I keep seeing the posts about the Pre-Mattel dolls and am very confused. One...why are they better than the new ones? Two...is my Felicity that I have had stashed in the closet new in her box for a long time Pre-Mattel? The pamphlet in her box says copyright 1999, her tag on her side reads: Made in China exclusively for American Girl, her body fabric is tan, and the back of her head under the hair reads: Pleasant Company. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Well, whether or not pre-mattel dolls are better is really just a matter of opinion. I like the softer vinyl of PM dolls, but not so much as to push me to pay more than for a new one. Mattel took over in 1998, so I'd say your Felicity is probably a very early Mattel doll. The best way to check is her eyelashes, are they stiff or soft? soft lashes mean a PM doll [img]smile.gif[/img] HTH!!
I like them both. There are distinctive differences, but I wouldn't say one was better than the other.
Yours sounds like a Mattel made, but still beautiful.
Yes, Pre-Mattel is different, but not necessarily better. I like the looks of my Molly and my Addy and both are PreMattel, but I was just looking on auctions at dolls that "spoke" to me.
Kit of course is Mattel (they started Kit), and she's wonderful, too.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I totally agree!!! And Jess is Mattel and, IMHO, is one of the most beautiful AG dolls made so far.Originally posted by jenndon:
Yes, Pre-Mattel is different, but not necessarily better. I like the looks of my Molly and my Addy and both are PreMattel, but I was just looking on auctions at dolls that "spoke" to me.
Kit of course is Mattel (they started Kit), and she's wonderful, too.
Ana Claudia
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
I like the premattel dolls more because their hair looks more realistic, and their eye lashes are longer and softer. At American Girl place you can look at them in their case and to me the newer dolls hair looks wet but I don't know if that is just the bright lights. To me the newer dolls do not have as much coloring and warmth to their faces. When compairing my PM dolls to the newer ones there is a difference when they are next to each other. I have asked American Girl about why they changed the dolls and they said that Gotz is one of the best doll makers in the world (located in Germany). She was very honest with me and told me that Gotz is very prestigous and only sells their dolls in certain stores in Germany. When Pleasant Rowland started the company she looked for the best company to make these dolls. She could hire another company to make the dolls because she was only the designer her company was not known for making toys. Now that Mattel owns the company Mattel can not hire another company to make its products because Mattel makes all their own products. Therefore they had to change some of the materials to the materials that were used by the Mattel company. Usually over seas production is cheaper so they might have gotten better quality materials for their money than what mattel can buy for that same price here in America. She did say that Mattel is the leading toy company in America. I assume Pleasant sold her company to Mattel for this reason. She knew they would never go out of business!
Stephanie
I like the softer vinyl of the older dolls, along with the pre-loved look. I'm almost afraid to mess up the new shiny mattel dolls so they don't get loved as much. I think that the newer dolls have prettier color than the older ones. Addy is an exception to this. My Shantelle has the most gorgeous rosy chocolate coloring I've ever seen. I don't think that the quality of AG has necessarily gone down, just changed.
I like them both. I have a late pre-mattel Felicity and two mattel dolls. I like the softer vinyl of the PMs too, but I love all my "girls" and I don't the quality has gone down either. Changes happen.
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