My American Girl #29

I bought my very first American Girl doll at the beginning of the month when I visited the amazing American Girl store in Natick, Massachusetts--near Boston.  I went to the store with every intention of purchasing the historical girl, Rebecca, but the overwhelming array of options scrambled my brain and then led me to My American Girl #29.

The first order of business was that this doll needed a suitable name--something other than Number 29.  I love naming things, but can get hung up on the process because I need to pick a name that is just right.  I have been this way ever since I was a kid.  As a brief aside, if you like names as much as I do, check out the unbeatable Baby Name Wizard site, created by an incredibly neat friend of mine.  Anyway--I didn't need the Baby Name Wizard for this doll because I had Andrea.  Thank you, Andrea (and everyone else who had great name suggestions!) for helping me name Miss Keira:

My American Girl #29
Keira Sofia

There are many incredible American Girl resources on the web.  Doll Diaries, Never Grow Up, Just Magic, and the comments and advice I have gotten from all of you, have taught me most of what I know about these dolls.  I am the farthest thing from an American Girl expert--I'm an American Girl newbie.  So, there's probably a lot of old news in this review, and I hope you'll forgive me for that.  This is the very first time I've gotten my hands on a real American Girl doll for longer than two minutes, and I wanted to give this iconic character a full-blown, top-to-bottom look.  

While I was visiting the Boston store, I purchased the Science Lab set, Keira, the Sweet Spring dress Keira was wearing in the store, a pair of glasses, a mini Rebecca doll and a red American Girl Boston tee shirt.  In this review, I will look at Keira, her red tee shirt and her glasses.  I will review the Sweet Spring dress and mini Rebecca separately.

I'll just say right up front: American Girl packaging is great.  Most of the My American Girl items come in colorful red, white and blue cardboard boxes.  The cover of the Keira's box has a small circular plastic window to show off her face.  This was helpful for choosing the doll with the straightest eyes and no facial marks.  

The historical American Girl dolls like Rebecca come with a full-sized chapter book.  The My American Girl dolls do not come with a book, but rather with a code that unlocks an online version of the doll.  The online characters can play games, chat, and shop for virtual clothes.  It seems very much like the Stardoll experience.  The front of every doll box has a cartoon drawing of the doll, to show what the online character will look like:

The sides of the doll box are decorated with colorful shapes and inspirational words like, smart, kind, brave and confident:

The cover of the box lifts off to reveal a plain white cardboard interior:

Keira is attached to her box with a piece of white braid elastic that is stretched tightly across her neck:

The neck area is protected from the elastic with a thin piece of foam:

The elastic is looped over two plastic hooks that are mounted through the back of the box:

I lifted the elastic off one of the hooks and Keira's head was free.

Keira is also held in place with two rubber bands positioned around her boots.  The boots are protected from the tight rubber bands with a layer of foam and a layer of cardboard.  There's also a cautionary message about the rubber bands:

Along the length of Keira's bare arms, the sides of the box are covered in clear plastic.  I am not sure why--maybe the white color from the box can transfer to the vinyl arms?  Hm.  Around Keira's left wrist is a small red tag.  The tag in not enclosed in plastic.  

The tag is a description of how to care for straight hair.  

This information is nice, but thanks to all of the wonderful advice I have gotten here on the blog, I don't feel like I need it.

High maintenance hair.

See--I am well-prepared for messy hair! 

Armed and dangerous.

 I couldn't find braid spray, so I hope this Aussie product is acceptable.  I figured I could use it on my own unruly hair if it's not good for Keira.

Here's the box without the doll--you can see the back of the plastic piece that held the head in place, and you can also see that there are a few things stuck to the inside of the box:

It looks like a necklace and a booklet:

Many of the dolls at the American Girl store were wearing these necklaces.  The idea is that each new outfit comes with a charm, and you can add charms to make a necklace that is as unique as your doll:

The necklace has an adjustable pink string.  The string appears to be a braided rope coated in a waxy sealant.  It is very lightweight and stiff.  

