I don't know why I clicked on this listing but I'm glad I did. This doll is sold, listed as a TLC Addy. I don't think this is Addy, and I was about to wave it off as a JLY 1, but then I noticed her eyes were light brown. I double checked and I think this is an orginal 18!
Got a text out of the blue from a dear friend the other day who just moved and was asking if I wanted her old American Girl Dolls because she’s downsizing. She provided me pictures of an Elizabeth and a JLY 6. I enthusiastically agreed- but I already have Elizabeth so what was I to do?
I was looking at the JLY 6 when it hit me… she kinda looks like Angela Lansbury… and my absolute favorite musical of all time not only stars Angela Lansbury in its OBC, but also possesses generations of stunning costumes across multiple productions. Elizabeth sort of looks like a performer I was fortunate enough to see live in 2017, Eryn LeCroy (who went on the play Christine Daae in Phantom 💕)
NOTE: if you’re under the age of 16, this musical is very dark and I’m not recommending it for you, hence me not naming the show (still easily guessed from context).
ALL of that being said, I will be adding Miss Johanna (Elizabeth) and Miss Angela (JLY) to my home in the coming days and I’m working on making costumes accordingly. I also splurged and decided to make a dress for my JLY 29, Scarlett, based off of Helena Bonham Carter’s performance. Will also not be naming the JLY 6 after the character because “Nellie” is already taken.
ALSO, I wanted to note… I despise when people take children’s toys or products and make them “adult” or edgy. These dolls will not physically reference any of the darker material in the show such as gore- they will only resemble the ladies and their dresses above. I adore Sondheim musicals, a number of the actors who have performed these characters, and this show means so much to me. I also think it will be a fun challenge (specifically HBC’s because movie budget costume, WOW).
I got a TLC jly #29 on the goodwill site for 6$ (25 after shipping and handling) and she arrived today!
These pictures don't show her damage very well, but she has some scuffs, a poorly make-up-ed face, dirty eyes, painted nails, and dirty hair.
I'm not sure how I'll clean the eyes, because that scares me, so i would love some tips! but I think the rest shouldn't be too difficult. I'm not sure if I'll end up keeping her, I don't really need another classic mold... but she is very pretty! And I might fall in love with her once shes all clean and dressed up, I guess we'll see!
Is it cool if I ask a bunch of specific questions about your dollhouse? Like what did you make it out of? How big is it? How many rooms are there? And how many dolls live in it?
I want to make one of my own... potentially. I'm torn between making one from scratch or getting that one WalMart made through a resale shop, painting over all the details, and re-detailing it myself. ANYWAY, I need ideas and inspiration.
Thank you, sorry for coming in out of nowhere like this! 👉👈
- creepydollroom
i love talking about my dollhouse, so ask away!
The dollhouse is the way I display all my dolls, as I like displaying them in little scenes. If they are part of my collection, they live in the dollhouse! that means it’s pretty crowded, with 22 different 18 in dolls (two aren’t in the pic bc they’re getting fixed) and one wellie. there are also 3 dolls im actively planning to get (claudie, Courtney, and Cecile), and there are 4 more on my “if I found them for an excellent price I’d totally snag them” list (Kirsten, ruthie, Emily, and luciana). So it might get even more crowded 😅
here’s an overview pic of the current state of it:
it’s not fully set up yet (as you can tell by the random room full of naked dolls in the top right lol), and most rooms don’t have a proper scene set up atm, but I thought an honest look at what it usually looks like might be helpful lol.
I made it out of storage shelves I bought secondhand. I saw a lot of people making dollhouses online out of bookshelves, but the dimensions just didn’t work for what I was planning. For my plan, the shelves needed to be at least two feet deep (to accommodate beds facing outward), have adjustable shelves (to accommodate the taller furniture), and be either 3 or 4 feet wide to make the rooms large enough for fun scenes.
I found shelves that worked online from hardware stores, but they’d be super expensive, so I set up an alert on Facebook marketplace instead, and got lucky! They weren’t like. Super duper cheap, but they were much more affordable. Because they’re secondhand, most of the floors have a slight dip in the middle, but its not too bad.
