Hello have you ever acquired the shadow kitty tape for the cricket doll
Hi! I have not acquired that particular tape as of yet, but I do want to return to my Cricket tape hunting era at some point and find it!
Aqua Utopia|海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
taylor price
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cherry valley forever
Sweet Seals For You, Always

Discoholic 🪩
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todays bird

izzy's playlists!
occasionally subtle
Today's Document
AnasAbdin
Claire Keane
trying on a metaphor
Peter Solarz
hello vonnie

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❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
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祝日 / Permanent Vacation

seen from South Korea
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seen from Venezuela
seen from United States
seen from Spain
seen from United States
seen from Canada

seen from United States

seen from Türkiye
seen from Canada
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seen from United States

seen from United States
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seen from United Kingdom
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seen from United States
@venusstarpower94
Hello have you ever acquired the shadow kitty tape for the cricket doll
Hi! I have not acquired that particular tape as of yet, but I do want to return to my Cricket tape hunting era at some point and find it!
Hello Kitty Fashion Dolls of the 2010s
You may have seen (or even own) the latest Hello Kitty and Friends vinyl fashion dolls from Jazwares, consisting of Hello Kitty, Kuromi, and My Melody. Each of these dolls measure 8-inches and come with outfits that you can mix and match among Hello Kitty and all her friends! I was gifted the Hello Kitty one for my birthday last month:
But, did you know that Hello Kitty fashion dolls have had past iterations? Allow me to introduce you to the Hello Kitty Doll series from Blip Toys, a line of Hello Kitty fashion dolls that started back in 2013 and expanded throughout the 2010s. Each of these 13-inch Hello Kitty dolls had its own theme wear, including mermaids, princesses, and pop stars, along with some store-exclusives/special editions. Unlike the current lineup, the 2010s Hello Kitty dolls mainly came with Hello Kitty as an option, with the exception of one Toys R Us-exclusive My Melody doll.
Below are all the variants of the Blip Hello Kitty Dolls available:
Starting up, we have the core four lineup that started it all in 2013: Hello Kitty Pop Star, Hello Kitty Princess, Hello Kitty Best Friends, and Hello Kitty Dancer.
And here, we have some later special editions and/or store-exclusives. The later additions to the lineup include Hello Kitty Safari, Hello Kitty Baker, and Hello Kitty Mermaid; Target-exclusives Hello Kitty Neon Fairy Glitter and Hello Kitty 40th Anniversary; and last but certainly not least, the Toys R Us-exclusive My Melody.
I believe these dolls were around up until the closures of the Toys R Us stores in 2019 (and oddly enough, I only remember seeing them in TRU stores, but I don't remember ever seeing a My Melody).
I currently have one on the way in the mail that I unearthed from the Seven Seas of eBay, the Target-Exclusive Neon Glitter Fairy doll. Obviously, I will be aiming to find some of the other ones I really want, but keep in mind that some of the more exclusive or harder-to-find ones are pricier, especially if they're Mint-In-Box.
But WAIT! There's more! Did you know that Blip Toys had also come out with a line of mini-Hello Kitty dolls?
Those are going to be a bit harder to track down because there were more variations of the minis than there were for the larger dolls, but let me know if you would like to see a future blogpost/masterlist of them!
Do you remember seeing or owning any of the Blip Hello Kitty dolls in the 2010s? I regret not buying one back when they were in stores, but I'm excited to receive the one I just ordered!
The Mystery of a Forgotten Doll (Amazing McKayla)
Anyone here recognize this little lady? You might have memories of her if you were a child during the mid-to-late-2000s. As a matter of fact, you might have even owned her (or you still do, and she is hiding somewhere in your storage or nostalgic toy box).
If this does not ring a bell, meet Amazing McKayla. She was one of the last of the Amazing Interactive doll series from Playmates Toys, released in 2007. From what I remember as a 13-year-old at the time, McKayla did have the same promotional material as her predecessors, including toy catalog spreads and tv commercials, but she was not very popular. I barely ever saw McKayla dolls in-stores, and when I did come across one, it was once in a blue moon in the dusty abandoned sections of toy stores. Her promos also did not last for long, and she seemingly disappeared from media shortly thereafter.
Nowadays, there are plenty of images of her, but coming across one actually for sale can be challenging (and pricey, depending on the condition of the doll). Where the mystery of this doll comes into play is the fact that there's barely ANY information on her, including her promo materials, and an elusive brunette variant that has NO documentation of her existence, other than the one I own.
But to kick things off, here are the promo materials, through photo scans of toy catalogs from 2007, that I have been able to find featuring Amazing McKayla:
Notice how the only Amazing McKayla variant being showcased in both scans is the blonde one, when usually if a doll has multiple variants with different hair colors and skin tones, they will be shown together. Why is it that there is absolutely NOTHING on the brunette McKayla, no promo material, no pictures from doll collectors or families from the late-2000s, nothing?
