Today I will be reviewing My American Girl #58 (Dark skin, curly dark brown hair, brown eyes; product #F0935).
So I do not have a picture of her in her default outfit she comes in, but with the MyAG line of dolls, it is best to review them in other outfits to see how they really look. So here she is, who I decided to name Lupita, after actress Lupita Nyong’o. Since this is my first review post, I will try to be as detailed as possible.
For those of you unfamiliar with American Girl dolls, the company originated as Pleasant Company, started by Pleasant T. Rowland, a former educator, in 1986. The story goes that she wanted to bring a doll line the covered the years between the baby doll stage (up to 5 years old) and not have dolls that were mimicking adults (ala Barbie). She wanted a doll line that was the age of the girls playing with them (7-12) and represent children. At the time, she was in Colonial Williamsburg, and was inspired with the idea of making the dolls represent different time periods in American History, and so Pleasant Company soon came to be.
Originally, the company only produced 18 inch dolls (designed by German doll maker Goetz), with vinyl heads and limbs, and a soft, stuffed body. The limbs and head were posable, and the dolls had sleep eyes (eyes that closed when in a laying position). In 1986, there was originally 3 dolls: Kirsten, representing the mid-1800s migration to the mid-west; Samantha, a wealthy girl who lived at the turn of the 20th century; and Molly, whose father was overseas fighting in World War II. Each doll came with a set of 6 books illustrating what life was like during her era, and also had clothing, accessories, and furniture appropriate to her time period.
In 1990, Our New Baby was launched, marketed as a baby doll for younger children. This was renamed as Bitty Baby in 1995. In the same year, the Girl of Today line was launched (the precursor to what is now known as My American Girl), meant to provide an array of phenotypes for girls to pick a doll with a blank background and create them to be whoever they wanted. In 1998, Ms. Rowland sold Pleasant Company to Mattel for $700 million, which it became known as American Girl, a subsidiary. Ms. Rowland stayed on board for a few years after to oversee the transition, and then left the company.
So it would have been more appropriate for me to review my Kirsten doll as my first review, but she is currently packed away (I rotate which dolls I have out to prevent dolls from overtaking my place), so Lupita was the first one I grabbed.
Lupita has a beautiful warm brown skin color, which is noticeably different from my 1995 Addy. This is the first Addy mold I have gotten since Addy, and while I was concerned the two would be too similar (I was contemplating between #26 and #58), they are certainly very different dolls. Yes, one could argue the different wigs is enough to warrant two different dolls, but I keep my collection on the small side, so I rarely get two dolls who have the same skin tone, face mold, eye color and hair color. However Lupita was a doll I have been eying for a while, due to her adorable curls, and I am glad I finally did.
Her curls are springy, and not easy to lose their shape, and in that sense, she makes a great starter doll as her wig requires no brushing or maintenance. However, if you have a child who wants to be able to do many hair styles and be able to brush hair, she probably is not the one. Her eyes are a lovely brown, and seem to sparkle with some mischievousness.
I am very pleased with this purchase. I think #58 is one of the best MyAG dolls American Girl has produced as of late, and it is welcome to see a short, curly wig. Two often we have gotten long or medium-long length hair that is either straight or wavy. And the decent number of reviews on the American Girl website speaks volumes on how well she has been received.
Thanks for reading my first review post.
agaficionada 