Backstory: My mother-in-law has a very large collection of Madame Alexander dolls from across multiple decades and ranging in a variety of sizes. Quite a lot of them were removed from their original boxes (boxes were kept, she flattened them all for storage reasons). Because of various health reasons she can't physically do much (she is not bedridden, but does have to spend almost all her time laying down) and her eye-sight is not the greatest at this point. So the process of identifying the dolls and trying match the dolls to their boxes (or wrist tags that were removed) is up to me and my husband.
Does anyone know of any good identification sites to help identify doll lines or which years they may have been produced in? I know that the names of the dolls are often on the dress, but a number of them were produced multiple times in different but similar outfits. (Betsy Ross, so far I have found 3 versions in her collection, but no way to identify the year) or ones like "Little Women" were produced so many times as well as the "international" type dolls.
Also, the rubber bands inside some of them need to be replaced. Has anyone ever replaced these, and do you have a specific place you get the rubber bands from? I have watched a couple youtube videos and it seems simple enough, but wondered if anyone had personal experience doing it and if there was a specific place online that you prefer the bands from.
Lastly, if anyone knows the difference between a "bent knee" and a "walker" Madame Alexander doll and how to identify them.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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