I have an idea: Donate the $95 to a homeless shelter and don't buy the doll!

I suggest you do what your parents did, Gwen, and get a job! The bums lost!

the Bums in philly think it's okay to be homeless, the same ones are always in the same place askin the same college kids for change. The guy by 7-11 on Cecil B Moore ave wearing the camo pants has earned the title bum-laden, for terrorizing our wallets!

I'm unclear about the concern that kids will get

"the idea that it's okay to be homeless. Tanya Tull, president of Beyond Shelter, told CBS that she's "afraid that [girls are] going to pick up the idea that it's OK, that it's an accepted segment of society that some children are homeless and some children are not.""

First, as the article points out there are many kids who ARE homeless and trying to attend school. If a doll helps lessen the stigma among their peers and makes it easier for the affected kids to keep their chins up while their families are in crisis (maybe if the doll's story helps them feel less alone), then I don't see that as a bad thing. It could help the homeless kids keep some friends and some grades, and yeah it SHOULD be "an accepted segment of society." Why further marginalize CHILDREN?

Second, I don't think ANYONE would *grow up* convinced that homelessness is cool. By that I mean that if the doll helps them through it as kids I sincerely doubt they'd grow up, become adults, and wish they could go back to their homeless days. But a doll as a coping device could be a good thing.

That said, $95 is RIDICULOUS, and the fact that AG isn't donating even a percentage to homeless causes is offensive and exploitative.

Doll=interesting in concept, DUMB in execution.

The American Girl dolls are such a rip off, IMO. My judgment is clouded by the fact that I hate dolls, find them creepy, was pressured to conform to the gender norm as a child and play with dolls, and did I mention - I find them creepy.

This doll is just in poor taste. First, there's no life lesson. The doll's "story" is that she's homeless. Why not make it actually helpful and use it to teach children who read the story that some people are homeless, but many are trying to work toward better things and that people who aren't homeless (like the kids who own the doll)can help them by donating money to charities.

@pecan 3.14159265: Exactly.

And I'm with you on the creepiness of dolls - my grandma kept buying me porcelain dolls (the kind that blinked) and I HATED how they'd just stare at me every time I was in my room. AAAK

The photo is too small. It should be enlarged more.

@wrjohnston19283: It's a bug in our publishing system; sometimes thumbnails get blown up, rather than replaced by full-size images. Working to fix.

@burnedout: If I were a homeless kid in school, I don't think I would be comforted if someone had learned about being compassionate toward the homeless through a $95 doll.

@Excited_Utterance: You, sir/madam, are being followed for that comment.

When I was a kid, I figured every doll and stuff animal in stores were homeless. The Rudolph show with the the Island of Misfit Toys certainly didn't help.

my nieces play with these, and the homeless doll is really not that big of a deal when you consider there's actually a freed slave doll. i'm not making this up, one of the dolls' story is that they were a slave. i understand teaching awareness of important issues to kids, but i think that's a bit deep for a children's toy.

@pecan 3.14159265: I can't believe I'm about to defend dolls, but:

The American Girl dolls are VERY well-made, meant to stand up to years of use from hard-playing children. And they do. And they're FIXABLE if they get beat on, which is unusual these days. They're expensive, but considering how long they last and how much play most doll-liking children get out of them, I don't think it's a rip-off.

I teach a sewing class for little girls (and boys, but I've never had a boy) where they learn the basics of making clothes by making them for their American Girl dolls (and which is one of the traditional way American girls did learn to sew -- in miniature, for dolls, with scraps of fabric). The parents are grateful because those accessories ARE expensive, and now that sewing is trendy, some of those girls do get really very good at whipping up little outfits. And most of the girls who own the dolls have actually learned quite a bit of history from the books.

All that said, I get the IDEA of the homeless doll? But still tacky. And profits should be donated, to make it at least marginally less tacky.

@Slave For Turtles: Er, "every doll and stuffed animal... was homeless."

Sorry, need more coffee.

@pecan 3.14159265: What's really creepy is that you can buy American Girl dolls that look just like you! You can customize your doll with hair color, length, style, eye color, and skin tone. And you can even buy matching clothes in real-people sizes (maybe just kid sizes, but still creepy).

