Jess not as popular as Marisol?

angelnise, You sound a lot like me, and I totally agree with you. And then buyers could pick and chose, if they wanted their doll to be just girly, or just outdoorsy. However, with the LE's, AG seems content giving them a THING. Kailey was a swimmer, and had swimming type stuff, Marisol was a dancer, and had dancing stuff. I'm still not sure what Jess's thing is (which might be part of the problem).

In all honesty, I wear skirts almost every day now. It's easier, and they seem a bit more polished than pants. However, I don't wear dressy skirts too often, they're normally those nice cotton ones, or ocassionaly, denim. When I was little, I prefered girly to outdoorsy, and I didn't go camping once until I was like 13, and I hated it (however, it was nothing like normal camping trips). However, I still had more "normal" outfits when I was little. The jeans outfits, and the shorts, and things like what I wore were always my favorties.

My real problem with the AG girlier items is that they always match TOO well; the shoes match the dress/skirt PERFECTLY. The hair accesssories match PERFECTLY. It's all too cutesy. No real girl dresses like that. They don't make shoes to match outfits for real people. I just wish AG would make the girlier outfits more realistic, I guess. That's why I said they seem too costumey. I think they do a much better job of this with the less girly outfits. Even the Kickin' Back Outfit, which has pieces that match almost perfectly, are all separates, and one could have found pieces exactly like those in a store that DID match that well.

I have a bunch of girly AGT outfits, and I like them all a lot, but I normally mix and match, especially the shoes, and shirts/skirts, because I think it makes the items look more like something a real little girl would wear.

It seems we're all using the term "outdoorsy" to mean "normal little girl type clothes." Which, I think, explains the problem. Outdoorsy is seem as normal, because pants can be worn outside, no one in their right mind would wear a skirt out to go hiking. Girly, apparently is the more pretty costumey things that no little girl gets to wear everyday (although some would like to). Perhaps, for some girls, there's just more novelty to these kinds of items.

I wonder if this is mainly due to the famous code that made last year's profit better than this year. Of course Mattel will not say it even if it's true. However, they can easily compare the sale of Marisol vs Jess. Personally I like them both the same. We bought the complete collections for both dolls. Because of the code, I spent much more in the 1st quarter 2005 than the same quarter 2006. If AG is reading this, please come out another code soon.

Wait, aren't sales only down 9%? That's not 30% or anything, I don't think Jess has caused any trouble just yet. Like they said, it might have just been a bad Easter season. For all we know, Jess might be the hot Christmas toy this year, even beating out Tickle Me Elmo or something.

Give her the rest of the year, she might catch up to (or maybe even BEAT!) Marisol. We can panic in December if Jess still isn't doing it.

Is she really even selling that low? I mean, compared to Kirsten or Kaya?

That being said, I think it's a different culture for girls now. I remember when I was growing up in the 1990s, I felt like I could be pretty or be smart. I think now, girls feel a little more like they can be both. So it's okay to dress up in something like the embroidered party dress, where as in 1996, smart girls (which, if we recall, Pleasant Company was originally trying to cultivate) would wear something like the gray flannel school jumper. I think Jess would have sold like hotcakes in the 90s, but Marisol might not have done so well.

I still think it's best to calm down, wait and see. Maybe Jess won't sell another doll after I hit the "add reply" button, or maybe American Girl will have to change their name to "The Company That Makes The Jess Doll And, Oh Yeah, A Few Others."

But I do want some more outfits for Jess. Clothes = awesome.

I like a good mix of "outdoor" items and the more "femanine" items. I think AG does a pretty good job of mixing these and offering a variety from very "outdoor-sy" to very "femanine".

For instance, I think they have released an outfit for AGOT's that covers all the sports (and more IMO) that girls today do play. They also haven't left the "girly-girls" behind, in that there are always pretty dresses for summer and the holidays.


