ToyMuchInformation! - Dollikin

Y'all might be thinking at this point that I'm a bit of a Sid.  While I do like to experiment sometimes, I actually have a decent gathering of stock dolls kept in original condition, with heads on appropriate bodies, and they do get respect.  This is one of them.

WARNING, HARD PLASTIC BOOTY.

I've been on a bit of a binge thanks to the terrible influences around the internet and got my hands on some vintage/vintage-er fashion dolls.  Some of them need a little fixing up and some need a lot.  The Barbie-Midge-Ken-Allan project is still ongoing, you'll see more about that later.  For now, here's a pretty good deal I came across just idly hunting on eBay.

seller's photo, not mine.

A real (yes, she has all the markings and I looked her up) 1969 Uneeda Dollikin... in exactly the condition shown.  30 bucks US with shipping on; not bad at all, in my opinion.  Getting those booties off proved to me just how fragile her plastic is after all these years.  I'm afraid I must confess a little gluing had to be done to put her feet back together.  Shame on me and my cow.  Her hair's a little crunchy with age as well, and she could use more than the basic bath she got for this post.  I made her manageable and will probably go back and touch her face paint up a little.  Other than the visible and admitted-to, she's in solid condition, I'll just have to be careful posing her.

Of course, restringing was in order.  I had a poke around online because I wasn't about to fly into this blind.  I came across this photo set on Flickr first.  There's that degradation on the ankle joint I ran into.  I should have known...  But looking at my doll, I figured I had at least one missing? hook, or maybe that loose one was just random.  I wasn't sure.  So I hunted for something a little more professional, and came across this post.  Sewing elastic wasn't going to cut it.  Lucky me, Mandaline there sells restringing kits.  I bought the basic one for the 6-12" dolls.

show me what you're workin' with.

I unpacked all this on my half-hour lunch break just today and managed to get done in record time.

hmmm...

Well, with one minor mishap.  That one leg just kept retracting into her pelvis and I couldn't figure out why...

ouch.

PEBKAC moment.  Facepalm.  One unstring, reconfigure and restring later...

Miss Crime Scene 2023.

Much better.  Not a perfect job; she's not as solidly strung as I might like, but I can go back in and fix it later if I need to.  The instructions that came with the kit were easy to follow, and when I placed the order I also got an email directing me to a webpage that would help as well.  I wrestled her into her stock jumpsuit (missing half of the snap at the neck, as I discovered).  She watched me finish my shift and waited for her spotlight moment.

You work like this?  Oh no.

That box has definitely seen better days.

I don't think she can actually pose as the box suggests, btw.

I'm not touching that hairstyle yet - that's the bow she came with.  I can see how it's been done, but that rubber band in there is rock solid and will probably have to be cut out.  Very carefully.  She's here wearing one of the Dollar Tree outfits I got two of because I forgot I already had one (it got lost in the back of the car, okay), and a pair of Boxy Girls shoes.  The width of her hips turns the pants into capris (or clamdiggers, or pedal pushers, whichever you prefer), and they really only fit because they're stretchy and have an elastic waist.  The tank top, no problem at all.  The Boxy shoes aren't a perfect fit, but they were the only thing I had on hand that wasn't too narrow, and I'm afraid to wrangle her poor feet more than they already have been.  I've been meaning to repaint those shoes anyway, so I guess they're hers now.  If you look close in the photo above you can kind of see where the plastic on her bicep seems to be...sloughing off??  And those wrists aren't as flexible as the ad says they are.  At least she doesn't have any melt going on.  She does balance pretty well, though, if I do it carefully.  She does in fact move like a real human...if your baseline is me, just rolling off the bed, pre-caffeine.

Tell me they're wonky again, I dare you.

Face-on she does look a bit unimpressed with everything.  I'm not good at catching face angles, but trust me, from some of them she does have a rather sweet expression.  She's also one of the now two stock dolls in my collection who has a name.  From now on, she's Patsy.  Mostly because Patsy Cline came on as I was finishing up the restringing, and she looks like a Patsy to me.