Here's were my doll comes in. Ladies, gentlemen, and those beyond the binary, I would like to present to you my brunette McKayla, who was purchased MIB from eBay about a year or so ago:
These photos, along with other fun aesthetic photos of my McKayla, can also be found on my Instagram @ harajuku_starpower if you would like to do some digging. As of today, no matter how deeply I have searched search engines like Google and secondhand shopping sites like eBay, my McKayla is the only documented proof that a brunette variant ever existed.
What we still have yet to find are archives of her tv commercial. I do remember there being commercials for Amazing McKayla; these commercials aired on children's tv networks like Cartoon Network. I remember the commercial being the typical one in which you see young girls playing with McKayla and watching her animatronic facial features, how her accessories triggered certain responses in her sensors, as well as her ability to turn her head towards the player depending on where the doll could hear the player's voice. I remember only seeing the blonde doll in the commercial, not the brunette one. I know that certain Lost Media, especially lost/obscure tv commercials and bumpers, have been found in the past thanks to YouTube channels dedicated to archived compilations of tv commercials from certain decades/years. Perhaps the Amazing McKayla commercial is hidden among one of those compilations in plain sight?
I have to say, for such an underrated doll, she certainly had the tech advances to walk so Luvabella could run decades later. I regret not getting a McKayla back in the time period she was out, but I do love the one I have now.
If you are able to find these missing pieces of media for Amazing McKayla, please feel free to share so I can add them to this article, and hopefully, put an end to this mystery.
Bonus shot of my Amazing McKayla, out of her box.
Disney Darlings Baby Dolls: An Unreleased Variant?
This holiday season, like many young kids, doll enthusiasts, and Disney stans of all ages, I was very fortunate to score myself a couple of the highly-sought-after Disney Darlings baby dolls. For those who are unaware, the Disney Darlings were a line of interactive baby dolls, each dressed in various Disney-themed outfits and accessories, which were released by Jakks Pacific sometime in the Summer/Fall of 2025. There are four different variants of the dolls: light skin blonde with blue eyes, light skin redhead with green eyes, tan skin brunette with brown eyes, and a dark skin raven-haired with brown eyes. The Disney themes used for the dolls include Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, The Aristocats, and Lilo and Stitch. Pictured below is a group shot of all the doll variants with just some of the various Disney themes you can find them wearing:
There are also separate clothing packs you can purchase for your dolls, so you can mix and match various themes or put your dolls in a different theme if you wish. I had purchased an Aristocats clothing pack, and that is when I made an interesting discovery; Did you know there was actually supposed to be a FIFTH variant in this doll lineup? Take notice of the clothing packaging pictured below:
Notice the doll with light skin, raven hair, and brown eyes in the Minnie Mouse outfit all the way to the right? Let's take a better look at all the variants shown on the package:
It seems that there was an additional, fifth member of the Disney Darlings lineup, the light skin with raven hair and brown eyes, that never made it to the shelves for some reason. And if she did, I have yet to encounter one in-store or online.
There have been instances like this, such as the My Dream Baby doll line by MGA back in 2000, where a specific doll variant is shown on the package, is nearly impossible to find, but she does exist. Other times, a doll variant will be shown on the packaging but does not actually exist, or was simply a prototype and never made it to mass production. What do you think happened to this Minnie Mouse-themed Disney Darlings variant? Could she exist somewhere out in the wild, or do you think this is only a prototype but isn't actually around for sale? Any general toy or a Jakks Pacific insider who might have some information about this is more than welcome to step forward.
ETA: One thing we know for sure exists is the outfit the lost variant is wearing on the packaging. Here's one being sold as a bundle on eBay, photo courtesy of seller wrcamp25:
Hii I have found the prototype ally and many unreleased clothes, im going to share more but I shared some on my insta story
Dukes_dolls13
Omg thank you for sharing! I'll check them out right now! :3
All Magic Mixies Genie Lamp Variants
Hey y'all! Welcome to another upcoming holiday season of Magic Mixies! This year's theme will be an interactive magic genie lamp. Just like the previous cauldron and crystal ball, you won't know which variant of each color you'll receive until you unveil them!
As of the time I am writing this blogpost (so August 2023), the rainbow edition is sold through Argos only. Also, there is no glow-in-the-dark edition as far as I can tell. If another color edition does show up, I'll update this chart.
ETA 8/21/2023: The Rainbow Genie Lamp is now available at WalMart!
ETA 9/24/2023: Some new store-exclusive variants have entered the chat! I have updated the chart!
The Mystery of JoJo Siwa’s Prototype Dress
This new finding is gonna leave all our JoJo bow-clad ponytails drifting in orbit, y’all. As a Siwanator for who knows how long now, it certainly was a surprise for me. And it may even unveil possible clues as to how JoJo’s empire was being handled behind the scenes back in the late-2010′s.
