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This article is about anatomy for Historical/BeForever Characters, Best Friend Characters, American Girl (of) Today, Just Like You, My American Girl, or Truly Me (modern dolls), Girls of the Year, Contemporary Characters, and One of a Kind dolls. Bitty Baby, Bitty Twins, and WellieWishers doll anatomy are each discussed on their respective pages.
Dollanatomy

The basic body of an American Girl Doll, as shown with Kit.

Basic Doll Anatomy here is a summary of the features of the American Girl 18" Dolls. While each specific American Girl doll has a unique combination of eye color, hair color and style, skin tone, and face mold, there is an overall basic anatomy shared among the dolls. This allows every doll to wear any other doll's clothing fairly well and means that a person is not limited to only buying clothing designed for his or her specific doll.

Overall Anatomy and Skin Tones

Dolls are approximately 18" tall from top of head to base of feet. Each doll is given a specific "skin tone" that matches the vinyl limbs and head to a closely matching cloth body. Slight variations in tone exist due to different factories, productions, and vinyl shade variant used over time. Initially, American Girl classified dolls into one of three tones: Dark, Medium, and Light. Starting in 2018, three more tone variants were added, though they are still classified as such.[1] Variations include:

Some older dolls can have "grey" or "green" tinted vinyl due to factory issues during the 2000-2002 period. If a "grey-vinyl" doll is sent to American Girl for limb replacement, the entire doll is replaced with limbs of the vinyl tone she was designed to have; this is also true of older dolls that may not have parts in older tones, such as Kanani.)) The default Dark skin tone has become lighter and more golden/red toned than the initial blue-undertoned Dark skin.

While named characters are given characterization--and thus race and/or ethnicity--modern dolls such as Truly Me or Create Your Own are not tagged racially, so as to allow a purchaser to decide for themselves the doll's race and/or ethnicity.

The doll's vinyl can easily stain from dark clothing or shoes. Any doll stained by an American Girl product can be sent in to the American Girl Hospital at no cost. Some dolls come with their limbs covered in thin clear plastic to avoid vinyl staining in storage or transport.

Head

The head and limbs are made of vinyl that are made using rotational molding, leaving no seams or marks externally. The faces have a general overall look of a young, prepubescent child with wide eyes and soft, childish features.

The face mold varies per doll. Four so far--the Asian Mold, Marie-Grace Mold, Nanea Mold, and Joss Mold--have only been used once; the Kaya Mold was previously exclusive to Kaya'aton'my until the release of the Logan Everett doll.

The head has a flared base with a rim at the neckline; the fastener that holds the head to the cloth body when the neck strings or zip tie are tied lays in the groove and keeps the flared base in the torso. Dolls intended to have hair have a rim on the back center of the head and a fine seam around the hairline.

Head Markings

No4ArtistMark

The Artist Mark on a #4, behind the right ear.

Near the back lower side of the neck is a copyright stamp, colloquially called a neck stamp. Older dolls have "© Pleasant Co" and some have the year. Dolls manufactured after the mid to late 2000s have "© American Girl, LLC"; after the mid-2010, this was changed to a lowered "© American Girl". The stamp on the back of the next is dependent on when the face mold was created, not necessarily when the doll debuted or was released. For example, while early versions of the Kaya and Kit dolls are often found with Pleasant Company markings at the neck, dolls were never available under that name and so cannot be found as Pleasant Company dolls.

Some dolls have small "artist" markings behind one ear, most often the proper right. These are assumed to be from early in production but cannot be relied on to give a definitive age of the doll.

Face Paint

The dolls have light blushing on each cheek, lip color, and visible front teeth (with the noted exception of the Kaya Mold and molds modified for JLY #74, 75, 76, and 77) painted to add color to the doll. Pleasant Company dolls have very light face paint while Mattel dolls have more prominent face paint.

Every doll has painted eyebrows, generally in a color similar to the hair color. They were almost always thin straight lines ("straight" brows) until about 2002, with the release of Kaya and "feathered" brows--multiple small brow lines that were slightly thicker near the median and tapered out to the sides, for a more realistic eyebrow. For several years dolls could have straight or feathered brows. Starting around the time of the BeForever relaunch, most dolls with straight brows had them redone to feathered, and nowadays every doll is given feathered by default.

