Why? Ah ... that's for Part 2.
Here are some of the results from my search for "Mattel glue head dolls:"
Charles' post from 2009 about the puzzling presence of glue in late 2008 - forward Mattel dolls.
Two collectors' findings among their Indonesia-produced Monster High dolls (mature language and content).
Mike's original 2012 video and updated 2013 one.
Sandy Neeson's Change.org petition from 3 years ago that netted 637 supporters before the petition closed.
BlackKitty's fixes for "g(l)oohaired dolls" 2013
Mrs. Anderson 2014 post on Mattel's greasy hair problem.
Here are some dolls I have happily re-bodied. They had NO glue in their heads.
22 comments:
Oh, I hate that glue! I did get a couple of the new Fashionitas and Night Glam Style dolls and was pleasantly surprised that some of them did not have glue in the heads. Unfortunately, some of them did though. You can really see a difference in them and the heads with the glue are so hard. I do not think I would let a young child play with a doll that has the glue. I think the seeping glue would represent a health hazard for them! Get a clue about the glue Mattel!
Thank you for shedding light on this. For the short hairstyles, I leave well enough alone because I want to maintain the sharp quality of the look. But I do have a doll whose hairdo I would like to soften and I noticed that washing with soap and water or applying nail polish remover did not work. So I've been trying to work around the glue thing, but may give some of these other methods a try. Thanks for sharing the links.
Hi Phyllis and April_n_Paris!
@Phyllis - I'm glad that ALL of the new dolls are NOT so afflicted - glue-heads. I wouldn't give such a doll to a small child either.
@April_n_Paris - You're welcome ;-) Glad to share what remedies others have found. Their information is worth sharing again. I hope the tips work for you!
I remember having a talk with Rin of Cyano Barbie Dolls about this problem. There might be a post on that blog about it. You run into it a lot if you do reroots!
Hi D7ana, I think I never found this greasy glue in Barbie's hair. But I hated the glue they used on the 2012 Mermaid doll. That one was stiff! Simply awful...
I hate glue. Lately i bought two fashionistas. The read head Kayla/Lea doesn't have the glue. But the blonde has a lot of - her head is hard like stone. Of last 6 Monster high dolls every one of them has a glue. Even Clawd!
On Polish dosll forum, we even have topics about glue in the doll heads.
http://www.dollsforum.propl.eu/post75150.html?hilit=klej#p75150
http://www.dollsforum.propl.eu/post74329.html?hilit=klej#p74329
For me for short time works potato flour. However after summer i always have to repeat the process. (Here is tutorial, unfortunately in polish http://pariflora.blogspot.com/2014/01/tuste-wosy-u-lalki-jak-temu-zaradzic.html)
When i lately have straightened hair of Draculaura with boiling water, her head became soft, so i am wondering if it possible to squezze the glue from he head like lemon, afer warming it up. I haven't try it yet because i am afraid about losing her hair.
Great idea! I see people mentioning the glue problem now and then, but not that many posts dedicated specifically to the subject, so it's useful to have a directory of sorts. I actually found the dollstuff post just recently - interesting that the Start of Glue can be pinpointed to within a few months.
Trying to think of links... there's the Russian chemist's forum thread that BlackKitty linked to in her post that might merit its own link here: http://forum.dollplanet.ru/viewtopic.php?p=2859840#p2859840
Also, Kattis of kattisdolls.net has mentioned the problem several times in her blog, for example in this post:
http://kattisdockor.bloggplatsen.se/2014/03/17/10605925-yaketiyak-eller-ickytyick/ (For other instances, search for "lim".)
Sorry for forcing you to deal with Google's wonky translator, but I guess this proves that Mattel's glue is a problem of international proportions! (I'm only half joking...)
Hi and thanks, Ms. Leo, Billa's Dolls and Fashions, Natalia Tadra, and Anderson's All-Purpose!
@Ms. Leo - Yay, you! You're right about Rin's Cyano site.
I often rebody, but I have yet to reroot. That calls for way more patience than I have ;-)
@Billa's Dolls and Fashions - I'm glad you haven't encountered the worst of the dreaded glue heads.
