I spent the holiday weekend in Arizona visiting my parents and you better believe we did some hardcore thrifting while I was there! Here's who we found:
Marisol (far left) and Samantha (next to her) came home with me. Mostly I wanted the outfits they were wearing (which had to go in the wash), but Samantha needed a head-to-toe makeover. I felt so bad for her. Her hair was matted and dirty, her skin was covered with a layer of grime, her limbs were loose, and her face was slightly caved in, probably from having something heavy stored on top of her for a long time. I'm about 75% done with her restoration by now, and then she'll be ready to find a new home.
Marisol is in immaculate condition and is absolutely angelic. She just needed her hair sprayed down and gently guided back into place. Now that I've taken her outfit I haven't decided whether to keep her or let her move on too.
The WellieWishers were a lucky find, because my mom has both dolls and both their eyes have turned purple, so these girls were going to donate their eyes. I removed the purple eyes from my mom's dolls, shortly before she called American Girl and spoke to customer service, who said that purple eyes is a free replacement? So I had to put the eyes back into the eyeless dolls. This is good news because I also have two Wellies with purple eyes that need replacement.
The little coffee pot in front of Marisol is for me, and the AG brand saddle is for my mom's doll horses.
On my drive back, I stopped at a small town thrift store and found these:
These are obviously someone's old collection of Only Hearts Club dolls, from the early 2000's. Right in the middle is the very rare Hannah Faith doll, who I'm thrilled to have. I'm keeping everyone and their outfits, except for the two Briana dolls on each side of Hannah, since I already have Briana and don't want duplicates. I've since cleaned them up and they look brand new.
I had an impromptu trip to Once Upon a Child this week, and I was met with an incredible steal for two dolls. Milla from Rainbow High with a full outfit save for shoes, and Jewel Sparkles from Lalaloopsy, also shoeless. I have never had a Lalaloopsy before, at least not at this scale. I have a very tiny Confetti Carnivale that my fashion dolls hold and I fidget with. But this little princess was so sweet, I decided she can be my singular doll from this line, since she's a bit big to collect more than one of. The sensory experience is so nice. The texture of her hair is so nice to run my hands over, and the weight is so nice. I think I'd classify Jewel as a good comfort doll. I'm very smitten now that they're both cleaned up. The odds are Milla will go to my stock box for customs. I can see her working well for the videogame themed customs I wanna do with RH dolls, particularly for Knuckles, but we'll see. Jewel is joining my stuffed animals since she fits better with them than my fashion dolls. Also it means she's easier to bring over and hold. I may have to see if her dress fits a G3 Monster High doll though, I may need to borrow that.
My Mercari lot from last week arrived earlier than expected! UPS kept insisting they'd be delivered on Friday, but lo and behold they were waiting on the front steps when I woke from my afternoon nap.
(Text rambles got too long so under the cut they go--)
Letting them air out for a bit before I handle them too much. The Kindis are slightly perfumed (knew I was taking a risk with that, but they were cheap), and although it isn't overpowering they have been sealed up in a box traveling cross-country from Utah for the past week, so they need a chance to...dissipate before I can get an accurate assessment of their scent situation. Otherwise they are as adorable as I'd hoped. I think the purple one might have the same nylon hair blend as Rainbow High Violet XD Definitely not going out of my way to collect more of these--most of the ones I've seen on the secondhand market are either in really rough shape from being played with, or comically overpriced--but as a representative sample of their brand they're a nice addition to my collection.
And our Rainbow Surprise girlie! She is beautiful. The larger scale is definitely ODD compared to the RH dolls I'm used to, but not in a bad way. Honestly? I'm kind of into the painted eyes. She'd look spectacular with a Macoto Takahashi style repaint, but sadly that sort of thing is beyond my capabilities. I'll just have to be satisfied with doing something fun with her hair and improvising crochet pieces for her to wear. And figuring out what to do about shoes.....
Finally seeing one of these in person is enough to convince me to get the other three. They're plentiful enough on Mercari, and inexpensive if you're willing to take them with few or no accessories. TBH I'm feeling more inspired by these right now than anything MGA currently has on the docket for RH.
Do you ever look at a doll you got secondhand and wonder what their previous life was like? My Samantha was well loved, and came with a little beaded bracelet with her name on it, which I thought was really cute, and I found myself wondering what adventures she'd had in her previous life and such.
I found Sunny at a thrift store for $4.50! She was wearing an entire outfit of Ruby's clothes minus the shoes (she's borrowing Georgia's right now, and there were a few more clothing pieces than she's wearing in the photo). She was in great condition, and her original hairstyle was never removed. The ends of her hair and those little side pieces were pretty knotted and had the original gel in them, so I washed all of her hair. It combed out super well and I did the little braids at the front. I'll probably put her hair back in the og style later today. It was a great find!
American Girl dolls who look similar, and how to distinguish between them
Updated for 2022 with new dolls!
If you’ve ever bought an American Girl doll secondhand, you might have scrolled through multiple listings of the same doll. If you’ve done this extensively with certain dolls, you probably have come across listings that might be slightly different dolls than the one you’re looking for. To make things extra tough, dolls are often listed by people who have little to no background knowledge or familiarity with the brand, and so won’t be able to give much insight on which doll they have.
