After years (probably decades) of American Girl fans asking for a boy doll, AG has released their first "American Boy," Logan Everett. It feels a bit like the old best friend doll days with Logan's debut, as his release accompanies AG rising country music star Tenney Grant, whose backup drummer happens to be--you guessed it: Logan Everett.

Admittedly I didn't have any major interest in Tenney, but Logan being the first AG boy and all, I just had to have myself a better look at him!
 

Logan arrived about a week after ordering, and the first thing I noticed was that his box was different from previous AG dolls'. It was more decorative and colorful, and even customized for Logan with the little drum graphic in the corner. The back of the box has a picture of Logan and gives a little background information on him in three different languages: English, Spanish, and French.
 

And while the box is more colorful, the construction looks a bit downscale, with a top opening flap as opposed to the front opening boxes previously used. I'm not sure why, but it makes the box seem less collectible that way. It also makes the dolls harder to get in and out if you're an adult collector like me and like to store them in their boxes between costume changes and photo shoots.

NEW BOX STYLE

Here's Logan out of his box and ready to rock and roll! I really do like his aesthetic! He almost has a 1950s rockabilly look to me. That probably has a little bit to do with his tall Elvis-do.

In all truth, I didn't really care for the combed back hair when I first saw Logan in pictures. But it's actually quite cute in person, and supposedly it can be "styled" (according to the box) if one doesn't really care for the look.

I played around with his hair briefly and got this 90s kind of do, but it's really not as versatile as it could be. Still, the comb-back style hair is cute enough as is, and very unique.
 

Logan comes with a blue-green plaid button down shirt, teal t-shirt with an iron-on "play loud" design, and cool, dark gray/black, skinny pants.

He has gray, slip-on sneakers with elastic ties sewn in place--an odd design but the shoes are easy to put on and take off. There are no eyelet reinforcements, just holes poked in the eyelet tab, and the unfinished edges of the shoe don't look impressive. But if you're not too fussed about it, the shoes do have a vaguely cool look.

The button down shirt has buttons and actual button holes down the front and at the cuffs. For some reason, the cuffs were unbuttoned when I got him and they didn't look like they'd ever been buttoned before. Not to mention I had a very hard time buttoning them. To get a better look at the rest of his clothes, I pulled the shirt off without unbuttoning the cuffs again!

THE CUFFS COME UNBUTTONED

The t-shirt has Velcro in back, and the pants have Velcro in the front. The pants have cuffs at the ankle and pockets in the back, which give them a nice, detailed look. They are super skinny and tight, but fortunately they have a bit of stretch so they go off and on easily.

Underneath his pants he's wearing color coordinated boxer briefs in gray knit and teal elastic.

All in all, I really love the style and quality of Logan's "meet" outfit, although I do think the shoes could have been made better.

LOGAN'S "MEET" OUTFIT

I found Logan's cloth body a little unusual in that it seemed a bit overstuffed at the chest and shoulders. I'm not sure if this is a feature of the latest American Girl dolls or if it's unique to him and intentional to suggest a more boyish physique. I'm not sure I care for it much as it seemed a bit puffy, and the cloth itself suggests a different (lower?) quality too.

The familiar neck strings are gone and a zip tie is (not too neatly) now in it's place.

Again, I don't know if this is a feature of the new American Girl dolls or if it's unique to Logan. The last AG doll I bought was Beforever Caroline Abbot when she was being retired a year or so ago, and she still had neck strings.

Logan uses the Kaya facemold, but in light vinyl, which up to now had only been used by Kaya in medium vinyl. It's the most unique American Girl facemold, being closed-mouth, and I feel it's a good choice for AG's first boy doll. He has uniquely feathered brows, slightly thicker than other AGs I have seen thus far. His eyes are gray.

One of the coolest things about Logan and also his band mate Tenney are their hands, which are different from other AG dolls. They have the back fingers curled on one hand and the thumb and forefinger curled on the other, and were specially crafted so the dolls could hold their instruments, Tenney her guitar and banjo, and Logan his drumsticks.

     
Here is Logan next to my custom American Boy doll Nate, from an early 2000s(?) Nellie doll, which shows the difference in their hand sculpts. (It's also interesting how the vinyl color has become slightly more sallow over time.)

LOGAN AND CUSTOM AG BOY

In the end, despite a small gripe or two I may have, I'm really in love with American Girl's new boy doll Logan Everett. He's been too long in arriving and many AG fans, including me, can't be happy enough about it. It also makes me wonder if and when they will add more boy dolls to their lineup and in what new themes. Also, what kind of boy merchandise can we look forward to in the future, as I'm sure Logan's meet outfit (and separately purchased drums) can't be all there is to the AG boy realm.

LOGAN IS A-OK.

I'm so happy to have Logan join my own "band" of dolls, and I cant wait to see what (boys? maybe?) American Girl has in store for us next.