Restoring a Catwalk Kitty - Looking for advice and PC

[Dreamer]

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So I scored big today in the yard sale and got this Catwalk Kitty for 3 euros (the bird was free ). My plans are to restor her to her former glory and maybe find a new home for her.

So far her flaws are:
- Dirty
- Frizzy hair
- Chipped paint on nose and shoes
- Faint scratches on feet
- Yucky tail with brown stains (eeewwww!)
- I'm pretty sure that's not her original dress

For now I'm only wiping her with baby wipes to clean her, but as you expect, I have some questions regarding her restoration:

- How do I defrizz her hair? Will your typical boil make it better or worse? What kind of material is it made of?
- Her legs are a bit rubbery. Does she have internal joints like Pinkie Cooper? If so, how strong are them? I'm afraid to break her.
- Speaking of breaking, I heard that Catwalk Kitty tails are quite delicate. I don't know if mine is broken or not, seems to be loose at the base (where tail and body connect).
- How do i properly wash her tail?
- Finally, I'd like to ask for a price estimation on her (assuming that she's at least clean). Should I try to repaint her nose and shoes? Would that increase or devalue her?

Thank you everybody and I hope you can join me in this restoration project.

[Carrehz]

3 euros so jealous..! Um, I'm not an expert on restoring but I'll see how much I can answer

- CWK do have "click knees" like Pinkies; mine have all held up well but I'd be careful with them nonetheless (but that's just me and my paranoia about breaking things )
- I'd definitely be careful with her tail, I'm not sure if there's any way to re-attach it if it breaks off (I've never heard of one, at least). Not sure about how to wash it, sorry.
- Personally I wouldn't repaint her, but that's just me, it's your decision in the end. I dunno if it would increase/decrease her value (I think it would probably depend on the buyer; like, *I* would prefer one that had chipped paint to one that had been repainted, but I know others would be the opposite), I'm not good w/ pricing and such. FWIW, I've noticed that the paint on their faces (specially their noses) tends to be at least a little chipped more often than not, so she might have always been like that.
- Pricing.. I paid at least $30-$45 for mine so somewhere around there, perhaps? But don't take that for 100% sure, like I say I'm terrible with numbers and values. But she is in very good condition, considering her age So I think you could probably get a decent price for her if you sold her later.

This is the best source of CWK info I've found good luck!

[Leave a Whisper]

I've never seen these before. What kinda toy is the blue ostrich-like bird next to her?

[Dreamer]

I've never seen these before. What kinda toy is the blue ostrich-like bird next to her?

The bird is actually a fancy pen, you can write with it if you remove its foot. They sometimes appear at gift and souvenir stores, but I always find them too expensive and their colors not too appealing. I got this one for free since it came loose along with a bunch of small bags of toys. This one is in good condition and I think blue goes great with glitter, so here it is.

[Leave a Whisper]

I've never seen these before. What kinda toy is the blue ostrich-like bird next to her?

The bird is actually a fancy pen, you can write with it if you remove its foot. They sometimes appear at gift and souvenir stores, but I always find them too expensive and their colors not too appealing. I got this one for free since it came loose along with a bunch of small bags of toys. This one is in good condition and I think blue goes great with glitter, so here it is.

I like it.

Post Merge: January 30, 2017, 03:11:09 PM

3 euros so jealous..! Um, I'm not an expert on restoring but I'll see how much I can answer

- CWK do have "click knees" like Pinkies; mine have all held up well but I'd be careful with them nonetheless (but that's just me and my paranoia about breaking things )
- I'd definitely be careful with her tail, I'm not sure if there's any way to re-attach it if it breaks off (I've never heard of one, at least). Not sure about how to wash it, sorry.
- Personally I wouldn't repaint her, but that's just me, it's your decision in the end. I dunno if it would increase/decrease her value (I think it would probably depend on the buyer; like, *I* would prefer one that had chipped paint to one that had been repainted, but I know others would be the opposite), I'm not good w/ pricing and such. FWIW, I've noticed that the paint on their faces (specially their noses) tends to be at least a little chipped more often than not, so she might have always been like that.
- Pricing.. I paid at least $30-$45 for mine so somewhere around there, perhaps? But don't take that for 100% sure, like I say I'm terrible with numbers and values. But she is in very good condition, considering her age So I think you could probably get a decent price for her if you sold her later.

This is the best source of CWK info I've found good luck!

That's a neat link.

[Crystal-Sushi]

I can say, for one, you may not have too much luck with her hair - it's lower-quality nylon and frizzes right out of the box, reacts badly to heat and generally isn't that easy to work with. I own the heads of all the Catwalk Kitties characters (Lanard cleared out its warehouse at some point last year, it seems, and dumped the excess stock online through various Chinese sellers) and not one of them has good hair

[Punaherukka]

I've had a few brokentailed catwalk kitties, one was fixed by previous owner, one I tried fixing myself and one couldn't be repaired. My experience is limited, but here's what I learned.

I had a kitty, whose tailwire was broken in half, so I took off the fur that covers the wire. The tailwire is attached to the doll by a...   umm, not sure what would be the correct word...  let's call it tailbase. It's a little nub that rotates and has a hole in it, and the wire is tied to that hole. This "tailbase" is very fragile and if it gets pulled off, I don't think it can be attached back. I have one tailless cat that had just this happen to her. The wire can easily be replaced by just fitting a new one to the tailbase's hole.

I think you could try to remove the furcover (it's like a sock fitted over the wire) to wash it separately. To do this, you'll have to open some of its seam near the tailbase to make it loose. Some dolls have very loose furcovers on their tails, some a bit tighter. Be very gentle when removing the cover and when sewing it back on, because you have to work around the most fragile part, the tailbase. The furcover might not fit as neatly over the tailbase as it used to fresh from the factory but I think it's close enough.

[Carrehz]

I've had a few brokentailed catwalk kitties, one was fixed by previous owner, one I tried fixing myself and one couldn't be repaired. My experience is limited, but here's what I learned.

I had a kitty, whose tailwire was broken in half, so I took off the fur that covers the wire. The tailwire is attached to the doll by a...   umm, not sure what would be the correct word...  let's call it tailbase. It's a little nub that rotates and has a hole in it, and the wire is tied to that hole. This "tailbase" is very fragile and if it gets pulled off, I don't think it can be attached back. I have one tailless cat that had just this happen to her. The wire can easily be replaced by just fitting a new one to the tailbase's hole.

I think you could try to remove the furcover (it's like a sock fitted over the wire) to wash it separately. To do this, you'll have to open some of its seam near the tailbase to make it loose. Some dolls have very loose furcovers on their tails, some a bit tighter. Be very gentle when removing the cover and when sewing it back on, because you have to work around the most fragile part, the tailbase. The furcover might not fit as neatly over the tailbase as it used to fresh from the factory but I think it's close enough.

Ooooh, this is very interesting, thanks for the info!! I've always wondered about their tails