Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Some Past Doll Projects- Part 2

Okay, on to Part 2! This poor girl is a Gotz Precious Day Elisabeth doll from 2003 or before (in 2004, they started using a new face mold). I bought her on Craigslist for $38. I know you're probably wondering why I would spend that much on a doll in this sort of shape. In my defense, I knew her bangs had been cut, but I had no clue her hair was cut in the back, too. As it turned out, it worked out okay because I was figuring I'd have to rewig her anyway.




















So here you can see some more "before" pics. Her hair was horribly cut, her neck strings were loose and some stuffing was coming out at her neck. She also had various smudges on her vinyl, the worst being a big black mark on her left hand (see the picture below). It really looked like permanent marker, so I wasn't sure how much luck I'd have getting it off, but I figured it was worth a try!
























































I got started with my trusty Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, like I had with Katie. Let me just take a moment to say, if you haven't tried this before, there's nothing more amazing than a magic eraser to take old dirt, grime, and rub marks off of vinyl. You'd be amazed what comes off of these dolls with a little elbow grease. I've even been able to use it on some of my daughter's other plastic toys. We have hardwood floors, so their dolls and toys are constantly getting rub marks! Anyway, once you use these guys, you'lll start stocking up on them. I think I have 2 boxes of Magic Erasers right now! :) And just to let you know, the off brands work okay, too.















After I'd finished with the magic eraser, I untied her neck strings and removed her head. Kinda
creepy looking, but now I could get that stray stuffing back in and tighten her neck strings. That alone did wonders. Retying the neck strings wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. You just have to make sure you get the strings tied as tightly as you possibly can!

Before I put her head back on, though, I worked on her hair.  I used scissors to cut as much of her hair off as possible. When I was done, she looked like she had a short buzz cut. I had a picture uploaded to show you, but this annoying blog program just deleted it and I'm still trying to figure out how to add a picture in a specific spot. So you'll just have to take my word for it.

Some people who re-wig dolls go inside the head and remove all the hairplugs. I've never done this, first, because I'm too lazy, and second, because I've found it still works (depending on the new wig) to use the doll with her short hair still on her head.

So here are some pics of Hailey (the new name I gave her).
As you can see from the picture to the left, the magic eraser took that ugly black spot completely off. She had quite a few
pink and brown marks on her hands and feet that came off
too. I didn't think her skin would clean up as well as it did.
Like I said before, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers will amaze you!




                                                                                                     Here's Hailey in her new wig. I used a "Denise" wig in auburn from the Monique company. I purchased it on ebay for a good price. The bangs are a little difficult to get right. Hailey's gone through several bang changes since I got her! Overall, though, I love the quality and color choices of these wigs. The Gotz dolls seem to have slightly bigger heads than some of the other 18" dolls, too, so these wigs work well because they run a little big. I used a size 12-13, which works great, but I've tried other brands of wigs in the same size that I couldn't get around her head.




Here are a few more pics of Hailey. In this one she's with her best friend, Danielle. Danielle is a Gotz Hildegard Gunzel doll I got at Tuesday Morning for $15!! Her original price was $169.99! She has the same face mold and all vinyl jointed body as the Gotz Sarah dolls. Just recently, they've been renamed the Gotz Hannah dolls, and are still being sold in Europe.
In my last post, I mentioned the different Gotz Little Sisters outfits. Hailey is wearing Tess's floral print meet outfit, so you can see the difference.


Here's a picture of Hailey with her two sisters, Tess and Ella. I thought it would be fun to make them sisters since they all have the same eye color and face mold. Also, I have 3 little girls of my own, so it's kind of a tribute to them. In case you're curious, Ella is another Gotz Precious Day Elisabeth doll that I renamed. I also put her in my extra Gotz Little Sisters Katie jumper so she would match better with her sisters! You can also see my pre-Mattel American Girl Felicity doll and my Alexander Girlz Maggie doll, made by the Madame Alexander company.


Here's a picture I took right after I got Hailey all fixed up. This was before I got Ella, which is why it's just the two of them in this picture.

So, I hope you enjoyed part 2!! That's all the past doll projects I have pictures of at this point. My next project will be a pre-Mattel American Girl Samantha doll I bought on Craigslist that needs some definite TLC. I'll keep you posted on how that project's going, too.














8 comments:

Lys said...

Very brave... I'd never be able to do that to my doll! Haha... speaking of rewigging... I have old Felicity and Kit dolls (pre-Mettel) and as I've had them since I was 6 & 7, their hair is a mess (it's not quite as bad as it COULD be...lol). I've been going back and forth on if I want to have them rewigged (by AG, via their darling little hospital) or not. It's silly, but I like knowing they have horse hair instead of that plastic hair stuff Mettel decided to bring in. Do you have an opinion? I'd really like them to be displayed nice and pretty, but unless someone knows a magical hair treatment to bring back their shiny gloss, it's a longshot to say they can look mint condition without a rewigging lol.

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Alice! Thanks for commenting. :) If you're really attached to their orignal hair, you might try doing a Downy dunk on their hair. I have some posts about my own Downy dunks (one on American Girl dolls and two on Barbies), and there's also a really helpful video on stephenswodadancer's Youtube channel. To find my posts, you can look up "Downy Dunk" in my label list on my sidebar. And here's where you can find stephenswodadancer's video tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/user/stephenswodadancer#p/search/4/dRMnsFGFXPA (just copy and paste the link, and you should get there). :) Hope this helps!

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

One more thing...I am by no means an expert, so please don't assume I am. :} I've learned a lot by trial and error, and I haven't experimented on a precious childhood toy yet, either! I just want to make sure that you can make an informed decision. Maybe you could practice on a Barbie or a less sentimental doll first.

I actually wasn't aware that they used to use horse hair for the Pre-Mattel dolls...so you might want to do more research before doing Downy on them. I know others have done Downy dunks on Pre-Mattel dolls and it seemed to be fine. Another great resource for this sort of thing is Agplaythings.com. They have a message board and forum that has tons of helpful advice. You do have to sign up for membership to be a part of it, but it's absolutely free and well worth it. There are others on the board who would know a lot more than I do.

Thanks for your questions. I hope I've at least given you a few things to consider. :)

Helen said...

Hi, I just came across your blog. My 5 year old daughter is into dolls now. I bought her an 18" doll from Walmart and the hair now is a mess. I was really amazed to see the new hair that you had on the doll that you were fixing. Where can I get doll hair or wig?

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hi Helen!

Sigh...the Walmart dolls are lovely, but yes, their hair does get messy quickly. :}

There are two places I normally purchase my wigs.

The first place is prillycharmin.com. They have a lot of great wigs for discounted prices, and they also have an online guide that shows you how to measure your doll's head so that you are sure to get the right size. Here's the address for their wig page: http://prillycharmin.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4_67

I've also found some great wigs on eBay. Unfortunately, one of the main sellers I bought from is no longer selling wigs. One of them still does, though. You can see their items for sale here: http://stores.ebay.com/Art-of-Dolls-and-Other-Past-Times?_rdc=1

Hope this helps! :)

Helen said...

thank you!

Unknown said...

Hi my grand daughter has an Madame Alexander doll and the dog chewed up the arms I've looked everywhere and can't find the right fit do you know where I can get replacement arms I've looked everywhere and can't find them

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Hello Karen! Unfortunately, the Madame Alexander dolls are difficult to fix, especially if they're the kind with the plastic shoulders and chest plate. You might try contacting the Madame Alexander company and see if they have any advice. I don't know if they have a doll hospital or anything, but they might at least be able to tell you what your options are. You can reach them through their "Contact Us" page HERE.

Hope this helps!