You may or may not have heard of JoJo Siwa’s clothing line, JoJo’s Closet, which was sold only through Target from 2018 to 2022. It was targeted towards young Siwanators, and consisted of outfits and accessories inspired by actual costumes worn by JoJo during her shows, music videos, and even from her D.R.E.A.M. Tour. I myself happen to own quite a handful of stuff from JoJo’s Closet. But, did you know that before JoJo’s Closet came into fruition, it was originally going to be an ongoing collab with the Disney-owned clothing line, D-Signed?
I had actually discovered this while searching through JoJo's Closet on Mercari. A seller on there had what appeared to be an alternate version of the rainbow dress JoJo wore during the D.R.E.A.M. Tour. Here is the dress:
[Picture courtesy of Mercari seller ChrisW]
The seller stated they had purchased if from someone back when their daughter was obsessed with JoJo, but had not realized until after receiving it that it was actually labeled as a prototype for D-Signed. Here is a photo of the tag and label:
[Picture courtesy of Mercari seller ChrisW]
This is definitely an interesting find! I wonder how this seller had gotten ahold of this prototype dress. They did not specify where they purchased the dress from, and so far this is the only prototype I have seen surface online.
The prototype dress was manufactured in summer 2019, which lines up with the timeframe when JoJo’s Tour was taking place (and where she would be wearing the exact costume that inspired this dress).
[Left, the prototype dress from D-Signed; Right, the final dress from JoJo’s Closet]
As seen above, there isn’t a huge difference between both versions of the dress, with the exception of the pale-pink color becoming hot-pink, and the ruffles on the sleeves going from opaque colors to lighter, translucent ones.
[Left, the actual costume worn by JoJo during the D.R.E.A.M. Tour; Right, the dress inspired by the tour costume for JoJo’s Closet]
This finding leads me to a few questions:
1. Was JoJo originally going to be working with Disney instead of Nickelodeon?
2. How did Disney get ahold of JoJo’s costume designs, if by 2019 she was already touring with those costumes, was working with Nickelodeon, and the JoJo’s Closet line was already a year old at Target?
3. How in the WORLD did that seller get ahold of this dress?
4. Could there be D-Signed prototypes of other clothing items from JoJo’s Closet we may not know of yet?
I would totally buy that prototype dress, if only it was my size! But if anyone has possible info on how this prototype came to be, please feel free to message me or add some info as a repost. Don’t forget to share!
All Magic Mixies Crystal Ball Variants
I have been able to gather images from various stock photos and YouTube reviews to find all the Magic Mixies Crystal Ball pet variants. Like the Cauldron, you won't know which variant you'll receive until you unveil them!
What I noticed is that the pets in the Pink Crystal Ball are almost identical to the ones in the Glow-in-the-Dark edition, the only difference being that the Glow-in-the-Dark pets have white hands and feet.
All Magic Mixies Cauldron Variants
For those who have a Magic Mixie Cauldron, I have decided to compile a photoset of all the pet variants you might receive, depending on which cauldron you have. You don't know which variant you'll get until you complete the magic spell. 🧞♀️
There are two variants in each cauldron color. The pink one on the top-left is actually my own Magic Mixie pet. She looks slightly peachy, but that's because of the weird lighting in my house. 😅
The Mystery of Battat’s Designer Girl Dolls
[Last updated 7/27/2022]
Battat is a Canadian toy company that has been in business since 1897. They are widely recognized for their preschool toys and their popular 18-inch doll line, Our Generation. Starting in 1998, Our Generation was meant to provide families and their children with more affordable options for 18-inch dolls, clothes, and accessories. They have since then become one of American Girl’s greatest competitors. They are currently sold exclusively at Target stores, in an array of different hair and eye colors, skin tones, outfits, and characters.
In 1998, Our Generation was introduced as Collector’s Lane Kids, with 5 different dolls to choose from. Among those dolls, four were marketed as girls and one was marketed as a boy:
Although I couldn’t find exactly when the name change to Our Generation happened, I believe it happened around the early-2000′s. According to an article I will link below from Just Magic, dolls produced from 1998-2004 were stamped with the year 1998. Dolls produced 2004 and onward were stamped with the year 2004.
Just Magic’s article on OG: http://www.justmagicdolls.com/meet/Battat/ourgeneration.htm
I am not sure how long Battat used the 2004 stamp on the OG dolls, as one of my own OG dolls (identified as May Lee) does not have a year stamped onto her and she is a relatively modern character (introduced in the mid-2010′s). Just Magic’s article on OG has not been updated since 2007, so if there is an OG expert out there who could help with identifying specific stamps and markings, I would appreciate it.
Here are just some of the Our Generation dolls sold today:
Recently, I ran into a mysterious doll that has popped up on secondhand online stores twice so far. Battat had what seemed like a spinoff doll line from Our Generation in the early-to-mid 2000′s called the Designer Girl dolls. Based on the images and descriptions provided by both sellers, there was at least one doll from this line named Hannah.
