Kanani

I got Kanani for Christmas 2011. Kanani was the doll of the year for 2011.  I was very excited to get her for Christmas but I didn't take her out of the box right away because we were out of town with family. I left her in the box until after the first of January when I finally had time to get her out and look her over a bit closer.

I thought she was really pretty, but she looked a little odd to me. I just couldn't figure out what didn't look quite right on her. It wasn't until after I took a close-up picture of her that I realized her eyes were unusual.

If you look closely at Kanani's eyes, the left side is smaller than the right side. I assumed it was a manufacturing defect and called American Girl.  Since she was discontinued (it was 2012) American Girl offered to either send me a different available doll of my choice or to send Kanani to the doll hospital for a new head at no charge.  Of course I wanted Kanani and so I went with choice number two.

A representative from American Girl called me from the doll hospital and told me that Kanani had arrived, and that she did indeed see the difference between her two eyes (thank goodness, my husband thought I was crazy).  Here's what really surprised me - the lady from American Girl told me that the difference between the two eyes wasn't a defect. She told me that so many people try to copy their dolls that they make a distinct feature on each doll in order to be able to tell whether or not it's really an American Girl doll.  Kanani has a smaller left eye, while another doll has one ear that's higher on the head than the other (she didn't mention which doll that one was) etc.  She said that very few people had commented on the difference and that only collectors might actually notice the difference.  She did offer to replace the head, but since there would be no noticeable difference I decided to just keep my doll in her original condition. 

I really love Kanani's long, luxurious locks, and I've been diligently looking over my other dolls trying to figure out what the distinct feature is on each one.