Girls and dolls - how do they choose?

I am curious how young girls pick their dolls? My daughters are both 2 (we are a foster/adoptive family - they are 5 months apart!) and are VERY different in coloring. I have been thinking of collecting some AG things for them to have as they get older.

So here is my question! Do girls generally choose a doll that looks like them? or based on the stories?

My girls' look-alikes would be Kit and Josefina, but I don't want to assume they will want the dolls that look like them KWIM?

Any thoughts??
Faith

No,My first doll was Kailey and I look nothing like her!

I remember choosing my Samantha based more on her collection and her stories, than on what she looked like. It seems like the stories and the collection as a whole are more important than "look-alike" aspects when getting a historical doll. With an AGT, it might be fun to get one that resembles your DD. But I don't think most girls are too picky, lol.

Well, I chose Sam as my first doll for two reasons, I loved her stories, and she was the brown haired brown eyed one, just like I was. As I kept reading, I found like liked Felicity's stories even better, so she came next, but I think, in general, little girls love a doll that looks like them. Why don't you read them Kit and Josie's stories as they get older and see if they connect?

Honestly, I choose my dolls based on how they look, instead of the books. So far, I don't have a single AG that looks like me, although I did choose Kit when I was 7 because she looked the most like me at the moment.

When I was little, I chose Felicity because of her books and because I loved her gowns. We had similar interests, because my family owned horses. She looks nothing like me and that wasn't important to me at all. I just realized that I never really wanted a doll that looked like me, I wanted the characters. I would suggest getting your girls dolls you think they would like and not worry about the appearance. Either that or collect the dolls you like and let them chose for themselves when they are older.

My girls were 5 and 7 when they got their first dolls- historicals. I told them they had to wait til we read all the stories, then they could choose their favorite. It seemed like whichever story we were reading at the time, they just KNEW she was going to be their favorite. Eventually they did settle on one. They chose the doll based on the story. Funny thing is the older one chose Kit, who looks just like the younger child did at the time, and the younger one chose Kirsten, who looked the most like the older child! Then a year later they each saved up their money and bought an AGOT, and they both chose one that looked like themselves. If you want to buy something for them now, how about buying AGOTs that look like them, and then they can pick a historical or 2 or 3 or 4 or . . . [img]smile.gif[/img] when they get older.

Jo

I really think it depends on the girl.

I picked Samantha out of the catalogue, based on her looks and her collection. I read her books (and Addy's) before I got Samantha. I have brown hair and hazel eyes, but my hair is lighter than Samantha's, and I had glasses, so Molly would have been the closest in looks, but I didn't care for most of her collection, other than a few of her outfits.

It does seem to me that now a days, most girls are definitely chosing by looks, whether by "prettiest" or whoever looks most like them. With 8 girls, it would be hard to read all those books before chosing which doll you wanted. When those of us who have been collecting since the 80s or 90s were younger, there were less dolls, and less books, and obviously, it would have been easier to read all the books before chosing.

If I were you, I'd either wait until they were older, or collect for yourself for now, and let your little ones pick out of yours, or for themselves when they're older. Since you have Josefina, perhaps get Kit as well, and see if they're drawn to them now.

I think in terms of dolls... For historicals, it's whichever story they liked best.

When I got to choose my first dolls, there was no AGOT line. I was a (light) brown haired, brown eyed girl, but I didn't like Samantha because I'd read her stories and didn't identify with her. The girls I liked the most were Felicity and Molly, who didn't look like me at all - my liking them was a combination of the clothes they had available and their stories/personalities. So those were my first two dolls.

When AGOT dolls came out, though, I was excited about having a doll that looked like me.

Maybe, if you see an AGOT that looks particularly like one of them, and you think it might be retired, you can buy it. The historicals are not as likely to be retired, so you might wait and let the girls choose which one they want when they're older. This might help them bond with the doll better too [img]smile.gif[/img]

Since your girls are so young, have you thought of Bitty Baby?

My DD got her first AG for her third birthday. I bought the "Meet" books and read those to her and then printed out pix of the dolls from the website (I wanted to give her a chance to choose Felicity and she wasn't in the catalog). She couldn't decide between Felicity and Nellie, so I picked Nellie.

The dolls with short and/or straight hair appear to be easier for young girls to maintain. DD's Nellie looks new, as does her friend's Kailey.