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American Girl
americangirl.com › pages › historical-characters
Historical Characters: 18 Inch Dolls & More | American Girl
Start your little one’s first collection with new plush toys and board books inspired by fan-favorite historical characters. My First Kirsten™ Doll, My First Samantha™ Doll, My First Addy™ Doll, My First Josefina™ Doll, and My First Molly™ Doll are perfect for ages 18m+.
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Fandom
americangirl.fandom.com › wiki › Historical_Characters
Historical Characters | American Girl Wiki | Fandom
1 month ago - The first six characters revamped were Kaya, Rebecca, Nanea, Maryellen, Melody, and Julie; however, all current characters received new era-unique logos with their name and year focus. This included Felicity, even though she was archived again by the end of 2019.
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American Girl Doll News
americangirldollnews.com › everydoll
List of Every American Girl Doll Ever Made!
Brave, hardworking and steadfast Kirsten was one of the first American Girl dolls ever released. She is eager to try new things, and is skilled at sewing and money-making. Kirsten has blond hair, blue eyes, the Classic mold and light skin. Her name was originally going to be Jill.
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › List_of_American_Girl_characters
List of American Girl characters - Wikipedia
May 5, 2013 - In 2021, American Girl launched limited edition Anniversary Dolls of the first six Historical Dolls for their 35th Anniversary. They were discontinued by 2022. Kaya (pronounced Ky-yah) was originally released in 2002 and a part of the BeForever collection. In her collection, she comes with a knit blanket sweater, a deerskin outfit, a tepee and bedroll, a saddle, and a mare named Steps High, a foal named Sparks Flying, and a dog named Tatlo.
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AGH
dolliesandrainbows.wixsite.com › americangirlhistory › historical-characters
Historical Characters | American Girl History
June 25, 2020 - The first line of American Girl was Historical Characters. Pleasant Rowland's main goal was to teach girls about America's History. The first dolls were Samantha Parkington, Kirsten Larson, and Molly Mclntire. These dolls shared the same face mold, but with different eyes and hair.

American line of 18-inch dolls

American Girl is an American line of 18-inch (46 cm) dolls released on May 5, 1986, by Pleasant Company and now owned by Mattel. The dolls portray eight- to fourteen-year-old girls of … Wikipedia
Factsheet
Created by Pleasant Rowland
Original work Dolls and books released by Pleasant Company (1986)
Owner Mattel
Factsheet
Created by Pleasant Rowland
Original work Dolls and books released by Pleasant Company (1986)
Owner Mattel
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › American_Girl
American Girl - Wikipedia
1 week ago - Kirsten, a Swedish immigrant from 1854; Samantha, an Edwardian-era orphan from 1904; and Molly, a World War II-era girl from 1944. These original dolls formed the foundation of the American Girl historical collection, which aimed to educate and inspire through storytelling and play.
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Smithsonian Magazine
smithsonianmag.com › history › evolution-american-girl-dolls-180977822
The Enduring Nostalgia of American Girl Dolls
September 29, 2023 - American Girl's founder, Pleasant Rowland, poses alongside the company's three original dolls (L to R): Kirsten, Samantha and Molly.
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Glamour
glamour.com › culture › american girl dolls › the six original american girl dolls are coming back
Original American Girl Dolls 35th Anniversary Return | Glamour
May 4, 2021 - American Girl is reissuing the six original American Girl dolls from The Pleasant Company. Kirsten, Samantha, Molly, Felicity, Addy, and Josefina are back!
Find elsewhere
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American Girl Doll News
americangirldollnews.com › post › every-american-girl-doll-name-in-alphabetical-order
Every American Girl Doll Name In Alphabetical Order
October 7, 2022 - Here's the list: • Addy Walker • Blaire Wilson • Caroline Abbott • Cecile Rey • Chrissa Maxwell • Claudie Wells • Corinne Tan • Courtney Moore • Elizabeth Cole • Emily Bennett • Evette Peeters • Felicity Merriman • Gabriela McBride • Grace Thomas • Gwen Thompson ...
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CompleteSet
completeset.com › meet-history-the-original-american-girl-dolls
Meet History: The Original American Girl Dolls
November 2, 2020 - Before we get too far into the current state of the beloved American Girl brand, let's introduce you to the first few girls – or say hello to a few old friends, if you've previously met! Kirsten was one of the original three dolls produced, along with Molly McIntire and Samantha Parkington.
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Blogger
thesavagedolls.blogspot.com › 2013 › 10 › american-girl-dolls-archive.html
The Savage Dolls: American Girl Dolls Archive
Click image to Meet Our Dolls! Contact us at: [email protected] · I wanted to list all the American Girl Dolls just for everybody's information. I get a lot of questions about which dolls are which and whether they are historic or retired, etc. As of this posting there are only 4 retired historic dolls.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/americangirl › a chart of every doll's release and retirement since 1986! (as of september 9, 2023)
r/americangirl on Reddit: A chart of every doll's release and retirement since 1986! (as of September 9, 2023)
September 10, 2023 -

