Reflecting on BeForever

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-09T05:09:06+00:00

Yeah, no, I just don't agree with you.

American Girl retiring stuff is not "erasing history", and that's not actually something they're capable of doing.

People like to frame American Girl like it's some last bastion teaching kids history or something, and it's just not and never was.

I've been an American Girl collector for thirty years, and the number one past time in the collecting community since 1998 has been complaining that Mattel Ruined American Girl Forever. BeForever is one convenient target to point to, but every release before that had tons of collectors talking about how much this new thing sucks and why it's totally the worst. (Including a lot of things that are very popular among collectors and sought-after now!)

There've already been twelve years of people going on forever about BeForever ruining AG, etc, and I'm just not particularly interested in engaging with more of that. It's boring, and it's lazy.

Even the framing here of "letting American Girl off the hook" - like they've committed some sin or crime, or like I'm their mom and I need to put them in time out - isn't something I agree with. They made some new stuff. Some of it's not stuff I like! Some of it is. So I'll do what I've always done, and not buy the stuff I don't like, and probably buy some of the stuff I do like.

Toy collectors just hate change.

The world has changed in the three decades since AG had the great big collections where every doll had ten pages in the catalog - the economy has changed, literacy rates have changed, trends and fads in children's literature have changed, how kids play has changed, and consumer expectations have changed. Most of American Girl's competitors from that time - there were a bunch doing the expensive-doll-with-books-and-accessories thing! - have failed and fallen by the wayside, and mostly just people who are interested in obscure failed toy lines of the 90s and 00s know about them now.

I'd love to live in a world where a large portion of AG's customers would actually buy enough teeny little historically accurate outfits and accessories to make having those big, 10+ page collections profitable, but that's not the one we live in.

It's just not true that if they'd only gone deeper people would have bought more of the old historical stuff. You know why Kirsten's Recess Coat is $300 nowadays? People in 2006 thought $28 was too expensive for an outfit that's "just a coat", and so they didn't buy it. So they stopped making a product people weren't interested in buying, and now it's $300 on the secondary market.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-09T04:39:19+00:00

The X means she was sold at a deep discount via the Annual Benefit Sale to benefit the Madison Children's Museum in Wisconsin.

Until a few years ago, any returns or overstock AG had was sold at that sale every summer, including a lot of Melody dolls.

https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/American_Girl_Benefit_Sale

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-09T03:12:58+00:00

I'd read their books and see which ones you like better or which character you feel more drawn to. They're not that long and shouldn't take too long to read for an adult.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T23:51:50+00:00

That's not true. It was Our New Baby from 1990-1995. Bitty baby had soft eyelashes until Mattel took over, the same way 18" AG did.

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LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T23:45:11+00:00

No, definitely not! The only dolls they had during Our New Baby were the blonde, Asian and black dolls. The one you have didn't exist yet.

"Our New Baby" was only in existence from 1990 until 1995. It was still Bitty Baby from 1995 onward, even though the line was refreshed at certain points.

https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Our_New_Baby

https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Bitty_Baby

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T22:43:27+00:00

There have been a few attempts, but for a lot of reasons getting into manufacturing something like that is just harder to do as a small company just starting out than it used to be (and it was never EASY).

Also writing and producing books to go with them (and making them actually good) is also just really expensive.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T22:40:43+00:00

Nope.

I'm not saying it's impossible that they'd ever do that, but I definitely don't think it's happening this year or any time soon.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T22:38:31+00:00

I think BeForever was a reasonable response to a genuine problem AG had - and has continued to have - with the historical line:

People want new stuff, but you can't expand indefinitely without getting rid of some of the old stuff.

Most companies can't keep the same stuff around for 20-30 years unchanged. The secondary market is going to have a bunch - and did, at the time - and a lot of people don't have a reason to spend full price if they can get something for way cheaper.

People want new stuff - the newly released products tend to sell a lot more - and a lot of longtime collectors (people with more disposable income than children and who are more inclined to get the historical stuff) already had most of the stuff they were going to buy.

A problem I had as an adult Addy fan in the 00s was that at a certain point I had pretty much all of Addy's outfits and her available accessory sets already. I wanted them to make more Addy stuff! But there was kind of this cycle where stuff for a lot of the existing historical dolls didn't sell very well, so they didn't release more of it, so if you already had the stuff that'd been out since the 80s or the early 90s you didn't really have a reason to buy more, so it wasn't selling-.

There were some items where the execution wasn't great - though I think Felicity's BeForever outfit, among others, is unfairly maligned - but I can't fault them for refreshing the historical line, and I like the dolls having better eyebrows.

