About Me and My Chatty Cathy Obsession:.. My first chatty I got for Christmas in 1963 she was a red-head with green glassine or pinwheel eyes I can't remember which. But I can remember her like it was yesterday and the reason for that is because I wanted a talking doll with long hair that I could play with and fix her hair the way I wanted it. Up until then there wasn't any dolls that had long hair. I opened her and was so happy until the next day when I went to take her hair out of pig-tails and seen these 2 big bald spots on the back of her head! God I was soooooo MAD!! I could not believe my mother would buy me a doll that was bald! Of course she didn't know and to top it all off my twin sister got Chatty Charmin that had all those records that she bragged about and how her doll said all kinds of stuff. I played with my red-head green eyed chatty with the bald head that only said 18 phrases while I watched my twin learn French with her doll. I few years later I put all my dolls away and started on boys. But we, my twin and I, told my mom to keep our dolls and to never throw our Chatties away and she did. When I was 22 and married I asked my mother for my Chatty Cathy doll and when she brought her out she was now missing an arm and didn't talk anymore..... again I was soooooooo MAD! My mom had let others play with her and when she broke my dad had tried to fix her and lost her arm! LOL I can remember my mom saying she didn't know the kids had it (a lie) and my dad saying oh the arms around here some place (another lie). LOL I took my broken down bald chatty home with me only to have my husband after looking at this one armed bald doll up in the closet taking up space, ask me why in the world I would want to keep that piece of junk doll? So I Throw her out! Yup in the trash she went and to this day I have always regretted that. I spent many years looking for another red-head chatty with green eyes and bald spots and I am still looking for her. I know now she is what they call a Canadian Chatty Cathy but I still wonder about that because we lived in the southern part of Minnesota and I know my mother would not have made a trip to Canada to buy a doll but she did order from catalogs so maybe some how it came down from Canada. But I still have my doubts and think that some of those Canadian dolls (what they call them now) were made right here in America (maybe)? I do know that the reason the dolls have the bald spots was because it was a cheaper way to build the doll and was a cheaper doll to buy. I some how knew that back in 1963 as I still believe that now. I now collect and fix Chatty Cathy dolls and love doing it, I continue to look for my bald redhead chatty everyday on ebay, I check junk and antique stores, go to auctions just looking for her over and over again so it is a bit strange that I should repair all these dolls and have never been able to get my hands on my bald redhead. I think the day I find her, I will then be able to give this obsession up. (maybe) PS:.. My twin still has her Chatty Charmin and "By Accident" one day I threw out my husbands baseball card collection. |
"About Me" |
How to tell what Number Doll you are buying The description below goes by my picture chart of the grill on my body page Click Here. NOT the way they are listed on ebay. |
Canadian Chatty Cathy Dolls:. Boy what beautiful dolls these are... You can tell if she is a true Canadian by her face... Once you get to know the face of a Canadian doll you will be able to pick her out in a crowd. Not only is her freckle pattern different but her brows are higher and her over-all face color is much richer. Her lips have a very nice smooth bubble gum look plus the color on the lips is almost always very well preserved. Her eyes can be glassine, pinwheel and decal. It is easy to tell a Canadian pig-tail head because her hair is only rooted around the outside of her head and then one long rooting from the front top center of her forehead back down to the top center of the back of her neck. Her head is always soft. She has beautiful peachy colored limbs not on all of them but a lot have them. So if her face is soft, she has a figure 8 freckle pattern, high brows, very pretty full preserved lips, nice rich color to her face and those peachy limbs chances are she is a Canadian doll. The inside of her body and the writing on the back of her body is the very same as the American Chatty. Just because it says Pat. in Canada DOES NOT mean she is a Canadian doll. Canadian Eyes: Canadian Dolls can have Glassine eyes, Pinwheel eyes and YES Decal eyes. There are 2 different colors of Blue Glassine with sable lashes one is a light blue with purple specs and the other is a blue green color and very in shades. There are 3 different Colors of Pinwheel eyes with sable lashes. There are 3 different Green pinwheel from dark to light green. There are 2 blues pinwheel There are 2 browns one light the other dark pinwheel. I have never had both together at one time so I cannot be for sure on that. There are also blue decal eyes. The decal eyes look like the American eyes and can be a light and dark blue with plastic lashes. --> Click Here for More information on Chatty Cathy eyes Canadian Freckles: Some not all Canadian chatty cathy will have freckles that are in the shape of a figure 8 and if you look close you can see it. Look at a picture of an American doll and a Canadian doll to see this pattern. Also the color... now I will get in trouble saying this but I think that the color of the freckles are two and maybe 3 different colors. One is a dark brown another is a nice chocolate brown and the last one is a gray brown. The reason I say this is because I have compared the color of the freckles on many, dolls American and Canadian and I have come to the conclusion that although some dolls have graying freckles some also have what I would say a Gray Brown freckle. My reasoning for this is the color on the New Chatty Cathy dolls. If you compare the color of the freckles on the new dolls to the color of the freckles on the old dolls and Canadians you will see the very same color meaning the grey brown. To see and compare the differences between American dolls and Canadian dolls Please Click Here, the link will take you to my Chatty Cathy Freckle Pattern page. Also you can kind of see the different colors in the freckles and browns on that page. Eye Brows: The Canadian Chatty Cathy will have high eye brows meaning higher above the eyes than an American doll. Click here to Compare Lips: The lips on a Canadian Chatty are almost always well preserved and are a bubble gum pink. Again if you want to see this better compare with an American doll Click Here. Face Color: Her face will be a richer color it will have a much tanner look. Meaning a more brown peachy color and the cheeks almost always have some of the pink cheek color left. Not much color on some of the dolls and then again a lot on others. Click Here Hair: The pig-tail Canadians will have bald spots on the top back of their head. This is a very easy way to tell if it is a Canadian piggy. I have never ever seen an American doll with this rooting pattern. The bobs hair is the same style as the American bob but it is a bit shorter. I have never seen a Canadian doll with a Paige Boy hair cut, not saying they are not out there, I just have never seen one. Canadians have a much coarser hair this is hard to tell by pictures alone but when you feel it and see it up close you can tell. It also keeps the curl much longer than an American doll and to me is soooooo much easier to fix! (if you know me you know I hate fixing hair) ... Click Here this link will take you to a page with many pictures of both rare American and rare Canadian dolls. Limbs: Now some of the limbs are a much more peachy color. But a lot of the bobs have the more brown limbs like the early Chatty Cathy dolls and some will have limbs like the American dolls. The peachy color is such a nice color and I don't think I have ever had one with stains. I have bought a few Canadian dolls with the brown limbs and the not so peachy color limbs. The brown color looks like the early Chatty Cathy dolls, the prototype dolls and the number ones but they seem to be a lighter brown but yet brown. The same thing goes for the pink limbs, they look like the later 4's and 5# but lighter pink. I would like to buy only the peachy color limbs but not all the Canadian dolls come with them. Click Here for my Limbs Page Body: NOPE no way to tell if it was made in Canada or not. "This is my feeling"... I have looked at and compared the body so many times my head is spinning.... and I have concluded there is no way what so ever to tell where the body came from. I say this because I have opened many of these dolls and there is not one marking in or on a Canadian dolls body that can tell me for sure it was