Ahem. Yes, is this thing on?

Ok. Hello, peoples.

Today, I am going to talk about a very special group of dolls.

Their name is…The Düeren family!

They are 5 sisters (Marie, Grace, Hazel, Willow, and Adeline).

Almost the whole Düeren family is supposed to be my mini-me, BTW. Katelyn (my first doll) is kinda my younger self mini-me, like me at age 8 or so. I’ve changed quite a bit since then, so that is why Grace and Marie in particular are my going to be my new mini me-s. They don’t look like me, necessarily, but in personality they’re really similar.

 

So, introducing….the Düeren family!

FYI, Grace and Willow might swap wigs. For now, though, this is the plan.

 

The Older Twins:

 

Marie Charlotte Düeren

Age 13

One of the oldest twins, Marie Charlotte is basically my slightly more nerdy, introverted side in doll form. She loves writing, photography, reading, Harry Potter, LotR (Lord of the Rings), history, science, swinging, psychology, learning about people from around the world, logic puzzles, Ravenclaw, Mythbusters, playing Mafia, Brain Games, Fetch, horseback riding, and fangirling. She plays the violin, is in debate club, and does all three NaNos every year. 🙂

Marie is spunky, yet sweet; sarcastic, yet smart; logical, yet slightly crazy; and somewhat quiet, but very nerdy. 🙂 She speaks (like me) in Ye Olde English. Her “cause” is illiteracy. She is an INTJ from Ravenclaw, though she wouldn’t mind Slytherin, either.

Grace Winifred Düeren

FYI, Grace will be customized to have freckles and the Bavas International Glamour Girl wig in Auburn.

Age 13

One of the oldest twins, Grace is pretty much my more extroverted side. She loves dancing, acting, doll-stopmotioing, all of Noel Streatfeild’s books, directing, sewing, designing clothes, learning about people from around the world, gymnastics, playing with her dolls, blogging, and singing. She takes lyrical, ballet, tap, Scottish, Irish, and jazz, and is in the performance / competition troupe at her dance school.

Grace is……crazy. Extroverted, talkative, positive, bossy, encouraging, funny, quick-thinking, somewhat annoying, thoughtful, and the kind of person who will comment on almost every blog she sees. Her “cause” is diversity, in any way, shape, and form.

She is an ESFP loyal to Gryffindor.

The Younger Twins:

 

Hazel Adele Düeren

Age 11

One of the youngest twins, Hazel is very into music, LotR, dolls, gardening, building things out of wood, lacrosse, Disney, art, and nature. She plays viola, violin, piano, and flute, and also sings. She likes to stop motion, and uploads all her AGSMs to AGtube.

Hazel is pretty quiet and introverted. She’s a bit shy, though she will talk a mile a minute after she knows you better. She’s very sweet, and her “cause” is making sure that people are not homeless.

Hazel is a loyal Hufflepuff, and a INFP.

Willow Mae Düeren

FYI, Willow will have a RRG Curly Auburn Parting Wig, freckles, and possibly some more cheek color.

Age 11

One of the youngest twins, Willow is pretty much my artistic and crafty side. She loves art, designing doll clothes, sewing, knitting, crochet, ice skating, woodwork, painting, felt-crafting-thingies, finding weird dresses at thrift shops and updating them, and listening to weird music.

She is a crazy, energetic, temperamental, sometimes reckless, not-thinking-things-through, life of the party type gal. She throws herself into anything and everything, though usually loses focus after a few hours, so there are many half started projects lying around her room. Her “cause” is girl’s rights. Not everything associated with that, but some of it.

Willow is an ISFP, and is in Gryffindor.

The only non-twin:

 

Adeline Eve Düeren 

(H4H Zelia, picture unavailable)

Age 10

Adeline isn’t exactly the girls sister–she’s actually their cousin, though she lived with them until her 9th birthday, when she moved to Sao Paulo with her family.

Adeline loves lots of different things, and from day to day it changes. She seems to like art and crafts stuff, but the type changes often.

Her personality is still in progress, so I’ll post more once it’s more worked on. 🙂

Hi! This was actually the fifth post I ever wrote on my blog, in early May 2014. I never posted, but I thought it would be fun to do so now, as a kind of Throwback Thursday type post (even though it’s not Thursday). I kept the typos and spelling/grammar errors on purpose, just for fun. I did add a few notes that I wrote now, though.

 

hi!  these are just dolls that I think look alike. Maybe sisters or cousins or something.

 

Jess and #40 and #30

I love them all!

Ruthie and MyAG #41

I personally think #41 looks like Ruthie’s older sister, but she has Sydney’s green eyes, so maybe Sydney’s older sister? Or both of their cousin?

Note from me as of 2015: When we got Malaila, we decided that Ruthie looked a lot like her (Weird, huh?). So, we’ll be getting #41 and re-naming her Shola, because we think it fits her better than it fits Malaila. Hola will be Malaila’s older sister.