Hello! I decided to make a chart listing every doll's release and retirement (as of today). I think it's interesting to see how long a doll was available so I decided to do a little research. I want to thank AG Wiki for being a big help, as well as Desert Doll Ranch on Tumblr for her informative posts. Below is a legend to help you along, and on the bottom I've written some notes for further explanation and trivia.

Italics means a re-release of a doll who was previously retired.

An asterisk (*) means a Limited Edition doll, not including Girl of the Year dolls, since Lindsey and Kailey were around for about 2 calendar years, and every GOTY since 2017 has been around longer than 1 year, so for this reason, each GOTY doll's retirement year is mentioned. These include other dolls that were only meant to be around for a limited time such as Costco exclusive dolls (like Molly's BeForever re-release), the 35th Anniversary dolls, limited edition Swarovski dolls, etc.

I didn't include the one-of-a-kind Swarovski dolls that were auctioned off in 2019 and 2020, since they weren't mass produced. I listed Kit's 2023 Birthday re-release as limited edition, however we do not know yet if she will remain in her original meet outfit or if this fixture is permanent.

YearDolls ReleasedDolls retirement
1986Kirsten, Samantha, Molly
1991Felicity
1993Addy
1995AGOT 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.1, 19.1, 20
1997Josefina, 6.26.1
199918.2, 19.218.1, 19.1
2000Kit
2001Lindsey, 21
2002KayaLindsey
2003Kailey
2004Nellie, Marisol, 22, 23, 24Kailey, 9, 10, 20
2005Elizabeth, 25, 26Marisol
2006Jess, Emily, 27.1, 28Jess
2007Nicki F, Julie, IvyNicki F, 15
2008Mia, Ruthie, 27.2, 29, 30, 31, 32Mia, 3, 6.2, 8, 18.2, 27.1
2009Chrissa, Sonali, Gwen, Rebecca, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52Chrissa, Sonali, Gwen, Samantha, Nellie, 1, 5, 11
2010LanieLanie, Kirsten, 7
2011Kanani, Marie-Grace, Cecile, 53, 54.1, 55, 56, 57Kanani, Felicity, Elizabeth, 4
2012McKenna, Caroline, 58McKenna, 2, 36, 45, 48, 50
2013Saige, 59, 60Saige, Molly, Emily, 14, 17
2014Isabelle, Samantha, 61Isabelle, Marie-Grace, Cecile, Ivy, Ruthie, 32
2015Grace, Maryellen, 54.2, 62, 63, 64Grace, Caroline, 12, 34, 38, 54.1
2016Lea, Melody, 65, 66Lea, 41, 43, 46
2017Gabriela, Nanea, Felicity, Tenney, Logan, Z, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 7330, 37
2018Luciana, Molly*, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80Gabriela, Tenney, Logan, Z, 19.2, 21, 51, 52
2019Blaire, 81, 82Felicity, 26, 31, 35, 40, 54.2, 62
2020Joss, Courtney, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, LE Sugar Plum Fairy*16, 28, 49, 56, 63
2021Kira, Kirsten*, Samantha*, Molly*, Felicity*, Addy*, Josefina*, Evette, Makena, Maritza, 89, 90, 91, LE Winter Princess (brunette) * , LE Winter Princess (blonde) * , Costco Sparkling Ballerina (blonde) *Luciana, Blaire, 22, 23, 29, 47, 59, 76, 86
2022Corinne, Gwynn, Molly, Claudie, 92, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, LE Sapphire Splendor*Joss, 13, 24, 33, 39, 53, 55, 57, 58, 60, 61, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84
2023Kavi, Isabel, Nicki H, Kit,* LE FAO Schwartz*, LE Disney Princess Belle*, LE Disney Princess Jasmine*, LE Disney Princess Rapunzel*Kira

Notes: Many of the dolls from the Truly Me revamp were similar to previous dolls, but since they had the painted eyelashes added and different eyebrows, they are considered different dolls. Dolls 105 and 114 of the Truly Me revamp are identical re-numbered versions of 70 and 73, respectively, so they are listed as a re-release.

