Thursday, September 11, 2014

Please, somebody explain it to me...

Pin It
 photo saigedoll_zpseded169e.jpg

You all know that I'm a mother of two very fun and rambunctious boys. This also mean lots of scraped knees, dirty socks, soccer and football memorabilia and legos spread everywhere in a thin layer no matter how much I try to fight it.

I don't really have anything pink in the house (other than a pair of glorious rocking heels and a couple of shirts strictly on my side of the closet). We also don't have dolls (yet!) and I know very little about them, honestly.

The other day somebody posted on local Facebook classifieds an American Girl Doll for sale. It's a 2013 retired version that comes with an extra outfit, a hat and a helmet. All this for a mere $275... $275 for a doll?? I mean, it's a cute doll and all but seriously? That's like most of our grocery budget for a month or a third of our mortgage.

What am I missing? What's the deal with these dolls that they are so stinking expensive? I mean, there are tons of cute dolls in Walmart or Toys R Us that are a fracture of the price. Any moms of girls, can you enlighten me, please? :) Thank you :)

42 comments:

  1. I dont know anything about girls either ( I had boys and my two friends who kids at the same time also had only boys) but I suspect the ultra expensive dollies are expensive! You have your feet on the ground, will be all good
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't get spending that kind of money on a doll either.
    All I can think is that it's a way to infect girls at the earliest possible age to be slaves to name brands and fashion labels.
    I bet many of the mothers who buy these things wear/have expensive tastes in jewelry, accessories and/or clothing.
    I have heard of little girls who have whole collections of these things....
    It's just part of our sheeple society.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's kind of how I felt. I don't say my boys are not after brand names like Lego, Avengers, certain video games, you name it. But $275? That seems like a lot of money to me...

      Delete
    2. Lol I have bought my girls these dolls ( 2 used and 1 new) but I can assure you that my taste is not expensive in much of anything. We'll I guess I do love a good Coach bag once in a while.....

      Delete
    3. When I bought my daughter's doll they were $100. each. As you've mentioned, they can fetch much more money now that they are retired, so maybe they're not so bad if you can sell them for over twice the amount one bought them for? But I agree, to even spend $100. on a doll is a bit crazy. I have changed my spendy ways drastically since then (10 years ago now and counting)!

      Delete
  3. They are American Girl dolls. Very good quality. My girls started with the Bitty Baby and my MIL moved them on to the doll that looks like each of them. Very expensive; the clothes, accessories and they even have furniture. I didn't purchase these things for my kids except the very first Bitty Baby for my oldest when she turned 2.

    In my opinion the Bitty Babies are worth it. They are very tough and a good quality. My girls, who are now 17 and 19 years old, loved those dolls. We still have them because they won't let me sell them. The other American Girl dolls, the characters in their books and the ones you can order to look like your child are excessive and unecessary, but to each his own.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've heard that they are pretty good quality but as I said, I don't know much about dolls. I think, it was just a sticker shock for me more than anything... It's going to be a whole new world for me when I have a daughter :)

      Delete
  4. Hey Lena. When my daughter was born I was also only familiar with the boy stuff. I also was shocked when I saw the price of some of the dolls out there. Those American Girl dolls are collectibles and they are more expensive- a lot more expensive- than regular dolls. My daughter has dolls that we got her from walmart and some that got handed down to her. I don't think I've ever spent more than $12 on a doll for her. And there is so much doll stuff out there as far as accessories goes. I don't get caught up in all the hype. I have a friend who has all the Graco brand doll equipment- crib, car seat, playpen, stroller, etc- all for her daughter's dolls!! You will see a lot of that kind of stuff, but if you cant afford it, I guarantee your daughter will love a $10 walmart doll just as much as a $250 collectible doll. My daughter doesn't know the difference at all. Just a note- if someone out there really has their heart set on American Girl dolls, I know I saw in a Christmas catalog last year that somewhere, maybe walmart or somewhere like that, was selling knock-off's of these dolls. I believe they were under $30 and they were the same exact size as the AG dolls so you can buy the same size clothes for them. Much more affordable and if I recall correctly they were just as cute as the AG dolls are too. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, I didn't even know stuff like Graco existed. I thought they only made car seats and strollers for real kids :) You live and learn, I guess...

      Delete
  5. Lena, I would have never bought these for a daughter, if I had one. However, I have a granddaughter and I did buy her a used one. ( It is one of the discontinued ones and I got it for next to nothing) I like them because they are a size that is easy to sew for. I can see making some matching outfits for her and her doll some day. ( Did I forget to mention she is only 9 months old right now)
    They do seem very over-priced if you buy them new, plus clothes, plus all the other stuff that goes with them.
    My only regret is that I didn't come up with this idea first!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :) If I could find a doll that my daughter wanted for a reasonable price, I would totally buy it too. It's the price tag of $275 that made my jar dropped. It seems excessive for just a doll...I can't even imagine adding clothes and other accessories. But it's a great idea to make your own :) I used to sew all kinds of clothes with my Mom for my one and only Barbie back in the days :)

      Delete
  6. Well, my daughter has the older ones named Samantha and Felicity. They had books to read and later movies so it really brought the doll to life for her. She received them as gifts when she was old enough to take care of them so they still look perfect. My mom made her and the dolls matching dresses and she would bring the doll to church and set it right beside her. Still makes me smile:) Also, no one starved and all bills were paid even though we splurged on the dolls but I can understand how it's not for everyone.