Somehow my daughter got on the AG mailing list when she was little and the catalogs hit the recycle bin immediately. There were so many better ways to spend that kind of money and my daughter wasn't really fond of dolls anyhow - actually I'm not sure she owned any...crap, now she'll grow up disfunctional with no empathy for others...

@pecan 3.14159265: yeah they should learn compassion from sesame street. or you know parents. speaking as someone who would be homeless if i didn't have parents willing to let me live at home while unemployed

@pecan 3.14159265: If you read the story with the doll, that is exactly the lesson it tells (people become homeless for many reasons, they work hard to make it better, not all are lazy or criminal). I can't believe that Mattel was stupid enough not to donate any proceeds from the sales to aid shelters and such. Have they always been this cold in their PR efforts?

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I have no doubt that they're well made, and that there are girls who really love dolls.

But I hate all dolls. All of them. They are all demon spawn, culled from the fiery ashes of hell dimensions which must not be named for fear of doll armies rising up in vengeance.

@Slave For Turtles: Yeah, I thought you "adopted" half those dolls. I know I "adopted" those Pound Puppies.

Too bad they got run over by the TONKA dump truck and Dr. Doom had to put them down :(

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): but can you take their heads off and run them over with a tonka truck? mom didn't care that we did this to barbie (seeing as barbie is more affordable). i'm sure mom would kill us if we took off an AG's head and tried to run them over with a tonka truck.

@craptastico: Could be worse. They could have a Holocaust survivor doll.

@craptastico: But that was always the point of the American Girl books, to teach kids, mainly girls, about history by telling stories about people. The Samantha books featured Nellie, who had worked in a factory.

The age the books and dolls are geared towards are an age when kids are in school and already learning history, why try to gloss over it?

New from Mattel: Baglady Barbie. Complete with pink Dream Shopping Cart!

My daughter is 7 and the only dolls she gets are from her grandmother. I agree with the poster when who said that dolls are pushed onto little girls. We got an american girl catalog and I promptly called the company and had our names removed from the mailing list. $100 for a doll...really? I don't care how well it's made, it's not coming into my home. I think the homeless doll is in very poor taste. It has no substance, no REAL teaching or lesson. Just a way for the company to make even more money for a overpriced item.

I loved my American Girl doll when I was younger. As someone that is pretty much "a quarter everything" and it very much shows it was really validating to have the Girl of Today dolls that I could customize to look like me. Growing up dolls were either at one end of the spectrum or the other. AG was one of the first to market to every ethnicity.

I don't really feel so awful about this. I vaguely remember Samantha's poor, orphaned friend Nelly becoming a doll. She was a firecracker in the books and it is understandable that little girls would want to idolize her regardless of her socio-economic background. I'm not familiar with this story, but it's possible that she also has a great personality that would make her suitable for dollship. I do agree that it would be in better taste and a great learning/helping opportunity if a portion of the proceeds went to a homeless fund.

Also I'm loving the snark in the article. Bravo Marc Perton.

And extra also- the dolls were $95 when I got mine back in the early '90s. Yeah, it's expensive but I give them snaps for not bowing down to false inflation. They're heirlooms. I still have all of my furniture and clothing is perfect condition. I can't say the same about the rest of my toys from that period.

I saw this posted on another website last week, and holy crap were people craaaazy about defending this company. Anyway, I think these dolls bothered me less when it was Pleasant Company... maybe because it was local. Pleasant Rowland donated a lot of money to this community, and I can't say I've heard the same about Mattel.

I actually have 3 of the AG dolls from when I was younger. When Pleasant Company was founded (the original company who made the dolls), part of their mission was to help girls understand their part in history. Each doll was given an intricate story to help girls see how a girl in the 1800s or 1920 would have dealt with the same situations that are common today. As the line progressed, and Mattel took over, there have been key changes that have bothered me. Instead of introducing more historical characters, they have focused more on the Girls of Today. And the only way they have developed the historical line is by adding companion dolls. So instead of just having the main character and her story, there are random 'friend' dolls that have one or two outfits and a few books. They are more interested in the profits than the educational value...which was the core value of the line.

I have my dolls boxed up, but my 9 year old recently discovered the books I had from them. She tore thru the 6 books for Molly, and wanted to know more about WW2 when she was done. That's what these dolls should be about...sparking curiosity in girls. Not about fancy clothing and companion dolls.