The 2021 blonde "Sparkling Ballerina" doll was a Costco exclusive, and although similar to #22, her hair is completely different so she is considered a different doll. The other Costco dolls are exact copies of pre-existing TM dolls.

Around 2007-2009, many of the still existing AGOT/TM dolls who still had "pie bangs", were modified to have a thinner bang style. However, since the exact time of each of these individual changes for each particular doll are unknown, they are not listed as different dolls.

Of the original AGOT/TM dolls, aside from the bang changes mentioned above, the following dolls (6, 18, 19, 27 and 54) are mentioned as different versions, with a decimal to signify the changes, which are as follows:

  • #6 was originally released in 1995 with black hair and brown eyes, before she was changed to have blonde hair and green eyes in 1997.

  • #18 was originally released in 1995 with the same hairstyle as #1 but had lighter brown eyes, before she was changed in 1999 to have bangs.

  • #19 was originally released in 1995 with dark brown hair and grey eyes, before being charged in 1999 to have light brown hair and green eyes (her bangs were eventually modified as well).

  • #27 was originally released with permanent earrings in 2006, before ear piercing became an option for all Truly Me dolls in 2008, so as such, her earrings were removed.

  • #54 was originally released in 2011 with the regular Jess mold, before being given the modified Jess mold in 2015 with the painted eye sockets (similar to Ivy Ling).

This list does not include any changes made to the dolls like face mold changes over time (otherwise we'd be here forever lol), or things like "Samber" eyes or other collector features.

In 2014, Samantha was re-released out of retirement for the BeForever launch. The existing historical dolls (Josefina, Addy, Rebecca, Kit, Julie) were re-released with new meet outfits and other minor changes. Kaya and Caroline remained the same. Felicity was later brought back for a short time, as was Molly (as a Costco exclusive).

Of the original Truly Me line before it's 2022 revamp, the following dolls still available (as of September 2023): 25, 42, 44, 64, 66, 71, 72, 73, 77, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92.

Trivia:

  • At 32 years, Samantha Parkington has been around the longest. She was around for 23 years from the line's debut in 1986, before she was retired in 2009. She was then brought back during the BeForever relaunch in 2014, and as of 2023 is still available.

  • At 30 years, Addy Walker is the longest running continuous doll, having been available since her debut in 1993. She was given a new outfit and hairstyle in 2014 as part of the BeForever launch, and was released in her original form for the 35th Anniversary.

  • Molly McIntire has the record for most re-releases, with 3. She was initally retired in 2013, before being revamped (temporarily) as a Costco exclusive in 2018 with a new outfit as part of BeForever, she was re-released in her original outfit as part of the 35th Anniversary, and then was brought back again in 2022.

  • Felicity Merriman could also be considered to have 3 re-releases. In the early 2000s, she had been removed from catalogs and made online only, although she was not completely retired. She was revamped in 2005 with a new meet outfit (along with Elizabeth's release) to promote her movie until officially retired in 2011. She was revamped again in 2017 with a third meet outfit as part of the BeForever line, before quietly being retired two years later. She was then released a third time in 2021 in her original meet outfit as part of the 35th Anniversary. I guess you could say she had 2-and-a-half re-releases, since during her first revamp, she wasn't retired. Should Felicity ever be released again, she will have beaten Molly's record.

  • Of the original 3 historical dolls, Kirsten Larson is the only one to never be re-released permanently, aside from her brief return for the 35th Anniversary. She is the only one of the original 6 Pleasant Company historical dolls to have only one meet outfit (although collectors may find slight changes in her outfit depending on age).

  • The AGOT/TM doll with the longest availability, was #13 at 27 years having been around since the line's debut in 1995, before retiring in 2022 (although her bangs were modified in the late 2000s).

  • The AGOT/TM doll with the shortest availability is #86 at just 20 months. She was released in February 2020, and was retired in 2021.

  • Another one with a notable short time is the original #6. She was released in 1995 before her change in 1997. However, since AG did not have a website then, it is unknown when exactly she was discontinued.

  • Other dolls with a notable short availability with under three years are: original #27, 36, 45, 50, 76, 81, 82, 83, 84.

  • #25 is currently the "oldest" TM doll still available.

  • #4 is the only AGOT/TM doll to have her own unique face mold, and as such this is the only face mold without a name (aside from the classic mold). The closest to this would be the boy dolls who each have modified versions of previous existing molds.

  • The Girl of the Year doll with the longest run (to this day) was Luciana Vega. She released January 2018, before retiring in September of 2021.

  • Since 1991, at least one new doll has been released every year, with the exceptions of 1992, 1994, and 1998.

