Eyes in the Chatty Cathy Doll This page will be updated as I find and buy more pinwheel eyed Chatty Cathy dolls |
Three differant colored green pinwheel eyes in the canadian dolls. Also showing blue eyes with the green eyes in the two dolls above in same picture. These pictures above and below are all of the green trying to show the differance in shade and are all Canadian dolls. |
The 4 dolls above all with glassine eyes. All are American dolls. The second one from the left is a hard face doll. All have original glassine eyes with sable lashes. These eyes are also found in the Canadian dolls. They are not as common as the pinwheel eyes are in the Canadian dolls (maybe). |
American brunette soft face bob with blue/green glassine eyes next to an American soft face blonde piggy with glassine eyes. This picture is to show the different color in the glassine eyes. Also the next three pictures below are to show the different shades of color in the glassine eyes, again all have sable lashes (hair like). |
The picture above is to show the inside of the glassine eyed doll |
Update OCT 30th 2009: I have finely found an American "blonde bob with brown decal eyes" and I can tell you the back of the eye is the same as the brown decal in the brunettes, the "round flat back". Which would be the same as in the picture above on the right. Click Here to see this Rare doll! Also the black dolls have brown decal eyes, the back of the eye is the same at the picture above to your right a "round flat back". In other words All American Chatty Cathy dolls with brown eyes have the "round flat back". If you have a blonde brown eyed American doll take her head off to make sure she has the "round flat back" if she has the "round back" than her eyes have been changed. Picture of the "round flat back" and the "round back" are (above). |
Pictures above is of the blue decal eyes most common in Chatty Cathy eyes. It is also a picture of the most common Chatty Cathy doll and is the first one Mattel made, she is a prototype with blue decal eyes. Not for sale! |
The above and below pictures are of an American decal brown eyed HARD FACE Paige boy doll. She has brown decal eyes with plastic lashes. These eyes are also found in the soft face brunette bobs and soft face blonde bob dolls. This hard face doll is very hard to find. It is one of the dolls pictured in the video made back in the 1990's. To find one of these dolls that do not have chatty measles (small round white spots on the dolls face) is a very, very rare find. I have only found 3 of these dolls and two of them had the measles. If you find one of these without measles KEEP her because it will be years before you will ever find another one. The picture below is what the inside of her eyes will look like. She has the "round flat back". |
The three dolls above are the brown eyed dolls. The first one is a soft face brunette bob with brown decal eyes. The second one is a Canadian soft face brown pinwheel eyed doll. The last doll above is also an American decal brown eyed doll. I took this picture to show not only the eyes but the difference in the length the hair can be in the bobs. Notice how the first doll has the very short hair the second doll a bit longer and the last doll longer yet. Note: The different freckle pattern between the American and the Canadian doll. And the high arch to the eye brows on the Canadian doll. It's the way to tell the difference between an American and a Canadian doll. Note: All American "Brown Eyed" Chatty Cathy Dolls Have The "Round Flat Back" The Canadian brown eyed doll will have the "round back" Pictures of the back of the eyes are above. Click Here to see an American "brown eyed blonde bob" |
The picture above in the inside of the Canadian brown pinwheel eyed doll, notice the eyes have the round look. |
Green & Blue Pinwheel eyed Canadian Dolls below Note: All Canadian Dolls have Soft Heads. Another Note: I will be doing a freckle pattern on this page to explain the difference between Canadian and the American dolls soon. |
Brunette soft face piggy with blue glassine eyes/sable lashes above and below an American doll. Notice how blue her eyes are. They are much more blue than the blue/green eyes in the pictures above. |
Changed Eyes (below) |
