I am new to collecting the Chatty Cathy doll, what would you suggest I buy. Ok my standard answer is... First of all do you If you want an original Chatty Cathy I would suggest a Hard Face blonde pigtail doll with a #5 body. There are many of them out there and they are Also you should know that a lot of the short haired bob dolls can have a lot of graying on the face some more than others. Look closely at her
want an Original Chatty Cathy (made from 1950-1965) or would you want a remake? The remakes (1998 remakes by Mattel) are almost always a
sure thing to buy, meaning you cannot go wrong on buying the doll because they all still do talk and as long as you are not paying to much for her she
is a good buy. $50 dollars with a box is a steal, $125 with a box is still a good price (as of this year 2009). I would not pay much more than that for
her unless she has brown eyes or is a Holiday Chatty (brunette with brown eyes).
almost always fixable. Plus they are very pretty dolls. I sell them on this site repaired to talk again.
and brunettes (brown hair) cheaper but they only say 11 phrases. The blonde pigtail is inexpensive and she talks better, saying 18 phrases with a #5
body plus she is a very pretty doll. All Chatty Cathy dolls keep their value and will only go up in value as the years go on. When buying one look at
her as not only a beautiful doll but also as an investment. Also don't just buy any doll just because she talks or still talks or she has pretty clothes on
or you just love how her hair is done. Buy the doll for her face and body (with no hair cuts) and always look closely at the face. Look for even eyes,
straight lashes, the color of the freckles, brows and lips, also the overall face color. Look for bad graying or very pink faces. Tidbit: On the soft
face bobs, If you see a doll that has a very, very pink face, so pink that if compared to another doll it looks a bit too pink, that means the dolls face
has had a restore treatment. Explanation of this treatment is below under "tidbits" Face.
pictures you can see it by pictures alone. Most soft face bobs will have some graying but some are really bad. Read more about graying in tidbits
below. If you don't mind the graying of the face, freckles and brows on the short haired bob dolls, then buy the doll. Plus she is a doll you can get
much, much cheaper than any other. Also you could treat the face yourself if you don't mind the time it takes, just do not pay a lot of money for a
doll with a bad gray face. Again don't just buy the doll because you just love the clothes she has on or the way the hair is styled, her clothes and her
hairstyle add nothing to the value of the doll itself. If you are buying one with real fancy clothes remember those clothes cost and that cost is tacked
on to the price of the doll. Not only for the clothes but the cost of the shipping the seller paid to have those clothes shipped. Everything on these
dolls cost money. From the way the hair is styled to the shoes and socks she is wearing to the ribbons in her hair. Just remember you're buying the
candy not the wrapper.
anyones word for it! Nobody knows for sure about these dolls. In all the years I have been doing this you would think I would of have seen
everything that is out there (I have bought hundreds of Chatty Cathy dolls and have had my hands on more, not to mention the hundreds I read
about on Ebay) but the fact is I haven't seen them all. Plus I repair these dolls so I know the doll from top to bottom, inside out and I have been
asked every question there is about this doll and the doll will still surprise me. So if you have a doll that has different eyes, shorter legs, different hair,
foreign talking, English speaking. Don't take another persons word that she isn't for real! But don't be fooled either, just used your best judgment
and ask around not using just one source for your information on her and that goes for her value too. Ask, Ask, Ask... because NOBODY knows
for sure.I Noticed The Dolls Have Different Numbered Bodies, Why? Click Here "How To Tell What Body To Buy Before You Buy"Price of the doll. Some people do not care what they pay for a doll and there are some that will not stop until they can say they got the best
price. I price my dolls first by her head, then her body and then by her limbs. I also cater my market to the seasoned collector because reputation in
this business is very important to me. I have a good reputation for selling nice dolls at fair prices. I do not over inflate my price because I am selling
to a non collector "meaning the not so informed person". Nor, do I up her price because of how I did her hair. In fact I will sell you the doll with or
without the clothes it's up to you. But you should know the amount of money I take off her price for clothes will never be the amount of money I
paid for her clothes. In other words her clothes are worth more on the doll then buying her without clothes. That is because if you buy the doll
without clothes that means I have another outfit I have to sell or find another doll to use that outfit on. I am trying to change this to benifit you and me
but it is real hard to know what people want a doll dressed in, it's almost impossible to know what you want when it comes to clothes. So I do take
a lot of hits on clothes. Some I just give away, most I price at my cost or lower if you buy the doll dressed. I want your business, I want you to be
happy with the doll and I want you to come back and buy from me again! I can't get what I want if I over price my dolls and the clothes they have
on Click Here for a Price List "Value List of the Chatty Cathy doll". TidBit wait until after the holidays to buy a doll they are always cheaper!I Had My Doll Repaired But She Still Does Not Talk Very Good, Why? Click Here "All about her Voice"O-rings? They are an odd size so they are very hard to find. Email me I have them. Something Else I am going to mention here. I don't know
about those O-rings, I do not know how long they will last in the doll. I do know that after 50 years most of the O-rings have gone bad. So your
guess is as good as mine on how long they will last. But there are dolls that still work after 50 years. O-rings Made Of? This is such a complicated question that I am putting this link on my page so you can read for yourself if this is something that
concerns you. Click Here http://www.sealingspecialties.com/materials.htm Also it's really not how long it will last meaning "breaking
down/deteriorate it's mainly how long it will take to stretch out of shape. They are like all belts on anything you buy that has a belt. Chances are it
will stretch out of shape before it breaks down. The doll will begin to talk too fast or too slow. As far as what it is made out of does not make a
difference at all. How long it will take to "disintegrate" Nobody knows that! It's the environment that determans how long something will last.
