Nine rare American Girls that everyone supposedly wants

This post springs from yet another article that I found, one that apparently knows exactly which American Girl dolls all serious collectors want.  Let's see...how many of these am I dying to own?  And the images...they're all stock images of more modern dolls.  There was no way I was finding a stock image of this first one.

1:  Original 1986 Kirsten

Nope, I've got a Kirsten and I love her.  The original doll has some subtle differences from the one I've got, but they're super-subtle.  Besides, these older Kirsten dolls have ridiculously pale eyes, and I think they look possessed. 

2:  White-body Samantha 

Nope, because I've got a Samantha and...keep her around for sentimental reasons.  Samantha never has been and never will be one of my favorite dolls, and why is a white-body Samantha so much better than a Kirsten or a Molly with a white body?  Hard pass.

3:  Josefina Montoya

No, but just because I don't really need a Josefina.  I like her a lot, and I remember when she joined the AG bunch.  Just reading her lists of accessories was a learning experience because there was so much Spanish involved.  So probably if my collection were smaller I'd say yes to this one.

4:  Cecile Rey

Maybe in the future.  I had a chance to own both Marie-Grace and Cecile about a year ago, but Cecile ended up getting sold and if I own one I want the other.  The article sites Cecile as being desirable because she was the more well-dressed of the two, and because there weren't many of her made (both Cecile and Marie-Grace were unpopular).  

5:  Caroline Abbott

Soft pass, largely because Caroline looks a lot like a doll I've already got (Kat the Time-Explorer).  Caroline represents a part of American history that doesn't get a lot of press, and she's quite attractive with loose blonde curls and aquamarine eyes, so my door is open for Caroline in the future...but not right now.

6:  Limited-edition Ruthie

I didn't know Ruthie was considered limited-edition!  I thought she was a regular ol' best friend like Emily, like Elizabeth, like Ivy and Nellie.  The article talks about her accessories (she wears a watch, pricey in those days), but I don't think Ruthie is any better than Kit.  Pass.

7:  Limited-edition #21

Uh, since when was this one limited-edition???  I remember when JLY #21 was released and no one said a word about her being limited-edition.  Hard pass, because I have #21.  Rilla Louise is in rough shape, but I do own her.

8:  Marisol Luna

NOW we're talking limited-edition!  The only Girl of the Year on the list, Marisol is listed as a fan favorite due to her ballet-themed collection and her abundance of hair.  Hmmm, I remember her being controversial!  Anyway, Marisol was on my radar for a looooong time, and even today I still have my eye on her.  

9:  German Samantha 

Another Samantha??????  Yes, this one was made abroad and has specialized tags and packaging.  Interesting...but she's Samantha.  No.  Just no.  Thanks anyway.

If y'all couldn't tell, the one I'd pick out of all of them would be Marisol, and indeed, she's the only one I'm still seriously considering finding.  The others I either have variants of, don't have room for, or don't care much for.  Seriously, who needs more than one Samantha, tag and body variants be danged?  But then someone might ask me the same thing about JLY #49, and I love her more than all the other JLYs put together.  Indeed, I've considered getting a second one.  Like Rita Cheryl isn't enuff, LOL.

We all have our favorites, so I shouldn't pooh-pooh Samantha too hard.  Some folks love her as much as I love #49.

Love,
RagingMoon1987

Up to no good, part two

DEFINITELY no Santa Claus for the Moon Girl this year, because she's been SUPER-BAD!!!  Meet Zoe Elise Barber.  She came from Pennsylvania, but I pretend that her character is from modern-day New Orleans.

Sharp-eyed Bailey Maria correctly identified Zoe as a Truly Me #26, one that I have spoken of in the past.  She has the light brown eyes that I wish Luciana had, but we'll get to that in a bit.  Zoe was an impulse buy, one that stemmed from my anger after the hellish week that I spoke of in this post.  I was originally shooting for Truly Me #91, but those are only available on eBay if they've been stripped, the poor things!  I also briefly considered Joss since she has a head mold that I don't own, but I desperately wanted another doll of color.  So Zoe now stands here in front of me, with her curls freshly reset and her eyes sparkling.  She's used, and her body tag was cut off, and she has a few minor scuffs, but her seller took great pains to make sure she's still nice.  Dig these curls!

Since Zoe is secondhand her curls are not as perfect as Courtney's, but her hair is certainly in better shape than poor Julie's is.  The curls are a bit shorter than those in the stock photos, leading the seller to wonder if they were cut at some point.  The ends look pretty even, so if Zoe's curls WERE cut the cutter did a good job.  And even if they were, no biggie.  Zoe looks cute with slightly shorter hair.  Her hairstyle is similar to Courtney's but not exactly the same.

Courtney has bangs and a topknot, but she also has a right-handed side part like Zoe does, and both of them have a lot of curls. 

From hair to eyes now.  Zoe has amber-brown eyes, kind of like I wish Luciana had.  

Her left eye is a little hypotrophic on reclining, thus why I added this pair of glasses.

