*NEWS* AG 1984 Historical Doll, Mattel Panel NYC Toy Fair

Mattel presented these images of their next historical doll, at NYC Toy Fair. 1984 Courtney Moore is set to release August.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS????

 

*UPDATE NEWS* Special LE $5000 AG Doll on Display *LOOK* - AGP LA

My friend Shawna at Sew4Dolls made a visit to AGP LA and was able to got these great photos of the $5000 AG doll wearing a dress made with real Swarovski crystals.

The doll has already sold, but will remain in store for a limited time for collectors and doll fans to see.

*NEWS* American Girl's holiday doll costs $5,000 and is covered in Swarovski crystals

American Girl's latest holiday doll is a one-percenter.

This year's highly anticipated holiday doll will be decked out with more than 5,000 Swarovski crystals and beads. Her cost: $5,000, but only three are available for sale — one at each of American Girl flagship stores in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. 

 

 

The dolls will be on display in those stores, and fans will be able to take selfies with her. American Girl said the doll will remain in stores until December 20, and any buyers will get delivery in time for the holidays.

The doll is as ostentatious as the Mattel (MAT) owned retailer's holiday windows. In a new partnership with the luxury jeweler stores in the three cities will have Swarovski-themed decorations, including crystal-encrusted garlands and 130 lbs of crystal stardust in New York. The holiday windows will be unveiled Friday, November 8, and will be on display until December 31.

 

 

Mattel said this year marks the first partnership between Swarovski and American Girl.

American Girl won't make a less-expensive version of the luxe doll. But it's selling a more budget-appealing and sparkly holiday dress for $36 that can be worn by any American Girl doll.

Retailers around the world are looking to build unique experiences for shoppers to lure them into stores. When Amazon or any number of online shopping options can be accomplished with a tap on a smartphone, stores need to give customers reasons to show up. Mattel's elaborate display is just the latest example.

American Girl stores, which host tea parties, have long been a leading example of experiential retailing. But this year's holiday events are at a whole new level: The company's 17 stores will host gingerbread house decorating and holiday doll hair salons, among other adventures.

The stores in Chicago and Los Angeles will host build-your-own hot chocolate stations and holiday cookie decorating. And at the store in New York's Rockefeller Plaza, American Girl will host a party with recording artist Ciara, featuring crafts, a doll salon, dinner and a violin prodigy.

 

Source: cnn 

AG Raised Neck Stamp - More Research (and Questions)

In a previous post were pictures of a used Josefina doll that I bought with the raised neck stamp. I had seen the raised neck stamp on a Nellie doll being sold on eBay by a consignment shop months earlier. I had researched it and couldn’t find a lot of information, and thought maybe someone on LADL had information on the raised neck stamp. Since that posting, I did a little more researching and bought the Nellie I had seen on eBay. 

This is the neck stamp and body tag on my Josefina. 

1. Ticia mentioned being told that the Josefina mold had been broken. Nellie has the Josefina face mold, so I found that was interesting that both dolls would have the raised neck stamp and be from the same mold. 

2. Here is the Nellie I bought from a consignment shop on eBay. Josefina and Nellie have the same neck stamp ‘American Girl LLC’, the same body tag, and the neck opening doesn’t have the added wedge or ‘V’ shaped material to make the neck opening wider. 

3. When I did a search for the raised neck stamp, I found a blog post about how to tell if the doll is an authentic American Girl doll. In the comment section, a person asked about GOTY Kailey Hopkins raised neck stamp. The blogger replied saying that she bought Nellie from AG, whose neck stamp is raised. I went on eBay to look at GOTY Kailey dolls, and found two with raised neck stamps. The differences between Kailey, Nellie and Josefina: 

Kailey has the classic face mold and her raised neck stamp says, ‘Pleasant Company’. Kailey was released in 2003.  

Nellie was released in 2004. 

Josefina was released 1997. 

(More on release dates.)

One similarity is that her neck opening also doesn’t have the wedge or ‘V’ shaped piece of fabric to make it wider. 

This is the link for the Kailey doll with the necklace: 

This is the link for the second Kailey doll.

4. Then a raised neck stamp Josefina appeared on Goodwill. Her neck stamp also says ‘American Girl LLC’.  What year was this box used? I don’t see it on the LADL post ‘American Girl Doll Boxes - History’ and I don’t see any other website with a history of the boxes like LADL has. I have two boxes that have the same design, and on the tag, it says ‘Made in USA, Germany, China’ I'm curious if the heads and limbs were just starting to be produced in China and someone messed up the mold resulting in a raised neck stamp instead of an indented one? 