#55 and #44

I think they could really be sisters! They have the same face mold, hair color, and eye color. The only differences are that #44 has medium skin and no freckles and #55 has light skin and freckles. But their skin color is only a tad bit off when you see them in person.

Note from me as of 2015:  Their names are now Annika and Gabby, and they will be cousins. 🙂

 

Cecile and #46

I think they have the same face mold but I’m not sure. They both are very cute and look adorable in dark green. 😉

Note from Kathleen: *facepalm* Thank goodness I can now tell when dolls have the same face mold.

#44 and #46

Their both very cute! I think if I bought #46 she would definitely be #44’s (who I’m definitely getting) cousin on her African American side. ( I always think of #44 as half African American, one fourth Hispanic, and one fourth French Canadian.)

Cecile and #44

The only difference is skin color and slight hair color difference.

 

Did you like this? I can do more if anyone wants me to.

Especially the not!GOTY ones. Those are fun to see. 🙂

 

Kathleen

Note from me as of 2015: This was almost painful to read.

So, today I decided that I want to do some tips and tutorials. Their crazinesses were told about it, and they quite liked the idea, so they chose a theme for themselves.

Hailey’s Tips for Success:

Tips for how to get better grades and how to plan for big projects and such.

 

Baking with Rubye and Alejandra/Baking with Rubye/ Cooking with Alejandra:

Cooking tips and tricks, as well as a few recipes we use. Depending on whether both or one of them is doing it, it will have a different name. Rubye does more baking, and Alejandra more cooking, hence the different names.

 

Sydney’s Spotlight:

Featuring different dance – related items for dolls, such as books, outfits, and performance wear. 🙂

 

Emily’s Guide to Manners and Grammar:

Manners and grammar. (Yes, Mom, I’m voluntarily helping her. Your eyes are not deceiving you.)

 

Ruthie’s Fairy Tales:

Short stories, fairy-like names, etc.

 

Sewing with Becca Ana:

Sewing tips, tricks, and tutorials

 

Fashion with Bella Rose:

Bella’s favorite outfits!

 

Malaila’s Library:

Book reviews, and some of those “If you like this, you’ll love………..” 🙂

 

Rachel the RaNDom:

Whatever things are currently on Rachel’s mind 🙂

 

Piper the Experimental (and Temperamental) Scientist

Piper doing science-y things

 

Nikita’s Photography

Some of the Nikita’s favorite photographs that she has seen

 

Tipi’s Writings

All things writing

 

Nyesha’s Artful Thinking

Art, painting, etc.

 

Katelyn’s Break the Ice

Katelyn will be talking about whatever she wishes, basically. 🙂 Even though I hate talk shows, it’ll be set up a bit like that, with her occasionally interviewing her sisters. And her name is because she’s breaking ice between her and anyone who wants to talk to her by giving them ideas for talking to her. She came up with that, not me. Clever……..hehe…………….*cricket noise*………………r……….i………….g……..h…………t……….? *runs off stage*

 

I’m having trouble with choosing some of them. I might change a few of them, eventually. I thought about someone doing a series of posts about people from all over the world, but that doesn’t quite fit anyone’s personality. If anyone’s interested, I can do those posts though, just written by me.

Anyways, keep an eye out for these!

Kathleen

I’ve recently gotten several awards, so I thought I would make a post with them. 🙂

Firstly, 50, 000,000 thanks to these girls! I never would have thought that my blog would get any awards, so this made me super excited. 🙂

Darling Doll Blog Award from L. Rose

1.If you could bring back a retired doll from AG, which one would it be?

Hmm……. If I could choose four, they would be Kanani, Cecile, Felicity, and #15. If I had to just choose one, it would be really close, but Kanani is my all time favorite AG doll ever. She’s such a gorgeous doll.
2.If you had to get rid of all your dolls but one, which one would you keep?

Don’t make me do this!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t choose!!!!!!!!!!
3.What do you want a future GOTY to be like?

You can see one of my GOTY ideas here, but I’ve had several new ones recently. My favorite would look something like this:

The dark blue eyes (Kit and Nellie both have them) or Saige’s aquamarine eyes,  shoulder length black hair, freckles, Jess mold, and either light or medium skin.

 

4. Scarves or Shoes?

Hmm……don’t really care much, haha.
5.How long have you been blogging?

A year and two days! 😀 (I got the New Blogger Award months ago, fyi)

 

I nominate:

Nicole from Wardrobe of Memories

Maddie from Dolls on My Mind

Loren from Happy House of AG

Leah from ToDolly Awesome

Jaclynn from Little House of American Girl

Madi from Delightful World of Dolls (I know, that’s six, but I love all these blogs!)

 

There are other doll blogs I like quite a bit also, but they already had gotten the Darling Doll Blog Award or they don’t have a Name/URL comment option, so I couldn’t tell then I had nominated them. (Vinyl Girls, AG in the Shire, DWOD, etc.)

