And so the end begins

[impy]

I am disappointed, AG-land. Disappointed! Saige, the Girl of the Year (GoTY) for 2013 has long since been known to be from New Mexico but it's only now that we're getting alien jokes?

Disappointed!

I'm pretty sure my thought processes are screwed up if my interest in Saige has grown for all the hate thrown her way. :P

Because I know you care so very much!, McKenna (GoTY: 2012) has begun her sell-outs. Her Fancy Outfit was the first non-girl sized casualty. The rest of her collection is pretty much on Back Order at this point. I take that back, right now the only things not backordered are her first book and movie. o_O She's not even in the November catalog.

I'm debating ordering her dog. There's a free shipping code but nothing else is on backorder that I want enough to play Russian Roulette with the credit card. A lot of the backordered stuff is shipping early so... *muse* He's so cute but I thought Chocolate Chip was cute, too, and he just sits here next to the computer sniffing Liz Wakefield's leg. Someone, play shoulder angel or shoulder devil!

Comments

[zallia.livejournal.com]

Aw, why are people hating on Saige?? And clue me in on the alien jokes!

I do care! That dress is pretty! And...gone now. Oops. McKenna's dog is meh [/shoulderangel]. If you need one get the husky! Or kitties! But otherwise I say save the monies! New MH should be appearing soon! That's more than a Skelita!

[snarky-imp.livejournal.com]

Effective use of shoulder angel logic! I definitely want Skelita more. It's decided!

Saige hate is on the fact that she's (probably) whiter than white, focused on the lofty goal of saving the arts in "an incredibly poor state" and gasp! Horses, which people ignore the fact that they belong to her grandmother so it is entirely possible that she's not rich annnnd my eyes have usually glazed over at this point.

Alien stuff: when pointing out that NM was probably chosen just as much for the art scene as anything someone else pointed out hello, Roswell! Aliens. Not exactly AG's normal realm but wouldn't it be awesome? Then someone else joked that if she'd been based in Roswell, her big ticket item (like Lanie's camper and McKenna's bed) would be a doll sized flying saucer.

[irishgypsie.livejournal.com]

I'd be really sad if they make Saige white. With a name like that and being from New Mexico I immediately picture a Hopi girl. And AG is usually fairly decent about having a number of minority dolls (though they definitely need more). Why not make the girl of the year a Muslim? That would be truly progressive.

I guess we have to wait until January to find out?

[irishgypsie.livejournal.com]

Never mind. I did some Google-fu and found pictures of Saige. Lily white, with blue eyes and auburn hair. She's cute enough, but still, EPIC FAIL, AG. She should have been Native American. GRRRR!

http://soratothamax.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/american-girl-girl-of-the-year-2013/

[snarky-imp.livejournal.com]

For as diverse as AG tries to be in all their other lines, they fail miserably in the Girl of the Year arena. Much doll wangst has occurred over this. All of their non-white GoTYs with the exception of sidekick Sonali* have been mixed and none of them have been black. Every year people hold out hope that the newest GoTY will be black and every year hopes are dashed. I think once Jane Seymour was attached as Mimi (oh, BSC flashbacks) the smart money was off her being anything other than white. It's still possible for her to be white and something else but... yes. Not likely.

I gather AG relies on the Girl of the Year sales to kind of keep the ship afloat (the Historicals give them their "we're educational heirlooms not just plastic toys!" cred) so they play it safe far more often than not.

With all that said, I really don't foresee a Muslim GoTY in the immediate future.

Totally superficial note but: Any other facemold, AG, and I might've fallen for her. ANY OTHER MOLD. Woe.

*- Sonali: The illustrated version (she's second from left) and doll.

[irishgypsie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I haven't quite figured out why all of the dolls have buck teeth. The dolls look way younger than the characters are supposed to actually be.

If Sonali was a friend, maybe Saige will have a friend doll too.

I know it's really unrealistic to hope for a Muslim doll given all the current hatred directed towards that group (which is precisely the reason WHY they should do it) but for them to not have a black GoTY yet is ridiculous. We should start a letter writing campaign or a petition or something.

[snarky-imp.livejournal.com]

I think the skewing younger is why they have their teeth that way. It's my conspiracy theory for the day, anyway.

I'm not betting on Saige getting a friend given how the friends part of the lines seems to do horribly. (Unless, of course, you look at my collection which is where the AG best friends come to party. I'm lookin' at you, Lizbeth, Nellie, Ruthie, Ivy, and Sonali.) But if she did... I'd probably be tempted since they rarely make the best friends with identical face molds.

I'm actually surprised that the lack of a black GOTY hasn't gotten more outrage or petitions. I think the last year the collectors let AG off the hook for not pursuing it was Chrissa and that's because her storyline was about bullying and that would have opened a whole different can of worms than intended.

(Agreed on the reasoning for the Muslim girl.)