Vintage Mattel Emotions Cameo Body Transplant!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

I did a doll body transplant this morning! I've always loved this vintage Mattel Emotions Cameo Doll's face but her body was weird and never worked for photos etc... Still, I kept her cos she was so pretty and also because I named her Diane after my Mom. Since I did that, I've mostly gotten away from buying vintage dolls and have zero'd in on the 14 to 18 inch variety. It looks like I never gave her a proper review but you'll see in the photo's below what I mean by her having a weird body. She was 20inches tall and so always a tiny bit too tall for all the doll outfits I own and also she had those fabric legs that are impossible to stand on... Still... I was attached to her beautiful face because she does remind me of my beautiful Mom Diane. 

Then, yesterday as I was weeding out my dolls I finally decided to get rid of the first Our Generation Doll I ever re-wigged (first doll I ever rewigged now I mention it). I've since learned that when it comes to wigs, you get what you pay for!! So her wig was lame. 

Then, as I glance at her in the Goodwill box (cos lets get real, it's not even worth it to eBay her with that dreadful hair!) I had one of those "light bulb goes on" moments and think "one doll who's body I don't like and one doll with a head/hair I don't like... Wait...!" 

So I made a whole new doll with the parts I loved!

 When I got the heads off, I found that the older doll had a strange plastic 'neck' coming out of her head... So I just removed a bit of the stuffing from the OG body to accomidate for the space it took up. I actually think that little bit of 'neck' makes her head more sturdy so I don't mind. Then I put a bit of extra stuffing in the old body before I put the OG head on it so it'd fit better...

I plan to donate the "soft vintage body with OG head" to Goodwill. Perhaps it'd make a good doll for a little girl who wants to sleep with an 18inch doll because the body is softer? Who knows... I'll let the next owner decide that. (I'll put a dress on her before she goes out the door)

See how the legs were longer and soft so she couldn't stand up at all, even with a stand really... Lame!

I just put in new zip ties in the necks... I wish I could find a place that sold zip ties with a smaller 'notch' but when the hair is down, you don't really notice anyway...

All stitched up!

 I am totally stoked with how she came out!  I know her face complexion and the body complexion aren't perfect but I still love her. 

Now she can wear all the other fashions and do photo shoots with the other dollies!! 

So sweet! Do you see why I love her face?

Better run get ready for church tonight! 

Till next time!

XXOO

Heather

Vintage Sekiguchi 14inch Boy Doll

Hi Doll Friends!!

I have a weakness for Vintage Sekiguchi dolls... I had decided to force myself to live with just the three I own though....

Until... eBay... A boy twin my Selah!! And he was only $10 with free shipping!

It had to happen, right? See:

I'll get him out of box and reviewed soon... He is just as adorable as his new Sekiguchi Doll sisters in the Doll House. 

Till next time!

XXOO

Heather 

Vintage Mint In Box 1982 Sekiguchi Sala Doll Joins the a Doll House

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

If you've been following my blog, you'll know that we recently had a new addition named Magdalene. She is a La Cheri doll by Mattel from 1982 that I got on eBay recently for $10. She has such a pretty face, I just had to know more about her and the price was so reasonable that I bought her just so I could see what she was all about. I am so glad I did! I love her so much! She has immediately become one of my favorite dolls! If you missed the post, you can read all about it here:

Magdalene's Arrival

So... Being me, I researched and researched her and, as we've already discussed, one of my most reliable sources of research is eBay. Go ahead and laugh, but it's true. You can find anything in the world on eBay, I am convinced. So, as I was researching, I came across Sala. She was also made in 1982 and was completely Mint-in-Box. Her BuyItNow price was so low that before I knew it, I'd bought her and she was on her way to the doll house!!

Here she is in all her adorable glory! I took a photo of her strait away as she was opened up but the photo was bad quality in my excitement to get her out and look her over!

Here she is with Magdalene! So happy to reunited with one of her family members after over 30 years in a box! Magdalene was pretty stoked too. 

