American Girl Doll Hospital

[mebbradley]

Has anyone had to send their little girl's doll to it? Granted, I'm not so little anymore but I still have my doll that I got for my 6th birthday. She sits on my bookcase in my office.

Sadly, I went to set her up today and her leg had been severed off.

So she's headed to the Doll Hospital. Anyone sent their doll there? Thoughts? Advice?

Thanks!

 

[clh2]

They'll take very good care of your "baby". I don't remember what tragedy happened to DD's doll, but it turned out A-OK! This was probably 10 years ago. I think the doll came home with a paper hospital gown, and a get well balloon.

 

[RitaE]

Well - you can certainly send her off to be fixed.
But leg attachments are actually one of the easiest repairs out there. I use mini bungee cords - usually cut one in 1/2 per leg. Since you are doing one leg you'll likely want to do both so she can stand tall once again with no floppy leg syndrome.


Cord:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_146453-2380...&currentURL=?Ntt=mini+bungee+cords&facetInfo=

and ferrules that can be tightened down. Here they are on EBAY but I've found them in Lowes too.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-Metal-F...can-Girl-Doll-Parts-Repair-BULK-/271006196212

You'll also need a hair dryer to soften up the vinyl.

If you Google, directions are widely available out on the internet. There are several video tutorials on YouTube.

 

[campinggal]

Ahh...been through a few AG traumas over the years.

If the leg just fell out of the socket- it is just because the rubber bungy on the inside got old. As RitaE said above- TOTALLY fixable by yourself thanks to YouTube videos. That is what I did for my DD's doll. I was totally paranoid I would ruin it and the taking her head part off was a little disturbing but the video was a great help.

If the leg is something different and you want to go the hospital route- we've done that too for a different injury. It was very efficient and as mentioned above, she was well cared for.

I love that you have your doll in the office. I bet my DD will be doing that with one of hers...she has gotten 10 years of enjoyment from them so far.

 

[tripletsmama]

We have done this...more than once! It's American Girl Doll central in my house. They'll send the doll back to you all fixed and wearing a hospital gown. It's so cute. We've also had the doll's hair fixed while she's at the hospital. Once my daughters take it out I can never get it back as good as it originally looked. They fix it perfectly though! You'll have no problems and your doll will look as good as new.

 

[disney314]

On our first Disney Cruise in 2000 my DD's AG doll lost her arm, it was so sad all through the cruise we had her arm tied on as well as we could until we got home and then we sent her to the hospital. Not sure how it is now, but she returned in a little hospital gown and was all fixed. Your baby will come back fine

 

[yanilat]

How much do they charge?

 

[mebbradley]

Ahh...been through a few AG traumas over the years.

If the leg just fell out of the socket- it is just because the rubber bungy on the inside got old. As RitaE said above- TOTALLY fixable by yourself thanks to YouTube videos. That is what I did for my DD's doll. I was totally paranoid I would ruin it and the taking her head part off was a little disturbing but the video was a great help.

If the leg is something different and you want to go the hospital route- we've done that too for a different injury. It was very efficient and as mentioned above, she was well cared for.

I love that you have your doll in the office. I bet my DD will be doing that with one of hers...she has gotten 10 years of enjoyment from them so far.

I've had mine since I was 6 and probally played with her daily from then untill I was at least 12. She's such a sweet reminder of my childhood.

Well - you can certainly send her off to be fixed.
But leg attachments are actually one of the easiest repairs out there. I use mini bungee cords - usually cut one in 1/2 per leg. Since you are doing one leg you'll likely want to do both so she can stand tall once again with no floppy leg syndrome.


Cord:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_146453-2380...&currentURL=?Ntt=mini+bungee+cords&facetInfo=

and ferrules that can be tightened down. Here they are on EBAY but I've found them in Lowes too.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-Metal-F...can-Girl-Doll-Parts-Repair-BULK-/271006196212

You'll also need a hair dryer to soften up the vinyl.

If you Google, directions are widely available out on the internet. There are several video tutorials on YouTube.

I am entirly too nervous with her to do that but thank you!!

They'll take very good care of your "baby". I don't remember what tragedy happened to DD's doll, but it turned out A-OK! This was probably 10 years ago. I think the doll came home with a paper hospital gown, and a get well balloon.

On our first Disney Cruise in 2000 my DD's AG doll lost her arm, it was so sad all through the cruise we had her arm tied on as well as we could until we got home and then we sent her to the hospital. Not sure how it is now, but she returned in a little hospital gown and was all fixed. Your baby will come back fine

Thanks!!! I'm so nervous to ship her away but the positive reassurances on here have helped!!

How much do they charge?

It's like 32.00 for her leg to be reattached plus shipping. But considering that my mom bought her in '96 and this is the first thing she's had go wrong with her....Well worth it! I want to be able to play with my future kids with her.

 

[katrina1122]

My sister got Kirsten the year she came out, back when American Girl was catalog sales only and owned by American Girl and not Mattel.

Her hair got really ratty over time, but sister kept her and eventually gave her to my niece a few years ago, but sent Kirsten to the hospital first. She was nervous as she's more valuable than the Mattel version, but they took great care of her, she looked brand new and was even mailed home in a hospital gown.

 

[pyrxtc]

just remember that if you fix her yourself and then have to send her in to American Girl for something and they discover your fix, they can deny repairing her at all and send it back to you as is.

I sent one doll in for repairs and she came back great. I still have 3 more that need to be sent in, all original dolls, but have been putting them off due to money. My nieces aren't old enough for them yet anyways.

As for the hair issues..... I found that soaking the hair in fabric softener gets out any tangles or snarls without pulling and you can do pretty much anything you want with it after that. To get the curl back you wrap it around something wooden and then use your blow dryer on hot and it will set it back. Too long will burn it up since it's plastic so be careful.

 

[mommyjam]

She will be fine. My daughters doll had to be sent to the hospital..... well part of her anyway. She had been playing with her and pushing her in the baby swing outside. I called her in for lunch and she left Samantha sitting in the swing. Meanwhile daddy decides to mow the yard, he pushed the swing to go underneath it and Samantha fell out right under the lawn mower. All that was left was her head, it was not damaged at all. So off her head went to the hospital. Once there I received an email that the head would be slightly different shade than the new body, would we mind if they just sent me a brand new doll. So a brand new Samantha came back in the hospital gown.