The drawback to using shelves with open sides is that you have to make walls, which is really time-consuming (and the cost of materials can really add up!), but it was worth it for me to get the dimensions I wanted. My only real regret is not painting the shelves white before putting them in place. I hate how the ceilings in all my pictures are grey, but at this point it would be really hard to change, as I don’t want to spray paint in my poorly-ventilated basement 😭 The floors are just made from contact paper I got on Amazon and stuck on the shelves, and I’m really pleased with them.
There are nine rooms. Each room is 2 feet deep, 3 feet wide, and about 2 feet high (the heights vary a bit). Overall, the setup is 2 feet deep, 9 feet long, and about 6 feet high. It’s a big boy! Thankfully, there was a nice clear space in the basement for my doll zone, otherwise I never would have been able to have such a big setup 😅 it was really important to me for it to be big, as it’s not just a dollhouse, but also my doll display.
Having a bunch of rooms was really important to me, because I wanted to make themed rooms for a lot of the historical characters. Going across from left to right, top to bottom the rooms are: the modern bedroom (shared by kanani, Jess, Nicki, Mia, and Jessica who is a jly), the 60s/70s/80s bedroom (shared by Julie, ivy, melody, and eventually Courtney - I’m asking for Courtney for christmas so she’s not here yet), a room I haven’t decided about (it was gonna be Kaya’s but her tipi is too big 😭), the 1900s/1910s bedroom( shared by Sam, Nellie, and Rebecca), the 20s/30s bedroom (currently it’s just kit’s, but claudie will share with her when I get her), the 40s/50s bedroom (it’s entirely based on Molly’s bedroom from her scenes and settings, but she also shares with Maryellen and Nanea), the bathroom/laundry room, and the living room/kitchen (which takes up two room slots).
There are some girls who don’t really have a room that fits. Those are Caroline, Elizabeth, felicity, Marie-grace, addy, and josefina. Cecile and Kirsten would also be missing a spot if they were in my collection. Some of them will likely end up sharing the remaining unassigned room, but I don’t think all of them will work in one room. It will probably just end up being like. a very vague fancy historical girls room lol. I mostly want a reason to own Caroline’s bed haha
As far as ideas for your own dollhouse goes - it all depends on how much time you want to spend on your dollhouse build, and the size and shape you want it to be. I wanted mine to be really big with specific dimensions, so I had to go super custom with it. Re-detailing the one from Walmart is an EXCELLENT option if you like the size and shape of it, and/or don’t want to spend forever making pieces of it (I might die before I finish those walls 😭). If you want to do it custom, but don’t care as much about the rooms being deep as I did, I recommend going with a shelf with walls.
I do want to mention that just because you DIY something, that doesn’t mean it will be cheaper (sorry, every diy YouTube channel). The price of a diy project depends on a lot of things, both which you know going in (like your skill level, which limits what techniques you can use for building, and the cost for the basic materials) and things you don’t (like unexpected issues that may pop up, further customizations you want to make later on). That does not mean you can’t make a custom dollhouse on a budget - it just means you will need to plan carefully, find great deals, and spend a lot of time working on it (which can be fun!). Just because it’s not cheaper doesn’t mean it’s not worth it, but price can be an important consideration.
hi! so i'm looking to start collecting American Girls, but i have a question on how much i should be paying for each doll. like obviously i expect white bodied/PC dolls in general to be the highest, but how would you gauge a doll out? like, what's the best ranges for major TLC, minor TLC, obviously used but no TLC needed, gently used, NIB? i'm seeing Kirsten's going for $500 plus and while i already have her, i'm trying to gauge how much i should pay to start/restart my collection haha
$500 is definitely the top end of what Kirsten should be selling for. She's a very common doll and is very plentiful on the secondhand market. For that much money I'd expect her to be brand new in the box and with a lot of her collection included. It's good to keep in mind that people can list their dolls for whatever price they want, but they might not necessarily be actually selling for that much.