    Rebekah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rebekah, I hope I did not offend you and that I didn't sound judgmental. That wasn't my intent at all! It just seems like so much money for a doll! But it's nice to know that they also come with books and movies so the girls can somewhat "interact" with them. After reading all the comments I actually went online to see how much the new ones cost and they seem to be a lot more reasonable (ab. $115 for a doll and a book). Still too much for me but not nearly as expensive as $275. I wonder if it's because that doll was discontinued and a collectible. I don't know...

      Delete
    2. Lena, I'm not offended or think that you are judgmental. It is interesting to see that the older discontinued dolls have gone up in price though. I think that we paid around $100 each which is still a lot. I can't wait to see your babies when they arrive. Having a girl is a lot of fun. When our daughter was born our son said that he could tell that it was a girl because she had hair. He was bald when he was born:)

      Rebekah

      Delete
    3. :) Both of my boys were bold when they were born. You give me hope now :) I was wondering if I need to start making all kinds of hair accessories for her like right now:) I do hope she gets Dad's red hair and my green eyes :)

      Delete
    4. Your DH carries the MC1R recessive gene obviously b/c of his red hair, so if you also are a carrier(can be even if you don't personally have red hair)each of your children have 50% chance of having red hair.
      Even if none of them do inherit red hair they will ALL carry the trait for red hair into the next generation and if their spouse also carries the trait you may end up with "ginger" grandbabies. ;-)

      Green eyes are very rare in the general population. It's estimated that only 2% of the world's population have green eyes. Eye color is more complicated to predict as eye color traits are contained in multiple genes within our DNA. But red hair w/green eyes is even rarer. Most green eyed people have dark or blond hair.

      Delete
    5. Yes, you do! I would put those huge bow headbands on her and she would pull them down over her eyes all the time. So funny! Red hair and green eyes sounds lovely but she'll be beautiful no matter what:)

      Rebekah

      Delete
    6. I know :) The red hair-green eyes was always a silly dream of mine (ever since I fell in love with a red-haired handsome guy :) but I, honestly, don't really care. I will love her hair no matter what color it is :)

      Delete
    7. Sluggy, somebody told me that they come in a proportion 1 to 3. I don't know if it's true :) But it's true for my husband's family. His Dad was married twice. Both him and his first wife has the gene, they have 1 dark-haired girl (even thought her hair has a bit of a tint. People think she colors it:), and the rest are all red. With his second wife, he also has 4 kids but only 1 red-haired daughter. I've never thought we would have 4 kids but now I'm wondering :)

      Delete
    8. My Dad was a red head with green eyes. I am a red head with blue eyes :) I have no red headed children but I do have a red headed nephew :) I always hoped for girls with red hair but mine have brown. Maybe someday I will get grandchildren with red hair :)

      Delete
    9. Trust me Lena, odds are 1 in 2 for each of your kids to be born red heads. Each child, not an average of the whole. So you can have no gingers or any number of to all gingers.

      I've been studying up on DNA and statistically this is how it works.

      The funny thing is both of my parents were carriers and I had red hair when I was small but then it turned brown. Weird. None of my kids had red hair so either my Hubs doesn't carry the MC1R gene or if he does(and we don't know)none of my kids won the ginger lottery. ;-)

      Delete
  7. Some of the retired American Girl dolls command a high price tag. Once retired they are Collector's items. When our grand daughter was small we bought her Bitty Baby and I made some extra diapers for her.

    I used to receive the American Girl catalog and the accessories for the historical era dolls were gorgeous. We never purchased them, however, as Target has dolls similar to the American Girl line and accessories as well; much less expensive.

    Daughters and grand daughters are a lot of fun. We have grandsons, also, and they are equally precious.

    Been reading your blog for some time, but never commented. I enjoy your blog very much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind words, Glenda, and for reading my blog :) It's nice to know that Target sells similar dolls too. I'll probably need it in the future :)

      Delete
  8. American Girl dolls are time period based dolls who have books that tell the story of their lives from that time period. They also sell clothing and accessories to go along with the dolls based on their time period. Some of the dolls have movies. There are a limited amount of American Girl Doll stores through out the country also. There is one in Chicago which I have been to a few times with my girls. I loved the store as much as they did :) while the dolls seem expensive my older daughter who is 19 still has hers and I expect it to last even through grandchildren. They are very well made. Every so often they retire a certain doll and so then of course they become collector items. My 19 yr olds is retired now and I could prolly sell hers on ebay right now and make $500 or more on it and the accessories to go with it. I won't though because I am saving it for maybe a future granddaughter. My daughters have gotten hours of enjoyment playing with their dolls but I also waited to get then theirs until they were old enough to take good care of them. Many of the extras have been bought used or from craft shows for them to play with also :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wouldn't sell that doll unless you have nothing to eat, lol!! :) But I still have a sticker shock... I imagine, some people have collections of dolls that could pay off our house, lol!