The only dolls I am un-sure about are the hard face pinwheel eyed American dolls. (pictures below) I have only had 3 of them and I think all three of them had their eyes changed. All three were hard heads. On the two dolls I will be talking about below, one used original chatty Cathy eyes but the eyes didn't fit the head and more than likely taken from a Canadian doll that had a bad head. The second doll having smaller pinwheel eyes more than likely taken from a 1960's doll not made by Mattel because they were smaller. The last doll (not pictured) had the eyes that were to big and were changed from the inside. The reason I think the first doll (below) had it's eyes changed is because the eyes would not close and the lashes were still all there except for a small spot in the middle of the left eye. The lashes were stuck inside the outer rim of the eye telling me, if the dolls eyes were original, those lashes would be gone because they would of been stuck that way for too many years. But yet the doll had all it's lashes on both sides where they were stuck. So in my mind the eyes had to of been changed because the lashes were still all there and not bent or damaged from the pressure of them being stuck for so many years. But the make-up was still good so I am still unsure about her as I am still unsure about redhead below. I bought her paying 150 for her just to find out if her eyes were for real. I knew when I bought her chances were the eye had been changed. So once taking picture of the front and back of her eyes, I heated her head to see if I could pop her eyes out. I was able to pop out the right eye from the back but not the left. I had to cut that eye out. Once out I inspected the eyes and yes they were original Mattel pinwheel eyes the same size as all pinwheel Chatty Cathy eyes. That is also why the eyes didn't fit the head, I am thinking, was because the head was a hard head blonde Paige boy doll and the eye sockets in those dolls are very small. Meaning who ever it was that managed to change the eyes didn't know that the socket would be too small and the eye would not fit right (I think). The eye socket in those dolls from what I have seen is the round/flat type. The pinwheel eye it was changed with is round and longer than what that doll would of come with. Now in a soft face that eye socket would of stretch to make the eye fit but not in a hard face doll. The second doll (below redhead) was also a hard head with pinwheel eyes that were too small. All I had to do with her was to compare her eyes to original Mattel pinwheel Chatty Cathy eyes and I could see they were smaller. They were not original Mattel pinwheel eyes (I think) I think the eyes were taken from a 1960's doll not made by Mattel. The lashes were straight and long but thinner than original Mattel pinwheel eyes. Sable lashes on the pinwheel eyed dolls have like 4 layers hers has like two, but those extra lashes could of fallen out through the years. I just do not know where the eyes came from. Plus like I said I have only had three of these dolls so I am still very unsure about the eyes in these dolls. I would like to believe they are original but my gut feeling is they are not. I am un-sure of both of these dolls. Until I buy a few more hard face pinwheel eyed Chatty Cathy dolls I cannot tell you for sure about these eyes. |
Eyes too big but are the same size as original Mattel pinwheel eyes except notice how the lashes are stuck under the eye lid. the eyes would not open or close. Also see how the back looks over stretched. The eye socket was too small for these eyes. They were much too big for her. But they were original green pinwheel eyes. Too bad to because her face was spot free. |
In the picture above notice how the make-up is faded on the brows. I think that came from over heating the head to get these eyes in from the front. But I could be wrong. Her face paint has been re-done. Not her freckles (maybe). Again I am unsure about this doll as I am about both of these dolls above. My gut tells me yes, the eyes have been changed but I have only had 3 of these American hard head pinwheel eyed dolls. So I am still unsure about the doll and am still trying to find more of these dolls so maybe one day I can tell you for sure. |
Please send your pictures to me. I am looking for Hard Head Paige Boy Dolls with pinwheel or glassine eyes. Click Here. ddolly1@yahoo.com Thanks Dolly UP-Date: Since I made this page I have had a lot of people send me pictures of their dolls eyes and most of them except for one doll I could see they were changed. Except now I am really starting to think the Hard Head Paige Boy doll did come with pinwheel eyes but I am still unsure about it. I am wondering if and since the hard head Paige Boy almost always has white spots on her face, that a lot of the dolls would not of been kept. In turn is why we do not see very many of the dolls with pinwheel eyes. I am still trying to find and buy them. Because that is going to be the only way for me to tell for sure. Also take a look at the dolls below. These are pictures of dolls that I have found on my computer when I went to redo my Chatty Cathy body page. I mention that because I got to thinking about where Mattel got their eyes and my research has told me the decal eyes are American made eyes and Mattel shipped them to Canada to be used by Dee & Cee in their early dolls. Plus I also think Mattel