AGBob BlogPants

If you’ve seen my post on here about picking out dolls in person, I can’t do that anymore! My local AG Place closed in February, and I’m genuinely still in disbelief. However, this girl embodies all of the wonderful memories I have made there, as I purchased her on my last trip there on February 16. ❤️

Velvet is a truly me 118, who was never really on my radar when she was first released, but something inside me decided I absolutely NEEDED this doll after seeing a million photos of her on AGIG! When picking out my second to last doll at AGP Columbus, though, I chose truly me 120 instead. Sometimes I’m so mad at myself because, when I picked her out, she didn’t have that awful little star on the bottom of her foot, but there was also one 118 in the store who did not. When I went to pick out Velvet, tons of 120’s were in the store without a star foot, but EVERY 118 had one! It was a nightmare to pick Velvet out, but her sweet face just spoke to me and I bought her anyways! 🌟

One thing I really love to do with my dolls is create stop motion videos for my AGTube channel, AGBob DollPants. For those videos, I have to fashion personalities for my dolls, which usually persist with unusual, outlandish personality traits that create a lot of chaos. However, making a more relatable personality for Velvet has really helped me bond with her! 💓

As I tried to come up with ways to “make up for” her star foot, I landed on the idea that the star is her “scar” from being the last doll to “step foot” into the AGP. Then, I came up with the most BRILLIANT idea! She would be an AGIGer and AGTuber like me! 🌟

In my “doll lore,” Velvet’s presence on AGIG has become even more relatable to me, as I’ve created a story for her that involves similar events to my own experience in high school. At the age of 17, Velvet is a senior in high school, and she still absolutely adores her AG dolls. Navigating her upcoming adulthood, she has to deal with her adult friends growing out of dolls, trying to hide her AGIG from people at school, and the closure of her local AG Place.

At least she has her stories, though. Velvet has loved to write stories about her dolls since she was eight years old. Though I do not have a mini doll to represent him, her stories mostly revolve around Fletcher Rae—a customized Kaya mold boy doll with curly black hair and freckles who was created from a mangled Kaya doll that she “found at a yard sale.” Fletcher, as well as every other doll in Velvet’s collection, attends a school of magic in their 400 page novels! So far, Velvet has created six books about Fletcher in the style of the AG historical books, such as “Meet Fletcher” and “Fletcher Saves the Day,” but filled to the brim with action, suspense, and TONS of lore! ✨

Nobody at Velvet’s school knows that these stories are really about a massive collection of American Girl dolls, though—except for her best friend (who is still to be determined, she will be one of my existing dolls!) As much as she would love to share her doll collection with the world, only the closest people in her life know about her passion for these dolls. Similarly to my own life, Velvet feels like she’s hiding a huge part of her personality to others when she first meets them—almost appearing “personality-less” without her dolls. However, with thousands of followers on AGIG, Velvet realizes how amazing her dolls truly are, as so many people admire her photography skills and love for the American Girl brand! 💓

I absolutely love taking photos of Velvet as if she was a real AGIGer. The photo above showcases her dolls falling over during a photo shoot…I’m sure we’ve all been there! I just adore having a doll who doesn’t look like me, but embodies a similar personality. With Velvet as an AGIGer, I am able to feel more seen as an adult with a passion for AG, even though I created her character myself. Even though Z Yang was a 13 year old girl who adored AGTube (who I own in my collection), something about carefully crafting everything about Velvet’s character makes her so much more special! ❤️

After deciding her personality, and considering the fact that she was my last doll from AGP Columbus, Velvet quickly became my favorite doll of ALL TIME! Though I have had other “comfort dolls” in the past, there is just something about this girl that rises above all the others. To be honest, I don’t even know what I was doing without her! 🌟

Every single day since I first purchased this doll, she has not left my sight. Of course, she always has to have a mini doll with her, so a lot of mini dolls have also been invading my bedroom. Having Velvet around has even inspired me to take the photo above at a public library! It’s been a long time since I took photos in a public facility that was not outdoors, so her love for AGIG has made me more confident in that respect! ❤️

Once you find a doll that you really bond with, they will be your best friend forever! I’m shocked, yet not surprised, that I did not feel this way for my first two dolls that I got all the way back in 2012, but for a doll that I actually purchased as an adult. I like to think that I’ve just accumulated more appreciation for my dolls with time! ✨

Hold up! Is today January first? Nope! It’s October 4th, but don’t be fooled! The new GOTY, Lila Monetti, has released today!