Here they are on my real couch together. You know I must've been excited to take photos! I usually set a whole elaborate scene up to photograph in but I just wanted to look her over! 

Here is the hang tag she had on. I think she was in an antique store for quite some time. She smelled the tiniest bit musty and a bit like cigarette smoke too. Not that it bugged me too much. I am old school and lived in a time where nearly everything smelled like cigarette smoke! So... I just undressed her and put her clothes in the wash. Figured I wanted to report on how they held up in the washer anyway, why not find out now. 

The clothes these dolls came in was amazing. Top notch stuff!! They pre-dated velcro (I know!?) and so they have snapped closures. I actually prefer this because Velcro has a tendency to stick to the clothing and tangle in hair. So I am pleased as punch!

Sala had a bit of a different body than Magdalene did. Her body fabric is a bit of a darker shade, like she has a great tan. 

I wanted to change her into fresh clothes and so first I tried on my My Friend Doll clothes. They are obviously much thinner in the body than Sala because I couldn't get it to fasten in the back. So, I put her in some American Girl Doll Clothes. The jeans are actually some ill-fitting capri's I got on a cheaper doll once and nearly threw out because they fit so poorly on the 18inch dolls. I kept them though, thinking some doll might fit into them. They were perfect for Sala, even in length!

The other dolls decided to make her dinner! Kid food of chicken nuggets but with a side of peas to keep it healthier!

Here we have the girls hanging out in the kitchen!

Reunited, Magdalene and Selah are so happy! I love them both! I think there will be more of this type of doll in the Doll House in the future too. Just gotta save my pennies to get another one!

I wanted to show the fabulous box they came in originally! Magdalene didn't come with her box and so I didn't have one to show with her but the boxes are super nice! Great place to store dolls if you need to for a while. 

Well, that's it for now! Thanks for dropping by! See you next time!

Welcome Magdalene! A Vintage 1982 La Cheri Sekiguchi Mattel Doll Joins the Doll House!

Hello Doll Friends!

One of the hazards of writing a doll blog is that you need to research 18" dolls and all the various accessories that can be found for them in order to stay on top of what is available and make your blog relevant. Right? That's my excuse and I am sticking with it. One of the best sources for information about dolls and toys is eBay. Don't laugh! It totally is! You can find the most obscure things on eBay and see the very rarest of items for dolls. Usually at greatly, almost obnoxiously, inflated prices! Or if they aren't inflated at the outset of the auctions, they become that way due to market trends. So, it should be safe enough, right? Unfortunately, I've been on eBay since like 1995 and know the in's and out's of the search engines pretty well and know how to navigate them to find the best deals. Not that I would be looking for good deals, naturally, but just saying I needed to find them, I would know how. *nudge-nudge-wink-wink* Which brings me to a day last week when I was doing 'research'. I just put in a generic "18inch doll" into the search engine and started browsing... When, low and behold, what is this? A vinyl doll from the 1980's, made in Japan, that is 18 inches tall, has a soft body and one of the cutest faces I've ever seen on a doll. Seriously. So cute! Her Buy-It-Now was so low I almost fell out of my chair and before I knew what I was doing, I had purchased her!

So, Doll Friends, meet Magdalene! Yes, I named her Magdalene and yes, for Mary of Magdalene. Don't start. She is my favorite woman character in the Bible. The apostle to the apostle, she was. She just got a bad wrap in the 1600's... But that is for another Blog another time. (Hmmm... I'll have to write it! I have another one on non-doll stuff!) I digressed. Sorry!

Meet Magdalene!!

Here she is with Panda, my dear daughters first American Girl Doll. Panda arrived when my daughter was four and she named her Panda then. I figure if Hollywood-types can name their kids after fruit, why not a name like Panda, right?

I thought I liked her before she arrived but when she came, I absolutely fell in love with her. She is so totally cute! She is also made so well!!! Her hair is fully rooted and her clothes are made with amazing details and care!

She still had in her original hair bands and ribbons. The rubber bands were so old that they had disintegrated in her hair, which is why it looks a bit 'loose'. 

