Work In Progress - 1970's Furga "Old Fashioned" Lady Doll, 18 inches tall

I thought I would go ahead and document my "adventures" in restoring a beautiful Italian Furga doll who stands about 18 inches tall, has lovely auburn hair, and gorgeous sherry/brown colored eyes.  If I were to guess, she is from around 1972.  I did know for sure, but memory escapes me and she is not stamped for a date.  She is simply beautiful.  I have seen a few of these dolls around since I bought her, and most of the time they are complete and have their nice curls and intact dresses.  Well, not this poor girl.  I found her for $1 at a flea market, and had never even seen a Furga doll up close before.  I didn't get a good look at the back of her head until I got home with her, but when I saw her lying in a bin with a bunch of other smaller dolls, I knew at once she was from the 1970's, at least.  And she seemed made of sturdy vinyl and hard plastic.  She had leaves stuck in her hair, she was grimy, her face was especially dirty, the sleeves on her dress had been cut :( ... but I picked her up and she opened those big beautiful brown eyes and I nearly gasped.  Potential!  I had no idea what I would do with that shock of wild hair, but I knew I would figure out something.  If it hasn't been obvious from previous posts (which they're haven't been many, so maybe not), I *love* dolls from the 70's.  The bigger, the better.  I like all dolls, for the most part, nearly all vintage toys in general, but dolls from the 70's tend to have so much character, long flowing hair, bigger eyes, more detailed molds, and great style as far as clothing and in general.

So anyway, this is how she looked when I brought her home:

I was a little dismayed to discover that her left leg had a problem, hence the reason it was a bit loose.  The flange that connects to her hip is torn a little more than halfway around.  So, I could be brave and try to glue the flange, which sticks out a bit from the hip, and hope I don't glue her leg to her body, or I could be brave in a different way and attempt to pop the flange out and glue it to the leg separately, which would be great so that I definitely wouldn't get any glue on the body ... however, I would risk losing the flange inside of her body if I don't pull it right and it tears completely, if I'm not careful.  I'm still weighing my options ... I've been fixing up dolls for over 10 years, but I'm not entirely familiar with Furga, and I like to keep things as original as possible.  There are things I am still learning and am nervous about, such as rerooting (I know, I know, I just need to jump in and do it) and plastic repair.  I am pretty decent at vinyl repair, and although plastic shouldn't be that hard, I find that it can be tricky.  And legs make me really nervous, anyway, especially on smaller dolls.  But I'm hoping it won't be too difficult on this bigger girl.

She was given a nice spa treatment ... gently but firmly cleaned around her eyes, being careful not to get water down behind them, since that could lead to trouble on down the road with her sleep eyes.  Her eyes were even more beautiful and brighter when I was done.  For some reason, she has glue on the sides of her head and in her hairline that didn't come off during her first scrub down - I will have to work on this a bit more in the future.  I tamed the hair down, but I will put the curl back in at a later time (it was pretty much gone anyway).  So here she sits on a towel on my bed after this point:

 
The dress has been laundered and is in the process of repairs.  I don't know that I can restore it back to its original state, but for now I thought the sleeves could be hemmed up to be even, at least, and go from there.  So this project is going on the back burner for a while until her leg and dress are fixed and she gets those nice, soft curls back in her hair.  I can't wait for the final result.

1972 Ideal Harmony Dolls

I call these my "Dueling Harmonies." I added these dolls to my collection approximately 10 years ago. Made by Ideal in 1972. Neither have their original guitar and amplifier. The doll on the left has her original sandals, and the velvet cuffs at her wrists are bluish-purple, while the cuffs on the doll on the right are burgundy. The doll on the right is missing her shoes. These dolls stand well on their own, but you have to put their left legs out further to balance, since one leg is longer than the other so they can be posed in a guitar-playing stance. They have light brown hair with pale blonde streaks. They stand 22 inches tall.

I would love to have a working/singing/dancing Harmony. These may work, but I do not have the guitar, amplifier, and record(s) to test them. Either way, I love their 70's look, large set brown eyes, long dresses, and they are among my favorite dolls.

                                             

Unusual - 1993 Blonde Camp Teresa Doll

One of the highlights of my collection - a blonde Teresa with gorgeous green and brown eyes!  Sunlight streaks her hair (the streaking only lasts a few minutes, at most). I found her sans clothes and all alone in an online auction.  She was in excellent condition, with original hairstyle intact.  I redressed her in Mattel Barbie yellow open toe/open heel shoes, a tagged blouse, and untagged (possibly non-Mattel) pants that match everything perfectly.  An outdoor scene sets the perfect light and atmosphere for her photo op!

My Scene Madison

Pictured here is a lovely My Scene Madison doll.  She came to me in a box lot of dolls that had been very very very much loved (read:  highly played with ... battle scars to show it!).  Her feet are chewed.  She had nail polish painted as a swimsuit on much of her body - I successfully removed most of it.  Her hair was quite tangled and it was highly possible she was used as a bath toy from time to time.  I gently coaxed waves back into her hair, which I think is quite lovely.  I cleaned her up and performed a few repairs - I may work more on her chewed feet later, although I am probably limited in what I can accomplish.  I had to super glue half of one foot to keep it from tearing off, and now it looks great and wears a shoe quite well, as can be seen in the picture.  She was a challenge, but well worth the effort!  I redressed her in non-Mattel 11 1/2 inch size doll clothes - I think it gives her a nice Parisian look, all artsy by the street corner, waiting for her favorite poetry cafe to open for the evening so she can listen to some slow, bluesy grooves to the rhythm and soul of the latest artist to grace the stage.

1992 Brunette Totally Hair Barbie Doll

Pictured is a 1992 Brunette Totally Hair Barbie.  I found her rather unexpectedly in one of those random lots of dolls I like to purchase now and then.  This poor doll had her hair in a scrappy ponytail, which I promptly took down and have been fighting with the resulting hard crease ever since.  Her ski-slope bangs are frizzy.  Deep conditioning has tamed down this doll's hair considerably, aside from the bangs.  However, the cut is uneven - all her original "crimps" are gone.  I have a few of these dolls with their original hairstyle and clothes. I have been able to restore many blonde and brunette Totally Hair Barbies, and a Totally Hair Ken.   I will photograph them sometime for the blog - they are currently in storage.  This particular doll would probably benefit most from a re-root.  Her face make up is great and completely intact.  Her limbs are reasonably tight, as well as her waist.  Someone did attempt to puncture another hole in her left ear, but it's really nothing more than a pin prick.

She is currently up for auction on eBay.  If she doesn't sell, she's going in storage as a project doll for down the road, since I'm such a sucker for those nice purple and blue eyes.  Gotta love the late 80's/early 90's.  :)