In recent years, the American Girl Company has seen a decrease in sales. In 2018, American Girl’s sales dropped by 28% compared to 2017. What happened? Many fans point to the company’s new marketing style leading to their decline.
This new marketing included the 2015 release of the Beforever line. The Beforever collection took the existing historical dolls and changed the outfits, accessories, and overall quality of the dolls. This shift brought the end of the Best Friend line, forcing many beloved dolls into retirement. While the Beforever line brought back Samantha, she no longer possessed the original appeal. Her new outfit - a pink and frilly dress - clashed with her tree-climbing and mischievous personality. Not only that, Samantha's original dress was far more historically accurate. The dropped waistline, pattern, long puffed sleeves, and black tights and shoes are staple elements of early 1900s fashion. The Beforever dress was an obvious letdown.
Original Samantha 1986-2009 Beforever Samantha 2014-current
Samantha is not the only doll to have their collection become yassified under the Beforever line; almost every doll suffered the same fate as Samantha. The production used cheaper materials, added more frills and bright colors, and abandoned historical accuracy. Another horrible offender is the redesign of the Julie Albright doll. In 2007, she was released in a historically accurate 1970s outfit. For example, her white shirt was embroidered with blue flowers and her belt had leather tassels with different colored beads on them. Under the Beforever line, her new outfit looked like a costume, rather than a realistic interpretation of 70s fashion. Not only does the flower crown look cheap, her peace sign shirt and floral pants overplay the traditional stereotypes of the hippie movement. Overall, the Beforever collection looks like it could be bought at Party City.
Julie Albright 2007-2014 Julie Albright 2014-current
The now-retired Best Friends collection had allowed kids to explore many stories to understand different perspectives from the time periods. Kit, who lived through the Great Depression, watched her family struggle financially. However, her friend Ruthie was the daughter of a banker and did not experience the same hardships as Kit. The best friends were given their own stories and accessories, each of which helped show the different experiences during that point in history. By reading these stories, a child could understand the complexity of historical events. In retiring the Best Friends collection, the company successfully limited children’s access to different points of view.
By modernizing the dolls, the American Girl company lost what originally made their dolls stand out. Historical dolls could not be found in other doll companies, especially not with accompanying books that did not sugarcoat history. The company shifted focus away from what truly made them unique - instead emphasizing the Bitty Babies, Well Wishers, and Truly Me collections. While these collections are not bad, they are generic and non educational. A customizable baby doll on amazon runs for $25 while Bitty Babies are $60, so why choose American Girl? The shift away from the Best Friends collection and the cheaper commercial options is theorized as the reason for the company’s loss of sales.
Just this year, however, American Girl has made significant changes. They reintroduced Molly McIntire, an original doll first released in 1986. Instead of giving her the Beforever treatment, she was released with her original outfit. She is now sold with accessories and outfits that date prior to the takeover of Beforever. Why is Molly receiving this special treatment, when other dolls were desecrated? There are theories that there will be a revival of the original American Girl aesthetic.
Fans began celebrating the return of American Girls' glory days with the release of Claudie Wells, the newest historical doll. While some fans praised the new doll, others were disappointed in her lost potential. Claudie Wells lived in New York during the Harlem Renaissance. Her outfits are vaguely accurate to what many black influencers of the time wore. On the American Girl Instagram, the posts and stories advertise Claudie’s book as much as the doll. The introduction of Claudie and Molly gives hope to fans for the revitalization of the American Girl doll brand; will they abandon their Beforever line for the stronger, historical stories? Only time will tell.
Young Girl with Dog, 1921 Claudie’s Jazz outfit 2022
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