How would AG do a friends doll for every Historical?

[rachie421]

I started wondering about this when I heard the rumors over Emily. At first I thought the friends dolls would just be the three from the Julia Roberts' movies, but it looks as if AG might continue it past that. We've already seen them give Elizabeth an extreme makeover to make her look 'different' and fortunately I dont think Emily or Ruthie will be too much of a problem because of their appearence. But what about Addy, Kaya, Josefina and Kirsten? Each of them has problems with who they would do for friends and their face molds.

Lets start with Addy. As of right now they have only one AA mold. I would love to see another, perhaps a closed mouth, rounder face. Addys best friend Sarah has short hair which I think would be really cute (esp with the little hoops) but that still doesnt seem like it would be enough difference for AG, considering they felt the real Elizabeth would resemble Sam and Lissie too much, despite a different face. Not to mention the simple fact that Sarah is VERY poor. Her clothes and accessories would be very shabby and as it is, they took liberty with what Addy would have had. How would they pull off a collection that would appeal to a child?

Josefina's problem is that her best friend would come out looking a lot like Kaya. The only other option would be Clara who would look just like Marisol or Josie herself, LOL The only way around it I can see is to actually use a traditional mold with dark skin and hair. This could possibly work, but I would never know until I see it. Anyone have an AGT2 with chopped hair or a black wig in NA and/or Mexican clothes? [img]wink.gif[/img]

Kaya and Kirsten's problems are similar. With Kaya you might be able to take the same route with a traditional face, but close the mouth to fit with the culture. And with Kirsten you would have to create a NA doll that somehow doesnt look too much like Kaya. And you couldnt use a Josefina face because she would essentially BE Josie, LOL. And if they chose to do a cousin instead, well, she would look like the new Elizabeth!! Oh the irony. Any of Kirsten's cousins would HAVE to be blonde because of their ethnicity, you could not change that just for kicks.

So in conclusion, unless AG starts creating a few more molds, I dont know how the **** they could do friends dolls for all without making drastic changes to the characters appereance and well, character. As in the case of very poor Sarah. Who unlike Nellie, does NOT have a happy ending and end up wealthy. It would almost serve AG better to make a Harriet doll because there would be greater differences and a 'pretty' collection because of her wealth. Which saddens me [img]frown.gif[/img]

Oh well, those are my rambling thoughts. Anyone else?

[tatabatata]

I can see how hard it would be for AG to continue doing friends.
Also, it would be great to see new historicals, not just spinoffs.
There are so many historical eras left untouched!
Only wishing....

Ana [img]graemlins/bat.gif[/img]

[cami713]

I'm starting to think they might do Harriet instead of Sarah. Which would probably be more profitable, but kind of odd since Harriet isn't her best friend, hardly even her friend. New face mold (maybe even Kaya's?, from your description of what you want to see, that sounds perfect) would be nice.

I think they could make a new Native American face mold. I don't like the face mold on Kaya, but I would love to have a Native American doll. This could get both a friend for Kirsten and Kaya. And you know what would be neat? Since they're both low sellers, to make a doll that could double as both of their friends, she could come with two outfits, even.

Or they could always make one of Kirsten's cousins, instead...Less interesting, but it is possible. Although they'd have to make the younger one (Ana?), as the older (Lisbeth?) would be too old.

I hope they make friends for all the girls. It would be strange for them to stop after Sam, Lissie, Molly, and Kit, wouldn't it? And they make so much money off so much less research! I really think they'll make them all, they'll just have to put in a bit extra work for some!

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ October 22, 2005 11:44 AM: Message edited by: cami713 ]</font>

[rachie421]

I agree. There are many eras that have a wealth of information that they havent even touched upon yet. Such as the 1920s, 50s, 60s and 1810s, 70s and 90s. I would really love to see a doll from the War of 1812 since many adults dont even know much about this era. And since I live near Lake Erie in Michigan, an important region during the war, if they did that it would be a character probably from my area and one I could relate to. But I really think that friends dolls make the historicals more 'playable' to little girls who might be more interested in AGT because they dont know how to enjoy the 'character' dolls.

Any other thoughts on this?

I think we were writing at the same time cami! I agree with what you said it be very strange for AG to suddenly stop with those four. It would also look bad on their part since they would be avoiding giving any of the minority dolls a friend. I actually like Kaya's face, it grew on me, but I would still like to see another mold for NA and AAs.

Its not so much that I WANT to see Harriet become the friend doll for Addy, I just dont know how they could make Sarah a profitable doll among young girls. Personally I think Sarah would be adorable since she is desrcribed as having a round face and that very short hair. But then, I am FAR outside AGs target group. I had already considered on my own to use AGT 26 as Harriet, but I may wait a few years just to see what AG does with the friends situation. As for the others, well, I dont have any of them yet so I dont think too much about it. But I would like to at one point so Im very curious to see what they do about it.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ October 22, 2005 11:51 AM: Message edited by: *shortie* ]</font>

[mayergirl]

Well, I don't think they'd do Harriet, but I do think they'd make Sarah and write her book with a "happy ending." As far as Kaya goes, they don't really have an option, they have to make a new mold for Speaking Rain because otherwise she'd be identical to Kaya because of the restrictions on open mouth smiles. For Kirsten, I really wish they could make Marta, but they won't since she died, so they'll make Singing Bird who will be no problem as long as they make her with the traditional mold, dark skin and shorter black hair in braids. For Josie, I imagine they'll make Mariana, not one of her sisters. I think Mariana would be perfect with the traditional mold medium skin, and chopped short black hair. Emily needs to be the one with the Kaya mold, since she's so shy. I think they can do it with no more than one new mold if they use the same mold for Sarah and Speaking Rain.

[heidiabigail]

Kirsten's besy friend dies of cholera sp? right? Would they make Anna or Lisbeth - or Singing Bird?

hmmm
this is neat to think about

I would like them to make Esther and Britta though- each with their respective accessory - an apporopriate cradle for Britta, and goodness knows what for Esther!

[Katie148]

I have been wondering this myself. If they refused to make a dark-haired Elizabeth because she would look too much like Samantha, or even Felicity (which I still think is ridiculous) I don't see how they can justify making both Singing Bird and Speaking Rain. If Kaya is one of their low sellers already, I can't see them getting high enough sales to support three Native American dolls. Personally I hope they don't make friend dolls for every doll, because then it could be nearly a decade before they actually make a brand new historical doll.

[Ashlea]

And there could also always be the possibility that they could make the movie about the historical girl making a new friend, or becoming closer to a friend that is not their "best friend" in the books. I think that as much as they changed Elizabeth to make a profitable doll, AG would have no problem doing this. Some collectors complained at first, but in the end everyone seemed to accept the ways that Elizabeth was changed, for example.

As for the friend dolls, from a business standpoint it seems like a great idea. You get girls asking for two dolls for Christmas/birthdays in stead of one, and once you have the doll it's easy to get into collecting all their clothes. Also, I think once you have two dolls it's easy to get into wanting more dolls in general. I know I was happy with just Felicity when I was little, but once I got my sister's Samantha, I felt like, WOW, I NEED THEM ALL!

I think ultimately it comes down to how profitable the movies and friend dolls end up being. Samantha and Nellie were obviously huge, and Elizabeth already seems to be a big hit, even without the movie released yet. I bet AG is thinking about possibilities down the line, but not committing to continue until they see how the next 3 friends do.

Just my guess!

I don't want them to stop making new historicals from other times, though. I really want a Hawaiian doll from 1896!