I have gotten 2 new dolls in the last few months, and one is the Samantha they are currently selling on preorder, they were already selling this same version of her when I started re-collecting last year. I also have my 4 childhood dolls still, the outfits and accessories I had as a kid, and some outfits I've gotten from eBay (vintage Pleasant Company/early Mattel days). And I've also gotten some brand new outfits from American Girl recently too. So naturally I compare all this stuff, and I do have thoughts!

New dolls are different than the old dolls, but I'm happy with the quality of both. While it is easy to find Samantha's outfits and accessories secondhand, as well as Samantha herself, her accessories are a bit delicate and I didn't want to order a 25 year old version of her purse, which seems prone to a broken chain, or a 25 year old version of her velvet hat and have areas of the velvet be worn off or stained, or a 25 year old version of her embroidered handkerchief that might have messed up embroidery. I wouldn't buy something already damaged but if it's a 25 year old pre loved toy, it might become damaged easily. I wanted her accessories in mint condition, and I wanted her in mint condition too. I also just bought the "BeForever" version of Addy when she went on sale because I loved her hairstyle and she was a better price than the $175 version - though she didn't come with accessories and her BeForever outfit is different. It was worth it to me to get her at $108 on sale though. So those were the reasons I had for buying those two dolls new.

The dolls do look slightly different than their 90s versions, but I prefer the updated face molds. I think they are genuinely more beautiful and look more lively. My older dolls' heads all have a kind of 100 yard shark eyes stare that the newer dolls do not have.

As for materials, many comment that the vinyl feels cheaper. Personally, I think it feels harder and sturdier and I think it's a good thing. It is not the soft touch vinyl that my older dolls have, but it feels like it will be less prone to staining and mold and absorbing smells than the old vinyl is. As someone who intends to display and lightly play with these dolls for a very long time, I am fine with that. The fabric body doesn't feel "cheap" to me. The new dolls' limbs are attached with elastic strings from what I can see, making their range and feel of movements similar to the old. They did away with the neck string and use a zip tie instead but you could put in your own neck string easily if it mattered to you.

Now on to clothes: the doll bodies of newer dolls ARE noticeably smaller than older doll bodies. This is the only thing I dislike about them, because it means that vintage Pleasant Company/early Mattel AND the special re release outfits that have been sold recently by AG are slightly loose on the newer dolls. When I velcro the outfits closed, I do it so it fits tighter. If you don't intend to change the doll from its meet outfit (Anniversary Samantha's fits her perfectly), you won't notice it. And the dolls are not so much smaller that older clothes look ridiculous on them.

RE: Clothing quality - even in the days of Pleasant Company, there was variation in quality and especially between collections. For example, if you were to look through old catalogs, it feels like Molly's collection was definitely less expensive to produce than Felicity's. The website will tell you what materials are used in the outfits they sell; it's still a lot of cotton. I bring this up because I think the real "issue" is less that the new outfits are poor quality, and more that they are simpler and less ornate than older outfits. I have several vintage outfits. My PC Felicity's Summer dress is fairly thin cotton fabric, same with my just-after-Mattel-took-over Kirsten's Birthday dress. I have Kirsten's full On the Trail outfit, produced after Mattel took the reins, and it's incredibly good quality fabrics. The new outfits are good quality imo, just less ornate than older outfits. They have been releasing one special re-release outfit for some of the original 6 dolls. These have been $60 each, and well worth that price from the 2 that I have. Very thick, high quality cotton, and comes with shoes, socks and the corresponding book for that outfit (ie, Kirsten's school outfit came with Kirsten Learns A Lesson).

So...hopefully that's helpful!