All of the information provided is strictly based on my own experience and observation, and in collaboration with other collectors. I’m not affiliated with American Girl or Pleasant Company in any way and do not have any insider knowledge or connections with either company.
Released in September, 1986, Molly was the All-American girl raised during the time of World War II. She had light brown hair that was pulled into 2 long braids, each tied with a pretty red ribbon, and beautiful gray eyes behind silver-rimmed glasses. Originally this doll sold for $75, but for an extra $20, Pleasant Rowland signed and numbered the doll, signing about 375 Molly dolls in 1986.
Molly’s gray eyes were a shade lighter than later dolls and very easily turned silver. It is not uncommon for them to have been repainted by professionals by now, but the earliest color had a hint of green. Her lashes were short and soft, typically cut unevenly, and were brown. Some eyelashes were shaped in a half circle, some were boxy, and some had both! This eye color and lashes were fazed out by the end 1987.
1986 Molly’s wig was similar to Kirsten’s in that she had wispy bangs that could easily be side-swept. Her braids were not in loops, however, they were cut bluntly like Kirsten’s. This changed in the later years of production, where the ends of her braids looked more natural. Molly’s hair is light brown with many shorter hairs along the bottom of the wig cap and at the temples. The wig cap has a solid strip of elastic at the neckline and is the same color as her hair. If her hair is parted down the back, there are shorter hairs going vertically to cover up the wig cap while the hair is in braids. This has never changed in all her years of production.
One feature of 1986 dolls are their unmistakable creamy translucence in the vinyl. They have a very soft complexion and can either have peachy colored makeup or pink makeup.
1986 white body dolls are characteristic of their small, connected teeth. There are at least 3 known variations of connected teeth, with the addition of larger, boxy teeth (typical of early 1987 dolls) introduced in October for Samantha and earliest versions of Molly with larger teeth was seen in December.
A 1986 Molly doll would have arrived in a first edition “ribbon style” maroon box along with American Girls Collection tissue paper. The heart sticker on the box was printed in red ink, either “MDP” or “MDH” depending on whether or not the doll came with a Paperback book or Hardcover book. The hand sticker was a gold rectangle that says “MADE IN WEST GERMANY” in black letters. Her meet skirt would have a paper tag with the copyright date of 1986 made in West Germany. Her meet outfit consisted of: argyle sweater, dark blue skirt, white dickie collar with a blue ribbon edge, white bloomers, 2 red hair ribbons, 2 short white ribbed socks, and 2 soft black shoes, along with wire rimmed glasses with an elastic band running through loops at the ends of the arms and a red felt case (unmarked).
Small, connected teeth. The teeth paint are connected on the top portion of the mouth. There are 3 variations known.
Outfit: Included blue argyle sweater, blue skirt, 2 red hair ribbons, white dickie collar with blue ribbon trim, white bloomers, 2 ribbed socks, and black plastic shoes. Skirt is tagged with a paper tag dated 1986.
Box Top: Maroon with vertical ribbon and RED ink on the heart sticker. Codes are: MDP, MDH, or MDC (depending on what type of book was included: paperback or hardcover, and if the doll was signed, the code was MDC, along with a hand-written number coinciding with the number of the doll).
Box Bottom: Folded and stapled corners. Rectangular sticker with MMO or handwritten number.
Numbered and Signed Dolls: For an additional $20, dolls were numbered and signed by Pleasant Rowland. For Molly, roughly numbers 1 through 375 were signed in 1986.
October 1986 to December 1986 variant: Big teeth were introduced during this time, and while they are a little different than ’87 big teeth, it can be very hard to tell the difference. Many times this can be confusing to collectors (Is it 86 or 87??), but always look for the other indicators to pinpoint the time frame. What does the wig cap look like? In this case, your answer will almost always lie there. (See more examples of big teeth in the 1987 section.)