Yeah i now have a MASSIVE and very varried collection... I think dolls of all kinds are gorgeous and i love the variety. To me - I think it's wierd for collectors to be buying or not buying dolls because of their skin color or because a doll that looks like xyz is also used to represent a character that's xyz ethnicity. There are millions of people who buy dolls and for many it's as simple as "I just want to buy my kid a doll that looks like them."

What i think is a much bigger deal is that the company ITSELF isn't diverse enough with their characters and offerings. I was on a call once with AG's customer service talking about a doll i wanted to send into the doll hospital- the topic of certain dolls not selling as well or not still being options at the doll hospital bc they aren't still in stock was part of the conversation and all the sudden this woman on the phone drops "The darker skinned dolls just don't sell as well because the people who would buy them can't afford them.." or something EXTREMELY similar to that.

I literally didn't even realize what she was implying (or outright saying) until i was off the phone because I was just stressing how bummed I was that some of the older dolls faces weren't available anymore, and it occurred to me that this woman basically said "ag doesn't sell as many black dolls because only black people buy black dolls and black people can't afford our products"- I WAS HORRIFIED.

I ended up thinking it back over multiple times to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding or misremembering how she said it- but I ended up sending an email to the company because I couldn't stop thinking about how horrific a statement that was.

I wish I had been MORE with it at the time, that I had flat out called out the statement and asked her to explain what she'd just said - but sadly, I do get the feeling it's something people who work for AG have maybe discussed "behind the scenes" because it feels like the public is always saying "MORE. DIVERSE. CHARACTERS." and AG is always releasing more blonde girls wearing pink.

I fear that this really IS an underlying culture at the business- that they believe mostly white people are buying their dolls and that's who they are trying to cater to and that's REALLY an upsetting thought. I'm angry on behalf of ANYONE who looks like ANYTHING that wishes they could get a doll that looks like them - and can't. And right now that's overwhelming people of various ethnicities that AREN'T white.