(Photos courtesy of eBay seller kathy7323)
On eBay, seller kathyg7323 describes their doll as a possible “prototype”. It was purchased at an estate sale of a doll collector. There is no date on the box whatsoever, and the seller attempted to identify this doll by contacting Battat and sending them photos. However, Battat confirmed to the seller they have no idea when this doll was made and have no record of it. In addition, there is no information about this doll online.
Another seller, this time on Mercari, recently sold their Designer Girl Hannah doll. The seller, Mochabacon, stated in their description that their doll was trademarked by Battat, and it was purchased in the early-2000′s (although they did not specify where). Upon reading this, I made an attempt to access Battat, Our Generation, and Target’s websites via the Wayback Machine around that time period. However, I still did not find anything on the Designer Girl dolls.
A doll blogger named PennilessCaucasianRubbish posted about a thrifted Battat doll they found and custom-made into a boy doll, back in 2017. Link to their blog: http://pennilesscaucasianrubbishdolls.blogspot.com/2017/01/new-custom-boy-from-thrifted-battat.html
What is interesting about this blog is that the thrifted doll shares the exact same facemold as Designer Girl’s Hannah:
[PCR’s doll vs. Hannah]
As we can see here, PCR’s doll’s original appearance was light skin, sandy-blond hair, with blue eyes. This must have been one of the additional characters available for the Designer Girl line, although his original marketed name is currently unknown.
That is not the only finding from this blogpost; PCR stated that the stamp on the back of their doll’s head reads “Battat 2002″. This may indicate either Designer Girl was produced in 2002, or this particular face mold was produced in 2002. But, if you scroll down to the comments section of this blogpost, there is an interesting comment from a person named Kaffrum:
So, based on this description, we can confirm that Designer Girl was, in fact, sold in stores at one point. The question now is when exactly the doll line was launched. See, Kaffrum states they’ve held onto that Designer Girl packaging since around 2002, which aligns with the timeframe the Mercari seller gave as to when they first purchased their Hannah doll. However...
I found a trademark website that has all of Battat’s trademarked names. Among those trademarks was the name Designer Girl! Link to Designer Girl’s trademark profile:
https://trademarks.justia.com/784/22/designer-78422206.html
Based on this profile, the name was first filed by Battat in 2004, registered in 2006, but then was cancelled in 2012. If you scroll further down the page to the Classification Information section, it says that the name’s first use in commerce was in 2005. If I’m reading this correctly, this means that Designer Girl was actually released to stores back in March of 2005. That date may also align with the timeframe in which the Mercari seller stated they first purchased this doll. The Trademark Events section gives a more detailed view of how the name was used between 2004 to 2012, although I’m not entirely sure what the entries from 2005-2009 mean. If you are familiar with trademark laws and understand the words used here, a clarification would be greatly appreciated.
Finally, we can see that in 2012, the name was cancelled under Section 8. Specifically, its current status is under “710- Cancelled- Section 8″. What my two remaining brain cells could gather from a quick Google search, this simply means that this trademark was cancelled because Battat did not file the required proof that the name was still being used in commerce. So it is likely Battat gave up on Designer Girl sometime between the late-2000s and early 2010′s.
Another doll with the same exact facemold and 2002 neckstamp as Hannah and the unnamed blonde was found on Google Images, using the keywords “2002 Battat”. The photo’s true origin, although found on Worthpoint, is currently unknown, but it shows what looks to be a Designer Girl doll with light skin, red hair, and green eyes:
List of all identified Designer Girl dolls:
Hannah- light skin, straight brown hair, brown eyes
Unknown #2- light skin, straight blonde hair, blue eyes
Unknown #3: light skin, straight red hair, green eyes
What we know so far about Designer Girl is that they were “a complete line of fashionable dolls and cool accessories”, based on the description of the Hannah doll’s box. Both the existence of PCR’s doll and Kaffrum’s comment confirmed that there were other characters besides Hannah in the line, and there must have been additional outfit sets and accessories. However, there are still so many questions left unanswered:
Were the dolls released in 2002 or 2005? How long were they around for? When did Battat stop selling them? WHERE did they sell these dolls? We still have no confirmation as to where the doll collector mentioned in the eBay auction or the Mercari seller got ahold of their dolls. PCR stated they had thrifted their doll at Goodwill.
In addition, I would still like to know how many other Designer Girl dolls were there, what did they look like, and how come most of them besides Hannah, the blonde doll, and the redhead doll are still unaccounted for as of now? I am going to attempt to get in contact with Kaffrum in hopes that they still have their Battat package, and if they can provide pictures of it.
But the biggest question of all is, why doesn’t Battat have any records of this doll line ever existing?
Does anyone here remember this doll line from the early-to-mid-2000′s? Admittedly, as a child who was at the target age for those dolls during that time period, I have no recollection of ever seeing them in any store. If you have any theories or leads, you can dm me here or on my Instagram @harajuku_starpower and I will update this blogpost.