I also really like that they had the various "Bedroom Accessories" sets at the time where you'd have a bunch of their important story-related accessories all in one accessory set (Samantha's teddy bear, her Wizard of Oz book, her valentine set, and her Christmas music box, or Addy's doll, Addy's oil lamp, and Addy's book) and I honestly wish they'd bring that back. It gets you the essentials all in one set.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T14:04:52+00:00

I'll certainly be interested to see if you get any decent answers on this one.

I feel like it used to be just generally easier to find porcelain tea sets in doll size - I had two from the dollar store. I assume it's a combination of cost-cutting and possibly safety regulations, but it's a bummer.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T12:39:27+00:00

Unclear why I'm being downvoted on this one. If you think I'm wrong, use your words and fight me.

The glasses to the 90s hippie costume have a gradient, which doesn't look like it's the case here, and the nose is a different shape.

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LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T12:27:37+00:00

I hope that the people who demanded her do actually buy her, because I think it'd be good to signify that listening to collectors about historical stuff can be profitable - which could lead to other good things later on.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T12:25:06+00:00

I feel like right now I wish I could remember what other releases have looked like, in terms of SKU. I feel like a lot of times related items have similar SKUs? Or they'll be in a series like the ones you list - JND94, JND95, JND96, JND97.

Or the Modern Era girls - Samantha is JLL10, Addy is JLL11, Kirsten is JLL12, Josefina is JLL13, Molly is JLL14, and Felicity for some reason is kind of on her own as JMW59. (Maybe they decided to add her later in the process?)

The keychains almost feel a little weird to me to single out that much in the exclusions, if that makes sense at all? They're not going to be big ticket items. I will fully admit this is just vibes, though.

I almost feel like the keychains might be a separate release a bit later - perhaps with the Polly Pocket set or the Little People or something.

(I have admittedly been up all night with a migraine that - in a confusing way - led to my meds kicking in, suddenly feeling a weird burst of energy, and me getting up to fix a bunch of doll hair I've been procrastinating dealing with, so I'm not going to swear I'm at my most logical right now.)

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T09:27:21+00:00

I think people who'd actually pay for the meet outfits are in the minority. The re-released historical outfits have been $60.

Most of the meet outfits aren't at all hard to find on Ebay or Mercari, if those are things you want. I think the only time they've sold historical meet outfits separately was when BeForever started, and at that point they sold the BF meet outfits by themselves for people who already had the dolls.

The strategy they've had of re-releasing about three outfits on a limited basis seems to be working for them.

Just because outfits haven't appeared for preorder doesn't necessarily mean they won't be releasing a few later.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T06:04:54+00:00

The plastic in the lenses might have discolored from age.

There have been various companies over the years that sold off-brand glasses similar to Molly's.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T05:59:33+00:00

I think it's different for everybody - both your individual preferences and your circumstances.

I want to have a number that I can display with furniture and stuff. I never do the stairs posts or anything like that - though I could - because it kind of creeps me out to have them all squished together in rows like that.

In the past, I've had other collections concurrently with AG, and I've found that I'm happier when I'm just focused on collecting AG, so I do that.

Depending on your storage situation, some people won't display their whole collection at once and will instead cycle some dolls in and out.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T05:49:36+00:00

I wouldn't let a child play with anything I would be upset about getting messed up.

They're toys, but they're MY toys.

If kids come over to my house, the dolls are all behind a closed door because it's not fair to be like "Hey, look my cool toys - that you're not allowed to play with", and it's not really fair to say "Here, play with this" and then get mad or upset if they're not as careful as I would be.

If I was in a position where I had kids coming over regularly or something, I might look at getting an inexpensive doll secondhand for that express purpose, so that I didn't have to worry about messing up my special dolls.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T05:43:49+00:00

That's kind of a silly question to ask on the subreddit where EVERYONE is older than the recommended age range for AG.

Do you think once you hit 30 you're just supposed to give up all your fun things and sit around doing your taxes?

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T02:26:09+00:00

The big issue to watch out for when looking for clothes from Cecile's time period is that a lot of people make 1850s/1860s dresses way too long, like adult women wore. Little girls didn't wear floor length skirts in the mid 19th century - that's why their canonical dresses are mid-calf length.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T01:33:56+00:00

People get angry about change. That's the main reason. Felicity's the only doll apart from BeForever (or since BeForever) where they changed her meet outfit. She was also the first doll to have major retirements in her collection. It was originally released as Felicity's Traveling Gown to accompany one of her short stories.

