{"id":406,"date":"2005-09-25T11:02:35","date_gmt":"2005-09-25T05:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tao.kaoart.info\/?p=36"},"modified":"2018-11-30T15:49:52","modified_gmt":"2018-11-30T07:49:52","slug":"sugar-snails-and-silicone-todays-doll-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tao0.date\/?p=406","title":{"rendered":"Sugar, Snails and Silicone: Today\u00b4s Doll Materials"},"content":{"rendered":"
Sugar, Snails and Silicone: Today\u00b4s Doll Materials<\/div>\n
By Alison Marek<\/a>
\nSeptember 2005<\/div>\n

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What are little girls and boys made of? These days, if they\u2019re collectible replicas, a soft vinyl and silicone mix. From sculpting to manufacture, new materials are revolutionizing the look and feel of baby dolls (see: “Girls Get \u00b4Real\u00b4 Babies<\/a>“).<\/span><\/p>\n

Three years ago, doll maker Sheila Michael switched over from the polymer clays such as Cernit<\/span>, Sculpey<\/span> and Super Sculpey<\/span> to a polymer resin called Pro-Sculpt<\/span> for her one-of-a-kind dolls. She still uses traditional polymers for her manufactured work. <\/span><\/p>\n

To create the New Baby Skin for their Breath of Life<\/strong> babies, Lee Middleton Original Dolls<\/strong> created a vinyl mix that was \u201csofter and more cuddly,\u201d said Mark Putinski, vice president of marketing. They opted not to add silicone, which is often used by one-of-a-kind doll artists to get a super-realistic look.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe chose an all-vinyl mixture because of its long-term stability,\u201d Putinski told TDmonthly Magazine. \u201cNobody knows how silicone will hold up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After six months of experimenting with silicone and vinyl mixes, Shirley Blackall, founder of Blackall Associates Inc.<\/strong>, believes she\u2019s found one that adds realism while remaining stable over time. There\u2019s just a small amount of silicone in the mix, said Blackall, but it\u2019s enough to lend a realistically soft and \u201csquishy\u201d feel to the babies\u2019 arms and legs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the face, we put a layer of silicone-vinyl over a hard vinyl head, so it has a soft feel to it,\u201d Blackall continued. A silicone-vinyl \u201ctummy plate\u201d is available in some models, and is sewn directly onto the baby\u2019s fiber-filled cloth body.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Secrist Doll Company<\/strong> designs and manufactures its dolls in its own Midland, Mich. factory, utilizing a team of 12 cross-trained, synergistic workers. They even produce their own optical-quality acrylic doll\u2019s eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe vinyl that we use is chosen carefully by us to be so safe that a baby can chew on it without any concern,\u201d founder Pat Secrist told TDmonthly Magazine. <\/span><\/p>\n

Secrist started making realistic baby dolls and kits in response to requests from reborners \u2013 craftspeople who buy realistic baby dolls, then take them apart and refurbish them, painting in such details as the tiny blue veins that pulse underneath babies\u2019 temples. The reborned babies may sell for as much as 10 times the cost of the original doll. Secrist make a “blank canvas” kit that allows crafters to “newborn” their babies without renovating previously made dolls.<\/span><\/p>\n

Secrist uses a semi-translucent vinyl mix and places the pigment underneath the \u201cskin,\u201d giving it a more realistic appearance. The heads are 1\/8\u201d thick and are soft enough for reborners to hand-root hair through the scalp without preheating in an oven.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the lifelike baby dolls have cloth bodies, which give a \u201ccuddly\u201d feel to the dolls. Manufacturers and reborners often add plastic pellets to the babies\u2019 bottoms to weigh them down and add to the realism.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following are a few products that reflect the realistic baby doll trend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Little Teddy<\/strong> by SECRIST DOLL COMPANY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Secrist is the first doll company to provide “newborning” kits to reborners so they can bypass the tedium of renovating ready-made dolls. The vinyl forms are completely blank \u2014 like an unfinished canvas. Little Teddy, pictured here after being newborned, is approximately 16″ long. \u00a08\/31\/2005\u00a0(Price: $69) [Add to my Inquiry Basket<\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n

Jamie for Reborn Artists<\/strong> by SECRIST DOLL COMPANY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This newly born preemie is ready to be \u201cnewborned\u201d by an adventurous crafts person. She comes unassembled with vinyl arms, legs, cloth body, joints and tywraps. She needs to be painted and have eyelashes added. The photo depicts a finished \u201cJamie. \u00a07\/11\/2005\u00a0(Price: $85) [Add to my Inquiry Basket<\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n

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Baby Sophie<\/strong> by LEE MIDDLETON ORIGINAL DOLLS INC.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A limited edition preemie, this Breath of Life Baby was designed by Jane Pinkstaff, one of Middleton\u2019s guest artists. She comes with blond hand-rooted hair and New Baby Skin. \u00a07\/11\/2005\u00a0(Price: $149) [Add to my Inquiry Basket<\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jun Li<\/strong> by BLACKALL ASSOCIATES INC.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sculpted by Laura Tuzio-Ross for Masterpiece Dolls, this 20\u201d baby has lifelike silicone\/vinyl limbs and head attached to a cloth body. A human hair wig and a red satin outfit designed by the artist\u2019s mother marks this doll as a true collectible.\u00a07\/11\/2005\u00a0(Price: $139) [Add to my Inquiry Basket<\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n

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Writer’s Bio:<\/strong> ALISON MAREK is a writer and independent filmmaker whose work has won or been nominated for numerous awards and grants. She recently received her MFA in film directing from New York University. She\u00b4s also the author\/illustrator of the old PIRANHA PRESS (DC COMICS) graphic novels “Desert Streams” and “Sparrow.” She still has her first MADAME ALEXANDER doll.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sugar, Snails and Silicon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-others"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tao0.date\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tao0.date\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tao0.date\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tao0.date\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tao0.date\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tao0.date\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tao0.date\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tao0.date\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tao0.date\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}