Meet Joanie a 2006 series that was originally issued by Madame Alexander but then handed off to Ashton Drake Companies to do a series of reproductions. Normally only Ideal Patti Playpal dolls were of high enough quality for me rather than some of the other brand companion dolls that didn't seem to measure up, but the sweet face on this doll made her equally collectible. Ashton Drake didn't fail on this doll. Her face is incredibly cute and sweet and I couldn't help but fall in love with her online pictures and want one for myself.

Unfortunately tragedy struck in this transaction, and this doll fell victim to a shipping accident that wasn’t the seller’s fault. The doll was carefully packed but had some very heavy packages set on top of it during transit. The box buckled and the weight crushed the head causing a split that went from the neck through the face and up through the scalp to the center part. I was so sad, especially since she's relatively hard to find in good condition and she was not cracked to start with. Even more unfortunate, she is made more of a hard plastic or resin rather than a vinyl which can absorb more impact without cracking or damage.

Picture of the cracked face from the front.

The crack continued up the head to the center part.

The good news is that I fell in love with this little beauty and although I was disappointed she was damaged (everything was compensated), it wasn’t this little dolly’s fault and I wanted to try and save her.

The first thing I did was to assess the damage. I carefully looked at the crack and looked at it while pinching the head together aligned. No chips or pieces appeared to be missing and the head aligned fairly well. There was also no split in the back so it was frontal only. Now obviously the doll will never be the same in value or as a collector item because she is forever damaged, but she can still be loved.

Piecing together cracked or broken dolls wasn’t really in my wheel house, so I did some research and watched some You Tube videos to observe how others had done it before I started anything. After doing some research, I felt confident that I could safely do a good job at putting her back together.

First off, the head needed to be glued together and I chose fast drying so that it would bond quickly as I held it together. My favorite brand is Loctite Gel as it doesn’t run or drip and it’s fast drying. I gently opened the split of her head just wide enough to line the glue on one side. I started from the bottom and did it by sections. As soon as I applied the glue I aligned the face quickly and then pushed the pieces together firmly but not too hard to cause breakage or slipping.

Above - the crack has been sealed and you can see white residue from the glue along the crack line in places.

As I got to the top of the head, I gently spread the hair away from the crack and inserted the glue from the top. I kept a wet baby wipe handy to wipe any excess glue that splurged from the crack as to not form any bumps or texture. It did become harder to align as I got to the top of the head, but the face was the most important for alignment so I chose to concentrate the best alignment there. If anything needed to be filled or given extra attention I wanted it to be in a less noticible area rather than straight on in the face.

The very top of the head shows the most distance of the cracks. Although you cannot really see it, the crack line has been filled in with clear glue - and this is a close up shot so it seems a lot bigger than it actually is. The glue fill secures the head and keeps it together in the least noticible area as the hair can be combed back over it. This area then can be sanded and painted if you wanted even less visibility of the damage.

I decided to work on her head since it was now secure. Her curls were roughly in tact but we’re looking ratty, but the good news was that they were naturally separated. I took each curl strand and brushed it and then spritzed it with water. Then I finger twirled and secured with a Bobby pin. I will let the curls completely dry and set for a few days and then come back to remove the pins and check the head once again.

After I set the hair I went back to clean glue residue on the crack line to try to reduce visibility.

Formula 911 by Twinn Pines is a great product for removing glue residue without removing any of the doll’s paint. Just cleaning the crack made it disappear more.

Now taking into account that this photo has been taken super zoomed in and close up, you can still see the crack line although it is nearly invisible underneath the mouth and down to the chin area. Traveling upwards you can see the crack line but at a distance of 2 feet away it looks like a scratch on her face and at a distance of 3-5 feet away you can't see it at all. To me, that is a successful repair, but I will be investigating and experimenting if I can make it disappear completely if someone is up close. But needless to say, this doll's traveling days are over.

Removed all the Bobby pins on the back leaving one or two to keep the curls in line.

Combed the bangs a bit May come back and do some trimming.

Releasing the curls, side view.

After the curls are all released you can go back and position curls where you hide the Bobby pin to have curls stay where you want for a picture perfect hair style.

Final hair and Joanie is smiling brightly.