So I just got Rochelle...

[ShortyBoo]

I was at Wal-Mart and decided to check the toy section and they had a few Rochelle dolls (no Spectra, though  ) so I picked the nicest one. The ones I left there, one had her left eye painted way too far to the left, one had a left eye painted too high up and the other was missing a ton of paint, like it looked like they were running out of black paint or something when they did her lashes and pupil so it was faded and spots were missing. Mine looked the best, but that's not to say she's not with issues. Mine has her left eye painted a bit too far to the left, but it's not super noticeable.

So when I pulled her out of the box, the first thing I noticed is she had tons of nasty hard gel in her bangs as well as the hair to either side of her bangs. The parts without the gel are greasy/oily feeling. Then when I went to brush her hair, huge chunks of hair on the right side near her bangs started falling out. It looks like they accidentally cut too far to the right side when cutting her bangs. It's not super noticeable, except that her hair now looks thicker on the left side than the right.

What's the best way to go about fixing her hair. I want that hard gel gunk out, and I don't want all the oil. Is there something that can take care of both problems? Do her bangs still look ok without the gel? It's weird because Draculaura didn't have nearly as much gel in her hair. Do they always go this overboard with Rochelle?

So now onto the other issues. Her head is really squishy, more on the right side than the left, but compared to Draculaura's head, it feels way different. I don't know if it's because of her squishy head, but her head can't tilt at all, I can turn it left or right, but if I try to tilt it, it just kind of snaps back to how it was. Is this normal with her, or is it just a weird defect?

The last thing is I noticed there's a gap in the seam on her left thigh that I originally thought was a crack, but then I noticed the seam there. Is this something I should be worried about, like will it get worse and eventually break?

Since I'm still new at collecting these, I don't know which things are common yet as far as factory issues. With MLP, I know exactly what to look for in the store (misaligned eyes, random marks, smudged paint, etc) but I have no idea what kinds of things are common factory errors for MH dolls.

[Sprinkles]

My Rochelle's bangs are REALLY stiff too Since I only display my dolls, I haven't attempted to get the glue out.

[pukunui]

Since I'm still new at collecting these, I don't know which things are common yet as far as factory issues. With MLP, I know exactly what to look for in the store (misaligned eyes, random marks, smudged paint, etc) but I have no idea what kinds of things are common factory errors for MH dolls.

Sadly, MH dolls have tons of factory errors. In addition to wonky eyes, they can have glue seepage in their hair (there's a whole thread about that), they can have ears that aren't pierced in the right places, they can have two of the same leg/shoe/hand, they can have really floppy joints (and sometimes jammed joints), they can have bald spots in their hair where there aren't enough plugs, they can have messed up shoes and messed up clothes, and so on and so forth.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but I know there are quite a few more issues.

[Icicle]

For Rochelle's hair (which seems to have the worst greasy-ness from the hair manufacturing process) you can use some cold/lukewarm water (being careful to not get the scalp drenched) with some shampoo or dish soap (Dawn dish soap would be best, as it's very good against grease!) should work just fine to get all that grease out and also get that hard glue outta her bangs and make them nice and fluffy.

[ShortyBoo]

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

[Chi]

The hair gel and oils can be washed out easily with something like laundry detergent since that's made for removing residues in clothing, so that would probably give you the best results. The oils are from the manufacturing of Saran which it what her hair is made of. All the dolls I have had experience a lot of hairloss when initially purchased, generally nothing to be concerned about.
You can trim the bangs yourself if you notice a few uneven stray hairs - it's usually an issue with Rochelle.

A lot of dolls do have the cracks/seams in their legs and it usually doesn't get worse from what I have seen, even when I pose them funny. The lack of motion from her head might be due to the weight of the hair, not sure. I've had it happen when I put a doll in a ponytail and it weighs too much.

Paint issues are extremely common in Monster High dolls which is why a lot of people prefer to buy them in stores like you did rather than buying them online. There are some dolls like Rochelle which are extremely prone to eye errors and other dolls that may not be as prone, such as Nefera. Even buying them in store isn't always a guarantee since I've actually had to handstitch a dress before because of unfinished sewing…
Considering the sometimes awful quality of the dolls, I can't get myself to stop liking them. ;A;

Yes, Rochelle having a squishy head is normal. I'd be confused if it wasn't lol.

[pukunui]

A lot of dolls do have the cracks/seams in their legs and it usually doesn't get worse from what I have seen, even when I pose them funny. The lack of motion from her head might be due to the weight of the hair, not sure. I've had it happen when I put a doll in a ponytail and it weighs too much.

That reminds me of another problem: the peg that holds the head on the neck is attached to a horizontal post inside the neck. Sometimes there can be defects with either the post itself or with the ring at the bottom of the peg, thereby preventing the head from moving in certain directions (my I <3 Frankie can't bend her head forward at all really because of a defective peg/post combo).

Considering the sometimes awful quality of the dolls, I can't get myself to stop liking them. ;A;

Me too. 

[ShortyBoo]

Ok, I washed her hair with Dawn and it definitely took care of the rock hard bangs. It's still too damp to tell if it worked on the oilyness of the rest of her hair or not, but I'm hopeful. Is Draculaura's (she's the rerelease of the signature version) hair not made out of saran? It feels different than Rochelle's hair.

I get upset about factory defects with $5 ponies, so I can tell I'm going to be worse with MH since they cost 4x as much. It's too bad they're not stricter on quality. But even with her flaws, I'm still really happy with Rochelle. I had passed her up at one time a few months back and I'd always said if I came across her again, I'd pick her up, so that's what I did. I love her hair color and outfit and her face is so sweet looking.

[Wrenn_Rosencrantz]

The routine I go through with my dolls is, when they're out of the box, I take them to the bathroom and wet the parts I want washed.  Then I take a bit of Dr. Bronner's Castille Soap (Peppermint) and wash it through thoroughly, but gently.  Rinse.  After that, I spray (lightly) Aussie leave in conditioner.  Then I just comb straight or to the style I want and let it dry overnight.  It's worked beautifully on all my dolls, and on my roomie's too!  Sometimes you need to do it twice, but still, it makes for pretty hair after.

I get the tiny bottles of the soap from Fred Meyers, and a little goes a LONG way.

[ShortyBoo]

The Dawn did work at getting the oil and gel from her hair. She still has weird kinks in her hair from the box, but I'm tired of messing with it. Everytime I touch her her headband and necklace fall off and I've almost lost them a ton of times since last night. I'm kind of regretting removing the rubberband keeping the headband on, but I figured it would be easier to wash and brush without it.

[Colorscapesart]

I'm sorry you had such a hard time finding a nice doll!  I do commiserate on the hair, but that can be fixed fairly easily. 

[pukunui]

For the kinks, boil some water and then dip a comb into it and then run the hot comb through the hair. That should do the trick and won't involve you getting her hair sopping wet by dipping it directly into the water either.

It was suggested to me to try that with Venus so I don't risk getting her flocking wet.

[zannid]

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.

[ShortyBoo]

How can you tell where they were made? Are they marked somewhere?

[Chi]

They're marked on their lower back above their behind. All Rochelle are made in the same country and all of them seem to have squishy heads so that isn't much of a factor with her.