Doll Repair and Doll Restoration Professional

   EDITORIAL COMMENT  - Consumer BEWARE 

                           by Janie Nafsinger     7/2011  National Doll & Teddy Bear Collector

A Doll Doctor is the only doctor that I know of that can hang their shingle, go by the name of Doctor and open a shop without anyone laughing.   There is even a Doll Doctor Association in which the only criteria for membership is the ability to pay your dues and a blanket disclaimer from the potential member that *yea, you are interested in doll repair.*  There are even those that carry it to the extreme by wearing the white coat, thinking that  will lend itself to the doctor image of professionalism for the sake of dolls. 

OK so you can’t rely on the term Doctor to get you a doll expert, so WHAT do you rely on to find that special, knowledgeable someone to work on YOUR special doll? 

ANSWER: Like anything you want in life, to find the best you have to do the ground work first to know the right questions to ask and what the right answers should be for your questions. The first question you should ask is to yourself when you are investigating a service over the internet or phone. Can you see CLEAR before and after photos of the person’s work you are considering? I don’t mean 1 photo of 1 type of doll, with the light shadowing most of the features. I mean photos of several dolls with close-up shots of the details. Is what you see the kind of work you want? Ask questions like How long have you been doing this? Do you use an airbrush? Do you have references? Do you provide an itemized bid? (not a ball park figure that could change with the wind) How long will it take? Are there any guarantees? Do you do appraisals? (free) Do I have to pay upfront? (Don’t you want to see your doll completed before you pay?) 

Make a list and write down what you want to know and communicate with the restoration person over email or the phone. When you are looking at the restoration person’s web site, is it professional or do they use animated and cartoon characters? Is the information about their work complete or brief, incomplete phrases that cause you to assume details? Some restoration people specialize on certain dolls so ask if they work on dolls like yours. Do they offer suggestions on more than one way to fix your doll and do they offer resources for additional services, like clothing, voice boxes, etc. 

The important thing to remember is that you would not think of asking a non-professional to work on your car or teeth, so get as much information as you can about someone you are willing to turn your prized doll over to.