American Girl Doll News

There are a few American Girl dolls, particularly modern dolls from the 2000s and early 2010s, who don't have canonical birthdays. Since I'm getting ready for my 20th birthday - on Tuesday - I figured I'd make a list and give the dolls who don't have a birthday their flowers! Lindsey Bergman - born in 1991 Kailey Hopkins - born in 1993 Marisol Luna - born in 1995 Jess McConnell - born in 1996 Nicki Fleming - born in 1997 Mia St. Clair - born in 1998 Chrissa Maxwell - born in 1999 Gwen Thompson - born in 1999 Sonali Matthews - born in 1999 Lanie Holland - born in 2000 Kanani Akina - born in 2001 McKenna Brooks - born in 2002 Logan Everett - born in 2003 Isabelle Palmer - born in Fall 2004 Z Yang - born in 2004 Tenney Grant - born in May 2005 (theorized to be either May 6, 7 or 8) Gabriela McBride - born in 2006 Willa, Camille, Kendall, Ashlyn, Emerson and Bryant - born around 2010 Gwynn Tan - born in 2015

Valentine's Day is in less than a month, and AG has opened their Galentine's Day shop, filled with all things pink!

A few people have been talking about this in the American Girl fandom, but I figured as a doll blogger in this community, talking about this issue is something that is important for me. If I were to promote this collab without talking about this issue, it would be a failure of my values, and a failure for me as a human being. So tomorrow, the American Girl x Posh Peanut collab of girl and adult clothing is supposed to release. However, a few American Girl fans have noticed racist actions that the Posh Peanut CEO have embarked in, such as culturally appropriating Native American culture and images of dolls of color like Kaya, Addy and Josefina being supposedly drawn with lighter skin tones than the dolls actually have. We know for a fact that the American Girl corporation, and Mattel as a whole, isn't the greatest with these issues, especially this decade. After pledging to make American Girl more diverse when it was profitable to declare so, a small doll collection of diverse dolls was released, and then ignored. A new African American historical character was released, only to be overshadowed by over TWENTY new Truly Me dolls, and a collaboration with a known brand with a openly transphobic and racist creator. When a transgender-inclusive advice book was released and transphobic parents complained, the book was promptly retired and the author of the book was laid off. And let's not forget that the CEO of Mattel has been racist towards Palestinians and regularly donates to aid the genocide going on in Gaza. Anyway, the point is not to boss you around about what to do with your own money. I don't control your wallet. However, if you care about the values Pleasant Company was founded on in the 80s and 90s, about empowerment of women and girls everywhere, no matter their race, there is something you can do with your money rather than supporting this collab: Donate here to promote Native American rights and tribal natural resources: https://narf.org/support-us/ Donate here to promote racial equality for Black people: https://naacp.org/donate Donate here to support the Latine community in the United States: https://unidosus.org/donate/ Donate here to support families in need in Gaza: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vtMLLOzuc6GpkFySyVtKQOY2j-Vvg0UsChMCFst_WLA/edit?gid=1653697245#gid=1653697245 When the bank didn't let Melody's sister get a job because she was Black, she promptly went to the bank to take money out of her account. If she can do that, the least we can do is not condone the racist behavior of the Posh Peanut CEO and refrain from supporting this specific collab.

The timing of AG's surprise release this morning was perfect - I had to go up to Franklin for a appointment today, so beforehand, I was able to get to AG Nashville and get in person pictures!

American Girl just released a new Truly Me collection - the Style Flips collection. Each outfit and accessory set is reversible, creating a 2-in-1 look! These backpacks reverse from an animal look to a normal backpack: These outfits reverse from a regular look to a sparkly look:

Summer McKinny is the Doll of the Month for January 2025! Summer McKinny is from Columbia, Maryland in 2025. Living in a family with an older sister and a newly-adopted dog, Crescent, Summer's life changes when her entrepreneur aunt Olivia moves into her house, with a cat, Fettuccine. This inspires her to start her own business combining baking and pets - her two passions - in order to raise money for the animal shelter she got Crescent from. Summer McKinny was released on September 12, 2024, and will retire when she is sold out.

