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Kirsten Larson: American Girl Gone Bad

- NWhyC - Sunday, April 19th, 2009 : goo

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image 32642
In an abandoned lot in Redhook, Brooklyn, I found this heart breaking sight, Kirsten--a once innocent American girl--strung out.
image 32643
Kirsten, it seems, came to the US with her family from Sweden, in 1854. In Minnesota, she faced the hardships of adjusting to life as a pioneer in a new and unfamiliar country and the challenge of learning a new language.
store.americangirl.com/agshop/html/ProductPage.jsf/itemId/78472/itemType/SET/webTemplateId/3/uniqueId/25/saleGroupId/310/nodeId/11/webMenuId/5/SingleProductPage/true#moreInfo

image 32644
But then she came to NYC. See what happened next.

image 32645
What happened to Kirsten? Making sense of it, I thought of what Blossom wrote in her review of Kirsten: "You know what usually happens when you buy something beautiful and its never as good as it seems when you actually get it? Well its totally different with this doll. When I got her she was even more beautiful in person! I love her and the way her things came packaged so dellicatly and classy."

image 32646
Picking up her disambiguated parts, I thought about what
Gretta wrote: "Kirsten is absolutely adorable! Her eyes are a real deep blue color. Her hair is really pretty, but you have to be careful with her so it doesn't come out of the braids. Her dress completes her look. I recommend this doll to everyone - she's a keeper!!!"

This article has been viewed 10596 times in the last 25 months


Nick: 19th Apr 2009 - 23:00 GMT

Of course she is in front of an Ikea furniture store. That is why she is strung out. :|

~~Nick

theoddbirdrant: 19th Apr 2009 - 23:04 GMT

Zombie Doll attacks customers in IKEA parking lot!

Julia: 19th Apr 2009 - 23:05 GMT

Yikes, I wonder who she pissed off... D:

Nice photos, by the way. Haunting. Whenever I see old broken toys like that I like to bring them home and see if I can fix them, clean them up, and then I usually donate them.

Treeeeeee: 19th Apr 2009 - 23:13 GMT

her oversized, tattered scarf really completes the whole "strung out" look.

N.: this picture is a bit creepy in a good way. :)

Killflower: 19th Apr 2009 - 23:23 GMT

Wow...there is something awfully surreal about this, almost like an episode of Law & Order, or CSI. Spooky, eerie, but incredibly interesting.

Octavia: I guess she became a Working American Girl

Eo: 19th Apr 2009 - 23:48 GMT

Are you sure that's Kirsten? The nice clean Kirsten and the review from Gretta both mention (or show) Kirsten's beautiful blue eyes, but your Kirsten pics the doll has green eyes.

Jenn: 19th Apr 2009 - 23:52 GMT

Strange... Kirsten dolls have blue eyes but this Working Kirsten in your pictures clearly has green eyes?

riley: 20th Apr 2009 - 00:00 GMT

Ikea! She misses the homeland! I think she wishes she'd stayed in Sweden. Poor kid.

NWhySee: 20th Apr 2009 - 00:04 GMT

they look blue due to the angle of the photo. They were really blue, really. She still had the Swedish accent, poor thing. Spoke about a bad run in at the Port Authority, but then she wandered off into senseless babbling about "the darkness, the darkness, the darkness"...

Oh, Kirsten, what happened. How did you end up here?

sometimes dee: 20th Apr 2009 - 00:16 GMT

I think Ikea blew her little Swedish mind.

NWhySee: 20th Apr 2009 - 00:45 GMT

image 32647
I want to thank Loyal American girl fans who have been moved by this account, and sent my some endearing photos of Kirsten in better times.

image 32648
It goes to show what a place like NYC can do to even the purest of hearts. Little girls, stay way from NYC!

anne: beautiful picture - for a lovely day. merci :)

Franny Wentzel: 20th Apr 2009 - 02:47 GMT

I can't remember anything
Can't tell if this is true or dream
Deep down inside I feel to scream
This terrible silence stops with me

Now that the war is through with me
I'm waking up, I cannot see
That there's not much left of me
Nothing is real but pain now

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please God, wake me

Back in the womb it's much too real
In pumps life that I must feel
But can't look forward to reveal
Look to the time when I'll live

Fed through the tube that sticks in me
Just like a wartime novelty
Tied to machines that make me be
Cut this life off from me

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please God, wake me

Now the world is gone I'm just one
Oh God help me

Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please God, help me

Darkness
Imprisoning me
All that I see
Absolute horror
I cannot live
I cannot die
Trapped in myself
Body my holding cell

Landmine has taken my sight
Taken my speech
Taken my hearing
Taken my arms
Taken my legs
Taken my soul
Left me with life in hell

Dangerouse: 20th Apr 2009 - 03:04 GMT

Wasn't the Kirsten doll Swedish?? I see some Ikea irony here. I like it.

Rheavon: 20th Apr 2009 - 03:05 GMT

Could've been an "American Girl of Today" doll?