The pendant is a metal hoop with a clear frosted plastic heart charm hanging from the top:

Next to the heart, there's a tiny metal oval with the words American Girl embossed on one side:

The big silver hoop can open and close to accommodate more charms.  There are a total of 36 available charms.

This is a cute idea.  One of the things I liked best about the My American Girl section of the store was how diverse the dolls looked--and the varied interests represented by the range of available outfits and accessories.  This necklace design highlights that diversity.

Here's the booklet that was behind the necklace:

It is a "campus guide" guide to the Innerstar University website (aka InnerstarU) where I can unlock my virtual Keira.  I have been assuming that American Girl dolls represent children in the 8 to 10-year-old range.  That's what they look like to me, anyway.  Are they really going to college already?  

They grow up so fast.

I wanted to give the website a quick look.  I feel like the content is important for assessing the value of the doll because it is taking the place of the chapter book I would have gotten if I had opted for a historical doll. 

After a brief registration procedure (I did not have to share any personal information except for my email address) my virtual Keira materialized in a very nice-looking modern bedroom:

That's way nicer than my college dorm.

In the room area, Keira can change clothes, read books, and do her hair.

Outside the room, there's a map of the entire Innerstar University:

There's no science lab.

There are several areas that have games you can play, and there is also a library and a store.  I went to the library first, because that seemed like the studious, collegiate thing to do.

At the library, you can choose a book to read from a fairly small selection of titles.  The options include a few of the historical American Girl books.  This is cool because I want to read Saige's story and have been kicking myself for not picking up the book while I was in Boston.

Yay!  This is perfect!

As it turns out, you can only read 12 pages of Saige's story.  I guess it makes sense that they wouldn't be giving out books for free, but reading the first ten pages of a dozen books doesn't really appeal to me.  I have enough trouble finishing things without being given something that is unfinishable.

Short Attention Span Library.

Next, I decided to sample a few of the games.  This campus has a stable (Rising Star Stables) so I headed over there to see what kind of horse games are available.  The first option is a show jumping race game.  For this activity, you select a horse:

Time for a horse-riding study break!

And then you ride the horse around a ring, using the arrow keys to keep a good pace (not too slow or too fast) and using the space bar to time your jumps correctly.

When my horse was trotting, it looked like this:

Quarter horse?

Only at full gallop did the rest of the horse's body materialize:

Thoroughbred!

This game has awesome sound effects.  I could have listened to the clopping hooves for hours, but, sadly, I was terrible at playing the game.  I was either way too fast, knocking over all of the jumps, or disappearing into the sand.  I didn't find this message encouraging:

You suck.

For a change in pace, I decided to go to the stables and take care of the horses.  I guess those who can't ride get to muck out the stalls.

This is a much simpler game.  You just select the item that the horse needs, and then move the mouse in a certain way to fulfill that need.

Work study.

This was easy, but it got excruciatingly boring after a while.  

Next, I visited the Campus Snack Cart, because that toy was my favorite thing in the whole American Girl store.  

Amazing toy.

I figured the game might be fun, too--after all, it looks just like the toy:

Another study break!

This is a cute game.  People line up at the cart and you have to fill everyone's order in a given amount of time.  The trick is, each food item requires a specific sequence of ingredients and you have to select those ingredients in the right order.  It gets increasingly challenging to remember how to make all of the orders.  I had fun with this.

After I served a bunch of snacks, I headed to the mall to buy some clothes.  

Um...another study break?

I wanted to buy the Sweet Spring dress that Keira was wearing at the store:

And I found it!  I also found the glasses I chose for her.

Shouldn't you be studying?

Back in Keira's room, the new dress and glasses had appeared in her closet:

Ta da!  Here's Keira exactly as I bought her:

The Website: This website is fine, and it was certainly easy to get registered.  I did see several other virtual American Girls walking around, so there are social options here that I didn't explore.  The games are very simple.  Since the dolls are designed for 8-year-olds and older (per the box) I'd expect the games to be a little more challenging--kids these days are crazy-good at this kind of thing.  Of the three or four games I tried, only the Campus Snack Cart game was something I'd do again.  

