When I first became interested in learning more about American Girl dolls, I was a bit confused at first when I learned all the Girl of the Year dolls. I saw that there were Girls of the Year for 2001 and 2003, but none for 2002 and 2004. I ended up learning why a few years back, and I decided to explain for you guys today since I had nothing else to talk about!
If you guys didn't know already, the Girl of the Year line started in 2001 with Lindsey Bergman. Lindsey was a Jewish girl who just wanted to help others, but ended up getting in a lot of trouble for her zany schemes that included climbing a tree with an iguana to stop a parade of pets in clothing and trying to get her band teacher and her classroom teacher to fall in love.
The next Girl of the Year was in 2003, though. Her name was Kailey Hopkins, and she was a girl who loved everything to do with the beach- but especially the tide pools. She ended up having to fight to save the tide pools from a greedy developer turning it into a tourist trap. To be completely honest, Kailey is one of my favorite Girls of the Year when it comes to her story! (My all time favorite is Gabriela.)
There wasn't another Girl of the Year until 2005, when Marisol Luna came along. I won't explain her story since she's not really relevant to this post, but you can search it up online. Marisol kicked off the chain of dolls every year.
So, why exactly were there no Girl of the Year dolls in 2002 and 2004? Reports say it was due to poor sales, and I believed them for a while, since Lindsey and Kailey dolls are hard to find on the secondary market. But I discovered the real reason why... and if you didn't know this before, you'd be pretty shocked!
Not every Girl of the Year came out on January 1st. Shocker, I know! But that's exactly why there was no Girl of the Year dolls in 2002 and 2004.
Lindsey came out in fall of 2001. I don't have an exact date, but the earliest I could find her based on my Wayback Machine archive was October 19. She was already being marketed as for 2002, since I noticed some product codes saying "GT2002" and the promotional photo said "Available until December 31, 2002".
On the right hand corner, you can see "GT2002" and you can see the "only available until December 31, 2002" by the photo. (I also apologize for the other tabs- that's the site I use to blog and my nerd music!)
Lindsey did retire on December 31, 2002- but Kailey didn't show up until that summer! An archive of a press release confirmed Kailey released on July 1, 2003 and the Wayback Machine showed that Kailey would retire on July 1, 2004. I remembered seeing the screenshot, but I couldn't find it on there. Thankfully, the American Girl Wiki saved it!
The bottom right hand corner says "Kailey is only here until July 1".
Kailey did retire on July 1, 2004- but Marisol replaced her on December 27. Jess (GOTY 2006) came in on December 26, 2005. Finally, Nicki came out on January 1, 2007- and the Girls of the Year have been coming out that day ever since!
Did you like this post? I want to learn more about what you guys like to read on here besides news, since nothing's really been happening in the AG world and I keep wanting to blog every single day. Leave your thoughts down in the comments!
P.S: I'm seeing AG Live on Saturday night and a review will come out Sunday, plus I'll announce the SM Network summer movie as soon as I come up with the logistics of what dolls will be in it! (Here's a hint: cat puns are involved.)
Kailey did retire on July 1, and Marisol came dancing in on December 27, 2004. Jess replaced her on December 26, 2005. Finally, Nicki