What is it about Samantha that makes her so popular?

[vgdag94]

I guess because she has frilly dresses, pretty curls, common hair-eye combination, etc. Alot of little girls love frilly dresses and have tea parties so Samantha is basicly "perfect". Samantha is not my favorite, Felicity is. When I was younger and had just looked at the little pictures of the historicals in thst curvy line, Samantha atracted me first because she was-in my opinion-the prettiest of them all. Later on when I started to read the books, I liked Felicity better. I think it is because Samantha might just seem the prettiest to some girls by just looking at the pictures and not reading the books.

[lorak79]

I've always thought that it was because she was victorian. At least when I think of a classic doll it is victorian in style, and that is what samantha is. I guess she would appeal to all ages for different reasons. When I was 10 it was because she had brown eyes and hair like me, and becaues she was victorian. I was infatuated with ann of green gables, the little princess, and the secret garden. Samantha was all of these put together.

[ksami]

Interesting question! I know that for me, personally, Samantha is my favorite because she has so many good memories behind her. I read her books or sit and play with the pieces in her collection, and it all feels so cozy and familiar and a little bit nostalgic.

As for why she's got a popular fan base today, I think a big part of it probably does have to do with the fact that she is both an original and pretty. But I wonder if Samantha is simply popular because of the fact that she is popular. If that makes any sense! She has a large collection, which ensures that customers have a lot to choose from. Also, AG releases new items for her regularly. This keeps people who like her coming back for more. People get excited whenever new stuff comes out (as we have seen many times on this board [img]tongue.gif[/img] ), and because they've been releasing new things for Sam at least once a year, it keeps interest in her high. It's a continuous cycle. Samantha's popular; AG decides to bank on that fact by coming out with tons of new Sam stuff; she stays popular because of all the attention; AG is only encouraged to produce more and more.

I'm not saying that this is a good thing. I'd much prefer they follow Pleasant Company's lead and treat all the historicals equally. In PC times, everyone got the same amount of attention in the catalogs. If one girl got a new outfit, they all got new outfits. In theory, this kept all the girls on relatively equal in terms of fan base. I love my Samantha dearly, so I hate to think that people resent her popularity. Don't resent Samantha, everyone, resent AG's marketing department! [img]wink.gif[/img]

Edited so that I make more sense. Sorry about that!

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 18, 2006 08:24 PM: Message edited by: ksami ]</font>

[Bean Bunny]

I'd be interested to know how the "favorite" doll changed over time. I somehow suspect that when PC started, Kirsten was the most popular.