Angela’s Collection – The New American Girl In Town!

So, this is a thing that happens more often than I let on. We had a new girl join us today. I’ve seen her a few times in person at the Seattle AG store before it closed (more on that in another post), but I hadn’t bought her up to now because I had other doll collection stuff going on and I knew she’d be around for a minute, I’d be able to get her.

See who it is yet? Or do you need further identification help?

Joss Kendrick! She was 2020’s Girl of the Year doll from American Girl and she’s still hanging on as Luciana and Blaire begin to fade off into the Archives. Joss is unique for a couple of reasons. One of which, she’ll show you here as soon as she sits up.

She has a hearing disability. She’s entirely deaf in her left ear and uses a hearing aid in her right ear in order to hear anything at all. Yet Joss is also a surfer and a cheerleader. She’s here to show girls that they can do anything even with a disability!
As a doll, Joss is pretty unique. She has a face mold that no other doll uses, one that’s all her own. And she has one ear specially molded for her hearing aid – no hole in her head behind her ear to hold this one in! It’s much more slick and clean. And she comes with two hearing aids too – good news for those of us apt to lose little bits and pieces, especially since her hearing aid doesn’t snap into a hole, it just rests in her ear canal.

I will admit her wig is a little more “silky” than the older dolls I have and a little bit “thinner” (the fibers themselves are thinner than the old fibers) but it doesn’t tangle the way I’ve seen people say it does. It doesn’t snarl up and doesn’t seem so hard to style. I…kinda don’t get the big kerfuffle over her “terrible” wig.
Joss asks that we please look at her when we talk, it’s easier to pick out your words if she can also see your face, especially when there’s other noise in the background, like crashing waves and people having other conversations, for example!