might of gotten the glassine eyes from Dee & Cee to use on the American Chatty Cathy dolls. Or Vice Versa... ether way or it really doesn't matter where the eyes came from but the blue decal eyes were used in the Canadian dolls and the Glassine eyes were used in the American Chatty Cathy doll. Ok well then why not the pinwheel eyes? My thinking is now that maybe it was tried. When Mattel made the Paige Boy doll it was also a time when the first soft head pigtail dolls had come out. It's the blonde soft head pigtail dolls you will see the glassine eyes in and in some of the blonde hard heads. I have only seen them once in a brunette Paige Boy. So if Mattel was using or trying other eyes in the dolls why not try the pinwheel eyes? After all Dee & Cee was using them. My thinking now is that Mattel tried them in the Paige Boy head and with the Paige boy being the first hard head that came out the eye fit but was too big. Meaning after the eye was put in the head, it didn't close right and over time when the head shrunk-up the eye didn't close at all. So the idea of using them was trashed because the eye was too big! But Mattel did continue to use the glassine eyes in the soft head blonde pigtail dolls and in some of the hard head blonde pigtail dolls. I think Mattel tried a number of different things with these dolls... some worked and some didn't... You will get a better understanding of this if you read my Chatty Cathy Body Page. So if you do have a doll that has pinwheel eyes and is a Paige Boy (Paige Boy is the only doll I have seen them in). Those eyes just might be original Chatty Cathy pinwheel eyes like are seen in the pictures below of one of my dolls, and 2 dolls that I found pictures of on my computer. Keep the doll ... and I will keep trying to find out more. Plus since I made this page I am seeing more and more dolls with the after market eyes. NOT GOOD... but you can tell because the eye just looks too new. Not a scratch on it with perfect lashes. Now some dolls do have somewhat perfect eyes but not as many as I am seeing. So watch out for the after market eyes, they are bigger and look new. Plus they do not look like Mattel eyes at all, they are so big that you cannot even see the bottom of the white of the eye when the eyes are opened all the way and the lashes are much thinner. Make them send you close up pictures of the eye before you buy. |
Close-up of Brown Canadian pinwheel eyes. Lashes are Sable (hair like) Also see her freckle pattern it's different than the American doll. |
To your left are three pictures of what the back looks like in the early decal eyes. It is also what the backs would look like in the glassine eyes and the pinwheel eyed Chatty Cathy dolls. Both American and Canadian dolls. |
The picture above is what the backs would look like in the later blue decal eyed and brown decal eyed American dolls, blonde and brunette. See how it is round yet flat on top. Pinwheel brown eyes that are seen only in the Canadian dolls will have the round back as in the picture to your left. All Canadian dolls will have the round back except for the blue decal eyes Canadian dolls, they have the round flat back as in the picture above. |
Decal eyes above most common Lashes are Plastic |
Pinwheel on the left lashes sable and decal on the right lashes plastic |
Decal on the left lashes plastic and Pinwheel on the right lashes are sable (hair like) |
Pinwheel on the left and decal on the right What the eyes look like at a distance away from the camera. |
Close up of the inside of the American hard face brown decal eyes. |
Blue Decal Eyes |
Blue & Blue/Green Glassine Eyes Note: All Glassine eyes have Sable lashes (hair like) |
American "hard head" pig-tail doll next to an American soft face brunette. Both with glassine eyes with sable lashes. Note: An American hard head doll with glassine eyes is very, very hard to find. She is a rare doll, I have only had 2 of these dolls. The brunette bob she is standing next to is even more rare. In fact this brunette bob with glassine eyes is maybe the rarest doll I have ever found. Not only because of her hair/ eyes combination but also because her body is the only one of it's kind that I have ever found. She has a body that will be listed under my Chatty Cathy body page as a rare find. It is unlike all the other Chatty Cathy bodies I have ever found and worked on. She is one rare doll. |
The picture above is to show the slight difference in the color of the glassine eyes |
The picture above is to show the big difference in the color of the glassine eyes. The brunette eyes look more green. |
Brunette soft face piggy with glassine eyes/sable lashes inside her head. |
Canadian dolls above notice their freckle pattern. It is different from the American dolls. As is the eye brows, they have a high arch. Both of these dolls have green pinwheel eyes with sable lashes. |