 

So, Nicole, Maddie, Loren, Leah, Madi, and Jaclynn:

-You answer the 5 questions

-Then you nominate five people

-And write 5 questions for them to answer

– Finally, you comment on their blog to tell them you have awarded it to them.

 

Questions for you:

1. What would your dream GOTY be? What does she like doing? What’s her backstory?

2. What are your favorite things on doll blogs? (Photoshoots, photo stories, stop motions, DIYs, hairstyles, sewing, etc.)

3. What is your favorite book that isn’t that well known?

4. What are 5 facts people who haven’t met you in real life would never guess?

5. If you could meet any AGTuber, who would you meet? If you could meet any AG (or any other doll brand, really) blogger, who would you meet?

 

New Blogger Award from Nicole:

1. What was the first doll you received?

For 18″ in general: I’ve had baby dolls for years, but the first 18″ doll I ever got was  OG Katelyn. I put her up on the Meet The Dolls page, so you can read more about her there.

You can read more in my blog-o-versary post

 

2. What is your favorite season?

Undoubtedly Fall or Spring. Winter is pretty fantastic also. Pretty much anytime it rains a lot. 🙂

 

3. What is your favorite movie?

Oi, ok. Erm…Brave, Narnia, the Secret of Kells, and Harry Potter are all some of my favorites, but  nothing can compete with Jig. If you haven’t seen that, go on Netflix and search it. It is absolutely fantastic. I’m actually watching it while I post, haha.

 

4. What type of outfit would you like to see me sew?

Same things you’re sewing now. 🙂 One with Celtic knots would be pretty fantastic also.

 

I’m going to nominate: *waves fairy wand and beautiful dress appears while I cackle madly as Bellatrix because that is all I think of when I see the fairy godmother*

All silliness aside,

L. Rose

Ginger

Jessica

 

You have to:

Answer my questions

Nominate one person. They must have been blogging for less than a year and have less than a hundred posts.

Write four questions for them to answer

Comment and tell them that they were nominated

 

Questions for you:

1. What would your dream GOTY be? What does she like doing? What’s her backstory?

2. What are your favorite things on doll blogs? (Photoshoots, photo stories, stop motions, DIYs, hairstyles, sewing, etc.)

3. What is your favorite book that isn’t that well known?

4. What are 5 facts people who haven’t met you in real life would never guess?

 

The Summer Bucket List Tag from Ellie:

 

The Rules are:

1. Write 15 things that you want to do this summer (if you can’t think of 15 that’s okay) and publish it in a post.

2. Insert the picture. (nope, don’t feel like it)

3. Nominate 4 other people to do the tag.

4. Have fun!

UPDATE: I’m marking which I did and which I didn’t.

So, my summer bucket list:

1. Visit the AG store

Technically, I want to do this in September, but anytime in summer would be ok, too! Did not do this.

2. Get Kit and Nahji

Self explanatory, haha. Got Nahji, not Kit.

3. Go ice skating

Also self explanatory, haha. I did do this!

4. Stay at my grandparents house for a few days

We don’t get to see them that often, but I stayed at their house for a few days, and it was bliss. 😀 Not this.

5. Sell some of my solo dress designs

I haven’t talked about this, I guess. Anyways, in Irish dance, you can get a solo dress once you get to a certain level. I love to design solo dresses, and I’d love to try and sell some. OR this.

6. Start selling my doll clothing patterns

Through Pixie Faire, hopefully. 🙂 I’m working on perfecting one, so I can hopefully finish perfecting it this month or May, and then get it all computerized and the directions written up. If I focus, I can get it probably all done in August or so. Or this.

7. Win Camp NaNo!

This is Camp Nano. Wanting to win it is self explanatory. I’m slaving away on the April one right now, but I doubt I’ll win, so I’m hoping for July. But I did do this!

8. See my cousin

I haven’t seen her in ages! Well, technically, I saw her in March, but I was trying to get ready for somehting and we only got to talk for a few minutes. I saw her, but only for a few minutes because yet again she came over while I had to do something.

9. Read some classics.

I read the Little House on the Prarie series years ago, but I’d like to reread that, Narnia, Little Women, etc. Also, I’ve never read Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer, so I’d like to read those. Read Narnia, Little Women, Three Musketeers, etc., but not Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer.

10. Audition for a movie/tv show/commercial

Also self explanatory. Kind-of did this.

11. Take a  lyrical summer class

Self explanatory. I didn’t do this, but I’m taking lyrical in the fall/spring semesters.

12. Perfect my jumps and spins and SPOT!

Ballet is hard, man. I learned a few days ago that I’ll be moving up two levels next year instead of one, and changing from being the oldest to one of the youngest, so I really need to work on my dancing. (So apparently I needed to practice more because my ballet class is confusing)

13. Post more

If you follow my blog, you know what I mean. I most definitely have not done this.

