Joy, I also wanted to chime in with "well put." Everything you said is what I believe. I think Mattel is catering to kids too much, even though that sounds odd! [img]wink.gif[/img] Part of what set them apart before was because they *were* so different. I have a catalog from 1991. Counted up, how many things were pink? Kirsten's birthday dress and Samantha's birthday dress (with a bit of pink trim on her tea dress).

How many things were purple? Zero.

Molly usually wore patriotic red and blue. Her new outfits are usually pastels now.

The color changes are pretty easy to compare. I don't have new items versus old to talk about things changing to plastic, so I have to go by what members state here, but I think it's sad. Plastic is a very new material; even my grandparents had "plastic-like" things made from bakelite and celluloid. Plastic like we have it today didn't even exist back when these characters would have lived.

On an educational note, at least we can be glad plastic has changed . . . bakelite is nasty. We have old buttons of my grandparents'. When they get warm, they smell like formaldehyde. If you ever find plastic-looking things from your grandparents, try running them under warm water. You will run from the room! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Sorry to got a bit OT, but I agree on the colors and plastic really changing how I perceive AG.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ February 22, 2006 11:34 AM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>