Poor, poor Claire hadn’t spent much time out of her box last month. Earlier in the month, while idling around, I changed her wig–and when I did so, the “schpitt” magnet system in her head was damaged. Although she hasn’t been in my possession very long and was previously un-opened, Nagisa in Preschool was released on March 18, 2007. It seems that the glue holding the metal washer in place at the top of her head aged; I removed the wig, set it aside, and while she was untouched her headcap slipped off. When I picked it up, I saw that the metal washer was attached to the magnet in the headcap, not to her head.

This isn’t a terrible catastrophe and doesn’t require the Volks Dolly Doctor to put her to rights. However, I’m extremely cautious about my doll, so I didn’t do anything for fear of using the wrong adhesive and causing some kind of reaction with the plastic she’s made of.

So I carefully stowed the metal washer (it was with the tiny pink button from her shorts that I realized was missing and sorted through the vacuum cleaner’s canister to find), slipped her headcap somewhat into place, and put on her tightest wig. It hasn’t been a terrible solution, but the headcap keeps sliding, dragging the wig down with it. I’ve been very worried that constantly adjusting her wig will cause undue wear on her faceup, which I am quite fond of!

I finally worked up the courage to glue that piece back in. After expensively browsing the repair forum on Den of Angels, I was still pretty confused. It seemed like whether or not glue was “okay” was rarely mentioned, and everyone seemed to use something different. I tried asking a friend, but unfortunately I didn’t receive her response until after I had come back from the store. @_@ I should have been more patient!

I opted for super glue gel, because I had seen it listed in several repair threads. I prepped Claire by taking her wig and headcap off and checking to see if the washer had a “right” or “wrong” side. (I didn’t want to glue it in and find it was magnetized itself and repelled the magnet!) Then, I squeezed a small amount of glue into the indentation in her head, plopped in the washer, and laid her face-down on some soft washcloths so the glued area wouldn’t shift.

A few hours later, I tapped it with my finger to see if it was dry (it was) and reassembled her! Hooray!

It definitely wasn’t hard, but I feel so accomplished. (And I would think that if she could my doll would appreciate being securely one piece.) I wonder if this means I’ll take on any more-intensive projects? …Probably not. I went ahead and sewed that button back on her shorts, though. No more procrastinating!