14. Join a doll forum

Preferably AGHomeschool. I don’t know if my parents would let me, though, so this is a maybe. I’ve not done this.

15. Take Spunky and Sweet to a craft fair

Booths are so expensive! I did this, but in early fall.

The people who are nominated:

Madi

Emma

Lainey

Sunny

 

 

L. Rose, Ellie, and Nicole all have fantastic blogs (hence why they got nominated,) and I check them every day! Thanks a lot, girls!

Kathleen

Here are a few of my favorite Irish Dance solo dresses I have seen from Oireachteas.

Eastern Canadian Oireachteas

u8:

Blue and Silver 

Gradient Pink and White

White, Purple, and Blue

Pink

Pink, White, and Gold

u9:

Blue, Black, and White

Purple, White, and Blue

Black, Green, and Yellow

Purple, Black, and White

u10:

Silver, Black, and Pink

Silver, Blue, and Black

Blue, Gold, and Black

Teal and Green

Green, Gold, and White

 

u11 – u15 will be up soon, as well as some of my favorite dresses from other regions.

 

 

I’m sure you all want to get to the dancing unicorns part, but you’ll have to wait a sec so I can explain this.

So, if any of you have seen my about page, you’ll know that it is blank, empty, zero, nada, zip. Yeah. Whoops. I’m starting a series of posts about me, and when they’re posted I’ll also link them to my about page, so you can learn more about me.

I know, I know: Why don’t you just post all of this on your about page? Erm, I tried it. It was very, very, very long. It literally took me 10 minutes to read the whole thing, and it was eight thousand words. Yeah. You aren’t going to want to read all that in one go.

So this is kinda the main facts about me. Hobbies, favorite colors, etc.

Credit notes are on some of them, others are being added, and some I cannot find. If you know where any of these are from, please let me know.

Also, please know that I have not looked at many of these websites, so I don’t know what you might find on them.

I’m Kathleen, a bookworm-ish, nerdy, doll loving, dancing tween.

My nose is often in a book.

I love American Girl,

Our Generation,

Hearts for Hearts,

and My Twinn dolls.

I’m an Irish,

ballet,

and tap dancer.

I have an unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter, which is the best book ever,

Sewing,

Photography,

doll hairstyling,

and stop motioning are really great. (For those of you who don’t know, this is Alexis/AGSmiless and her doll Jenna/Livia/Maxton)

I own an Etsy shop.

I’m currently editing one book,

and writing another (CAMP NANO YAY!).

I’m a history nerd. (Isn’t that shirt fabulous?)

I may or may not waste spend a bunch of my time on Pinterest. I have 5,490 (and counting) pins; 852 Irish dance, 993 doll related pins, 663 writing, 468 sewing inspiration and such pins, and 117 Disney. Not to mention all my other boards. (Here’s my account)

My favorite colors are mint green,

dark green,

 and turquiose.

I also like lilac.

Emma Watson is one of my favorite people (note to self: must eat strawberries with a fork),

as is Malala Yousafzai,

Michaela DePrince,

and Gabby Douglas.

Bethany Hamilton is pretty great too. (Yes, I have read her book and saw her on the Amazing Race)

Racial diversity is something that I think is extremely important in books, movies, dolls, anything.

My favorite movies are Enchanted (I’m the kinda person who acts like Giselle half the time and the other half is a logical person who says “it’s reality.”)

Frozen,

HARRY POTTER,

Narnia,

Brave,

and parts of Ella Enchanted. The book is better, but I like the movie as a stand alone sorta-thing.

I’ve already mentioned Harry Potter, but my other favorite books are The Books of Bayern series,

The Giver,

and the 13 Treasures series.

My favorite music/artists is Irish anything,

Riverdance,

The Giver soundtrack, (this will literally play for hours on end at our house.)

Prince Avalanche,

Brilliance,

Patrick Doyle,

Harry Potter movie soundtrack 4, 5, and 6,

Angie Miller (Big Angie fans at our house. Claire cried when she was voted off AI),

along with Harry and the Potters, largely because of how funny it is. I don’t really enjoy the actual singing.

Unicorns are awesome.

My favorite show ever is Fetch (it was discontinued about 6 years ago, but it is on Netflix and Hulu Plus, and is great for all ages. Even my parents love it!)

and I’ve seen one episode of Brain Games, which was really cool. Again, nerdy person warning.

I love pizza,

chocolate,

glitter,

sequins,

and more glitter.

I speak in what my friend calls Ye Olde English, which mainly consists of thereof, furthermore, technically, and my favorites: theoretically and logically. 🙂

Yeah, so these are my main hobbies and such. 🙂 I’ll post more soon, mainly going into more details about what I wrote here.

All photos are on my Pinterest board, Dolls and Dance. You can find out credits and all there. 🙂

 

I started my blog exactly one year and a day ago! My first post was on April 21st, but I started my blog on April 16th. 😀  (I know, this is a day late.)

