after that they don't seem to get mentioned much at school.

 

[aprilgail]

Here they are popular around ages 5-8 after that they don't seem to get mentioned much at school.

That's about the age my daughter was into them- after 8 they just sat in the closet.

 

[Gorechick]

My DD is almost 10 and still very much into them however we are serious collectors with a large collection.

 

[E&Cmom]

My DD still likes her dolls and she is almost 12 as does a friend of her's who is 12. DD didn't get her first doll until she was 8 though. My 8 year old only plays with her's when her sister and her friends play with them. Like a previous poster, she prefers little dolls/ animals with millions of tiny little pieces.

 

[Mokat76]

Insanely so. Sorry.

 

[kmb584]

They are. *sigh* My daughter is 6 and started getting into them last year. The dolls are expensive but are excellent quality so I tend to get her one for Christmas and birthdays. The accessories are where the prices go insane. She wanted the bistro for her birthday; it was almost $500 and not happening!

 

[mom2rtk]

Get the dolls new, but check Ebay for accessories. Once they outgrow them, some will sell the accessories. (We've been doing just that here).

It's so annoying how expensive all that stuff is, but oddly enough now that the phase is over here, I miss it.

 

[NewRVLady]

My 20 something nieces had the first one and they are STILL popular!!

DH's great nieces-7- got them for Christmas-all the grannies and Aunties gave them outfits-it was SO FUN to see all the tiny accessories as the girls opened their present! LOL!

 

[laughinplace199]

Yes, they are still popular.. DD15 and her BFF played with them until they were about 12.

DH hated how expensive they were, but seeing how fast kids grow up, we were both grateful to have something that kept her a little girl for a while longer.

 

[Simba07]

You can get some good deals on them on eBay. I have gotten dolls in practically new condition for half what they are in stores. I also got furniture for even more off than that.

There are also folks on the budget board here that post when they see sales and other offers.

 

[slo]

I used to wish my girls would skip this phase, but looing back, I'm so glad they didn't.
We have the best memories of taking our girls to AG store.
Each of my girls have 7 dolls a piece - that's 14 dolls in our house

My girls loved their dolls
They would ask for them for every Christmas and every birthday.
For birthdays I would tell them - do you want a friend party, or do you want a family day trip to the city and get a new doll and eat at your favorite restaurant - they would always choose the AG doll. We have the BEST memories of these birthdays

People would say to me, "Why do you keep buying these dolls?"
My response was - I would rather spend the amount of money on something they really want and love instead of something else they don't want just to say, "You have enough dolls". The other thing I buy would probably be tossed to the side and a waste of money. I don't like wasting money

The AG store has a photo area, and a couple of my most favorite pictures of my girls are with their new doll.
They also have a restaurant, of which we have wonderful memories eating at - especially for their birthday's

My girls are now almost 17 and 12 and they still like going through the AG store.
They don't buy anything, but they like looking at the new dolls, new outfits and reminisce about our fun family outings there.

Remember, everything is what you make out of it

 

[MomofKatie]

Slo, my experience with DD was the exact opposite- I so wanted her to be into dolls, because I loved them when I was a girl. She absolutely did not care AT ALL and never wanted a baby doll, American Girl doll, Barbie, Cabbage Patch doll, or any other kind of doll whatsoever. Once I saw how much other moms were spending on AG dolls and accessories, and all the room they took up, I was perfectly happy she never got into the hysteria.

DD was into Webkinz, Build A Bear, and other stuffed animals and all their accessories.

 

[SEA333]

We live in the west suburbs of Chicago where it's an easy train ride into the city, where one of the first AG stores still stands on Michigan Ave. It's kind of hard to NOT be into AG here since girls (DD included) have had birthday parties there.

That being said, DD has two. Some of her friends have many more. There was a mad dash to get as much paraphernalia as possible when the girls were between 5-9 years old, then it kind of tapered off and pretty much all DD's friends are storing theirs in the basement or closet. She will be 11 in a few weeks and is going into 6th grade in the fall.

Last year (in 4th grade) there was a slight renewed interest in DD's grade due to the fact that DD's best friend did some modeling for AG and was in the Christmas 2013 catalog, and another one of her classmates modeled as well and her picture is on the wall in the book section of the Chicago store. All the girls, of course, wanted to take a trip to the store to see it. It's still there.

I do not regret spending money on AG for DD....we did not go crazy like some people did, but she had a sufficient amount of clothing and accessories to make her feel connected to the AG experience. She has always taken really good care of her dolls - they sit on a bench in her room - and now she pretty much uses them to practice her french braids and other hairstyles on.

 

[Stinkerbell92]

I have the Felicity dolls which I got when I was 6 years old. I think they are still popular with the little girls. They certainly are still expensive.