That said, prices can be very different from one doll to the other, and so I can't give you an exact price that applies to all dolls. A doll's worth is affected not only by the condition they're in, but also by how rare they are, or how in-demand they are, and demand for certain dolls can change a lot in any given time period. So for a very common doll like Kirsten, you can find them for as little as $60 in TLC condition. For a very rare doll like JLY #6, they can easily go for $600+ even in lightly played with condition. For a not-terribly-rare-but-in-high-demand doll like #4, they can go for $300 in played with condition.
Those numbers go up $50 to $100 more if the doll is in mint condition with all original outfit pieces, and go lower if the doll needs major or minor TLC. Or if there are suddenly a lot to choose from on the secondhand market. Or if they were re-released by American Girl, like Molly was this summer. Molly's secondhand prices have gone down a little bit now that she can be bought brand-new from American Girl, and people don't need to bother with the secondhand market if they want Molly. Marie-Grace is another good example of that.... before September of this year, she was in high demand due to her unique and short-lived face mold, but AG brought back her face mold to the Truly Me line, so now any collectors who want a Marie-Grace face mold doll can just buy her new for $115, rather than paying $150+ secondhand. So secondhand Marie-Grace is worth a little less than she was this time last year.
You can definitely collect on a budget, if you're okay with having dolls that need a little TLC, dolls that aren't rare or in high demand, and newer dolls if they have an older Pleasant Company version. So for example, a 1991 PC-made Felicity doll is worth more than a 2003 Mattel-made Felicity doll, even when both are in mint condition.
Your first step should be to start checking out listings of the dolls you want, and watch their prices before you buy. See how common they are on the secondhand market. Pay attention to what they're being listed for, and watch carefully what they're actually selling for. That will give you an idea of how much you can realistically expect to pay for a doll, and how common they are.
So for example, if you're wanting a Kaya doll in good condition, several of them might be listed for $150. Watch those listings. If those dolls sell right away, that's a good indication that this is the going rate for Kaya. If those listings end up just sitting around without being purchased, then that means the sellers are likely charging too much. If other listings are selling quickly for $70, then that's the price you can expect to pay.
Mercari.com and ShopGoodwill.com are good places to find bargains on dolls that aren't rare or need TLC. A lot of fixer upper dolls can be yours for $30 to $40. But do remember that if the doll needs major repairs like restringing or wig replacement, that is an additional cost you'll have to pay. Browsing the listings of AG dolls on ShopGoodwill.com is a really good way to see the extremes in doll prices. Here's one that proves this.
This looks like an Isabelle doll, Girl of the Year 2014. She is extremely common, since she was a very popular doll with children in 2014. But she has cut hair and markings on her face which might or might not be removable with treatment. The listing is ending in 6 hours and so far has no bids, at $15. This is a good example of what NOT to buy! You will come across many, many Isabelles in your searches, and you can easily find one in better shape for not a whole lot more money. Other collectors are aware of this too, which is why nobody has bid and likely won't.
On the other side of things, here's a listing for JLY #86 that has one day of bidding left:
This is a doll that you won't see as commonly in your searches. She was retired ridiculously early in her availability period, and was only released in 2020, so she's going to be a little harder to find. At least until a few years down the road, when children who bought this doll are grown up and not interested in dolls anymore, and are okay with their parents donating her to Goodwill or selling her on Mercari or eBay. So right now you'll be paying a higher price for her secondhand, since she's less common and in very high demand. That will change in a few years when she's more likely to be sold secondhand.
What I'm going to do is browse some secondhand listings, and watch a few auctions and see what they prices they end at, and then I'll reblog this post with a few more examples of how to read and judge listings. So give me a few hours and I'll get back to this post later tonight with more info.
Random (Semi Serious/Adult? Idk) Truly Me Headcanons GO!
1. JLY 8 (auburn hair green eyes bangs, classic) plays a large brass instrument, maybe French Horn. She’s a little weird and doesn’t have a fashion sense, so she wears those classic weird girl black fabric rubber sole clog shoes. She writes fanfiction. She probably grows up to be an English teacher.
2. JLY 21 (pigtails and pin curls, green eyes) is a horse girl and wants to be a dressage teacher. She’s very businesslike and serious, and she intimidates people. But she’s not mean- though sometimes it feels hard to please her.
