Friday, April 8, 2016

Vintage 1998 Battat Our Generation 18Inch Doll Makeover


Greeting and Salutations Doll Friends!

I am actually typing this on an actual computer...! I have blocked out a half an hour or so this morning to try and blitz through all the drafts I've posted lately on the blog. That is kind of how I roll. I do doll projects as they strike my fancy, taking photos as I go. Then edit photos and upload them to the Blogger app on my phone to await the writing part of the equation. It used to be I always did my writing from the computer but since the move, I've gotten in the bad habit of just doing the whole thing from my phone via thumbtyping. Have I mentioned I am an ace thumb typist? Haha! Modern day skillz, I have them. I digress... So I am determined to get to the computer more often. Posting from the phone works but I don't do the proper 'tagging' and now I have about six months of tagging to catch up on. Oh well, it'll all get sorted eventually. Meanwhile, back to the dolls...

I have never, in the past, really cared for the face mold of the 1998 Battat Our Generation 18inch dolls. I just thought they were a bit, um, how to say... masculine? Hence the only two I've ever purchased before having been transformed into boy dolls. However... Perhaps you'll recall when I got my Battat Little Friend 15inch dolls? I have two of them, you can read about their home-coming stories here and here. Well, since having gotten those dolls, with just 'smaller' versions of the same face mold, their little faces have grown on me and I am quite fond of them. So... When I ran across a 1998Battat at a thrift store recently... I snatched her up, plunked down the $3.99 and brought her home!


She was kind of a mess when I found her, poor dear...


I mean she was in good shape, but very dingy and her hair... Oy!


I loved love loved the outfit she came in and it was a definate plus! I would've paid the $3.99 just for the 'letter jacket' for my boy dolls! I have one identical to it and so love having a second!


Having worked with this type of doll in the past, I knew going in that her wig would not come off if I lit an atomic bomb under her... So it gave me a bit more casual approach to attempting to salvage it. I decided I'd give it my best makeover and if it were still not good enough, I'd re-wig her. It would be good doll hair make-over experience. 


So I worked the tangles out with my wig brush. Do you have a big brush for your dolls? If not BUY ONE. They make a world of difference. Sophia's Doll Brush is the one I use and I would really like to have about five of them cos I misplace it all over the house. Haha. 


The tangles worked out after a lot of brushing.... Looking better...


Then I washed and conditioned her hair and hot-dipped her so it'd be a bit more tame.


She looks happier already!


I did trim off the really frizzy bits at the end of her hair... Again, nothing to lose!


I am actually really pleased with how the hair make-over turned out. Sadly, the wig was already too damaged going in but if it'd been in good shape, I'd have considered it a rescue. However, you may be able to tell from the photos, the wig had lost too much hair from rough handling and, well, she looks like she is balding or sommat. That won't do for my pretty little dolly!


You can see that she had a bit of a hair cut to part of her hair as well, see the back where the one lock is shorter?


Again, I was pretty impressed with what a bit of shampoo, conditioner and a hot dip accomplished but... She needed a new head of hair.




Here she is, pre-hair-shearing with one of the Battat Little Friends. They look like sisters!


Did I mention that getting the wigs off these dolls is nearly impossible? I've turned two 1998Battat dolls into boys and so I know... Their stories are here and here and so I didn't even bother trying to remove the old wig, I just sheared it down to as little hair as I could. 


She looks a bit odd with the wig cap but once the wig is glued on, you'd never know it was under there.


I think she looks perfect!!!


I love her to bits!!



Isn't she fabulous?

Ok... ten more minutes... Off to try and get one more blog post completed!

Till next time!
XXOO
Heather














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