Lila is a competitive gymnast, and her coach is GOTY 2012, McKenna Brooks, who would not be 21 years old! Lila is also a horse girlie like Nicki Fleming and Saige Copeland. 🤸‍♀️✨💞🐴

She is a light skinned Josefina mold with Evette’s freckle pattern, Amber eyes, and a wig similar to Lea’s with a middle part and gorgeous highlights! 😍

Here she is compared to other similar dolls!

Don’t forget to show Kavi some love, too, though! Since it’s still her year! Also, thanks for reading! Lila is soooo cute and though her personality has been done before, I still love the doll! 💕

Hello, everybody! Sorry I haven’t posted in a couple of months! Today on AGIG is Claudie Appreciation Day! Started by user superfundolls, today is a day to appreciate your Claudie doll in hopes that American Girl will promote her more! It really is a shame that she came out not even a month before those 25 new truly me dolls! :(

In honor of today’s event, here are four of my favorite photos of Iridessa— my Claudie doll!

How many people have you met that have over 100 AG dolls? For me, personally, I think I could probably name about ten other collectors that have such an extensive collection. In this post, you will find out why I’ve reached such a high point in my collection, and why all of my dolls have reached me in such a consistent manner.

Random doll pic!!

Happy April! The fourth month of 2023… wow! This year has flown by really quickly so far. As many people know, April is autism acceptance and awareness month, so I thought I’d like to make a post regarding that! Today (April 2nd) is also Autism Acceptance Day!✨

And that is exactly what my secret is. Something I’ve been wanting to share on AGIG for years. Something that I didn’t even know until I was 12 years old but had been effecting me for me entire life. Something that was hidden from me that I no longer want to hide from other people. I am autistic.

I’m not super familiar with the AG/doll community on tumblr, but because of that, I thought it would be a good way to introduce myself early on. Apparently, I got the diagnosis when I was 4 years old, but my mom told me randomly one day when I was almost 13. I was kind of shocked at the time, but once I thought about it for a second, everything began to make sense. “Oh, so THAT’S why I did *insert random thing* when I was little!”

I honestly feel a lot better about myself now that I know this information, but I’ve been wary about sharing it with others because my mom was hesitant to even tell me, let alone have me tell anyone else, about it. This month, remember to NOT support Autism $peaks or “light it up blue,” default to identity-first language, and LISTEN to actually autistic voices! Red instead!❤️

Now for the fun part. 🤭 I get to talk about my dolls! I got my first 2 dolls in 2012, but I started to become really passionate about AG and the brand after my friend and I had discovered AGTube in 2014. The first AGTube video I ever saw was an AGSM called “Sandy Gets Her Ears Pierced.” I was BEWILDERED by the dolls moving by themselves and then I got sucked into the hole of AGTube, as I started to learn just about anything I could about these dolls. ✨

Basically, that’s how American Girl became a special interest of mine! A special interest is an intense, focused interest that an person has on a specific topic for a long period of time. At that time, I had 10 dolls, and now I have 144 almost 9 years later! My younger self would POUR over my current doll collection and would do anything to have even half of the dolls that I do today! She’d flip out seeing her dream dolls like Sonali, Kanani, Mia, and McKenna in my current collection, and it makes me really happy to be living out a big dream of mine from when I was younger! :)

~AGBob’s ULTIMATE Guide~

Hello, everyone! I thought this would be a helpful post! If you are going to an AG store in person, and are trying to find a perfect doll with no defects, this is the post for you! This process can also work when choosing a used doll on a selling site like eBay or Mercari!

Since I live very close to an AG store, about half of my dolls were picked out in person at the store. These are all the things that I look at when choosing a new doll because I am VERY picky! Happy doll hunting! ✨

Wigs:

On the left is a truly me 92 doll with a lowly-placed wig. On the right is my 92, Delphinium James. This picture was taken at the AG Place Columbus in April 2022.

Though this isn’t something I look at too often, wig placement can vary between even two of the same exact doll! After a gentile push of the left doll’s wig, I realized that it was not glued onto her head all the way. This is a problem because her wig is probably more likely to come off without you wanting it to! Also, make sure the wig is exactly where you want it when picking out your doll!

