Answer the following Q with stream of consciousness. Passage: American Girl is an American line of 18-inch (46 cm) dolls released in 1986 by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight-to eleven-year-old girls of a variety of ethnicities. They are sold with accompanying books told from the viewpoint of the girls. Originally the stories focused on various periods of American history, but were expanded in 1995 to include characters and stories from contemporary life. Aside from the original American Girl dolls, the buyer also has the option to purchase dolls that look like themselves. The options for the line of Truly Me dolls include eye color, eye shape, skin color, hair texture, and hair length. A variety of related clothing and accessories is also available. A service for ordering a bespoke doll with features and clothing specified by the owner, dubbed Create Your Own, has also been introduced in 2017.

Question: Based on this passage, when did they start making american girl dolls?
To answer the above question, the relevant sentence is: American Girl is an American line of 18-inch (46 cm) dolls released in 1986 by Pleasant Company. Therefore, the final answer is 1986.