Mia St.Claire - Girl of the Year 2008 (a.k.a. Almost Megan Ryder)

Update: When Blaire Wilson came out in 2019, I decided she was closer to what I had envisioned for my version of Megan (what I was hoping for with the second Create Your Own doll I had purchased). Mia will be Megan's younger sister, but I have yet to develop a name and backstory for her.

Megan Ryder as she appeared on the cover of Princess Megan

Although I was aware of American Girl first, the very first 18 inch doll I ever had was Megan Ryder from the Magic Attic Club book and doll line. This line was introduced in the early nineties and (in my opinion) had characters and stories that were just as engaging as American Girl’s. The slim 18 inch Magic Attic Club dolls could use American Girl accessories easily, but most of the clothes were pretty baggy. I had two of Kirsten’s dresses growing up, but they didn’t look too bad on Megan once I’d done some creative folding at the waist.

My Magic Attic Club Megan doll isn’t currently in the greatest shape. She’s pretty loose, her eyes are slightly yellowed, and her hair is pretty dry – all mostly thanks to the stupid apartment I used to live in and its lack of insulation. The temperatures got so high in there, a lot of our stuff was damaged by the heat.

Since then, I’ve thought it would be neat to create an American Girl version of Megan – one that could actually share clothes with other dolls. So, she became my second CYO project. And you know how that turned out… Which is a shame – she could’ve been a really cute doll!

I contemplated trying to build my own custom Megan, but I’ve never been able to find a wig I thought really matched doll!Megan’s hair. It’s more muted in color than most of the red wigs I find. In the books, she’s said to have strawberry blonde hair, and the illustrations show her as having everything from practically auburn to light strawberry blonde like the illustration above.

I thought about getting a Maryellen, but on a whim, I decided to check out eBay for another retired doll I’ve had on my wishlist, Girl of the Year 2008, Mia St.Claire. And as luck would have it, she had come down in price since I last looked and there were a couple new dolls that were listed for a great price!

Meet Megan!

So Mia became my Megan. And at some point, she might get some clip-on bangs, too.

She’s actually a pretty good fit, coloring-wise! Her hair is the same color as some of my favorite illustrations of Megan, and her lighter hazel eyes are a better match than Maryellen’s would’ve been.

She’s SUCH a gorgeous doll in person. I absolutely love her freckles! I really wonder why American Girl never reused this pattern – it looks much more realistic than some of the others they’ve tried. And I’m typically not a big fan of the classic mold, but I think it gives her such a lively, almost impish look.

It’s strange to open a doll from almost ten years ago – you really see how the quality of the dolls has changed. Mia St.Claire’s meet outfit has so many different textures and details (right down to the metallic printed design on her underwear!). I forgot how much I missed the illustrated books, too.

After Christmas, I’ll work on getting Megan a true meet outfit, but for now, she looks pretty good in blue-green! Even if she’s not an exact match, it’s nice to have a Megan again. 🙂

#MiaStClaire