As you have already learned, this year Penny got the idea to buy Emily Bennett, American Girl doll and best friend of Molly McIntire. We can partially blame Lisette (Emily) over at Melody Valerie Couture because she is just so darn pretty. But you can't just have Emily- you need to have Susan Shapiro and Linda Rinaldi too! It is a fearsome foursome, not a terrible twosome!
After looking at all of the available dolls on the American Girl website, Penny was not able to find one that resembled the book illustrations for Susan. In the movie she has blue eyes, however, in the books she has brown eyes. You wouldn't think it would be that difficult to find a light-brown-haired, brown-eyed, bangs-less doll in the sea of AG...but it didn't look like it was going to happen.
The plan developed to buy a #23 and swap her eyes out for light brown ones from a #26 doll. Mstangledwebs (an American Girl Playthings board member, LiveJournal AG over 18 member and the creator of fairies) offers a customized doll service and actually had these eyes already available. So we didn't have to buy both dolls ourselves. A very convenient service indeed!
In the images below you see the illustrated Susan from Molly's paperdolls (so you have a general idea of what she is supposed to look like) and then our new #23 right out of her box, showing off her beautiful hair and gorgeous blue eyes.
After seeing the doll in person, Penny had some second thoughts about changing the eyes. However, with the light brown hair, classic facemold and no bangs- Susan looked way too much like Emily. And Linda is also supposed to have blue eyes. So it would have been 3 blue eyed dolls from the 1940s. How boring is that?
So off she went to Mstangledwebs for an eye-swap!
Check back tomorrow, May 1st 2009, when we reveal the new brown-eyed Susan and a Keepers Dolly Duds 1940s outfit! See you soon!
