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Mary G
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I wasn't sure where to post this, but thought maybe y'all would be able to help.
My 5 yod rec'd an American Girl catalog yesterday and has been poring over it ever since. She basically wants it all for Christmas.
My question -- does anyone know of a similar doll series that is not quite  so expensive and heavily marketed? I love the idea of the dolls -- 18 inch and the costumes are fabulous, but the books are pretty insipid and "pc" ....
Any suggestions? We have to carefully budget Christmas with 5 children, LOTS of neices and nephews, etc.......(the list is pretty long...)
Blessings and sorry to bring up the "c" word before Halloween! 
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MaryG
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Bridget
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Oh, I'm thinking about Christmas too! I have the same problem. My girls want the whole Angelina Ballarina set. It's awfully pricey for what it is. There has to be some alternatives out there.
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Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
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Laura
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As far as size goes I think the "Our Generation" dolls sold at Target measure up, but the outfits on them are yucky. 
Now, I am only talking about size. I don't think they are quite as nice as the AG dolls, but those are so expensive.
Maybe you could try to find some modest old fashioned outfits for the Generation dolls and she would be happy with that compromise??
I'll be anxious to see what other ideas the ladies come up with for you.
The sad thing is we did end up getting 2 of those AG dolls for our oldest when she was 11. At least we can pass them on down to the other 3 girls!
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Laura
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Laura
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Oh, I just noticed that your dd is only 5! Seeing this I would definately hold off on the AG doll for a while. As I mentioned above...my dd was 11 when we got her the first one, and 12 for the second! I suppose you could get them earlier depending on your dd, but IMO five is too young unless you want to be sending her back to the "doll hospital" they make available to refurbish the doll! 
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Laura
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MaryM
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Laura wrote:
| As far as size goes I think the "Our Generation" dolls sold at Target measure up, but the outfits on them are yucky. |
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The "Our Generation" dolls are not quite the same quality as the AG ones - but they still are a good alternative. We do have one AG - but we don't buy any accessories from them. We have gotten the accessories from the Target collection and I make my own clothes for the dolls. All the major pattern companies have great options for the 18" doll clothing.
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Elizabeth
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We love our American Girl dolls  . My dd got her first for her fourth birthday. She went to Chicago with Daddy and "adopted" Kit. We chose Kit because her hair was shorter. Since then we've added to the collection. She does collect accesories, too. Really, these are her primary toys. She sets up an entire room full of little "rooms and stores and schools." She can play happily for hours with her littel sister (not quite 3) or a friend who is also a big collector. The only doll who has ever gone to the doll hospital was "Baby Jimmy," a Bitty Baby given to her by Uncle Jimmy for her first birthday. That doll was very well-loved and only developed a tear in a seam this year. Katie brought Jimmy to the doll hospital in Chicago when she went on a Daddy trip this year. He was returned to us, good as new, a couple of weeks later. Eight years is a long time to love a doll without a tear or a break. And now, the precious doll is returned instead of abandoned to the trash. The play value in these dolls is really remarkable. We've read many of the books to go with them and haven't found them objectionable. There not the fine historical fiction that is Little House, but they're not Captain Underpants either. so inspired by the dolls and the books are dd-8 and her friend that they write letters to one another in the persona of their dolls. It's really dear and the letters are remarkable literary. The dolls are rather expensive, but they are enduring. And they just might be one of the best educational tools we've purchased.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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alicegunther
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I love American Girl too, and my four girls have collected a ton of American Girl "stuff." Still, I thought it worth mentioning that the accessories, although lovely, break fairly easily (and that includes the Angelina Ballerina collection for the younger children). My girls are gentle with toys and do not usually have problems, but the AG things are fragile.
Bottom line: The dolls are definitely worth the investment, and the accessories are beautiful--but, if you are on the fence, you might want to skip the accessories.
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MaryM
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And I would add that we did the AG doll (one of the "pick your own with features" to match the child) for my daughter when she was 5. Since they are expensive I wanted to maximize the time she would play with it. Like Elizabeth said they are enduring and we've gotten lots of years of use with her.
And I had to check my catalogues as I knew there was another similar collection of historic period dolls. These Beautiful Girlhood Collection dolls are from Vision Family Forum. They aren't any cheaper than American Girl but they are less marketed if that's what you are looking for. I've just seen them in the catalogues and have not gotten any or read any of the books. It's a Christian company and I don't know if there is any anti-Catholic bias.
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alicegunther
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MaryM wrote:
| It's a Christian company and I don't know if there is any anti-Catholic bias. |
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Wow, Mary, this site is incredible, and they include at least one Catholic character. Check out the Maria Von Trapp doll dresses!
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MEBarrett
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We too love the AG dolls. I don't have too many accessories from the catalog because we had a lot of my old doll furniture and the girls love to play with momma's toys.
You might try Ebay for dolls. You can get new ones in the box for a little bit less money. You might also check the website for Special Events. I am the chairperson for an American Girl Fashion Show for two local Catholic elementary schools. We are doing four shows over one weekend and raffling off tons of things. More accessories than dolls but at least one doll per show. If there is a show or bookstore event in you area there are often give-aways or raffles. You might get lucky.
Another idea (and one I've used when funds were tight) was to tell a relative that one of the kids was dying for a present I couldn't provide. Grandparents usually come through.
You also could try just doing it for a birthday rather than Christmas when there are so many other expenses.
Me, I would probably make or scale down the relative gifts and buy the AG. Like Elizabeth said you can't beat the quality.