made in Canada and I am sure that through the years I have been repairing this doll if there was something to tell me the different I would know it by now. I used to think the body was more of a peach color but I do not believe that any more at all, in fact what I think now is that Dee & Cee didn't make their own bodies. I think all the bodies were made by Mattel in America and shipped to Canada. I could be wrong but all my research has told me just that. Just because it says Pat. in Canada DOES NOT mean she is a Canadian doll. Click Here For Body Page Other Canadian Dolls Like the Chatty Baby: I am just now leaning about the doll. I mean, I know the body because it is the same as the Chatty Cathy but I do not know enough about the head and limbs yet. I do know the limbs seem to be just like the Chatty Cathy doll when it comes to color on both the American and Canadian Chatty Baby dolls. I don't buy enough of them to know more or even to their value. All I know is you can buy them pretty cheap including their clothes. The Canadian dolls if they have the pinwheel eyes will go higher in price but the Canadian dolls with the glassine eyes seem to be the same in price as a American Chatty Baby dolls or just a bit more. French, Spanish, Italian, German and English Rosebud Chatty Cathy? Maybe! Click Here For My Foreign Chatty Doll Page or Click Here for the French Doll or Click Here for the Spanish Doll .................................................................Scroll Down............................................................... |
I am new to collecting the Chatty Cathy doll, what would you suggest I buy. Ok my standard answer is... First of all do you want an Original Chatty Cathy (made from 1950-1965) or would you want a remake? The remakes (1998 remakes by Mattel) are almost always a sure thing to buy, meaning you cannot go wrong on buying the doll because they all still do talk and as long as you are not paying to much for her she is a good buy. $50 dollars with a box is a steal, $125 with a box is still a good price (as of this year 2009). I would not pay much more than that for her unless she has brown eyes or is a Holiday Chatty (brunette with brown eyes). If you want an original Chatty Cathy I would suggest a Hard Face blonde pigtail doll with a #5 body. There are many of them out there and they are almost always fixable. Plus they are very pretty dolls. I sell them on this site repaired to talk again. Click Here . I sell short haired bob dolls, blondes and brunettes (brown hair) cheaper but they only say 11 phrases. The blonde pigtail is inexpensive and she talks better, saying 18 phrases with a #5 body plus she is a very pretty doll. All Chatty Cathy dolls keep their value and will only go up in value as the years go on. When buying one look at her as not only a beautiful doll but also as an investment. Also don't just buy any doll just because she talks or still talks or she has pretty clothes on or you just love how her hair is done. Buy the doll for her face and body (with no hair cuts) and always look closely at the face. Look for even eyes, straight lashes, the color of the freckles, brows and lips, also the overall face color. Look for bad graying or very pink faces. Tidbit: On the soft face bobs, If you see a doll that has a very, very pink face, so pink that if compared to another doll it looks a bit too pink, that means the dolls face has had a restore treatment. Explanation of this treatment is below under "tidbits" Face. Also you should know that a lot of the short haired bob dolls can have a lot of graying on the face some more than others. Look closely at her pictures you can see it by pictures alone. Most soft face bobs will have some graying but some are really bad. Read more about graying in tidbits below. If you don't mind the graying of the face, freckles and brows on the short haired bob dolls, then buy the doll. Plus she is a doll you can get much, much cheaper than any other. Also you could treat the face yourself if you don't mind the time it takes, just do not pay a lot of money for a doll with a bad gray face. Again don't just buy the doll because you just love the clothes she has on or the way the hair is styled, her clothes and her hairstyle add nothing to the value of the doll itself. If you are buying one with real fancy clothes remember those clothes cost and that cost is tacked on to the price of the doll. Not only for the clothes but the cost of the shipping the seller paid to have those clothes shipped. Everything on these dolls cost money. From the way the hair is styled to the shoes and socks she is wearing to the ribbons in her hair. Just remember you're buying the candy not the wrapper. Is This Doll For Real? There are so many Chatty Cathy dolls out there that are different from one another that all I can really say is don't take anyones word for it! Nobody knows for sure about these dolls. In all the years I have been doing this you would think I would of have seen everything that is out there (I have bought hundreds of Chatty Cathy dolls and have had my hands on more, not to mention the hundreds I read about on Ebay) but the fact is I haven't seen them all. Plus I repair these dolls so I know the doll from top to bottom, inside out and I have been asked every question there is about this doll and the doll will still surprise me. So if you have a doll that has different eyes, shorter legs, different hair, foreign talking, English speaking. Don't take another persons word that she isn't for real! But don't be fooled either, just used your best judgment and ask around not using just one source for your information on her and that goes for her value too. Ask, Ask, Ask... because NOBODY knows for sure. I Noticed The Dolls Have Different Numbered Bodies, Why? Click Here "How To Tell What Body To Buy Before You Buy" Price of the doll. Some people do not care what they pay for a doll and there are some that will not stop until they can say they got the best price. I price my dolls first by her head, then her body and then by her limbs. I also cater my market to the seasoned collector because reputation in this business is very important to me. I have a good reputation for selling nice dolls at fair prices. I do not over inflate my price because I am selling to a non collector "meaning the not so informed person". Nor, do I up her price because of how I did her hair. In fact I will sell you the doll with or without the clothes it's up to you. But you should know the amount of money I take off her price for clothes will never be the amount of money I paid for her clothes. In other words her clothes are worth more on the doll then buying her without clothes. That is because if you buy the doll without clothes that means I have another outfit I have to sell or find another doll to use that outfit on. I am trying to change this to benifit you and me but it is real hard to know what people want a doll dressed in, it's almost impossible to know what you want when it comes to clothes. So I do take a lot of hits on clothes. Some I just give away, most I price at my cost or lower if you buy the doll dressed. I want your business, I want you to be happy with the doll and I want you to come back and buy from me again! I can't get what I want if I over price my dolls and the clothes they have on Click Here for a Price List "Value List of the Chatty Cathy doll". TidBit wait until after the holidays to buy a doll they are always cheaper! I Had My Doll Repaired But She Still Does Not Talk Very Good, Why? Click Here "All about her Voice" O-rings? They are an odd size so they are very hard to find. Email me I have them. Something Else I am going to mention here. I don't know about those O-rings, I do not know how long they will last in the doll. I do know that after 50 years most of the O-rings have gone bad. So your guess is as good as mine on how long they will last. But there are dolls that still work after 50 years. O-rings Made Of? This is such a complicated question that I am putting this link on my page so you can read for yourself if this is something that concerns you. Click Here http://www.sealingspecialties.com/materials.htm Also it's really not how long it will last meaning "breaking down/deteriorate it's mainly how long it will take to stretch out of shape. They are like all belts on anything you buy that has a belt. Chances are it will stretch out of shape before it breaks down. The doll will begin to talk too fast or too slow. As far as what it is made out of does not make a difference at all. How long it will take to "disintegrate" Nobody knows that! It's the environment that determans how long something will last. Meaning, boxed up and no air they might last forever, out in the eliments exposed to dampness, dryness, heat and cold will shorten the life of an o-ring I am sure. But there are dolls