Retirements 2015 – Addy and Rebecca

This is a continuation of the post Retirements 2015 – Kit, Caroline, and Josefina.

Addy

-Addy is the only BeForever character currently available who is African American. AG is saying that they are going to release another BeForever African American character in 2016.

-Because of AG’s “black dolls don’t sell well” misconception (even though Addy is one of the best selling dolls right now) they tend to make an African American doll, and as soon as they do, retire one of the already existing ones.

Rebecca

– They’ve been slowly but surely whittling away all her Jewish items. Her Hannukuh dress is now called her “Holiday Dress.” I think she isn’t selling as well anymore, so they are trying to make her collection appeal to more people.

-On a related note, they have now released a MYAG Hannukah set. To me, this sounds like they want to have coverage for other religions in case they do decide to retire her.

– The hazel eyes are way overused, and that might not be helping her sales.

– If they do decide to come out with a African American 1920’s Harlem Renaissance doll, the beginning of the 20th century would be awfully crowded. See:

1760s – Kaya

1770s – Felicity

1810s – Caroline

1820s – Josefina

1850s – Kirsten

1860s – Cecile, Marie-Grace, and Addy

1900s – Samantha

1910s – Rebecca

1920s – Rumored Harlem Renaissance doll

1930s – Kit

1940s – Molly

 1970s – Julie

 

They’ve had 3 dolls a decade or so apart before, (Kit, Rebecca, and Molly) and even 3 in the same decade (Addy, Cecile, and Marie-Grace,) but four in a row? Of course, if the rumors that Samantha is going to be available for a year or two only, this theory isn’t the best. Still, though, when you think about it, it is slightly suspicious.

 

Things that I think will help these dolls not be retired

Addy

– There would be a lot of backlash if she is retired because she is the only black doll in the BeForever line. I said a bit about this for Josefina in another post, which you can see here: Retirements 2015: Kit, Caroline, and Josefina

– She is selling really well since her BeForever revamp.

Rebecca

– The fact that she is the only one who is Jewish and a religion other than Christian could be a big factor in whether they decide to retire her or not.

– Right now she is the only doll in the BeForever line with hazel eyes.

 

I think that out of these dolls there is no safe route to go.

Rebecca is Jewish, and the only one who isn’t Christian in the BeForever line; not to mention there has only been one GOTY who is non-Christian. (Lindsey)

Rebecca has been one of my favorites ever since she came out. She was the doll that was coming out as I was getting into AG, and since then I wanted to be an actress and dancer, she really appealed to me. I still love her, and I think it interesting to learn about the world during WW1.

I love Addy, and I think her character is a very good role model. We would love to have her, and she brings some much needed diversity to BeForever.

I would love to see a Civil Rights Movement era doll, because I would love to see more dolls from that time period and because these are still important issues for us all today. I’m worried that if this were to happen, AG would mess it up or offend people somehow in the process.  I think a brand like Hearts for Hearts could pull it off nicely because they’re a bit more sensitive in these subjects (Lillian has a fantastic story – they do a really good job of addressing important issues).

I’m going to post a conclusion about who I think will be retired in the next few days, so keep an eye out for that.

This is Kathleen, news reporter, signing off.