Some dolls have freckles across or to the side of the bridge of the nose and over the cheeks. Three types of freckling exist; the one first used on the Kit doll and the one used on the Mia doll are most common. There is also a unique freckling pattern used for Tenney Grant.

The Grace doll was given darker tinted lips than most dolls; this was implied to be lip gloss, as paired with the lip gloss that came in Grace's Paris Accessories.

Eyes

Eyeapart

A disassembled doll eye. L to R: Plastic backing, central eye, metal rim.

Each doll has sleep eyes that close when the doll is laid down or tilted backwards.

The eyes are made of three parts. The main eye is a half circle of molded plastic with attached lashes; there are two small pegs to allow rotation. The main eye is encased in two parts. The back is a plastic half-dome that the hinges rest in, with a stop so the eye cannot rotate back too far. Originally the plastic was black but is now a lighter white. Over the front is a metal case with oval shaping.

Eyeout

A removed sleep eye with brown decal eyes.

The eyes have internal decals or painting that give the iris color. Eyes are either "pinwheel" style with faint lines behind the coloring or "decal" with a solid base. During the Pleasant Company years, each doll generally had soft eyelashes that closely matched their hair color. Mattel replaced this with black plastic eyelashes for all characters.

Eyes can rust around the metal rim or stick if they get moisture or glue inside in places.

American Girl has released many different eye colors throughout the years. These include:

  • Light Blue: first used on Kirsten.
  • Decal Brown/Grey: first used on Samantha but later marketed as grey on Ivy.
  • Grey: first used on Molly; all grey-eyed dolls except Molly were discontinued during the early 2000s because they were very prone to silver eyes and later reintroduced on Ruthie.
  • Green: first used on Felicity. Mattel green is much brighter than the Pleasant Company version, which has caused it to be intensively critiqued by collectors. In 2009, the shade was toned down significantly.
  • Dark Brown/Black: first used on Addy. It is much darker than the other eye colors and has almost exclusively been used on the dolls of color.
  • Brown/Light Brown: first used in the American Girl of Today line. It is the most commonly used shade of brown.
  • Dark Blue/Sapphire: first used on Kit.
  • Hazel/Green: First used on JLY #21. Was marketed as "green" on Mia. There have been variant batches of the Hazel eyes over the years, with some more yellow/green and others more brown.
  • Amber/Olive/Light Brown: first used on JLY #26. It was first called "amber", then "light brown", and is now referred to as "brown" by the company.
  • Aquamarine: first used on Caroline Abbott. No other doll currently has this eye color.
  • Turquoise: first used on Saige. No other doll currently has this eye color.
  • Dark Hazel: first used on Maryellen. It is darker than the standard hazel and more emphasizes the brown, though this may be due to batch differences.

Sometime the decals can peel away internally, making the eyes look silver spotted or turn silver altogether, a condition called silver eye. This mostly happens in older dolls. The company considers this a manufacturing defect and will fix this for free through the American Girl Hospital.

Eyes can be swapped between dolls; however, most other brands of sleep eyes are not sized properly, so it is generally recommended to use eyes that came from other American Girl dolls.

Starting with the release of Nanea, white padding may be present behind the eyes.

In about 2017, American Girl changed the weights and designs of the eyes to a more solid plastic piece with less metal in the weights and sealing off the eye colors. This has resulted in in partial visibility of the white pegs and differently closing eyes. In spring 2019 American Girl offered free "eye exchange" repairs for customers dissatisfied with the new style of eyes. They later reverted to the older style.

Hair

The hair of every American Girl doll is a wig made of high-quality Kanekalon fibers sewn to a mesh wig cap that is then glued onto the head. Any streaks or highlights are created by adding variant colors into the hair before sewing it to the wig cap. Some dolls have flesh-colored "parts" of vinyl to add realism to their hair styles; other have sewn or woven parts. Most dolls have silky straight hair with a slight to moderate curl at the end. Some dolls are given moderately curly hair which is a looser curl. Spiral curls such as the ones on #26 are made from heat set straight hair. Any doll's hair can be temporarily curled using rollers and a wet set; more permanent curls can be put in with heat setting. Some dolls have occasionally been released with straight hair that has no curl at the end.

All wigs with a part default as a center part; side parts are made by turning the wig sideways before gluing. Straight hair is generally evened out so as to appear straight at the edge; curly hair may or may not be.

