From an email from American Girl via a few readers:
Dear Samantha™ Fan,
We’re writing with important news about an American Girl original, Samantha Parkington®. As one of her biggest fans, we wanted you to be among the first to know that soon, Samantha’s complete collection—including Nellie® and her accessories—will be moving into the American Girl Archives™.
While Samantha has been one of American Girl’s most popular historical characters since her introduction in 1986, we felt the timing was right to preserve her place in American Girl’s history, making it possible to introduce new characters and time periods for our customers to enjoy.
Starting today, we’re inviting American Girl fans to share their favorite Samantha memories (see below) as a way of commemorating Samantha and the impact she’s had on girls for more than 22 years. Whether it’s remembering your beloved Samantha doll or an important lesson learned from her books, we want to hear your story.
We hope you’ll join us in celebrating Samantha! Watch for more information via our catalogues or at americangirl.com. In the meantime, don’t miss the opportunity to purchase items from Samantha’s collection before it’s too late. Thank you again for your continued support.
Sincerely,
American Girl
P.S. Though Samantha will soon be moving into the American Girl Archives, her stories will live on! You’ll continue to find Samantha books at americangirl.com, at American Girl stores, and at booksellers nationwide.
Oh, this is is so sad! Samantha is one of my favorite dolls. What do you think is behind this move? Is she not popular enough? Or are they really making room for a new character?
I am really really sad…………On Nov 10 five days after my surgery [ im getting my tonsils,adnoids, and a assist that is behind my ear removed Nov 5] I am going to AG to get Samantha.But then i hear they are retireing Samantha.I wanted to know when Sam is leaving i mean the exact day,month, and time shame on AG i saved 105 dollars for nothing by working and i am 11 so please dont get rid of Samantha!!!!
Your Friend,Jessica and soon to be Samantha doll.
I am realy scared about my surgery so while i heal i am getting Samantha if the EVIL AG have not got rid of her yet now i have two reasons to be sad abd scared about my surgery u know i got parent permisson to comment on here
Hi, is anyone on here???????The next person that comments could you you answer my first comment and who is on clubpenguin i am on it and i could meet up with anyone to add to be my buddy.But,seriosly answer my first comment whitch is the one i posted Oct 23 2008 4:22 p.m ok.
Jessica on word……OUCH!!! And I do hope u get Samantha…BEST OF WISHES!!! Anyway, I have decided not 2 leave. If u want to no why ask me on my website by clicking my name!! Sienna C. has left 2.
Thanks Holly,and OUCH is true and i am gonna find out OUCH in 3 more days….So i will check out your site and does any one else have any info on when sam is leaving.if u have no idea wat im talking about look at my first comment whitch is oct 23 4 22 pm ok.
i saw HSM 3 the first day it came out.i got it as a early get well present wen i get sam if shes not gone yet she will be my get well present to beccause my surgery is in 3 more days and tommorrow they need to to to to to take blood samples before my surgery and i faint wen im by blood so sam stay leave wen ur 45 years old or never leave i chose never leave…………stay sam never leave stay yeah stay ok this is like really long so i will u know leave omg im just making longer uugh!!!!! bye1
omg omg omg omg omg!!!!!i feel horrible,HORRIBLE!!!!i have to post pone my ag trip to next week because of my surgery put me in pain!!!!!! now since my trip is post poned sam may be goe by next week……………………………………..i am in pain sam may be gone forever and i cant eat this is the WORST week ever.
Hi ppls!!!!1I know i have been commenting alot but no one hs been commenting but me.But ppls guess what Iheard that Samantha was not gonna leave util a few days after christmas.That was the good news.Here is more good news I get to go to ag tommorrow but if i wanna go i have to get up at five am and go to work wit my mom in downtown……Heres the ad news Sam is leaving u already know that but just reminding.Here is more bad news on friday last friday remember about my surgery,well it started friday [yesturday] and a half hour after dinner i tarded bleeding in the back of my throat badly spiting out blood,having to wait in the emergey room for 4 hours they said i cut my stitches open by a little bit but they fixed it.so yesturday was horrible i got there at 6~11 o clock acutuly it 6 through 11 o clock.im sorry this is long and u guys wanted to know how i was doing.SAMANTHA IS NOT LEVING UNTIL A FEW DAYS AFTER X~MAS AND IM GOING TO AG TOMMORROW TO SAMANTHA.
