New Molly Retirements???!!

**jerseycow6** · May 2nd, 2006, 10:57 PM

That's awesome! I hope she enjoys the books! I should probably clarify my complaint that is basically about those who buy the things and never, ever read the books. You would not believe how many "Meet" books end up at my local bookstore, looking completely new. It's like they buy the doll and immediately discard the book.

**auri** · May 2nd, 2006, 10:59 PM

Originally posted by horsemom:
[QB]...They're slowly but surely getting rid of everything historical and educational about the company, and replacing it with the same consumerist-oriented mindset that all the other companies have...QB]

I'm sorry to say I agree with you. It's not that I don't like anything Mattel's done; Felicity and Elizabeth's new tea dresses are adorable and I even like Kit's scooter. But that's really besides the point. A love of history and a desire to share it with our daughters is what drew so many of us to AG in the first place. It is tough to keep girls connected to dolls as they grow older. The books were a way of doing that but so were the historically accurate clothes, accessories, etc. They elevated AG above mere "toys". If Mattel sacrifices that, I think they risk hollowing out the entire brand.

**Nethilia** · May 2nd, 2006, 11:12 PM

Originally posted by jerseycow6:
That's awesome! I hope she enjoys the books! I should probably clarify my complaint that is basically about those who buy the things and never, ever read the books. You would not believe how many "Meet" books end up at my local bookstore, looking completely new. It's like they buy the doll and immediately discard the book.

That would annoy me. The original point of these characters was that they lived in various times of and that little girls would see how girls have lived all through time--how they went to school, what birthdays were like, and all that. I'm something of a history buff. That's one of the reasons my Addy stays in her own time. She's a historical, and I feel that personally she should stay historical to be true to herself and how she was concieved. The only non-historical outfits I'm going to let her have aren't really modern--she'll have a Nigerian outfit, and she has a kimono for a convention I'm going to. Other than that, she stays in 1860s Philly.

**ksami** · May 2nd, 2006, 11:27 PM

Originally posted by jerseycow6:
You would not believe how many "Meet" books end up at my local bookstore, looking completely new. It's like they buy the doll and immediately discard the book.

This might be because people have doubles of the meet books. They buy the book, fall in love with the character, then buy the doll and have two meet books. I don't think I could ever give away a book that came with a doll, but oh well!

**Nethilia** · May 2nd, 2006, 11:55 PM

Originally posted by ksami:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by jerseycow6:
You would not believe how many "Meet" books end up at my local bookstore, looking completely new. It's like they buy the doll and immediately discard the book.

This might be because people have doubles of the meet books. They buy the book, fall in love with the character, then buy the doll and have two meet books. I don't think I could ever give away a book that came with a doll, but oh well!<hr /></blockquote>I have two copies of Meet Addy (I had a full set of Addy books--and most other books!--before I ever got a doll). My first copy is the one with the old pictures; I like to compare them.

**AngieBelle** · May 3rd, 2006, 02:29 AM

I miss the old catalogues with all the descriptions too! I discovered AG in the early 90s at the library. I was already into books like the Little House series, the All-of-a-Kind Family series, and Strawberry girl. American Girl was just another line I came across in the same genre. I did 2 AG book reports that year and went through all the books at the library. I couldn't seem to find Happy Birthday, Samantha for the longest time, so Mom finally bought me a copy when it appeared in a book order form at school.

I remember when the description for Molly's capture the flag gear used to say you have to read the book to find out why she has a can of bugs. I was sooo curious!

The summaries of the books used to run down the length of the page, and the items included historical info. I remember when I was anticipating the arrival of my first girl, I read Samantha's description over and over. "She comes with the first book in her series so you can read about her adventures together the moment she arrives!" (or something like that.)

I feel really sad for those who own the dolls and don't care a bit about the stories. My girls time travel all the time, but they still represent their own stories. Because of AG, I still have a thing for history, especially day to day life.

I had a Victorian themed birthday party when I turned 10. We had lemonade and coconut ice cream balls from her cookbook just like Samantha- only with no salt, of course. I copied all the things she had- gave away Chinese fans and teeny tedddies for favors, asked all my friends to dress fancy. We put on Samantha's play from the old theatre kit. That's still my favorite birthday party I ever had.

**adorevintage** · May 3rd, 2006, 02:39 AM

It seems to me Mattel doesn't give a darn about the adult collectors (who have the money to spend) but instead are targeting the YOUNGER consumers who can beg Mommy and Daddy to buy them AG things...

My daughter loves the brightly colored pastel icky dresses... and I am afraid this is the direction Molly's is going... (roller skating outfit, bathing suit...pastel! pastel!)

I for one love the dark and patriotic color scheme of Molly's sets... her collection isn't my favorite, but I appreciate it for what it is... and if it does go towards a more girly, more pastel look... I will probably grow to detest it.

I'm all up for a SNAIL MAIL petition!

**cami713** · May 3rd, 2006, 03:04 AM

I strongly dislike the idea of them changing the books for the heck of it. Changing book illustrations/wording simply to change an existing product/create a new one, to make money, is, to me, absolutely inexcusable. I could see where it made "sense" financially with Elizabeth, but Molly is already a pretty good seller, and it doesn't make any sense in this case.

