# American Girl is a bleeping racket **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 24, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188 "2009-04-24T05:16:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/21 "2009-04-24T11:26:31Z")
I’m glad I have boys, because if they want some costly toy, I can use it to motivate good behavior, _and_ it will probably be something I want to play with too. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/22 "2009-04-24T11:28:21Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Aw. So at least she actually appreciated it and will probably always fondly remember the day she got the doll that meant so much to her. Or maybe she’ll just fondly remember the day she learned how big a sucker her dad is. (No offence, **Dio** ). ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/23 "2009-04-24T11:33:06Z")
Dio, unless you immediately send me a crisp new 100 dollar bill I will be sending a note to your daughter telling her that Daddy arranged a trip for her and Mommy: [Four Seasons American Girl Package](http://www.fourseasons.com/email_promotion/crc_pg_0808/) Regards ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/24 "2009-04-24T11:49:39Z")
I like the books (not the historical books, my daughter hasn’t gotten into them - but the how to books - how to be a good friend, Care and Keeping of Me…) and my daughter subscribes to the magazine. She shows no interest in the dolls - which are designed to be “collectors items” with all that means - overpriced being a primary characteristic - and for that I’m rather glad. There is an American Girl store in the Mall of America (save on shipping) - and in January in the middle of the recession after Christmas when most stores struggle, the number of American Girl bags in the mall - filled with dolls, clothes, beds, matching outfits, was…astounding. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/25 "2009-04-24T11:53:25Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > Yeah, that’s how they do it. Bastards. > > I remember Jordache jeans. I remember shelling out big bucks for a Member’s Only leather jacket when I was a senior in high school. I remember Grey Goose vodka. I remember paying a premium for Rao’s pasta sauce last week at the grocery store. > > Maybe you’re the exception that’s completely practical & rational, but do you really think branding is something that only affects juveniles? > > Nah, they’re just as happy to use you against you. (thinks back) I didn’t have any of those things! No wonder nobody loved me! Mom, I HATE YOU. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/26 "2009-04-24T11:55:48Z")
My Grandkeebler (shorthand for my son’s girlfriend’s daughter) got one of these dolls for christmas two years ago. It looks a lot like her. They got the matching outfits, too. I haven’t seen the doll in about a year. I was very surprised that my son got sucked into the marketing frenzy. He’s normally very against this kind of thing. I know people who collect many of these dolls for their children. I think it’s nuts. The part that annoys me is that the child has the story already laid out for them. I prefer to see kids do their own play stories. You can teach the stuff AG teaches without it being directly attached to the toy. I dunno…maybe I’m old fashioned. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/27 "2009-04-24T11:58:47Z")
Don’t forget it managed to produce a movie as well. Yes, it’s a racket. A high end racket similar to prior ones. The local women’s club here in town actually have exclusive ‘American Girl’ get togethers, teas, high lunch, and other such events that one can only get into with a check from me and an authentic American Girl doll. It’s revolting. Yet Lady Chance adores them, too. Though, to be honest, she’s been collecting dolls since long before I was on her scene. Both of my girls (8 and 4) have them because my mom gets them for her. I sure wouldn’t pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/28 "2009-04-24T12:02:50Z")
We get their catalog in the mail, thanks to some previous owners of the house. We respond to it the way other people might respond to some bizarre fetish catalog–it’s so far from our experience that it’s just mind-boggling. Indulgent parents with high Visa limits are our underground. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/29 "2009-04-24T12:14:41Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > It’s like he’s trying to tell me something, I just know it! > > No original snark intended. Not every store can sell every thing. I understand that they try to find a niche. I understand that they try to appeal to a particular subset of customers. I understand that they may pitch themselves to those customers for their exclusivity; offering them things that they, and only they, would desire. > > I don’t understand how “food” fits into that. So they pimp plastic girls. I saw about 30 of these in Goodwill just before Christmas. The old people must have been ecstatic to find dolls for $10 they could try to pass off as new. The boxes were all yellow though. The old people strip Goodwill around here for Christmas gifts. ---
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/30 "2009-04-24T12:43:45Z")
It could have been worse. She could have asked for Hannah Montana tickets… ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Stranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Time\_Stranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Stranger)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/31 "2009-04-24T12:49:59Z")
I haven’t been into AG dolls in a long time so I can’t say about it’s current state, but I was into these in the late 80s/early 90s. They really are good quality. They weren’t just designed as collector’s pieces - A kid can drag them around like crazy and they hold up. I took mine everywhere, and she’s still in pretty good condition 20 years later. Plus the books really got me into history (Colonial time period especially), and I felt like most of the stories were relatively well-written, positive messages for young girls. I had a really positive experience with them. Plus, like others have said, there is a pretty huge aftermarket for them. You can find them and their accessories cheap online and at thrift stores. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/32 "2009-04-24T12:52:42Z")