that still work after 50 years. So to tell you how long it will take to "disintegrate" is a question I cannot answer. Pull String How Long Will She Talk? I have tested the number of pulls you will get before the string breaks. I have tested this more than once. You will get at the least 200 to 300 pulls and on some and as much as 400 to 500 pulls (maybe more) before the string will break on others. Chances are the plastic parts will break in her first or the record will wear out. Remember this is her second time around, the doll has already been played with so her record is used. Just don't get too carried away pulling her string and she will last for years. Maybe forever who knows after all some are still talking today and the dolls are 50 years old. Yes, I leave a bit of the string hanging that is because I want to make sure my knot does not come apart or loosen. I want to be able to catch the string if it should loosen up before it is lost inside the doll. It will be up to the buyer to cut that extra string off if it bothers them. Or just wrap it around the pull ring and secure with a bit of glue. Guarantee On My Dolls. I cannot guarantee something that is so old and so fragile. Nobody can or does, however I will will take the doll back if you are unhappy with her. For ANY reason within the first 10 days Yes, I can re-repair any doll I sold you. But I will not re-repair any doll that was repaired by someone else. Glue or Chemicals? Glue has to be used in the inside of the doll for things like gluing the record back on to the disk. The chemicals you read about are nothing more than a solvent that melts the plastic a bit so the dolls seams can be put back together without gaps. Meaning the plastic melts a bit so the two sides are then welded together. Can I Repair My Own Doll and Can You Help Me Repair Her? Yes and Yes, A few years ago I made a few pages on repairing the Chatty Cathy doll but since I do not want to drum myself out of business all together, I keep those pages hidden from the public. But if you have started repairing your doll and just cannot figure it out Email me and I will give you access to those pages free of charge. But they are for the #3, 4 and 5 body. Not for the closed voice box. How Hard is it To Repair A Chatty Cathy doll? That depends on her body. 3,4 and 5 are easy to repair but 0,1,2 are not. The early dolls all have closed voice boxes, meaning even if you get the body open the voice box inside her body is closed and GLUED shut and can be next to impossible to open without damage to the box itself. At times I do get lucky and I can get it to pop open but most of the time I buy 2 dolls to fix one. Meaning I have to cut the whole voice box out of the body. Destroy it on one doll cutting the box itself and on the other doll destroying the body to get the voice box out whole to use in the first body. Plus once the voice box is out of the body, I can open it and repair it but I bet out of every 2 only one is fixable. This is the reason you do not see very many of these dolls repaired. Plus once they are repaired they never talk very loud and the record can be scratched up really bad. It cost me more in time and money to repair one of these dolls than it does any other and yet she never sells for very much Unless she is a Prototype. The Neck Ring is Broke Can I save My Doll? Much will depend on if she has a solid neck ring or an open one. The solid neck ring can be fixed by adding a round stiff piece of plastic to the top of the neck and welding it on the flat suface (write me for details). Now the open neck ring can be fixed but the body just isn't worth the trouble. Now if the doll has already been repaired to talk again you might want to try to fix it. But if you have a non talker, then you cannot be sure that body can be repaired. Plus one out of every two #0-3 is not repairable. You are much better off to buy another body for your doll. Let me explain... because the neck ring on the early dolls body comes with what I call an open neck ring and unless you know what you are doing that neck ring will and can break very, very, easy when taking the head off the doll. Once that neck ring is broken off and unless it is just a small break the head will never be right on that doll again. Meaning, once it is broken and someone goes to repair it, unless it is repaired in a way where the plastic is welded/melted back together it will just break again and if you try to use a replacement from another doll the head will not set straight on the doll, it will have a cocked look because the head has to sit perfectly on and under that ring. I have seen where people have taken a round piece of plastic and glued it on the opening. Now that will work, but it will not last very long and it will break again if the head is turned too much. There just isn't enough suface to glue the plasic to. This is just one example of the ways people repair the dolls neck ring. I do not repair neck rings unless I am sure it will be as good as new and will not break again. What I am saying here is, there are a lot of these things like neck rings that can be repaired on these dolls but repaired to what point I ask? I normally just trash the body of doll with broken neck rings. He/She is new at restoring the doll should I trust them? Your guess is as good as mine. A lot of people repairing the Chatty Cathy doll may do it maybe 6 months to a year but once they find out that all dolls cannot be repaired and how much time they are putting into the doll they usually give it up and then try to sell all their junk doll parts to other unsuspecting new restore people. Like used records... don't buy them ever! Chances are that record skips or is so scratched up it's worthless. Or these people that claim they only use Chatty Cathy parts in the dolls they repair. Those are just words to make them sound better. You can't buy new records and you can't buy new anything for these dolls, you have to use what the doll came with. So when they say "I only used Chatty Cathy parts" well those are the only parts they could use. It's a ridiculous statement and a statement to get as much money as possible out of the doll fooling the public into thinking they know what they are doing. I call them fly by night restore people, they buy a doll and quickly repair her in their spare evening hours. Then turn around and sell her fooling the buyer into thinking they actually know what they are doing and the buyer winds up with a doll that talks funny skipping words or her face is so gray and discolored that she looks sick or her eyes will not close or the stains on her body are covered with clothes or her limbs are so white she looks like a ghost and I could go on and on. Just be careful when buying one of these dolls. Ask for pictures and details, naked body pictures and close-up pictures of the face.....Ask, Ask, Ask and if they get mad at you for asking, then don't buy the doll. I wanted to send the doll back but felt bad about it or the seller said no returns: NEVER BE AFRAID TO SEND THE DOLL BACK!!!!! Maybe if more people did we wouldn't have so many bad dolls out there and I don't care if they say I know nothing about this doll, she is being sold as is... if it's junk and even you can see it's junk when she gets there then send it back. Or if her eyes have been changed or her hair is cut, send her back. Or she has been restored and she doesn't talk right, or her seams were hidden with foggy pictures, or No naked body pictures at all, or little if any detail in her description, or not very many pictures you can send the doll back. Every one of these are good reasons to send the doll back and also good reasons not to buy it in the first place. All of those things are what people will hid from view. I have said it before and will say it again do not be fooled into thinking the person selling the doll has not looked over that doll good and knows exactly what they are selling and hoping to get for the doll. Especially if she has been repaired to talk again. Now some people really don't know but those people will take the doll back without question or trouble. Just do your homework before you buy always! Hair Shampoo? Yes use human shampoo on her hair It will not hurt her hair! ... The question is how do you want your Chatty to smell? Because if you use other house hold products like dish soaps/ laundry soaps. She will smell like that too. Her head is made of rubber and rubber picks-up smells. So think twice about what you wash her hair in. Human shampoos and conditioners are very mild they have to be! They are used on Humans plus they smell so much better. Eye Replacement? Read all about her eyes Click Here (this link will take you to another page) Other Restorers? I have never bought a doll from any of them and they have never bought a doll from me, so I do not know their work and they