American Girl Dolls

My daughter has a Bitty Baby from American Girl on her Christmas list to Santa (yes she has already started one). Do these dolls ever go on sale or have a discount coupon? I did a google search and the stuff on there wasn't very successful or was very old. I was just curious if I should just order it and be done or if I should wait and see what happens.

Thanks!

 

I've never seen a sale on American Girl dolls... we get the catalog every few months and they're always regular priced except for the discontinued dolls (but Bitty Babies are never discontinued).

For what it's worth, I think the Bitty Babies are some of the worst dolls I've seen. Just about every other doll my girls have is cuter or better constructed or easier to play with. The Bitty Baby hair is painted on, so it scratches easily. The eyes don't close. There are strings hanging out at the neck where the body was stuffed. I know the strings are supposed to be there, but they frustrate small kids who want the dolls to look perfect. If your daughter wants a hard faced doll, I'd suggest the Corelle dolls instead of the Bitty Baby. Same exact size, but nicer doll.

 

I believe they offer free shipping occasionally but that's it. I also love Corolle dolls.

 

Never seen a discount. I really like the bitty baby.

 

I agree. We dont have AG dolls, but the preschool I worked at had donated Bitty Babies and they did not hold up like the Corelle dolls to be honest.


I do see ones on ebay (both AG and bitty baby) that are in good shape if you are trying to save $

 

Never that I've seen.

The strings are on the neck so that can take the doll apart and repair it. We got Sarah's first doll, Kirsten, on ebay (more later on ebay buying). I've taken Kirsten totally apart and restrung her so she'll stand again. The dolls are posable because of how doll elastic is strung through the joints. In time, the elastic stretches out and they don't stand so well or arms flop. With doll elastic and a few brass pieces from the hardware store, you can take the heads off, un-stuff the dolls and change all the elastic.

We bought one first on ebay before we would commit to spending money on new one. Your best bet for finding one that goes for cheap is to search under the common mis-spellings of the names. For instance, I got a KIRsten doll. She was listed as a KRIsten doll. Another common one is JoseFina and JosePHina. I picked up Kirsten for about $37, including shipping and 3 original outfits. (She's now been retired so I don't think you can copy that). My requirements were: neck strings still long and uncut, hair that wasn't very frizzy or hadn't been cut, and generally a decent doll. I looked through this site http://www.justmagicdolls.com/articles/article_index.htm on doll repair before I bought so I knew what I was comfortable doing to the dolls and what I had to avoid.

Sarah totally loves her dolls. She got Laney (a doll of the year) as a present when we bought her brother his first .22 gun. Her dolls go everywhere with her and have for almost 2 years now. For the dollar, they have definitely been played with more than about anything else she has. Target, Walmart and ToysRUs all have 18" doll lines, but I've not heard much good about the doll quality, especially of the hair. The clothes and furniture work very well for the AG dolls, though.

For a starter doll, I would try to get one with straight hair. Be sure to get a wig brush (at Sally's) or the AG doll brush. Dealing with a curly haired doll is more of a pain. I've already told Sarah that we are not getting either of the 2 new ones that just came out due to the curly hair. I don't want to mess with it. Sarah reads all the books. She loves the Fashion Studio paper dolls that AG sells (the ones where you design and make the paper doll clothes). She learning to sew by making the clothes for the dolls. And she's learning about history and she tries to make her dolls historically correct through clothing and figuring out what pieces she needs for different periods.

Marissa

 

We just drove past an outlet mall that had an American Girl store. Don't know how the prices compare (I'm trying to keep these out of the girls life!), but if you are near an outlet, might be worth a stop.