Baby Alive: Real vs. Fake
The time has come for my long-awaited post (tbh I had actually completely forgotten to make this): comparing my authentic My Baby Alive 2010 (brunette, left) with the fake version of it from Aliexpress (blonde, right).
First, let's start with the similarities.
Both dolls have sleep eyes, can drink water and eat doll food and pee/poop it out, and they have the same exact English audio:
And now, it's time for the differences. And trust me, there is a lot. Starting with the language settings, a real MBA 2010 can be set to English or Spanish, whereas the fake one only speaks English.
An authentic MBA 2010 comes in three standard variations: lightskin blonde with blue eyes, mediumskin brunette with green eyes (like mine), and darkskin black hair with brown eyes. The fake ones, as far as I've seen, only come in lightskin blonde, but can be sold in either a bright pink dress, a blue dress, or a pink and white dress (like mine).
The boxes are also going to be obviously very different. My authentic MBA originally came in a blue box, like the one pictured below, with official Baby Alive and Hasbro logos. The Aliexpress one came in a pink box that only said My Dreamy Baby, but uses terribly photoshopped images of Hasbro's model photos (pictured below).
An authentic My Baby Alive has a molded bracelet on her wrist in colors like pink or purple. You press the button on the center, and she talks. Aliexpress Baby Alive has a molded bracelet in the same color as her skintone, and her entire arm is squishy rubber, unlike an authentic one which is hard. You have to squeeze her hand beneath the bracelet to make her talk.
Authentic (left) and fake (right).
The back of the dolls are also very different from one another. Below, you will see the real doll's body (left) vs. the fake one (right). While both look the same in terms of body structure, the authentic one feels slightly heavier than the fake one.
The authentic doll's battery door is much larger, has manufacturing info molded on it, and matches her skintone. The fake one has a tiny pink battery door. In addition, the real doll can be switched from on, off, or try-me mode with a switch that matches her skintone, whereas the fake one only has a pink on and off switch.
And the of course, the real doll has a butthole that matches her skintone, whereas the fake one has a bright pink one to match her battery door. I found that to be hilarious.
An authentic My Baby Alive has a manufacturer stamp on the back of her neck (top), and the fake one does not (bottom).
The dresses they come in are a similar style, but made with different patterns and fabrics. An authentic My Baby Alive 2010 has a polyester-type dress with red, blue, and green patterns like the one on the left. The fake one on the right is pink and white and is made with a flimsy, fleece material.
Lastly, the diapers they come with make a world of difference. An authentic BA diaper is made small enough to specifically fit their BA dolls, whereas the fake one's is way too big and looks like it could be used on a real baby.
Overall, is my fake BA that bad? No she isn't. She functions just like a regular ol' BA doll should. Would I recommend getting the fake one? No. Don't do it, it's not worth it. And I'm not just talking about because it's "fake".
I have this doll because firstly, I am an adult collector, and secondly, for review/comparison purposes.
Fakes/counterfeits like My Dreamy Baby do not have the same warranty or manufacturer's guarantee that you would get with an authentic BA doll. So, if God forbid something happens to my fake BA, there's nothing I'd be able to do to get her fixed or get a refund.
In addition, fakes/counterfeits DO NOT go through the same rigorous quality and safety testing that authentic toys would. So not only are you risking a toy that might fall apart quickly, you could also be exposing your kid (if you're giving this to a kid) to dangerous chemicals like lead or pthalates. Bottom line, buy the real deal, or buy a cheaper alternative that is still sold by a reputable, authentic retailer.
What’s the rarest American Girl doll?
Statistically, there has to be one, right?
I don’t know if there’s way to definitively answer this question on my own, but I think I’ve been able to make a pretty decent assumption. Here’s what I found.
This is Girl of Today #6. She never made it to the My American Girl/Just Like You/Truly Me name changes, because she was only available for under two years.
You’d assume that a doll who was available for longer than the average Girl of the Year wouldn’t be so rare, but it seems she is indeed exceedingly rare.
I was first made aware of this doll’s rarity when I stumbled across an unboxing video done by the YouTube channel sew4dolls. (If that name sounds familiar, she put out video a while back showing off her more than 100 American Girl dolls all displayed on her staircase. The video has many millions of views. It’s pretty spectacular.)
Here’s the video, where she unboxes a #6:
She mentions she’s been searching for this doll for over 10 years!
In the comments, one person mentioned that this doll’s head can no longer be replaced by the doll hospital, as they simply don’t have any replacements. I’d only heard of this phenomenon with Girl of the Year 2001, Lindsey Bergman, no longer being eligible for a head replacement as of last year. She didn’t sell too terribly well, but I would not call her rare at all.
So I decided to do a little digging, and see if #6 was, in fact, THE RAREST American Girl doll. Like I said at the top, there has to be one. If you rank every doll from most common to least common, SOMEONE has to be at the bottom.