Canadian dolls above notice their freckle pattern. It is different from the American dolls. As is the eye brows, they have a high arch. Both of these dolls have green pinwheel eyes with sable lashes. (same as the above picture) |
Close up of the light green pinwheel eyes with sable lashes on a soft head Canadian doll. |
Close up of the inside of the head on a Canadian doll. |
Close up of the eyes in Canadian doll. |
Both hard head American dolls with replaced pinwheel eyes. |
The two dolls above and below are Canadian Pig-tail dolls soft face with glassine eyes. One is a blond and the other a redhead. Both dolls are perfect examples of the Canadian glassine eyes. Also these pictures were so good that they also show the Canadian freckle pattern and the high arch of the eye brow. Both these dolls have blue eyes. These pictures were sent to me. Thanks Debbie |
TidBit:.. I looked up the word "Glassine" and it says (a thin but tough glazed nearly transparent paper, used as for the window of envelopes) so I guess it is right because they are plastic... but I am now wondering if those words "glassine eyes" was made up by some Chatty Cathy person that didn't know how to explain the eye so they just called it glassine. Does anyone out there know the correct word for these eyes or can tell me if "Glassine Eyes" is the correct term? Thanks Dolly |
#1 (from left to right) is a Mattel decal eye and it is found in the early bobs and also in the soft face pig-tail dolls, plastic lashes, 1960's. #2 (from left to right) is a Mattel pinwheel eye found in the Canadian dolls and (maybe) in American dolls, sable lashes, 1960's #3 (from left to right) is a Mattel decal eye found in the later bobs, paige boy and pig-tail American dolls, plastic lashes, 1960's. #4 (from left to right) is a un-known maker and is a pinwheel eye I took from a Canadian doll (not a Chatty Cathy). It is also smaller than the Mattel pinwheel eyes 1960's. It has sable lashes. #5 (from left to right) is a Mattel Singing Chatty pinwheel eye and much smaller than the Chatty Cathy eyes 1960's. It has curled sable lashes and then I cut the lashes to show how cut lashes would look in the last picture down, eyes closed. PS:. I don't have any pictures of a Mattel glassine eye out of the head so that eye is not pictured. |
The 3 eyes above are to compare the pinwheel eye from the American Hard Face redhead (pictured above) and a Canadian green eyed Chatty Cathy doll. I am trying to show the pattern of the eyes in this picture. #1 is a close-up of the green eye I found in the Redhead that I think had it's eyes changed. #2 is the same eye except the picture of it is smaller #3 is a Canadian Chatty Cathy pinwheel eye and is bigger than the eyes I found in the American redhead. Look at the eyes and see how the pattern is the same. The pattern is the same but the eye is smaller. I think the eyes came from a 1960's doll other than a Mattel made Chatty Cathy doll. (maybe) PS:. Also I want to point something out here. See the very center of the eye. Now look and see how the black center of the eye in the first picture and see how the paint is starting to flake off. Now look and see how the Chatty Cathy doll eye last picture and see how the center is still a solid black color but the green/blue is faded. Some might say both of these eyes have a washed out look. The first one because of the center flaking and the second one because the blue/green doesn't look as colorful as it might of once been. These are things you can look for when buying these dolls but please remember these dolls are 50+ years old so most of them are not going to have perfect eyes. And a lot of the Pinwheel eyes will have somewhat of a washed out look. I personally think it is nothing. Like I said these dolls are 50+ years old and they do not have perfect eyes, perfect faces, perfect bodies or perfect limbs they are not perfect dolls. Plus I do not believe I have ever seen a totally perfect Chatty Cathy doll, there is always a little something wrong. |
Brunette soft face piggy with glassine eyes/sable lashes eyes closed an American doll. |
The first eye was taken from a Mattel Singing Chatty doll. See how the eye is smaller and the pattern is more of a star shape. Plus I cut the lashes so they would be straight. Both of these eyes are smaller than an original Chatty Cathy pinwheel eye. |
The first eye was taken from a 1960's Canadian doll (not a chatty cathy) and both of these eyes are the same size. Notice how it is the same size but the eye has a different pattern. Both are smaller than an original Chatty Cathy pinwheel eye. |
