Four months after American Girl announced the retirement of Kirsten Larson, "a pioneer girl of strength and spirit growing up in Minnesota in 1854," it introduced Lanie Holland, the 2010 Girl of the Year.

Lanie is "a thoughtful, energetic girl who discovers the world in her own backyard," according to American Girl.

Available only this year, Lanie's line will include two books, a doll and accessories. American Girl also is offering Lanie's Backyard Photo Contest, classroom materials and a partnership with the National Wildlife Federation. The 2009 Girl of the Year was Chrissa, who faced the challenge of bullying. She will not be available in 2010.

The retirement of Kirsten, one of the original dolls offered by the company, was announced in September, just in time to coinicide with the holiday shopping season. It sparked a run on the doll and anguished "Save Kirsten" video tributes online.

One tribute video, set to a violin soundtrack, features a photo montage of a Kirsten doll in assorted outfits and poses.

"Guess what guys ... AG has done it again," it says. "This is not a joke. This is no rumor. This is REAL."

Then, a bitter complaint: "She never even got a movie."

In late 2008, American Girl announced its first retirement, that of Samantha Parkington, arguably the company's most popular doll. In addition to the line of products, Samantha, "a bright, compassionate girl living with her wealthy grandmother in 1904," was the subject of the 2004 made-for-TV movie "Samantha: An American Girl Holiday."

Kirsten, Samantha and a third doll, Molly McIntyre, were original offerings from the Pleasant Company when it was established in 1986. Since then, seven other girls have been introduced as part of the "historical characters" line, and in 2004 the company changed its name to American Girl Inc.

Samantha's popularity was partly why she was the first to go, said company spokeswoman Julie Parks. Like Kirsten, her departure generated buzz on the Web, particularly among women who are now grown and having children of their own.

Retail experts chalked up the loss of Kirsten to a classic marketing ploy, but some die-hard doll fans fear the company is moving away from its historical roots in favor of its more recent "Just Like You" line, which allows girls to purchase dolls engineered to look like them.

The company insists Kirsten's retirement is simply to make room on the shelves for newer historical characters such as Rebecca Rubin, its first Jewish doll, which debuted last year.

Either way, after Kirsten's retirement was announced in September, by mid-November, the inventory was almost gone.

The company refused to say whether more dolls will join Kirsten and Samantha in toy obscurity.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.