I don't care about them retiring things to make new ones. Every company does that. But changing things around in the books that have been around for 20 years now does not sound like a very good 20th Anniversary. It sounds like them being cheap and lazy, and stupid about what their customers actually want.

I am not one to get into Mattel/PC arguments, and hate on Mattel. I think, for the most part they've done a pretty good job. But, their lack of caring about the books, and the fact that the books are the CORE of the AG collection, not the other way around just really, really frustrates me. It's the books that help sell the dolls, not the dolls that sell the books. They've been strongly lacking in their attempts at selling the books lately. Yes thy make new ones, with the mysteries and the world books (which look like they're being phased on), and some of the extra short stories (they started these well in the PC days), but they could not care less if one of these "extra" book lines doesn't sell well (and really, they're all overpriced, with the exception of the Mysteries, it's no surprise they don't sell well). And they hardly ever have the original books (or these new ones) pictured in the catalogue now. As others have said, without the books, AG really is just another over-priced semi-good quality children's item. There are plenty of these on the market, and AG losing their closeness with the books just makes them another face in the crowd.

Thinking about the retirements to bring out NEW stuff, I have to wonder who they're targeting the new items at. Such as, if they make a new bed, a trundle one, who are they trying to get to buy it? The old Molly fans who have her old bed, will say "Haha, I'm not buying a second one, good one AG" or the new fans, of which the 3rd movie really can't be bringing in ALL that many. Most, even the casual, fans are going to see the new "remade" stuff and be like "Why did they change this? I might not have loved the original ______, but it was just fine as it was."

But, honestly, petitions won't do anything. Especially internet ones. They'll see it, perhaps be impressed, but you can make up 500 names/email addresses, and fill one out all by yourself. They know that. Individual people have to write (snail mail is much more impressive, it shows you care enough to take the extra time and waste the 40cents), and call. Those are the only ways they're going to see how people truly feel. They probably wouldn't get TOO many letters (even if everyone here wrote one, and had their kids/parents write one), and they certainly wouldn't change the Molly plans, but perhaps for the next girl, they'd take the statements into consideration.

10 bucks says they're just changing the sets (like the clothes and furniture) to *add* a few things, like an extra accessory piece, or finer detail, so they can start charging $28 instead of $22 for the Camp Gowonagin Uniform, and $20 for the Miss Victory. Can't imagine they've left them that "low" all this time.

I enjoy the movies, and I've enjoyed the friend dolls. I don't think it should have to be "movie/friend AND destroying 1/5 of the collection OR no movie/friend to keep the entire collection."

I've also enjoyed the LE/AGT dolls, but I really think they're a huge part of why the historical collection has been lacking. Releasing 4+ new dolls a year, with only one of them being in the historical line cannot be good. How much design and create time is sucked up by the LEs and new AGTs, instead of the historical line, where it should be?

I'm not even sure I want an all new historical now. It would just be a doll, with 6 outfits (hopefully she'll actually get the normal 6 books), PJs, and a bed. No extra accessories, because apparently they're retire worthy.

Nice way to be nice to their loyal customers. Happy 20th, AG! [img]graemlins/grrr.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/whatever.gif[/img]

**sthissell** · May 3rd, 2006, 03:31 AM

Originally posted by mandasmom:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Where did you hear that Kirsten's Saint Lucia tray is in danger of retirement????? That doesn't seem to fit.

That rumor may have started because last year (or maybe the year before last) at the MCM sale they had a sign in front of Kirsten's trays that were for sale, saying that they were retired. Obviously, they were wrong, but I have to say that they have had lots of them for sale the last couple of years.

As for Molly's retirements, after them replacing Felicity's tea set, party treats and chocolate set last year, nothing AG does will completely surprise me. I could almost understand them replacing her bed-it has always been my least favorite of all of the dolls-and it doesn't seem to be made with the quality and sturdiness of the other beds. I am thinking/hoping that maybe they will make nice wooden bunkbeds for Molly and Emily. The only bunkbeds AG ever made were the yellow GOT ones, so they could use another set. It would be more original that just giving her a trundle bed like Kit's, IMO. I think with her core outfits, they will just change the design somewhat, like they did with Samantha's new bathing suit. I doubt that they are being completely eliminated.

I'm really anxious to see what is at the AG warehouse sale in June-based on last year's sale, I think it should give us a pretty good idea of what to expect for Molly's retirements.<hr /></blockquote>Ok, what's the warehouse sale? I'm guessing it's different than the MCM sale?

Sarah

**mandasmom** · May 3rd, 2006, 03:47 AM

The warehouse sale is a sale that the AG outlet store in Oshkosh, Wi has in June every year. It's nowhere near the size of the MCM sale, but all of the items are first quality, and usually either recently retired, or soon to be retired items. No dolls, almost no furniture, no girls clothes-it's mostly doll clothes. Last year they were sellling Felicity's chocolate set, tea set and party treats for half or close to half price, and we all wondered what it meant. It didn't make sense, in light of her movie coming out. Then those sets were discontinued, and new versions replaced them. If they have lots of Molly's stuff at the sale, I would guess they might do the same thing again.

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