      Delete
  9. Oh Lena,
    I had to howl when I saw this post because I've seen this discussion on other blogs recently :) I had one of these dolls when I was a little girl and.....it's gonna sound maybe a little harsh but in all honestly my mom wanted me to have the doll more than I did ;) I know these dolls are great quality but I know I only played with mine a handful of times because none of my friends had them (what other logic does a kid have? LOL) and I just preferred my $8 barbie dolls, since everything for them was more affordable I had all sorts of clothes to change them in and out of, but my American Girl doll, I had one outfit for (since an outfit is like $50...you can dress a real child many times over for that...) But the moral of the story, I guess goes back to "name brand" stuff, my mom was always kind of snobby about brands and I can assure you no child that hasn't been taught this "name brand" garbage cares...I think most little girls would just be happy to have a doll in general :) I can assure you, if/when I ever have a daughter she will have the Walmart/Target knockoff. Oh! and another thing, if there are craft stores (as in where people sell the crafts the make) I've seen a ton of women that make and sell American Girl outfit knockoffs, so if you do invest in a doll of similar size I'd check that out for outfits. :)
    *If I came off as judgemental in my little rant I apologize, I don't mean to offend anyone, I hope everyone has a nice evening* :)
    P.s Hi Lena! I've been reading your blog for a while now but haven't commented yet, but I really do enjoy your blog. Congrats on the twins!! I wish you the best, and good luck with your first daughter, I'm sure you'll be great. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How did I miss this conversation??? I remember when I was a kid, my parents decided to surprise me with a new doll. It was almost a child-size doll (maybe, a 3-year old) with blue eyes and gorgeous blonde hair. They were saving for it for the whole year and it cost them a fortune to get it for me (I was the only child back then). I thought it was adorable and played with it, maybe, for a week, and then it spent years in the corner of my bedroom collecting dust while I was running outside with my friends making "dolls" out of flowers... I think, I might've broken my Mom's heart a little:)...

      And thank you for reading my blog :) I appreciate your support and your sweet comment.

      Delete
  10. Ha, Lena you are a in for a whole new little girl world. My Dad bought our DD's AM dolls for Christmas along with one outfit each, that's how it all started! Ha. Over the years Santa would bring one outfit each, the rest I made myself. We bought our grand DD Bitty Babies last year for Christmas but again I do the sewing for them. I have no idea what the bug is called that comes over some of us but I do have the BUG!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet you can make all kinds of cute outfits for these dolls :)

      Delete
  11. No American girl dolls here. I thought they were too expensive, and my daughter wasn't really into dolls. She is more of a tomboy. :D
    Wishing you the best! Do hope that you are feeling ok!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Kathy! That's how my niece is :) She's surrounded by boys and plays with cars more than dolls :)

      Delete
  12. Goodness! I have a daughter but the only dolls she played with were Barbies and it was her babysitter who bought her her first one. When she became a teenager she gave them all away. No sentimentality attached to them. She still has one doll however and it's an heirloom that is well over 100 years old. It just sits on a shelf collecting dust as well :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, it is an American doll... wink, wink :) Probably, never made it to Canada... :)

      Delete
  13. I am so embarrassed to admit this but my daughter has several of these astronomically overpriced dolls. I'll admit we bought her ONE, and the rest she bought with her allowance that her grandmother gives her each month. Still, it is embarrassing. They're all boxed up in the garage now since she has outgrown them (she's 15 y.o. now) and I cannot wait to be rid of them. They are evidence of how we could have taught her better to be a better steward of her money. Also, I think allowing her to have these dolls was falling victim to "keeping up with the Joneses." Most of her friends were into the same dolls and accessories that you can buy to go with them. At least now my daughter wants to sell them, and she has become a great saver of her money since then!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would assume, most of them are retired already. Maybe, she can even make a profit selling them :)

      Delete
  14. I think these dolls are more about the people buying them than about the little girls. Sorry, sounds rude but I have never been able to spend that kid of money on a doll for my daughter. Then again, maybe its jealousy. ;p

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yah.. it's a little bit of crazy, but hey, to each their own! ;) lol!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I've never understood this either. Even when I was a child I didn't get it. Then again, I was scared of dolls when I was younger LOL

    ReplyDelete
  17. My daughter has several of these dolls. One was given to her as a gift when she was born because our families had waited so long for a little girl (she has a brother and seven boy cousins. :-) ) My Mom used to work for Pleasant Company and got several of the dolls with her employee discount when she worked there; she then handed them down to my daughter. We got her one for Christmas and she bought one with money she saved from Christmas and birthdays. Honestly? We love them and we think they're adorable! They have really, really, really cool, historically correct accessories and stories. My daughter loves the American Girl stories, which we check out from the library. Now - in all honesty - if the number of dolls we have equated to the number DH and I purchased, it would be one. I would never spend $275 for a doll, though. We spent in the $100 range for her BIG Christmas gift that year.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...