There are two dolls from the American Girl brand that are very similar, and in researching their differences I haven't come across any resources I'm satisfied with that adequately illustrate the differences between them. So, I'm going to write another version of this resource, hopefully with all of the information you will need to identify whether a doll truly is Gwen, Girl of the Year Chrissa's best friend, or whether the doll is modern doll #12.
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| This is Gwen, Chrissa's best friend in 2009 |
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| Or rather, this is Gwen. Gwen had the first hairstyle in January of 2009, but it was then modified in February of that year. (p.s., that pink ribbon around the waist of the dress is actually the headband from the previous hairstyle!) Gwen was introduced in 2009 as one of the friends of Chrissa, that year's Girl of the Year doll. Gwen has blonde hair with bangs, brown eyes, lined eyebrows and light skin. |
Without their wigs, these dolls would be perfectly identical to one another. Between the two dolls there are differences between the wigs, however these differences can vary between different eras of production, and are be really hard to determine in photos listing the dolls online. #12 has what is commonly known as "Pie Bangs", meaning there the bangs are sewn into a single spot of the wig. Gwen has bangs that are sewn across the top of the wig in a line, and not just from a single spot. There are also some differences in hair color and texture. However, these differences are not consistent between different production eras, and are very difficult to discern in photos online.
Because the dolls are so similar, only the body tag is a reliable method to determining if your doll truly is Gwen, or if they are #12. The body tag for Gwen will have two parts, a long piece with the regular tag information, and a second shorter piece with 4 digits. These 4 digits can vary greatly, and it is simply the presence of these digits that you should look for if you are seeking a Gwen doll. These digits could have had some use within the factory to differentiate bodies or some other reason we are unaware of, but the important part is that, if the doll has two body tags, and a second tag with 4 digits, it's Gwen. If there is no tag with 4 digits, whether it be a doll with one or two tags, that doll is not Gwen. Only Gwen has a tag with a four digit number.
If you want a memory tool, G-W-E-N is 4 letters, whereas #12 only has 3 characters.
Here are some applications of this identification process:
Confirmed Gwen doll from u/amaicha1237 on Reddit
The Wikia pages for both dolls:
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