Then again I am still waiting for my parents to cough up Malibu Barbie's Dreamhouse and I grew up ok.
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chicken lady
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I agree with Elizabeth the AG dolls are wonderful. We bought a cheap one from Joanne fabrics and it did not lasta year. Since I have three girls in a row, we did get three, well now we have 6, and I must say the are the primary toys my girls and their friends play with. I bought the first three off ebay, very cheap during the summer months and then last year some HS friends sold us their 3 in mint condition still in the boxes for 30.00 each. We have been fortunate to have older girls in our hs community sell off their clothes and accesories, and we have quite a collection now. We also tell family this is what the girls want for b-days and christmas etc. I frequent their sale page and buy off season clothes and accesories very reasonably. I have gotten their camping gear and such at Target and the girls are happy to have it.
All this to say check alternative ways of getting the dolls they are so much fun.
We also were able to buy th Angelina complete set used from friends, you will be surprised what folks are selling off.
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Bridget
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alicegunther wrote:
Still, I thought it worth mentioning that the accessories break very easily (and that includes the Angelina Ballerina collection for the younger children).
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Thank, Alice, thats good to know. We are hard on toys here so I guess Angeline Ballerina would not be a good investment for us.
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Bridget
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MaryM wrote:
And I had to check my catalogues as I knew there was another similar collection of historic period dolls. These Beautiful Girlhood Collection dolls are from Vision Family Forum. They aren't any cheaper than American Girl but they are less marketed if that's what you are looking for. I've just seen them in the catalogues and have not gotten any or read any of the books. It's a Christian company and I don't know if there is any anti-Catholic bias.
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We got Monica the Liberty doll last year. The stories are lovely, no anti-Catholic bias. The clothes well made and I think the doll is better made than AG dolls. Vision Forum has their dolls amde by a doll company in Germany. I have been very happy with it.
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Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
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Elizabeth
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I'm pretty certain I've read anti-Catholic rhetoric in Vision Forum products; I just can't remember where. This is what I found on the Vision Forum website real quick. Of course, it's not like American Girl dolls are made by a Catholic company either. I've seen a Vision Doll up close and personal and it was lovely. From all appearances, the quality is as good as AG.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Elizabeth
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I'm on a Rabbit Trail now! I read Doug Phillips' Blog at Vision Forum. Very reformed theology. It linked to his father's blog. His father is Howard Philllips. Howard Phillips youngest son is a friend of my ds. They have been in Catholic homeschool co-ops together for years. He's a sophomore at Christendom this year...this is the oddest thing........more later.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Bridget
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Wow. I've been reading Doug's blog for a while. My brother is familiar with Howard Philips from his years in law school. We are both under the impression that they don't think well of Catholics. I would be very interested to know how the younger Philips ended up at Christendom.
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Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
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Mary G
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Thanks ladies -- especially Mary M -- for the link to Beautiful Girlhood. Yes, they are about as much as AG, but I like them better ....
Anyway, I do appreciate everyone's input. My 14yod had a Josefina doll when she was 1st grade, but she wasn't really a "doll girl" so it was sort of an expensive oops  . I think my Maggie would really cherish an AG, it's just that it's so commercialized.
Also, Vision Forum has some cool stuff for my boys too, so that may add to my liking BG over AG!
Blessings and keep the suggestions coming.....
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MaryG
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teachingmom
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Elizabeth wrote:
| I'm on a Rabbit Trail now! I read Doug Phillips' Blog at Vision Forum. Very reformed theology. It linked to his father's blog. His father is Howard Philllips. Howard Phillips youngest son is a friend of my ds. They have been in Catholic homeschool co-ops together for years. He's a sophomore at Christendom this year...this is the oddest thing........more later. |
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Wow! I'd be interested in the Phillips family/Catholic connection. I went to college at William and Mary with Doug Phillips. He was definitely evangelical Christian. He was an acquaintance of one of my roommates through their involvement with InterVarsity or one of the other Christian groups on campus.
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teachingmom
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As a mom in a family with a very tight budget, I'd have to say that I don't regret for a moment the money spent on American Girl dolls or dresses. Of course I wish they were less expensive, but as Elizabeth and I were agreeing last week, they are probably the best value per number of hours of play out of all of our toys.
We have a rule that each girl can only have one AG doll (on her 5th birthday), so we don't have an extensive collection. The older girls have a collection of 5-6 American Girl dresses for their dolls, which they have collected over four years or so. Our doll clothing trunks, beds, desks, horse, extra outfits, etc. all come from A.C. Moore, Michaels, and Target. That has made our collecting much more reasonably priced.
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ALmom
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One suggestion I have is to have a collection of tons of scrap fabric and an old sewing machine that they can mess with at will to go with whichever doll you get. My dh thought AG doll was the biggest waste of money ... until.
Basically, the children had to save up their b-day and other earnings and then daddy gave permission. He told me privately that he was worried that they would regret that outlay for something like that and wish they had their money back. The girls played with them quite a bit for the first year or so and then they are tucked away - but in those years, they learned to sew and made doll canopy beds, all kinds of great patterns, etc. This blossomed into making their own clothing.
My husband now refers to them as the best investment the girls ever made and I cannot part with all the little doll dresses because they were the first things our children made. They even made a First Communion dress for one of the dolls.
The boys even got drafted into woodworking to make the bed frame while the girls sewed the canopy and dh even invested in a table saw to expedite the process as the girls made beds for all their cousins one year - plus a few friends. It is funny, they lost interest in the dolls before they made beds for themselves.
Janet
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Topic: Christmas ideas please