I’m not sure that I agree that it’s all cheap crap. I have been rather impressed at the quality of the merchandise. One doll (Josephina? Damn, I know far more about these stupid little things than a grown man should ever have to.) has a guitar that comes in a case. It seems very well made to me. I never had toys that were that level of quality. It’s still crack for kids, though. What disturbs me is that I know a girl who NEEDS every single doll and accessory, and her mother, who can ill-afford the addiction, indulges her. That would be OK if I knew that the girl would treasure these things as heirlooms. But I know that once she hits puberty (which is going to happen any second now), the dolls will get shoved aside as irrelevant. Damn shame. As an adult male, I would NEVER spend thousands on a useless hobby. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/33 "2009-04-24T13:28:25Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Don’t forget it managed to produce a movie as well. “A” movie? Try several! Yes, our daughter has them all–although, since she won them in a raffle, we at least were spared paying for them. And fortunately she also won a great pile of AG books as part of her prize, to go with the dozens of AG books she already had. Thankfully L has reached the “book” stage of her childhood. Unlike the dolls, AG books can be found at used bookstores at low, low prices. Too bad we got soaked for one doll before L went all booky on us. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/34 "2009-04-24T13:29:25Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Damn shame. As an adult male, I would NEVER spend thousands on a useless hobby. 😉 Damn straight. Now watch this drive. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/35 "2009-04-24T13:32:55Z")
You have to understand that AG isn’t about dolls and their toys, its about world-building. The whole experience is very immersive. There are book series about your doll’s life (many of the dolls “live” in a particular historical period), you can buy versions of your doll’s clothes, there are movies, the dolls themselves, outfits for every occasions, etc. And all pitched to “your” doll, not just generically for the whole line. Having gone to college in Williamsburg, I have a hatred, which burns with the fire of a thousand suns, for Felicity, the American Girl who is from Colonial Williamsburg. In the mid-late 90s, CW staff were _specifically prohibiting_ from telling guests that Felicity was a fictional character. Even historians, staff archaeologists, etc, who interacted with the public. (For example, if a little girl asked, “is this where Felicity went to school?” they would pretty much have to say “yes” unless they thought up an integrity-saving work around like “girls Felicity’s age went to school here.”) I don’t know about the clothing for the “modern” girls, but the historical outfits are pretty cool. Certainly WAY above toy store doll clothes. [As much as I hate Felicity, I dig her riding habit](http://store.americangirl.com/images/EPO_main_2.jpg) [Kirsten – a pioneer in Minnesota of Scandanavian descent – has a cool winter outfit](http://store.americangirl.com/images/D6320SET_main_2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/36 "2009-04-24T13:43:04Z")
Too bad she didn’t develop a crack habit - it would have been cheaper. My mom got my daughter the colonial one (I disremember the name), with even some of the furniture. My word! that stuff is pricey. Fortunately, my daughter never developed the full-blown addiction. She had several Barbies as a little girl. She would sometimes compel me to join in the fun with Sparkle Beach Barbie and Mailibu Barbie and Francie and some other figures from my darker nightmares, but it was mostly Beanie Babies, thank God - they’re cheap. As I see it, this is either a passing phase, or you will need to arrange an intervention. Or take out another mortgage on the house, if you love your daughter. 😉 Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/37 "2009-04-24T13:45:03Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I like the books (not the historical books, my daughter hasn’t gotten into them - but the how to books - how to be a good friend, Care and Keeping of Me…) and my daughter subscribes to the magazine. The Care and Keeping of You is the book that something like 90% of moms I know are giving to their girls (age 9-10). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/38 "2009-04-24T13:46:23Z")
> [@Ocean\_Annie](#): > > the sue chef Nitpick: _sous_ chef - the second-in-command in a professional kitchen ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/39 "2009-04-24T14:04:05Z")
Yes, I have a niece who somehow glommed on to a catalogue last Christmas and had ranked every item in it in order of importance - not whether she wanted it or not, no. She wanted _everything_, of course! She just managed to realize that some items were more urgent than others. She received the cheapest doll in the catalogue from her parents and was content. But then my sister is a wiz at raising children. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/40 "2009-04-24T14:08:35Z")
> [@LilyoftheValley](#): > > The Care and Keeping of You is the book that something like 90% of moms I know are giving to their girls (age 9-10). Its a good book - and the magazine is pretty good as well. They give functional advice like “comb out your wet hair with a wide tooth comb” or “your friends trust you to keep their secrets, be a good friend.” Nothing earth shattering, but pretty sound and things that make my nine year old roll her eyes when Mom tells her, but she will repeat to me verbatim from the book like its the Bible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188.md?page=3)