Eyes:

Fortunately, AG does not have much of a problem with their eyes anymore, but if you are buying a used doll from the years 2017-2019, you could be getting a doll with the “new eyes!” Also, this could be likely when buying a “retired” truly me doll in the blue jacket outfit from a Canadian AG store!

Picture 1: On the left is a truly me 13 doll with the old eyes. On the right is a truly me 13 doll with the “new eyes.”

Picture 2: On the left is a truly me 39 doll with the “new eyes.” On the right is a truly me 39 doll from 2013, who had been displayed since the store first opened. Obviously, she has the old eyes. Both pictures were taken in 2018 in the AG Columbus store.

Though AG decided to get rid of this style of eyes in mid 2019, Here are the characteristics that define it:

-A different, less realistic, pinwheel pattern

-The ability to see the plastic in the back

-The weight on the back of the eye is so heavy that the dolls appear to be looking downwards

-The whites of the eyes are abnormally bright

-Sometimes, dolls with these eyes have weird looking eyebrows (ex: Josefina molds sometimes look “sad”)

Painted on Eyelashes:

This photo was posted by user @/amcangrl on Instagram. Pictured is one of the new truly me dolls with brown eyes, and it shows off her eyelashes. This picture was taken at the AG LA pop-up store in 2022.

There are a couple of problems with this doll, as well as MANY others in the AG store!

-The eyelashes do not fully go into the eye, so it doesn’t look realistic

-There is what appears to be a sticker around the eye that is a lighter color than the doll’s actual skin tone

-On this doll specially, you can easily see the screen printing that they used to put the eyelashes on the doll (especially on top!) *Not all dolls will have this, though, and it is most visible in Joss molds

Perfect dolls will have eyelashes that go all the way into the eye (usually the very last one won’t look like it does), the screen printing will not be visible, and try to pick out a doll that doesn’t seem to have two lighter colored skin-toned circles around the eyes. Removing the eyelashes yourself is also an option!

Symmetry:

Somewhere around 2022, AG purposely stopped using their tool that makes the dolls’ faces “100%” symmetrical. However, this problem has been seen even before then, since a lot of Jess mold dolls tend to have one eye that is larger than the other. In fact, one of my own Kanani Akina dolls has this problem!

Today, this problem is not limited to Jess molds, but it has become even harder to find the perfect Jess mold doll. Every single truly me 110 or 111 I see has one eye that’s bigger than the other! This defect is also not limited to just the dolls’ eyes, but it can also affect how certain facial features are placed, such as the eyebrows or painted on eyelashes. My 2017 truly me 67, Barbados, has one eyebrow that is spaced out further than the other, and I did not notice this when I bought her.

Lips and Teeth:

With the truly me rebrand in 2022, AG has gotten a lot better at painting the dolls lips a full, pink color. However, starting in about 2018, and continuing into 2022, a lot of the dolls had very pale lips. This can be an easy defect that might affect a used doll! In addition, there are also some problems with the teeth that you have to look at!

Picture 1: This is a truly me 78 doll from 2018. She has the “new eyes” and very pale lips that almost blend in with her skin! This picture was taken at AG Columbus in May 2022.

Picture 2: Shown is a Maritza Ochoa doll, and you can barely see her teeth! This picture was taken at AG Columbus in October 2021.

Even though a doll’s pale lips can easily be fixed, I most definitely prefer the full lips! Here are a couple problems that are associated with the doll’s teeth:

-You cannot see them from certain angles (Only occurs in Joss and later Marie-Grace molds like 115,116,117,and Kavi)

-The teeth can be unevenly placed

-The teeth can be crooked

This next picture is of another problem that can occur with a doll’s lips:

This picture is a VERY close up image on Blakely, my Blaire Wilson doll. She has interesting eyebrows, as well as the “new eyes” and something is wrong with her lips.

The problem with her lips is that they are not painted all the way! It looks like she should have more of a lip, but she doesn’t. In fact, it looks like she’s missing half of her lips! I’ve also seen a very small amount of AG Sonali mold dolls who have had their lips painted with the template of a classic mold! This problem is very very common, and it is almost unavoidable in modern dolls.

