American Girl Doll rampage...
I am becoming aware of the worldwide "hobby" of collecting and selling American Girl Dolls and anything related to them. When I first heard of these dolls, I remembered the whole mess around Cabbage Patch dolls, when my oldest daughter, Katie, was in first and second grade. My kids were in a Parochial school and the overwhelming majority of families attending the school had substantial incomes, much, much higher than ours. The year the dolls were introduced, the value went through the roof as Christmas approached. Fights happened at toy stores and ads in all the papers sprang up, with dolls being searched for and sold, at extremely inflated prices. I did the best I could and bought a very good handmade imitation and I'd like to think my daughter was happy to get it. Anyway, for a long time, American Girl Dolls have been much more than toys. In fact, "toy" is the last thing associated with them quite often and is seen as a flaw when resold. "Never touched, still in box" labels get the highest prices.
So what's a retired, just scraping by Grandma doing in this arena? Hell if I know!
I bought "my first" from an ad on Craigslist and it was to be for my granddaughter, Danielle.  (OK, honestly, originally two were listed and the one that started me going was to be for another granddaughter because her mom had mentioned how she had requested one last XMas and was upset that what she got was not AG, but some off brand. That one had already been sold, and I'd thought the second, cheaper one was going to be given to Danielle, so I stuck with that idea.) It is a cute doll... and was a fair price, if you don't adding the time and gas spent getting her from Durham, a three hour round trip from my home. She was our introduction to many things AG. This dolls legs were wobbly, which I learned was a consequence of that dreaded scourge, "Playing with" and could be fixed by a pricey trip to the AG Hospital. (No, I am not making this up!) But now, she needed some more clothes, and in the process of searching for them, I saw a doll with hazel eyes,  a "just like me" version that had Danielle's skin, eyes and hair coloring, so I did some aggressive bidding on ebay and got her, too. Her limbs were better and I loved seeing her eyes were quite similar to Danielle's. But by then I wanted one for myself. I really, really did. I knew that was off... kind off crazy, but I also knew the urge was most likely not going to go away, like an itch demanding to be scratched. (BAD simile, really BAD! Don't get me off onto that topic...lol!)