American Girl RUTHIE at the Thrift Store!

For only the second time in my life, I found a genuine American Girl doll at Goodwill!

I'm pretty sure she is Ruthie.  Which excites me even more since this past year I was able to purchase Kit from a friend, and my youngest daughter felt convinced that we needed to bring Kit's "best friend" home to live with us, too.  Of course, Ruthie is no longer being produced, so the only way to get her is on the secondary market, and I just didn't want to spend the high prices on Ebay she was commanding for awhile.

Fast forward to yesterday, when my husband, daughter and myself happened to be out, doing some shopping in the big city closest to us.  There just happens to be an awesome Goodwill in that area with a huge toy aisle--I almost never leave disappointed when I go there.  But I don't go there very often since it's a bit farther away from home and the traffic can be really bad.  However, since we happened to be so close by, I convinced my husband that we needed to stop.  Boy, oh boy, am I glad we did!

At first, I was just happy with the few 18" Madame Alexanders I found...I love to fix them up and sell them on Ebay.  But then my daughter needed to go to the bathroom, so my husband offered to take her while I continued my hunt through the toy aisle for more treasures.  A few minutes later, he suddenly appeared in front of me, grinning, casually holding Ruthie in his arms and asking "so, do you think this doll is worth anything?"  He says the look on my face was priceless because my eyes about burst from their sockets as I lunged for the doll!

Funny husband...he says he knew exactly what she was because as he was walking back from the bathroom with my daughter, she spotted the doll lying on a couch in the furniture department and exclaimed "Daddy!  It's an American Girl Doll!!!"  He snatched her up and begged my daughter to be able to tell me that HE found it!

As you can see from the photos, she's definitely been played with.  There are a few marks here and there on her vinyl (nothing major) and her hair is a bit dry and matted.  On the plus side, her limbs are nice and tight, the cloth body is clean, and her eyes function perfectly.  And she's wearing her original dress!  I am looking forward to working on her, and making her look "good as new" again.

Not a bad price, right?!?

Stay tuned for her "after" pictures, which I hope to post soon!