#6 was first introduced to the Girl of Today line in September of 1995, along with her 19 sisters. By the spring of 1997, she’s still seen in the catalog. The numbers start at the top left and move right, so she’s the first in the second row.
(I borrowed the image from an eBay seller who had the catalog listed for $50).
But sometime in between–maybe over the summer, but I can’t find any interior shots of summer 1997 catalogs–she was discontinued and replaced. My best guess that she would have been gone by the time the autumn 1997 catalog came around, which is when Josefina was debuted.
Here’s the new listing:
(This image is from my own catalog collection).
See #6? She’s now featured with blonde hair and green eyes.
Why was she changed? My best guess is that she simply wasn’t selling well. Probably because she was too similar to #4 and to #16, who has dark brown hair and brown eyes. Pleasant Company may have considered a black-haired #6 to be redundant.
I’ve had this post in my draft for a few weeks, using that time to search eBay and Mercari for listings of a first edition #6. I’ve never seen one come up. So I couldn’t even tell you how much money they go for.
I have seen a few blonde #6 dolls, though.
This one is being sold for $65.
I searched Instagram through all the tags I could think of (#jly6, #girloftoday6, #trulyme6, even #got6 which is all Game of Thrones stuff) and I only found one post featuring this old #6, which is [here]. This user seems to confirm my findings, positing that this doll is probably the rarest of all the dolls! They also confirm that you cannot get her head replaced at the doll hospital.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. What do the rest of you think? Is there a more rare doll out there?
I should really post photos of my #6 Himeka more often. 😉
A list of the rarest American Girl dolls
This is by no means an official list, but something I’ve compiled based on my own observations over several years of doll collecting. I’m using a few criteria: how long they were available, how common (or uncommon, I suppose) they are on the secondary market, and how many posts are found under each doll’s specific tags on Instagram.
This list will entirely include Truly Me/Girl of Today/Just Like You dolls for a very specific reason: none of the historical or Girl of the Year dolls can be considered rare. They all tend to get such a large amount of promotion which leads to higher sales, and so therefore are easy to find secondhand after their retirement. I’m also only including retired dolls, as it’s impossible to judge a doll’s rarity not knowing when she’ll be retired.
I’ll be doing these in order of release date. (This is not a ranking of most rare to least rare, as that’s information I simply don’t have!)
Original #6
#6 is, by my calculations, the RAREST! She is a unicorn in the collecting world. Very few collectors own this doll, and I’ve never ever seen one for sale. She had light skin, dark brown eyes, and black hair. This doll was released in 1995 but by the middle of 1997 had been replaced with a blonde-haired green-eyed doll instead. I did an in-depth investigation about the history and rarity of #6 here!
#10
#10 was released in 1995 and retired in 2004. She had dark brown hair, light skin, and green eyes. She is very hard to find; however, I’ve seen her in person and she’s BEAUTIFUL! A dream doll of mine.
#11
Released in 1995 and retired in 2009, #11 has medium skin, dark brown eyes, and black hair. She is not easy to find and can be expensive when found, since she’s a gorgeous doll in higher demand now than during her run of availability.
#15
#15 has medium skin, dark brown eyes, and dark brown hair. She was released in 1995 and retired in 2007. Despite her 12-year stint in the Girl of Today lineup, she never became very popular and so is not often seen on the secondhand market.
Retired #18
This doll is SUPER rare! She was only around for 4 years, from 1995 to 1999, when she was revised to have bangs. Until her redesign, she had dark skin, light brown eyes, and dark brown hair.
(continued under the cut)
Keep reading
A Freaky Coincidence? Or is There Something More...?
Put on your tinfoil hats, queens... This is about to get weird.
If you haven't caught up on the latest AG news, a NASA astronomer is suing American Girl for allegedly stealing their name, likeness, and pretty much their entire personality to create Luciana Vega, Girl of the Year 2018.
Before we get into this weird tea, here's some info from TED's official website on the apparent real-life Luciana who is now in the process of suing AG for stealing their image:
"Lucianne Walkowicz is an Astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. They study stellar magnetic activity and how stars influence a planet's suitability as a host for alien life. They are also an artist and work in a variety of media, from oil paint to sound. They got their taste for astronomy as an undergrad at Johns Hopkins, testing detectors for the Hubble Space Telescope’s new camera (installed in 2002). They also learned to love the dark stellar denizens of our galaxy, the red dwarfs, which became the topic of their PhD dissertation at University of Washington. Nowadays, they work on NASA’s Kepler mission, studying starspots and the tempestuous tantrums of stellar flares to understand stellar magnetic fields."
Now, I know that some people's reactions have included, "it's just a coincidence" or "this is a reach", but hear me out queens; if you dig deeper into the articles surrounding Walkowicz, there are some pretty freaky coincidences between them and the Luciana doll. It kinda makes you question if there really is some truth into what Walkowicz is alleging...
The name: "Luciana" is what AG decided to name the doll. "Lucianne" is the human who allegedly inspired the doll.