Meaning, boxed up and no air they might last forever, out in the eliments exposed to dampness, dryness, heat and cold will shorten the life of an
o-ring I am sure. But there are dolls that still work after 50 years. So to tell you how long it will take to "disintegrate" is a question I cannot answer.Pull String How Long Will She Talk? I have tested the number of pulls you will get before the string breaks. I have tested this more than
once. You will get at the least 200 to 300 pulls and on some and as much as 400 to 500 pulls (maybe more) before the string will break on others.
Chances are the plastic parts will break in her first or the record will wear out. Remember this is her second time around, the doll has already been
played with so her record is used. Just don't get too carried away pulling her string and she will last for years. Maybe forever who knows after all
some are still talking today and the dolls are 50 years old. Yes, I leave a bit of the string hanging that is because I want to make sure my
knot does not come apart or loosen. I want to be able to catch the string if it should loosen up before it is lost inside the doll. It will be
up to the buyer to cut that extra string off if it bothers them. Or just wrap it around the pull ring and secure with a bit of glue.Guarantee On My Dolls. I cannot guarantee something that is so old and so fragile. Nobody can or does, however I will will take the doll
back if you are unhappy with her. For ANY reason within the first 10 days Yes, I can re-repair any doll I sold you. But I will not re-repair any doll
that was repaired by someone else.Glue or Chemicals? Glue has to be used in the inside of the doll for things like gluing the record back on to the disk. The chemicals you read
about are nothing more than a solvent that melts the plastic a bit so the dolls seams can be put back together without gaps. Meaning the plastic melts
a bit so the two sides are then welded together. Can I Repair My Own Doll and Can You Help Me Repair Her? Yes and Yes, A few years ago I made a few pages on repairing
the Chatty Cathy doll but since I do not want to drum myself out of business all together, I keep those pages hidden from the public. But if you have
started repairing your doll and just cannot figure it out Email me and I will give you access to those pages free of charge. But they are for the #3, 4
and 5 body. Not for the closed voice box.How Hard is it To Repair A Chatty Cathy doll? That depends on her body. 3,4 and 5 are easy to repair but 0,1,2 are not. The early
dolls all have closed voice boxes, meaning even if you get the body open the voice box inside her body is closed and GLUED shut and can be next
to impossible to open without damage to the box itself. At times I do get lucky and I can get it to pop open but most of the time I buy 2 dolls to fix
one. Meaning I have to cut the whole voice box out of the body. Destroy it on one doll cutting the box itself and on the other doll destroying the
body to get the voice box out whole to use in the first body. Plus once the voice box is out of the body, I can open it and repair it but I bet out of
every 2 only one is fixable. This is the reason you do not see very many of these dolls repaired. Plus once they are repaired they never talk very
loud and the record can be scratched up really bad. It cost me more in time and money to repair one of these dolls than it does any other and yet
she never sells for very much Unless she is a Prototype. The Neck Ring is Broke Can I save My Doll? Much will depend on if she has a solid neck ring or an open one. The solid neck ring can
be fixed by adding a round stiff piece of plastic to the top of the neck and welding it on the flat suface (write me for details). Now the open neck ring
can be fixed but the body just isn't worth the trouble. Now if the doll has already been repaired to talk again you might want to try to fix it. But if
you have a non talker, then you cannot be sure that body can be repaired. Plus one out of every two #0-3 is not repairable. You are much better
off to buy another body for your doll. Let me explain... because the neck ring on the early dolls body comes with what I call an open neck ring and
unless you know what you are doing that neck ring will and can break very, very, easy when taking the head off the doll. Once that neck ring is
broken off and unless it is just a small break the head will never be right on that doll again. Meaning, once it is broken and someone goes to repair it,
unless it is repaired in a way where the plastic is welded/melted back together it will just break again and if you try to use a replacement from another
doll the head will not set straight on the doll, it will have a co*cked look because the head has to sit perfectly on and under that ring. I have seen