do not know mine. I don't like to brag but I Am The Best! LOL Other Web Sites? I have seen a few web sites that sell Chatty Cathy dolls but I have also seen them come and go. I have had this site since 1998 the name has changed and I now sell Chatty Cathy dolls but I was here 13 years ago and will be here for as many years to come. I really do not have an opinion on the other sites except "they sell", "I sell" and "I still do have the best prices" and the best dolls! naa naa, na naa naa.... LOL. That's for those other sites. , Fixing Other Peoples Dolls? I do not fix other peoples dolls. Because as a restorer I know that there is NO WAY for me to tell you for sure if your doll can be fixed, meaning there could be so many things wrong inside your doll that she can't be fixed or isn't worth fixing. Unless of course you are willing to pay a small mint to have her fixed. What I will do is this.... If you find a doll on ebay that doesn't talk and you want her, I will buy the doll for you. After she is shipped to me I will open her to see what damage is inside (if they can't talk, there is damage, how bad is the question). Then tell you if she can or can't be fixed. This way you are not out any money and it will be your option to buy her from me once fixed. Also this way you are not out any money and I do not have to worry about taking your money to fix a doll I do not know for sure if she can or can't be fixed. Plus if she can't be fixed I can always use her for parts and if she can and you have changed your mind I can always resell her. My charge to you for fixing her would be the cost of the doll, shipping cost plus a reasonable cost to fix her which never is much, I'm not in this business to rip you off, I am a fair dealer. How long have you been restoring dolls and do you sell them on Ebay? I have been restoring dolls forever, I just never started selling them until ebay and I now sell them on this site. It's easier and cheaper for me to sell my dolls off my site and because of that I can offer the doll at a much lower price than selling them on ebay. Ebay has many, many fees that have to be paid when selling a doll and it's because of those fees, that I do not have to pay, that I can offer the doll at a much lower price. Plus I now Only restore the Chatty Cathy doll. My plans for now and in the future are to keep buying, repairing and selling Chatty Cathy dolls. As long as there is a Chatty Cathy doll out there that needs my special touch I will always be here. "My Story" Click Here. My story tells of my first Chatty Cathy doll and of how and why I got started. PS: I am not a member of any club and I do not know all these chatty cathy people you will see selling and buying these dolls. I'm just one "me" and I can say with confidence you will not find a more knowledgeable repair person on the Chatty Cathy doll. Plus if you buy a doll from me you will see and read about the whole doll not just about her pretty face and clothes but her whole body in a detailed description. NO hidden surprises and NO hidden shipping charges. What you see and read is what you will get. She will be packed in a new box and her body protect from being miss handled or crushed while in the mail. When she arrives at your door you will open her box with the confidents and knowledge you are getting "more" than what you paid for because she will be even more beautiful in person. Plus remember ALL my Vintage dolls are returnable. Note: of interest for some... On this site, NO names and NO site names will ever be used! Your privacy is my top priority. No Feedback and No Blogs. If you have bought a doll from me and want her picture removed from the sold page please let me know and I will remove it with no questions asked. Again your privacy is my top priority!....... Scroll Down for a lot more information, Tidbits you should know, The Canadian doll, Chatty Cathy's Body, What she says and "About Me on how I repair my dolls"....... |
Frequently Asked Questions? |
Why Does My Chatty Have White Spots On Her Face? Measles What Are They? or White Spots On Her Face, "They Cannot Be Removed" What I "think" they are and if you have ever worked in a place where they mold things out of rubber and plastic. You would know that things like rubber or plastic come in pellet shaped form, the size of large and small peas and also come in very large containers. It is then melted and mixed in very large tubs with softener and plastics to get it the right consistency and color. Then it is pored into molds to make the doll head. So what I think happened was some of the rubber and plastics were slightly different in color, maybe some of the pellets didn't mix well with the others, maybe it didn't come from the same supplier or it was a soft rubber being mixed with a harder one, it could of been a cost issue. So when it was molded to form the head the color differences didn't show up at that time. It more than likely only started to show up on the dolls head after many years. I think the reason that you are seeing it now is because rubber and plastics are like anything else, after time most things lose color, some more than others. Like the color in clothes. Anyway what is happening on her face is some of the pea size pellets are losing color at a much faster rate than the other pea size rubber pellets. Someday the other color on her face will catch up and that head will once again be the same color but how long that will take nobody knows. Plus it might never catch up. Also if the doll has white spots now they will never get any better and could get worse and they cannot be removed, most of them go all the way through the rubber. Also: I have seen other spots on the dolls head that look like they are gray or they have an almost blue tint. They are round the same as the white ones. So I now think that the rubber came in different colors and it just did not get mixed or melted enough. I don't know but I think these heads were all made at the same place meaning the "hard face long bob head" was made at the same plant because I only see this on those Chatty Cathy heads. Note: the graying face I think that is from the dolls face being exposed to the elements more than its head top, because the top of the head is covered with hair. UPDATE 2011:.. You learn as I learn... I have run into a soft face brunette brown eyed bob with Chatty Measles. My very first one and it is now telling me these Measles are not just on the hard face bob dolls. Hers are very, very light and very hard to see but they are there. Chatty Baby is also notorious for them. |
TidBits & FAQ Chatty Cathy Doll |
Phrases On The Black Record Dated 1961 or 1962 18 Phrases Chatty Baby Says: HI Mama Nice Mommy OK Mama Kiss Nice Baby Night Night Tummy Hurt Ga Ga Gu Gu Doggy Bow Wow Cookie All Gone Here Kitty Cat Go BY BY I Fall Down NO No No NO Baby Hungry Hiiiiiiiii Baby "Crying" Baby "Laughing" |
Set One (1) Hi-ho, the derry-o, The farmer in the dell A Tisket, a Tasket A green and yellow basket Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye Row, row, row your boat Life is but a dream. Rock-A-By Baby On The Tree Top Ring around the roses, A pocket full of posies |
What Chatty Baby Says |
What Singing Chatty Says "Sings" 1965 (Below) or Click Here |
Phrases On The Black and White Record Dated 1962 1) Je suis bien sage (I am very good! or I am well-behaved) 2) Je m'appelle Caroline (My name is Caroline) 3) Prenez-moi dans vos bras. (Take me in your arms) 4) J'ai faim, je veux manger (I'm hungry, I want to eat!) 5) Amen-moi dans mon petit lit (Put me in my little bed) 6) Je suis tres jolie (I am very pretty) 7) J'ai tres sommeil (I am very sleepy) 8) Donnez-moi un bonbon (Give me a candy!) 9) Je veux mon lait (I want my milk). 10) Je ferme mes jolies yeux (I will close my pretty eyes!) 11) Je suis tres gentile (I am very sweet!) |
French Canadian Chatty Cathy Doll |
Phrases are on a Mattel Made Record. 18 English Chatty Cathy Says: Lets Play School. Will You Play With Me? Why Can't I Come? May I have A Biscuit. I Don't Want To Go To Bed. Lets Go Shopping. Take Me For A Walk. May I Wear My New Coat? Please Come To My Party. My Name Is Rose Bud. When Is My Birthday? Tell Me A Story Mommy Where Is My Purse? I Love You Mommy. It's Tea Time Mommy. I Like Chocolate. May I Have A Taffy Apple? Night Night Mommy. |
British (English) Rosebud Chatty |