The hair: Luciana the doll has dark brown, shoulder-length hair with purple streaks. Lucianne the human is known for their dark brown, shoulder-length hair with purple streaks, although they have been seen with other funky colors as well.
The outfits: If you remember Luciana the doll's collection, her outfits were futuristic, holographic, funky outer-spacey patterns and whatnot. Lucianne the human is known for this same exact style.
The last name: Vega is Luciana the doll's last name. Lucianne the human is known for their extensive studies on planet Mars and the constellation of Lyra. Some of their most famous studies (and TED Talks) include the ones they have done on Vega, the brightest star in the constellation of Lyra.
The ties with NASA: As they do with all their dolls, AG does a boatload of research before and during the process of creating a character to make sure the doll is as accurate as possible in terms of her time period, historical significance, and occupation. So in 2016 (2 years before Luciana's release), AG signed a deal with NASA to bring a group of consultants during the development of the Luciana doll. Rebecca DeKuiper, one of the lead designers for the GOTY line, attended a NASA-related event where Lucianne the human made a presentation at. One of the consultants for the doll attended the event that day as well.
Make of this information what you will, but I theorize that both AG and the NASA consultants created Luciana based on Lucianne, and here's why; Lucianne seems to be a cool, modern young person who is a very prominent figure in the STEM world, which is the perfect combination to attract AG's target audience. I believe they used parts of their likeness in order to gain more appeal from AG's target audience (young girls), and that would help encourage them to pursue a career in the STEM world.
But if AG wanted to do that, why couldn't they do what they did with Tina Hart in Joss' stories and incorporate Lucianne into the doll's story as a role model? Could that have been their original idea, but Lucianne rejected their offer of being in a cameo? I think there's more to what's going on than just a real-life person suing a toy company because a doll resembles them. I think AG was in on this but didn't expect this kind of legal action against them for it.
Another question I have to ask is, what took Lucianne so long to finally call AG out on this? Luciana came out in 2018, TWO YEARS AGO. Usually, Girl of the Year dolls are retired by the time their year is over, but since 2017 AG has continued selling whatever's left of the old GOTY's collection. But most of Luciana's collection is already gone according to AG's website, and I think the physical AG stores stopped selling the doll altogether.
What do you guys think about all this? Is there any validity to Lucianne's claims, or do you think they're just looking for clout? I'm curious to see how this lawsuit will unfold.
ETA 5/6/2021: This blog post has been modified to give Lucianne their proper pronouns. Also, the lawsuit has since then been settled, but it is not revealed what became of it.
Fake Baby Alive: First Impressions
Disclaimer: If you are interested in the doll I’m about to review, please keep in mind that these dolls should only be used by adult collectors and NOT be given to children. Fake toys do not receive the same quality control and safety standards that legitimate toys from real manufacturers go through, so this toy might not be safe for children.
For like a couple of years, I searched high and low on the interwebs for this strange, elusive Baby Alive doll. As difficult as she was to obtain, I finally scored one around the start of the quarantine last month, and she finally arrived yesterday. This special Baby Alive is called: My Dreamy Baby.
Does that sound familiar to any Baby Alive collectors? Probably not, because My Dreamy Baby is not a real Baby Alive to begin with. I mean, she exists, but she’s not supposed to... Issa knockoff lmao.
There’s not a lot of info on this doll, besides a couple of videos about her from YTer Fun with Baby Alive:
https://youtu.be/igB_k89s2-Q
https://youtu.be/AEB0hZ-pefE
https://youtu.be/2sbcmHynIW8
There was an additional video of her actually unboxing her [badly crushed] My Dreamy Baby doll, but I believe it was deleted.
My Dreamy Baby is a counterfeit version of My Baby Alive 2010. She is only available as a white blonde, but in three outfit variations: a hot pink dress (as seen in FWBA’s videos), blue, and white (the one I got). Like FWBA, I also had an issue with the way my doll was packaged. When she arrived to my doorstep, it looked like she had survived a train wreck:
Fortunately, once I pulled her out of the wreck, she and all her accessories were still intact. I looked around what remained of her box to find any similarities to a typical “real” Baby Alive box, but aside from using Hasbro’s own descriptions and stock photos of the My Baby Alive 2010 doll, there wasn’t anything else that stated this was a “Baby Alive”, nor did I see any Hasbro markings or labels. I have seen some of these My Dreamy Baby dolls with actual Baby Alive and Hasbro labels, but I guess they changed that to avoid legal troubles.
Anyways, here's the back of the box:
Peep the laughably-bad shoop of that random child’s face on Hasbro’s own child model. Fun fact: On the authentic My Baby Alive 2010 box, the child model is a girl with brown hair. But I will elaborate more on that in a future post.