where people have taken a round piece of plastic and glued it on the opening. Now that will work, but it will not last very long and it will break again
if the head is turned too much. There just isn't enough suface to glue the plasic to. This is just one example of the ways people repair the dolls neck
ring. I do not repair neck rings unless I am sure it will be as good as new and will not break again. What I am saying here is, there are a lot of these
things like neck rings that can be repaired on these dolls but repaired to what point I ask? I normally just trash the body of doll with broken neck
rings.He/She is new at restoring the doll should I trust them? Your guess is as good as mine. A lot of people repairing the Chatty Cathy
doll may do it maybe 6 months to a year but once they find out that all dolls cannot be repaired and how much time they are putting into the doll they
usually give it up and then try to sell all their junk doll parts to other unsuspecting new restore people. Like used records... don't buy them ever!
Chances are that record skips or is so scratched up it's worthless. Or these people that claim they only use Chatty Cathy parts in the dolls they
repair. Those are just words to make them sound better. You can't buy new records and you can't buy new anything for these dolls, you have to
use what the doll came with. So when they say "I only used Chatty Cathy parts" well those are the only parts they could use. It's a ridiculous
statement and a statement to get as much money as possible out of the doll fooling the public into thinking they know what they are doing. I call them
fly by night restore people, they buy a doll and quickly repair her in their spare evening hours. Then turn around and sell her fooling the buyer into
thinking they actually know what they are doing and the buyer winds up with a doll that talks funny skipping words or her face is so gray and
discolored that she looks sick or her eyes will not close or the stains on her body are covered with clothes or her limbs are so white she looks like a
ghost and I could go on and on. Just be careful when buying one of these dolls. Ask for pictures and details, naked body pictures and close-up
pictures of the face.....Ask, Ask, Ask and if they get mad at you for asking, then don't buy the doll.I wanted to send the doll back but felt bad about it or the seller said no returns: NEVER BE AFRAID TO SEND THE
DOLL BACK!!!!! Maybe if more people did we wouldn't have so many bad dolls out there and I don't care if they say I know nothing about this
doll, she is being sold as is... if it's junk and even you can see it's junk when she gets there then send it back. Or if her eyes have been changed or her
hair is cut, send her back. Or she has been restored and she doesn't talk right, or her seams were hidden with foggy pictures, or No naked body
pictures at all, or little if any detail in her description, or not very many pictures you can send the doll back. Every one of these are good reasons to
send the doll back and also good reasons not to buy it in the first place. All of those things are what people will hid from view. I have said it before
and will say it again do not be fooled into thinking the person selling the doll has not looked over that doll good and knows exactly what they are
selling and hoping to get for the doll. Especially if she has been repaired to talk again. Now some people really don't know but those people will
take the doll back without question or trouble. Just do your homework before you buy always!Hair Shampoo? Yes use human shampoo on her hair It will not hurt her hair! ... The question is how do you want your Chatty to smell?
Because if you use other house hold products like dish soaps/ laundry soaps. She will smell like that too. Her head is made of rubber and rubber
picks-up smells. So think twice about what you wash her hair in. Human shampoos and conditioners are very mild they have to be! They are used
on Humans plus they smell so much better.Eye Replacement? Read all about her eyes Click Here (this link will take you to another page)Other Restorers? I have never bought a doll from any of them and they have never bought a doll from me, so I do not know their work and they
do not know mine. I don't like to brag but I Am The Best! LOLOther Web Sites? I have seen a few web sites that sell Chatty Cathy dolls but I have also seen them come and go. I have had this site since
1998 the name has changed and I now sell Chatty Cathy dolls but I was here 13 years ago and will be here for as many years to come. I really do
not have an opinion on the other sites except "they sell", "I sell" and "I still do have the best prices" and the best dolls! naa naa, na naa naa.... LOL.