 

Also, I realized I never really talked much about how I got into dolls/dance/everything else, so I thought I’d talk about how I got into dolls today, seeing as how it’s really only doll bloggers who are reading my blog so far. 😉

 

How I Got Into Dolls:

 

 

I had seen AG dolls all over, actually. I remember in March 2000-something or other (it was 2008 or 2007), I got Meet Felicity, Felicity Learns a Lesson, and Changes for Felicity. Of course, being the bookworm I am, I read them all in a week or two.

 

Then in the back of Felicity Learns a Lesson, I found a small picture, with Felicity (in her first meet outfit), Kaya, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, Kit, and Molly. There was, of course, a website. I visited the website, and yeah, well…….hmm. My poor mother.

 

I soon found more and more AG books, and Felicity’s were getting the honor of being my favorite books ever. (Move over, Angelina Ballerina!)

 

I went over to my cousin’s house soon after, and I found out she had several of the dolls. I’m sure she didn’t want my young “oooooh it’s a dolly in pink gimme gimme gimme” hands all over, but she let my little sister Claire (who had become very interested in dolls) and I hold one each for a few minutes, then we played with Barbies.

 

Fast forward to November 2008. We were at the same cousin’s house, and she was opening her “big” Christmas present (we opened our extended family’s presents early that year). Well, her other grandparents (the ones that we aren’t related to) gave my cousin a long, thin box, which she instantly realized was an AG doll. I remember her getting Mia’s Starter Collection that day, and being soooo jealous, because when I was that age I looked kinda similar to Mia, and here my cousin was getting Mia plus tons of outfits.

 

Once we got home, I begged even more for a doll.

That January, we went once again to my cousins’ house (Evelyn), and we went in her room. We tried to play with Barbies, but the whole time Claire and I kept staring at her AG dolls, making little excuses to touch them, like “She had a tiny fabric scrap on her pants”, etc.

I remember we finally sat on the bed, and she let me hold Mia, and Claire held Kit. We looked through her endless magazines, and Claire became determined to get Kit.

 

We kept begging and begging for an AG doll, till finally, Christmas 2009 came. I was upset at first, because there wasn’t a long, thin box like my cousin had gotten the Thanksgiving before.

 

That year, I remember we opened our “big” present before we opened our stockings. I was very curious as to what could possibly be in the thin(ish), wide, 20″ tall box. The first thing I saw was the ice skates. I remember shouting “MIA!!!!!!” until I saw the rest of her. I was just as excited that I was getting my first doll, even if it was Katelyn (Our Generation), and not Mia (American Girl).

 

We went to our cousins house also that year. I packed up Katelyn, her accessories, her book, and an extra outfit my parents had gotten for her in my new backpack. We spent the whole Christmas visit reading, talking about dolls, playing with dolls, dreaming up ideas for giant, long movies that only ever got two scenes filmed ( I want to know who the cameraman was. I’m taking issue with them), and pillaging her giant AG magazine/catalogue/book collection.

 

Sometime in Fall 2009 (so before I got Katelyn), my dad’s friend stayed at our house for a few days. We were pretty much begging for a doll at that point, and AG catalogues were all over. Sometime in January or February 2010, a long, wide, flat box appeared at our door. We were told by my dad that it was a present for us. When we opened it, there were Becca Ana and Emily staring up at us from the box. My dads’ friends’ daughters had sent us two of their dolls! I watched the video a few weeks ago, and there was a lot of screaming. Lots.

 

In Summer 2010, my sister got Hailey as a replacement doll, essentially, for one of those “life-size” cheap dolls from a local store. Around that time, my interest in dolls went downhill. While before I would play with my dolls almost every day, then I might only pick them up and play with them once a week or so.

 

In Summer 2012, my sister got Sydney as a very late birthday present.

 

In Summer 2011, Claire got Rubye, also as a late b-day present.

 

For the rest of 2012 and a good chunk of 2013, Claire played with dolls much more than I did.

 

I learned how to sew in around 2011 or so. In fall 2012, we learned about a local yearly craft fair with a very small entry fee. We decided we really wanted to do it in 2013, so we became business partners with a dance friend, and Spunky and Sweet was born. At first, we decided to make no sew tutus for dolls and girls. In June, we decided we wanted to create a few other small things (though mainly for dolls), so I went to research “american girl doll crafts.”

 

Then, the blogosphere was smaller. The “biggie” bloggers were really only LADL, Doll Diaries, AG Fan, Toy Box Philosopher, Never Grow Up, and Fun with AG Fan. Now it’s much bigger, and there are tons of people who started blogging around the time I did.

 

Anyways, I remember that the first site I clicked on was Doll Diaries. This post was the first doll-related thing I ever read on the internet. Camp Doll Diaries was pretty much heaven for me. The next blog I clicked on from there was Jaclynn’s, and it was on this post. After that, I clicked on Madi’s blog. From there, my interest in dolls grew a ton. I fell in love with Shola (thanks to this post from Doll Diaries) and my dolls sat there to be mainly played with by Claire only no more.

