#avastars

I’ve seen posts about people buying the bodies on amazon for cheap, for the outfits and accessories, but I don’t remember ever seeing anyone headswap the bodies. There may actually be a good reason for that.

These two were found at Valley Thrift, down from the outlet. One was 99 cents, and one was $2.99 because she still had her (admittedly very nicely made) pink princess gown. Both still had their shoes, which are also really nice. The bodies are very similar to Barbie Gymnast, except for no waist movement at all. Elbows and knees are still far superior to cheaping out on 5-point bodies, though.

These are the faces you had to send away to get 3D printed from your photos. They look like they use the “sandstone” material, with possibly some photoshopped makeup, which is... okay? But everything is blurry, compared to stamping or hand-painting--and I understand that the latter of which would’ve increased the prices, dramatically.The faces also still have the faint ridges of being printed line by line. They were not sanded smooth, and with the blurriness, I think the color was added simultaneously with the printing. As a result of these factors, the faces look, well, dirty.

There’s also the added problem of using a child/pre-teen face on an adult body. It just doesn’t blend well, to me. Had I gotten one of these dolls as a kid, I’d have been hugely disappointed when the face came back. I’d have been expecting me, except Barbie-tized, and that is not this.

But, I was an asshole kid and now an asshole adult, when it comes to likeness accuracy. Other kids and teens may not be as lofty with their expectations. I’m gonna guess that the sisters(?) who had these dolls swing closer to my end of the spectrum though, as they were donated to a thrift store.

I did just want the bodies, after all, so haha, who cares about the heads? Well, if you intend to re-body Ava-Stars, you should care about the heads. Because it IS NOT easy to get these things off. Hot water or a hair dryer will not work. Not alone. Because, you see, the head is FILLED WITH GLUE. FILLED. ENTIRELY. It appears to be basic hot glue, and not the weepy, sticky stuff Mattel had been using for a while, but it is not going to budge from pulling, alone. Adding “for ages 5 and up” on the box is sufficient, guys. This level of never-coming-off-by-accident is totally unnecessary.

As you can hopefully see in pic #3, I had to cut “gates” into the backs of the heads (with a sharp box knife) for the pegs to slide out of, and then had to yank on them a fair bit to get the glue wad around the peg to tear away from the rest of the glue wad in the head. This does eventually work, would probably work a little faster with some consistent heat application, but I managed not to break either peg.