I guess the university theme to this website is meant to encourage kids to go to college--which is awesome, if you can ignore the fact that Innerstar University is a college where 10-year-olds go to ride horses, get their hair done, shop for clothes and serve snacks to fellow students.  At least there are no fraternity party games.  Maybe a university summer camp would have been a better theme?

In contrast to the website, the chapter books that come with the historical dolls seem to actually benefit young minds--both by encouraging reading (always good) and by teaching a little bit of history.  To me, the books are a much better deal than the website code.

***

The real Keira is way cuter than her animated double, so let's get back to her.  Here she is out of her box:

This doll is very well balanced and stands alone with or without her boots.  

Her hair was nicely secured in a hairnet and had a perfect little curl in back:

When I first saw her face, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was asymmetric, especially around her eyes:

Something's not right.

After I took her hair down and started posing her, I noticed that she definitely has a "good" side and a "bad" side.   I think this is her good side--she has a sweet smile and her proportions seem right:

In contrast, when the other side of her face is in half profile, something looks off to me.  It's subtle, but her right eye seems too deeply set and her mouth is not as attractive:

I did a few photo experiments to try and figure out what was going on.  First, I drew a grid over her face like this:

Her eyes are perfectly symmetric (this surprised me).  I think what's off is her right cheek.  If you look at the four boxes that include her cheeks and the angles of her jawline, you'll see that she has a fuller cheek on her right side (the left side of the picture).

It might be even clearer in these pictures--look closely at the two cheek silhouettes.  The cheek is ever so slightly larger in the picture on the right:

Good side                                                                           Bad side

Or here--it looks like she just went to the dentist and has some minor swelling:

Dental work                                                                        Normal

This is a really minor thing, and maybe everyone is aware if it already, or maybe it's just my doll, but it's the first thing I noticed.  It makes me wonder whether my feelings about the other My American Girl dolls in the store were partially based on which side of their face was turned towards me?  Hm.

Keira's eyes are a very dark brown. This worried me a little in the store, because dark brown doll eyes can look lifeless.  Indeed, Keira's eyes look very blank if they're reflecting too much light...or if they're not reflecting any light.  I think this picture shows a nice amount of reflection:

There are some very subtle lines in the irises, but these are hard to see in most light, and incredibly difficult to photograph.  In this picture, you can see some of the iris detail, and also the flecked design of her small, light brown eyebrows.  

Keira has applied plastic strip eyelashes and eyes that open and close:

The lashes are all individual strands of plastic, but they are pushed very tightly together and give the impression of being one large piece:

At the very edges of the eyelid, you can see individual eyelashes separating from the group:

Keira’s eyes are not great.  She has very dark brown reflective eyes with minimal detail.  While I am not crazy about these eyes, I saw that several of the other eye color options are wonderful--like #55’s detailed green eyes or Rebecca’s gorgeous hazel.  I knew what I was getting here and wanted a brown-eyed doll anyway.  I just wish the dark brown eyes had a bit more depth and realism.

I always assumed that American Girl dolls had molded teeth in their partially open mouths.  The teeth are actually just slightly raised painted rectangles:

The Face:  From a distance, I have never been a huge fan of the American Girl faces.  They have always seemed a little vacant and generic to me.  Keira's dark brown eyes do not help in this regard.  In some lighting situations, Keira's eyes look dead.  I think the dolls with lighter eyes have a bit more versatility.  I also prefer one side of Keira's face to the other, especially when I look at her in half-profile.  Real human faces don't have perfect symmetry, that's for sure, but a doll with features this simple should probably be symmetric.  I was also a little disappointed by the lack of sculpted detail in the mouth.  On the other hand, sculpted smiles do not always do a doll huge favors. 

What I've noticed about the American Girl faces since my visit to the store and in my experience with Keira, is that these dolls can really adapt to portray a huge range of personalities.  I saw the same exact doll over and over again in the store, and just because she was wearing a different outfit, or her hair was styled differently, or she had on a different pair of glasses, I would think I was seeing a new doll for the first time.  The generic faces might also be good for allowing children's imaginations to fill in a specific personality.  With Keira, I find that from some angles, and with some combinations of accessories and clothes, I am not that wild about how she looks.  With other combinations, though, I am smitten.

