Brianna is practicing “Jingle Bells” on her clarinet and we got the AG Holiday catalog in the mail – life is good!
We have a tradition in our house that we must look at the American Girl catalog together… no peeking if you’re alone! The January catalog viewing when the Girl of the Year comes out is an especially sacred time. Today we sat on the couch after school and checked out this new and interesting catalog.
Overall, I enjoyed seeing the various Instagram “fan made” doll photos. Time and again I have appreciated AG items more when I see them on fellow bloggers’ websites than the images in the catalog. I liked seeing outfits broken up and mixed in a new way, as shown in the 14 year old’s photo of the doll of color with the horse peeking over her shoulder. Super cute.
I also liked the feature photo on page 2 of all of the dolls gathered together at a holiday party. At our house, a doll party is for all the dolls – historical, TrulyMe or Girl of the Year. Pictures like that reflect the way we “play” at home.
That said, for me personally, seeing Kit in Julie’s 70s egg chair was a bit of a stretch. Granted, you can get so used to seeing Julie in the egg chair that you don’t really ‘see’ it anymore. Another solution might be to feature fan pictures of one or two of the historical dolls in each catalog so that we can see some fresh photos.
Hi! This is Brianna! Here are my opinions on this new and awesome catalog.
I really enjoyed that this catalog was larger [in length and width.] Also the inside format is great! I agree with Jen that the various “fan made” doll photos were really neat and was a cool idea by American Girl.
I’m really glad that they put all the Beforevers in the catalog, instead of just a few. Also, I agree with Jen that it was really neat the way AG combined outfits, like how on pages 66-67 they featured lots of different AG bedroom ideas for the dolls. My favorite was the 2nd picture, with the plaid dog bed, the Hanukkah set, Rebecca’s bed, Maryellen’s jukebox, and an adorable little Corgi Puppy.
What are your thoughts? We welcome all opinions – these topics are as hot as discussion about Hillary’s emails in the Democratic debate!
The Dolls Between Us 
I got two catalogs, one of each size! One came in my name and the other in the hubby’s, I asked him if he wanted it. 🙂
I liked some of what they did, some of it not at all. Did you notice that Louisa was the “cover girl” for the Truly Me dolls? My favorite pic was of the dolls playing with the smaller dolls.
ROFL @ the debate comment!
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I didn’t know there was a smaller size catalog out there. Your dolls can use it to make their Christmas list.😉
I didn’t notice that photo was Louisa, but I had to go back and take a second look… Very neat. You have great taste!
Seeing some of the outfits mixed with other outfits made me think AG could try something like “2016s must have fashion items” that could be 10 or 15 items sold separately.
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It’s more like the standard size catalog, the one that came to me is the larger one. I’m not sure how they decide who gets which one though! I love the idea of items being sold as separates, even if they did it as a limited time thing. There are quite a few outfits that I only like one piece of, they do it with shoes and accessories, so I think it would do well.
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I got the regular sized catalog this week in the mail…it’s great!! 😀 Glad to hear you both enjoyed looking at it too (it was the super large one, right?). I haven’t bought anything from AG in a while, so they stopped sending me the huge Christmas catalogs.
*Sunny
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Also, my mom loves Maryellen’s skating outfit. 😉
*Sunny
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Yes, we got the big one. It’s really enjoyable to look at. Has your library gotten Maryellen’s book in yet? The skating outfit is a special part of the story. If your mom has Pinterest you could ask her to look up blue ice skates. They were a real thing — not just an idea dreamed up by AG!
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Yes, they have! I read both books and the journey book and loved them all! 🙂
My mom doesn’t have a Pinterest, but I’ll ask her to Google/look up blue ice skates soon. That’s really neat that there were actually such things in the 50s….finally some real historical accuracy… 😉
*Sunny
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I just got the new catalog! I can’t wait to read it!
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I’m so glad they brought in a fan photographer who’s older ( I think Valerie is 14). I’ve been noticing that AG seems to try to draw the younger fans and leave the older ones out, and now, the catalog shows teenagers they’re not too old to play with dolls. I think that’s awesome.
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I agree, and I hope acknowledging fans older than 8 might result in not everything being pink and purple! Bring back that blue windbreaker!
Unrelated thought, but we were at Target today, which doesn’t happen very often, and I noticed more outfits with that Jackie Kennedy 60s vibe. Waiting for BF2016!
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