A few questions about general "Do's and Don'ts"

cannotgoogleme · Post by **cannotgoogleme** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 6:56 pm

I bought a doll several years ago, and she's falling apart - in a literal sense. None of her joints remain set to the position that I rotate them to; her limbs fall limp as soon as I let go, so I can't pose her at all. Poses like this or this or this are now impossible, since her legs just fall straight down. Additionally, both of her wrist joints have broken, leaving her hands dangling off of her arms.

The problem is, her joints went limp within the first 24 hours, and the only thing I ever used her wrists for was propping her up during doggy; it's not like I was rotating her like a gymnast, throwing her around, or dragging her everywhere by the hands. This makes me wonder if perhaps there is some extremely basic information that I never heard, such as "never put her weight on her wrists during doggy, always use her elbows".

(I saw a video on the Internet that compared a "real" doll with a "bootleg" doll. The bootleg doll had everything in common with the doll I owned, so maybe I purchased a low-quality doll from a disreputable seller, and that's the reason why she fell apart so quickly.)

My doll is a lost cause; I've already given up on fixing her, and I've already ordered a new doll. However, I want to ask some questions to prevent my next doll from developing the same issues. My new doll is a different size and from a different manufacturer, but I still want to have a few general tips to prevent this doll from sharing the same fate as the previous one. For example:

1) Is it stupid to use a doll's wrists to prop her up like this?

2) Is it stupid to put a doll's weight onto her wrists during doggy?

3) What could cause a doll's joints to wear out within hours, as opposed to months or years?

By the way - this isn't supposed to be a YL Doll bashing thread, but if the problems I described above are known issues with products that are sold through YL Doll, that would solve this riddle pretty quickly, so let me know if that's the case.

Mr Franz · Post by **Mr Franz** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 7:09 pm

The wrists joints aren't really designed to carry weight, just a means to pose the hands. Can't really say why the other joints wore so rapidly. Could be they were just not tight to begin with. Some manufacturers do offer loose joints as an option.

Post by **Mon Amour Toujour** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 7:24 pm

Mr Franz wrote:The wrists joints aren't really designed to carry weight, just a means to pose the hands. Can't really say why the other joints wore so rapidly. Could be they were just not tight to begin with. Some manufacturers do offer loose joints as an option.

Agreed, this is a BIG don't.

Do you know what brand doll you have?
What's the brand of your new girl?

In my experience the cheap brands tend to use low quality skeletons that will loosen up like you explained and can even break.

It doesn't seem like you did anything especially strenuous to make the joints loosen up so early.

cannotgoogleme · Post by **cannotgoogleme** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 8:16 pm

MonAmour wrote:Agreed, this is a BIG don't.

Gotcha, I'll keep weight off of the wrists in the future.

MonAmour wrote:Do you know what brand doll you have?
What's the brand of your new girl?

Old brand was YL Doll, new brand is WM Doll. Either of those considered "cheap" brands, or have a reputation for a short doll lifespan?

Post by **Mon Amour Toujour** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 8:34 pm

cannotgoogleme wrote:Old brand was YL Doll, new brand is WM Doll. Either of those considered "cheap" brands, or have a reputation for a short doll lifespan?

Both are great brands and excellent quality. Now the tricky part is- are they authentic? Now it depends on who you bought from.

I've sold dozens of YL and WM and to my knowledge there's been no issues. Customers are usually pretty quick to bring up issues they're having.

RGC_0767 · Post by **RGC_0767** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:02 pm

You can prop her up on her forearms for doggy, rather than wrists. Most of these dolls are made from thin tubing and any type of doll can break welds and joints.

Any person with a new doll. Take some time feeling her joints and wrists,etc, while posing. Get a feel for the range of motion before putting her to work. If it does not feel right to you, than do not do it for cautionary measures. Until you know what is safe for doll to do. They're a long way off from being as flexible as a young woman

You've spent the money, may as well protect your investment as much as possible.

Nothing you did was stupid, just lack of knowledge of how doll is made. Not easy knowing how their made inside, but feeling her joints can help some.

just my penny