***

For some reason, the combination of Keira's dark skin tone and extra-shiny hair make her difficult to photograph.  My pictures do not show the true coloring in her face.  Her hair is particularly difficult to capture.  I tried taking pictures with a white background, too, but her hair reflects whatever the background color is, and this changes the overall appearance of the hair:  

The grey background tends to overexpose the hair and make it look pinkish-red, while the white background flattens the shine and dulls the richness of the color:

Here's what Keira's hair looks like in the sun--it is a dark, rich brown color, and the texture is very shiny and smooth:

The wig has a lot of shorter strands of hair in the back.  Carpatina Erin's wig has these strands, too, and I think even my expensive Himstedt dolls have them.  The smaller strands tend to hide under the longer hair unless I attempt a style that has a part in back:

The wig is stitched in very full rows along the face and near the part, but then gets a little thinner on the sides--with areas of the wig cap showing between the rows:

The hair looks very full during normal play and the wig cap doesn't show at all.  In fact, the only problem I've had with the hair so far is that the teeth on the metal brush can snag the the edges of the rows of stitched hair.

Keira's hair might be her best feature.  It is long and thick and looks beautiful and shiny.  It feels like real hair and doesn't seem at all prone to tangles yet.  It is very similar to the hair on Carpatina Erin and Karito Kids Ling.

The Hair: To put my assessment of Keira’s hair in perspective, I need to mention that I have been hearing a lot of troubling things about American Girl hair lately.  I have heard that you have to treat red hair and curly (or wavy) hair exactly right, or you’ll end up with a tangled mess.  I’ve been warned not to brush the hair with a plastic brush or comb.  I have heard of dolls whose hair became so horrid, the only options were to pay to have the hair replaced by American Girl...or to replace the entire doll.  At the American Girl store, I saw evidence that these hairy tales are true.  Several of the dolls that girls brought with them to the store had really scraggly hair.  Many of the display dolls (in particular, the #55 I was eyeing) already had matted manes.  I find this pretty depressing.  American Girls set the standard for 18" play dolls, and yet you can’t brush their hair with a plastic brush or a comb?  You can’t style the curls at all?  You need special hair spray to keep everything looking nice?  Seriously?  Many dolls have hair that requires some sort of maintenance over time to avoid tangles and frizz, but in my opinion, a $110 play doll should not need such extreme care.  Needless to say, I approached Keira’s hair with caution...and a truckload of skepticism.  What I found is that Keira’s hair is soft, silky and tangle free.  I think it feels like real human hair.  It hangs beautifully and shines gloriously in the sun.  It’s a gorgeous, realistic color.  I guess the hair could be a little bit thicker, and I’d love it if the short strands in back weren’t there, and if the brush didn’t get caught on the wig cap, but overall this is wonderful hair and I think it’s Keira’s best feature.  Apparently, whatever troubles exist for certain types of American Girl hair do not plague the straight brown hair that my doll has. Thank goodness.  A good next step for the company would be to find red wigs and curly wigs that are equally nice.

***

Keira comes wearing a simple tee shirt and skirt outfit:

American Girl dolls have a neck seam and a cloth torso, so I am always surprised when the outfits have gaping necklines.  For example, why on Earth is there a baby-style onesie neckline on this shirt?  

I didn't think they made this style of shirt for anyone over the age of about three.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  This style of neckline is for tiny little humans with huge heads--so you can get the shirt over the huge head without having uncomfortable snaps or buttons on the back of the garment.  This tee shirt opens all of the way down the back, so there's absolutely no need for a neckline like this.  

It shows a lot of Keira's orange-ish cloth torso and an unsightly gap in her neck seam:

Putting that design flaw aside, the tee shirt is very nice.  It is made out of a soft cotton knit with an adorable flower and butterfly pattern that coordinates with the colorful pattern on the side of the box.