Even if you have a fair amount of familiarity with the dolls, sometimes it can be difficult to tell if you’re looking at a correct listing. This is especially true if their hair is out of the original hairstyle or otherwise destroyed, and the original clothing isn’t included. Many dolls do look similar, but there are a few things to look for to make sure you’ve got the right one.
I’ve written out this guide to help distinguish between similar-looking dolls, and things to look for when you’re comparing listings. (Big hint: differences in eyebrow patterns is often a dead giveaway! Pay attention to that detail!)
#1 and Addy Walker: #1 has no part in her hair, no earrings, and has darker brown eyes than Addy. Addy has a center part, gold earrings, and medium brown eyes.
#3, #32, and #51: All three have light blue eyes. #3 has thick bangs with no hair part, line eyebrows, and waist-length hair. #32 has shoulder length hair, line eyebrows, and thin bangs with a side part. #51 has hair length in between shoulder and elbow, feathered eyebrows, and thin bangs with a center part.
#3 and Kirsten Larson: These are very often confused for each other when being sold on the secondary market. They have similar eye color and hair color. But besides the hair length--#3 has slightly shorter hair--the easiest way to tell is to look at the back of the wig. Kirsten’s wig will have short hairs in the middle of the back of her head, indicating an obvious part in the hair where the braids separated. #3 will have long hair all throughout the wig, with no back part. Typically, Kirstens with their hair undone will have wavy hair from being in braids, whereas #3 will usually have very straight hair.
First edition #6 and #16: When in doubt, you probably aren’t looking at a listing for a first edition #6. She’s probably the most rare American Girl doll! But if you are in doubt, #6 has completely black hair, with no brown highlights, and always has thick bangs. #16 made after 2008 will have thinner bangs like the doll pictured on the right, but dolls made from 1995 to 2008 will have the thicker bangs and will be harder to distinguish from #6 unless you can examine the hair color closely and be sure it’s dark brown, not black.
Second edition #6 and #52: #6 has thicker bangs and line eyebrows, with waist-length hair. #52 has thin bangs and feathered eyebrows, with a shorter haircut.
#9 and Molly, McIntire: Like Kirsten, Molly has the part in the back of her hair with the shorter hairs to cover the wig cap when the hair is in braids. #9 has no obvious part. Molly will typically have wavy hair from being braided, but if the hair has been brushed out, it’s very challenging to tell the difference between these two! In that case, keep in mind that Molly’s hair will be waist length, whereas #9′s will be elbow-length.
#10 and #48: #10 has thicker bangs and light green eyes. #48 has thin bangs, a side part, and hazel eyes. #10 has line eyebrows; #48 has feathered brows.
#12 and Gwen Thompson: These are probably THE hardest dolls to distinguish! This is made even more difficult when you know that Gwen has line eyebrows just like #12. #12 was made with thick pie-style bangs from 1995 from 2008, so any doll with this hair color and eye color with larger bangs is always a #12. But what do you do when you’ve got a doll with the smaller, thin bangs, brown eyes, and blonde hair? Gwen’s body tag will contain the numbers 3855, whereas #12 will not have those numbers on her body tag.
#13, #16, and Samantha Parkington: Samantha has curly hair, but sometimes older dolls can have their hair brushed out straight and so it can be harder to distinguish her from her two lookalikes. They all have line eyebrows as well. The easiest way to tell is that Samantha has decal brown eyes, which look entirely different from the other brown eyes. Decal eyes look painted, with many different shades of color, including brown and black. Pinwheel eyes, used in the Truly Me dolls, are one color only.
#22, #27, and #63: All of them have similar shades and lengths of blonde hair, but #22 and #63 have light blue eyes. #27 has dark blue eyes. #63 short hair and a left side part while the other two have longer hair and right side parts. #22 has line eyebrows while the other two have feathered eyebrows.
#24 and Tenney Grant: #24 has the standard freckle pattern seen on most other dolls that extends to the far sides of both cheeks. Tenney has a unique freckle pattern mostly centered around her nose and one above her lip. Tenney also has feathered eyebrows, lighter brown decal eyes, and a curly lock of hair separate from the rest of her wig. #24 has line eyebrows.
#30, #40, and Jess McConnell: #30 has long, slightly wavy hair, while #40 has short straight hair, and Jess has distinct curls. Jess has a reddish tint to her hair and a slightly zigzag part, while the other two have dark brown hair and straight parts.
#31 and #50: #31 has a right side part, while #50 has a center part.
#46 and Gabriela McBride: There is no actual difference in the features of the doll. Gabriela was just a repackaged version of #46. However, since #46 retired in late 2016 shortly before Gabriela debuted on January 1st 2017, there are some differences in the two. If a doll has permanent underwear, she is a Gabriela doll, since permanent underwear was introduced in February 2017 to all dolls other than some historical characters. It was phased out later in 2017. Starting in summer 2017, all dolls were produced using new plastic eyes that have a downward gaze. Those were phased out in January 2019, a month after Gabriela retired. So a Gabriela doll will either have permanent underwear or downcast eyes. The only ones that don’t were first edition Gabriela dolls produced prior to February 2017.