 

One of the things I remember being the most excited about was the fact that people could guess the GOTY. I somehow found AGFMB (I’m guessing off of AG Fan) and slightly freaked out when I found out about Isabelle. People finding out about GOTY stuff early, one of the people being in a class with the Saige actress, questions about dolls and knowledgable people answering them, and this cool thing called Custom Dolls (I wanted that Anne Frank custom so much). I was stuck to the computer for quite a bit after finding that.

 

At the craft fair, selling stuff was really fun. We each got $25 to spend from it. My favorite thing about it was not that I got money, but that I had found all these great blogs and resources for doll crafts.

 

In February 2014, I found out that Ruthie, Ivy, Cecile, and Marie-Grace were going to be retired. Claire and I decided to buckle down and save up for Ruthie. We had tried to before, but as soon as we hit the $12 mark, it had gone towards OG doll clothes. Fast forward to May. My mom promised that she would pay tax and shipping. This time, we saved all but the last $35. The day that AG announced that they were retiring, my mom and I called my grandmother, and asked if for Claire’s birthday, would she please pay the last $35? It would still take us a few weeks and we wouldn’t be able to buy her before she was gone. She said yes, and we bought Ruthie that day. We were originally going to give her to Claire a few months down the road for her birthday and say “grandma payed the rest, so yay!” One day she wouldn’t use an Epi-pen (life-saving shot to use during allergic reactions) when she needed one, so we told her about Ruthie.

 

You know the rest. My blog was started the April before we ordered Ruthie, and Alejandra was bought in August,

 

Bella for Christmas,

 

Rachel,

 

and Malaila in February,

 

Piper,

 

Nikita,

 

and Tipi in March,

 

and Nyesha in April since Hearts for Hearts were being discontinued.

 

So now, 148 comments (and counting!), 36 posts, 11 followers, and a million friends later, here we are!

 

I wanted to do a little shout-out for the people I’ve met and talked to, whether they’ve commented on here, on my Pinterest boards, or elsewhere. So, thanks to Jessica, Nicole, Madi, Jaclynn (who celebrated her 2-year anniversary about a month ago), Lainey, Lainey D., Sunny, Loren, AJ, L. Rose, Hannah, and Carli, who stopped blogging, but is still one of my favorites. 😀

 

 

Also, thank you to the people who can actually get past my weirdness and read the actual post and like it enough to actually follow me: Jora, L. Rose (again), Kathryn (she doesn’t blog on the one linked to her name anymore, though, so here’s her personal), Tori (a girl I met once at Joann’s), my dad (he has to put up with my craziness every day), Lainey (again), Loren (again), Christian Homeschooler, emiLy, Heather, and Nicole (again).

 

Other things I’ve learned:

– People apparently think it’s hysterical whenever I write this: *bows deeply and rolls eyes at AG whilst face is hidden*

– There are lots of extremely sweet doll bloggers

– 19 DOLLS AND COUNTING AAAAHHHHHHHH IS AWWWWWEEEEESSSSSSSSOOOOOOMMMMMEEEEE  (click this and WATCH IT! WATCH IT I TELL YOU. ASPEN HEIGHTS CAN WAIT. WASHING YOUR DOG CAN WAIT. GOING TO SCHOOL CAN WAIT. JUST WATCH IT.)

– Apparently, you absolutely do not ever in any event in history no matter what happens ever shoot a water gun at a cat  (knowledge from Ellie)

– I have found out that LotR is complicated (thanks to this post by Ellie)

– I have found out that I am a very beautiful pickle (thanks to just about every post by Ellie)

– I hast found out that my friend is hilarious (READ THIS!!!!!!!) which, granted, I already knew, but her blog made me realize that all the more

– I now know about fandoms (another post by Captain Eden Barrows (a.k.a. my friend) that you need to read)

– I have found out that my dance class is awesome (Yet another post by CED (ok with your new initials, Awesome Possum?) and just for the record, me and my friend started that craziness from one of our inside jokes, and then the younger kids got into it, and yes, Possum, there was someone under 9 because bookworm-soccer-obsessed-person’s younger brother was 8 then. I apologize for the craziness. :b )

– and that Madi is super sweet!

 

 

So, thanks a ton for the views and follows, comments and friends. (Also the Harry Potter group fangirling)

 

 

A huge internet hug for all!!

Kathleen, Claire, Katelyn, Becca Ana, Emily, Hailey, Rubye, Sydney, Ruthie, Alejandra, Bella Rose, Malaila, Rachel, Piper, Nikita, Tipi, and Nyesha

P.S. – Yesterday (April 16th) was Alejandra’s birthday. We’ll be celebrating it today or tomorrow, though, so keep an eye out for that, as well as the intro posts for Bella, Malaila, Rachel, Tipi, and Nikita; photo stories; and two stop motion series! Also, I’m hoping to get a “How well does my mom know AGTube/AG in general?” video up. (Technically, I haven’t even asked my mom…..I should probably do that.)

