Any idea why Felicity and accessories weren't big sellers?

[AGMommy]

After reading the threads about Felicity and some of her items being retired, does anyone have any thought on why she just never 'made it' as well as the others?

She's beautiful. And her clothes are so pretty. I'd actually love to have some of the cherry-finish furniture in my own house.

My only guess is that her place in history is so long ago that there's not quite enough in common for girls today to identify with? Her thoughts and spunkiness are typical for a girl that age, as well as her good deeds, but other than that..

Why do you think she's the least popular?

[DaWaterRat]

My (probably flawed) understanding of the party line is that a contributing factor was that to make them authentic, Felicity's accessories cost more to make than many of the other girls.

You're probably also right about the lack of connection with today's girls also. I mean, I know a lot of <s>girls</s> women who are interested in her time period, but we're all into pirates and fantasy and re-enactments and such too. (Read: We're Geeks, and have been most of our lives)

So lack of connection + Higher prices = lower sales = insufficient profits = Felicity's near retirement.

At least, that's how I see it.

[Pat B]

Part of the problem was that Felicity was not selling well at AG Place in Chicago. This was in a previous post here. Chicago is a newer city with no ties to the American Revolution. New York is different there are buildings which pre date the Revolution .

[ubarose]

Another issues was that her furniture didn't store well in the warehouses. There were a lot of problems with it falling apart due to enviornmental stress on the wood and glue.

[chrstnwmn7]

Her line seems the most for collection and not for play. I wouldn't let DD play with her dishes versus letting her play with Molly's. Know what I mean? I love all the doll accessories that are made by AG...but Felicity's seem to be more fragile and kinda geared to older kids if not adults.

[horsemom]

I think all those reasons contributed, plus her items are more expensive than the other dolls'. I could see parents steering their kids away from the doll with the $100 table/chairs and bed to the doll with $60 ones, ya know? Especially if those items looked fragile, and Felicity's really are. My sister accidentally broke the figurine and one salver from the party treats, and the tea box handle, and one of the guitar tuning knobs as a kid, and she was trying hard to be careful. Also, Felicity's clothes are kind of complicated, further making her more suitable for older children/adults. I do think a good part of the decision was because her stuff is probably more expensive to make and the profit margin isn't as high, but that's just my speculation. I just figure, how much can the profit margin be on sets that contain real silver pieces (at least, the PM chocolate set I have has a real silver chocolate pot, and also the sander is real silver)? And some of her clothes are made from really expensive fabrics... not sure how much profit they made on that riding habit.

[lieu2]

That is why our Felicity will not make an appearance till my daughter is 8. I looked at the tea lesson and I doubt a child much younger can take care of it. It is very delicate.