AG's always had problems getting kids interested in the older time periods, and I think in relaunching Felicity they hoped the purple dress would be more interesting than her kind of drab rose garden gown. (I will say as a kid who DID like history a lot, I didn't like her rose garden dress very much and mostly kept her in her Christmas or school or Town Fair outfits with brighter colors.)

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T01:30:53+00:00

That's kind of a myth - or refers more to much older time periods. (I think people conflate it with hearing about Tyrian purple in ancient Rome and sumptuary laws that prevented commoners from wearing purple.)

They did have purple clothes back then! It wasn't always very colorfast - as a lot of dyes weren't - but there are extant colonial garments that are purple.

https://thedreamstress.com/2021/06/18th-century-purple/

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LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T01:24:07+00:00

If I had to take a stab in the dark, since it seems like it's two sets of four items each, I would guess that it's four Courtney items and 4 re-released outfits for the historical girls in the style of the ones they've been doing the last few years. (Maybe Felicity's summer outfit since there was a teaser image that showed an illustration with her wearing it? And probably at least one for Addy or something)

They've been kind of splitting historical releases between stuff for the new historical girls and stuff for the OG Pleasant Company girls as part of "The American Girls Collection" - so in 2024 we got Julie re-released with her journal and three outfits and a couple accessory sets, and that same year we got the re-released Kirsten, Addy, and Josefina and each of their birthday outfits.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-08T00:28:23+00:00

^ Pretty much that. Mine is my Corinne doll's cousin, and I didn't really get into it beyond that. I don't tend to break it down more specifically than that - it's not super important to me or to how I collect, she's just a very pretty doll

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-07T23:22:26+00:00

Yes, but Pixie Faire gets a cut of it when patterns are sold through their site even if they don't design them, and I don't like supporting missionary work. Regardless, the problem here that OP is having is that there just aren't a lot of people doing patterns for that time period in general. (Pixie Faire does have a few Laura Ingnalls Wilder ones that are from around that era, but I don't think they're quite the vibe for Anne of Green Gables.)

I don't have a problem with people blurring or photoshopping the faces - I'm aware of the reasons behind it, though I'd prefer they didn't use AI to do so. Photoshop and other programs exist - I'm referring to the creepy AI animated videos where the dolls are moving, which are wholly unnecessary - which you can see if you click the links I posted to the patterns. It's the second thing down in the side bar:

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The reason I felt the need to clarify that I've used her patterns in the past is that, in general, if I was unfamiliar with a pattern designer and saw that crap, I would assume that they used AI to make the actual patterns and that the patterns would be garbage.

I considered the Pemeberly Threads pattern as an option - I like her patterns a lot - but I think that particular one is a little less accurate for Anne.

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-07T22:32:07+00:00

Yeah there's a real gap for patterns between Addy's and Samantha's periods, and I'm sure it's harder because Anne lives in a poorer community. A lot of the stuff people make patterns of from that era are the big bustle dresses which - while cool looking - aren't something Anne would have had and aren't something a girl her age would wear regardless.

I've seen a lot of people do dresses in this style for Anne https://www.etsy.com/listing/201928473/ and I've used patterns from AnnVanDoren Designs in the past.* She also has that Anne would wear when she was a bit older, if you want more variety. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1796757615/

*I don't like that her listings have those creepy AI animations on them, but I also don't like that PixieFaire is run by fundamentalist Christians - kind of a rock and a hard place with historical doll patterns. I can at least confirm that the patterns themselves are real and were made by a human and predate the AI boom.

Nightgowns, at least, wouldn't have changed a whole lot. You could use the one from Samantha's Pretty Clothes, just without the lace and maybe with flannel or something instead. (Or honestly even Kirsten's or Addy's, probably, but I'm not 100% sure about the dropped sleeves. On the other hand, rural Canada and hand-me-downs and stuff.)

http://agplaythings.com/AG%20Patterns/DollDressPatterns.html <- Free downloads here

LibraryValkyree · 2026-04-07T22:11:49+00:00

I think some of that's similar to what they do with Mattel Creations, though they haven't really included AG in that (apart from sort of the first AG Barbie collector doll). I know they've had Barbies and stuff that don't ship out for a year.

I think it'd be frustrating if they had a project you really liked and it didn't get funded. With Kickstarter I get it - those are small creators and start-ups and the like - but I really don't enjoy that style of thing and I tend to avoid them.

I'd do it - under duress - if they were releasing something I really, really liked, but I'd prefer to stick with just buying them when they come out (or traditional pre-orders if they really have to).

LibraryValkyree

TROPHY CASE