This is the conclusion to the post Retirements 2015 – Kit, Caroline, and Josefina and the post Retirements 2015 – Addy and Rebecca.

First, I’m going to copy and paste what I think about each doll to remind you.

Rebecca has been one of my favorites ever since she came out. She was the doll that was coming out as I was getting into AG, and since then I wanted to be an actress and dancer, she really appealed to me. I still love her, and I love to learn about the world during WW1, and so I just like her overall.

I love Addy, and I think her character is a very good role model. We would love to have her, and she brings some much needed diversity to BeForever.

Kit is a really strong character in the books and some of the historical characters seem a bit conceited and bratty, so I hope that they keep her. Plus, the woman reporter in the 1920’s/30’s plot is becoming a trend in books (e.x.- Hattie Big Sky and Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson.) She has also been a big seller in the past, so AG might not retire her in the hopes that she will become really popular again. I think that a lot of girls in the target age range (target age range is 8-12 for the 18″.)  really like her, Claire and I included. The thing that pushed me to put her on my wishlist was when I found out that she had the dark blue eyes (which only three AG dolls have ever had.) Her character is really fun.

Josefina wants to be a healer, (1824 equivalent of a more natural doctor) so I think it is partially important for her to keep her because of that. Seeing as how basically none of them are anything very STEM-focused (not that they really knew much about how the human body worked in 1824) it is nice to see that in a girl’s toy line. I mean, we have a reporter, an actress, a girl’s rights activist (or two? Would Samantha count as one? Or more of an equality activist?), and a sailor. (I don’t know what Addy and Kaya would really grow up to be.) A girl’s rights activist is a very good cause, but I’m glad that there is someone focused on science. Another one of the things I really like about her is that she is one of the non-Caucasian dolls in the BeForever line.

I’m not super fond of Caroline. Releasing a second doll with blond hair and blue eyes in the BeForever line was pretty risky in my opinion. I don’t really like her character (she is one of the ones who sounds really bratty in bits of her books) and a lot of her newer clothes are either really cheap looking, aren’t historically accurate, or just not at all appealing. The only things I would even want from her collection is her Travel Outfit, her Nightgown, and her Winter Coat.

 

I think this is the order from most likely to least likely that they will retire:

1. Josefina and Caroline

2. Rebecca

3. Addy and Kit

 

I think these are 5 of the most popular characters (though all the BeForever characters are) Caroline and Kit especially seem to sell well.

 

Josefina not having her official BeForever release till this spring seems very fishy to me. I think it is either a “Say she will have one this spring to get everyone to calm down and therefore make the retirement an enormous deal” or a “We were going to retire her around the time BeForever was released, but decided not to. Working on her collection was postponed, so things weren’t ready in time” However, Cecile and Marie-Grace were supposed to have some things released last summer according to AG, but they were retired instead. I think it very odd that she did not have a big BeForever release. I know lots of people think she is perfectly safe because AG has said that she is having a big release in spring (is February 12th a winter release? Will they have another spring release?) but I think people should be a lot more worried than they are about her.

 

 

Kit is not at all doing well. They’ve done every single thing to help her sales already (i.e.-she already has a movie, she has tons of mysteries, tons of clothes, had a BFF doll, etc.) They put her in the “BeForever Spotlight” (which I’m suspicious they came up with just to help her sell) which basically sounds like “Hurry! Get her! If she doesn’t sell well with this she will be retired!” to me. I think her new BeForever collection has had the most negative comments about her new clothes, which is big for AG since she typically sells so well. She used to be one of their biggest money-earners, and now they’re flailing to regain her sales.

 

 

Rebecca also has sold pretty well. She has not done as well lately, but she also hasn’t been their best seller overall. I think the fact that she is Jewish is both helping and hurting her sales. Not as many girls relate to her because of that, but it is also a quite underrepresented niche in terms of dolls. The fact that she got a LE set (I’m talking about the 2014 ones, not 2015) for her sounds like they’re trying to put more attention on her. Another thing that might be hurting her sales is that some girls, including a few of my friends, weren’t allowed to read her last book for a few years after she came out because they mention some difficult topics. I think that the factory conditions and the strikes surrounding them are one of the things that has changed in the U.S., but some people might not want their younger girls reading abut the Triangle Factory Fire and such. I think it is a difficult topic to tackle, but surprisingly, AG handled it well.

 

 

I think there is a lot of controversity about Addy possibly being retired. Because of AG’s “black dolls don’t sell” misconception, when they come out with the next African American doll, it is very possible she could be retired. However, she has been flying off the shelves since her BeForever makeover. I think they will want to keep her, but they might wait to see if she is still selling this well in the long run.