The first eye was taken from the American hard face blonde Paige boy I bought that is (pictures above) blonde doll. The doll had it's eyes changed with this eye. This eye is an original Chatty Cathy pinwheel eye. Look very close to see how the pattern is the same. The reason you might have trouble seeing the pattern is because the light green eye is painted on the outer rim blue/green with the inner circle painted white. The darker green eye has been painted all one color. Also notice that the dark green eye in this picture is smaller and the lashes are not as thick. |
The first eye was taken from a the American hard face blonde Paige boy I bought that is (pictures above) blonde doll. The doll had it's eyes changed with this eye. This eye is also an original Chatty Cathy pinwheel eye. See how the pattern is the same, the lashes are the same thickness and the eye is the same size as the Canadian Chatty Cathy doll eye it is next to. Plus the color is the same. |
The picture below is to compare three pinwheel eyes with the pinwheel eyes I found in the American hard face doll pictured above (the redhead). This picture is to better explain why I think the eyes were changed in that doll. It also has a picture of a Canadian Chatty Cathy doll eye (last eye in picture) |
The picture below is of 5 different eyes. 4 are Mattel eyes and 1 other eye I cut out of a Canadian doll that was not made by Mattel. 3 are From Chatty Cathy dolls, 1 from a Singing Chatty doll and another one from a old doll I had |
Summing up:.. This is what I mean by being able to tell the eyes have been changed. It is obvious to the average Chatty Cathy collector. All you need to do is pay attention. Look at the size, the pattern, the thickness of the lashes and the back of the eye to determine if your doll has original Chatty Cathy eyes. You will be able to tell. If you still can't, then email me pictures of your dolls eyes. I will be more than happy to give you my best guess. Note: on the thickness of the lashes. Many of these dolls with sable lashes have little to no lashes left after years of wear and tare. So a lot of the dolls with sable hair like lashes have had their lashes replaced. Not a big deal because the eyes are still original Chatty Cathy eyes just with a little damage is all. Size is going to be very hard for you to tell until you have the doll in hand and can compare it to another Mattel doll. Plus like I said I am still unsure about the pinwheel eyes in American hard face dolls. It is possible that both of these American green pinwheel eyed dolls had/have original Mattel eyes and until I can get my hands on another one I am not for sure. The one doll out of the three I have bought meaning the "hard head American pinwheel eyed dolls" I feel I might of been very wrong about was the blonde Paige boy pictured above. She was the one that to me just might of been original. But now gone because I cut her face up trying to remove her eyes so I could be for sure one way or another on these dolls. As it turned out I am still un-sure about the hard head pinwheel eyed American dolls and have destroyed what could of been a very rare doll. Oh well there will be more. (I hope) But please do not do this to your doll, just keep coming back here to find out more. I will update as I buy more of these dolls. So keep your dolls safe and sound and let me find out the facts for you. I just love doing this stuff it give me a reason to keep on buying the rare Chatty Cathy doll. Have A Good Day Dolly. |
An inside look at the back of the eyes of a Chatty Cathy doll |
The picture (Below) and to your right are "All Blue Decal Eyes". I had a hard time finding this doll. So I am going to classify theses eyes as being somewhat rare. These are solid light blue eyes. Some think these eyes look like they are washed out but they are not. The light blue is the color of the eye. It is a solid blue with no rings so people seem to think the eyes are washed out because there isn't a ring inside the color of the eye. There never was a ring and this color of eye is rare now and not easy to find. I have been looking for these eyes for about 4 months now so I am now calling them "somewhat rare" because I had such a hard time finding her. |
Close up of the blue pinwheel eyes in a Canadian doll. There are two different colors of blue pinwheel eyes. I have seen both but only have this one picture and will add the other shade as soon as I can get a picture of them. Thanks Brenda |
Note: Click Here To View Pictures of some of the more rare and not so rare Chatty Cathy Doll with all these different eyes |
Black Chatty Cathy Eyes Brown Decal |
Black Chatty Cathy Eye Closed Notice The lid is Brown |
Black Chatty Cathy With Brown Decal Eyes. This is the only color this doll came with. |
"Round Back" |
"Round Flat Back" |
"Round Back" is the only eye you could just pop out from the back after heating the head of a soft head doll.. |
"Round Flat Back" Do not just pop out from the back and if you put a round back in a hard head that had these eyes for 50 years the eye would be to small for this eye socket. |