Some dolls have small "short hairs" interwoven in the back of the wig cap among the longer hairs. When the hair is parted into ponytails or braids, these hairs remain loose and partially cover the mesh wig cap making for a more realistic looking hairstyle.

Textured Hair

Textured hair is a coarser Kanekalon hair designed to simulate African straightened hair and has exclusively been used on dolls that are visually directed as "black" (though two classic molded dolls have had textured hair, they were also given tanned skin).

In 2008 the texture was made less thick and prominent for the modern doll line, and can be rather hard to distinguish from older textured hair by sight and touch, being more similar to "straight" hair than that of older dolls.

Bald Dolls

Starting in 2012, bald dolls--those without hair-- were made available, to represent children without hair. These dolls are sold wigless, and have smooth heads with no indication of a wig attachment applied or guide lines around the hairline.

Hair Care

American Girl does not recommend styling doll hair with plastic combs, plastic brushes (which will frizz the hair) or any comb that has been in human hair (due to human hair oils). Hair should be dampened before combing or styling every time to prevent damage. This can be done with braid spray, water, or a light leave in spray conditioner. The hair should never need to be washed with proper care; however, some dolls may need a light wash with wig conditioner or mild shampoo after extended use or dirt exposure.

To comb or brush hair, a wig brush or doll brush should be purchased and used exclusively with dolls.

The hair can be damaged or dried out by improper care; braid spray can prevent this. Extreme cases may call for a downy dunk. Severe damage such as hair cuts and massive breakage can only be fixed with rewigging or sending the doll to the American Girl Hospital for a new head.

Ears

The ears are molded on the side of the head and there are no openings. The wig is placed so that the ears are not covered. The Sonali Mold has less detailed ears. The Joss Mold has a larger opening to the ear canal in both ears to accommodate Joss's hearing aid, though the hearing aids specific to Joss are designed to only fit in the right ear. The ears also have the same level of detail as the Sonali Mold.

Most dolls have non-pierced ears as a default. Addy Walker was the first doll to have earrings consisting of permanent gold loops in each ear; Elizabeth Cole was the first to have removable earrings.

Starting in 2008, any modern-line doll could get her ears pierced at purchase if ordered off the website. Otherwise the doll has to be taken to an American Girl Store and have the ears pierced at the salon, or sent in to the Doll Hospital. Any 18" doll may be pierced when sent in to the Hospital or at an American Girl place.

Isabelle Palmer was the first Girl of the Year to have any ear piercing offered at purchase; Grace was the first to have unique to her earrings offered. The holes are sized for American Girl earrings and so are bigger than standard human posts. Some collectors prefer to pierce a doll's ears themselves so they are not limited to American Girl earrings only.

As of 2012, any 18" doll can have hearing aids placed in either the left, right, or both ears via the Hospital. These are placed so as not to block earrings, so a doll can have both.

Body

The body is made of cloth and stuffed with polyester fiberfill. It is made to match the skin tone of the doll's vinyl. There are shaping darts across the bottom as well.

White Body

See also: White-Bodied Doll

When the first three dolls--Samantha, Molly, and Kirsten--debuted, the bodies were made of white cloth and the clothes designed for them covered the cloth bodies completely. With the debut of Felicity, the body tone had to be changed as colonial fashions were somewhat low cut. This resulted in the body cloth being made in colors that matched the vinyl of the limbs and head so as not to stand out.

Body Tag

Bodytag

Body tag.

Early Pleasant Company dolls had small body tags stating that they were made in Germany for Pleasant Company. These were phased out when the company shifted production to China.

Since Mattel's ownership, each doll has come with a body tag sewn onto the right side of their body. The text was originally as follows:

Made in China Exclusively for American Girl Middleton, WI 53562

For a while, several had typos that said "American Gril". While there was a number imprinted on the tags as well, it was a part number for the doll and not the year of manufacture (most say "2008").

Starting in 2014, dolls started to come with longer body tags; these have the American Girl Logo, the year, and a Registration number. They also state that the doll is made with all new content in China, stuffed with polyester fiber, and are surface washable (in English, Spanish, and French). The other side of the tag contains information about content and that the dolls are made in China; this is also repeated in French.

Joints

The joint cups for the arms and legs are made of vinyl and sewn into the body tightly. This allows for free movement of the joints.