5. I remember seeing something about a tag being inside the torso by the shoulder that indicated month and year that it was made. So I took apart my Josefina, but I didn’t find a tag. But the bottom of her head mold didn’t seem to be like other molds on dolls that I have. The bottom of the head on other dolls seems to be flat, but my Josefina’s is a bit slanted, or curved, not sure how to describe it. Here are pictures: 

6. Here is a Bitty Twin that was sold on Etsy with a tag that has ‘3371’ on it instead of a year.  Looks like the neck stamp says ‘2002 Pleasant Company’, which is indented.  

I have found this topic interesting, since I don’t see this very often. Some sellers don’t take a picture of body tags or neck stamps, unless it is to show that an older historical, GOTY, or JLY doll is Pleasant Company, which reduces the opportunity of seeing different neck stamps and body tags. I can see how showing a different body tag or neck stamp, when you are selling the doll, would raise the question of the authenticity of the doll. 

AG Raised Neck Stamp - Joesfina Montoya

The AG Raised neck stamp

I have only seen this a few times, on dolls for sale or auction. Searching for information about it online, I can only find one person mentioning that their doll has the raised neck stamp, in the comment section of a doll blog post on how to tell if a doll is an AG doll.

The Josefina I bought came with this box, I don’t know if this is the box she originally came in. Was this a limited production, since the Pleasant Co and other AG neck stamps are recessed?

Anyone with more info please comment below.

AG Molly Potential Green Marks from Metal Glasses

When I bought my Pleasant Co. Molly, I knew she had a mark on her left side by her ear. 

The other day, I noticed two more marks, one on her nose/forehead and one on the right side of her head by her ear.  

When I noticed the other mark by her other ear, I remembered the Barbie heads that turned green because of the metal earrings. Since the markings on the side of the head would be in a location where glasses would be, I thought there is the possibility that they might be from metal glasses, but there is no way to know for sure. I don’t recall seeing any mention of the glasses causing green marks on Molly. There are other companies that sell similar glasses, but I don’t know if they are plastic or metal frames. I want to make it clear that I don’t know exactly what caused the markings. I just want to share, in case there are metal glasses for Molly, that may leave marks.

LADL Closing Out the Year

This year has been CRAZY! I went through the difficult and tedious task of downsizing. I decided to keep only five dolls. And because it was too difficult for me to make the cuts myself, I let Pleasant Company choose for me. I had my mind on keeping the original trinity, but decided to keep both Felicity and Addy too.

In 1986, Pleasant T. Rowland, a former educator founded Pleasant Company which is headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin.



1986 Molly McIntire, Kirsten Larson and Samantha Parkington were the three original American Girls that launched the collection. These dolls had a white bodies. 1991 when Felicity Merriman was released, the bodies were changed from white to match skin color. 
Credit: AGwiki


All of my other dolls have found new homes. Most were sold, but a small portion were donated. Fortunately for me, I will always have memories and photos of my dolls right here on LADL.

LADL will continue to have a presence on AGIG and YouTube from time to time. LADL facebook is no longer, but the blog will remain as a time capsule, so please feel free to start from the beginning 2012 and read through five years of posts (whenever you have free time) by selecting on NEWER POST at the lower left of the page.

Do not forget the right side bar and top page tabs for quick reference searches. If you're on a mobile device, the right side bar can be accessed by selecting VIEW WEB VERSION.

AG Minis of Snickerdoodle Street will remain online too.

Thank you to LADL readers in the USA and around the globe in 37 countries! 

Canada, UK, Russia, Brazil, Philippines, Australia, Germany, Spain, France, Japan, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Argentina, Ukraine, Colombia, Finland, Portugal, Hungary, Venezuela, Italy, Poland, New Zealand, Moldova, Czech Republic, Mexico, Turkey, South Korea, Israel, Norway, South Africa, Greece, Belgium and China!

Special thanks go to the LADL team:
Madelon, Ticia, Diana, Linda, Renee, and Robin - I couldn't have done it without these ladies!!

Thank you to:
Shosy, Shelly, Sheryl, Maxine, Fawn, Nonna, Claudia, Rina, Char, Frances and A Girl for All Time, Boy Story, Maru and Friends, Dolls from Heaven, Maria, Michelle, Vanessa, Heather, KKollect, ZaZa, Mr. Modelnut, Jen, Felicia, Cindy R., Cindy Y, Leigh, Blake, Linda D., Karen, Feedspot, FOX News, Jezebel online,  

To all of my friends in the doll community all over the world, thank you for stopping by each day. Thank you for an AMAZING FIVE YEARS! I love you all.

God bless you,

Rhonda

*On Location* Doll Show

Lots of AG at the doll show!

Madame Alexander

Girls of Many Lands

Gene

Ginny dolls.

-Madelon