There's a tiny American Girl tag sewn to one sleeve:

All of the edges are beautifully finished and look like they will stand the test of time.  The shirt is sewn just like a piece of clothing for a real child.  I bet you could even throw it in the wash with regular clothes--although I'd worry about shrinkage.

The skirt is made out of a jersey knit cotton that has some stretch.  It has the look and feel of lightweight sweatshirt fabric.  

There's a decorative belt accent and some elastic in the waistband for easy dressing.

Again, this skirt seems exceptionally well made, with finished edges and generous seam allowances:

The boots look cute.  They have a green butterfly embroidered on the outer edge.  I am confused about why the butterfly is green.  I love green, and I guess everything doesn't have to match, but pink butterflies would have tied the whole outfit together a bit better.

The boots open all of the way down the back with a velcro seam:

The velcro is a little cheap.  It's not the same style of velcro that is used in the shirt--it's thin and made out of plastic:

In fact, the entire boot feels a little cheap.  While the material looks like a sueded leather, it feels more like paper.  The boots are thin, lightweight and crinkly.  

The boot fabric has a white canvas back, making me think that maybe these shoes are tougher than they feel:

The soles of the boots are hard plastic and look solidly attached.

Underneath her outfit, Keira is wearing a pair of pink cotton underpants:

Doll underpants are often hastily done--as more of an afterthought than a real piece of clothing.  These are very nice:

I loved all of the dolls wearing glasses at the American Girl store.  I knew I wanted Keira to wear glasses, but it was so hard to choose which ones!  The tortoiseshell glasses were wonderful, as were some of the sunglasses...and anything with color.

 I ended up picking some fairly plain brown-rimmed glasses with a hint of turquoise in them:

These cost $10 and are called "Chocolate Glasses."

Yummy.

They come in a nice puffy purple fleece glasses holder:

The front of the frames is painted chocolate brown, and the back is a translucent turquoise plastic.  I love how these glasses look, although they feel very fragile.

I am very happy with how they fit Keira:

They go really nicely with her coloring and make her eyes seem much more lively:

Here she is in natural light, so you can get a better sense for the actual colors:

I also bought Keira a red American Girl Boston tee shirt, as a souvenir of where I found her.  This tee shirt can be worn with the grey skirt:

But I think it looks best with dark jeans or a jean skirt:

In Karito Kids Ling's skirt.

This is a nice shirt, and the neckline is perfect:

The Science Lab glasses also look fine on Keira.  They're a little big, but they're supposed to be safety goggles, so it's appropriate.  While I was putting these on, I got one of Keira's eyelids trapped in the sleeping position behind a lens, so it looked like she was winking at me!

I am really happy with the red logo tee shirt and the Chocolate Glasses.

The Clothes: Keira’s clothes are very well made.  They’re just like miniature real clothes, with perfect little seams and finished edges.  The pink tee shirt has a neckline that isn’t as flattering to the American Girl body as it could be.  I prefer the more conventional neckline of the red tee shirt that I bought separately.  The grey skirt is simple, but it’s good for mix-and-match, and it is very easy to get on and off.  The Chocolate Glasses seem fragile, but really add to Keira's appearance by giving her eyes more character.  One of my favorite things about the American Girl store was looking at all of the amazing miniature shoes.  Given that I know how fantastic the shoes can be, Keira’s boots are a disappointment.  Her boots are made out of a thin, papery fake leather, and there’s nothing especially creative about the design.  I wish the My American Girls came with a more interesting pair of shoes like the purple sandals I admired at the store.

***

Underneath her clothes, Keira has vinyl arms and legs and a cloth torso.  I was surprised to see two long strings hanging down her back:

That string is what attaches her head to her body.  Many of my dolls have plastic cable ties or wire holding their vinyl heads onto cloth bodies, but I don't think I've ever seen a doll with a regular cotton string in this joint before.  I mean, you could untie that string so easily, which actually might be really useful for repairs or cleaning.

Off with her head!

Keira has limited poseability.  She has only 5 points of articulation.  I assumed that her joints would only spin in their sockets (like the Our Generation Charlotte doll), allowing her to do simple splits, lift her arms up and down, and turn her head from side to side:

In addition to these movements, though, Keira also has some side-to-side play in her arm and leg joints that I didn't expect:

Her cloth torso gets twisted and asymmetrical when she's posing.