The limbs are attached to the body by means of tightly pulled elastic cords. Inside each limb and the internal body are small white semi-circle caps that were originally clamped tight with metal flanks. This allows the dolls limbs to turn and hold positions without moving and stand freely. When the elastic cord starts to lose its elasticity, the arms and legs will no longer hold position and may result in the doll being unable to stand or sit. The doll is then considered to be "floppy" and in need of restringing. This can either be done through the American Girl Hospital or by various people who have learned to do it themselves.

As of 2009, metal flanks have been removed and the elastic cord is simply knotted on both ends. This can result in limbs going floppier sooner.

Neck Strings and Zip Ties

Neckstrings

Neck Strings.

The heads were originally attached to the cloth body by means of a thin tunnel which cotton cord was run through and then knotted. The ends of the cord which are left to dangle down are referred to as "neck strings"; cutting these short can loosen the knot and lead to the head falling off.

For a while heads were being attached with plastic zip ties after returning from the American Girl Hospital; after protest, the company went back to neck strings, which meant that heads could be attached with either neck strings or plastic zip ties.

The Lea doll was released with no neck strings; she has a zip tie attached head with the end opening over the tunnel sewn completely shut, limiting access to the tie. This was also done with the Melody doll, which implied (and was later confirmed) this will be the method for dolls going forward. Zip ties were mainstreamed as American Girl expanded outside of the US and had to comply with international toy testing requirements. The seam can be opened and the zip tie cut free, but it will then need to be replaced with either cord or a new zip tie.

Permanent Underwear

AGPermanentPanties

Left to right: Removable underwear, modified permanent underwear ("permapanties"), the Stripes and Dots Swimsuit over permanent underwear.

In February 2017, American Girl announced on Facebook that bodies for the Truly Me dolls, as well as Maryellen, Melody, Julie, and Contemporary Character dolls would have permanent panties/underwear as part of their design.[2] American Girl stated the change was to continue to provide quality products within price points, though there were concerns that expansion into conservative Middle Eastern countries was the motivation for the change and several people felt the quality in the bodies was diminished.

The permanent underwear, or "permapanties," were done by changing the torso design so that the lower half was made of pale pink fabric (the color of the vinyl joint cups in the hips did not change) and, to signify the "top" of the permanent underwear, a thin satin ribbon with the American Girl logo. This also resulted in the removal of shaping bottom darting, which could result in oddly shaped "bottoms" when stuffing was shifted, seams were uneven, or stuffing was packed differently or thinner.

However, following widespread negative customer feedback, American Girl made the decision to revert back to having dolls come with separate underwear in May 2017.[3] Only the three BeForever dolls, some Truly Me, all initially released Z Yang Dolls, and some later Tenney dolls were affected.

Customers who previously purchased dolls with permanent panties were eligible for a one-time, free body exchange to have the dolls' bodies retrofitted with the conventional torsos (the entire body was swapped) until December 2018. Contemporary characters and modern dolls were returned with a pair of generic panties similar to those that came with the Lilac Dress, while the three BeForever Characters are returned with standard white panties; Julie was not returned with the purple panties that come in her second meet outfit.

Arms and Hands

Dollhand

Hands of American Girl Dolls

The arms and hands are made of vinyl. The hands have small nails and defined lines to simulate the folds where finger joints are naturally. The thumb and fingers are curled in slightly; the fingers are splayed, with the ring and middle finger fused and the pointer finger slightly fused to the middle. The pinky is separate. There are two lines on the palm. The curled fingers allow the dolls to "hold" various items.

Modified Hands

TenneyRightHand

Modified right hand on the Tenney Grant doll.

In 2017, the Tenney and Logan dolls were released with modified right hands that have pinched in fingers, allowing them to hold items in their collection without additional plastic grips or handles.

Legs and Feet

CYO-FootMark

Create Your Own foot stamp.

The legs are attached to the torso the same way as the arms. The toes are defined with small nails and the soles of the feet are flat.

Create Your Own dolls have, on the sole of the right foot, a gold thumbprint Star logo and One of a kind in white scripted lettering.

Pleasant Company vs. Mattel

The bodies were slimmed down overall in the Mattel era in the bodies, arms, and legs. The clothing was redesigned to fit the newer doll body shape. This means that newer outfits may fit tighter on older dolls, and shoes may not fit properly.

References

  1. Here on the Wiki, the variant tones are classified into the three categories.
  2. Facebook statement, accessed February 10, 2017.
  3. Facebook statement, accessed May 22, 2017.
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