OP here, thanks for your insight. AG make a hard sell for the dolls in their advertising pages? Not really interested in going down that road.... Though the magazines content does sound appealing.

My DD loved AG for several years and then moved up to Muse (part of Cricket)

American Girl - my DD grabbed it as soon as it came, but Cricket bored her (and she's a good reader)

American Girl skews more towards crafts and social type stuff. Cricket magazines are more literary. What I like about the cricket magazines is that there is a wide variety of magazines and you can change to a different magazine during your subscription.

Any preference of one over the other?

DD is 9 and likes crafts, fiction, cooking, etc.

Thanks in advance!