After yesterday's snowstorms, the American Girl stores in Nashville and Charlotte are back to normal operation.

It is a snow day in the Southeast today - and the American Girl store in Nashville is closed today, and the Charlotte store will be closing early today, at 4 pm. Additionally, the Los Angeles store is open for regular business today, after being temporarily closed due to the fires. I will keep you all updated on when Nashville and Charlotte go back to regular hours! P.S: I'm safe! My college moved classes online today, and I have enough food that I won't have to go out in the snow.

Due to the wildfires in Los Angeles, the American Girl store there is temporarily closed and will reopen when conditions are safe again.

I went to the American Girl store in Nashville today to take some pictures of the new items - here they are!

Out of all of the times where I sat down to read a brand new American Girl book, I have never felt the feeling I feel right now. I've always felt happy, elated, after reading. Like I was transported to the featured doll's world. Like I got to know them better. Some books, I will admit, I liked more than others, but no matter how I felt about the book, it always felt great reading them, because every time I read them, I was able to learn more about the dolls I love - my special interest. You know how I felt today, after I read Summer Gets to Work? Empty. There was at least one typo in this book. At least three or four illustrations were copy-and-pasted from the journal. Some of the storyline of the book was interrupted by exposition dumps about what happened in the journal, acting like we've never read it, but in reality, the journal is out for people who haven't bought the Summer doll to buy. But the biggest complaint is, as I was reading this, I felt like it was the same plotlines as the journal over and over again. The big plot points of Summer Gets to Work was getting ready for another entrepreneur fair. Another cat adjusting to Summer's home. More sister drama. And the only plotline that wasn't a retread of the journal was the standard Girl of the Year best friend drama that happens with every doll, every year! As the book went on, frustration started to pent up in my body. Not just because of the book's quality, but because of everything that has been going on with American Girl this last half-decade. Stores closing because it's cheaper for Mattel to sell items online. Catalogs becoming thinner because it's cheaper for Mattel to sell items online. Collections for character dolls becoming shafted, thin, because Mattel sees more money selling collaborations with known intellectual properties and $300 Swavorski-crystaled dolls. The building that American Girl was housed in since the 90s being shut down in favor of more Mattel corporate control. The ending of the Benefit Sale for charity, so Mattel could make more money. Laying off workers that had been at the company since Pleasant Rowland was CEO, so Mattel could have more control. Books becoming thinner, and thinner, and now, decidedly so, much more low effort than they used to be. Then, I read Melody's diary. I will admit, since it's just a diary of a story I had already read years prior, I knew what to expect. But experiencing Melody's story again, even if it was in a different format, felt absolutely amazing. I haven't read Melody's books since they first released in 2016, but reading about Melody's real struggles, and her family, and all the conflict in her life, and the historical context, all over again, but with the knowledge of being almost 20 years old and knowing a lot more about our country's history - it felt like how reading an American Girl book should feel like. Not frustration at a lack of quality and care. Not frustration at the state of the company. Magic. I love American Girl, and I will always love American Girl. But Mattel's management of the company lately, ever since they shut down the American Girl headquarters and started managing it directly about 2-3 years ago, has felt like a slap in the face. When it had autonomy from Mattel, American Girl used to be magical. Effort was put into every doll and every story, the dolls felt like different worlds, the collections were so detailed, the books were rich with description and unique character arcs and a storytelling pedigree unheard of from any toy company. But now, with corporate greed being put over the quality Pleasant Rowland herself wanted from American Girl when she founded this company nearly 40 years ago, it's been hard to deal with as a fan. It's been hard to see your favorite thing go from a thing with so much effort to a thing made just to make a quick buck.

American Girl is releasing a collab on January 16 with Posh Peanut. It is girl and doll clothing - check it out!