Why This Extremely Expensive Doll Is So Controversial

does it have holes in specific ereas? If not? It'll b worth nothing unless u got childhood traumas

1.2mil in 86'? She was already rich as a teacher, bruh

I used to work in a toy store. I've been a soldier, a programmer, and a computer technician. Selling toys is the best job I ever had. I talked to parents and children, and helped them choose their purchases. Where I worked, I could take a toy off the shelf if it wasn't boxed, and play with the customers. I'm retired now, but maybe I could backtrack and do that again.

This was an amazing idea! Outstanding. The markings of a great teacher. She saw a problem and found the best solution for the intended audience.

9:00 I imagine the name “one million moms” was a pretty successful group that probably had 100 members max lmao

I prefer the My Little Stepchild from SNL.

Identity politics needs to leave toys alone.

As a New Zealander, I'd never heard of American Girl before watching historical costume content

These are awesome dolls. My daughter still has hers. We read the books. The cost was worth it. People don’t have to buy anything that they don’t want to.

No. Never had one. Way too expensive. Plus didn't care much for dolls anyway.

I don't get it. Homeless ppl are portrayed in movies by non-homeless ppl, and they can't afford to see/buy the movies. When do they get banned? Are they supposed to base the cost on the avg income of the class portrayed, not on the cost of production??

My daughters grew up loving the American Girls – they have multiple dolls – but they refuse to have anything to do with the modern lines. They only consider the "Classic" American Girls the real ones. Means nothing to me, lol, but it reminds me of fanbases like Star Wars or Star Trek who argue over the "Originals" vs the "Sequels" etc etc, lol.

The crack in the background of the thumbnail made me think she was holding a long sword at first

My parents refused to buy me those original G1 Transformers toys back in the '80s despite my promise to cherish these and take good care of 'em. They said that these are just a waste of money and time so I must read books instead. Took them decades later to learn how the value of those toys increased especially in a mint condition.

I still have my OG Molly doll from 1989 😊

I'm 43. My stepmom got me Felicity when I was about 9 or 10. I hated my stepmom so I also hated the doll. Lol.

I keep expecting to see 30's Eugenicist Feminist Elite doll LoL

"One million moms" Ah yes, all 150 of them… 🙄

I got Samantha for my 10th birthday, back when it was just the original 3. I was obsessed with the dolls for years. Collected every catalogue that came to the house. Read every girl's books as they came out and I found them at the library. I searched for new clothes at craft fairs, often looking for more historic, rather than modern, outfits. I loved the history of it all. I did save up and bought myself a girl of today, a girl I named Alex who became my Samantha's new sister. But it was the historical girls where my heart was truly at. It's sad that these girls aren't really the focus of the company any more in lue of their more modern girls. I liked it as an option, not the focus. I feel like the historic girls are more of an after thought now, with their stories not as deep and their time periods not as accurate. And they just seem more cheaply made than my OG girl.

I still want to get a Felicity some day.

my one friend got one and thats when i wanted one and i some how got a catalogue, maybe it was an old one my friend had but i wanted one sooo bad but after looking at the cost of it all i was like "oh nvm" lol. the doll itself was 400$ then each accessory set was like 100$ each clothing set was 50$+. as an adult im like "they did this not because it was quality products, they did it because of the pink tax BS" maybe all of it together was gunna be 400$, ya know the doll, a playset and a clothing set. no child just wants the doll by itself which again is how they get you!

i feel like everything for women is always more expensive, even girl toys and american girl is proof if you ask me. i just dont understand why it all had to be sooo expensive if it wasn't a whole scam thing lol.

my thing was i just wanted the dolls to play with them, like, i didn't read their stories really other than the descriptions of who they were and what time period they came from. i just wanted to play with them and their playsets they had.

oh also i think i was 11 or 12 at the time so this was around 2000-2001. i know the company passed hands atleast once, idk when but we all know when that happens shit changes so lol. idk if i was into it before or AFTER big changes.

i remember the black doll addie from slave times lol, maybe im remembering wrong but i dont think i am? maybe she was the one in the 1920s?? i remember one being in the 30s or 40s…..i think one was felicity? i only really remember addie because she was the only black one so it stuck out more to me. i think the doll i wanted was like the one from a rich southern home in the 1800s? i liked her play sets the most lol. then again i wanted all the dolls sets cuz they were so much better than the shit we got for barbies. they were a rich girls toy though thats for sure and as a kid i was middle class so i could have maybe gotten the doll alone for x mas then maybe a playset for my birthday months later. but i sure as shit wasn't getting a doll and a playset together

edit: IT WAS KIRSTEN! THAT WAS THE ONE I WANTED! also rebecca once she came out. i think i HATED kitt though lmao

It's like the moment the American girl doll was so to Mattel everything changed The true purpose of these dolls was to teach children American history through the eyes of these young American girls. And yes even when I was a child these dolls were very expensive.

I got Addy for Christmas 1994 and I was beyond thrilled. I have a semi-long story behind that Christmas but I'll spare y'all lol. My mom was not concerned with Addy's story as being that of a runway slave, but more concerned with giving her black daughter a doll that looked like her, which was not her experience growing up, even in NYC. Slavery is an unfortunate part of our history as black people. As an adult now, I think Addy was created thoughtfully and carefully, making her story age appropriate for modern readers without watering down the horrors of slavery and the struggles she and her mom faced once arriving to freedom in Philly. I'm just sorry I don't have any daughters to give these beautiful dolls to. Maybe granddaughters someday. I have a second American Girl doll I got for my 11th birthday in 1996, but she was one of the then called "Girl of Today". I didn't enjoy her as much.

11:54 Well the modern take on the American Girl dolls are actually modeled after the 14 inch Wellie Wisher dolls that were released for the younger girls. I actually don't think making them "skinnier" was intentional in any way. But to add on another controversy ppl were upset that the background for the modern Addy was still that from the slave days.

I was obsessed with the American Girl dolls, but my family was too poor to get one.