That's for those other sites.
,
Fixing Other Peoples Dolls? I do not fix other peoples dolls. Because as a restorer I know that there is NO WAY for me to tell you for
sure if your doll can be fixed, meaning there could be so many things wrong inside your doll that she can't be fixed or isn't worth fixing. Unless of
course you are willing to pay a small mint to have her fixed. What I will do is this.... If you find a doll on ebay that doesn't talk and you want her, I
will buy the doll for you. After she is shipped to me I will open her to see what damage is inside (if they can't talk, there is damage, how bad is the
question). Then tell you if she can or can't be fixed. This way you are not out any money and it will be your option to buy her from me once fixed.
Also this way you are not out any money and I do not have to worry about taking your money to fix a doll I do not know for sure if she can or can't
be fixed. Plus if she can't be fixed I can always use her for parts and if she can and you have changed your mind I can always resell her. My charge
to you for fixing her would be the cost of the doll, shipping cost plus a reasonable cost to fix her which never is much, I'm not in this business to rip
you off, I am a fair dealer.How long have you been restoring dolls and do you sell them on Ebay? I have been restoring dolls forever, I just never started
selling them until ebay and I now sell them on this site. It's easier and cheaper for me to sell my dolls off my site and because of that I can offer the
doll at a much lower price than selling them on ebay. Ebay has many, many fees that have to be paid when selling a doll and it's because of those
fees, that I do not have to pay, that I can offer the doll at a much lower price. Plus I now Only restore the Chatty Cathy doll. My plans for now and
in the future are to keep buying, repairing and selling Chatty Cathy dolls. As long as there is a Chatty Cathy doll out there that needs my special
touch I will always be here. "My Story" Click Here. My story tells of my first Chatty Cathy doll and of how and why I got started. PS: I am not a member of any club and I do not know all these chatty cathy people you will see selling and buying these dolls. I'm just one "me" and
I can say with confidence you will not find a more knowledgeable repair person on the Chatty Cathy doll. Plus if you buy a doll from me you will see
and read about the whole doll not just about her pretty face and clothes but her whole body in a detailed description. NO hidden surprises and NO
hidden shipping charges. What you see and read is what you will get. She will be packed in a new box and her body protect from being miss
handled or crushed while in the mail. When she arrives at your door you will open her box with the confidents and knowledge you are getting "more"
than what you paid for because she will be even more beautiful in person. Plus remember ALL my Vintage dolls are returnable.Note: of interest for some... On this site, NO names and NO site names will ever be used! Your privacy is my top priority. No Feedback and No
Blogs. If you have bought a doll from me and want her picture removed from the sold page please let me know and I will remove it with no
questions asked. Again your privacy is my top priority!.......Scroll Down for a lot more information, Tidbits you should know, The Canadian doll, Chatty Cathy's Body, What
she says and "About Me on how I repair my dolls".......
Things about a Chatty Cathy you should know if you own or are planning on buying these dolls. Pull-String: Just make sure when you are buying a soft face bob you look for graying on her face. As a rule I never buy gray faced dolls and if I do I am buying As far as the gray or silver eye brows on those early soft heads, I think they were made that way because even after a treatment for graying on the The cheeks are not a problem at all because you can add blush easly to her cheeks (I don't). I always try to find a doll with good lip color because it I don't ever worry if the doll has teeth or not if she is a soft head they can easily be replaced, on a hard head too but it is harder to replace the teeth And to tell you the truth, out of every 3 dolls I buy, only one is what the seller said it was. I rarely get lucky on a doll. It is a rare find for me to buy a
a deeper groove on the record and as a result you will then have trouble getting her to stop saying that phrase over and over again.. If she starts
doing this just stop her from talking after you pull her string half way out, then pull again and she should say something else the next time. Also please
do not pull that string so hard that you could pull those plastic parts apart inside the doll. You need to pull steady and with her in an upright position
or slightly tipped backwards or forwards. God, don't start pulling her string upside down and sideways that is just crazy and you could break the
doll. Yes, I am sure it was pulled all different ways when the doll was new but you have to remember these dolls are old and the plastic is starting to
