IHSS: Toy Blog

 Jayla Balderas 

Mr.Roddy

IHSS

02 October 2020 

                                                      IHSS Blog toys and tipping points 

                                                              American Girl dolls 

In 2013 the grand opening of the American Girl doll store opened at a mall in Houston. The lines had over a hundred people waiting outside with mothers holding their daughter's hands in excitement. A few mothers ready to rekindle their own passion and love for the dolls they once held as children, while others felt their wallets becoming more prominent with each passing step they moved up the line. Knowing they would be leaving with a red bag marked with the American Girl In all white letters and over $150 dollars less in their wallets. All for a doll, but many might argue it's not just any doll but an American girl doll. Because anything selling separate accessories for over $200 dollars for a doll-sized bunk bed meant these dolls couldn’t possibly be like all other brands right? 

More importantly the decision weighing on the parent's shoulders. Having to choose between the highest-ranked doll brand in America or the knock off brands. From a pricing view the difference couldn't be more obvious, but what about from the view of the doll playing experience? Would you be giving your child a disadvantage in a world that starts to demand children to start creating their identities by the young age of nine? 

The American Girl doll brand started in 1986 currently owned by Mattel, a 4.5 billion company that has both Hot Wheels and Barbie under its name. For the last thirty years, the main goal for the brand has been to keep dolls relevant and children engaged. It would be a lie to say the trend for an American girl doll hasn't had it's up and downs. The real question would be how has the brand stayed on the top for so long? Of course, making anything expensive and selective makes a majority of the population want to be part of that exclusivity even more. American girl dolls took the brand to another level, by creating an entirely new way to engage with dolls, this also happens to be what sets it apart from other rivaling brands. The advertisement is unique, and something I was definitely head over heels for when I was a kid (before I discovered my fear of dolls.)

 Sage the doll of year for 2013 was my first American girl doll. She is no longer being sold because all dolls of the years are only sold for one year. After that, you will have sites like eBay selling them anywhere from $75-$400. The lead up to the reveal is huge, you have many fans, and even rivalry companies trying to find anything they can leak about the next doll. Once it's out you have different sets to three choose from, the doll and her book, the doll and her book and accessories, or the doll and her ultimate collection. The excitement of having a doll doesn't end there, you have a company that builds its customers want to the point that having just the doll would be like owning a doll with no clothes or hair. Each doll has its own shelving area with outfits, furniture, and accessories dedicated to that era. All have their own books, the brand has even made nine movies. That did considerably well, for an 8-12 audience. 

One pair of plastic shoes cost 15 dollars and the price goes up from there having the most expensive accessory at $500 that's the accessory isn't even made from anything special only plastic and stickers. From each shopping experience, you are pushed to subscribe to the magazine that comes out every month with two versions one made with girl models and the other being catalog. Most stores even have a restaurant inside, you are offered a high chair for the doll along with miniature food and plates. The brand also keeps up with the seasons coming with different furniture sets, and outfits. Meaning you can purchase a nutcracker uniform or a Halloween costume, and even sweaters and scarfs for the winter seasons. Shoppers also have the option to create their own doll that looks like them, set an appointment for the doll to get a new hairstyle, get glasses, hearing aids, and their ears pierced. Even if the doll happens to have an accident you can just take it over to the doll hospital located inside the store as well. Where they can fix hair, eyes, and limbs. The doll will even get a personalized cast, or crutches and gown. 

I can tell you confidently that I hardly played with them. It wasn't even the dolls themselves I was interested in, because for a majority of the year it would be lying in my room in a corner that had been dedicated as her“room”. I think I used to tell myself I didn't want to play with her because I might get a scratch on her plastic skin, or her nicely brushed hair might get knotted. In honesty I wasn't even completely interested in playing with dolls, it just felt like something I should do. 

Everyone I knew had the dolls in their rooms, they hardly seemed to be touched. The room or set up of the doll just seemed to be displayed. The entire brand revolves around advertisements for girls, but it also almost sets up a competition for parents and kids needing to stay in the loop with new accessories and having the outfits for the proper season. The doll would go with you to play dates and sit by your side while you play other things, be taken to sleepovers, and have the doll even having its own sleeping bag. Seeming as if it was never truly about playing with the dolls, but rather about having them because if you didn't, it would seem like you would miss out on conversations and be left out of a world that had been created to stereotype girls starting at age of nine. 

Schild, Darcy. “How the American Girl Toy Empire Has Changed over Time, from Its Iconic Historical Characters to Dolls with Modern Stories.” Insider, Insider, 21 Sept. 2020, www.insider.com/american-girl-dolls-history-evolution-brand-2020-1.

Segran, Elizabeth. “American Girl Sales Are Plummeting. Can the Iconic '90s Brand Be Saved?” Fast Company, Fast Company, 18 Dec. 2019, www.fastcompany.com/90439667/american-girl-is-in-free-fall.