I have decided to embark on a new quest today - one that I have dreamt about since childhood. I am going to start collecting American Girl dolls!
A Little Girls Dream
Like most little girls, I was obsessed with American Girl Dolls when I was young. The day the catalogue came in the mail was like a national holiday for me and I would look it over for hours in awe. The dolls were all so beautiful and the characters were so rich. The world of American Girl dolls had me captivated.
I am a practical person though and was even as child. My sister and I both loved playing with Barbies and since Barbies were smaller, cheaper, and generally easier to play with that is the toy I would always ask for around birthdays and holidays. I did get two American Girl dolls as a child though. The first was Nellie. I remember watching the Samantha movie and absolutely loving Nellie. My parents got her doll as a Christmas gift for me that year. I still have her to this day and although young me lost a few of her accessories, I still have almost her entire outfit and she is in shockingly good condition for a doll that was played with pretty regularly.
Although I loved Nellie, I wanted a doll with a more modern style and long hair to play with too. For my second childhood doll I saved up my birthday money and spent several days weighing all the options from the Just Like You collection until I settled on my choice. I picked Just Like You #24 which at the time I purchased came with the "I Like Your Style" outfit. I still remember the day she was delivered - I was helping my mom clean house when the box arrived. I wanted to open her up right away, but I didn't want to risk getting cleaning supplies on her and ruining her on day one so I waited until we had finished. Staring at that box the entire time we were cleaning house was torture, but so worth the wait! She was absolutely perfect - and still is! Her name is Leah Iris and she has been one of my best friends for almost 20 years now!
Last year in 2024 I decided to take a weekend vacation and drive down to Dallas. While I was there I of course had to stop into the American Girl Doll store. I had been to an American Girl Doll store before, but had never bought anything. On my trip last year I decided to set a little money aside for another doll I had been wanting since childhood - a Bitty Baby doll. I chose Bitty Baby #2 with the full playset. I named her Clarissa and she was a cute addition to my tiny little collection.
Since I am in the process of moving right now and am currently living in my parents garage, I have most of my stuff in storage. This includes my Nellie and Bitty Baby dolls (each packed safely in their own special box) and all the accessories I have for the three of them. Leah is still with me though - I don't think I would be able to get through this move without her! She chills on my bed a makes the garage a little bit more homey.
A Change of Heart
Like I said, I am a pretty practical person. Although I have always dreamed of having a large collection of American Girl dolls with the full historical line and loads of accessories and playsets, I have always talked myself out of actually collecting any dolls besides the three that I have. American Girl dolls are not a cheap investment. A new Truly Me doll (the current version of the Just Like You series) will start at $135. Historical girls and other special collections such as doll of the year can go for $200 or more and their playsets and accessories can add another couple hundred to the total cost. In addition to price, American Girl dolls and playsets can take up a lot of space. I am moving into a tiny house soon and don't have much room for a large collections of dolls. Also, I have a cat - a cat that likes to knock stuff over and chew on things (like doll hair). I would hate to spend money on a brand new doll just to have my cat break her in the first few minutes of owning her. For all these reasons and more, I have never gotten into doll collecting even though I have always wanted to, but things are about to change!
These last two weeks I have been doing a lot of travelling for work. Thankfully my employer pays milage for all the driving I have been doing. I am going to be getting almost $400 just for my travelling these last two weeks in addition to my normal paycheck. My car gets really good gas mileage so I only spent around $50 on gas which leaves me with an extra $350 dollars of unexpected income to do whatever I want with. The practical thing to do would be to put this money into my bank account and use it to help with the cost of my home build, but the less practical part of my brain that has been hidden for most of my life has started to make an appearance now that I am getting to a good place in my life with my finances and my mental health. It is telling me that maybe I should do something stupid and start the American Girl doll collection I have always wanted.
What has brought about this sudden idea you ask? Well, its not totally sudden. I have been debating purchasing an American Girl doll for all of 2025 so far. The Girl of the Year 2025 Summer McKinny has been calling to me since she was released. Her story is one that I really like. She is an entrepreneur and has her own dog walking and bakery business. I have dreams of starting a business myself and was an Entrepreneurship major in college. I love managing small businesses and it is what I have done for most of my career. I also love her pets! She has a cat named Fettucine (one of my favorite foods) and a dog named Crescent. It also makes me happy to see an American Girl doll get released with glasses as part of her main look. Lots of dolls have glasses as part of their accessories kits you can purchase, but Summer has glasses that she wears full time that come with her doll and that she appears wearing on the cover of her book. I also wear glasses full time and love that her and I can match. Aside from her story, I also just love the appearance of her. Pink is my favorite color (if you couldn't tell from the theme of this blog) and she comes with a pink streak in her hair. Her rainbow dress is super cute too!
As much as I love and resonate with everything about Summer, I have talked myself out of buying her for almost 9 months now. All the reasons why purchasing an American Girl doll right now would be a bad decision and a waste of money have kept me from pulling the trigger and getting her. This extra $350 dollars that has suddenly come my way has made me rethink though. Would one more doll really be such a bad thing? She wouldn't take up much room and I don't need her full collection just the doll and her pets, right? I can keep her safe from my cat and find a place to display her in my new house that he cant reach surely?
And just like that - I have decided to buy Summer McKinny.
I haven't ordered her yet. I have heard that the 2026 girl of the year is going to be announced in September and I am hoping that once the new one is announced that they might put Summer on sale and I could save a little bit of money. The practical part of my brain hasn't completely gone away! Regardless of whether she goes on sale or not, I am going to buy Summer soon before the end of the year.
Down the Rabbit Hole
While I was researching Summer and trying to make my decision I got to doing some research about other Girl of the Year dolls and ended up going down a bit of a rabbit hole - and by a bit I mean a MAJOR rabbit hole. I ended up on eBay where I found . . . her.
This is Kailey Hopkins and her dog Sandy. She was the 2003 Girl of the Year and the second Girl of the Year ever released. I saw this picture on eBay and had the most incredible idea - what if I collect American Girl dolls, but with a twist? Instead of purchasing new or mint condition dolls, what if I buy the dolls that have been (to put it nicely) well loved and try to restore them to their former glory?
This method of acquiring dolls would solve a lot of my problems with regards to collecting. I would not be spending as much money on dolls because I would not be buying them new. I would not feel bad if my cat got ahold of one and damaged it because the dolls are already in rough shape. They wont take up (as much) space because I am not getting the entire collection, just the doll. In addition to eliminating my barriers to collecting this method also has two really great benefits. One, I have an excuse to do endless craft projects. I don't plan on tracking down and buying the dolls original clothing and accessories (that would be too much work and money) I am just going to sew them some clothes that look similar to their original styles. This now gives me an excuse to start more craft and sewing projects! The second major benefit is that I get to give these dolls a second lease on life. I am one of those people who was really hit hard by Toy Story as a kid and seeing an abandoned and broken toy will always make my heart hurt. By taking the broken and beat up dolls that no one else wants and restoring them as close as possible to their original state I can make a difference in a dolls life!
This Kailey Hopkins doll was originally listed at $20 but I offered $14 and it was accepted. She is in the mail on her way to me right now and I can't wait for her to show up! I am going to be making several posts about the process of restoring her and making her some new clothes so stay tuned for the full process! I will still be ordering Summer new because I just adore her and want her, but after her I am all in on old dolls. Let the worlds most busted up and mix matched collection of American Girl dolls begin!
I am going to have the American Girl doll collection that I dreamed about as a child - it is just going to be a collection unique to me! Safe to say that no body else will have a set of dolls exactly like mine!
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