She still had her original tag on her arm. It reads 'La Cheri 1982 Sekiguchi' and is attached by a zip cord type fastener.

She is even numbered. I am not sure the original amount they made by Magdalene is #396.

She fits right in to the doll house!

So I loosed her hair and brushed it out and it is so soft and beautiful!! Top quality and very well rooted! It reminds me of Saige's hair (American Girl Doll) in that it's long and curly and thick. Gorgeous!! I also removed her pinafore and was delighted to find that her little dress had smocking on the front, such a lovely detail because it means both the dress/pinafore combo and the plain dress look great! 

She has a soft body, as you can see, all the way to her hands. Her feet are all fabric but are stuffed very well and fit the American Girl Doll Shoes just right. She came in a slip, under her dress and pinafore.

Under her dress she had on pantaloons. 

Her tag is sewn on to her back and reads "Sekiguchi 1981 Distributed by Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne CA 90250 Made in Japan"

Here is what her feet look like. I took these photos later but wanted to include photos of her feet here in the original details about her. They are cloth but are very well stuffed and so are 'hard' even though they are fabric. I thought I'd 'mind' her fabric feet more that I do. They are sized just right to fit into American Girl Doll Shoes and they can wear her shoes too! 

Another photo of her feet. They are kind of cute actually. I used to make stuffed cloth dolls and I admire the workmanship. 

Her hair is fully rooted and thick and beautiful. I love it. It's long and curly and full. I look forward to all the styles I'll be able to put into it! 

I was shocked to discover Magdalene had a tear in her leg stitching! It had to be a manufacturer defect that has been undetected for three decades because she had never been removed from her pantaloons. 

So, naturally, I performed doll surgery and fixed her right up. She has a scar now but it's good for her character. The most interesting people have great scars afterall!

We couldn't wait to get her out of her old fashioned outfit that she'd been wearing for over 30 years! Pretty sure she was glad to have a makeover too. 

The other dolls think she's fabulous too!

See? The girls are already getting along well enough to borrow shoes! Here is Isla wearing Magdalene's shoes. They match her dress pretty well. 

After all my careful, bit by bit, examination of her clothes and taking photos along the way to post here, my dear daughter was so glad when I handed her over to do a "child's" assessment of her. Naturally the first thing she did was give Magdalene an even more modern look. She said she likes her hair and that she is so soft! I think it speaks volumes that she has decided she wants one of her own now!

Thanks again for dropping by! See you next time!

Update! I've researched the dolls a bit more and have discovered that they are commonly referred to as "Sala & Berg" dolls. They came in a really nice box with an insert. The following photos are ones I found doing my research on eBay and the Internet otherwise.

These are some of the inserts that came with the original dolls. See Magdalene in the photo?!

This was a differently dressed one, also very pretty!

As you can see, they originally came in a nice collector box. 

This is the sticker on the doll in the floral dress (above)

Yet a differently dressed one.

I liked this one's bangs. Her dress is very similar to Magdalene's, I think. 

Now this beauty I ran across as I was researching the dolls on eBay. I suspected that if I posted this blog, there might become a market for them. *biting-fingernails* There were very few posted on eBay and none at all really in my realistic price range. Until I ran across this beauty. She was on a Buy-It-Now. Uh-oh. My weakness. Her seller was charging 'real' and reasonable shipping rates... Double Uh Oh. I would be able to get her a 1/3rd of the price that she cost new in the 1980's. Oh, it had to happen. So... She is on her way. So excited to have two!! After looking them over, I am telling you, just the clothing on the doll alone is well worth what I paid for the entire doll. Just as good (better?) quality than American Girl Doll Clothes and they fit the other dolls. Thinking over names as I type... Hmmm...

Note the price tags for these two? They are marked $76.00 from way back in the 1980's! These two were the shorter 14 inch variety so I imagine that the 18 inch ones were a bit more?

Doesn't she have the most adorable face!! I will post a new blog post when she arrives!

Thanks again for dropping by! See you soon!