American Girl is not the same as it was two years ago. My friend Jaclynn and I were talking today about how American Girl’s quality is going down – fast. There have been so many changes in the last year, ever since American Girl’s new president, Katy Dickson (former president of Mattel’s Barbie), came onto the scene. Some of the big changes from those years include zip ties instead of neck strings, the introduction of the Wellie Wishers, Boy dolls, new hand molds, doll underwear becoming a permanent part of their bodies, and American Girl products being sold at Khols and Toys R’ Us. While some of these changes have had positive effects, the long run, they are lowering American Girl’s quality and brand name.
Jaclynn and I are taking a stand by writing to American Girl, we want to encourage others to do the same. Jaclynn wrote a post on her blog, Little House of American Girl with her thoughts on the issues. (LINK) We both want to encourage YOU, the American Girl blogging community, to contact American Girl, via mail, email, whichever works best for you. Share your feelings with them. Share why you don’t like these changes, and why you think they need to revert back to their old ways. The ways that made them American Girl.
Just keep in mind, be kind. Don’t rant on American Girl. Be courteous, and thoughtful of what you write. We don’t want to create a riot – those rarely fix issues. If anything, they make things worse. ;)
Like Jaclynn stated in her post, American Girl is always telling us that together girls can make a difference. Let’s unite, so we can. Let’s save the company we all love. We wouldn’t be here without AG.
PC: Jaclynn at Little House of American Girl
Share this photo on your own blog. Spread the word. Write American Girl. Fight for the company’s quality we know and LOVE.
– American Girl Doll Artist
*Applaudes* You guys are awesome! So poetic!
Aw, thanks! XD
Good idea.
So true! I’m with you guys. We need to fight for the company we know and love!
-Izzy-
sewsweetdollies.wordpress.com
This is great! I will try to help with it! :)
This is so true! I will spread the word!
YES! I’m thinking up a letter right now. :D
~ Light4theLord
https://dollsnall.blogspot.com
This is a good idea! I feel like we have spent so much time complaining; perhaps we instead we should actually (kindly) do something. I will consider this! It’s a good idea!
Thanks! :) That’s awesome! <3
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My husband said that if this is the direction AG is going, he will no longer buy these dolls for my daughter and I. My daughter wants Julie next; we will be getting her from eBay. I like her older meet outfit better anyway.
I bought mine on eBay because the older ones are better quality! I know all the real fans don’t like this. We are ultimately the bread and butter. The new president seems like a train wreck, hopefully the board of directors will read blogs like this and eventually oust her.
I put it up. I’ll probably email ag tomorrow.
Um, this is a doll brand. Is it that worth saving?
To many, American Girl is a company who makes their best friends. Dolls are huge parts of many girls’ lives, and hold a lot of fun memories for us. :) The fact that it is worth saving or not is different for each individual. :D
Totally agree, American Girl Doll Artist! Lots of memories. :-)
Good job guys! I’m with you on this, I’ll spread the word!
~Katherine 🍒
P.S. I’ll think about (kindly) writing to AG.
My polite emails to AG and to CEO of AG on the subject were returned three times, saying ‘access denied’. Do you have an address that works?
Hm.. sorry, I don’t, just the email AG puts on their website. You could try commenting on their Facebook or Instagram posts. :)
I will gladly do this! IF AG really cares about us like they say they do, then they will see how terrible their choices are!
~Larri
Rumour has it that they are deleting Facebook posts that are critical of recent decisions, so it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that they have shut the e-mail down as well. I’m so disappointed in them, I’ve been a customer since 1990. This is not the AG I know and love, and until it changes and the quality improves, I’m done buying from them. I will be buying from Ebay and Etsy instead.
I so agree with you! AG needs to somehow go back into Pleasant Company quality… We want AG quality back!
To be honest I like zip ties better I like the new packaging I like the new boy dolls and I like the new changes better in my opinion sorry to upset u
I’m only 14
You’re good! :) Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. :D Thanks for commenting!