Having ranted about all of that, I think it's good for them to make Gwen's story available so girls can learn about something that they may be otherwise shielded from. But I think it would be more fitting to offer more books about her and the situation. I noticed on their website that it never mentions anything about her homelessness... And none of the product reviews seem to mention it either. It's almost as if Mattel doesn't want that info to get out.

@The Porkchop Express: And Cabbage Patch kids! They were a little before my time, but my sister had a million of them.

@steph3530: Out of curiosity, and research, I went to the AG website and read some of the reviews. Ohhhhh boy, people are enthusiastic about these dolls. It got a little creepy when it got past "this doll is so wonderful!" to "I got mine right away and dressed her in a purple flower dress" - eeesh. It's kind of like the people who dress up their cats and throw them birthday parties and "marry" their cats and throw them anniversary parties.

I can remember my little sister getting the Molly Doll from my aunt for Christmas one year. I think it was the WW2 storyline with the victory garden and all. I can remember looking through the catalog looking at how much everything cost for the doll. Don't even get me started on when American Girl Place opened on Michigan Ave Downtown. I think we were in there maybe 2 times and each time i just wanted to get the hell out of there. just a bunch of whiny little girls asking for everything under the sun and then complaining when they could only get the $100 bed/trunk. it's even worse that they make the children sized costumes so you can dress up like your doll.

Being in there reminded me of Bart and Funzo:
Bart: And I want Funzo's dream fortress, Funzo's lower back pain chair,
Funzo's European Voltage converter--
Funzo: Why not get three?
Bart: [gasp] Three it is. [writes "3" in book, breaking the pencil lead;
sharpens it in Funzo's ear] Thanks, Funzo. You rock!
Funzo: Alrighty! [plays music and dances]

Clearly you are all too young to have owned, as I did in the late 1940s, the Poor Pitiful Pearl doll, based on a children's book. She was -- well, poor and pitiful, dressed in rags. After my parents died, I found her stored carefully away in the attic and was astonished that I'd owned such a thing in my whitebread suburban childhood. (And yes, I sold Pearl on eBay. Very collectible.)

I hear all those Cabbage Patch Kids are orphans, too!

@ElizabethD:

@ElizabethD:

Hmmm, I'm trying to embed a pic of Pearl but obviously not doing it right. not the h ref code?

How did the PR types so completely lose the thread on this one?

This could have been bursting with WIN for Mattel.
Buy the LIMITED Edition Homeless Gwen American Girl and Mattel will donate $50 to -insert national charity-!

Positive spin, and the money wouldn't sting them that much since it would be tax deductible anyway.

@ElizabethD:

Links:
[i153.photobucket.com]

[i153.photobucket.com]

As someone who has loved American Girl dolls for almost 15 years now, I'm going to defend the idea of Gwen. First of all, the fact that she has no accessories has nothing to do with her homeless state: if you look at their online store, you'll see that "Chrissa," the main doll who is friends with Gwen, also has another friend named Sonali, and she doesn't have any accessories either. It's the role the character is meant to fill in the line, not some comment by the company that homeless people only have one outfit and no toys.
Second, yes the doll is $95, and to some of you that may seem ridiculous, but as Eyebrows McGee mentioned, they are incredibly well made. There are many parents who have no problem laying down $200 or more for a video game console, plus a subsequent $50 for every game for their children. Why is a doll not worth that? I can guarantee you that I got WAY more play out of one American Girl doll as a child than my brother did any video games.
Third, the entire concept of the line of dolls was to provide dolls for girls in the 7- to 12-year-old range that weren't baby dolls but weren't adult fashion dolls, like Barbie. Every doll comes with a story, sometimes historical, and I've read many, if not most of those stories. They teach wonderful values to children. As a 9-year-old girl, reading the Samantha books taught me about women's suffrage in the early 20th century, and taught me that more privileged children (like Samantha and myself) could not only help other children in impoverished circumstances but befriend them as well.
Perhaps Mattel should donate proceeds to homelessness, but maybe they already donate a portion of their profits to worthy causes? I honestly don't know. But regardless, the Gwen doll, like Samantha's friend Nellie, teaches children who are more privileged that not all children are as fortunate as them, and that not only are they worth helping, but they are people, too, who are worth befriending. And for me, that lesson is easily worth $95 a kid, especially if that kid will then become the kind of person who is motivated to donate time and money to the homeless themselves.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I have to agree with you. Those dolls can take abuse, they're easily cleaned, and AG has a great repair program. The accessories are insane and overpriced, but I got a had fun making clothes and whatnot for my doll, and hunting down stuff in miniature for much cheaper.