Things about a Chatty Cathy you should know if you own or are planning on buying these dolls. Pull-String: To stop her from saying the same thing over and over again... do not let your doll do this. If you do, it will cause the needle to groove a deeper groove on the record and as a result you will then have trouble getting her to stop saying that phrase over and over again.. If she starts doing this just stop her from talking after you pull her string half way out, then pull again and she should say something else the next time. Also please do not pull that string so hard that you could pull those plastic parts apart inside the doll. You need to pull steady and with her in an upright position or slightly tipped backwards or forwards. God, don't start pulling her string upside down and sideways that is just crazy and you could break the doll. Yes, I am sure it was pulled all different ways when the doll was new but you have to remember these dolls are old and the plastic is starting to break down so you have to be careful. (tidbit: do you know plastic starts to break down after 50 years? yup, I looked it up) Hair: Yes, use human shampoos and conditioners. Do not use curling irons on it... Geeze I have run into so many dolls that people do this. Curling irons will singe the dolls hair. Also think twice about dumping her head in boiling water if you do this it will take whatever factory curl that is left in her hair, out. Curl her hair with plain old rollers that you can buy at K-mart for a few dollars and use a curling gel. Then just let her hair dry over night or set her under one of those old fashion portable hair dryers. You can use hair spray to make the curl stay but hair spray will and does pick up odor from anywhere the doll is sitting and dust and what ever else is in that room. When selling my dolls I have changed the way I sell because of this. If you set her hair then take pictures, she is nice and fresh but if she doesn't sell and in a month or so her hair will start to take on all kinds of smells and if you don't use hair spray the hair will start to loose it's curl. So if you are a seller remember this because people that buy these dolls think their hair is magically set that way and will stay that way forever and ever. This is just not true... If you are a buyer please remember you will have to wash her hair and clothes at least once a month to keep her smelling clean or put her under glass or box her up to keep her clean. I now set her hair, style it then sell her, then wash and style her hair again before I ship her out. The one time I didn't wash her hair a lady complained to me about the way she smelled and the one time I didn't style her hair right another lady complained to me about her hair being messy even after I washed it but didn't fix it just perfect. It's so hard to keep everyone happy and it's a pain to keep washing, then set and style the dolls hair. So I am changing my policy to get $10 off the cost of the doll if they will take her without her hair fixed. Washing the dolls body clothes and hair is not the problem it's all that hair styling that takes time on these old dolls. And to think I wanted my first Chatty Cathy doll because she was the first doll I would have that I could wash, set and curl her hair.... boy oh boy who knew!!! Face: When you buy a doll look at her face color not only her eyes, lips, brows, freckles but the color of her face in general. A lot of the soft face bobs have bad gray faces and when you get her you will see the difference in her face to the top of her head. The top of the head will look more pink. It's the best way to tell how much graying she has. Some will only have it on the face like an oblong circle of gray, only on the face where the hair hasn't covered the skin for many years. A lot of them, if they have long bangs, all you have to do is, push up those bangs to see it, their foreheads will look more pinkish. Some aren't to bad and others are real bad. Also you should know that most soft face Chatty Cathy's will have just a bit of graying from age even Canadian dolls. On some it's hard to see and like I said on others, there is no mistaking it. That gray will not come out without a treatment done to her face. Plus after treatment the dolls face will look almost too pink. What is done to the face is a layer of #10 cream is put all over the face. The head is left that way for days or weeks washed off and more put back on to get the spots the first treatment missed. It takes a very long time and is costly. Plus I personally do not like the look it leaves. What is happening is the face is getting bleached out, is the best way to explain it. It's not turning white it's turning pink. I think too pink. It's not only taking the gray out it is also taking some of the natural color out. Just like it does to the limbs. Plus if the dolls whole head isn't done then the top of the head looks darker than the face. But if the dolls head is so gray she is ugly, why not give it a try rather than get rid of the doll, that is if you don't mind the look after done. I have done it to a few old heads and I just do not like what it does. So I do not bother with it. I can buy a new head cheaper and it's less time consuming than taking the time to treat her whole head. But you can try it if you have a doll you just love. Only do it on soft heads and PLEASE remember you will be taking the chance of destroying her head. It is possible she will come out all messed up with more discoloration then she ever had. You will have to buy #10 pimple cream (sorry no names of products here). Just make sure when you are buying a soft face bob you look for graying on her face. As a rule I never buy gray faced dolls and if I do I am buying them for their limbs and I toss out the head because treating it takes too much time and I personally do not like that overly pink color it gives the dolls head. So basically that head is worthless to me. As far as the gray or silver eye brows on those early soft heads, I think they were made that way because even after a treatment for graying on the whole head, that gray color on the freckles and brows is still gray. Plus if you compare some of those dolls to the 1998 remakes you will see almost the same color on the eyebrows and freckles. The cheeks are not a problem at all because you can add blush easly to her cheeks (I don't). I always try to find a doll with good lip color because it is sooooooooo hard for me to add lip color to her lips, I am sure you would be better at it than me!! As a rule I never add make-up of any kind because it takes time and I just can-not get it right!!! I don't ever worry if the doll has teeth or not if she is a soft head they can easily be replaced, on a hard head too but it is harder to replace the teeth on a hard head but then again I rarely run into a hard head that doesn't have teeth. Soft or Hard Head?: There are many, many soft head bobs out there for sale and you can get them at a good price. But the soft head piggy is another story. Sometimes I think why do I always try and get a soft head piggy? They really aren't any prettier than a hard head doll but they are much easier to work with when repairing a doll. They are somewhat rare but you can get one at a pretty good price. I don't think they are prettier but some people might think so. The only good reason I try to buy the soft head piggy is because it sells better than a hard head. Oh I suppose you can re-root a soft head easier too but Mattel did such a good job on these Chatty Cathy's hair that a chatty can have up to 40 plugs missing and she still will have a good head of hair. If you are looking for a soft head piggy the best thing to do is ask the seller if she is a soft head. I always think I can tell by just looking at the picture but I have been fooled with these dolls, so I just ask. Eyes: There are blue decal, brown decal, blue and blue/green glassine and I have seen blue and green pinwheel eyes in the American doll and I am still unsure about these eyes. Click here for my eye page on both American and Canadian Dolls. Most of the American dolls, hard and soft head dolls have blue decal. Brown are found in the brunettes bobs, Paige Boy and the pigtail dolls. Brown is also found in the blonde bobs. I have only seen 2 blonde pigtail dolls with brown eyes. They are as rare as is the brown eyes found in the Paige Boy or the pigtail brunette dolls. Also the Paige Boy dolls are all hard head dolls and most have chatty measles, so it is a rare find to find a brown eyed Paige Boy with a good spotless head. Blue decal is the most common, then brown decal, then glassine, then it would be the oh so rare pinwheel eyes. Click here for my eye page. If you are worried the eyes have been changed, take the head off and look at the back of the eye. Most of the eyes will have a round shape or have a round/flat shape with no cuts, and the rubber of the eye back is molded to the head. Look and compare your doll to other Chatty Cathy dolls you can see a difference if the eyes are changed. For more information on eyes click here. Limbs and fading legs and arms: There are many different color limbs. #0 grill will always have the darker brown limbs and so will #1 but she can also come with pink limbs.. #2 can have them too but most of the time she will come with white limbs. #3 grill will almost always have those bad faded white limbs. #4 & 5 grills will have a more skin tone in color and some will have a nice peachy color. Limbs are very hard to match up. The skin tone color is the hardest to match because the shades are so many and different from one doll to the next. Plus some are smaller than others. Click here for a page devoted to nothing but Chatty Cathy limbs both on the American and Canadian dolls. The really bad white arms and legs almost always come on the #3. It amasses me how many people try to hide those arms and legs when selling a doll. They are bad and I have tried dying them like most restorers do one time or another without much luck and I only made them worse, some restorers do a pretty good job dying the limbs and most will tell you if they have dyed the limbs. A lot of the time dyed limbs are dyed for the black Chatty Cathy doll. That is because It's next to impossible to go out and buy replacement limbs for that doll. Chatty white spots "Measles": You will see the chatty white spots on the hard face number ???