Thank you for sharing this. The more that do perhaps they might eventually listen.
I will kindly write a letter stating my thoughts as well!
I Will Help
!!!!!!!!!!
Great, thank you! :D <3
:)
I agree!! Sewing underwear on is just silly in my opinion!
Have you seen the new perma panties from the back on agig? Words fail me and I kinda feel sick.
Yes, it is so sad. :( I am the same.
I so agree with you, and after the news that the vinyl is going to be SQUISHY, I wrote an email to them. I’m hoping that we can all band together and get them to go back to their amazing quality! :)
-Emma-
I don’t know if it’s for sure that the vinyl is going to be squishy, and AG wrote a customer saying they were not changing the vinyl, BUT, it could become thinner to same money. :( Great, thank you! I agree! :D
I just wanted to share the email that I just sent to American Girl.
Dear American Girl,
You have received quite an outpouring of responses regarding your new underwear design, most of which have been against the change. I do not feel it is a good decision, but that isn’t why I’m writing.
Your mission is supposed to be empowering girls and inspiring them to make a difference. Thousands of girls (and women on behalf of girls) have reached out to try and make a difference by stopping a change in a company they love, but you haven’t allowed them to do that. The message that I’ve gotten from that is that adults and people in charge are going to do whatever they want to do, regardless of whether or not I protest it or try to prevent it. Is that the message you want to send? That is most definitely not an empowering or inspiring message. This issue has gotten so much bigger than just an underwear issue or a customer service issue. This is a case of a company completely throwing their mission out the window for the sake of the bottom line.
Anyway, I just thought you should know what message you are sending to all the girls who have tried and are trying to stop this change.
Sincerely, Lydia P.
That’s great! I’m glad you pointed that out to them, I really see the problem. Thanks for sharing! :)
I’m hoping to eventually receive a response from them to this email; just today I got a response to my original email that I sent around the time the underwear drama started (haha underwear drama : p). It was basically just the same reply they’ve been giving to everyone. Surely they can’t give that reply to this email!
-Lydia P.
I received a reply from AG today:
“Dear Lydia,
Thank you for taking time to share your feelings with us. We certainly understand the passion of the girls that love our products and we appreciate hearing from them. While we recognize that change can be difficult, our decisions are based with the best of intentions. We learned from our consumer research that the new underwear design will make play easier for children and will ensure the underwear cannot be lost. Having observed for decades how girls play with our dolls, outfits, and accessories, we believe the change will not limit how a young girl imagines or interacts with her doll.
Again, thank you for your thoughtful letter. We will be sure to pass it along to the appropriate teams.
Sincerely,
American Girl Customer Service”
So, in other words, they have made up their minds and will not change the decision no matter how many people request it. So disappointing…
I think that a lot of the new changes are great and some not so great! Like not sure about the built in underwear in the dolls and the new boy dolls. I mean they are called American Girl Dolls for a reason cause they are for girls. But I love AG dolls!
Wow, I totally agree. We recently bought an AG doll and we were disappointed when comparing it to GOTY 2013 Saige, who was much higher quality. I’m glad they’re adding new lines of dolls, but that doesn’t mean they should change the quality of it and crash their respectable name. It’s unacceptable when dolls are more expensive today and they have zip ties for neck strings! I remember when dolls were $110 and they were better. Also, the girl of the year (nothing against her or anything, she’s really adorable) for 2017 is a dancer type- and GOTY Isabelle was pretty much the same theme. so much for new ideas.
I will be sending AG an email.
–Peaches–
http://www.awwpeaches.com
I just posted this cause on my website to help spread the word. I totally agree with all of this and I hope this gets out to new readers so they can help make a change as well!
-Peaches
Link to my post: https://awwpeaches.wordpress.com/2017/03/16/support-the-cause/
Thank you so much Peaches for spreading the word!! Me too! :D <3
I want to help too!😀