@pecan 3.14159265: As far as gender norms go, I made beds for my Barbie in the back of my Tonka truck. My mom has some great pictures, she got a kick out of it.

@inadequatewife: Yeah, it's a little creepy. I'm caucasian with light brown hair and green eyes, and I got an Asian AG doll. I thought she was prettier. Heh.

@Red-headed bookworm: Exactly. They even refer to them as historical characters. In the books they illustrated what life was like for a young girl in whatever particular time period. It wasn't until more recently that they started branching into more modern and general dolls.

@ElizabethD: Embedding a photo is [img src= (but replace the [ with the side carrot).

The code can get wacky here, so sometimes [image src= works too.

@burnedout:Not that it should be dressed in patched rags, or anything, but something tells me the average homeless child is not wearing a pure white sundress.

Hey, maybe kids could learn compassion from, I don't know, helping actual homeless people? There are soup kitchens and shelters and churches that need volunteers, donations, fundraising, etc, etc, etc. What a thought. Some of said organizations even help homeless families specifically, so the kids can learn about homeless kids, or whatever the point of this doll is.

@starrion: Their defense is that they gave about $500,000 in the past three years to one charity. For a massive corporation like Mattel, I'm not sure this one was anything more than one line in its account books.

@katstermonster: My stuffed animals were featured guests on my cooking show. They loved the Scrabble tile and monopoly house pie I made.

@pecan 3.14159265: I got snookered into going to the AG Chicago 'flagship' store for a tea party with my nieces for one of their birthdays (my own daughter was thankfully too young to know what was what). The line of girls with their dolls stretching down the street waiting for the store to open was one thing (it was a release day for one of the character dolls), but to see the grown women without children in tow, who were CLEARLY collecting for themselves was something else. One woman was admonished for rushing/pushing past a group of girls looking at the new-doll display to get her box. Another had three shopping bags full of clothing/accessories that she kept knocking into the others in the crowd. I escaped to the quiet of the theatre level while waiting for our tea reservation. Then, when checking out (my birthdya-girl niece got a few items from my mom & sis), that lady with 3 bags now had 5 and her total....was $3200. OMG. I'm so glad my girl likes her fishing pole and tonka-toys and hasn't asked for one of these dolls (yet).

@craptastico: The "freed slave doll" (Cassie, maybe? She was created just as I was aging out of American Girl books) is actually a run away slave. Unlike this homeless doll, she had a full set of books. In fact, I believe nearly one entire book focuses on the girl and her mother escaping slavery and hiding in New York City. They are also trying to find other members of their family. It's remarkably historically accurate and dark for books geared to pre-teens.

I don't know how the doll lines have changed, but they used to actually be kind of neat. Each doll was a fictional person from some historical era - there was a Revolutionary era girl, a Victorian era wealthy girl, a girl growing up during WWII, a Swedish immigrant living in rural Minnesota, and the aforementioned runaway slave and her family. I think they've added more since I aged out of the target market. Each doll had a 6 book series about her life, which covered one full year, I think, and included a lot of historical reference.

The homeless doll, on the other hand, isn't a fully developed character. She doesn't have a set of books or a fleshed out story line. She's just a supporting character in another doll's book series.

@craptastico: What's the problem with Addie? Most kids have already heard about Harriet Tubman during Black History Month - why not have a freed slave doll?

@bayank:

I used to harass the ones that were fake. Like the 20 something girl who looked clean everyday begging for "part of a dollar" I gave her that one time, who knew she wanted the whole dollar!

I secretly crave an American Girl doll, but I do think that a homeless doll is in poor taste without linking it to a charity. I am curious about what her accessories are though - can you buy a proportional cardboard box?

I'm actually surprised American Girl dolls only cost $95 considering they cost $80 about 20 years ago. I get the irony of the expensive homeless doll, but as others have mentioned, if Samantha's friend (the child laborer in a factory) had actually been made into a doll, it would have been much the same thing.