-2 dolls and #3. The #?/2 and 3 body are pictured on my Body Page Click Here. They are in the face skin of the dolls that are Paige Boy dolls not the pigtail doll. The hair is cut in a Paige Boy style meaning a hair cut and is slightly longer than a bob and sometimes shoulder length with no back part. Those measles Can Not be removed! they go all the way through the skin, they are not just surface spots. They are also on a lot of the Chatty Baby dolls If you would like to know what this is click here. A Franken Chatty: Oh boy I just love these dolls, my god people will try just about anything to try and sell a doll. Don't be fooled if it doesn't look like a chatty cathy then you can bet your last dollar it isn't, well part of it might be. I have seen chatty cathy heads on other doll bodies and chatty bodies with another doll arms and legs. There is a whole mix of Franken chatties out there, watch out! Stains on her legs and arms: Ok here is one... I have asked and asked but nobody has a good way to get rid of those red stains. If they are stained then chances are they are there to stay. Mattel made those red dresses that just did nothing but stain the body of the dolls. Sometimes if the stain is not too deep you can get it out using #10 pimple cream and there is another home made cream out there that will remove them. I don't worry much about those red stains on the top of the arms because they are easily covered with clothes or staining at the top of her legs again easily covered with clothes. Stains on her face are like a Nightmare to me!! Not to say I have never got them out but they still are a Nightmare to me. I have not found a really good way to remove stains and I have tried everything I can think of. Just to name a few... Nail polish remover, boiling the part, OXI Clean cleaner, number 10 acne cream (works sometimes), doll cleaner this and that (worthless), bleach, alcohol, red stain remover, iron out, gas, make-up remover, Pepsi and other cola's as well, you name it I have tried it and melted a few doll parts doing it. So if there is anyone out there that has the magic secret please TELL ME!! Marker stains are the worse, they seem to penetrate the sink deeper. Plus if you do use a stain remover be careful because some of them will also remove the color of the skin or leave a white mark around the stain area you are trying to remove. People selling these dolls on Ebay: MOST of the time of things are not disclosed. Everytime I up-date this page and read this I get madder... I get stuck with so much JUNK!! when buying these dolls... I swear... Why??? ... I guess it could be the person selling IS trying to hide something but it can also be because they just do not know it can't be removed or restored. Some people think because it's a Chatty Cathy and that there are a lot of people out there buying and restoring these dolls that all dolls can be fixed or restored back to beauty and that is just "Not True". Ask any restore person how many times they bought a doll that just turned into a nightmare! So many people think it's easy! It's not easy at all, just when you think you got her working right something else will break on her. This is also why the people that fix these dolls say right up front "these dolls are old and I can't be responsible for the doll once it leaves my house". I can't stress this enough "Please Do Not Drop Your Chatty", her parts are so old and they break easy. If you are thinking about getting into restoring Chatty Cathy dolls, Good Luck! And for God sakes don't just go out and buy any junk doll you see just because you think you are getting a bargain and please remember the people that are selling these dolls think "Oh boy I have a Chatty Cathy doll she should bring me a lot of money" and yes there are some sellers that just don't bother to tell everything about the doll. So ask, ask, ask before you buy and by God don't be afraid to send the doll back! This can be a nerve-racking business because you just never know whom you are dealing with. I buy and sell so I get it from both ends. For example there are some people out there that when they buy a doll they want perfection and with a Chatty Chathy doll this just isn't going to be true. In order for me to sell you a perfect doll I would have to buy 3 or 4 dolls and take only the best parts off each doll to make a perfect doll. Yes, I suppose it could be done but why? By the time I did that, I would have so much money into that doll I would be lucky to get half my money back when I went to sell, not to mention all the time I put into that doll. And to tell you the truth, out of every 3 dolls I buy, only one is what the seller said it was. I rarely get lucky on a doll. It is a rare find for me to buy a Chatty Cathy doll that is nicer than what the seller said it was but then again I do not buy restored dolls, I buy dolls that need to be restored so I do wind up with a lot of JUNK! Also when buying a Canadian doll don't be fooled into thinking this guy doesn't know what he or she is selling because believe me they do. Well, maybe a few don't but there are so many Canadian collectors out there that if he or she doesn't know what he or she is selling I am sure one of the Canadian collectors will tell them. Everyone wants to get a great bargain but nobody wants to see another person getting ripped off on selling a really nice doll and getting nothing for her.. By the way, you should know there are a few very honest people out there and some very dishonest people out there. I fall into the very honest category from doll to clothes to price. Black Chatty Cathy Dolls: The only thing I can say about these dolls is that they are "BEAUTIFUL" and if you are lucky enough to have one keep her under glass!! When buying one watch out for dyed limbs and bodies. Also I have only had a few of them and I do not like repairing them so I am unwilling to comment on the repair of these dolls. ASK the seller he or she will know about the body and limbs.. Chatty Clothes new and old: Be careful because I have bought those red dresses that someone out of peer greed sent me a red dress that had red marked or what ever on the red velvet to cover up the discoloration and if I hadn't washed it first I would have got that red dye on my doll. Just be careful when buying any clothes for chatty wash them before you put them on the doll, just like you would do when buying clothes for yourself. Also the new remake in the red pinafore and red jumpsuit are NOT color fast meaning when you go to wash them the dye in them will turn your water bright red!! That is how much dye is in those new clothes. Wash them in cold water and be so very careful as to make sure it is dry before you put it on the doll because it will stain her.. I wont dress my dolls in those red clothes anymore at all, I ask why take a chance? Lastly: Don't be fooled into thinking it is so easy to fix these dolls because it isn't. If you are going to do this try fixing an old doll that you don't much like because chances are you are NOT going to get it right the first time and it will take hours if not days to fix her and watch out when you read "I'm sure this can be easily repaired", because it can't! Good Luck! |
Canadian Chatty Cathy Dolls |
Tidbit's |
