GOTY 2017: Whole World Price Tag?

It is Poppets & Posies favorite time of year! Welcome to our "31 Days of December!"

First up is speculation about Gabriela's Whole World Price Tag. With so little information yet available, speculation is going to be potentially far afield but I think there are trends and big clues already in motion.

* The GOTY Whole World Collections have rapidly expanded in price and scope but in 2016, Lea Clark's collection became the first shrinking collection since 2011 

* 2017 Gabriela is rumored, but not confirmed in any way, to be the last GOTY

* 2017 Gabriela is a late decision swap from the highly developed Tenney Grant (who has been moved to the Contemporary Series line) with possible resultant less lead time to develop and produce more complex or high-risk high-costs big ticket items for Gabriela

* 2017 will be introducing other modern character dolls including Tenney Grant and also a character doll rumored to be named Logan (possible boy character doll?)

* American Girl has been introducing more big ticket items for their BeForever line, with the advantage of being able to produce and recoup costs for more than a single calendar year of a GOTY. (It seems more plausible to see a Maryellen Airstream Camper next year than a fully decked out large Dance Studio for GOTY Gabriela)

I predict 2017 Gabriela McBride will have the usual complement of outfits and accessories close to but perhaps not quite as large as 2016 Lea Clark's collection. Specifically, I do not see Gabriela having 3 stuffed pets like Lea (perhaps just 1) and any big ticket items will be more modest in cost than some recent years.

I predict Gabriela will have 5 outfits (6 including her Meet Outfit), 2 accessory sets (one related to her Meet Outfit and perhaps a Hair Styling Set), a pet cat, 2 activity sets (such as a dance duffle bag set plus another interest/activity set for Gabriela) and 2 medium priced big ticket items, one around the $85 price point and the other around the $150 price point. I am having a hard time imagining AG creating a $400 - $500 priced big ticket item for this particular GOTY considering the lack of lead time due to the late swap and the rumored retirement of this line entirely.

With that all in mind, especially the lack of the super expensive big ticket item, I will predict the Whole World Price Tag for Gabriela will be more in line with 2014 Isabelle's collection and cap out at under $900.

What do you predict?

GOTY 2017: Who is Gabby?

Speculation is that GOTY 2017 will be Gabriela McBride, an African American poppet who is styled after the recently retired Truly Me 46. Her rumored bio is that she is a tap dancer and owns a cat.

Very little else is known, but the silhouette above seems to confirm all those curls from the TM 46, perhaps styled up in a ponytail.

Her meet outfit seems to be a shirt with 2/3 sleeves, leggings, and ankle boots.

31 Days and Counting!

Contemporary Series: Jaya

Will Jaya be a poppet?

It has been forever since any dolls have been made as companion or best-friend dolls, but the Contemporary Series is rumored to consist of several characters. What we don't know yet is if that means one doll per series or multiple dolls per series.

Jaya would be an incredibly beautiful doll! Her braid is so intensely thick that it seems like she would have thick dark brown hair that cascades forever. A rival for Kanani's position of longest and most gorgeous hair?

I need to stress there has been zero indication of Jaya being a poppet--but wouldn't she be so lovely? She could be a medium dark Sonali mold or even in the Josefina or long retired Marie-Grace mold!

Her name Jaya Mitra suggests an Indian or Hindi background--could you imagine a colorful Sari in her collection? It sounds so promising yet no word yet on Jaya being a poppet vs simply a character in Tenney's story.

I have not seen her name trademarked by AG, so unfortunately that tilts my speculation against her becoming a featured Contemporary Series poppet...

Are you a Tenney or a Jaya fan? Do you hope for both to be made into poppets?

Contemporary Series: Everything We Know About Tenney Grant (Part III)

We have the biggest reveal of hints to date short of actually seeing the doll herself!

Meet Tenney!

Medium long blonde hair with waves and highlights, possible side part without bangs, probable brown eyes.

But we have so much more confirmed now with pages from her journal!

Tenney. Check. Nashville. Check. Golden Retriever. Check. Singer/songwriter. Check. Guitar. Check.

Bonus information includes the name of her best friend and that Tenney also loves the banjo. We need a banjo, AG!

The publication date for her journal is January 31st--which means nothing considering the delay between Melody's book and Melody's debut. Am I the only one that wishes Tenney would simply release on January 1st??

So why have we found so much information about Contemporary Series Tenney Grant with her vague spring release date and relatively little about GOTY Gabriela McBride with a confirmed release date of January 1, 2017? 

The scoop seems to be that Tenney was originally developed to be GOTY 2017 and thus was ready to go with doll, books, clothing and accessories. So while Tenney may be released later in the year (please don't make me wait!) her items were already well into production.

In contrast, GOTY Gabriela McBride may be playing catch-up because of the schedule and doll switch-a-roo. Which is a bit unfortunate for Gabriela since at least among some die hard AG fans there has been less build up via speculation and leaks and thus her hype is proportionally also less. 

See more updates on our Tenney Page.

If These Boots Could Sing!

These boots are made for fun! Could these be Tenney's boots?

I love, love, love these. Will these be part of Tenney's meet outfit? These are the kinds of boots that make me want to buy a doll just for her boots.

These could also be for GOTY Gabriela, who is also modern. But the brown color and faux suede has me leaning toward country themed singer/songwriter Tenney.

Music, Music, Music! More Tenney?

Definitely some music themes being played out! Will this be a casual outfit for our musical Tenney?

The slightly faded jeans are awesome, modern and versatile. 

The shoes remind me of Lea's hiking boots. However, I like the new color combo.

These colors and themes remind me of a tee that has not yet been released. Where does does the "Sing Your Story" tee fit in? Tenney? Or perhaps a different character?

AGPSF and the Revised TM 54 - Good News!

As I wrote in Saga's Saga, it has been difficult to find the revised TM 54 with the notched eyes both at AGPSF as well as via American Girl online ordering for the majority of the past year and a half. But no longer!

I was at AGPSF on October 29th and was able to see the revised TM 54 stocked on the shelves!

Not only was the revised poppet now stocked, but her box shows a new and bigger sticker with her # and image. I can only presume as other dolls are restocked the larger TM sticker will show up on all of the boxes.

If you have been hoping for the revised TM 54, now looks like the right time to start looking again!