Identifying pre-mattel Felicity?

[mayergirl]

One addition to Sakurako's post: It is possible to have a PM Josefina. While she was not released until after the buyout, several were produced before the buyout. These Josefina's are identifiable by their eyelashes. I have a soft eyelashed Josefina who looks significantly different from current Josefinas. Her face is much thinner, and her earrings and hair rooting are different. I know they didn't make many before the Mattel buyout, but I do know for sure (reliable sources) that all Josefina complete collections from 1997 had these older dolls in them. Remember when complete collections were a SERIOUS savings?

[rothsix]

<<So if you have a chunky Felicity with pale lips and not much color in her face and without a body tag, she was probably made in Germany. If you have a really chunky Felicity with bright auburn red hair and a nice glow in her cheeks, she was probably made in Germany around or before 1993.>>

OK. Thanks a BUNCH! This makes perfect sense to me! Ours must be a German doll then, but she does not have bright auburn hair. She does not have much coloring, so I am therefore assuming she as made afetr 1993. Does anyone know how much I might be able to get for her? I want to sell her to make $ for a Marisol collection! She is in excellent shape, minus some stitches around the hard plastic connector for her arm. These could either be stopped with some "fray check" or repaired for free by AG. She is without clothing.

Gret

[AuntBarb1999]

In March 2000 I found and printed from the AG website some pages that are headed "Pleasant Company Profile". It includes a history, timeline and some other things. In the company history they say Mattel bought Pleasant Company in 1998. I also found a newspaper article online that mentioned the sale in June 1998.
When we visited AG Place in Chicago for the first time in the summer of 2000 I bought Josephina. She has a paper hair-care wrist tag that says doll made in Germany. On the back of the tag is the Pleasant Co. logo with the girl reading her book. The original box is white with a top that the cellophane panel so the doll can be seen. At that time the dolls were not out on the floor so I had to ask the sales clerk to bring her out for me to see from the back stock room. Unless they were switching tags on the dolls, I have always assumed my Josephina was a Germany-manufactured doll. I hope this helps someone.

[historylover]

Originally posted by AsianAG:
Check behind her right ear for the "artist's mark"-- there are several different ones; one looks kind of like "#e", and another looks like two y's and a little squiggle. They're not so deeply incised as the Pleasant Company mark, and once in a while the hair can cover part of it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I was reading through old posts and noticed this one. I don't think you can tell whether a doll is a pre-mattel doll by this mark. I have six pre-Mattel dolls and none of them have this mark. They are definitely pre-Mattel and one is white-bodied. I read somewhere where some of the newer Mattel dolls also have this mark so I don't think you can date a doll by a mark that isn't always present on the older dolls.

[Felicity Merriman]

Just to let you know, Felicity's made in or after 1995 have dark red/aburn hair. Earlier ones have the lighter red hair. I found this out from writing an email to American Girl. The easiest way to found out if your Josefina is pre-Mattel is by checking the tag on her 'meet' skirt or camisa.