Sunday, December 27, 2015

New American Girl Doll Line: Wellie Wishers

Very early this year (2015), American Girl filed several new trademarks under the name Wellie-Wishers. Since then, there has been a lot of speculation about what this new trademark means. Some rumors have guessed it could be a revamp of the Bitty Twins lines, and other rumors indicate it could be a new line of dolls from AG that are different from the current Bitty, BeForever, Truly Me, and Girl of the Year lines. This potential new line of dolls would be a different scale and perhaps gap the age/size difference between the Bitty (infant dolls) line and the full sized dolls (meant to represent 8-12 year old girls), or perhaps be a line of fashion/collector dolls.


Very recently, the wonderful cdaizybug received a skirt she bought online which showed the Wellie-Wishers logo clothing tag, and was kind enough to take a few photos and send them to us to share.

*Do not repost/copy/claim these images without written permission.*

Original Photos from eBay Listing:
This was the original auction photo the skirt was shown in, which cdaizybug purchased. The shirt (from Grace's Baking Outfit) and the boots (from a Truly Me outfit) are both for the full sized 18 inch dolls. Only the blue skirt has the Wellie-Wishers clothing tag.
It looks small, but she assumed it was the elastic in the skirt that scrunched it up.

Here is an image of just the skirt alone.


Collector's Photos:
So as you can see, the waist of the skirt does not fit an 18 inch AG doll's waist. Cdaizybug reported that she could pull the waist over both ankles of the doll's feet but by that point the elastic had completely stretched out. In this photo, she has pulled the skirt up to the thigh on one leg of the full sized 18 inch AG doll, and the elastic, while not stretched out, is tight enough that the skirt does not fall down.

The waist line modeled on this doll which has similar proportions to the Barbie dolls shows that the waistline is a little too large for this scale as well. According to cdaizybug, the measurements for the skirt are:
Waist length (hip to hip) - 2.75 inches
Skirt length - 3.25 inches

Close up of the Wellie-Wishers logo tag on the inside of the skirt. The inside of the skirt also shows an attached layer of netting.

After seeing these photos, my guess is that Wellie Wishers will be a new line of dolls from AG. The logo looks super cutsy so I don't think these will be collector/fashion dolls. Instead I would guess they would be around the 14-16 inch mark, about the size of the Hearts 4 Hearts dolls or Corolle dolls. I am assuming we will see this line debut sometime next summer/fall since we have had so few leaks. All of these are just my own theories and guesses though, and not based off of anything so please take them with an ocean of salt. ^_^

57 comments:

  1. Hmm... how interesting! I wonder if there will be a new line of H4H sized dolls... that would be exciting! :)

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    1. I really liked the H4H dolls and were so disappointed they were discontinued. If AG does go this route, they have high standards to work towards. :D

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    2. Agreed! H4H dolls are super unique and adorable. :)

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    3. Hello Lilly, why do you think that the H4H dolls got discontinued??

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    4. I believe it was because they were not selling well unfortunately.

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  2. I hope they don't come out with anything totally different than AG dolls. I don't want Mattel to change them! :(
    - American Girl Doll Artist

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    1. I don't think AG will ever get rid of the 18 inch dolls, though in the past they have created many other lines like Hopscotch Hill, Angelina, and 12 inch Girls of Many Lands (which I personally LOVED). ^_^

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    2. Oh, I loved Girls of Many Lands.They were beautifully designed! But they didn't last too long.:( I do hope these new dolls last.

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    3. They really were beautiful! I managed to track down all of them after several years of hunting, but would have loved to see even more countries and time periods covered.

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  3. This would fit 10 inch dolls like vogue ginny and madame alexanders

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    1. Yes! Thank you for pointing this out. At the time of typing the post, 10 inch dolls never occurred to me. :)

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  4. I'm guessing that this may be a whole small company considering the tag says "wellie wishers from american girl" it could be a company for 11 inch dolls for possibly little girls the age of 5-7

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    1. It's possible. Right now we know so little about this line that it's hard to even speculate. :)

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  5. Sigh... I'm too old and my 60+ AG-size dolls have far, far, far too many clothes to even consider dolls of a completely different size. I can only hope that any clothes she gets will be cute, unlike the Bratz line, and be reflected in the AG dolls' wardrobe.