#47 and Sonali Matthews: Both have the Sonali face mold, and dark brown eyes. The difference is in the hair color and length: #47 has straight, short hair at about elbow length, in a medium brown color. Sonali’s hair is very dark brown, nearly black, and is long and curly. Sonali is a lot more rare than #47, so if you’re in doubt, the doll is probably a #47.
#50 and BeForever Addy Walker: Both have center parts and feathered eyebrows, but BeForever Addy will have gold earrings, slightly darker eyes and skin tone, and a thicker texture to her hair.
#54 and Ivy Ling: #54 has longer hair with a curl to the ends, and her hair has more brown highlights. #54 made before 2015 won’t have the sides of her eyes painted, while Ivy dolls always have that. Ivy dolls also have decal brown eyes, which appear much lighter in color than the dark brown of #54 dolls.
#59 and #81: #81 is one of the few dolls with the very light skin tone, introduced in 2018. But if you can’t see the difference between her skin tone and the one used by most other light-skinned dolls, you can see a difference in the hair color: #81 has very long, curly, light caramel brown hair with blonde highlights. #59 has straight short hair with no highlights.
#61, historical Felicity Merriman, and BeForever Felicity Merriman: #61 has darker green eyes than historical Felicity, but a similar shade to BeForever Felicity. BeForever Felicity has much darker red hair, whereas #61 has a more orange shade of hair. Both editions of Felicity dolls will have small pin curls at the hairline. Historical Felicity has line eyebrows, whereas both #61 and BeForever Felicity have feathered brows.
#63 and Julie Albright: I have seen more #63 sold as a Julie doll, and you may have some sellers mistake her for a Julie with a haircut. But #63 has feathered eyebrows and a left side part, whereas Julie has line eyebrows, a center part, and very light platinum blonde hair.
#64 and Z Yang: #64 has a left side part, and Z has a right side part. Z also has a small dark freckle on her cheek, and long hair.
#64 and #84: Both have the Jess face mold. #64 is the only Jess light-skinned Jess mold with a left side part. #84 has a right side part, but has a lighter skin tone than #64. She also has long, curly black hair. #64 has painted details at the side of her eyes, which #84 does not have.
#66 and Josefina Montoya: #66 has smaller eyebrows than Josefina. She also has a left side part, while Josefina has a middle part. #66 has a darker pink lip color than Josefina, and has shorter hair; Josefina’s hair is past her knees.
#66 and Luciana Vega: Once again, the most reliable difference is in the shape of the eyebrows. Luciana’s have a distinctive peaked shape that’s flat on the inner edge. Luciana also has side bangs and a purple streak in her hair.
#68 and Joss Kendrick: The Joss face mold is new to American Girl, introduced in 2020. It has a lot of similarities to the Josefina face mold, and it can sometimes be hard to distinguish the two. They both have side parts; #68′s hair is parted on the right. But Joss can be easily picked out by the indentation in her ear (your left, her right) that is meant for the hearing aid. It is an inextricable part of the face mold, so that will always be the easiest way to tell if your doll has the Joss or Josefina face mold.
#79 and Kanani Akina: Kanani’s hair is a lighter brown than #79′s, and is much longer and curly on the ends. #79 has straight hair just past shoulder length. But it’s pretty common to find Kanani dolls with haircuts, and so the easiest way to tell is that their hair is parted on different sides. Kanani’s parts on the right, and #79 is on the left.
#82 and Josefina Montoya: Both have the Josefina face mold, long dark brown hair, and brown eyes. Their eyebrow shapes are different, though: Josefina has unique arched eyebrows with much separation between the hairs, while #82 has the standard feathered brows. #82 also has very curly hair, while Josefina’s is completely straight. Josefina has a center part in her hair. She also has gold hoop earrings.
McKenna Brooks and Elizabeth Cole: Both have the Josefina face mold, blue eyes, and a hair color that can be hard to distinguish in imperfect lighting. But McKenna has feathered brows and hair that is not parted. Elizabeth, like her friend Felicity, has line eyebrows and pin curls framing her face.
Joss Kendrick and Maritza Ochoa: Both use the Joss face mold, but again, look for the eyebrow differences! Maritza has arched brows unique to her. She also has painted lashes at the sides of her eyes. Her skin tone is a shade darker than Joss, and her hair is long and dark brown with reddish-brown highlights.
Kira Bailey and Julie Albright: This pair is another one where the dead giveaway is in the eyebrows. Julie has line eyebrows, where Kira has feathered brows. Kira has dark green eyes; Julie has brown. And Kira’s hair has loose curls, as opposed to Julie’s completely straight hair.
My online shop is currently up-to-date with 11 dolls posted for sale going into the new year! These are plushies I buy secondhand and clean, restuff, and embellish with beads, buttons, sewn pieces, and fully hand sculpted and painted clay faces.
Please take a look at them, and consider sharing this post and the link.
