I imagine if you called up CS, and told them what it was you wanted to do, they might make a special order for you, and give you the doll plus the collection book for a discounted price.

I prefer the 6 book collections, because they have the peeks into the pasts at the back, and really don't take up all that much more space (unless you go with the hardbacks).

Yes, you can return the Meet Book (or exchange it at a bookstore, if you just want to get a new book or put the $6 towards the Story Collection, say you got it as a gift, and aren't sure if the person bought it there). Personally, I could never part with an AG book that came with the doll, but that's probably just me. It's a bit inconvenient, as I have 2 copies of a few AG books, as I also don't want to get rid of my childhood books.