Advice re: ebay Sam with greenish skin??

[LadyPenley]

I am new to AG Collecting?I got my first?Josephina?from my DH for Christmas! After joining this and other AG lists, I want more!! I recently purchased a Samantha on ebay. I picked her because she had longer beautiful hair than the newer dolls. I asked lots of questions, and all this after watching lots and lots of auctions for Sam and Felicity and Marisol, so I thought I knew what I was getting.

She looked beautiful in the photos, the seller readily answered my questions, had great feedback, etc. When she arrived, she was as described; ?beautiful? EXCEPT SHE?S GREEN! Not Wicked-Witch-of-the-West green, but a sickly greyish-greenish. It is very noticeable indoors, somewhat less so in bright sunlight. She looked really, really sickly next to Josie. I borrowed a friend?s Sam purchased in the last couple of years, who is a georgeos rosy/peachy color, and standing next to her, my Sam looks quite ill.

I emailed the seller, who seemed surprised at my reaction?she seemed nice enough, and polite?.she said she and her daughter thought she was lovely. I don?t have a suspicious nature, and she seemed genuine and honest. I checked all her feedback?100% positive, but I realized then that she buys and sells a lot of AG stuff (she said to pay for her own collection) and she appears?I?m not sure?to have bought this doll only a few weeks before selling her again.

I?ve heard & read here (using search?very helpful) about some bad batches of vinyl in the early 2000?s, and how some people were given new dolls as the color was considered a defect. But I am not the original purchaser? and I don?t know when she was bought.

I called AG Customer Service, and the lady I talked to was evasive about a vinyl color problem in the past. She wanted to know ?what zip code? the doll was shipped to originally (I didn?t know) then said that ?Well, they won?t exchange it or anything?? She told me I could sent her to the hospital ?for an evaluation.?

So I?m looking for advice on what to do about her. I don?t want to get into a fight with the seller, or accuse her of anything, but I wouldn?t feel comfortable myself just re-listing her without disclosing this fact of her coloring, either. I love her long hair, and IF they would exchange her for a new one, I?d rather keep her wig and put it on a new one. But if I send her, should I take the wig off, first, and keep it, or just send it with her with a request to have it returned? Will they do that?

And are they even likely to exchange her? Or will I have to pay for ?a new head & new limbs? which by then makes her really expensive? Any ideas or suggestions? I am so upset about this?I?ve had such high hopes from all you great gals here for expanding my collection, but now I?m just so sad?.

And except for the color, she IS very pretty, prettier than my friend?s new one?. Oh, what to do, what to do?????

[ColonialGirl]

I'm sorry about your e-bay troubles. That can be really frustrating! I got my Kit in 2001 and noticed her skin tone was a little greyish. I thought it was just a new type of vinyl they were using and had no idea it could be considered a defect.

Anyway, by now I have bonded with her too much to send her in for a new head or anything. And she is beautiful.

My advice would be to set aside the disappointment of the auction and see how you get along with the girl. You could always get a new head, and it is also ok to find her a new home. Just include this information so the new buyer wouldn't have the same trouble!

Good luck!

[dalmatian101]

I think our Felicity that we just got at Christmas looks green too. Especially when she's close to another doll.

[Ashley1972]

Linda, I pm'd you!

[vew-tori]

My Kirsten has the grennish look too. She was a gift from DH and he was so proud of himself for getting her on ebay I didn't have the heart to have anything done about it. I hope you can come to a satisfactory resolution with your Samantha.

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ March 26, 2006 09:15 AM: Message edited by: vew-tori ]</font>

[AGcrazy]

I have a PM Molly and a Samantha that both look a little gray compared to the other dolls. Since Molly was my first doll, I really didn't notice it a lot but when I group these 2 with the others, it's a little more noticeable. Their case isn't really bad enough for me to worry about although if I could get another Samantha someday I might but still keep my original.

Maybe the AG Hospital could just look at the doll then call you before doing anything? I kept thinking somewhere either here or a Yahoo group there was a discussion on the grayish skin. I forget if the skin tint was happening during certain years, like someone else mentioned maybe trying different vinyl or what. [img]graemlins/thinking.gif[/img]

[MaryCarly]

I would just box her up and mail her to AG. If you include a letter simply explaining that you need an exchange due to green skin, I bet they would do it. They really are very good about exchanges especially once they have the doll in their hands and they can see that it is one of their problem dolls. Good Luck!

[American_Mommy]

I have been thinking about this post a lot...

Maybe the seller did not notice the greenish skin? How could she possibly not? I will tell you...

I have two dolls that are QUITE green. Really. I mean green. Their complexions always have bothered me.

Recently, I noticed they looked A LOT better! Almost as peachy as my other girls. Certainly not green.

I wondered why? What had changed? Then it hit me-

We recently tossed all of our incandescent light bulbs and opted for bright white compact florescents! The new lighting is really flattering to all of my dolls skin tones. I would have never noticed the greenish skin had my green dolls arrived after I had started using the new bulbs.

Hopefully it was just an honest mistake on the seller's part. Either way, I am really sorry you are disappointed with your doll. I hope you can get the situation all fixed up. [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img]

[Katie148]

I had two AGT dolls, purchased in 2002 and 2003, that had this problem. I thought it was just the way they were making the dolls now, but then I got Kailey in late 2003 and she had gorgeous, peachy skin. So I called AG to ask about it and they said the grayish-green skin was a defect with the vinyl they had been using from 2001-2003. The CS rep said to send my dolls in and they would exchange them for me. I was worried because this was 2004 and I'd had the dolls for over a year already, and I no longer had the meet outfit for one of them, but they said it was fine, their product was fully guaranteed and I could exchange them no problem. So I did, and got two brand new, perfectly peachy dolls. Several other board members did exchanges after I did with equal success. I don't know what AG's policy is if you have bought the doll on ebay, but if the skin color really bothers you I would call AG again. Sometimes the phone reps don't always know what's going on, especially if they're new. They probably don't get many calls about the skin tone anymore since it was a problem mainly from 2001-2003. I would call again until you at least get someone who is aware of the problem and can tell you what your options are. Good luck! [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img]

[MissCurlyCat]

OMW! That's most likely why one of my dolls has gray skin...... I thought the eBay seller just didn't take good care of her.

I hope your eBay troubles great resolved! [img]smile.gif[/img]