The round back eye can be pushed out from the back of the eye, because it has a back cover. The dolls with the round flat back can not be pushed out from the back because they do not have a back cover and you would break the eye if you tried pushing it out from the back. TidBit: If you see a doll that is a hard head with the round back eyes, which would included the Glassine and Pinwheel eyes, look at the eye socket in the back of the head to see if the socket looks too big for the eye. If the doll had the round flat back eyes for 50 years and now they have been changed with the round back eye "Glassine or Pinwheel" the back of the eye socket will look to big because the round flat back has a bigger eye casing than the round back eye casing and the eyes will also look like they are setting back to far in the head from the front because of the extra space that it took for the round flat back eye. The socket will be to big for the round back eye. In other words you "cannot use a round back eye" in a doll that has had the "round flat back eyes" for 50 years. The eye will look to small in the space it would need to take up in order to look right in the dolls head. |
Brown Decal & Brown Pinwheel Eyes |
The picture (Below) is a redhead pigtail doll with 2 different colored blue decal eyes. I had a very hard time finding this doll. She is a rare doll, but most chatty cathy collectors would not buy this doll because of the 2 different eyes. It's odd, because everyone wants a rare chatty cathy doll but when it comes to such strikingly different eyes the dolls becomes not so valuable, even though she is very rare. Most assume right away the eyes have been changed but they haven't. This doll was made this way. She has blue decal eyes the right one being the same as the eyes in the somewhat rare doll above and the left one is the common blue decal eye. Also, is is a good example of how the eyes in the picture above are not washed out like some might think. This doll is a rare find but again, most will not buy this doll, the eyes are just too strikingly different. |
All three of these dolls are Paige Boy Chatty Cathy dolls. Paige Boy meaning a hard head with short hair. Top picture is one I found on my computer as is the bottom right picture. The other 2 are of the doll I bought as she was when I first bought her, she is alsoo pictured above. |
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First of all let me say something here... I will never ever tell you something as fact about these dolls unless I have hands on with the doll. Hands on meaning, I buy the doll and then try to find and buy another doll just like her, so in turn I can tell you what I have learned as fact and not just made up because someone told me this or that. If I ever am unsure I will tell you I am unsure. Plus I always take pictures to back me up! OK then..... I have been investigating Chatty Cathy eyes now for 6 years and the pictures below will tell you what I have found. I have bought a lot of dolls with different eyes just to see if I could tell they were changed or not. When I first made this page I was pretty confident I could tell what eyes had been changed and what were the real thing and I still can but I am not that confident anymore. As I found out there are a few people out there that just do not care how much they could be ripping you off. I recently bought a brown eyed redhead pigtail doll with original brown Mattel decal eyes. As soon as she arrived at my door I took her head off and YES!! the back of her eyes had been cut out and the brown eyes put in. What a rip off!! I paid 400 for the doll and I can remember thinking before I bought her oh, she looks for real, never been opened, dirty, hair a mess, original Mattel brown eyes, perfect head even if I would have to give her a new body, she is a beauty and the real thing! Also thinking, that doll has never been touched since it was made back in the 60's. How wrong I was. Yes, I sent her back that same day, I was so mad. The only thing I had not done was protect myself by using a charge card when buying her. I had tried, but I couldn't find where to do that in PayPal when I went to pay for her. See I did have my reserves on her because I was thinking I will use a charge card and if I have any trouble with the doll I will just do a charge back on her. As it turned out, I did get my money back, all my money, plus she gave me back my shipping money to ship the doll back to her. Not right away and I did have to write a few snappy emails but in the end everything turned out fine. I just hope she doesn't try to sell the doll again to another. It just goes to show that it doesn't matter how long you have been collecting these dolls you can get taken on them, even