I was curious about the mechanics of these joints, so I investigated further.  The vinyl arm pieces are inserted into vinyl sockets sewn into the body.  This part is just like the Our Generation body:

The stitching looks a little ratty in places, but it seems sturdy:

Unlike Our Generation Charlotte, Keira's arm pieces are not tightly connected to the shoulder sockets--the arm is able to rotate upwards, as though it was a hinged joint:

This mobility is due to the fact that Keira's arms are strung--again, with what looks like regular white cotton string (but is actually elastic cord--thank you, readers, for the correction!!):

The arm has a white plastic piece inside with a hole.  It looks like the string goes through the hole and is held in place with a knot.  I hope it's a pretty big knot (or something in addition to a knot) otherwise, it could be easy to pull the arms right off.

The leg joints have a similar design:

I am so tempted to disassemble Keira's body completely--just to see how everything is put together.  It is much more complicated than I had imagined.  In the end, I'll probably just try to find pictures online, since I'd probably end up taking her apart and then not being able to get her back together again.

The Body: The American Girl body is pretty much what I expected, with a few surprises.  First of all, I knew that the body would be unarticulated and clunky.  I have seen pictures of these dolls trying to do gymnastics, play instruments, and ride horses...and it’s not pretty.  I was frequently frustrated by Keira’s inability to strike realistic poses.  For a doll that has so many cool accessories and furniture, I wish she could pose with them a little better.  Also, I don’t like the seam between Keira’s cloth torso and vinyl neck.  The color of the vinyl doesn't match the color of the fabric, and the joint is unsightly.  The cloth torso's messy stitching and lumpy shape give it a less impressive look than what I expected.  However, Keira’s body has some great qualities.  First of all, it has a nice, substantial weight.  She is fun to carry around and feels just right in my arms.  Second, she stands on her own amazingly well.  She can stand in her shoes and out of them, and can even stand on slightly uneven terrain or with one leg positioned at an angle.  Also, the construction of this body is interesting.  Keira is strung--but with regular string, not with elastic. *Update: I stand corrected--Keira is, in fact, strung with elastic cord!  This means that she has some side-to-side movement in her joints, allowing her more flexibility than the Our Generation dolls.

***

I have been eagerly waiting to compare Keira to some of my other 18" play dolls.  As a representative sample, I chose to get out my Karito Kid, my Carpatina doll and my Our Generation doll.  I'll also do a brief comparison to a My Twinn.

Carpatina Erin, Karito Kids Ling, OG Charlotte
American Girl Keira.

Ling is one of my very favorite dolls.  I love her and her Karito sister, Zoe.  Unfortunately, the Karito Kids are discontinued and went from being on clearance for very cheap (I got Ling for $29.99) to hard-to-find and insanely expensive.  Still, when these dolls first came out, they retailed for $99, which makes them equivalent in both scale and price to American Girls.

Ling and Keira both come with complete outfits.  The two outfits are very well made.  They each have a skirt, a top and boots.  Ling also has tights and leg warmers.   Ling's top is embroidered velour and a bit more interesting than Keira's plain onesie-neck tee.  Both skirts are great--I slightly prefer the style of the jean skirt.  Ling has much better boots.  Ling also came with a book.

I think the Karito Kid body is fantastic.  It has a vinyl upper torso and a cloth belly. This allows for a graceful and flexible neck joint, but keeps the body of the doll soft and a little bit cuddly.

So, while Ling can look up and down...Keira can only stare straight forward:

The dolls have similar posing options, but Ling's added neck mobility and tall frame give her an advantage:

The dolls have very different faces.  Keira looks extremely young and a little blank--mostly because of her dark eyes.  Ling looks older and more realistic and she has very detailed brown eyes.  I can see that her exaggerated, angular features might not appeal to everyone, though.  Ling and Keira both have great hair.  Ling's wig is just a bit nicer, with no short strands in the back, great bangs and a very smooth, silky feel.

