American Girl WellieWishers 14.5-inch Kendall Doll with Pink Leotard, Mesh Skirt, Headband, and Boots, For Ages 4

This review is of the new style (2021) Kendall doll. I also have a Willa doll, which I purchased years ago when the dolls first came out, and gave a Camille to a young family member. Those are both the old style dolls. Well, I wish I had waited! What has changed? The most obvious change is the outfits that the dolls come in. The new outfits are more fanciful and playful. But I have to admit, as an adult, I prefer the softer, plainer, and more realistic clothing of the past. To me, the new outfits aren’t an improvement. But you can always get or make different clothes. The most significant update is with the dolls themselves. The original dolls had hard plastic torsos with visible seams. Please see the photo showing the necks of old-style Willa (on the left) and new-style Kendall. With this old style, many people found that the dolls’ legs were breaking off. American Girl has changed the dolls substantially, so that now the torso (which used to oddly be a hard plastic that didn’t match the rest of the doll’s vinyl) is vinyl, too, like the rest of the doll. It makes me wonder why they didn’t make them like this in the first place, but this is a wonderful change that makes them look more like a quality doll. Not only that, but the change in style has allowed the dolls to sit more nicely, as shown in the photo. Again, the Willa doll is the old-style doll, and Kendall is new. I was happy to see that the dolls still have wigs, which makes them nicer quality than rooted hair dolls. WellieWishers also have a video series and books. As someone who knew American Girl in the “good old days” of Pleasant Company when the dolls went with books, I’d recommend giving the book series by Valerie Tripp a look. It has the pleasant (pun intended) feel of the old books and company. I’m so happy the dolls have been improved, and hopefully they’ll now be heirloom quality, just like the dolls for older girls. While the clothing is a step down in my book, I’m still giving Kendall five stars due to this considerable construction improvement that just really overall makes these look and feel like nicer dolls.