American Girl Doll News

American Girl is having a sale in store and online this weekend - when you spend $75, you get 15% off, when you spend $150, you get 20% off, and when you spend $250, you get 25% off. Additionally, the Charlotte store's store-closing discount has increased to 30% off everything - and according to the AG subreddit, DOLLS. ARE. INCLUDED!

Today is Courtney's birthday. She was born this day in 1976, which makes her 49 today!

The American Girl store in Charlotte, North Carolina is going to close a week from today - and to commemorate this, I figured I'd make a list of my favorite memories from the store! The first time I went to AG Charlotte was a little bit after it opened, so I could beat the crowds. I went with my best friend at the time, and I got Josefina, and she got Rebecca. It was a really fun day! A month after the Charlotte store opened, I was taken to it during a teacher workday so we could try the bistro. I got my doll's hair done that day too, and I had a lot of fun! When 2015 started, I assumed that the store would be out of Grace dolls already. Nope - I was able to get Grace a few weeks before my birthday, and in 2016, I started my tradition of going to the AG store on GOTY release day and buying her! I ended up expanding that tradition to new Historical releases, too. In fifth grade, I restored a few American Girl dolls for people I knew. However, once I was tasked with restoring a Cecile for my special education teacher's daughter, it was too big of a task to do myself - so I took her to the American Girl doll hair salon! I had a few birthday parties at the American Girl store. In 2018, when I turned 13, me, my mom and my sister had a party at the bistro. In 2021, when I turned 16, there wasn't much to do because a lot of places were still closed, but we took a trip to the American Girl store to celebrate. And in 2023, when I turned 18, I had a meetup with my blog readers! The meetup was amazing, and I was hoping it would be the first of many in Charlotte. Alas, that was the only one. When American Girl Live came to town in 2019, I was all ready to go to the show after I left the store - and an employee gave me a ticket to the show that a blog reader had told to give me! I already had tickets, but I framed that ticket so I could commemorate the experience, and me and the blog reader sat together at the show! If I listed all the special memories I had surrounding American Girl releases, it would probably take up half this post! However, one particularly special release for me was Isabel and Nicki's release in February 2023. I had gotten a few bits of particularly good news for my project Rebelle the week leading up to their release, and the day before Isabel and Nicki came out, I got a piece of news that was some of the best news I had gotten in my life. It was so cool to celebrate what happened at the store - I'm still sworn to secrecy, but hopefully it won't be too long now until I can spill the details! Last, but not least. This is the only one that hasn't happened yet - my final trip to American Girl Charlotte. On Sunday, the day before the store closes, I am going to be doing the one thing I've never done before at the American Girl store in Charlotte - have an official party at the Bistro! Me, my mom, my sister and my cousin are all going to have one of the last parties at the American Girl Charlotte location ever, and after, I have my last doll hair salon appointment ever at the location. I decided to take Julie, my first ever doll, to commemorate the end of this era. I'm going to miss the American Girl store in Charlotte so much. AG store closures are always sad, but when it's your home store, it takes on a weight that you never have experienced in your life before this. This store was the happy place of my childhood and my teenage years - and when I come home from college for spring break and the summer, it's going to feel really weird not being able to go there all the time. All I can say is - I'm lucky I'm going to be in Nashville for two more years. After I graduate, though, I'll find a way to make things work. If I have to travel every time a new AG character doll releases, if it's for this blog, so be it!

Ivy Ling is the Doll of the Month for February 2025! Ivy Ling , the middle child in a busy Chinese American household, feels invisible. Her mother has gone back to school to become a lawyer, and her father has two jobs to keep the family afloat. And if that's not enough, Ivy's best friend, Julie Albright, has moved to another part of San Francisco. The only place Ivy feels at home is at gymnastics. But this year the big gymnastics tournament is scheduled for the same day as the annual Ling family reunion. Ivy wrestles with a difficult choice. With her brother's help, Ivy realizes that she can take charge of her own life - and make her own luck. Ivy was released in 2007, with the rest of Julie's collection, and retired in 2014, when all the Best Friend dolls were retired.

Plush dolls of Kirsten, Samantha, Molly, Addy and Josefina are coming, along with board books. Each plush will cost $50, and they are rumored to be called "My First American Girl."

Mattel's earnings report for quarter 4 of 2024, and 2024 as a whole, indicated that American Girl's sales grew as a whole in 2024 compared to 2023. As American Girl is not a separate division of Mattel as they were in years past, we don't have the exact numbers of sales, but it is encouraging to see American Girl doing better in 2024 than the year before! Things that I think did well in 2024 were three key factors. Firstly, the few historical launches with connections to the collector American Girl fans, such as a successful relaunch of Kirsten and the limited-edition outfits for Addy and Josefina, ended up selling out. Julie's new clothes and refreshed collection also gave more attention towards a character who's popularity has never wavered since her launch in 2007. Secondly, as much as it is different from what American Girl has done in the past, there is no denying that the Disney dolls have been doing great. Some may see Disney's dolls as a cash grab. Though part of it is, storytelling is at the DNA of American Girl, and each Disney doll has a story that is explored in not just books, but movies, rides and other areas of engagement. Younger girls who have watched the Disney movies over and over again have latched onto them and the immersive, movie-accurate accessories, and it shows. Lastly, I think Lila was a big hit. Though Lila released at the end of 2023, 2024 was her year to shine, and shine she did. For the second Christmas in a row, items from her collection sold like hotcakes, and her story about embracing your true self - with a hint of Gen Z American Girl nostalgia in the form of McKenna's involvement in Lila's story - seemed to resonate with many people. I do think one area American Girl could have improved was with Summer. Summer looks similar to some other American Girl dolls, namely Isabelle, has a story that is nothing but a mixture of other dolls that target-aged fans might have not forgotten about (let's be real - thanks to Olivia Rodrigo, Grace will never be forgotten), and it just didn't resonate with collectors and no one older than the youngest of AG fans. I can't wait to see what the rest of 2025 brings for American Girl! I am also eagerly anticipating Mattel's shareholder presentation that should be sometime this spring - if my calculations are correct, that is when we will see Raquel's logo for the first time.

The new American Girl Belle playline doll and outfit is now available!

American Girl is having double points for all purchases for AG Rewards members this week - even new items like the Belle playline doll!

Who will be Doll of the Month this month - Ivy Ling, Courtney Moore, or Chrissa Maxwell?

Summer's book, Summer Gets to Work, is now on the American Girl website.

The new edition of Samantha in her original outfit is now available - on backorder until March 21, but the original outfit is back!

These new American Girl/Disney items are rumored to be releasing in February: Belle playline doll Belle blue dress, Ms. Potts and Chip Bitty Baby Disney outfit sets - Rapunzel, Moana and Ariel