I had an amazing time shopping for Keira, but shopping for Ling was not very exciting.  I stumbled upon her one day at Tuesday Morning and decided she might be fun to own.

Keira and Carpatina Erin are slightly different sizes.  Erin is considered a "slim" 18" doll while Keira is a traditional 18" size.  Erin came with a basic underwear set, but in order for the prices of the two dolls to be equivalent, I had to evaluate Erin ($69) in her Guinevere dress ($38).  The styles of these two outfits are difficult to compare--I like them both for different reasons, but I guess I slightly prefer the fantasy drama and detail of Erin's dress.  The Guinevere dress also came with sippers and a rhinestone crown.

Erin has an elastic-strung full vinyl body.  Her body has a beautiful shape and realistic proportions, but she isn't at all cuddly, and doesn't feel as nice to carry around.  

Again, the dolls pose in similar ways, but Erin has the ability to rotate her head and look up and down.

I love Erin's red hair and freckles.  Her hair is very similar to Keira's hair in texture and wig quality.  I like the color of Erin's hair better, but Keira's hair is slightly softer, and has a slight wave to it that makes it more fun to play with.  Erin's green eyes are beautiful and detailed and her separated eyelashes give her a bright-eyed, cheerful look.  I like that Erin can pass for both a child or for a stylized adult.

Shopping on the Carpatina website is pretty fun because of all the gorgeous fantasy clothes, but it's nowhere near the adventure of the American Girl store experience.

Our Generation Charlotte is the only doll in this comparison that isn't in the $100 price range.  Charlotte cost me $18.99 on sale and retails for $22.  Her clothes are cute and creative, but the fabrics are thin and the sewing details are not as impressive as they are on Keira's clothes.

The bodies look very similar at first glance--they're both a little blocky with wide-set arms.  Each doll has vinyl limbs on a rectangular cloth torso.  Charlotte's body is made out of a material that reminds me of thick pantyhose, while Keira's torso is a durable canvas.

While the joints look similar, Keira's limbs are strung and Charlotte's are not.  This difference in construction gives Keira more side-to-side movement in her legs and arms.

Charlotte's posing is a bit robotic...

...and makes Keira look great in comparison:

Charlotte has rooted hair that is thick and fun to style.  While both dolls have synthetic hair fiber, Charlotte's hair feels synthetic while Keira's hair feels real.  Charlotte has bright blue eyes that open and close, but her eye mechanism is not as smooth as Keira's, and her eyes are set slightly askew.  I still think Charlotte is a fun doll for her price.  Keira is much nicer, but I am not sure she's five times nicer than Charlotte, as the price difference suggests.

The fun thing about shopping for an Our Generation doll is that you can get a big doll for a small price...and maybe even have a little money left for an extra outfit.

Last, here is Keira with my My Twinn Adopt-a-Friend doll, Hazel.  The Adopt-a-Friend dolls are usually $99, but I got Hazel in the 50% off sale.  Hazel is much larger than Keira, and I think her face looks amazingly realistic next to Keira's relatively simple features:

Hazel has gorgeous eyes, delicate applied eyelashes, hand-painted facial features and a personable, realistic smile.  Her hair is a high-quality wig with a clear wig cap.  It looks like her hair is rooted into her scalp.   Hazel's hair has not given any indication of being high-maintenance.

I just wish that the My Twinn body wasn't so awkward...

These dolls are not equivalent in scale, but I wanted to compare them because of their similar prices, and also because there were some parallels in the buying process.  I had a really fun time selecting both of these dolls--with Keira, I had an in-store adventure, and with Hazel, I had an online adventure, but each experience was memorable in its own way.  Both dolls were the result of some difficult decision-making, but the one-of-a-kind nature of the Adopt-a-Friend dolls made choosing Hazel even more difficult than choosing Keira.

