angorarabbbbits

Most of the comments I’ve seen fall along the lines of “this doesn’t feel right” of “this isn’t how I remember it” which is not how historical/scientific research works lol. Basing the dolls’ fashion off catalogs’ and celebrities have been their method for decades.

Isn't the second pic from Teen Witch, a late 80s movie? 🤨

The 80s and 90s had a lot of overlap in style and I suspect that made it really hard to develop the twins. The early 90s were still extremely 80s.

I’m a big Olivia Rodrigo fan and as soon as I saw the twins’ collection I thought of Sour so I decided to compile all the similarities I saw.

i really wish they had a bunk bed but i suspect they’re marketing this as a “girly twin” vs “sporty twin” thing rather than a bundled best friends thing. the bedding itself is cute if simplistic.

Not everything has leaked yet so I’m reserving my full thoughts but I just want to volunteer that we’re living in a time of intense antisemitism and it really bothers me people are dismissing new Jewish twins as “white, blonde dolls.” (I am Asian FWIW)

Hasn't everything but their pajama sets leaked?

As far as I know anything regarding Rebecca being sidelined is 100% speculation. She still has a pretty full collection up on the website and rumors about dolls being cubed/retired circulate every few months on forums so unless I see proof I’m not believing it. I also feel like most of the Rebecca vs the twins discourse is coming from adult collectors which makes me feel gross.

yes, but her collection is so much more accurate timeline wise. The carebears, the bed (straight out of 80s sitcoms), the clothes, the fitness clothes. I was only 4 in 1986 but to me her collection screams the mid-late 80s.

I would personally argue Courtney’s clothing is not completely accurate, though it’s very well-done and adorable. You can find reference pictures in catalogs and ads for individual pieces and even color schemes, but mostly for adults. There were also a lot more pastels and browns than people remember.

Miso paste is salty by itself and personally I've never added soy sauce. Still came out fine. Salt it to your preference.

i absolutely add soy sauce to miso soup but i wouldn’t add salt on top. especially if i was adding seaweed, which is common.

After listening to his recent podcast episode I was sure he was going to put Anti-Hero pretty high on the list, but after doing my annual Todd lists rewatch I was almost certain it was going to be number one. It just hits so many of the areas that gets songs on the best list and it avoids a lot of the things he specifically didn't like about Blank Space.

i knew if someone was gonna get the sexy baby line it’d be todd.

Alexa, which is not just a pop culture thing but also people who own an Alexa legit probably can't name their kid that anymore

Princess Diana never owned this necklace. It was leant to her by the jewelry store that owned it to wear to a charity event. It was up for auction. I don't get the outrage here....

The vast majority of Diana’s jewelry belongs to either the British Royal Family or the Spencers. Most of it wasn’t technically Diana’s while she was alive, it was “on loan” or “gifted,” as is the case with most members of the royal family. Anything owned by the RF will never touch Kim and I doubt the Spencers would give her the time of day either. This is the closest she’ll probably ever get.

I meant why did Disney change it from having Bandit sneeze to him burping in the censored version?

probably because burping is less associated with allergies than sneezing and it matched the animation close enough

To add, since it’s not worth its own post, I just received my refund in my bank account from my cancelled flight. Supposed to be 12/27, all I did was fill out the online form on 12/28. Never DM’d on Twitter, called, or emailed. I planned on it eventually, but since I didn’t need any extra travel reimbursed I was waiting til the lines cleared up. It was a fairly low amount (~$250), which is maybe why they didn’t need any nudging. Still happy it went through!

Agreed on Josefina being the best face mold (I love how versatile it is and how it looks good with pretty much any combination of skintone and hair/eye colors) and that the painted eyelashes look good on certain dolls (I love them on my Evette because they really make her eyes pop).

Hard agree with the last one. I always think about being a little girl during the “bronies” era of MLP and never feeling like it was meant for me bc it pandered so hard to adult fans — even though I was like, 11. I never want AG to move away from being for kids.

That’s great that you had such a good experience! I also just worked up the courage to go recently, and it was pretty great…except for the checking out part bc I think the woman typed in my email wrong and couldn’t find my account, and I was too scared to ask her to try again lol

if you ever check out in person and need to apply a purchase to rewards, you can do it online if you sign in! you just need your receipt and you input your purchase date, store location, transaction number, and $$ spent.

I know Courtney isn’t loved by all but discovering her at 31 was so exciting! I loved AG as a child and had no idea this existed. I was walking around water tower place and spotted “Courtney’s closet” at the AG Chicago store and made a beeline for it. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’m not an 80’s girly but a lot of the pop culture and fashion did crossover into the early 90’s so it feels very relevant to my childhood. I’m also blonde with blue eyes so this was hilarious to me. I definitely had plenty of scrunchies and wild printed clothing 😂

You’re not alone, I want Courtney so badly! I just got her cardigan from the sale and it’s so cute, I love it.

I will say that I’ve liked every product I’ve used from this brand.