  • Since 2004, at least three new dolls have been released every year, with the exception of 2010, in which Lanie Holland (the Girl of the Year) was the only doll released.

  • 2022 is the year with the most new dolls released at 31 (3 of whom - Molly, 105 and 114 - were re-releases of previous dolls). The others are GOTY Corinne and her little sister Gwynn, new historical Claudie, and the Limited Edition Sapphire Splendor doll.

  • As of September of 2023, no new TM dolls have been released this year, which marks this the first year since 2010 that no new TM dolls were released.

If there are any dolls that you think I missed with regards to release year or retirement year, feel free to let me know. If you have any other interesting facts you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them!

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Detroit Free Press
freep.com › story › life › 2016 › 08 › 19 › american-girl-historical-dolls-melod-detroit › 88997704
Who's that girl? See all historic American Girl dolls
August 20, 2016 - Availability: Samantha and Nellie were initially archived in 2009, but Samantha was re-released in 2014, when American Girl rebranded its historical dolls under the BeForever name.
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Dandridgehousedolls
dandridgehousedolls.com › 2018 › 06 › 01 › meet-the-historical-dolls
Meet the Historical Dolls – Dandridge House Dolls
August 1, 2019 - The Historical girls have always ... the founder of American Girl, created Pleasant Company in 1986, and launched it with three dolls; Kirsten, Samantha and Molly....
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USPTO
uspto.gov › learning-and-resources › journeys-innovation › field-stories › girls-window-history
A girl’s window into history | USPTO
Rowland signed and numbered this Samantha doll #1 in her own hand. In July 2021, all six of the original dolls signed #1 by Rowland were auctioned by PBA Galleries. The Samantha doll sold for $14,000, nearly twice the pre-auction estimate and an indicator of the American Girl dolls' popularity ...
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Mama Natural
mamanatural.com › baby names › girl names › girl name lists › american girl doll names: childhood treasures
American Girl Doll Names: Childhood Treasures - Mama Natural
October 24, 2022 - Used for a doll with a story set ... had a love of the sea and bravery beyond her years. Other classic American Girl dolls’ names include Molly, Samantha, and Josefina....
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/namenerds › american girl doll names over the years
r/namenerds on Reddit: American Girl Doll names over the years
January 4, 2022 -

Every year this company releases a “girl of the year”. Here are the names from the various years. I find the mix interesting- sometimes very popular names for the target customer (Isabelle, Grace) and other years names I’ve never seen (Chrissa, Kanani) and some that seem like they’re from another era (Nicki, Lindsey) What’s your favorite?

  1. Lindsey Bergman was released in 2001.

  2. Kailey Hopkins was released in 2003.

  3. Marisol Luna was released in 2005.

  4. Jess McConnell was released in 2006.

  5. Nicki Fleming was released in 2007.

  6. Mia St. Clair was released in 2008.

  7. Chrissa Maxwell was released in 2009.

  8. Lanie Holland was released in 2010.

  9. Kanani Akina was released in 2011.

  10. McKenna Brooks was released in 2012.

  11. Saige Copeland was released in 2013.

  12. Isabelle Palmer was released in 2014.

  13. Grace Thomas was released in 2015.

  14. Lea Clark was released in 2016.

  15. Gabriela McBride was released in 2017.

  16. Luciana Vega was released in 2018.

  17. Blaire Wilson was released in 2019.

  18. Joss Kendrick was released in 2020.

  19. Kira Bailey was released in 2021.

  20. Corinne Tan was released in 2022.

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Business Insider
businessinsider.com › business insider › news › how the american girl toy empire has changed over time, from its iconic historical characters to dolls with modern stories
How the American Girl toy empire has changed over time, from its iconic historical characters to dolls with modern stories
September 21, 2020 - Samantha dolls can be ordered through American Girl's website for $98 at the time of writing, but Kirsten and Molly were archived in 2010 and 2014, respectively, which means they're no longer available through the doll manufacturer. Original versions of Kirsten and Molly dolls can be worth hundreds of dollars on eBay.
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American Girl
americangirl.com › collections › the-american-girls-collection
The American Girls Collection™: Special-edition classics
Celebrate the return of classic American Girl® characters Addy™, Kirsten™, Samantha™, and Josefina™ with special-edition outfits, accessories, and books.
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New-York Historical Society
wams.nyhistory.org › home › end of the twentieth century, 1977-2001 › the information age, 1991-2001 › american girl
American Girl - Women & the American Story
March 13, 2024 - American Girl Addy Walker doll American Girl Company, Addy Walker doll, 1993. New-York Historical Society, Gift of Nicole Wagner and Wagner Family, 2020.46.1.