For all who always wanted to know how a knee joint works but never damaged a Barbie doll to find it out, here is the result. (I already got the doll with the broken knee joint.) I haven’t destroyed the doll myself. I think the pics explain how the position is held and why we can bent the knee joint three times.
Talking Barbie repair – repair or not !? #barbierepair
While writing this post I think of another collector who told that she wanted to repair a Talking Barbie doll (from 1967, the ones with the pull string in the back) but had no idea how to do it. She had no instruction, no parts for the repair itself and wanted every information for free. I gave her the advice not to repair the doll until she knows exactly what to do.
Later I got a message that she had opened the body but the parts were flying around.
This made me think. Maybe I’m overorganized but I study instructions how to repair things and order replacement parts before I do anything. Although the repair itself is not hard, the reassembly is a bit tricky. You have to test before you glue everything in, you need the right kind of glue. No, you can’t use every glue. You need to know about the material of the body. When I give this advice to anybody I know why I do it. You also need a bit of technical understanding and manual skills.
I have repaired several Talking Barbie dolls and I know what I’m talking about. Here’s the last one I repaired.
I heard from other collectors with no instruction that they didn’t manage it.
#barbietreasurechest #barbierepair #talkingbarbie #howtorepairbarbie
My latest Ooak
I’m not the one who like to sit on a sofa and do nothing. I used the winter to finish my latest project. Instead of pics I did a video for you. So here it is….
Hope you like it.
Why did I neglect my blog in the last months?
I like to talk about my collection. I have been a collector for more than 20 years now and I collect what I like. Collecting is a very personal thing. You always have things that you like and things you don’t do. Some time ago I tried to expand my possibilities. With photos you can’t show everything. I taught myself to be a Barbie doc and like to show other collectors how to – manuals. Some things are really easy. You can do them yourself but how can you document these ideas with pics?
Good idea – but with photos only imposible. So I started a little channel on youtube. I do a new video every week. The topics vary. I hope that I can share my knowledge with you and I don’t want to hurt anyone. This is my new channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUnMbcQlqxxcBbb4r9tqDTg
Just leave a comment in my videos if you want specific topics.
One of my latest OOAK-Projects
Here is my latest OOAK -Project. I reflocked another Ken. I didn’t take any pics of my first Ken but this time I took pics. The Ken was totally bold and had no flocking material on his head anymore. I think the original colour changed a bit and became darker within the decades since he was produced.
When I finished my reflocking process he looked like this…
and now they look like twins.
What to do when the hair is sticky… problems with Superstar Barbie
Maybe some of you had the problem of sticky hairs. Barbie dolls from the 1980s often have this problem. Sometimes even when they are NRFB. The cause for the stickiness is the softener that is contained in every doll head. I have no idea why and I’m not good in Chemistry but I know that it (the softener) managed to get from the head into the hair. The good news is that you can get rid of the stickiness. It’s no problem. At first all you need is a bowl with lukewarm water, normal hair shampoo (the brand doesn’t matter) and conditioner. Dip the the head of the doll into the bowl. When the hair is wet put a mixture of shampoo and conditioner mixed together in one of you palms and massage it softly in her hair. Then put the hair in the bowl. The important thing is that the hair has to be in the bowl for at least twelve hours. For the next step you need a big cooking pot. Fill it with water, put it on the stove and switch it on. Wait until the water is cooking. Then put the hair and the head in there for 5 minutes. Insure yourself that the hair doesn’t touch the walls of your cooking pot. It’s going to melt when it does touch the walls of your cooking pot. After that you can remove the the head from your cooking pot. Use a guest towel for the drying process. Put the doll towel and wait until the hair is dry. Then the stickiness should be gone. If not, repeat the process for a second time. My doll needed the process two times.
Please consider that you should only do the process with dolls from the 1980s. When you do it with Fashionistas the result might be that your doll is bold. The method of how the hair is fixed inside has changed in the last decade.
Overview over my last finished projects
I wanted to show you my finished projects two weeks ago but I had not very much time to post. So here are my finished projects from 2015. Last month I finally found two bodies for finished heads.
So here are … a fish tail and a braid crown.
My first reflocked Ken
Last week I tried something new. Last summer I got a Nr.1 Ken. He was bold and had lost all his hair. I felt sorry for him and decided to reflock his head. Here’s the result. I think it’s not bad for the first time.
Another repaired Talking Barbie
I recently found the time to finish another repair. I think I got her two years ago but somehow I forgot that I had prepaired everything last summer. I only needed legs and I found them two months ago. So here she is… a nape curl Talking Barbie repaired to speak. This was my first repaired Talking Barbie doll. I already have repaired a Talking PJ and a Talking Truly.
Another finished project
In the last months I was lucky enough to find a body for one of my rerooted heads. I rerooted the head approx. 2 years ago. I know a long time…and I had almost forgotten my head. I did another reroot in the last months and then I found my project again. At first I was unsure what kind of body to use for my project. Finally I decided to use a Cool Colours Barbie body. Here’s the result. Hope you like.