Additional Information: Has your doll been repaired to talk again? If she has you should know. Your dolls voice box has been repaired or replaced (replaced)="Used". It is not "New". Your doll is not new, she is vintage, almost 50 years old and so is her voice box. Unfortunately her voice box cannot be replaced with a new one nor can the record that is inside that voice box. They do not make them any more. Please remember the record inside the dolls voice box is used. There are few if any non-played with dolls out there so her record inside her body was played. Played over and over again by a child. As a result the voice can be a bit scratchy sounding, like a used record would sound. If you have bought a bob or (numbered body 0-4) chances are her record will have a bit of scratchy sound to it. Some dolls more than others. There are 4 different records that can be found inside the dolls body. Brown, black and orange, and the rare white one. The dolls that were made between the years of 1960 and 1961 and most of the 1962 dolls have a brown or black record inside the body. The brown and the black records are made of a different softer plastic than the orange one and can and will scratch much, much easier than the later orange record. The orange record is only found in the later #5 dolls that were made in late 1962 and in only 35% at best guess have them (the white record in maybe 5% of the dolls).. Almost all your blonde pigtail Chatty Cathy dolls with a #5 body will have the less than perfect softer black record. Also a lot of the Brunettes and some of the redheads also have that same black record. It is a rare find to find a doll with the white record inside her body. The only record that will or could be close to perfect would be in a #5 doll. Plus remember only 35% of the number 5's will have that better orange record. Most Chatty Cathy dolls will have the not so perfect black record. #0-4 can have a black or brown record and it will be somewhat scratchy sounding and not as loud as a #5. Only #5 with and orange record will sound somewhat new with no background noise and some of them will sound scratchy but not as bad as some as the black records can sound. Please remember that these dolls are old and ALL of them have been played with by little children so all the records have been played before and are in used condition. TidBit: The orange record and a white record made out of the better material, is what is in almost all the later Mattel talking dolls like Charmin Chatty has the white record as does Tiny Chatty Baby. On the other hand Chatty Baby can come with a black or orange record. Something Else I am going to mention here. I don't know about those O-rings I do not know how long they will last in the doll. I do know that after 50 years most of the O-rings have gone bad. So your guess is as good as mine on how long they will last. But there are dolls that still work after 50 years. O-rings Made Of? This is such a complicated question that I am putting this link on my page so you can read for yourself if this is something that concerns you. Click Here http://www.sealingspecialties.com/materials.htm Also it's really not how long it will last meaning "breaking down/deteriorate it's mainly how long it will take to stretch out of shape. They are like all belts on anything you buy that has a belt. Chances are it will stretch out of shape before it breaks down. The doll will begin to talk too fast or too slow. As far as what it is made out of does not make a difference at all. How long it will take to "disintegrate" Nobody knows that! It's the inviorment that determans how long something will last. Meaning, boxed up and no air they might last forever, out in the eliments exposed to dampness, dryness, heat and cold will shorten the life of an o-ring I am sure. But there are dolls that still work after 50 years. So to tell you how long it will take to "disintegrate" is a question I cannot answer. |
Phrases On The Black Record Dated 1961 or 1962 18 Phrases Chatty Baby Says: HI Mama Nice Baby Night Night Da Da Da Da Doggy Bow Wow Cookie All Gone Go BY BY NO No No NO Baby Hungry Hiiiiiiiii Baby "Crying" Baby "Laughing" Go By By |
What Tinny Chatty Baby Says |
#3 Last Record Phrases On The Black, Orange or white Record Dated 1962. 18 Phrases Chatty Cathy says: I love you. =1,2,3 Do you love me?=2,3 Give me a kiss.=2,3 Let's have a party.= 2,3 Please change my dress.= 2,3 Please brush my hair.= 1,2,3 Where are we going?= 1,3 Please take me with you.=2,3 I'm hungry .=1,3 May I have a cookie?=2,3 Will you play with me?=1,3 Please carry me.=1,3 Let's play house.=1,3 I hurt myself! =1,3 I'm so tired =2,3 What can we do now?=2,3 Let's play school.= 2,3 Tell me a story.=1,3 |
#1 First Record Phrases On The Black Record Dated MCMLX (MCMLX=1960) found in the Prototype and early dolls. 11 Phrases Chatty Cathy says: I love you. =1,2,3 Lets change my dress. =1 Please brush my hair.=1,2,3 Where are we going?=1,3 I'm hungry =1,3 Will you play with me?=1,3 Please carry me.=1,3 Let's play house.=1,3 I hurt myself! =1,3 I'm sleepy.=1 Tell me a story.=1,3 Plus but I am unsure about her but the 2002-3 porcelain Chatty Cathy dolls by the Danbury Mint say these. Also the Ashton Drake 2003 Chatty Cathy and The 2007 Christmas Ornament says the phrases above The 1998 Remake. |
#2 Second Record Phrases On The Black or Brown Record 1961. Also this record can be found in the Prototype dolls. 11 Phrases Chatty Cathy says: I love you. =1,2,3 Do you love me?= 1,3 Please brush my hair. =1,2,3 What can we do now? =2,3 Please change my dress.=2,3 Give me a kiss.=2,3 I'm so tired.=2,3 Lets have a party.=2,3 Please take me with you.=2,3 Lets play school.=2,3 May I have a cookie?=2,3 |
What Chatty Cathy Says Note: The numbers next to the phrase will tell you if that particular phrase is also on one of the other records |
Chatty Cathy & Her Body Types For Both The American & Canadian Doll Click Here (This link will take you to another page) |
I have repaired a few hundred of these dolls and as long as I know what the grill/speaker looks like I will know what is inside her body. I always go by the grill. The grill is the best why to tell what you are buying. The number or how they list them on ebay or how I list them really doesn't matter, what matters is what is inside that doll. #0, #1, #2 and #? Bodies/grill, all 3 say 11 phrases. All the same inside, having a closed voice box. But number ??? has a white plastic speaker where #0, #1 and #2 have a black paper speaker. But all four are made almost the same and are the hardest to fix. The black paper speaker is not very loud and it can get bent and ripped easily. The plastic white speaker inside number ??? is a much better speaker and it is also glued to the doll unlike the black paper speaker that is attached to the moving needle. Also I list #??? as a #2 on my site and ebay. #0 and #1 alway come with a soft head, #2 can come with a soft head but I have also seen her with a hard head. I just seen this body come with a black hard head and have seen this body come with other hard heads as well. (#? body will a lot of the time come with a hard head with a Paige Boy hair cut, which is also the hard head that you will see small pea size white spots or "chatty measles") #2 ??? is also the one I see coming out of Canada a lot. (Canadian Prototype? Click Here) #3 Body/grill, says 11 phrases. This doll is the very worse one to fix. She can be fixed but I bet 80% of the time when I have gone to fix her, she has so much wrong with her she is not worth repairing. She is such a bad doll for restore that I have stopped buying her. The reason is because her record player is open and it has a red or black paper speaker, mostly red. With her having a combination of an open voice box and a paper speaker, has made this doll a bad one for repair. The red paper speaker is almost always bent and oily, the black one is better but not by much. Even if you manage to remove the speaker to replace it, it is very hard to get the speaker back on. That glob of wax that holds the speaker on is some kind of very hard wax. If you are lucky and manage to get one where the speaker isn't bent, then 9 times out of ten when you go to play the record it will have a loud electrifying sound in the background if it is the red speaker. Kind of like the noise of an electric record player with a scratched up record playing. (very hard to explain). She can also come with the really bad faded white arms and legs. She has an open neck ring and a lot of the time and can come with a hard head with a Paige Boy hair cut (Paige Boy is the doll notorious for white spots on her face called Chatty Measles). She can come with a soft face bob head and I have seen her with both hard and soft face pigtails. She says 11 phrases and was still being made in 1962. Also Mattel went to 18 phases in 1962 along with a better record player. But unfortunately she never got the better record, she always has a black record that only says 11 different phrases. Also with this doll, a lot of the time, will come with a hard head, what that means is ... this dolls body neck ring is the open kind a lot of the time, just like numbers 0-2, meaning it is very hard to get a hard head off without breaking the neck ring. It is easier to put the head back on, than to take it off this body. 0-2 almost always comes with a soft head so the open neck ring isn't a problem