break down so you have to be careful. (tidbit: do you know plastic starts to break down after 50 years? yup, I looked it up)Hair: Yes, use human shampoos and conditioners. Do not use curling irons on it... Geeze I have run into so many dolls that people do this. Curling
irons will singe the dolls hair. Also think twice about dumping her head in boiling water if you do this it will take whatever factory curl that is left in
her hair, out. Curl her hair with plain old rollers that you can buy at K-mart for a few dollars and use a curling gel. Then just let her hair dry over
night or set her under one of those old fashion portable hair dryers. You can use hair spray to make the curl stay but hair spray will and does pick up
odor from anywhere the doll is sitting and dust and what ever else is in that room. When selling my dolls I have changed the way I sell because of
this. If you set her hair then take pictures, she is nice and fresh but if she doesn't sell and in a month or so her hair will start to take on all kinds of
smells and if you don't use hair spray the hair will start to loose it's curl. So if you are a seller remember this because people that buy these dolls think
their hair is magically set that way and will stay that way forever and ever. This is just not true... If you are a buyer please remember you will have to
wash her hair and clothes at least once a month to keep her smelling clean or put her under glass or box her up to keep her clean. I now set her hair,
style it then sell her, then wash and style her hair again before I ship her out. The one time I didn't wash her hair a lady complained to me about the
way she smelled and the one time I didn't style her hair right another lady complained to me about her hair being messy even after I washed it but
didn't fix it just perfect. It's so hard to keep everyone happy and it's a pain to keep washing, then set and style the dolls hair. So I am changing my
policy to get $10 off the cost of the doll if they will take her without her hair fixed. Washing the dolls body clothes and hair is not the problem it's all
that hair styling that takes time on these old dolls. And to think I wanted my first Chatty Cathy doll because she was the first doll I would have that I
could wash, set and curl her hair.... boy oh boy who knew!!!Face: When you buy a doll look at her face color not only her eyes, lips, brows, freckles but the color of her face in general. A lot of the soft face
bobs have bad gray faces and when you get her you will see the difference in her face to the top of her head. The top of the head will look more
pink. It's the best way to tell how much graying she has. Some will only have it on the face like an oblong circle of gray, only on the face where the
hair hasn't covered the skin for many years. A lot of them, if they have long bangs, all you have to do is, push up those bangs to see it, their
foreheads will look more pinkish. Some aren't to bad and others are real bad. Also you should know that most soft face Chatty Cathy's will have
just a bit of graying from age even Canadian dolls. On some it's hard to see and like I said on others, there is no mistaking it. That gray will not
come out without a treatment done to her face. Plus after treatment the dolls face will look almost too pink. What is done to the face is a layer of
#10 cream is put all over the face. The head is left that way for days or weeks washed off and more put back on to get the spots the first treatment
missed. It takes a very long time and is costly. Plus I personally do not like the look it leaves. What is happening is the face is getting bleached out,
is the best way to explain it. It's not turning white it's turning pink. I think too pink. It's not only taking the gray out it is also taking some of the
natural color out. Just like it does to the limbs. Plus if the dolls whole head isn't done then the top of the head looks darker than the face. But if the
dolls head is so gray she is ugly, why not give it a try rather than get rid of the doll, that is if you don't mind the look after done. I have done it to a
few old heads and I just do not like what it does. So I do not bother with it. I can buy a new head cheaper and it's less time consuming than taking
the time to treat her whole head. But you can try it if you have a doll you just love. Only do it on soft heads and PLEASE remember you will be
taking the chance of destroying her head. It is possible she will come out all messed up with more discoloration then she ever had. You will have to
buy #10 pimple cream (sorry no names of products here).
them for their limbs and I toss out the head because treating it takes too much time and I personally do not like that overly pink color it gives the dolls
head. So basically that head is worthless to me.
whole head, that gray color on the freckles and brows is still gray. Plus if you compare some of those dolls to the 1998 remakes you will see almost
the same color on the eyebrows and freckles.
is sooooooooo hard for me to add lip color to her lips, I am sure you would be better at it than me!! As a rule I never add make-up of any kind
because it takes time and I just can-not get it right!!!
on a hard head but then again I rarely run into a hard head that doesn't have teeth.
