You'll no longer see the Engel Puppen dolls at der Teddy Bar at the Germany Epcot pavillion. These dolls were made to your specifications - you chose the hair color, style, eye color, face and outfit. It became a tradition for me to get one everytime I visited Disney World. Helmet Engel was usually there, he would sign and date the dolls. My mother told him about a doll she had as a little girl in Sweden and how the doll's arms and legs had been damaged and repaired poorly. He told her he'd be returning to Germany for a visit in a few weeks, and she should send him the doll to Florida when we arrived home and he would bring it to his factory in Germany and repair it. She did, and a few months later he mailed the doll back to her, repaired and wearing a lovely new dress. She was so happy!
The next time I visited was a few years later with a friend, and I reminded him of what he'd done for my mother. He looked up her e-mail address in his files, and emailed her that night telling her I had visited the shop, and had a lovely doll made. Over the years I collected Snow White, Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Alice, and Minnie Mouse.
Then, at a visit in the early 2000s, he wasn't there. The girl working the shop said he was in the hospital in Germany and was very ill. I bought my last doll - Pocahontas, and the only one who isn't signed. We later discovered through the Engel Puppen website that he had passed away. He was a lovely man.
The Engel Puppen dolls remained there a few more years, but they are gone now.
