Springfield collection dolls

I've been distracted for some time because of life. My doll collection has changed since the last time I updated this back in January I believe. Because of guilt, I decided to find dolls to replace the ones I sold. I did keep in mind that customizing will have to be done on some of them and fine with it. In the search for most of the ones I lost, I've considered Springfield collection dolls. They do look rather close to AG and way in my price range (cheap). The only doll I can't replace so far is Leah because of her gray eyes. Maybe a different company can help me other than AG or Goetz.

Sent Sadie to the doll hospital

A few days ago I had to send Sadie to the AG hospital for a new head. It was not an easy decision because 1. the price was a bit steep, 2. I have my own doll hospital but I don't have parts (doy >_<), and 3. I knew I would miss her to pieces.

When I put my smiling sweetheart into the box, my heart broke. Silly huh? A 23 year old getting upset over a doll. Well it's possible, especially since Sadie is my first and favorite doll in the whole world ever! I can't wait until she is back home because the wait is unbearable. I'm only 2 hours away from Middleton, Wisconsin... though maybe an hour and a half, so I'm praying she comes home faster than AG thinks.

My lovely girls

My 4 girls: Amy-Lynn, Tammy, Sadie, & Pauline (center)

This is done by age, not order of arrival or favoritism - which is a mean mean thing.

Thomasa Christina Van Higgins "Tammy"-

Tammy is the oldest Van Higgins child. She was born with scoliosis that causes her to lean towards the right side. She also has a speech disorder but can be heard clearly most of the time. She is very attached to Sadie, even though she was mostly raised with Sadie and their adopted sister, Amy-Lynn. She loves red, black, white, and aqua. Her birthday is November 14th - she's 11. Outwardly, she's expressive, compassionate, a sweet heart. She can be really cruel and won't back down on a fight - a Scorpio trait. She isn't sure what she wants to be when she grows up. She's very much like her father and has his name and birthday.

Tammy is a custom Lindsey with Samantha's wig

Amy-Lynn Noelle Van Higgins -

Amy-Lynn graced her adopted parents when she was just two years old. Her life before is vague. She's Native American with slightly darker skin. Her birth parents lived on a reservation but could not take care of another child - unsure how much they had before. Her Indian name is Turtle. She dreams of someday becoming a doctor and often 'doctors' Tammy. She loves nature and is protective of it. Her favorite color is green but likes tan, khaki, black, and salmon - mostly earth colors. Her birthday is December 25th - she's 11. She's gentle but sassy, she puts others above herself if she feels she can help someone. She can be intimidating when pressured.

Amy-Lynn is a My American Girl (MAG) #46

Sadella Elizabeth Van Higgins "Sadie"-

Sadie is third, but second born to her parents. Although her siblings are quite smart, Sadie declares her self the smartest of the three (it's not really known if she is or not). She looks very much like their mother and her birthday is only 2 days off as well - October 4th - she's 10. Sadie wants to be a scientist. She is the most interested in religious studies and likes to partake in family practice. Over all, Sadie is polite - often bites her tongue to prevent hurting feelings. She is caring, compassionate, innocently sarcastic, and sweet. Her only negative trait is she catches on to people and if pushed enough, will use their weaknesses against them or bounce back their stupidity. Her favorite color is purple but also likes pink, aqua, teal, black, and gray.

Sadie is a American Girl of Today (AGT) #4 with hair cut

Pauline Kenna Van Higgins -

The currently last addition to the family, Pauline is a 1 year old baby that is often in Amy-Lynn's care. Nothing is known about her history other than she had medical care shortly before being found and adopted. Despite being a child of dark skin, everyone took to Pauline rather quickly and love her like she was there forever. Her birthday is unknown, but think it was during the spring time.

Tammy: then to now

My Ruby... when I found Ruby, she looked like this:

Sorry for pic quality, but as you can see, she is damaged. Her right hand is beyond chewed up so is her right foot. Her left hand has some marks, her hair is cut. When I took her home and looked her over, she had marker slashes everywhere except her cloth body. Her neck strings were cut. With soft scrub, I was able to take all the marker and dirt out but her face paint was not harmed. While examining her freckles, I saw that she ate glitter too. My gosh. What did she do to deserve this?

After I took off her arm, I saw that there were teeth marks on her arm. This is what her hand looked like.

I can honestly say I wanted to cry. I don't think she was cared for at all. I brought an arm for her and was able to perform an arm attachment surgery on her.

Ruby likes her new arm. I took off her wig around the same time I took off her arm a few days before attaching the arm. Now I'm waiting for her wig to come from China. Hopefully that won't be much longer.

Okay, it's been a week since I was last on here. Ruby's wig is placed and eventually glued on - which I had a super hard time with. At least I got it on.