I honestly can’t think of a lazier publicity stunt than “you will probably spend exactly the same amount on our products this year as last year!” It’s not a guarantee and it’s not a price drop yet there’s a mention of “negotiating lower costs from suppliers and cutting our ad budget” (implying they’re trying to increase their profits?). It’s lazy pandering IMO and this sub is falling for it.

All corporations exist solely to pull a profit and to expand. That’s it. That’s capitalism. But they’re saying they won’t try to increase their profits by passing the bill on to consumers. I don’t see the problem.

My problem is that they’re using this as publicity to make themselves look good and people are falling for it. Their wording is so specific: “We’re not *planning” to raise prices in 2023.” They still could.

Oh, okay. Idk why people make problems out of shit like that, like "boohoo, my rights are being infringed because people are gaining representation" lmao. Anyway, is Kira's aunt trans? And what's in Courtney's books? (I haven't read AG books in years)

Kira’s aunt marries a woman in her second (?) book and Courtney’s books loosely mention the AIDs epidemic, obviously with not much specifics but mostly focused on the stigma HIV+ children faced. A side character, one of her school friends, has HIV.

I’m an epidemiologist, how do they expect AG to cover the 80s without mentioning HIV?

I have no idea! I like Courtney’s books because her story mentions the AIDS crisis. I’m gonna guess they haven’t thought that far and just want to spread PR for this random evangelical doll company.

I love the sparkle theme for the whole collection, very y2k in a way the Netflix show was not, but does the color assignments for the glosses bother anyone else? Why does Layla/Aisha get blue but bloom gets pink?

They put them out of order! IDK who made that mistake but it's honestly a big one. I've seen other promo art that shows that the glosses match the girl's color themes :)

Whaaa? The lids on the boxes match the colors here though?

I'm not really clear on how popular the Wellie Wisher sized dolls are, generally? I get the impression a lot of people still go straight to 18" AG dolls.

I think WW do well with with families that can’t afford the full-sized dolls. I’m not sure if Gwynn herself did, her stuff was always separate from the other WW and I think kids maybe can’t tell her apart from Emerson, at least the 4 y/o’s the dolls are aimed at.

I feel like we can’t make conclusions because there’s no way they had fiscal data from Corinne in time to plan for Kavi. They probably started producing her and writing her story before Corinne fully launched. That said, I’ve noticed a lot of her promo displays have her with that one TM (122?), I kind of wonder if that’s something similar.

Did they really?

It’s unlikely, there was likely a reference used that was arranged by AG. The old-school historical illustrations were done that way, I think the wiki has more info on Kit’s page. Painting directly over an entire photograph doesn’t usually lead to the best results and it’s also a bit iffy ethically in the art community (sometimes legally).

What kind of issues is United having?

Baggage-related. I don’t think having the entire baggage claim floor covered in luggage helps anyone. some subs had photos…

regarding space, i do think it is a valid concern and i’d maybe look into collecting outfits/accessories over dolls if you’re hurting? outfits are honestly just as difficult (often harder) to collect as dolls and IMO can be more rewarding. if you do get her, courtney is really fun for this because her collection is so huge and anything mini 80s branded works as accessories for her. you can always switch out which outfits/accessories your dolls are displayed with.

I grew up with the second gen historical illustrations and have the most nostalgia for them. Kit’s and Molly’s are very special to me, the PC illustrations are the most special part of that era to me. admittedly Cecile & MG’s covers are… unsettling.

there’s a more recent one of olivia rodrigo with grace at the american girl cafe! and annasophia robb posted a photo of her receiving her samantha doll while filming the movie

I’ve been trying to ID the doll Olivia got papped with at her visit to the AG store! She’s in the Paris outfit and she has brown eyes, so she’s not Grace. Article with pics for reference:

I’m pretty sure that’s Maritza

I think you’re right! I always forget Maritza has the painted lashes.

The War of 1812 isn't hard to explain, and I'm not really sure why you think it is? Caroline's not remotely hard to explain to your hypothetical spouse. "She's a pretty doll in a fluffy pink dress." (Also, the hypothetical spouse in this scenario sounds like an asshole, and I want a hypothetical divorce.)

You’re kind of agreeing with my whole point? That you can create dolls involving historical events without involving the tragedy in their stories? I was using Felicity as a negative example and Addy as a positive example, bc Addy was created with a consulting group in hand.

I really don't think I am? Addy's first book involves being force-fed tobacco worms, and being whipped. That isn't "not involving the tragedy" in her stories. I do agree that American Girl had to address slavery, but I think it's really important not to equate marginalized people's only role in this country with suffering.

I think we’re ultimately making different, not really related points. I was mostly just saying that the issue of writing stories for dolls pre-20th century and marketing them is touchier than making a fun 80s girl and that was my theory for why they’re not releasing them. I agree it’s possible to walk that line, but I don’t think AG is willing to anymore. I love the 1800s girls, I wish there were more, but I think it’s genuinely difficult to walk the line between “too much” and “sanitized.” I wasn’t challenging anything you said about internment camps or the Holocaust, I’m actually Japanese-American so I agreed with you there.