It's a battle royale of the ice skating dolls this season! In one corner is Mia St. Clair, the 2007 American Girl Place Doll of the Year. Mia starts at $90 and additional clothing, accessories and books can be purchased for an astronomical amount. Parents everywhere will reminisce about their childhood when they had one doll (sometimes without hair because they brushed it to oblivion), one outfit, and Colorforms.
At the other corner is Target's response -- Our Generation Katelyn Figure Skater Doll
Here are the differences and similarities:
- $50 difference
- According to the American Girl Dolls website, "Mia has long red hair, green eyes, and pretty freckles." From what I could tell from the Target site, Katelyn is very blond, I think also has green eyes, and has no freckles.
- Mia's skates are purple. Katelyn's skates are white. Oh, by the way, you have to pay $14 for Mia's skates. They don't come with the doll.
- From reading users' reviews, Katelyn's hair is apparently difficult to brush, so it's best to keep it up in a ponytail or bun. But that seems perfectly fine -- skaters generally have their hair up all the time. I'm not certain about Mia's hair, but fear not! You can send the Mia doll to the American Girl Place hair salon and they'll fix her hair while you watch
or wander around the store to purchase more stuff. There's also an in-house hospital to fix Mia up in case she becomes injured while changing outfits.
- Katelyn looks more like a Natalie to me. I'm just kidding. According to the New Parent's Guide's most popular girls' names of 2007, Katelyn was ranked #75 and Mia was ranked #15. The #1 name? Emily. I had a funny vision of the marketing departments at each corporate headquarters trying out different names to various focus groups to determine which was "it."
- Here's a similarity -- Both dolls are 18 inches tall. I have a idea: Purchase Katelyn, let your child play with the doll for a while, and when they wish to supplement with accessories, buy a few from American Girl Place! This way, they're not stuck on the "I can only have American Girl dolls and American Girl accessories" mentality. I think this will also teach them to mix and match, which is a very important lesson for later in life. Don't we pair up high end/low end all the time when we dress now? But let's be real -- there's something about American Girl dolls that grabs hold of you so try and resist if you're on a tight budget. If you're not, I'll spot you carrying the huge red and white bags around town and know that you've become part of the cult.
Hello there,
I am Peter Robert Casey and I am a basketball columnist. I have initiated an idea to create a sports blogroll where bloggers from all sports disciplines could participate. All you need to do is to add my blog link to your blog and i'll do the same. That way, we could have a mutual partnership and we could refer visitors to each other's blog.
Please let me know if you would be interested.
Your's in Hoops,
Peter Robert Casey
http://www.peterrobertcasey.com
Posted by: peter robert casey | December 09, 2008 at 12:32 PM
They look tremendous.
Posted by: Doll Clothes Gal | December 09, 2008 at 06:38 PM
yeah o totally agree with the above comment , theya really look awesome , infact i am looking to get them for my sweety for sure
Posted by: flower girl dress | January 05, 2009 at 01:02 AM
They're both beautiful but it's my daughter who likes them. She chose the Skating doll by Target. She said, it looks like her 'coz she's wearing a medal. Lols!
Posted by: baby bows | April 16, 2009 at 04:48 AM
American girls prefer wearing flower girl dresses on special occasions as they are the sign of innocence and love .
Posted by: Flower Girl Dresses | August 13, 2009 at 02:05 AM
Mia the American Girl Doll is better than the doll Katelyn.
Posted by: Katie Moroney | December 06, 2009 at 11:24 AM
maybe you should create who figures out like an athlete or even a politician. and this i think would be good for a lot of customers.
Posted by: liv dolls | December 14, 2009 at 08:49 PM