because a soft head is very easy to work with. In all the dolls I have fixed this is the one I have the most trouble with. It can be fixed but you have to so very careful with her that it can be nerve racking. To me she is the most fragile doll of all the Chatty Cathy dolls. Plus once repaired she will never be a very loud talker. (this doll has also been called the transitional doll because it the first open voice box) PS: 9 times out of ten she will come with a red paper speaker #4 Body/grill, is the first to say 18 phrases, This body is easy to fix if you know what you are doing and a lot of the time a better made doll than the number 5's. The reason is, in almost all number 4's the needle has a spring on it to push the needle down onto the record. I think when Mattel added the 4 ventilation holes to make her talk better they didn't need the duel spring, meaning a spring on the needle and a spring in the speaker. One spring was good enough. Plus by removing that spring pressed need helped stop the needle from damaging the record. She is a very dependable doll, she can almost always be fixed. In fact and in comparison to the number of dolls I have repaired, I have had more luck fixing this doll than fixing the number 5. (this doll is the first one to say 18 different phrases, her record is dated 1962 . She can be found with a record dated 1961 and says 11 phrases maybe 0.5% of the time). #5 Body/grill, always says 18 phrases. This body is the one everyone wants and that is because she is easy to fix and the orange or white record is a much better record than the black one. The doll can come with the orange or white record and that record is made better and less likely to get scratched up like the black one does. She can also come with the spring pressed needle and with the black record and same housing that is in the #4. I see this mostly in blonde pigtail dolls. What I don't like about the number 5 is the needle isn't spring pressed and I am sure Mattel took the spring out/off because when they made the better record and added the ventilation holes just the one spring (spring in the speaker) was enough. Plus the needle was less likely to damage the record by removing that spring on the needle. This is also when the better harder orange record was introduced, it helped stop the needle from damaging the record. But after 50 years, the plastic is breaking down where the needle is attached to the number 5's body. Unlike the #4's spring pressed needle. That plastic needle ring and post have a tendency to break off in this #5 body and once it does, you might as well just put the doll aside or put a whole new phonograph in her because it is close to impossible to fix that plastic needle ring. But she is a very good talker when everything is working right and she has the better orange record 30% of the time. Just remember when buying a doll with a #5 body doesn't mean she will have a #5 player with the better orange record inside her body. A lot of the blondes have the #4 player/phonograph inside them with the black record. To find a doll with the white record is rare, I have only found a handful of white records in literately 4 or 5 hundred dolls. (Brunettes and Redheads can also have the #4 record player inside the body as well as the black record) Her record is 65% of the time black, maybe 30% of the time orange and maybe 5% white). .................................................................Scroll Down............................................................... |
How long have I been fixing dolls? Only forever, I just never started selling them until ebay and I now sell them on this site. It's easier and cheaper for me to sell my dolls off my site and because of that I can offer the doll at a much lower price than selling them on ebay. Ebay has many, many fees that have to be paid when selling a doll and it's because of those fees, that I do not have to pay, that I can offer the doll at a much lower price. My plans for now and in the future are to keep buying, repairing and selling Chatty Cathy dolls. As long as there is a Chatty Cathy doll out there that needs my special touch I will always be here. PS: I am not a member of any club and I know very few of the chatty cathy people you will see selling and buying these dolls. It's best I keep it that way because it keeps me honest. I'm just one "me" and I can say with confidence you will not find a more knowledgeable repair person on the Chatty Cathy doll. Plus if you buy a doll from me you will see and read about the whole doll not just about her pretty face and clothes but her whole body in a detailed description. NO hidden surprises and NO hidden shipping charges. What you see and read is what you will get. She will be packed in a new priority mail box with a cardboard insert to protect her body and head from being miss handled or crushed as well as to protect her dress and hair from being crushed while in the mail. When she arrives at your door you will open her box with the confidents and knowledge you are getting "more" than what you paid for because she will be even more beautiful in person. Plus remember ALL my Vintage dolls are returnable. One last thing ... My animation site. You might notice that the web address is also my Animation site address. The reason for this is because I started my animation sight before I started listing my dolls on ebay. Plus it was before Google search, the search engine that the whole world searches with. When Google first came out, they were asking for site addresses to list with them. So at the time I listed with them and many, many more search engines for free. I listed AAanimations.com. As a result all you had to do was type in Google search, animations and I was the top site. Since then and since I have not up-dated those pages in over 2 years now, I have fallen in their search. Oh, I still do come to the top if you type in animated tweety bird. Anyway my site was well known then and still is, so why mess up a good thing has been my thinking. I do have other site names but all of them are linked to my animation site. In order for me to change that, I would have to re-address all my Chatty Cathy pages and re-file everything from pictures to pages with the new address. Plus now you can't just list with anyone for free. That was when the web was new and a lot of things were free, from web names to free wed sites to free data transfer with free search engines within your site. I now pay for all those things. Plus and since I have to pay now, I am reluctant to pay for 2 sites, Also I now have more space and data transfer than I could ever use up so why change? Also my animation site will always be here, I am not so sure about the Chatty Cathy doll part of it. I will always keep my information pages on the doll but there will be a time I will have to give up repairing the doll. By the time I am 60 for sure, I am 58 now in 2011, oh my god that sounds old!! I have been doing animations for maybe 14 to 16 years now maybe more, because I did them on my computer before I had a web site. When I'm not fixing a doll I do animations. I am more obsessed with my animations than I am with my Chatty Cathy dolls. I have had a wed site since 1999 I think, maybe it was 98. I also used to take request for animations but I was just getting way to many requests. But I would like to say here if it wasn't for all the people that visit my site and still do I wouldn't be here right now. So here is a special thanks to all of you that visit and use my animations on your site, in your emails and where ever ..... My site has now been hit over 2 million times. (I have something like 200 pages). Thank You All for Making That Happen and I hope you continue to come back, "You" have made me Proud! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! DOLLY Click Here for AAanimations .com |
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Phrases On The Black Record Dated 1963 1) Te quiero mucho. I love you very much. 2) Vamos a campo. Let's go to the country. 3) Dame un beso. Give me a kiss. 4) Juega conmigo. Play with me. 5) Cuntame un cuento. Tell me a story. 6) Estoy cansada. I'm tired. 7) Hola. Qu tal? Hello. How are you? 8) Tengo sueo. I'm sleepy. 9) Eso me gusta. I like that. Note: This doll says 18 phrase I now have all 18 phrase. Please Click Here |
Spanish Chatty Cathy Doll |
Set Two (2) Rock-A-By Baby On The Tree Top Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady Row, row, row your boat Life is but a dream Hi-ho, the derry-o, The farmer in the dell Mary had a little lamb, It's fleece was white as snow I'm Singing Chatty Will You Sing With Me? Ring around the roses, A pocket full of posies A Tisket, a Tasket A green and yellow basket Pop! goes the weasel I Like Pop-Corn |
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Please Scroll Down Lots of Info |