another story. Sometimes I think why do I always try and get a soft head piggy? They really aren't any prettier than a hard head doll but they are
much easier to work with when repairing a doll. They are somewhat rare but you can get one at a pretty good price. I don't think they are prettier
but some people might think so. The only good reason I try to buy the soft head piggy is because it sells better than a hard head. Oh I suppose you
can re-root a soft head easier too but Mattel did such a good job on these Chatty Cathy's hair that a chatty can have up to 40 plugs missing and she
still will have a good head of hair. If you are looking for a soft head piggy the best thing to do is ask the seller if she is a soft head. I always think I
can tell by just looking at the picture but I have been fooled with these dolls, so I just ask.Eyes: There are blue decal, brown decal, blue and blue/green glassine and I have seen blue and green pinwheel eyes in the American doll and I am still unsure about these eyes. Click here for my eye page on both American and Canadian Dolls. Most of the American dolls, hard and soft head dolls have
blue decal. Brown are found in the brunettes bobs, Paige Boy and the pigtail dolls. Brown is also found in the blonde bobs. I have only seen 2
blonde pigtail dolls with brown eyes. They are as rare as is the brown eyes found in the Paige Boy or the pigtail brunette dolls. Also the Paige Boy
dolls are all hard head dolls and most have chatty measles, so it is a rare find to find a brown eyed Paige Boy with a good spotless head. Blue decal
is the most common, then brown decal, then glassine, then it would be the oh so rare pinwheel eyes. Click here for my eye page. If you are worried
the eyes have been changed, take the head off and look at the back of the eye. Most of the eyes will have a round shape or have a round/flat shape
with no cuts, and the rubber of the eye back is molded to the head. Look and compare your doll to other Chatty Cathy dolls you can see a
difference if the eyes are changed. For more information on eyes click here.Limbs and fading legs and arms: There are many different color limbs. #0 grill will always have the darker brown limbs and so will #1 but
she can also come with pink limbs.. #2 can have them too but most of the time she will come with white limbs. #3 grill will almost always have
those bad faded white limbs. #4 & 5 grills will have a more skin tone in color and some will have a nice peachy color. Limbs are very hard to match
up. The skin tone color is the hardest to match because the shades are so many and different from one doll to the next. Plus some are smaller than
others. Click here for a page devoted to nothing but Chatty Cathy limbs both on the American and Canadian dolls.The really bad white arms and legs almost always come on the #3. It amasses me how many people try to hide those arms and legs when selling a
doll. They are bad and I have tried dying them like most restorers do one time or another without much luck and I only made them worse, some
restorers do a pretty good job dying the limbs and most will tell you if they have dyed the limbs. A lot of the time dyed limbs are dyed for the black
Chatty Cathy doll. That is because It's next to impossible to go out and buy replacement limbs for that doll.Chatty white spots "Measles": You will see the chatty white spots on the hard face number ???-2 dolls and #3. The #?/2 and 3 body are
pictured on my Body Page Click Here. They are in the face skin of the dolls that are Paige Boy dolls not the pigtail doll. The hair is cut in a Paige
Boy style meaning a hair cut and is slightly longer than a bob and sometimes shoulder length with no back part. Those measles Can Not be
removed! they go all the way through the skin, they are not just surface spots. They are also on a lot of the Chatty Baby dolls If you would like to know what this is click here.A Franken Chatty: Oh boy I just love these dolls, my god people will try just about anything to try and sell a doll. Don't be fooled if it doesn't
look like a chatty cathy then you can bet your last dollar it isn't, well part of it might be. I have seen chatty cathy heads on other doll bodies and
chatty bodies with another doll arms and legs. There is a whole mix of Franken chatties out there, watch out!Stains on her legs and arms: Ok here is one... I have asked and asked but nobody has a good way to get rid of those red stains. If they are
stained then chances are they are there to stay. Mattel made those red dresses that just did nothing but stain the body of the dolls. Sometimes if the
stain is not too deep you can get it out using #10 pimple cream and there is another home made cream out there that will remove them. I don't
worry much about those red stains on the top of the arms because they are easily covered with clothes or staining at the top of her legs again easily
covered with clothes. Stains on her face are like a Nightmare to me!! Not to say I have never got them out but they still are a Nightmare to me. I
have not found a really good way to remove stains and I have tried everything I can think of. Just to name a few... Nail polish remover, boiling the
part, OXI Clean cleaner, number 10 acne cream (works sometimes), doll cleaner this and that (worthless), bleach, alcohol, red stain remover, iron
out, gas, make-up remover, Pepsi and other cola's as well, you name it I have tried it and melted a few doll parts doing it. So if there is anyone out
there that has the magic secret please TELL ME!! Marker stains are the worse, they seem to penetrate the sink deeper. Plus if you do use a stain
remover be careful because some of them will also remove the color of the skin or leave a white mark around the stain area you are trying to remove.People selling these dolls on Ebay: MOST of the time of things are not disclosed. Everytime I up-date this page and read this I get
madder... I get stuck with so much JUNK!! when buying these dolls... I swear... Why??? ... I guess it could be the person selling IS trying to hide
something but it can also be because they just do not know it can't be removed or restored. Some people think because it's a Chatty Cathy and that
there are a lot of people out there buying and restoring these dolls that all dolls can be fixed or restored back to beauty and that is just "Not True".