Your Friend,Jessica and my soon to be Samantha doll.
PLEASE DON’T MAKE SAMANTHA GO I DON’T EVEN HAVE HER BOOKS HER DVD’S OR DOLLS BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO BUY THEM PLEASE DON’T MAKE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hi everyone i changed my name it was jessica and my soon to be samantha doll but now it jessica and my samantha doll.yup me and sam are fine she stay untill christmas.and sabrina you get the books and dvds at American girl place at the water tower they moved the store.
I googled Save Samantha and discored that 7,600,000 people or more want to save samantha! Fora school project I’m going to write a complianant to AG and I think that anyone that lives by a AG place or the AG HQ in middleton,Wisconsin should have a rally or a protest. I would if a I lived by one. P.S. I didnt say an E-mail address because I don’t have one. So I’ll have to use my mom’s
Samantha and Nellie are so cool! I have them both with my other dolls Molly, Mia, Kirsten, Emily, and a mini Julie doll.
It WOULD be nice if they could stay a bit longer, but they can’t. 
I got my Nellie doll last month. I was so excited! I got my Samantha doll for Christmas with my other dolls, Kirsten and Emily. Samantha and Nellie rock!
I have always wanted an American Girl Doll since I was about 8. I fell in love with Nellie after I saw the movie but never my family couldn’t wing it. So I finally had the money to purchase her after Christmas (now 14). I went online to make sure that she was in stock and she wasn’t. I was so mad and upset so I checked on eBay. She was being sold over $180 with still a couple of days left. It is a crime that people buy the American Girl Dolls and sell them on eBay to make money for themselves. It is a crime and shows how selfish they are. But I am not talking about the people who sell their old dolls. Just the people who buy a few and sell them.
It is just not fair!
Somebody should start a petition on AG prices and to stop the company from retiring Samantha and Nellie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How would I be able to start one on-line?
A few of us girls who have to earn our money to afford a doll should be able to put it on reserve for 4 months so we can work to earn the money. Not every parent has that kind of money. I am going to write a letter to the company.
I feel that Samantha’s retirement is unfair. :’-( So sad.
But I have her and Nellie. 
I’m happy with them. 
I have many happy memories with them even if I got Nellie last month and Samantha for Christmas. I also got Emily and Kirsten. I already had a mini Julie doll, a Molly doll, a Mia doll, and Nellie. 
I have such fun with them!
FYI:
Samantha is STILL AVAILABLE thru the American Girl website! She is on backorder until May, so if you can be patient about when you receive her, you can still get her for her original prices of $90-105!!! Hurry up and order her because I think she is only available until tomorrow, Dec. 31, 2008!!!! YOU CAN STILL ORDER SAMANTHA THRU AMERICAN GIRL!!! I just did!!!
Is there any online petition that has more than a few hundred sigs on it? Samantha is the only American girl doll I have, and she’s very special to me. I got her for christmas when I was 7, and she’s been my best friend ever since. I can’t believe AG would do something like this. And I can’t believe there’s not more we can do about it. I just got the new catalogue, and found not only Chrissa and her TWO companion dolls (who even DOES that?!) but all the thousands of modern dolls, the new bitty twins, etc.
And after discovering that Kirsten and Addy only had half a page each, while new miss Julie and Kit & Ruthie have 4 pages each, there is something definitely wrong. How long will it be before Kirsten mysteriously disappears, or Addy gets booted off her measly half-page? Or Molly? You notice Kaya wasn’t even in the catalogue….
This goes beyond AG retiring my favorite doll. The rest aren’t safe either. If Samantha, with her popular appeal, movie, fancy dresses, and general beauty coupled with the introduction of Nellie, can have this HORRIBLE, UNTHINKABLE thing happen to her, what chance do the others have?
I’ve cried so much over this already, as have countless other girls. Young women who remember recieving Samantha in the 80s, teenagers who still display their doll in their room, brushing her hair and whispering good night when their peers aren’t looking, and little girls who have just been introduced to the magic of AG dolls. Worse of all, children who have never had a Samantha doll, maybe never even SEEN one. Now, they will never know the ecstasy of finding Samantha, against all financial odds and despite parents’ repeated ‘No’s every time they are approached with an AG catalogue in hand. That is what happened to me, and it was the best Christmas present i’ve ever gotten, and will ever get in my life. Now that joy is being denied to every little girl in the world for no reason at all, and it’s just sickening.