Finally, I checked the doll and all her accessories. She comes with her own doll-food (two “orange juice” packets), a magnetic spoon, and a plain baby bottle with a diaper that was a little too big for the doll, but I made it work. She requires 2 AA batteries, like your standard Baby Alive, only instead of battery door that matches her skin tone, My Dreamy Baby has her own hot-pink battery door. Barbie and Paris Hilton are quaking.
Finally, when I popped the two batteries in, flicked her “On” switch (which is also hot-pink), and squeezed her left hand (there’s no button on her bracelet unlike her authentic counterpart), she started talking in English. She uses the same exact audio track from the My Baby Alive 2010 dolls. She also has a magnetic mouth, so when you feed her with the spoon she makes eating sounds.
Lastly (and the most important function of any Baby Alive doll), does she poop? The answer is, yes she does! Like I mentioned before, My Dreamy Baby comes with two “orange juice” doll food packets, so you can make her drink it and it will come out the other end... Which speaking of, there’s something else about this doll that sent me into the abyss from laughter- she has a HOT-PINK BUTTHOLE TO MATCH HER BATTERY DOOR AND SWITCH. I’M NOT KIDDING. XD
Again, I will go more into detail on all her features (including her pink butthole) in a future post when I make a comparison between her and my authentic My Baby Alive doll, Serenise. But before I stop here, allow me to formally introduce you to My Dreamy Baby:
Her name will be Ellis-Dee. I’m sure her and Serenise will get along greatly.
So overall, I think she’s an adorable doll. Despite the train wreck she found herself in with that box, she functions and speaks like a regular-ol’ Baby Alive. Hopefully she’ll be as durable as them.
URGENT: Please Read if You Have an Instagram
These might be the last few days I’ll be active on Instagram for a while. But I need to get the word out there because it's an urgent matter. Instagram clearly doesn't care to hold themselves accountable for their actions, so I'm calling them out. Over the years I've been on Instagram, I have never in my life seen a "Help/Support" system so negligent and USELESS. Instagram might as well not even have a "report" feature, because they will do absolutely NOTHING if you report an account or a post that violates their rules. "Block and ignore", they'll tell you. Sure, but that ISN'T going to stop the cyberbullying, the death threats, the acts of violence, the distributors of literal child pornography. Which leads to my next point; Instagram DOES NOT CARE if you report an account that posts videos/photos where children are being ABUSED, in every sense of the word. There's Dark Web-type shit I've seen on some people's accounts, but when I report it Instagram responds by taking NO ACTION whatsoever.
Just a couple of nights ago, I ran into an account with the most OBSCENELY inappropriate photos of children I had ever seen. It was so bad, I vomited before reporting the account to IG. They are now giving the excuse that "they can't prioritize dealing with certain reported accounts right now bc of COVID-19". First off, COVID-19's been around for a few months, meanwhile this issue you guys have had where people use YOUR PLATFORM to distribute child porn has been a problem for YEARS. This isn't just a priority, this is an EMERGENCY. So don't give me that bs excuse now! In the end, I had to send a report to the FBI via their Cyber Tipline. It is still ongoing, and I have no idea if the account in question is gone yet. But I'm not gonna look either.
I will provide a link to a petition and people there have talked about their own experiences reporting accounts that were distributing child porn and IG doing nothing about it. This petition is going around in hopes that enough people pay attention for IG to FINALLY get their asses moving. COVID-19 or not, Instagram has ALWAYS been negligent in keeping children safe.
Petition: http://chng.it/kXcDJ49RNT
Something else I would like to add: If you ever witness a photo or a video of a child being abused, please do not hesitate to make a report to the FBI via their Cyber Tipline: https://report.cybertip.org/
Be sure to have as much info as possible, including the suspect's username and the URL to the photo or profile. You do not need to put your name or other personal info on these reports. If you or someone you know is being cyberbullied, visit stopbullying.gov to see what's the best course of action to take. Don't waste your time reporting to Instagram anymore.
Cricket Doll’s Tapes
Thanks to a doll collector friend on Instagram, I was able to get a master list of all of Cricket’s cassette tapes!
Caring and Operating for Cricket (comes with doll)
Cricket (comes with doll)
School Time
Party Time
Time for Outdoor Fun
Time for Health and Exercise
Indoor Playtime
Cricket Takes a Vacation
Growing Up with Cricket
Holiday Fun with Cricket
Cricket’s Clubhouse
Around the World with Cricket
Cricket Goes Camping
Cooking with Cricket
Cricket’s Favorite Game
Cricket’s Kitty Shadow
Cricket Visits the Zoo
Cricket’s Special Surprise
Cricket Goes to the Circus
Cricket Goes to the Country Fair
Cricket Tours the Hospital
Cricket Goes to a Wedding
Cricket Visits China
Cricket Visits Australia
Cricket Visits Spain
Cricket and Corky’s “Let’s Play Together” (never released)
Cricket tapes were also available in French and with a British accent.
All titles highlighted in pink are tapes that I already own. I hope to one day have all of Cricket’s tapes so I can upload them to my new channel.