Ask any restore person how many times they bought a doll that just turned into a nightmare! So many people think it's easy! It's not easy at all, just
when you think you got her working right something else will break on her. This is also why the people that fix these dolls say right up front "these
dolls are old and I can't be responsible for the doll once it leaves my house". I can't stress this enough "Please Do Not Drop Your Chatty", her parts
are so old and they break easy. If you are thinking about getting into restoring Chatty Cathy dolls, Good Luck! And for God sakes don't just go out
and buy any junk doll you see just because you think you are getting a bargain and please remember the people that are selling these dolls think "Oh
boy I have a Chatty Cathy doll she should bring me a lot of money" and yes there are some sellers that just don't bother to tell everything about the
doll. So ask, ask, ask before you buy and by God don't be afraid to send the doll back! This can be a nerve-racking business because you just
never know whom you are dealing with. I buy and sell so I get it from both ends. For example there are some people out there that when they buy a
doll they want perfection and with a Chatty Chathy doll this just isn't going to be true. In order for me to sell you a perfect doll I would have to buy 3
or 4 dolls and take only the best parts off each doll to make a perfect doll. Yes, I suppose it could be done but why? By the time I did that, I would
have so much money into that doll I would be lucky to get half my money back when I went to sell, not to mention all the time I put into that doll.
Chatty Cathy doll that is nicer than what the seller said it was but then again I do not buy restored dolls, I buy dolls that need to be restored so I do
wind up with a lot of JUNK! Also when buying a Canadian doll don't be fooled into thinking this guy doesn't know what he or she is selling because
believe me they do. Well, maybe a few don't but there are so many Canadian collectors out there that if he or she doesn't know what he or she is
selling I am sure one of the Canadian collectors will tell them. Everyone wants to get a great bargain but nobody wants to see another person getting
ripped off on selling a really nice doll and getting nothing for her.. By the way, you should know there are a few very honest people out there and
some very dishonest people out there. I fall into the very honest category from doll to clothes to price.
keep her under glass!! When buying one watch out for dyed limbs and bodies. Also I have only had a few of them and I do not like repairing them
so I am unwilling to comment on the repair of these dolls. ASK the seller he or she will know about the body and limbs..Chatty Clothes new and old: Be careful because I have bought those red dresses that someone out of peer greed sent me a red dress that
had red marked or what ever on the red velvet to cover up the discoloration and if I hadn't washed it first I would have got that red dye on my doll.
Just be careful when buying any clothes for chatty wash them before you put them on the doll, just like you would do when buying clothes for
yourself. Also the new remake in the red pinafore and red jumpsuit are NOT color fast meaning when you go to wash them the dye in them will turn
your water bright red!! That is how much dye is in those new clothes. Wash them in cold water and be so very careful as to make sure it is dry
before you put it on the doll because it will stain her.. I wont dress my dolls in those red clothes anymore at all, I ask why take a chance?Lastly: Don't be fooled into thinking it is so easy to fix these dolls because it isn't. If you are going to do this try fixing an old doll that you don't
much like because chances are you are NOT going to get it right the first time and it will take hours if not days to fix her and watch out when you
read "I'm sure this can be easily repaired", because it can't!
Good Luck!
I have repaired a few hundred of these dolls and as long as I know what the grill/speaker looks like I will know what is inside her body. I always go PS: 9 times out of ten she will come with a red paper speaker #5 Body/grill, always says 18 phrases.
by the grill. The grill is the best why to tell what you are buying. The number or how they list them on ebay or how I list them really doesn't matter,
what matters is what is inside that doll.#0, #1, #2 and #? Bodies/grill, all 3 say 11 phrases. All the same inside, having a closed voice box. But number ??? has a white plastic speaker
where #0, #1 and #2 have a black paper speaker. But all four are made almost the same and are the hardest to fix. The black paper speaker is not
very loud and it can get bent and ripped easily. The plastic white speaker inside number ??? is a much better speaker and it is also glued to the doll
unlike the black paper speaker that is attached to the moving needle. Also I list #??? as a #2 on my site and ebay. #0 and #1 alway come with a soft
head, #2 can come with a soft head but I have also seen her with a hard head. I just seen this body come with a black hard head and have seen this
body come with other hard heads as well. (#? body will a lot of the time come with a hard head with a Paige Boy hair cut, which is also the
hard head that you will see small pea size white spots or "chatty measles") #2 ??? is also the one I see coming out of Canada a lot.