THE ONLY WORSE THING THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED IS A RECALL.
this should be illegal aaaaahhhhhhh i just got samantha and ill never get the rest of her stuff:.(
i agree w/ hannah im gonna do something bout this ever1 needs 2 email ag on how much samantha means 2 us and send them bout a milion till they agree 2 keep selling her
Alana,
I already have. (You can also see my other comments above.) I even e-mailed them this website. They have extended Samantha’s time to be sold until May 8, 2009. But they aren’t selling Nellie though.
-Mary
I agree Molly. Not about Samantha having ugly bangs and a boring life story (whatever it was that you thought!
), but about the part about Kirsten being the bomb. Of course, other dolls are HUGE bombs, 2! Samantha is 1 of favorites, though. 
Kirsten is born the same day as me! In a few of the earlier catalogs it said she was born June 8, and some am I! I also think her life is very not-boring, and I think her books are fun 2 read, 2! I have her & her accessories. Of course, Kirsten is not the 1 & ONLY bomb. But Kirsten is off topic. (At least now, I guess)!
Samantha is SO cool. I have ALL of her books from my aunt, the fashion studio from my dad, and the doll & accessories from both of my parents. I got her 4 Christmas 2008, along with the Emily Doll & Accessories & Kirsten Doll & Accessories, Emily’s Tap Dance Outfit, Molly’s Miss Victory Outfit, Velveteen Coat Set for Dolls, 2 in 1 ballerina outfit set, and the Felicity and Samantha hardcover book with all her stories in it. My dad got me the Kirsten paperback book set, & before Christmas, he came home from his work trip with 3 things 4 me. One, the Kirsten books, (which was a Christmas surprise)!, Samantha Fashion Studio, & a HUGE, colorful, fat, pretty candy cane (I still haven’t eaten it yet)!
Winter Wish & her dolls Molly, Mia, Nellie, Lil Julie, Samantha, Kirsten, &
Emily.
Hi everybody on doll diaries!
Tomorow I’m getting oral surgery. Well why I posted it here is because I’m going
to bring my Samantha doll when my oral surgery happens, which is just a fancy
word for getting teeth pulled out. I am SOOO glad I have Samantha & Nellie dolls before AG retires them.
Winter Wish
Sienna-
My dad signed your petition, LOL. I mean, SEROUSLY, he did! I know it is funny but his favorite AG doll THAT EVER EXSISTED is Nellie O’Malley. He doesn’t want Nellie 2 go!
Everybody sign Sienna’s petition! I signed it 2. Keep signing Sienna’s petition! Unless you already did, LOL. But for people who didn’t sign it & want 2, SIGN IT!
How many signutaures does it have now, Sienna? And did you send it to AG recently?
Call AG. (Don’t know their number. Check if you want to call them).
Email them. (service@americangirl.com is the email adress).
Write letters. (Don’t know the adress)!
Call. Email. Write. Complain!!!!!!!
SAVE 2 OF THE MOST WONDERFUL AND BEST DOLLS IN THE GALAXY!!!!!!!!!!
Winter Wish
I hate to sound rude but they are gonna retire another doll in a couple of years its not gonna stop.
But i think they will pull Samantha out of the vault and make millions its just a game.
Um just for the record i have Ruthie ,Julie and Chrissa.
I wish Samantha wouldn’t go she is one of my favouraites! Even though I have Molly!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
We wish you the BEST. PLEASE don’t go!!!!!! STAY!!!!!!
Stay 4ever!!!!
No Jessica and my Samantha doll-
I am NOT on club penguin, BUT, if it’s on miniclip.com, and you have a YoMe, I’m Winter Wish. 
Sam and Nellie….. STAY!!!!!
4EVER!!!!!!!!!
Winter Wish
AG should listen 2 this:
“Make new friends, *but keep the old*, 1 is silver and the others gold.”
The thing they should look at is *but keep the old.*
oh i wish i had her birthday figurine!!! i have samantha and nellie but all of nellies stuff is gone before i got any of it
((((((((((((((((( and i REALY wanted samnthas new velvet dress but it was sold out.:’( there soo much stuff i liked but never got >:’o
MOLLY! SAMANTHA IS NOT! NOT! NOT UGLY SHE IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND HAS THE BEST BOOKS AND MOVIE, it was because of her movie and books that made me want to get her, and i love her more than any doll. forever and always.