Sent email to AG, got reply back.

[dolllover]

I had sent AG an email on Friday, and AG replied on Saturday. Here is the original message:
Dear American Girl, I am an adult American Girl collector,
and I think you should make a club or a website where you inform
adult collectors of retirements, and maybe even give advance notice
on new items or sales. If enough adult American Girl doll collectors
suggest this idea, will it possibly become a reality? Thank you for
your time, Melanie

Their reply: Dear Ms. **********,
Thank you for your e-mail. We are complimented by your request.
However, we are a toy company who celebrates girls, and that will always
remain our priority and focus. We have never intended for our toys and
dolls to become collectors items. Our intention has always been to
create dolls and accessories that stimulate a young girls intellectual
entertainment. We apologize for any disappointment this may cause you.
We have a Product Development Department that is constantly working on
new and exciting products for our various collections. As you can
imagine, we have many ideas that have yet to move off the drawing boards
and into development.
For that reason, American Girl, Inc. cannot accept any unsolicited idea
or product suggestions. You can understand that this policy prevents
any misunderstanding as to the intellectual ownership of our ideas.

We appreciate your interest in American Girl�!
Sincerely,
American Girl� Customer Service
Phone: 1-800-845-0005 or 608-831-5210
Fax: 608-828-4790
Available Monday - Sunday 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. Central Time

Their reply is not quite what I had expected they would say. [img]graemlins/thumbs_down.gif[/img] [img]frown.gif[/img]

[Dancin'4'AG]

ahhhhhhh... don't take it to heart, AG has always pushed that "we are a girls company" thing in the face of many collectors before-same ol' story. i don't think they appreciate us enough though if every single adult collector did not purchase from them for a year i am sure they would feel it-not largely but they would appreciate the margin they profit from collectors who are adults. you know it is really kinda RUDE of AG to always honk the we are a girls toy company not a collector thing in the face of many adult collectors who WERE the girls of AG when they were young- it like " your're grown up now- soget lost" motto [img]mad.gif[/img]

[Polly Marie]

Strange--Did the recipient think you were giving them a idea that you would later ask for monetary reimbursement in suggesting?
They indicated in the first part of the message their mission is to provide young girls with AG products but then they write about not accepting ideas. Do they have the idea of "publishing AG retirement items on their website" on the drawing board?
If so I hope they will take action soon and do it!! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
Polly Marie

[AGStefanie]

i know they are for girls, but even so, reading that i think i would be a little hurt! maybe im too sensitive but i agree with dancin'4'ag that it did seem like they have the "youre grown up now- get lost" attitude. i saved for my first AG doll at 10 and was always feeling like i was too old for dolls even then. now im 22 and dont want AG telling me im too old now! im sure they get a lot of crazy requests everyday that they know they wont end up making. i think it would be much more polite to give a standard "thank you for your suggestion. we make a lot of products every year and cant make everything that everyone suggests- but well pass along your idea and thank you".
oh well, just my opinion. i thought it was slightly rude.

[thepidget]

Ah...boo. [img]graemlins/thumbs_down.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_down.gif[/img] I'm really disappointed in their answer as well, but I agree with Dancin'4'AG--don't take it to heart. I think AG sees adult collectors as too small of a market to really focus on. (Did they so quickly forget that they posted a picture of an adult AG fan on the latest cover of their catalogue?) I am sad that they are so closed-minded, but business is business. It really is their loss if they choose to ignore adult collectors, especially ones with lots of expendable cash to spend. [img]frown.gif[/img]

[J9S]

Reading that really did kind of sting. It felt very "we don't care about you now that you're an adult".

The company is supposed to be about the girls--why don't they care about what the girls they focus on become?

[Kenshinchan]

That was a little cold; they should have at least acknowledged that they appreciate adults enjoy their products. [img]tongue.gif[/img] I'm also irritated that they say their products are not intended to be collector's items. That's why they come out with a "Girl of the Year" and then never make her again, right? Because an item that is only around for a limited time could NEVER attract COLLECTORS. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

(That said, I'd rather the items be more for girls than for adults/collectors. Doesn't mean they shouldn't appreciate adults, but I wouldn't want them to come out with MORE collector items, even if they won't describe them as such.)

[cami713]

I would guess that's not the standard way of wording that sentiment. Your response was probably written by some CS rep who was having a bad day, or just thought the idea of adult collectors to be silly. I don't think that email reflects the opinions of everyone, or the company's view. They know full well that they have adult fans, and I'm sure someday they'll do something for them. For now, though, they obviously plan on remaining the same. It would have been nice for them to mention the anniversary in some way, they've already given props to a number of adult collectors.

[jerseycow6]

We have a Product Development Department that is constantly working on
new and exciting products for our various collections. As you can
imagine, we have many ideas that have yet to move off the drawing boards
and into development.
For that reason, American Girl, Inc. cannot accept any unsolicited idea
or product suggestions. You can understand that this policy prevents
any misunderstanding as to the intellectual ownership of our ideas.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Well, at least that part is fairly standard. I've gotten that before when simply requesting that they bring back a product that they used to offer.

I think it's kind of funny that they say they don't want to focus on collectors. Part of the reason I've continued to collect the dolls now is because when I have daughters someday, I want them to have the same learning and play experience the historical dolls brought me when I was growing up. I'll always treasure the dolls I had when I was younger, but I want to be able to share them with my own children someday. Unfortunately, the company has proven that it can't necessarily be counted on to continue to provide this experience, as it has so often retired core items from the characters' collections in favor of introducing new items, many unrelated to the characters' stories, seemingly just so people buy more things. Well, part of the focus of the company, then, is encouraging people to collect- to keep buying the items for the dolls- even if they don't admit it and even if they don't wish to admit that there are children who consider themselves collectors, too. (My niece is 6 and always talks about how she wants to write to the Disney Channel for their "show us your stuff" collections segment) I think that it's a given that the company's focus should remain on the girls for which it produces its products, but it would be nice to see some sort of gesture to acknowledge that people of all ages- including children- actively collect these items.

[Ashley1972]

And blah, blah, blah. I hate their standard, and sometimes insulting answers. Why are these dolls considered "keepsakes" if they're not collector dolls?