This Classic American Girl Doll Could Be Worth Thousands Of Dollars Now

Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, children across the country jumped for joy whenever one particular catalog arrived in the mail: American Girl. Flipping through the pages, they were greeted with advertisements for dolls that could be customized to look just like them, as well as the toy brand's lineup of historical characters.

When American Girl was launched in 1986 by founder Pleasant Rowland, three main dolls were available in the latter category to the public: Molly McIntire, of the late World War II era; Kirsten Larson of the middle 1800s Western European immigration era; and Samantha Parkington of the Edwardian era.

By the end of American Girl's first year on the market, this trio helped garner $1 million in sales. Others were quickly seeing the vision of Rowland, who craved something more for her nieces, ages 8 and 10 at the time, than Cabbage Patch Kid dolls (which are now worth a ton of money) and Barbie. Julie Parks, American Girl's director of public relations, explained to Smithsonian Magazine that Rowland's mission was to create something that merged both "education and entertainment," and American Girl did exactly that. Now, if you happen to own one of those original American Girl dolls (Samantha), you could have a small fortune in your possession.

Since the very beginning of American Girl, one of the most highly coveted dolls has been Samantha Parkington, an orphan of 1904 who resides with her wealthy grandmother, Grandmary. Through the doll's accompanying books, including "Meet Samantha" and "Changes for Samantha," we learn that this character is expected to learn the ropes of being a proper young lady of society, though she isn't afraid to speak her mind and go against the grain when she feels it's right.

Samantha was discontinued and re-released for a limited time in 2021 to celebrate American Girl's 35th anniversary. Though a revamped version of the doll, featuring a pink dress and red bow, is available on American Girl's website for $125, the original Samantha, with her checkered dress and red hat, is worth the big bucks.

As of this writing, a "like new" OG Samantha is being sold on eBay for $7,000. Per the listing, the doll is in its original box, and it comes with the full outfit, booklets, hairbrush, coins, hat, and broach (left to Samantha by her late mother). Another doll, listed in "used" condition, is going for $6,500 and includes several of the books, numerous outfits, and a travel trunk.

Similar to the perhaps unexpected value of certain rare Barbies and particular Funko! Pops that are worth a ton of money today, one of the reasons why the Samantha American Girl doll has great value is because it is no longer in production. Still, there's more to the doll's collectible story than just product scarcity. Just as Barbie helped children to learn about and explore different career paths, ranging from a teacher to an ice skater, the three original American Girl dolls, along with the rest of the historical lineup, did what no other toy had really done before: get kids interested in the past.

"It was really a moment in the '90s, with that early sense of girls can do history, too, or girls can be part of history, too," Dominique Jean-Louis, a public historian, told Smithsonian Magazine, adding, "[American Girl] really instilled in you a sense that girlhood is universal."

American Girl took this seriously, with researchers and historians hired to ensure that everything from the dolls' outfits to the stories told in the books were historically accurate. This allowed — and continues to allow — the brand's clientele of young girls to see how different life was for someone of their age who lived decades ago (or over a century ago in Samantha Parkington's case), and also recognize that, in some ways, they're not so different from each other.