Friday, September 26, 2008

American Girl Dolls on QVC

Did anyone catch the QVC segment last night that featured American Girl dolls? I missed the first 15 minutes but was told that Julie, the newest main historical doll, wasn't even shown and sold out in 15 minutes anyway. Julie is from 1974 and came with her meet outfit, 2 books and her Dog Walking outfit. It's so cute and includes 3 dogs that she takes care of. I remember reading that in one of her stories.

Next came Molly, who is probably my favorite historical. She was my daughter's first AG doll back in 1998 and Molly became my first AG doll in 2005. Molly was being sold with her Miss Victory outfit, her meet outfit and 2 storybooks along with a stage that revolved. This however was not an AG historical item. Many of you may recognize it as the stage that you can use for your doll wearing one of the AG ballet outfits. If you follow Molly's stories at all, you know that her father is a doctor and has been sent to England during WWII. Her mother was a stay at home mom and now she's having to take work outside the home. The show host pointed out something very cool--that little girls now can relate to that whether their dad or mom is over in Iraq or just having Mom go back to work after being home. Molly McIntire is a sweetheart of a doll!

Then they showed the adorable bald Bitty Babies available in blonde, brown or AA. It was a super deal too because you got a high chair, feeding accessories, the doll itself in its meet sleeper and another outfit as well for only $106 I think.

The last dolly featured was another of my favorite historicals, Miss Addy Walker. Addy came with her meet outfit, her Flower Picking outfit and her Songbird and Treats set as well as her Meet Addy book and a large book telling all about what it was like in Addy's time. The big book included what toys children played with back then as well. Addy is so adorable, I just love her.

I'm not really sure that I agree with selling these dolls on a venue like QVC. On one hand, it may tend to make them seem "dime a dozen" as my daughter put it when I told her that AG was on QVC last night. But on the other hand, the way it was presented was very tastefully done and not the usual QVC frenzy that I had expected. It wasn't like they were selling a doll itself for some outrageously low price of $35--they sold a doll, 2 books, an extra outfit and some sort of accessory to go with her for a reduced price. It was good way to educate the American public about AG dolls, especially those who may not have known about the AG website to begin with. It may make people want to explore the AG website even more and find out what other great things they have there.

The next show featuring American Girl dolls on QVC is on October 25, probably the 7-8 ET p.m. time slot. Be sure and write yourself a reminder or set it up on your computer to remind yourself if you missed the first installment. It's anyone's guess what will be next. Will it be more historical dolls? I hope so! JLYs are top sellers for Mattel so I would think they'd want to educate more people about the American Girls that started it all, the historicals. After all, that's why Pleasant Rowland founded the company to begin with, to educate girls on little girls of different time periods. Mattel bought her company in 1999 but despite numerous retirings of different historical items, they seem to be on track in keeping the historical line intact.

QVC showed a countdown to Christmas last night and it's 90 days away GULP! If you would like any handmade American Girl doll clothes for your favorite little collector for Christmas, please check out my Kitt's Kloset site. My mother and I along with a good friend who lives in New York make all the clothes you see. If you purchase something of Holly's and mine, it would be great if you'd place a separate order for Holly's items since they will be shipped from her home in New York. Holly makes beautiful handmade historical American Girl clothes. Her ID on eBay is newyorkdolldesigns. She also sews for the MyTwinn dolls as well so check her out sometime!

And of course if you're a Barbie fan, don't forget to check out my handmade Barbie, Ken and Bratz clothes
at my site, Barbee & Friends. Please order early for Christmas! Thanks and happy doll collecting!