Shipping a Sleep Eye Dome Head Bisque Bye-Lo Doll

Hello,
To all those doll collectors, have you ever shipped a bisque doll with a domed head and sleep eyes? I have to ship an old Grace Putnam Bye-Lo Baby, but cannot figure out how to stuff the head with tissue to protect the sleep eyes.

Can you tape them open or shut? If so, what tape is safe to use on a Bisque head doll?

 

shut em, place cotton balls on them, & secure with more cotton or fabric....
I wouldn't tape anything...

 

The risk of them falling into the head and breaking is there no matter what during the shipping. Not much you can do beyond taking the whole doll apart which wouldn't please the recipient I'm sure. Shipping for these things is rough.

 

I'd ship the doll face down. It may not help, but it can't hurt.

 

& the eyelashes??

 

Always a tough one. I have had much success only because the wig was usually loose. I pack the head with tissue or paper towels. If the wig is not loose I would message the buyer and ask to loosen part of the wig to pack for safe arrival. Without the head packed it is highly probable you will have a return.

 

Ask your buyer what they prefer. The majority of collectors will ask you to remove the head on a domed doll and they'll reattach it when it gets to them. Most of them have been reattached at one time or another and it doesn't affect the value on a Bye-Lo baby at all. It's definitely the safest method. Just snip the thread at the neckline, remove the head, stuff it with tissue (with the eyes closed), wrap in tissue and several layers of bubble wrap, and ship it face down. This helps keep the plaster in place that holds the eye rocker.

If the buyer doesn't want to do that, make sure that they know there is a much greater risk of damage with all other methods. Make sure to get shipping insurance!

 

Excellent advice. Ask the buyer.

Debora

 

One other thing to factor in (the choice of sales venue and setting a sale price, etc) is the possibility of getting a return from the buyer and possible damage from that if these are super fragile.

 

I don't know what the problem is, so this suggestion is offered in ignorance.

I assume it would ideally be best to pack the doll complete, without amputating the the head. Pack the fully supported head in a short length of tube. Light-weight drain pipes arw available in a variety of diameters. Then pack the complete doll in a standard box in the normal way.

I don't understand how one packs the doll face down when it will subsequently be handled by several people during transportation.

 

The mechanism that hold the glass eyes is called a rocker. It is made of metal and has a heavy weight at the end that allows the eyes to "sleep". It's held in place on either side of the eye sockets by plaster, which often comes loose during shipping if the rocker is not secured. If the rocker comes loose, you've got shattered eyes and sometimes shattered heads.

On a side note, if not displaying antique dolls, it's best to store them face down, which takes the weight off of the plaster and can help prevent damage.

 

As suggested above, ship with the eyes down. That's true for any sleep eye doll......new or old.

When you think you've wrapped the head securely, add more bubble..........there's no such thing as too much!

But pay attention to the body too!

 

Thanks for all the replies and advice. I feel more confident about this - the buyer is ok with removing the head, and I will stuff it and ship it face down. Lots and lots of bubble wrap!

 

What a great community! So glad I found this forum

 

I might add one more suggestion.

When I ship dolls of any type, I always use a piece of cloth to wrap the doll in before I wrap the doll in bubble wrap (might be an old towel, pillow case, etc.)to prevent any chance of the wrapping from sticking to the doll.............