    Given the advances in technology, she might be Mattel's answer to My Friend Cayla, a 2016 talking doll replacement for Chatty Cathy. Given that she is a slender doll, I assume she will all vinyl. Thus all of the awesomely cute dresses made for Chatty Cathy that my dolls love to wear will be too big for her.

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    1. She could also be a stuff animal character like Angelina Ballerina, though it sounds like that would be even less of something you would be interested in. :)

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  6. I wonder if Wellie Wishers will be the size of hopscotch hill dolls, or girls of many lands.

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    1. I think it could go either way. :) It's hard to tell from a skirt. If it had been pants that leaked, that would give us a better idea of the scale.

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  7. You know "Wellie Wishers" dolls almost has a similar feel to "Tree Change" dolls - kind of outdoorsy (wellington boots) and hopeful. I wonder if they're going to do something similar to the Tree Change dolls - a Bratz size doll with age appropriate faces, clothing, hair, and shoes?

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    1. I have not heard of "Tree Change" dolls, but that sounds really neat!

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    2. tree change dolls are super cool! This incredible woman goes to thrift shops ect. and finds second-hand bratz dolls that are maybe missing a foot or something, and changes them into, as lollyknits said, 'age appropriate dolls'. She removes their makeup and stuff. Google 'tree change dolls' and it comes up!

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    3. You're right, I looked them up and they are stunning! She has done some incredible work on these dolls!

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  8. Maybe this is a new line for all of the pets! I can see the skirt on any of the AG pets, it sure looks the perfect size! Maybe they will release more than cats and dogs, like unicorns and bear cubs, etc. Just a guess! Looking forward to this new line.

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    1. AG used to have a line called Angelina Ballerina, a stuffed mouse character, along with coordinating outfits for her, so it's possible they could do something similar! :)

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    2. Wasn't Angelina Ballerina a young children's show on PBS a while back, or am I just nuts?

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    3. Was it? I haven't watched PBS in a while so I have no idea. :D

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    4. Really, I had no idea AG had an Angelina Ballerina line a while back! When was that? I used to watch that show when I was little. But then again, I discovered AG in 2011.... so I've have only known about it for five years, but that feels like a long time...... sorry I'm crazy XD

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  9. What's up with the name 'Wellie-wishers'? It sounds....interesting.
    Hannah M.

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    1. Hahaha yes! It's definitely a very unique name and leaves much to the imagination. ^_^

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  10. maybe it will be like the hopscotch hill dolls

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    1. It's possible! Right now we still don't know enough to guess. :D

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    2. That's what I was thinking!

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  11. If they are like Hopscotch Hill dolls they would have to be redesigned because their limbs get very very loose & no way to repair them,I even sent one to very talented lady who repairs all types of dolls& she said just too hard to repair,which is a shame they where darling dolls.

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    1. I didn't know that about the Hopscotch Hill dolls! That's such a shame. :/ Hopefully whatever AG comes up with, they will be made to high quality standards.

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  12. Maybe the dolls could be like Hopscotch Hill and be aimed for younger girls ages 3-7

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    1. That's what I was thinking, but I'm surprised AG would try this as Hopscotch Hill wasn't very successful. :/

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  13. I loved Angelina Ballerina!!! She still exists but another company owns her (I think Hasbro?) I hope that whatever American Girl creates won't affect the Beforever space in the stores. I don't see another doll line fitting in the Nashville store and it would be a tight squeeze in St. Louis, as well as other stores.

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    1. Oh I didn't realize another company owned her now! She was really cute and I remember really enjoying seeing her in the catalogs. :) You mention a good point about the store space, and I'm wondering how AG will work this out.

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    2. I go to the NYC store and it has three floors so if they move down the Souveneir shop and put Wellie Wishers there, it could work. But I haven't been to other stores.

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  14. Have you heard the rumor of the zip ties replacing neck strings? And Lea doesn't have a neck string, she has a zip tie. I really hope the other dolls don't...at least not yet.

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    1. I did see that! I am not a fan of the idea at all and I hope it will only be Lea, not all the dolls. >_<

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    2. Me too! If they do it on all the dolls, I probably won't get another one. It makes me wonder if they won't have a doll hospital anymore.

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    3. I know they did it for a brief time in the past but people made such a fuss they quickly changed it back. Hopefully the same time will happen this time around!