There she is, my wigged Ruby. I love how she looks, her eyes pop and actually look blue against her ruby red hair; they look tealish. Her freckles aren't very apparent but they are there. Ruby was given July 31st for her birthday, she's a Leo and she is named after her birthstone - the ruby. All I have left to do is her foot. I can wait, it's easier to hide than her former hand.

A month or so later, she became my Tammy. Her full name is Thomasa Christine Van Higgins, a Scropio (11/14) and she is now a brunette. Her wig was Samantha's, which I straightened after taking the picture seen.

I think she looks way better as a brunette. Her eyes looks sweeter and she is just more lovable.

Updates

I had figured out why Leah was starting to rub me the wrong way and that was because we were too psychologically similar. After some time and realizing that Sadie would miss her so much, I had a better personality in mind for her. I made Leah a bit tomboyish. She likes wearing bold colors but still match them with softer tones, it doesn't always look right and Leah doesn't seem to care. I also put her hair in a half pony and she usually wears a denim hat to go with it. She likes video games and wants to try skate boarding.

I am in the middle of fixing and customizing Ruby, the really abused Lindsey I found at a thrift store. I don't know what torture she had to endure when she was with her owner but I can tell she was scribbled on, hair and neck string cut up, ate glitter, and was given to a dog. Only one of her limbs were not hurt, but I'm more focused on her right arm and have yet to give her a new one. I cleaned her up with lemon soft scrub. Her face paint was not effected at all by it but the marker scribbles were gone and she has cleaner skin. I ordered her burgundy wig and can't wait to put it on her head. Ruby was loved the moment I saw her and I have no problems bonding with her.

#4

This is totally dedicated to #4 - the unappreciated doll breed loved too late.

Since 1995, #4 was the doll of East Asian heritage but was meant to represent all Asian girls. Her face mold was tweaked a bit: slanted eyes, pinched in nose, and skin was darkened to an olive color. Eventually she was given lightened skin to sorta blend her in with the rest of the light skinned dolls. Then with Mattel's take over, #4 got to benefit some face coloring that made her look just stunning compared to her Pre-Mattel counter part.

Unlike some of her AG sisters, for a doll that did receive a less than steady buying record, she lasted a really long time. #4s were finally retired June 2011 - 16 years of availability. That's when everyone was like, "WHY?! I WANTED TO BUY HER!" There were plenty of time for people to get her but because they found other dolls to buy and kept her on a wanted list; people lost out. There are secondary and third party markets that have a #4 from time to time, but a lot of people like to buy new.

Her demise was a huge possibility. I knew it was bound to happen, maybe a tad later than I thought.

Her face was used for one doll only. That made her really unique, but because a lot of people didn't see her Asian, thought she was ugly and/or too young, AG never really thought they would use her mold; but keep her as the official Asian mold in the American Girl Today line.

Then here came Jess. Instead of using #4's face mold, AG created a new Asian mold, more closely relatable to Asian girls. After Jess came #30, then #40 - sporting the new Jess face mold. Ivy, best friend to historical (if you want to call the '70s that) girl Julie, was also made with a Jess face mold with a bit more detail around the eyes.

#4 was in the clear, she was the only Asian faced doll that has bangs. As long as there were no other banged Asian dolls in the My American Girl line, #4 had no threats. Then came #54, nick named the long haired Ivy Ling. When #54 was introduced, #4 was swept away under the rug, retired, and labeled 'SOLD OUT' on the AG website until she was erased completely.

I may have said that #4 is unappreciated, but there are some loved ones out there; some even famous. My very first doll is a #4. I barely gave her much attention in the catalogs. I was too focused on Molly or #14 (I love dark hair and bright blue eyes), I noticed how #4 looked like me and when it came time to buy, I chose her and couldn't look back (maybe because I couldn't afford another one). To this day, I'm happy that I didn't. My darling Sadie is an unique #4. She has a face you can stare at for hours, a smile that can bright up a room. I'm in the process to adopt another #4, a Mattel revised bang. Her name is Raven. That puts another perspective on how I think about #4. When I see a cute pie banged #4, I think Sadie. When I see a revised banged #4 or #54, I think Raven.

Fostering my sister's Adora dolls

My sister has two Adora dolls: Natalie and Paloma. Since my sister decided she was too old for dolls a few years back, Natalie and Paloma were just lying around - Paloma has been sitting since she came home; never been played with; just named. Every time I pass by her room, I see them look at me and I feel bad for them. I took Natalie, to see if my sister would notice, and either she hasn't or she doesn't care. I'm thinking of doing the same for Paloma. I put the girls into my personal foster care. Taking them from neglect and hoping to find homes for them. I have put into consideration that Paloma was a display doll, but I think my sister just made her because my Mom was paying for it and really didn't want to do it - a $100 obligation she could have said no to. I plan on putting them on Ebay soon; possibly together. I like them, but Violet is enough Adora for me. I may adopt Paloma for myself if she doesn't sell though.