I've been thinking a lot recently about how American Girl likes to repeat themes in the Girl of the Year line. This is somewhat understandable considering the average American Girl consumer is only interested in the brand for four or five years maximum, but frustrating for collectors who know of the existence of every Girl of the Year.
Lately, most GOTYs have been repeats of a similar doll from the past. Not carbon copies, but similar themes, per say. So I decided to write down every GOTY and figure out how many are copies, including how many have been copies in the past few years!
2001- Lindsey Bergman: didn't really have a theme but she did like animals and scooters
2003- Kailey Hopkins: tide pools/beach, boogie boarding
2005- Marisol Luna: dance, specifically Ballet Folklorico, ballet, tap and jazz
2006- Jess McConnell: international travel (Belize), exploration/adventure, nature
2007- Nicki Fleming: ranch, skiing, animals (dog training and horses)
2008- Mia St. Clair: ice skating
2009- Chrissa Maxwell: swimming, crafts
2010- Lanie Holland: nature, gardening
Jess and Lanie both like nature, but Jess was in Belize and Lanie was in Massachusetts, so it's not really a copy.
2011- Kanani Akina: beach/paddleboarding
Kanani is the first real theme repetition here. Kailey, who was released eight years prior, also frequented a beach and enjoyed water sports. However, it's hard to notice that because AG did well with the Hawaiian theming and differentiating Kanani from Kailey.
2012- McKenna Brooks: gymnastics
2013- Saige Copeland: art and horses
Not only do Nicki and Saige look similar, but they also both share an interest in horses. Nicki was released six years before Saige.
2014- Isabelle Palmer: ballet, costume design
Isabelle was released nine years after Marisol, who also liked to dance.
2015- Grace Thomas: international travel (Paris), baking
Nine years after Jess traveled to Belize, Grace traveled to Paris.
2016- Lea Clark: international travel (Brazil), photography, nature, animals
Lea is more of a Jess repeat than Grace was, since they are both interested in exploration and nature and they both travel in the Americas.
2017- Gabriela McBride: poetry, dance
The dance element of Gabriela's story is clearly inspired by Marisol and Isabelle, even going as far as to reuse Isabelle items and recolor them. This is due to the lack of development time Gabriela had (11 months as opposed to 2-3 years for a regular GOTY)
2018- Luciana Vega: space exploration
2019- Blaire Wilson: farm, cooking, animals
Blaire's interest in cooking could be traced back to Grace's passion for baking 4 years earlier, but it's more likely coming from Nicki, who also lived in a home full of animals.
2020- Joss Kendrick: surfing, cheerleading
Joss is most similar to Kailey from 17 years earlier with her interest in surfing and also living in California.
2021- Kira Bailey: international travel (Australia), animals, nature
*looks at Lea from five years earlier*
*looks at Lanie from eleven years earlier*
*looks at Jess from fifteen years earlier*.
Enough said. Kira isn't that original. I do appreciate her aunts though.
2022- Corinne Tan: dog training, skiing
Nicki from fifteen years earlier lived in Colorado, skiied and dog trained. Corinne... you're a lot like Nicki.
Do you like AG copying previous dolls or no?