Smidget: 20th Apr 2009 - 03:08 GMT

She seems relieved to have made it to the Promised Land...

The Idol Hands: I like this, especially the wink.

Ophelia: 20th Apr 2009 - 04:58 GMT

this reminds me of the movie the virgin spring.

Numbness 7: 20th Apr 2009 - 13:44 GMT

Gah, can't believe someone just dumped one of those dolls. Are they still popular? I remember I was like the last of my friends to get one, after literally years of begging.

bebe: 20th Apr 2009 - 15:43 GMT

i think the drugs changed her eye color. could happen to any nice country girl and often does in this big bad city. poor kirsten.

anon (72-48-3-115.dyn.grandenetworks.net): 20th Apr 2009 - 16:24 GMT

Awww...I'd be tempted to go the American Girl hospital and see if they could rehab her.

MS: 20th Apr 2009 - 16:24 GMT

From looks of her there, all she would need for a repair would be a restringing of her limbs, a good bath, a hairbrush, and some new clothes!

MS: 20th Apr 2009 - 16:24 GMT

Oh and those dolls weren't cheap either. Like at least 80 dollars...what a waste.

Shutterboxes: 20th Apr 2009 - 16:29 GMT

I had Samantha! I think she lives in a box in my mom's basement now.

Holly: man, that sucks. those dolls are expensive!

Meanderthal: Looks like a rough night.

Shaolin Fox: 20th Apr 2009 - 17:09 GMT

Strange, but really enjoyed the story you put along with it.

EF: 20th Apr 2009 - 18:57 GMT

Blue usually fades first, as far as pigments go... perhaps that's what's happened to her eyes as they've been exposed to sunlight - I've seen blue resin fade to green.

Lenirif: 20th Apr 2009 - 19:09 GMT

That's not Kirsten, that doll's eyes are green. I know you said above that the eyes were blue, but it's clear from the photos that the eyes are of the sort that collectors refer to as "decal", regardless of color simply due to construction, and American Girl has never offered blue decal eyes. The curious thing that though there WAS a Just Like You doll that looked like Kirsten, only with green eyes, that the Just Like You dolls never had white bodies. White bodies were only on the very first dolls, and it was changed soon after. Another curiosity is that this doll's eyelashes are clearly a different kind, the ones put on newer dolls, than the eyelashes that the dolls with white bodies originally had. I'm not sure who you found, or what her story was before she ended up there, but she's not Kirsten.

American Girl dolls are easily fixible, both by sending them into the "hospital", and by collectors who've learned to do it themselves more cheaply. The doll you found is definitely worth saving and giving to a child who may not have otherwise had one.

Carolina: 20th Apr 2009 - 20:27 GMT

Very creepy. Whenever I see dolls or toys left on the street, I immediately think of kidnappings...

Sarahbelle: 20th Apr 2009 - 22:57 GMT

That looks to me like a Frankendolly... not a kirsten. Frankendollies are dolls that have had parts swapped out with other dolls...you can trade limbs, arms, eyes, heads, and rewig the doll to look totally different. I am Guessing that is what happened to this Kirsten-ish looking doll.

NWhyC: 20th Apr 2009 - 23:30 GMT

image 32676

Stop the presses. i think we have a motive. I had little Kirsten going through my brain like a broken record the last 24 hours, and finally, the needle moved.

after looking up this entry at the American girl doll wiki americangirl.wikia.com/wiki/Frankendoll, I think that the true CSI contours are revealing themselves now. If our last comment has merit, what we may have seen was a rejection based on the supposition that frandolls "are meant to deceive other collectors and/or purchasers.".

what i am imagining is that the cold blooded purchaser may have been so angry to realize that "kirsten" was not kirsten--that she may not have been the innocent girl from Sweden by way of the Minnesota back woods--but a frankendoll of mixed and unknown background!

So upset, that she disambiguated her right there and left her lolling in the mire and muck of this abandoned lot. Of course, the dumping site gives away the motive. Why else would the assailant have chosen an Ikea lot in which to leave the body? So that those lolling and glazed eyes would look up and see again and again, the Swedish overlord of suburban retail mocking her psuedo-rural background.

Sad, as I think about her out in the rain on this Brooklyn night. She belongs somewhere better, whoever she is...

I think this case is closed, but only the thread can tell...

Kirsten Larson: 21st Apr 2009 - 16:36 GMT

My real name is Kirsten Larson. I found this page searching for my name. It's sort of creepy to do that then find this LOL.

JLY Doll Nerd: 21st Apr 2009 - 17:15 GMT

community.livejournal.com/ag_over_18/673705.html

Catfactory: 21st Apr 2009 - 17:47 GMT

Agh! D:

Two thoughts when looking at these pictures:

1) OMG POOR DOLL I HOPE SOMEONE RESCUES HER AND CLEANS HER UP

2) LOL in front of IKEA.

NWhyC: 22nd Apr 2009 - 02:19 GMT

The Mystery Continues:

This picture of a lookalike with GREEN eyes was sent to me today by an alert reader with a certain predilection for dolls.

