Mattel has never asked me to send back a doll when getting a replacement and I know a few others who they've shipped replacements to without asking for the original to be shipped back.

I don't mean to be disheartening, but flaws like the ones you've mentioned are pretty par for the course with MH dolls. Many of my girls have required some clean up after they've been purchased and they were the best of the ones in the store.

Rochelle does have a defect with her neck/head anchor that I know a lot of people have had trouble with and because of the texture in her plastic some people have had to deal with air bubbles. Everything else though? Is something you can find in most dolls.

Just personally, I've seen extra paint on face, missing paint on face, smeared paint, wonky eye, bad neck movement, glue on face, oily hair, loose joints, stiff joints, hair that needs a trim, hair color missing (Rochelle's side streaks), foreign matter in plastic, crimped hair, and ill fitting stands.

I've gotten used to having to fix my girls up after I get them. While they do have issues, they also have so much detail to them. They're one of the few dolls that come even close to the detail and articulation in BJD and at 12-25 dollars vs $200+, I enjoy them.

Best thing I can recommend is to stand in the aisle and compare the dolls side by side. Don't worry about looking loony. If you can't find a doll in store and you're picky? Try and find someone who will scout out and pick you up the best looking doll in their area.

There is also a mark on the bottom of the box when you're looking in the store. My first Rochelle had a super hard head and her replacement (she had factory errors) has a super light head and fluffy hair so it's really hit or miss.

I do have some girls with hard heads/made in Indonesia that haven't had seeping problems so it's not a guaranteed thing. I suspect it's a mixture of the tacky glue and the holes made by the plastic punch that causes them to leak so badly.

I'm not necessarily recommending this, but with the boxes you can open and re-close them, so if you get a doll and the back of the cardboard has a large grease stain on it, you can always return it for another one. The dolls do have a lot of good qualities but there are a lot of factory errors too. Best bet is to notify Mattel of any issues your having, though specify if you don't want a replacement. They've sent me one randomly before. They gave us CAM torsos, maybe they'll give us better quality control.

Ok, I'll try Dawn dish soap on her hair. So what about her head being very soft and squishy? Is that normal?

The variation in head squishiness is the amount of glue inside the head. Some of the older Made In China dolls have less glue than the Indonesia dolls and therefore have softer heads.  Lately both the Indonesia and China factories have been using the same amount/type of glue that has been causing seepage (it's tackier/doesn't dry well), although from what I've heard if you've got a doll with a softer head it's less likely to be an issue.

So all in all, I count squishiness as a good thing. If problems persist, I'd e-mail Mattel. They'll usually either send a replacement or a voucher for a new doll.

With the upcoming ghouls we've seen pics of the new total of unique dolls is 28 regular dolls and 17 CAMs (not counting Hoodude or the CAM Lab pieces).

With no forseeable slow down to the releases, does anyone else get overwhelmed by the sheer number of these dolls? They've only been out for three years and already we're nearing 50 unique designs, not even counting all the versions with different outfits and face ups.

As much as I love these dolls, it honestly worries me sometimes. My pocketbook can't keep up and being such tall dolls, it's a bit of a hassle to store so many. On one hand I'm excited that the series is doing so well but on the other... It does get overwhelming.

Between being a stickler against visual chaos and barely managing to keep up with just my favorites sometimes I let the stress get to me! Anybody else have trouble with the whole "hobbies are supposed to be fun, not stressful" mantra?

Oh wow! Great job!

I've got 14, plus 5 bodies waiting to be customized.

Wow, that's 19...

Then again, with how many unique characters there are, it's so easy for your collection to snowball. It all started with "well, I'll just get these two" and now I've already got plans for all the new Scaris girls!

Hello everyone!

I've recently rekindle my love for 80s and 90s cartoons and toys and thought this would be a great place to get started on collecting again!