<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Given the steps kitschywoman described to replace the eyes, I figure AG would have to charge several hundred dollars to cover the cost of replacing the eyes in the doll. It would cost much less (but take much longer) if they sent the head to China for the work. Given the economics of their business, it is simpler and vastly cheaper to just replace the doll's head.Originally posted by courtneysunshine:
I think AG should be able to replace just the eyes and not have to replace the whole head. Just a thought, though, if it bothers you, maybe kitschywoman could donate the other blue eye from her donor head so you could fix her?
I have no idea of what they do with the leftover head, but the ones with bad hair would be a treasure for those of us who don't mind rewigging dolls. If I had access to their castoffs, I would take a chance at replacing the eyes, too. AG could heat brand the backs of the head so it would never come back to them. I would buy some of these castoff heads...
Taffy
I guess I thought it occurred only with the older dolls. I'm concerned now. What is there to prevent this from happening to other dolls. I have a W. German Samantha, Kirsten and Addy. If this happens to them and AG won't replace just the eyes, I will be very upset. I know AG says it happens to only 10% of the older dolls, but it just seems from the frequency that we have been hearing this happen that it is more than 10%.
Kim [img]smile.gif[/img]
Anne, thank you so much for the offer...you are so nice! My guess is that one could develop silver eye, too, since its match did. I'll just keep hoping Molly's other eye will match the silver eye one. [img]wink.gif[/img]
Do these progressively get worse? Are there any photos online of silver eye at its worst? That might help me decide whether or not I'd want to try and replace her eyes. For now I'm thinking I'll just stick with the bad ones.
My guess is that it's 10% of the older dolls that get reported as being damaged! It seems like all of the ones made with faulty materials would one day develop this condition. I'm really worried about my dolls since they are all in rapid succession one year "younger" than Molly. I'm worried Kirsten will be next and her eyes look suspicious to me.
I really appreciate all of the kind words from all of you! It's few people who would realize how special/sentimental a childhood possession can be to us.
And I also wanted to get the word out that this happens in the blink of an eye (bad pun, I know). I'll upload a photo today.
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ August 06, 2004 12:59 PM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>
I'm sorry to hear about Molly's eyes, Melissa! I did't know it happened so quickly. My daughter's dolls, purchased in the 80's (Samantha has a white body), are up in the attic in one of my daugther's boxes. She doesn't know which box and isn't currently interested in finding them. [img]eek.gif[/img] But I think I'll go up and find them because they might have "silver eye" and we don't know it. The dolls have been in the attic for 2 years now. They need rescuing!
Julia
Oh no!!! [img]graemlins/cry_smile.gif[/img] I'm so sorry to hear that, Melissa! Now I'm really afraid for my 14 year old Samantha! Like you & your Molly, she is very precious to me for sentimental reasons, and I would never have her head replaced because Samantha heads now are a little different than they were 14 years ago. It just would not be Samantha anymore to me if I got her head replaced.
For the worrywart in me, if this ever happened to my Samantha, is there any way to buy just the eyes so I could fix it without having a head replacement?
melissa i'm so sorry about your molly. mine is really old too (about 13 years old). so far her eyes are ok (crosses fingers) but i've noticed something weird in my kit's eye. i thought it was silver eye, until you posted your pictures (thanks by the way for doing that b/c i didn't know what silver eye really was or what it looked like) anyway kit has a scratch in the black part or her eye. but it's on the inside. so it's nt b/c her eye got scratched. it's really strange. i don't know how her eye could have been scratched from the inside.
meg
Melissa, what a shame about the silver eye! I hope you and Molly find a good solution. Just a thought--if anyone is collecting these dolls with a view to their monetary worth down the line, it might be better not to correct damage that occurs with age. I'm basing this on the loss of value to antiques if they've been refinished.
Also, does anyone know if silver eye is a problem associated with long exposure to daylight? My girls are in a windowless dressing room currently but I'm thinking of moving them into an extra bedroom and I wonder if there's any risk long-term of regular exposure to natural light.
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ August 07, 2004 12:46 PM: Message edited by: auri ]</font>
Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes, and Anne for the offer!
For now I'm just going to keep her the way she is and see what happens. I created and inset eyes in my mini Josefina, and that might have prepared me for one day redoing the eyes, but for now I've decided just to wait and think about it. I can't find resources for this type of eye online, either. [img]eek.gif[/img]
I really hope AG has fixed this problem. I know we're not like people who are throwing the dolls around or letting them get chewed by dogs, my doll wasn't in storage or ever wet, etc. and it still happened, so it makes me worry about my other AGs and all of your AGs as well.
Since one of my pets came down with cataracts this summer, I'm not worried about it looking like Molly is in pain. [img]biggrin.gif[/img] I've been told there is no pain associated with this type of eye disorder. And, one day, Molly might get "cataract surgery." (My mom's comment was, "I'm so glad they don't have to remove our heads for cataract surgery!")
Thanks again to everyone for all the support. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Oh, auri, I just read your message...my doll was never in direct sunlight. I keep window-shades closed in my room since the ones in almost every other room in the house are wide open, that way my room has some privacy. What really worries me is that my Molly was never abused. I was the type of kid who would walk into a China store and my mom would know I wouldn't touch anything, and treated toys the same way. So this was a huge shock, and it proved to me that it doesn't matter how the doll is treated...it can still happen. (Here are a couple of photos of Molly at 15...to me (well, I'm a proud "parent," I guess!) she still looks brand-new: http://www.angelfire.com/mi/FAST/molly.html ) I had Molly in direct sun once when I took her on a trip or car-ride as a kid (can't remember how long she was in the car). But that was the only time I can remember. I can't say it wouldn't hurt to have them out of direct sunlight, but I know it didn't help keep Molly from getting silver eye.
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ August 07, 2004 01:03 PM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>
Ann, I asked AG customer service if I could buy just the eye for Anastacia, and they told me no.
Anne
I would think they wouldn't, also. It would turn them into a fixer-upper doll supply store, which they wouldn't want to do because they would lose business with their hospital service.
My guess is that they have everything manuactured in China and receive the final product as one unit.
I just wanted to offer some encouragement to those who are worried since it doesn't look so bad from a distance. Just every once in a while I see a glimmer in Molly's eye when the light hits it a certain way, and then it's a bit "freaky." I would think it would show up more on dolls with darker eyes, like Samantha. [img]frown.gif[/img] One of the most encouraging things is that it was almost impossible to take a photo that showed her silver eye. In almost every photo you would look at them and think, "there's nothing wrong with that doll." It's only when the light hits it a certain way that the condition can be seen, and (more clearly) up close.
<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ August 08, 2004 07:02 PM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>
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