if you are a seasoned collector or a newbie when it comes to these eyes it can be oh so very hard to tell. I need to start a page about all the horror stories people have on these doll. mmmm it might be more interesting than my Happy Chatty Cathy story page. LOL This page deals with nothing but the Chatty Cathy dolls eyes. Below you will see pictures of the dolls eyes, front and back. With the pictures there will be an explanation of the eyes and if she is an American doll or Canadian doll. For starters I DO NOT CHANGE EYES. I never have and never will. But I have fixed a few from the inside and will say so if I have and I make sure I only fix one eye, never both because repairing both eyes from the back makes the doll look like it's eyes have been changed. So I will never, ever fix both eyes. One eye should always look untouched as to prove the doll came with that particular style and color of eye. Even after getting fooled, I still do not believe there are as many people out there changing eyes in these dolls as to what is always said. Some are worried the doll they have bought have had the eyes changed and that is why I made this page. I made it so you can compare your dolls eyes with original Mattel Chatty Cathy eyes. Now, I am not saying that nobody has ever changed the eyes and tried to sell them as original and get away with it, I am proof that, anyone can get fooled but I will say this, it has taken 9 years of me buying and selling these doll before I got caught/taken. There are some that know how to change the eyes from the front in soft heads. But if the eyes have been changed you will be able to tell. The eyes will not be original Mattel eyes or will have been taken from a 1960's doll not made by Mattel in which case the eyes will be smaller or larger and not have the same eye pattern. So yes, you can tell if the eyes have been changed. Plus I do not believe there are that many dolls out there with changed eyes and the ones that are out there, the average Chatty Cathy collector would be able to tell if they are original or not. But if in doubt and you just cannot tell, write me and I will give you my best guess. But again if the eyes were changed with original Mattel eyes, then there is no way to tell unless you take the head off. I would also like to say here, If you have been in this business as long as I have, your logic will tell you what I am about to tell you below. I made this page mostly for those new collectors out there that are still un-sure about the doll they bought or are about to buy. If you think about logic of changing eyes in these dolls you will better understand and you can stop worrying about your dolls eyes. First of all, you cannot buy or find original Chatty Cathy eyes they are not made anymore. Asked yourself why would someone change the eyes in a Chatty Cathy doll from decal to glassine eyes? In order to do that they would have to have a doll with Mattel original Chatty Cathy glassine eyes in it's head in order to say they are "original eyes". Right? Now think about the only dolls with original Mattel Chatty Cathy eyes would be a Chatty Cathy doll. Right?... So why would someone destroy a Chatty Cathy doll in order to make another Chatty Cathy doll worth more? There is no logic in that. Let me say this again, you can not get original Chatty Cathy eyes anywhere but from a Chatty Cathy doll. They do not make them anymore and the eyes in other chatty dolls like the singing chatty are smaller with curled lashes so you can tell they are not original to the Chatty Cathy doll. The glassine eyes in the hard face blonde or the brown eyes in the hard face Paige Boy would be close to impossible to change from the front and I might add here the one I bought unknowingly the eyes had been changed from the back so I could tell once the head was off. In order to change the eyes you would have to get a soft face Chatty Cathy doll with glassine, pop them out and then try to get a Hard Head hot enough to put them in her head from the front. Again there is no logic in that! And getting a Chatty Cathy hard head that hot would destroy her face paint. Plus the eye would look to small in the socket of that hard head because the eye socket would be stretched out from the hard head doll as having the "round flat back" not the "round back" eyes for 50 years. (round back eyes are the only ones you can pop out from the back you "cannot" just pop out the "Round Flat Back Eye") Note: All American Brown Eyed Chatty Cathy Dolls Have The "Round Flat Back" and do not just pop out! All Paige Boy dolls have hard heads and the brown eye back is not round but the round flat shape to it. There is no way to get the eye out of another brown eyed doll to put it in a hard head or soft head unless you cut them out. They do not just pop out. The brown eye is not just one