Samantha - When I was seven I believe my parents started me on an allowance, the next year my step grandmother sent me a catalogue with Samantha on the front. When I read her description about being an orphan and not knowing her parents (I was adopted at birth), and that her cover illustrations looked just like me. She was who I had to have. My parents wouldn't buy her for me and said I should save my money (Teaching a 7-8 year old the magic of delayed gratification). So, every week instead of getting my allowance, my dad would put it in a wallet for Samantha.

I can't remember what season it was when I finally got her, but around that time it was also either Christmas or my birthday (winter or spring). And along with being able to buy my Samantha my parents got me her whole story collection, and my mother got the doll dress patterns and made me her Christmas, birthday and Birthday dress. They also had most of my relatives get me some of her accersories. This included outfits and accesories outside of Samantha's collectiong. I still thank my mom for three retired items outside of Samantha's collection (in historicals) that she got me, because she thought they were cute (I am a purist when it comes to historicals).

Over time my family stopped getting me AG and I had a slight hiatus of buying American Girl. I started up again when I was 14 and bought Chantal (AGOT #4), but even then it was up and down on what I spent my money on. Then I went to college, and they (Chantal and Samantha) were there for me when I needed something that reminded me of good times. Over time either my mother, my birth mother, my paternal birth grandmother (I met my birth parents), or me bought the rest of the historicals, added on the LE's and a few more todays. But Samantha was my first, she was the one I had to work towards.