Is this Kirsten? Was Kirsten really Kirsten? Was she a "Frankendolly"? Was she a mutant "Just Like You" (JLY) doll merely masquerading as a Swedish immigrant? There are so many more questions than answers here...

image 32722

What secrets hide in the dark doll underworld, waiting to be exposed.

Bratn Lee: 3rd May 2009 - 20:42 GMT

Hi,i'm bratn and i'm a fan of the American girl.I read all of the book's i enjoyed them all.

Kayla: 19th May 2009 - 01:22 GMT

She can't have been a JLY doll, because she is a white bodied doll, which means she is pre-mattel and VERY old and rare. THere are very few white bodied dolls out there, and Kirsten was one of the first four american girl dolls. By the time they started making just like you's, tan bodied dolls were the ones being made.

kirsten larson: 26th May 2009 - 20:40 GMT

my name is kirsten larson, i have blonde hair and blue eyes and coincidently, i am the live image of the kirsten larson doll, i am not a poser and am not lying baout this either no matter how ironic it may seem. the only problem is that i am 15 and not 9 lol. but anyways, my last name wasn't always larson, it was when my mom married my dad and he adopted me and so there you have it...i am kirsten larson and i'm proud to be an american girl!!!!!!!! not really...jk

Scarlet: 27th May 2009 - 23:08 GMT

Wow! I have a 20 year old hand me down kirsten doll that I am trying to fix up I need to send her to the doll hospital to get her a new head and buy her replacement meet dress and shoes. Then she will be as good as new!

eve: 19th Jun 2009 - 05:19 GMT

well i never read the books just searching the world live web and came across this lol. but i luv to watch csi and law and order the mentalist all that fun stuff and id like to comment on the way u did the pics spooky like real life amercican up and been murdered ha well by

TJ: 8th Jul 2009 - 15:09 GMT

do you think i should get kirsten or the medium skin, dark brown hair, brown eyes just like you doll?

Galloping Greg: CREEPY....

anon (pool-72-82-21-89.prvdri.east.verizon.net): 20th Oct 2009 - 16:04 GMT

How do u tell if a kristen doll is a fake? I ordered one off Ebay, is it supposed to say American girl on back of neck?

AGgirl: 29th Oct 2009 - 16:14 GMT

I specially bought my Kirsten off of American girl store and yes they have AMERICAN GIRL on the back of there neck and you should get kirsten not the just like you doll!

kellie: sad :(

Lexi: 5th Nov 2009 - 06:07 GMT

OMG it was like i was about to die when i saw that pic so sad :( ABANDONED DOLLS OMG

lexi: kirsten doesnt have green eyes?

lexi: kirstens about to retire

kim: 28th Nov 2009 - 00:48 GMT

the doll with the green eyes is not kirsten
kirsten has bule eye and waveyish when the braids r taken out and i know i have kirsten
god u people know nothing about kirsten

Kirsten Lover: 26th Dec 2009 - 03:49 GMT

OMG I can't belive someone actually did that to a 100 dollar doll. :0 If I was who ever did that to her, if I didn't wan't it i'd sell it on e bay or give it to chairity. :(

Kirsten rocks: 1st Jan 2010 - 05:02 GMT

Why would someone do this to such a beautiful doll??????? if i saw that doll laying there, i would pick it up, take it home, clean her, then send her to the doll hospital for her limbs. POOR DOLL WHOEVER DID THIS YOUR MEAN AND STUPID

ashley: 5th Jan 2010 - 18:30 GMT

who would do such a thing these dolls are sapost to be treated with care

Kirsten Larson: 8th Jan 2010 - 01:02 GMT

Regarding the post from "Kirsten Larson: 21st Apr 2009"

My real name is Kirsten Larson too and I also discovered this page searching for my own name! Definitely Creepy! Any other Kirsten Larsons out there?????

Becca: 10th Jan 2010 - 00:28 GMT

She could be a white bodied Kirsten with an eye swap. You never know... Poor Kirsten. ):

meghan: 13th Jan 2010 - 03:26 GMT

this is sad :(
I love American Girl Dolls infact I have 3!

Hope: 14th Jan 2010 - 03:33 GMT

These dolls cost $114 who would do this to a doll that cost that much?!?

Michelle: 16th Jan 2010 - 21:24 GMT

i dont have a american girl doll but if i did i would not treet one so badly...and someone who would is a moster!!!

meghan: Michelle your right! WHO WOULD DO THIS?!?!?!?!?

may: that is so sad

may: i can`t believe someone would do that

Terry: 8th Feb 2010 - 06:21 GMT

"kirsten has bule eye and waveyish when the braids r taken out and i know i have kirsten"

You do know that if it's been a long time since the braids were undone that they won't stay wavy, right?

It can't be a JLY doll, it's got a white body. And while it's POSSIBLE somebody swapped out the eyes, it seems more likely that sun faded them.

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