 

 

There are a lot of people with different opinions about whether Caroline is going to be retired. She too sells well, but I think the War of 1812 isn’t as well known, and for younger girls who have no clue that it even exists, that can be a big deal. Less parents are going to want to buy a $110 doll whose hair could be wrecked in a matter of days, though, so she is missing out on a lot of sales because of that. However, there is the fact that she sells well, especially to adult collectors. She does  have some issues with her cousin though, and the fact that Grace does too does not seem to be helping  her.

Some more things to think about:

In the February 12th release, neither Josefina nor Caroline got anything (at least not doll stuff.) True, Caroline got a mystery, but they keep selling the mysteries even after the doll is retired. Josefina’s Journey book does have a slot waiting on Amazon, so maybe that is a sign that she will be having a re-vamp. Her book is set to be released August 27th (I think we know the date for the summer release now) and I bet that they will do a big release for BeForever at that time, and most likely add the 2015 historical.

Remember Cecile and Marie-Grace? Remember how AG said that they would get more Summer 2014? They were retired Summer 2014. Is it just me, or does that sound like Josefina? Everyone is saying that Josefina is safe, but what if they’re wrong? What if AG is trying to make everyone think she isn’t going anywhere, but it is all a ruse?

Josefina has barely anything left in her collection. If you think like AG, then you have to wonder why they would make a whole re-vamp for a doll that is about to be retired. Making a new pattern, choosing materials and color schemes, sending it to the factory to be mass produced, having it go through customs, sending it to all the stores, writing descriptions, catalogue pages…… Why would you go through that much work if she  will be retired in a matter of months?

I think that Josefina could very well be on her way out, but Caroline has been having some issues also.

What do you think? Who will be retired? Do my predictions sound accurate to you?

 

This is a continuation of the post Retirements 2015 – Kit, Caroline, and Josefina.

Addy

-Addy is the only BeForever character currently available who is African American. AG is saying that they are going to release another BeForever African American character in 2016.

-Because of AG’s “black dolls don’t sell well” misconception (even though Addy is one of the best selling dolls right now) they tend to make an African American doll, and as soon as they do, retire one of the already existing ones.

Rebecca

– They’ve been slowly but surely whittling away all her Jewish items. Her Hannukuh dress is now called her “Holiday Dress.” I think she isn’t selling as well anymore, so they are trying to make her collection appeal to more people.

-On a related note, they have now released a MYAG Hannukah set. To me, this sounds like they want to have coverage for other religions in case they do decide to retire her.

– The hazel eyes are way overused, and that might not be helping her sales.

– If they do decide to come out with a African American 1920’s Harlem Renaissance doll, the beginning of the 20th century would be awfully crowded. See:

1760s – Kaya

1770s – Felicity

1810s – Caroline

1820s – Josefina

1850s – Kirsten

1860s – Cecile, Marie-Grace, and Addy

1900s – Samantha

1910s – Rebecca

1920s – Rumored Harlem Renaissance doll

1930s – Kit

1940s – Molly

 1970s – Julie

 

They’ve had 3 dolls a decade or so apart before, (Kit, Rebecca, and Molly) and even 3 in the same decade (Addy, Cecile, and Marie-Grace,) but four in a row? Of course, if the rumors that Samantha is going to be available for a year or two only, this theory isn’t the best. Still, though, when you think about it, it is slightly suspicious.

 

Things that I think will help these dolls not be retired

Addy

– There would be a lot of backlash if she is retired because she is the only black doll in the BeForever line. I said a bit about this for Josefina in another post, which you can see here: Retirements 2015: Kit, Caroline, and Josefina

– She is selling really well since her BeForever revamp.

Rebecca

– The fact that she is the only one who is Jewish and a religion other than Christian could be a big factor in whether they decide to retire her or not.

– Right now she is the only doll in the BeForever line with hazel eyes.

 

I think that out of these dolls there is no safe route to go.

Rebecca is Jewish, and the only one who isn’t Christian in the BeForever line; not to mention there has only been one GOTY who is non-Christian. (Lindsey)

Rebecca has been one of my favorites ever since she came out. She was the doll that was coming out as I was getting into AG, and since then I wanted to be an actress and dancer, she really appealed to me. I still love her, and I think it interesting to learn about the world during WW1.

I love Addy, and I think her character is a very good role model. We would love to have her, and she brings some much needed diversity to BeForever.

I would love to see a Civil Rights Movement era doll, because I would love to see more dolls from that time period and because these are still important issues for us all today. I’m worried that if this were to happen, AG would mess it up or offend people somehow in the process.  I think a brand like Hearts for Hearts could pull it off nicely because they’re a bit more sensitive in these subjects (Lillian has a fantastic story – they do a really good job of addressing important issues).

I’m going to post a conclusion about who I think will be retired in the next few days, so keep an eye out for that.

This is Kathleen, news reporter, signing off.