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  15. hmm... this is pretty mysterious...
    I, like a lot of people, assume this will, as you said, 'close the age gap'. Lots of children are passed the bitty baby/twin cuddly, fluffy style but are too young to properly care for an American girl doll. The 'Hopscotch hill' dolls were brilliant ideas, but just not popular enough.

    On an unrelated note, I loved the American girl minis rooms they used to make, although I don't own any items, plus I had an Angelina ballerina doll you dress up and I had no idea it was by AG! I'm assuming I had the one that was after ag.

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    1. I never owned a Hopscotch Hill myself, but for me at that age, I recall not wanting one because they looked off to me. I'm surprised AG would try this route again, if that is what Wellie Wishers is, because it seems like more and more moms are getting their children AG dolls before they are in the recommended age, so there isn't even a "gap" anymore in the consumer base. :/ I guess we'll have to see!

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    2. Yup. I'm exited (ish) to find out what they come up with, despite it is unlikely i'll buy one :)

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    3. Same here. I am trying to only focus on the full sized dolls. :)

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  16. A lot of people (not American Girl fans but just moms in general) are complaining about the prices, that they can't afford an 18 inch etc etc. Perhaps AG is trying to accommodate more people by making a smaller cheaper doll?

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    1. That's an interesting idea. I hadn't thought of that. I guess we'll have to wait and see. ^_^

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  17. Angelina Ballerina is a children's book series. There have been two cartoon series made based on it(one 2D and one 3D).

    My younger sister had an Angelina Ballerina doll to dress that I now think was the AG one, though I didn't know it at the time.

    Madame Alexander makes Angelina Ballerina dolls now. My daughter has at least one of the books.

    I'd love to see H4H sized or little sister sized dolls.

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    1. I remember the books, and when AG released the dolls, but had no idea there were cartoons about it as well, or that Madame Alexander is producing the dolls now. :) I always thought they were really cute.

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  18. Hey Lilly, how tall are the Wellie Wishers?

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    1. I am not sure. Although photos for the dolls are now available, we still do not have any specifics on size. I am estimating them about 14 inches like the hearts 4 hearts dolls.

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  19. Honestly, if they were going to make another line of dolls, they wouldn't have enough room in some of the ag stores for a whole other line of dolls and if they did release these Wellie Wishers they would have to retire a whole line of dolls. I know that sounds crazy but ag has done it before. They retired Hopscotch Hill dolls and Angelina Ballerina dolls. Do you really think they would hesitate to do the same thing now? Obviously they wouldn't retire any of the 18 inch lines because American Girl would be nothing without them. That leaves us with Bitty Babies and Bitty Twins. They have had Bitty Babies forever and although they aren't as popular as the 18 inch dolls, they are still pretty popular and I couldn't really see them retiring. The Bitty Twins on the other hand are not as popular and I could imagine the potentially retiring. You may think this is nuts but I have been thinking this long before you posted this. You may change your mind after I go over these points. Some of the catalogs don't even have the Bitty Twins in them. I know sometimes they don't include some of the less popular dolls,but why would they leave out a whole line of dolls? This takes us to another point. This one isn't as strong but it still makes sense. Bitty Twins just aren't as popular as the other dolls. Also, Bitty Twins don't have nearly as many items in their collection. And another point is that ag is all about girls not boys, yet, they still have boy twins. This is really bringing the bitty twins down because there's things all over the website that say stuff like girls can do anything and stuff like that and then then they go putting a boy in there. And its American GIRL. Not American BOY. Even if you don't think they would retire the Bitty Twins, you have to admit, I have some pretty good points.

    ~AG SmileyPops
    P.S. Please reply! :)

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  20. Wow. I did not expect this. I had no intentions of having anything to do with the wellie wishers. Until I saw the photos of them. I love the red haired girl, Willa! Amazingly, I have always been way more interested in the 18 inch dolls, being the age I am. I did not expect this. As crazy as it sounds, I think he wellies wishers have stolen my heart! ;D
    -Nova ♡

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    1. I am also surprised! I didn't expect to like them so much but they are adorable!

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  21. I'm going to get Camille!!! She looks just like me and is the cutest one! Lilly, are you going to get Lissie a little sister? Though if there were two Lissies then the world would be in danger. So maybe a sister for Lilly because she isn't insane.

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    1. I think Emerson and Kendall are the cutest ones personally, though I love the outfit Willa is wearing. I won't be getting any of the L&L girls any little sisters. They're already a big enough family! :D

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