Christmas present daughter wants an expensive doll

[nattygk]

I'm wanting people's opinions on this. The other day I asked my 10 years old daughter what she would like for Christmas, she replied that she would like this American girl doll I thought ok I'll have a look on line and I'm shocked to see there over £100. The thing is my daughter is going to be 11 in January so is there any point on getting her this doll or do I ask if there is anything else she would like instead any advice would be much appreciated

[CrumpettyTree]

The AG doll i want (for myself) costs over £400 new on Amazon and it's only a mini doll. I remember when it only cost about £14 and i thought of buying it for dd. Wish i had now! I don't have other dolls, i just think this particular one looks lovely

[sprongle1]

My DD, 9, has asked for the same so I am reading with interest.

[Buttercupsandaisies]

I'd buy

[Buttercupsandaisies]

I disagree- My DDs have every design a friend and several OG dolls - they really don't compare to an AG doll.

In but on the basis you'll defo get your money back

[lottieandmia22]

Yes well of course you will pay customs charges - that’s just how it goes. But the dolls arrived within a week. The Girl of The Year dolls are only available for 1 year and will sell at great prices on eBay in years to come. We have McKenna - she’s my favourite.

[RavingRoo]

Eldest dn played with dolls until she was 17 and her mum forced her to put her toys away. If she’ll enjoy it then buy it, american dolls tend to have good resale value so you can recoup most of your money.

[IamMoana]

My advice would be to shop around first. My daughter wanted a doll retailing at £50. I checked eBay, Gumtree, local selling pages on Facebook & finally spotted it on the market place for £10. Brand new in box. If you have the time to put the research in, do it. I grudge paying full price for anything. Good luck!

[1122christy]

I was over in Canada earlier this month and I was gng to get my daughter an American girl doll but super expensive then my friend (who lives there) showed me her daughters American girl doll plus the our generation doll (she had both) and apart from the teeth showing in ag I honestly couldn’t tell the difference!
So decided to say to my daughter if she got an our generation doll at £30ish then she could also get a lot more things for it.
I really couldn’t see or feel a difference.
Show ur daughter the our generation selection that smyths toy store has.

[Buttercupsandaisies]

At age 11 DD begged for one. With import tax and delivery costs it cost me £125 (and I bought 2 as her sister wanted one!)

They tired of it within 6 months (but that was my fault as I held off a few years - too long). I sold them both the following September for £100 cash each on eBay!

Keep the boxes!

[cowssheephens]

I'm very tempted tbh, has anyone bought from My Doll Boutique previously? Is it cheaper to buy from America, all costs included, or from My Doll Botique UK? Many thanks

[ichbineinstasumer]

My DD had a doll phase starting about that age - having never played much with dolls before. we got her some of the A Girl for All Times collection (as dolls were then wanted for a few successive Christmases and birthdays). She is 12.5 now and when I went to put them away recently, as she hadn't played with them for a while, she wouldn't let me and has now asked for more doll cothes for Christmas (not that she will necessarily get ehm as the clothes are expensive).

[2014newme]

I e a friend who got stung with customs charges ordering from USA

[lottieandmia22]

The only retailer in the uk that sells AG dolls is My Doll Boutique. American Girl won’t usually let other retailers sell their dolls so I don’t know how they wangled it. In the past I ordered from the US with no issues.

[2014newme]

My dds stop playing with dolls at quite a young age. They enjoyed the American Girl shop and seeing all the different ones and all the hobby stuff and furniture you can get them, but they did not want to buy one if the dolls.

[cowssheephens]

My DD would love one too. Older than your DD but with SEN. Has anyone bought one from the UK? Any good sites to buy from?

[herecomesthsun]

My DD has a Gotz Jessica doll. Very pretty doll - and it is shaped like a little girl, not like a Barbie, which I think is healthy. It also looks quite a lot like DD and I got a school uniform similar to DD's.

Resale value is very good should that be a consideration.

Then again, dd got her for her 5th birthday, so it is a different timescale. An older child might like designing and making outfits for one of these perhaps.

[MakeItStopNeville]

My D d had an American Girl doll. We went to the store in NYC and had the full, hairdressing, several outfits, afternoon tea experience. We go home and the doll is proudly put on her rocking chair. Until it got to bedtime, when she decided it was creepy and kicked it out of her room, never for it to return.

The upside is, if you go for the real AG, you can sell it afterwards for a decent price.

[IrritatedUser1960]

I wanted one when I was a child but we had very little money and as it cost so much it was a gift from everyone so that is all I got that xmas apart from a stocking.
If she wants that one then maybe it could be her only present or from her grandparents as well.
Why not see how she feels about that?

[Oblomov17]

Year 5 girls have all got a chad valley design a friend doll. I was surprised!

[peppapignonstop]

Just returned from the USA and returned with an AG doll, my daughter had saved all her birthday/Christmas money as she had been after one for ages. The doll is lovely i would definitely recommend. Might be tricky getting hold of one.

[Aderyn17]

You might struggle to get an AG doll in the UK - I think you'd be ordering from America and it will cost a lot. I blame those bloody youtube videos which kids seem to be obsessed with, of kids filming themselves in toy shops! Honestly if you've seen one bloody Claire's accessories, you've seen them all, even if it's in America!
Sorry, rant over

[Aderyn17]

My dd has an AG doll, a 'design a friend' one from Argos and an Our Generation one. There's honestly not much to choose between them in terms of quality imo. I think the Argos ones are prettier than the Our Generation ones and very good value for money.

[dontquotemeondailymail]

You could do a kind of Aldi (or is it Lidl??) response...

You can have this expensive doll, on its own.

Or, you could have this cheaper doll which is still a really good doll, plus this other thing, and this other thing... etc!

[lottieandmia22]

They don’t look like chipmunks up close. The web pictures don’t do them justice. They are beautiful imo and the hair is the best quality I’ve seen on a doll.

There is another doll by a company called Bonnie& Pearl and those dolls are also lovely and more easily available in the U.K. without paying taxes.

[IroningMountain]

American Girl dolls look like chipmunks imvho. OG much nicer. My dd had Gotz dolls( Hannah and Happy Kidz but we had some OG accessories and furniture. Good quality. I think AG is massively overhyped.Look on Petalina,loads of OG and other brands.