Saturday, September 13, 2008

Patrick's column with tips on vinyl stain removal

Patrick Terrence
Good Day All! Sasha says it's my turn to have a go at the Blog. I'm not the fastest typist, but with Gregor running the mouse here, we make a pretty good team. My name is Patrick Terrence. I was manufactured in England, but my red hair proves I must have some Irish or Scottish relatives somewhere. I'm known as a “blue cord Gregor,” produced between 1982-1986. I was introduced at the same time as Sasha Sweater, the only short-haired girl produced by Trendon. You'll see in the photo that I'm not wearing my original white shoes, but am sporting a very cool pair of sandals instead. MamaT purchased me from a nice lady on the Sasha-L list. Well that's not very specific. I think all the folks on the Sasha-L list are the nicest of people. It was actually Carolyn Campbell, a very fine knitter of Sasha clothes. I didn't belong to Carolyn, but to another friend of hers. Here is Carolyn's website.
I have white arm stringing and brown leg stringing. MamaT was forewarned I had a few flaws before she purchased me, and I arrived just as I had been described. My arm stringing was perfect, but my leg stringing was strunk. Hmmm. That's probably not a real word. My leg stringing was permanently stretched to its maximum length with no more give left in it whatsoever. I think strunk would be a good word for that. I couldn't keep my head on at all, and the strings extended a few inches past my leg joints. You could say I was one loose goose. So I was in serious need of new stringing before I could be displayed. Sasha will be devoting a whole entry to the process of stringing in the near future, so I am not going to go into that today.

I also arrived with some stains on my clothes and on my feet. An excellent reference for doll care is found at Suzanne Lewis' site (already referred to several times on this blog). There are recommendations both for cleaning clothing and vinyl stain removal, and this is what MamaT followed to clean me up. Here's the link to the cleaning instructions.
There are a lot of references to products by “Twin Pines of Maine.” They specialize in cleaning products for a collectibles and dolls. Here is a link to their website if you want to order any of their products.
The vinyl stain removal technique was especially impressive. I had purple spots on my feet and lines around my ankles that looked like ink stains. I think I remember having a pair of shoes with dye that bled onto my feet. MamaT wrapped me in a towel and used a generic tube of 10% benzoyl peroxide (BP) cream, applying it with a toothpick to the stains. Heat makes the stain removal process work faster, but you don't want to get our vinyl so warm that it gets soft, so you have to be cautious. MamaT couldn't watch me all the time, so she just put me near a low temperature heat source for a short while (maybe 30 minutes or so) in the morning, again in the late afternoon, and once more just before bedtime. Under a lamp with a warm light bulb would work well. Sunshine would work too when it's available, but you wouldn't want to leave a doll in direct sunlight. That gives us headaches you know. She'd check me frequently while I was near the heat and didn't let me get too close to it. She put fresh BP cream on every 24 hours or so. It can lighten the vinyl slightly, so you don't want to run the treatment too long, and you should wash the vinyl well when you're done, but it is better than having stains. We only wish we had taken before and after pictures, because the treatment worked extremely well. I've heard that this treatment does not work so well on the green stains left by corroded snaps.

So with new stringing, clean clothes, and no more embarrassing stains on my feet, I feel like a new man, or at least a new doll, and I must say I do look good posing with any of the Sasha girls. Once again, I hope you all have a great day! --Patrick Terrence
w/ my twin, Karinne

Brunette, Blonde, & Redhead trio

Me & my buddy, Gregor

5 comments:

TheTrueFrancine said...

I recently purchased a Sasha Sweater with the same stringing problem - arms fine, brown cord in legs/neck completely shot. I think "strunk" is an excellent word to describe it. I'm just getting ready to send her out for restringing. The woman who is doing it told me that there was a batch of bad cord used unknowingly by the factory, so they're now finding many dolls who have gone floppy when the cord breaks down. She seems such a sorry sight with her head flopping over at the neck. I can't wait to have her fixed and able to join my other girls. BTW, I enjoy reading your musings. :-)

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon from Holland.I have a question for the Sacha collector. I have six sacha dolls which I have bought during the 70ties> There are in perfect condition, never played with. (two babies, red girl with white dress, boy with denim costume, blond girl with blue velvet dress, blond girl with guitar) Could you give me an estimate on the price nowadays? Kind regards,
Monique

mderwig@hetnet.nl

TaraC said...

First, thanks to Franberry for the comments. I'm glad you enjoy the musings.

For Monique, I am not expert on doll values, but I will give you some general information. Before I do that I want to consult with some of my other Sasha friends to make sure I'm giving you a good answer. Before I talk to them, I know they'll want just a little bit more information on your dolls.

A general rule of thumb is that the older a doll is, the more value it will have, especially if it is in good condition. So some of these questions are to help pinpoint the age a little better.

Please look at the elastic strings that hold the legs and arms. Dolls produced after 1975 had white stringing in the arms and dark, chocolate brown cord in the legs. If any of your dolls have any string colors different than this, that will be important to note.

If the dolls have their original wrist tags and boxes (or tubes), that would generally increase their value.

Are the babies "sexed"? Babies produced before 1978 had a subtle indication of their sex. Usually, blondes were boys and brunettes and black babies were girls. It might also be helpful to know what outfits they are wearing.

Do any of the dolls have missing hair plugs or does their hair "shed" when it is lightly brushed? Brunettes, especially, sometimes have falling hair problems. Most buyers will ask this question and will also want to know if there are any bad odors or other flaws.

I also have a question about the girl with blue velvet dress. Is the dress velvet with white lace around the color and sleeves, or is it more similar to courderoy with a plain cotton white collar? Does the doll have rooted hair or a wig? If it has a wig, what color are the eyes?

With answers to those questions, I will be able to give you better information on the value of your dolls.
Thanks,
MamaT

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon,,

There I am again! The dolls are laying in front of me so I will try to answer your questions in my best "broken English".
All the dolls have there wrists tags. As far as I could check them the stringing is white in the arms and dark brown in the legs. There were never played with, just were pleasing the eye in a cupboard with other dolls.
The baby's are wearing: the blond baby wears a white dress/ pantihose and cap and the brown baby a pink/grey dress/ pantihose.
All their hair is in a perfect condition, no lost of hair. They just look prefect.
The dark blue dress is made of corduroy with a white cotton collar.All the dolls have "planted hair". If you need pictures I can send them to you

TaraC said...

Hi Monique, Sasha is working on a response to your question that I think she will be posting soon. I wanted to add some additional comments just for you here. While anyone can read them, they won't be read as often as those on the front page.

If you are interested in communicating with other Sasha doll enthusiasts, you could sign up on the Sasha-L mailing list from this link:
http://members.aol.com/SLewisNYC/#board
It is a group of very friendly Sasha enthusiasts from all over the world who are very happy to answer questions about Sasha's. It is also a place where you could offer your dolls for sale to some very eager collectors. You can unsubscribe from the list later if you want.

At least one of the Sasha-L members lives in Holland. Her name is Mary Hokke. She was interested to know of someone else in Holland with Sasha's and wanted me to be sure and invite you to join the List. She says Sashas are sometimes sold on Marktplaats, but not often. Probably the best way to get in touch with her would be through the Sasha-L list. If you signed up, you could search for her name and find her.

The anwer to your question will be in a post on the front page. We hope you find it helpful.--MamaT