Felicity and Elizabeth

I know, this isn't Josefina-related, but I just checked on the American Girl website.

Guess what?


They're retiring Felicity and Elizabeth.


Now it's clear to me what Mattel is doing. They're getting rid of all of the original dolls, and make new ones to get more money. But they are doing a bad job! They haven't even made a new doll to replace Kirsten, and they think they can just get rid of another doll before they do? NO! And they're not even caring what people think of this. When Samantha and Nellie got retired, they got a whole memorial website to them, just because she sold the most. What about Kirsten? She didn't even get a best friend doll before she got retired! They could have just retired Molly and Emily instead. But no, Kirsten went second, with barely any recognition. She only got one page to herself in the catalogues, while Samantha got at least four. But girls love Kirsten, too! Think about all of the girls out there who their first doll was Kirsten! But that doesn't matter to Mattel.
And now, Felicity is getting the boot. When I first found out about AG retiring Kirsten and Samantha, I thought they were just retiring the original three (Samantha, Kirsten and Molly). Felicity was not an original doll. Well, she sort of was, but not completely original. So why are they retiring her before Molly and Emily?? It really doesn't seem fair.

Mattel is RUINING American Girl. Back when I started getting into AG, it was the last year of Pre-Mattel (1999). Pleasant Rowland first started American Girl to let girls have a fun way of learning history. They grew to identify with the different situations the historicals were going through, even though it happened 100 years ago. Girls absolutely loved Samantha, Molly, and Kirsten. And when Felicity came along, they loved her too. And then Addy came along, the first African-American doll. If Mattel decides to retire her next, they'll be called racist (she is the ONLY black historical).

But when Mattel came along, they destroyed the fun! They got rid of the American Girl theatre in the AG Places. No more happy singing and dancing there. Then they got rid of the soft eyelashes on the dolls and made them even more plastic (Barbie, anyone?). After that, they completely moved their target area from educational historical dolls to American Girl Today (Just Like You or My American Girl). Those dolls, as cool as they are looking like you, have no educational value whatsoever! They're just a toy. When I was a kid, I would take my American Girl doll books to school (before I was homeschooled) and actually have good answers for when we learned about pioneers, for example.The Kirsten books taught me so much! But what do the Just Like You dolls teach me? Nothing!

And then there came the Hopscotch Hill School dolls. Many of you are too young to remember them, but I sure do. American Girl's biggest mistake ever. Go look one up, you'll be shocked that they used to be from American Girl. They were all plastic, with smug expressions and unrealistic skinny little bodies. Just like Barbies, but supposed to target six-year-olds. What six-year-old wants to learn about starting school with a doll that looks nothing like them? And now they were being bombarded with bad images: you have to be skinny, have long hair, etc. Shame on them! Those dolls were discontinued in 2005, and praise Jesus!

What about the Girl of the Year dolls? Yes, they have nice messages. Lanie, the environmentally conscious doll. Chrissa, who stands up to bullies and her friend Gwen, who's homeless. Jess, who wants to preserve ancient artifacts for all to see and learn about. Kailey, who is trying to save the ocean. But while these are good dolls....
American Girl introduces....

My American Girl.

What a stupid way to make money. Girls have to buy a doll to go on this new, interactive world! But what about Lanie's message? Go outdoors? What do they expect us to do, go outdoors on the COMPUTER?
And then there's the unsafe part: what if the girls decide to meet up? You never know who's behind that computer screen! "Aliyah" could really be a stalker who wants to meet little girls. And then once Mary meets "Aliyah", that stalker could do some horrifying things.


Mattel, you are making a huge mistake!!!

Pleasant Rowland wanted little girls to identify with girls of the past.
Mattel wants to make money.

Felicity Merriman, Elizabeth Cole, we will miss you so much. I'm sorry it ever had to end.