As I've noted in the past, only #26 and #62 have these amber eyes, and both of them were retired in 2019.  So unless this eye color is being used in the Create Your Own line no current doll is using this particular shade.  I don't like this amber shade quite as much as I like the root beer eyes utilized by Tenney and #86, but I like them better than the dark, featureless brown of Julie's and Luciana's eyes.  They're the same color as my mom's eyes and my best friend's eyes, so that's a plus.

Since I made a hubbub about Luciana's skin tone, let's compare her to Zoe a little closer.  It turns out that Zoe is medium just like Luciana is.  LOL, I thought #26 was darker than this, but her wiki page says "medium" skin!  Five points from Hufflepuff for the Moon Girl not paying attention.

But hold up, there!  Doesn't Zoe look an eensy bit darker than Luciana?  Or is it just my imagination?

#26 was available from 2005 to 2019, meaning that there's a wide range of meet outfits she could be found wearing.  BUT...Zoe is wearing none of these.  She is wearing an outfit called "Recess Ready."

The seller wasn't sure these were the right pants, but no biggie, they look fine.

I love the shoes!  You can't beat metallic sneakers.

The seller thinks this doll was made in 2017 due to her neck originally being held on with a zip tie (she's got cloth ties now), and if that's so then I have a loose meet outfit from that time frame.  I hate playing Dolly Dress Shuffle with Zoe since she looks so cute as she is, but...I'm gonna do it anyway.  Some of y'all may recognize this dress as the dress Miss Emily's first American Girl wore.  It's called the Sweet Spring dress.

I've always wanted this dress, but I didn't think it would look very nice on a fair-skinned doll, and it's not really Luciana's style so Zoe got it.  I greatly appreciate the little barrette that holds her hair out of her eyes.  Such a clip is often required for side part hair.  A clip or a headband, like this cute little outfit came with.

Can't beat Etsy, or my mama!  My mom dresses my doll's better than anyone can!  By now y'all have probably noticed that Zoe sports a charm necklace just like another of my dolls does.  The Sweet Spring dress was manufactured during the charm era, and it subsequently came with this.

Denise has a necklace that accommodates charms like this, but I put my own charms on it.  I considered tossing Zoe's charm in storage, but it's really quite nice so I bought Zoe a necklace that matches Denise's.  I was expecting it to be a flat piece of plastic with a sticker on it, and it is, but the sticker is covered by a bubble of plastic.  Zoe's necklace currently has four charms in total:  the pink round "smart" charm that accompanied her dress, plus three that accompanied the necklace.

Square-shaped "fair," heart-shaped "smart," and rectangle-shaped "loyal."  Huzzah, I got one in each shape!  I'm going to look for a green one to break up all that pink a little, LOL, and maybe another rectangle to see if all rectangles are hard to put on the necklace.  Seriously, I had to bust out the needlenose pliers to get it on there.  I may also add a fleur-de-lis or something Mardi Gras-themed to show Zoe's Louisiana heritage, like I did with Denise (she's got a Missouri charm on her necklace).

I was not planning for my first black American Girl to be #26.  I'd had plans to get Addy or Melody or #91, but as I said above finding #91 complete on eBay simply isn't possible right now.  Strange, since Courtney WAS easy to find on eBay shortly after her release; that's why I have Courtney now, LOL.  In truth #26 isn't an easy find either, but she's here now and I think she's adorable.  Now Silver Bird isn't alone in the Truly Me category.  Yeah, believe it or not Silver Bird was my only Truly Me doll until now.  All of my others were either historical, customized, or Girls of the Year.  Z is my lone oddball now, as she is contemporary, and AG is doing a new contemporary line soon so Z may not stay an oddball.  Anyway, it's interesting to see how much had changed between the release of #4 and the release of #26...or rather, how much the hair changed.  Yeah, I'm gonna talk about hair again, LOL.  When Silver Bird and her #4 sisters were new the only hairstyle available was long with a center part and pie-style bangs (#1 and #15 were the exceptions, as they had no bangs or parts).  By the time #26 rolled around American Girl was playing with different lengths and different styles, and Zoe's curly side part 'do shows this.

Like Denise and Justine-Marie (and eventually Z) I got Zoe a doll.  Since Zoe's name is Creole-flavored, and since she's my first African-American AG doll, I got a mini-doll to match.

Cecile!  Poor thing, her eyes throw back a lot of glare.  I promise she's not that psychotic-looking in real life.  The full-sized doll has hazel eyes as opposed to the brown that dolls of color often have.

Justine-Marie's doll approves of Zoe's choice.  Of course Justine-Marie would have a Marie-Grace doll, since she used to be a Marie-Grace herself.

Sometimes when I buy one of these dolls on impulse I end up regretting it.  I kinda do with Lindsey, for example, though I can probably alleviate that with a good restringing, but Zoe?  No regrets.  Her frizzy curls are only a mild frustration, and a fixable one at that.  Her joints are tight, her eyes are bright, and she's fully clad, though that last one wouldn't have been a huge issue either since I've got plenty of clothes.  Best impulse buy ever, or close to it!

Cheers, 
RagingMoon1987