(Canadian Prototype? Click Here)#3 Body/grill, says 11 phrases. This doll is the very worse one to fix. She can be fixed but I bet 80% of the time when I have gone to fix her, she
has so much wrong with her she is not worth repairing. She is such a bad doll for restore that I have stopped buying her. The reason is because her
record player is open and it has a red or black paper speaker, mostly red. With her having a combination of an open voice box and a paper
speaker, has made this doll a bad one for repair. The red paper speaker is almost always bent and oily, the black one is better but not by much.
Even if you manage to remove the speaker to replace it, it is very hard to get the speaker back on. That glob of wax that holds the speaker on is
some kind of very hard wax. If you are lucky and manage to get one where the speaker isn't bent, then 9 times out of ten when you go to play the
record it will have a loud electrifying sound in the background if it is the red speaker. Kind of like the noise of an electric record player with a
scratched up record playing. (very hard to explain). She can also come with the really bad faded white arms and legs. She has an open neck ring
and a lot of the time and can come with a hard head with a Paige Boy hair cut (Paige Boy is the doll notorious for white spots on her face called
Chatty Measles). She can come with a soft face bob head and I have seen her with both hard and soft face pigtails. She says 11 phrases and was
still being made in 1962. Also Mattel went to 18 phases in 1962 along with a better record player. But unfortunately she never got the better
record, she always has a black record that only says 11 different phrases.Also with this doll, a lot of the time, will come with a hard head, what that means is ... this dolls body neck ring is the open kind a lot of the time, just like
numbers 0-2, meaning it is very hard to get a hard head off without breaking the neck ring. It is easier to put the head back on, than to take it off this body.
0-2 almost always comes with a soft head so the open neck ring isn't a problem because a soft head is very easy to work with. In all the dolls I have fixed
this is the one I have the most trouble with. It can be fixed but you have to so very careful with her that it can be nerve racking. To me she is the most
fragile doll of all the Chatty Cathy dolls. Plus once repaired she will never be a very loud talker. (this doll has also been called the transitional doll because it
the first open voice box)
the number 5's. The reason is, in almost all number 4's the needle has a spring on it to push the needle down onto the record. I think when Mattel
added the 4 ventilation holes to make her talk better they didn't need the duel spring, meaning a spring on the needle and a spring in the speaker.
One spring was good enough. Plus by removing that spring pressed need helped stop the needle from damaging the record. She is a very
dependable doll, she can almost always be fixed. In fact and in comparison to the number of dolls I have repaired, I have had more luck fixing this
doll than fixing the number 5. (this doll is the first one to say 18 different phrases, her record is dated 1962 . She can be found with a
record dated 1961 and says 11 phrases maybe 0.5% of the time).
is a much better record than the black one. The doll can come with the orange or white record and that record is made better and less likely to get
scratched up like the black one does. She can also come with the spring pressed needle and with the black record and same housing that is in the
#4. I see this mostly in blonde pigtail dolls. What I don't like about the number 5 is the needle isn't spring pressed and I am sure Mattel took the
spring out/off because when they made the better record and added the ventilation holes just the one spring (spring in the speaker) was enough.
Plus the needle was less likely to damage the record by removing that spring on the needle. This is also when the better harder orange record was
introduced, it helped stop the needle from damaging the record. But after 50 years, the plastic is breaking down where the needle is attached to the
number 5's body. Unlike the #4's spring pressed needle. That plastic needle ring and post have a tendency to break off in this #5 body and once it
does, you might as well just put the doll aside or put a whole new phonograph in her because it is close to impossible to fix that plastic needle ring.
But she is a very good talker when everything is working right and she has the better orange record 30% of the time. Just remember when buying a
doll with a #5 body doesn't mean she will have a #5 player with the better orange record inside her body. A lot of the blondes have the #4
player/phonograph inside them with the black record. To find a doll with the white record is rare, I have only found a handful of white records in
literately 4 or 5 hundred dolls.(Brunettes and Redheads can also have the #4 record player inside the body as well as the black record) Her record is 65% of the time
black, maybe 30% of the time orange and maybe 5% white).
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