@Natalia Tadra - Thanks for sharing the Polish websites and your tips. My plan is to create a Pinterest board showing these web pages. I see an email address for the blog, but I am not sure how I would ask permission to share the forum's information. Do you belong to that forum? Would they allow their findings to be posted to a mostly English-language Pinterest board? Thanks for any feedback on these questions ;-)
I would submit the original post address (in Polish) and allow Pinterest readers to either translate the text or to put the text/website through an online translator. Perhaps someone will become inspired to learn the Polish language ;-)
@Anderson's All-Purpose - Wonderful fun when our ideas inspire more ideas, yes? Ah the power of the WWW and the Internet!
OMG - Katti of Kattis Dolls has a blog? Pause to shriek! Yay! I can ask her if I can share that blog post on a Pinterest board.
I'll have to figure out how to get permission to post from the Russian forum. Or maybe I can share a Google search link ....
I think it's exciting that the gluehead dolls are an international problem. Maybe Mattel will halt the bad practice. We can hope, right ;-)
Thank you for this post. I'll spread the word on Facebook too and I'll follow the Pinterest board right after I type this message.
The Russian forum allows sharing and pinning links as long as you just link to it and don't republish the posts. Pinning is encouraged, they even put that convenient "Pin it" button over images. To republish a post, you have to get written permission from the author of the post and the forum administrators. If you need that, I'll help you.
Hi BlackKitty! You're welcome. Thanks for spreading the word on Facebook and for following the Pinterst board.
I would appreciate your help getting written permission from the author of the post for the Russian forum. Would you be interested in joining the #NoMoreGlueHeads Pinterest board? I'll send you an invitation.
I asked the adinistration of forum about permission. We will see:)
I've gotten a few thrift store dolls with greasy hair, but I don't play enough with the new ones to know what is going on with them.
Hi Natalia Tadra and Muff!
@Natalia Tadra - Oh, thanks for asking them. I look forward to their response. Even if they refuse but start their own Pinterest board on the topic, that would build the topic. Let me know if you would be interested in joining the #NoMoreGlueHeads Pinterest board. If you are on Pinterest, I will send you an invitation.
@Muff - Thanks for your feedback. If you've posted about your experience with greasy-haired dolls, I'd love to add that post to the board. I have the first Katniss doll, and I think she might be a glue-head. I haven't deboxed her and she is packed so I can't check on her now.
Here's a link on some attempts to remove goop from a doll's hair, but I didn't realize it was glue though, just thought it was some random product.
Hi Muff and THANKS! Yes, that article is perfect. It shows the problem and tells your attempts to rectify it. I've pinned it here.
Administration of the forum gave permission to publish translated content and he link to original topic.
I am on the pinterest and will be very happy to join this group, however i do not use very often this website. At the other side i have some dolls with glue in the head.
Thanks, Natalia Tadra! I've invited you to pin on that board. Would you pin the forum content?
I understand that you may not pin a lot on that board. I would like you to be able to do so when you see something relevant ;-)
Thanks, X, for sharing these photos. The glue-gummy hair looks awful. I've pinned them to the Pinterest board. Please share any new links you encounter ;-)
Yes! No more Glue!!! I also don't like it on the inside when I'm changing bodies. It's just crazy. Thank you for speaking out on this very important topic. It is aggravating and I don't know if the people at Matter actually test their products or more than sitting in a box looking pretty.
Hi Jaye! I was thinking that I wouldn't look forward to glueheads whether I rebody them or not. Ick!
I believe Mattel is aware of the problem. Whether they're willing to act on it, shrug. They do need to recognize and resolve the problem.
From my experience, the glue-head problem (like a lot of doll-related problems, such as hair thickness and joint strength) seems to be mostly luck of the draw-I've had a few dolls with glue heads, but the vast majority of my dolls (even the ones from Indonesia) have had no such problem. I absolutely agree, though-it needs to stop and there has to be a better way.
Hi Amystika18n! I hope I am lucky to find new dolls without glueheads. There should be a way for Mattel to stop this problem.
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