3. JLY 45 (straight black hair, bangs, dark tone addy mold) has a sardonic and elevated sense of humor she keeps throughout her life. I’m thinking of a specific kind of “too cool for you” internet character, but in a good way. She listens to Lana and was popular on tumblr, but now she’s extremely self aware.
4. JLY 58 (curls, afro, addy mold) is incredibly shy and quite nervous, she’s unsure of herself. She can also be a little too trusting, yet at the same time a hard shell to crack. She doesn’t like to talk about her emotions, but she has a lot of them.
5. JLY 62 (sonali mold, medium tone, mid length dark brown hair w side part) has been under academic pressure since like, day one, and she did well with it- she’s a lawyer now working like crazy, but she never really had a moment to explore herself, so sometimes she seems almost artificially constructed. You can’t figure out who she is on her own time.
6. JLY 83 (tight blonde curls, light josefina mold, brown eyes) is a perfectionist, and group projects with her stress you out. She delegates responsibility well, but everything has to be done according to her specifications, and you’re not sure you’re up to the task.
7. JLY 56 (Lanie lookalike) does some kind of weird sport like shotput or long jumping, something within the field part of track and field. She’s good at it, too. She’s always cheerful and energetic. She’s very predictable and maybe a little basic- you could guess her Starbucks order from looking at her.
8. JLY 25 (classic mold with dark eyes, dark hair) immigrated from somewhere in the Caucasus and ending up fitting well into American culture, becoming a fashion forward, culture conscious young adult. She kept her accent, though, and you can tell she doesn’t try too hard to Americanize- she likes being a little different and enjoys different perspectives. She always has her nails done.
9. JLY 18 (Addy mold textured hair with bangs) She cut those bangs herself and doesn’t know why, because she’s been growing her hair out since forever.
10. JLY 53 (light josefina mold, blond shoulder length hair, brown eyes) is blind and has been since birth. She’s majoring in some form of art, maybe ceramics, and she’s really into creative design of everyday items- mugs with thumbprint holds, shelves that fold out of walls, custom plates with chip and dip holders.
Hi! I'm popping in to ask questions 7., 11., and 14. From the dollblr Ask game if you feel like answering!
7. Which doll lines do you collect and when did you start collecting them?
I tend to lean toward Barbie, and its general scale, but I collect any doll that catches my eye or I want to have physical comparisons to ( bought a MH: Boo York Nefera to see for myself to see how her shoes would fit on other dolls, how many clothes she can share with regular Monster High girls from any era) or when I want a project friend (I found an AG JLY 16 at an indoor flea market, and loved cleaning her so much I bought a WW Willa from Mercari to customize a bit). I've been collecting 1/6 dolls since about 2021, but I collected a few ABJDs from 2015-ish to about 2019 before space (and leaving the job that enabled their regular purchase) became more of a factor there.
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11. What's the best part about doll collecting to you?
Having photography subjects, for the most part tbh. Redressing is also somewhat of a comfort- it gives my fingers something to do when not much else is going on and I can just talk away ('girl, that color does NOT work for you lol') without a sense of judgement.
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14. Do you keep the official names for your dolls or rename them once they enter your collection?
It depends on the doll! For the most part, if it was a grail, they tend to keep their name (Dollmore Shiloh (Dollpire series) is still Shiloh, and 2006 Alice: Red Riding Hood screening is still Alice). Character dolls also usually keep their names (like Frankie Stein [because we stan] and Hunter Huntsman). If a doll was bought to bring out an OC I have (and there are many), then they are renamed to that OC (Beach Date Poppy Parker and Milo Montez are Reggie and Armin now, named after key characters in my Dark Queen stories). There's quite a few dolls that I don't have names for, even if they have established names (I'm not feeling Adele Makeda tbh, lol) and am letting them come more naturally.
Thank You Lord Jesus for getting me up and online to church this morning... only You knew what it would entail and I have been so deeply blessed by our church family... I pray peace and blessings be upon them all, God. You know the places that they have worries and aches and pains. We all have cracks in our hearts or our circumstances and we know that You will shine through them. In the places that we don't know what to do or we have seemingly nothing left is where You work best! Your miracles, Your way, right now God. We give it all to You, God. For Your Glory and Your praise, I sing and shout Amen!