The Comparisons:  Because of the amazing popularity of American Girl, I expected that Keira would stand out somehow from all of the other 18" play dolls I own.  She doesn't.  I am very fond of her, but she has her own mix of good and bad qualities that puts her solidly in the middle of the 18" doll pack.  For what it's worth, here's a summary of how the dolls stack up in my eyes:

Rank	Clothes	Hair	Face	Body	Purchasing Experience
1	Karito Kids	Karito Kids	My Twinn	Karito Kids	American Girl
2	Carpatina	My Twinn	Karito Kids	Carpatina	My Twinn
3	American Girl	American Girl	Carpatina	American Girl	Carpatina
4	My Twinn	Carpatina	American Girl	My Twinn	Our Generation
5	Our Generation	Our Generation	Our Generation	Our Generation	Karito Kids

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The last thing on my review agenda was to take Keira on a little outing so that I could snap a few more pictures of her in natural light.  This is the best way to show off her true coloring.  I put her in the blue Springfield Collection dress (the one that looks good on every doll...) and headed out to one of my favorite state parks.

The dress fits, but the Croc-style sandals
are a bit too tight.

Here is Keira enjoying the rocky coastline of Maine:

Keira was brave, and climbed up some pretty steep rock faces just to get a better view:

If you look closely, you can see the ocean reflected in her eyes!

I dared her to stand right near the crashing surf as the waves came in...

She also enjoyed sitting on the rocks and watching all of the birds fly by...

But mostly, she just wanted to look out to sea...this was her first time seeing the water, after all.

Bottom Line?  Keira is a nice doll, and I have had a lot of fun carrying her around and photographing her in different settings.  Her simple face is very well suited to taking on the wide range of personalities that American Girl inspires.  She seems like a wonderful, durable companion--as long as her hair stays under control.  Keira is not my favorite $100 play doll, though.  She is comfortably in the middle of my favorites list.  So what is it that makes American Girl dolls so popular?  What is the “it” factor that has turned these fairly ordinary dolls into American icons?  I think it comes down to two main things: the culture and the choices.

What do I mean by culture?  Well, buying an American Girl doll is like joining a club.  A very popular club.  The company cultivates this feeling with the recognizable big red bags, the clothing for real children, and the incentives to plan social gatherings around the dolls.  Humans like belonging to groups--we’re all about defining a tribe and defending it.  We like to advertise our tribal connections with bumper stickers and tee shirts...or by carrying a certain doll around under one arm.  I experienced some of the rush of belonging to the American Girl tribe while I was at the beach photographing Keira.  There were a lot of people at the beach that day, but most of them stayed out of my way. There was a young couple with two small girls, though, and they stopped to watch what I was doing.  Whenever I caught their eyes, they would smile and nod.  We’re in the club, too, their faces said,  We understand.  Better yet, their knowing smiles seemed to say, We see your doll--and we like you.  I have to admit that this felt really good.  I guess my only concern with the club mentality comes when I think about the kids who don’t have membership.  Especially if the $110 price tag is the only thing that’s preventing them from having that membership.  Keira’s quality does not warrant her price, which leads me to conclude that American Girl has chosen to put a high price on access to the tribe.  I can’t say I blame them--it’s good business, but it makes me a little sad.  I don’t mind if American Girl charges the moon for everything else in the store--especially the larger accessories like the hot air balloon and the car.  But I’d love to see the dolls priced a little lower, to see a few more girls proudly sporting an American Girl tucked under one arm.

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about American Girl is the multitude of choices that are available.  There are an incredible number of dolls with a wide range of physical features.  Even once you've chosen a doll, the variety of clothing and accessories you can select for her is astonishing.  Of all the play dolls I know, only Barbie might rival American Girl for the sheer diversity and number of different dolls and accessories.  The real genius (and the big problem) with American Girl dolls is that the huge array of options make the choosing part so much fun.  I left the Boston store feeling absolutely thrilled with my Keira and with the experience as a whole.  I had spent an entire afternoon looking and thinking and wallowing in the choosing process.  Now that I am home and a few weeks have passed, I realize that there's nothing particularly unique about Keira as a doll.  She has good qualities and bad, but she does not strike me as truly exceptional on her own.  The thing about Keira that makes her special is that she comes with memories of that delightful, decadent choosing experience.  So, why is this a problem?  Because...I already want to choose again.