So yesterday my niece asked about American Girl dolls, and man, I realized I had zero clue about all the different names and types out there. Figured I’d dive in and find a proper list with pictures, because honestly Googling just shows random bits and pieces.
Starting the search
First thing I did was hit up the official American Girl site thinking it’d be straightforward. Big mistake – their navigation’s like a maze. Had to click through like twenty pages just to find current dolls, and forget about retired ones. Their search box basically laughed at me when I typed “full list”.
Next stop was Wikipedia since it usually has these pop culture roundups. Found their American Girl page showing some characters, but the images were tiny thumbnails and half the descriptions just said “discontinued” without pictures. Felt totally useless for actually seeing what each doll looks like.
Hitting fan sites and forums
Got smart and searched doll collector forums. Man, those folks are hardcore! Scrolled through endless threads where people argued about:
- Which year Pleasant Company changed to American Girl
- Exact skin tones for historical dolls
- Why Kirsten’s apron strings were blue in 1996
Found some gold though – fans had posted Flickr albums of their collections. Screenshotted like crazy when I spotted clear doll portraits with name tags propped beside them.
Putting it all together
Took my messy folder of screenshots and started cross-checking. Made a spreadsheet tracking:
- Doll names
- Time periods
- Hair colors
- Which photos were public domain
Kept finding duplicates – turns out Truly Me dolls have like fifty variations with minor outfit changes. Nearly threw my laptop when I realized I had three identical “Josephina” pics from different angles.
After three coffee-fueled hours, finally had a complete checklist with decent images. Printed it for my niece and honestly might frame my spreadsheet – feels like I cracked the Da Vinci code of plastic faces.
Moral of the story? Just ask collectors directly next time instead of trusting corporate sites or wikis. Those doll forums might ramble about apron strings, but dang they deliver the goods.