I think they have also done a good job on the LE's too. For instance, Lindsey was the "school" girl, Lindsey was the "surfer" girl, but in a more "femanine" way. Then, Marisol was "girly" as the dancer, but her Meet outfit was more of a hip-hop dane outfit. (In fact, Marisol -in her meet outfit - reminds me sooo much of Jennifer Lopez from the movie "Shall We Dance" - which I loved!). And then the released Jess who is probably the most "outdoor-sy" of the LE's. I think it's a good mix so far.

Since I don't have any of the LE's, my opinion is based on the catalogue and hostboard member picts. alone, but I prefer Marisol to Jess, in fact, Marisol's looks are my fav. of all the LE's.

Anyway, that's just my [img]graemlins/money.gif[/img] !

Personally, I think any difference in sales might be partly due to the catalog pictures. To me, a lot of dolls don't look particularly good in the catalog, but I think that Marisol photographed very nicely in her catalog photos - I remember opening mine up and thinking, "Wow, now that is a gorgeous doll!" I don't think Jess looks as stunning or as appealing in her catalog photos. Until I saw some members' pictures of her here, I didn't like her looks at all. To me she looks very bucktoothed and chipmunk cheeked in the "official" pictures.

I also think she resembles AG 25 a little too much. AG 25 JUST came out this past fall, and I'll bet a lot of girls got her for Christmas. Then suddenly, the day after Christmas, out comes another black-haired, brown eyed doll with a side part. How many parents would buy another doll that looks so similar, so soon? And how many girls would want one so similar? AG has released an awful lot of new dolls in a very short amount of time. Perhaps they are less likely to sell a ton of one particular doll when there are so many more new dolls to choose from. [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

I also agree with all who think Jess would do better with more clothes and accessories. I don't think her tree swing is particularly playable, certainly not as much as Marisol's dance outfits. I wish they'd come out with a hiking type outfit for Jess, and maybe some camping supplies or some Belize souvenirs. The things they chose to make for her thus far just seem sort of odd.

Although I have all 4 LEs, I knew I had to get Marisol because like me, she is born in Chicago and moves to Des Plaines. I grew up in Des Plaines but we lived in Chicago until I was 6. As soon as I saw Des Plaines in her book I had to get that doll.

I don't have any special connections to Jess like I do with Marisol but I think I was so excited about her release that impulsive side of me just jumped on buying her, not to mention I was planning to go to AGPC with some friends on the day of Jess's release.
But she is a cute doll.

I don't have anyone complete collection. I have a few select pieces from each doll's collection.

Lindsey: doll, book, messenger bag/laptop
Kailey: doll, book, boogie board set
Marisol: doll, book, duffel/cat set, pink ballet set(kept in duffel)
Jess: doll, book, bag/monkey set

What was the controversy with Marisol?

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What was the controversy with Marisol?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">In the book, Marisol's family was moving to the suburbs because her family felt that it would be safer than the community they lived in. They didn't name the city, but by naming a park, it inferred which community, and the people of that city took offense and picketed AGP Chicago and got on the news. They were looking for AG to donate money for college scholarships for students in that school system. I don't believe they got what they wanted. (at least I hope not!)
Just some people trying to take advantage of a situation, IMO.

The other controvery that was mentioned from last fall was AG donated money from sales of a bracelet to a charity that had a subdivision that some groups had a problem with. We can't really talk much about that on this board because it is controversial, but if you google some of the key words in this post, you probably would find info if you were reallly interested.

I think a lot of people got MArisol right away and then saw more stuff come out - They didn't do this with Lindsey and Kailey. I think people are waiting ot see if they come out with a complete collection

I won't vote, because I tend to change my mind too much, but I like both of the dolls. I think I had Marisol like in three weeks of her debut, but with Jess, I'm still thinking about it. Mainly because I'm trying to get Lindsey back, plus I want the Af-Am girl with curly hair for sure. I've seen all of the new dolls-including Lizabeth in person (I even have a mini Liz). I like Jess' face mold and will probably get her because of that to say the least, but I think I might like Marisol better. Who's to say I won't think differently when and if I get her? I am a tomboy mostly, but I do like some girly things. In between is the best way to describe me. [img]wink.gif[/img]