Newbie Questions, Advice please!

[keristars]

Hello everyone! I'm brand new to the doll side of AG collecting. I've been working on getting all the books since I was ten years old and my parents said the dolls were too expensive, but they wouldn't mind helping me with the books...

I'm 22 now (just had my birthday!) and I have all but 5 of the original parchment-colored paperbacks (Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, and Molly, of course, since Kit came with green spines. [img]frown.gif[/img] ), and when my birthday treat comes in a week or two, I'll have almost all the pastimes sets. I gotta say, when you're a teenager and your parents won't give you money to buys books, and you've also got to pay for your own gas and school lunches and clothes, it's hard to get the $7 for a paperback! I feel lucky that I have as many as I do, since they started selling out so quickly once the colored versions came out.


Anyway, I am a total dunce with eBay, and I really want to get those last 5 books to finish my set, and perhaps a replacement for Samantha #4 because I lent it to a young friend recently (she lent me Kaya's in return) and I noticed the other day that some of the "Look in the Past" pages are missing.
I bought a vintage dress for myself once, and I tried selling some of my good-condition clothes, but I cheated myself bad both times, and I was wondering if you guys had advice for how to use eBay and stuff?


Also, I've decided to buy my first AG doll, but I can only get one, because as soon as I graduate university in the spring, I'm going back for another BA, and then I'm moving to France for graduate school. (Well, if everything goes according to plan, that is!)

So! Any advice on what I should consider when I browse AG for a doll? I really love Kit's haircut, and she's my current favorite, but Addy was my childhood favorite, and Emily's meet clothes are possibly the prettiest of them all. I have Asperger's Syndrome, which you may know can be characterised by severe anxiety disorders, and I'm planning to use my doll as a more socially acceptable equivalent of a binkie or blankie, as a comfort or grounding item when I am under a lot of stress or anxiety, so I'd like to make sure my doll can stand up to being carried around a lot, and is somewhat soft around the middle for hugging. I know they're made for play, but I don't know if one doll tends to last better or not. I remember as a child, my Barbies' hair would hold out differently according to the type and style.

So do you guys have any tips or thoughts on what I should consider when I purchase my doll? I'm going to wait until the new JLY come out, in case they have a doll that looks like Kit, but with darker hair, because I'm afraid blonde hair will get dirty too easily, and I just know that I'm going to get paint or pastel dust in her hair in my art classes.

Also, I'm very allergic to wool and I'd rather not have scratchy fabrics for the doll clothes, but I do want to have several outfits for different occasions. Are there any I should definitely not consider?


Thanks very much! You all seem like very lovely people from what I've read on the board so far!

[img]graemlins/star.gif[/img] <font color="#e576c1">--- KERI ---</font> [img]graemlins/star.gif[/img]
Jacksonville, FL

[ag_rox]

Welcome [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rainbow.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img] .

[smwoodsie2004]

I have an extra #4 Sam book from 1990 if interested $4 including shipping I also have 1-4 & 6 too.
Welcome as well. I love them all so I don't know which one to tell you to get. Good Luck. Alot of people would say either go to the store if is close to you or look at the catalog or website and see which one calls out to you.

[J9S]

Welcome to the boards! We have a lot of fun here and end up learning a ton of stuff about AG in the process. We're also a big board of enablers, but I'll try not to be too bad--I recently fell into the college woes of money so I can understand that. [img]wink.gif[/img]

I think it's great that you've managed to stick with AG all this time and that you never gave up on finally having the doll you always wanted. They really are great for comfort and stress relief.

As for advice to which one to choose when it comes to toting her around--you really can't go horribly wrong with any of them. Since they ARE made to be played with and taken all over by little girls, they're really pretty durable.

One of our board member's had an accident in which a doll tumbled off of quite a high railing. She found her later and all she needed was a hair brushing. Their quality is amazing.

I DO know from experience that Josefina's hair can be a pain to deal with at times, and I've heard that Kaya's hair can also be difficult. Other than those two, I haven't heard many complaints about the historical dolls. I would reccommend that you get whichever one has always appealed to you the most, or whichever one you find you relate to/favor the most, especially as you also intend on having her around for comfort.

Kit and Addy would both be wonderful choices. Kit's hair is lighter, but I've had no experience yet that has gotten blonde doll hair and dirtier and darker hair. Addy's hair can seem intimidating at first, but once you get past the fear of playing with it, she really has some of the most fun hair in my opinion.

Good luck with your decision and I hope you stick around--let us know who you end up deciding on!

[KimberBee]

Welcome to the board! Out of the dolls you're thinking about I think Kit sounds like the best for you. I've heard Addy's hair can be very difficult to maintain. Not saying that it's impossible, just that Kit's hair is much easier in comparison. Good luck with whichever you end up choosing, and welcome again!!

[becnicjamsar]

Welcome to the board. Since you love Emily's Meet dress, you can always just buy her dress to add to the wardrobe of whichever doll that you end up deciding to buy. Good luck.
Sarah

[marymax]

Welcome to the board...you will love it here. Everyone is so nice.

[robin0850]

Welcome to the board!!! [img]biggrin.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

[*AG Star*]

Welcome to the board!! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

[muppetquilter]

Welcome!

I think you mightbe happiest with Kit. We don't have her yet (DD is getting her in the spring) but a number of people have mentioned how easy her hair is to care for-- not really long enough to tangle, the style can be easily brushed into place. Addy is a gorgeous doll and if you find she is the one you most want, go for it. You'll need to spend a little more time caring for her hair but you can get good tips here.

I would recommend you cut a picture of Kit out of the catalog and keep it with you for a few days-- pretend Kit is your one and only AG doll. Are you excited or sad that it isn't Addy? Then do the same thing with Addy and see how you feel. (I'm going with those two because they are the ones you mentioned.)

I love Emily's meet dress too and am going to order it for my other dolls to wear. You could get it for either doll. I haven't pulled out my outfits to check, but I think you might find wool in Samantha's plaid cape and gaters and school dress and Molly's meet skirt. I love Kit's Christmas dress. If you are going to take your doll a lot of places I'd get her some pants-- Kit's overalls or a JLY outfit. I say that because tights and socks can snag and pants will cover the socks. What outfits are your favorites? I'd go with those.

One absolute must is a good doll brush! Don't waste your money on the AG skin care kit, you do not need it to clean the vinyl, but you do want a good wire wig brush for her hair.

As for eBay, my best advice is to watch the auctions you want, decide how much you are willing to spend and bid at the last possible second. You can get a snipping service to do this for you but I have never used one. It is easy to get caught up in the auction and end up spending more than you intended. If you decide on a limit in advance and stick to it you can avoid that. Remember eBay is like a game-- sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And always read all the fine print on an auction before bidding! Check the seller's feedback rating. Make sure you think this person is reasonably trustworthy before you bid. (Check the shipping costs-- some people inflate shipping.)

Good luck and tell us what doll you decide on!