guesses please...the AG Historicals ranked by sales, popularity

Here's my guess:

Samantha
Kit
Felicity
Molly
Addy
Josefina
Kirsten
Kaya

I think Kirsten is losing popularity. Her collection is pretty small. I think Felicity is gaining popularity and pushing down Molly.

I agree about Kirsten losing popularity. Not only because her collection is small, but because they don't add much to it. She's been around as long as Samantha and Molly, but Samantha and Molly seem to get new outfits FAR more often than Kirsten.

Also, as Kit IS the 2nd best seller, that probably pushes Kirsten down. Surely most parents dont want to buy two blonde dolls, especially two blondes with the same face mold, blue eyes, and who are both historical.

I know I dont. Kit and Elizabeth (and maybe AGT24) will be the only blondes I have for awhile.

I imagine Kirsten would sell much better in a Mid-West AGP. I think AGPLA is going to be very good for Kaya and Josefina, with the large amount of Hispanics and Native Americans in the area.

I do think most little girls want their dolls to look like them, and they have introduced mostly blonde dolls lately. Kirsten has a lot of competition between the blonde AGOTs, Kailey, Kit, Nellie, and now Elizabeth. As each of the newer blonde dolls has come out there has been a lot of marketing surrounding them that Kirsten doesn't get at all anymore. I think that might have a lot to do with it. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of parents encourage girls who cant decide to get Kit because her collection is MUCH less expensive for the most part. She is still really cute though!

cami i agree-AGPLA big sellers will probably be Josefina and Kaya because of the population. Most people would be intrested in a doll celebrating their heritage(sp?). It will be nice to see these dolls get better sales.

I don't understand why Felicity was never a bigger seller. She is, IMHO, the prettiest doll of the first five. Some of her clothes are absolutely beautiful, especially the Christmas and summer gowns, and her collection is so classy and wonderful. I also don't understand why Molly always sold pretty well. No offense to Molly fans, but IMHO Molly has really "blah" coloring, hideous glasses, and not a very exciting collection. Kit's pretty and has a nice collection, but IMO, Felicity's prettier and has a nicer collection. Ditto Josefina, who is an absolute stunner and has a very interesting wardrobe.

OK, I averaged out all your guesses, and here's the "official" unofficial list so far:

Historical American Girls Collection Dolls In Order of Sales(Estimation):
(1) Samantha
(2) Kit
(3) Felicity
(4) Molly
(5 and 6 tie) Josefina and Addy
(7) Kirsten
(8) Kaya

Here are some observations I made...
All of the top four best selling dolls are caucasian, so most young doll buyers aren't really anxious to culturally diversify their collections, unfortunately.
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Samantha is the only one of the original three American Girls in the top three.

Three out of the top four are from the twentieth century, meaning girls generally prefer more recent historical girls.

I guess Samantha's the best seller because of all her 'girly' dresses and accessories. That seems to attract lots of little girls' attention. I agree too with what some of you were saying about Kit being easy for younger girls to handle (plus she's got great accessories!). I just wish Kirsten was not so far down the list.


I think it's said that Kirsten is not a bigger seller. For one, I am biased because she's my most favorite girl ever! (and the less popular a girl gets, the more AG tends to retire things) But, she has wonderful stories and I think her collection has a certain charm to it.

I guess maybe little girls aren't into the pioneer thing much right now. When I was younger, I LOVED all the Little House books. I watched the show a lot too (I don't really like it as much now, too much 'oh, no! what bad thing is going to happen to someone in this episode now?' kind of a thing going on for me) growing up, so I just fell in love with Kirsten's collection.

She really has a lot of great stuff. A lot of it is simple, but that's what makes it have that charm to it. I agree that she needs some new stuff added to her collection. Someone said something about Samantha and Molly having lots of stuff, and it's true! Samantha has SO much stuff, but she's got a wealthy family, so why wouldn't she have lots of stuff?

I do wish some of the 'forgotten' girls would be placed more prominently in the catalogs, just so we see more than one of their outfits in print. I know that's just wishful thinking, though. I sure do miss those old style catalogs that PC made.

I really think AG under-estimates the catalogues. Samantha, Kit, Molly, and now Felicity are the girls who get prominent displays in the catalogue. Addy, Josefina, and Kirsten, who are low sellers, get very little catalogue space. They're doing the exact right thing with low-seller Kaya, giving her more space. If people could see, in the catalogues, what Kirsten, Addy, and Josefina have to offer, they would certainly sell better. Naturally, everyone knows there's more stuff online, but it's so much easier to look at a catalogue on car rides and such. I know I look at the catalogues far more often than the website, and the things that aren't in the catalogue are forgotten much easier than those that aren't.

Kirsten does nothing for me, even though I'm Swedish. However, there are a number of her outfits I would love to have. Her summer outfit is one of my favorite, favorite of all the historical outfits. I love those very plain, clean cotton dresses. I would hate to see them do anything strange with Kirsten's collection.

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All of the top four best selling dolls are caucasian, so most young doll buyers aren't really anxious to culturally diversify their collections, unfortunately.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'm pretty sure most people like the girls who look like them the most. And, even when I was little, I wanted the doll who looked like how I wanted to look (in the realm of what would be possible for me to look like), hence why I always loved the red-heads. I imagine most little girls are the same way. I've lately started to like Addy more and more, who looks so very different from me, which is part of what I like about her.

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Three out of the top four are from the twentieth century, meaning girls generally prefer more recent historical girls.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Isn't this part of why Felicity didn't sell well? It must be hard for little girls to *connect* to someone who's life was SO different from their own. Especially if they don't read the books. I really hope that little girls ARE reading the books. I would have NEVER gotten an AG without reading at least her series first. If a girl can't understand the books, she's not going to be able to connect to a doll like Kaya or Felicity, who's items seem so foreign. Samantha and Kit are much more "modern," so it's easy to see how just looking at a catalogue, they would be the most loved. Based on the book characters, I can't understand how ANY of them are low sellers. of course, I think that says that many girls aren't reading the books, or their parents aren't reading them to them.

Kirsten and Josefina need some new items. No doubt.

Sorry that was long, I tend to ramble....

IMO, I can think of some other reasons why Kit is popular:

1 - When we were getting our first AG, friends told me to first look for a historical doll that looks like DD. I've noticed there are a lot of young girls with bobbed blonde hair out there.

2 - Grandmas like Kit because they can tell their granddaughters about what life was like when they were little (my Mom bought DD a mini-Kit for this reason).

3 - Her short hair is easy to maintain, and therefore appeals to younger girls who aren't quite as gentle.

This may or may not be true, just some personal observations and opinions.

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Originally posted by balletmom:


Her short hair is easy to maintain, and therefore appeals to younger girls who aren't quite as gentle.

This may or may not be true, just some personal observations and opinions.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I agree with your observations, Elizabeth. I think Kit's short hair really appeals to Moms who know that their young daughters will have a hard time maintaining Kirsten's, Samantha's, Josefina's, Addy's or Kaya's hair. Felicity and Kit have the easiest hair to maintain, IMO.