piece. There isn't a back to the eye so if you went to take it out from the front you would have to take it out in pieces. The shape is different in the brown eyes so you would have to cut the back of the eye to get it out "whole" so to speak and cut the back of the eye of the doll you were putting the eyes in a Hard Head or Soft Head. If you did that, then you and everyone can see they were changed just by taking the head of the doll off. Changing one bad eye from the back would be ok but to change both would make the dolls value drop dramatically because you could not prove the eyes in that doll are original to that dolls head. So again why would a person do that? What I am trying to say here is... changing eyes in one of these dolls does not make sense. How I am not saying it can't be done well enough that I would not be able to tell and I know the Canadian Chatty Baby doll came with glassine eyes so I guess you could get the doll kind of cheap 50/100 dollars and cut her eyes out and put them in a Chatty Cathy doll but, why would anyone take so much time to make a few extra bucks changing eyes in these dolls when you would have to have an original Chatty Cathy doll or a Canadian Chatty Baby in the first place to do it with. The cost alone of buying two dolls to make one good doll would not be worth it. Just like the doll I bought. She was a hard head with red hair and brown eyes, I know the the doll was made so I took the chance of buying her but see, as soon as I got her all I had to do was take her head off. Oh I am sure someone somewhere has done it without cutting the eyes but I am also sure it is NOT done as much as some might believe. It took 9 years for me to get a bad doll with changed eyes and I have bought hundreds of these dolls. Again you can not buy the 1960's eyes. So as long as your dolls eyes look like the eyes in the pictures below they are original!... Compare your dolls eyes with the pictures below, look at the eye and at the back of the eye and at the size of the eye. All the glassine eyes are the same size as is the pinwheel eyes as is the decal eyes. PS: Email me if you need to know how to take your dolls head off Click Here. The only dolls I am un-sure about are the hard face pinwheel eyed American dolls. I have only had 3 of them and all three I think had their eyes changed. (details and pictures below of two of them) Plus when I bought the dolls I knew what I was buying. The sellers did not claim the eyes were original Chatty Cathy eyes. So I knew before I bought the dolls. Most sellers will tell you if the eyes have been changed. On the two dolls I will be talking about below, one used a smaller pinwheel eyes maybe taken from a 1960's doll not made by Mattel and the other having original chatty Cathy eyes but the eyes didn't fit the head and more than likely taken from a Canadian doll or maybe American doll that had a bad head. Number 3 doll (not pictured) had eyes that were slightly to big called (after market) eyes and were changed from the inside and I have now seen these after market eyes changed from the front. They have round backs so it's not that hard to put a round back into a soft head but with these after market eyes you can see they are not original Mattel eyes. I need to buy a set and try to put them in a hard head just to see if it can be done. Also my number 3 doll (not pictured) I knew her eyes were changed before I bought her. I could tell just by pictures alone there was no big cover-up about her eyes as there wasn't any cover-up about the eyes of the other two dolls I bought. Plus after buying over 400 Chatty Cathy dolls I have only once been told the eyes in the doll were original and they weren't. So if I have only been stung once on buying fake cover-up eyes, why would you think you have? There is no logic in that kind of thinking. Plus even if your dolls eyes were changed with original Chatty Cathy eyes and you know both were changed, as long as they are original Chatty Cathy eyes she still is an original Chatty Cathy doll with replaced Chatty Cathy eyes and still holds some value. These dolls are 50+ years old an in another few years you are going to see less and less of these dolls. Their value continues to go up. She still is a Chatty Cathy doll with replaced eyes or original eyes. If you are unsure about the dolls eyes ask the seller he or she will know and if they don't know, then assume they are changed and don't buy the doll. So stop worrying about your doll if she was worth what you paid for her years ago she still holds her value and always will after all she is a Chatty Cathy doll. Please see the hard face American dolls below with the pinwheel eyes and keep checking back because I am still investigating the pinwheel eyes in the hard face American dolls. |
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