These are all the problems that can (most commonly) be spotted in new dolls. Now… it’s time to go over some problems/defects that can be present in a doll one may get used:

Body Cloth:

Just before Tenney and Logan were released in 2017, American Girl changed the body cloth that they used on their dolls. Instead of the premium quality that consumers were used to, the fabric they used became much more scratchy. Also, it felt a lot cheaper and it puckers a lot at the dolls’ neckline. This body fabric is found on every single doll with the “new eyes,” as well as some of their predecessors.

On the left is Elizabeth Cole, (≈2005) who has the old body cloth. On the right is truly me 24 Arlo Grunt, (2018) who has the new body cloth. (She also used to have the new eyes but they were replaced.)

*Note that Elizabeth’s body shape makes her taller than the average doll. (Dolls made from between 2024-2007 usually have this feature.)

*There is also something called the “Claudie body,” that all dolls from August 2022 to the present have. This is UNAVOIDABLE when picking out a brand new doll today, but their bodies are 0.5 of an inch slimmer than older dolls! This feature is called the “Claudie body” because Claudie Wells was the first doll to possess this difference.

Permanent Underwear:

Nicknamed “permapanties” by AG fans and collectors, American Girl announced towards the end of 2016 that they would be sewing the underwear onto all the bodies of dolls that came with removable underwear (not bloomers).

The dolls effected were every truly me doll who was available at the time, (13,16,19,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,31,33,35,39,40,42,44,47,49,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69) Tenney Grant, Z Yang, Gabriela McBride (I think), Maryellen Larkin, Melody Ellison, and Julie Albright. Some versions of these dolls from 2017 have a very skinny body with a gray band under the waist that says “American Girl” all the way around. The permanent underwear are a baby pink color.

Picture 1: Willow, truly me 40, in her permanent underwear facing frontwards.

Picture 2: Willow, truly me 40, in her permanent underwear facing backwards.

Things to Remember:

-You are ALLOWED to take the top off of a doll box while at the AG store! By all means, please do this when picking out dolls because it makes it so much easier to look at their features!

-By all means, HIDE THE GOOD DOLLS BEHIND THE LESS POPULAR ONES! When truly me 16 was still available, she was really unpopular leading up to her retirement, so I would always hide the best looking dolls behind all of the 16’s if I couldn’t get them the same day.🤭

-Go to a quiet area to pick out your doll where there is no one else around. Recently, I made the mistake of plopping down right in front of the Nicki and Isabel display to pick out my dolls and there was this girl and her mom behind me who started to get really annoyed with me just sitting there.

-Don’t stress yourself out! Sometimes picking out a doll actually brings me stress. That sounds really weird but, especially when there’s a lot of the same doll available, I feel the need to analyze every single one. These dolls should bring us joy! Remember to pick out a doll that makes YOU happy, regardless of what they look like.

~GOOD LUCK! 👍😊~

I got these 2 on February 24, which was 2 days after they were released, at the AG Place Columbus! 💘

I have renamed Isabel to Shiloh Michelle, and I have renamed Nicki to Aviva Nichole! 💿 I had to rename them because I already have the Nicki and Isabelle GOTY dolls.

I chose to match my just like you 4, Aisuru, in this green pleasant company outfit. 💚 I bought it from somebody on Instagram in 2021, and at first, I didn’t even realize that the pieces I have matched it so well! ✨

I’ve had matching outfits for my dolls for a long time. Some of the first matching outfits I ever got were two pairs of pajamas, one being a pink AG Place exclusive pair, and the other being the peacock pajamas outfit. I actually still have them both, even though they don’t fit. However, there is something so special about being able to match my doll NOW with my regular clothes!💚✨🤍

This is my first ever post on tumblr… I don’t really understand how to use it quite yet, but I’d love to share my love for AG dolls on another platform! ✨

Here are a few things about me!

1. I’ve been collecting dolls since Christmas of 2012, and my first two dolls were Sammy (a Caroline doll who wears pink glasses) and Marie-Grace. 💕

2. I have an ever-growing collection of dolls, and as of January 21, 2023, I have 142 AG dolls total! ⭐️

3. One of my favorite things to do with my dolls is make stop motion movies for my YouTube channel: AGBob DollPants. I love bringing their characters to life and giving each one their own personality! 🤍

4. I’m also very into doll photography! Below are some of my favorite photos of my dolls I’ve ever taken: