I highly doubt that Mattel has ANYTHING to do with the AG line. They probably don't make any decisions whatsoever. Might be the finalizing yes or no on a new doll, but that's probably it.

I have no problem with Mattel, I grew up on Barbies, until I got into AG, and then I finished off my "doll years" with AG.

I honestly have to wonder about people who "hate" Barbie. I've never known a girl to become anorexic or anything like that because of Barbie. I think Barbie teaches a girl that she can do anything and be anyone, and still be fashionable if she wants to. Doctor Barbie may not have a job as "glamourous" as Super Model Barbie, but she's just as awesome! If anything, it's the tween celebrities, Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff, Mary-Kate Olsen who are putting ideas in the minds of our youth. No one is going to say "Barbie's anorexic, so I should be, too," and any little girl who thinks that probably didn't have very good parenting. I will NEVER be the type of parent who tells their child they can't play with something, that's simply destroying your child's imagination in it's prime.

Elizabeth, are the Barbie Wee 3 Friends the ones that are bigger than Kelly, but look like they're supposed to be about the same age? They come in a pack with 3 (the name makes sense, lol)? I was confused when I saw them, thought they might be taking over, and getting rid of Kelly. I think they're pretty ugly, but it is nice they come in large sets.

When I was little, Barbie was THE thing, and although this has obviously changed, thanks to other, (perhaps better) products like AG, Bratz, etc., Barbie is still popular. I recall Barbie being very good quality, and if the quality is suffering now, I hope it picks up again by the time I have children, as I know any daughters I have will love Barbies, and I think I'd want to ease them into the Dolly world with something cheaper than AGs.

Everyone keeps saying Elizabeth looks like a Barbie. I don't see it, but considering how so many people do, it surprises me that Mattel would allow AG to would make an AG (which brings in much more money right now than Barbie) that looks similar, it's just going to get parents saying, "well, AG and Barbie are quite similar, both playable dolls. Now, do I want to pay 100 for the high quality or 25 for a cheap product?"

American Girl (not Mattel) has done a very good job, I think, of keeping true to the original intent of the company put forth by Pleasant Rowland. They were dolls inspired by books for the 8-12 age range, AG has done a very good job of keeping true to this. The 2 full historicals they've released have been wonderful quality, with wonderful stories, and Kit is the number 2 selling doll, AG must be doing something right. I haven't seen the quality diminish, it just happens to be easier (and yes, cheaper) for a little girl to get on the one piece of Elizabeth's Meet Dress than the three pieces of Felicity's Christmas Dress. And they've already fixed the other quality issues. They've kept most of the old products, kept up the quality, introduced great, new items, and kept pretty much the same prices throughout everything.

I'm not sure what the problem is with changing the name of the AGT line. I'll still call them AGTs, most people here will still call them AGTs. If anything, it's just AG being stupid, they're going to lose money by marketing it as a "make this doll look like you, and then don't make anymore bwahaha!" The AGT line came out just as I was getting into AG, it NEVER occured to me to get one that looked like me; why would I want to pay 100 bucks for something I could see in the mirror for free? No, I got the doll who had the hair and eyes I always wished I had.

Right now, I'm hoping that they're easing the name in, and perhaps in the near future they're going to change the AGT line into an actual "Just Like You" doll. I don't care for the way My Twinn dolls look, but I'm in love with the idea of totally personalizing a doll, to look like you, to look 100% different, or to look like your favorite book character. I would LOVE AG to do that.

Honestly, I think AG has improved a number of things. I doubt Pleasant would have EVER introduced LE dolls, or Friend dolls. And look how little new stuff was introduced for the AG historical. I think with the way Pleasant Co was going, it would have been very likely the AGTs would have taken over eventually, as they have now, PC hardly released new AG outfits, but released scores of new AGT outfits a year, just like now. At least with AG, we're getting new clothes all around, even if a bit selectively on the historicals.

I had another few paragraphs, but I feel as though I've written an essay, (when I should have been writing an actual essay!), so I'll kill half of this. I just think that Mattel owned American Girl has done a wonderful job of staying true to the mission of AG, and releasing all new products.