Sadie, 24, girl, doll-enthusiast, cat-lover, photographer, music lover, plural, presently residing in Lovell, Maine. My life is frequently a struggle with Asperger's and ADHD (and I don't always win). Stuff I'm into includes ABC's Once Upon a Time (I'm a Dearie), Star Trek (DS9) and Lady's Deep Dish Nine AU. Other stuff in no particular order: Kuroshitsuji, Dexter, BBC's Sherlock and the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle series, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Harry Potter, and mourning ye good ol' days of AIM and YIM-based roleplay.
Since people seem to be noticing and finally talking about the glue issue with Monster High dolls, I figured I’d throw in my two cents. I bought my first edition Lagoona Blue in November of 2011. She came to me in near-perfect condition from Amazon, meaning that one of her eyes was slightly higher than the other. I thought, whatever, she’s such a pretty doll and if I tilt her head it won’t be noticeable in photos, I’m not sending her back. Following that, I put her on her stand for display. A few weeks ago I took her down from her shelf to dress her in some Bratz clothes. In doing so, I noticed her hair had become sticky. Since she was up on a shelf and out of the way of all offending dirt or anything else, I examined the stickiness a little more closely. It was glue, seeping out at her hair plugs. It was very bad on the back of her head and left side. Her hair was discoloured, sticky, and nearly unbrushable. I live in Colorado so the air here is dry, meaning humidity can’t be blamed for such a problem. On top of that, I don’t believe the temperature has peaked 80 degrees Fahrenheit since I bought her. I figured the glue had to be leaking from inside her head, so I gave her hair a good wash in dish soap. This only made the problem worse. The glue was now throughout her hair making it look greasy, limp, and the stickiness hadn’t faded in the slightest. After that failed attempt I tried laundry detergent (Tide) and, when that also failed, I bought some Goo-Gone. None of these chemical cleaners were strong enough to remove the glue from my doll’s hair. Feeling dismayed, I contacted Mattel. They issued me a voucher for $18.00 toward a new doll as they did not have a replacement Lagoona Blue. Later, when I found Operetta at Wal*Mart, they did not want to accept Mattel’s voucher! I almost left the store out of frustration. It took the store manager’s intervention to clear the voucher! Once I was home I decided, since I’d wanted to try my hand at re-rooting, Lagoona would be my first project. It took FOREVER to remove all of the glue from inside her head. Many hair plugs came out with gobs of the glue. I’ve since begun re-rooting my Lagoona and she looks lovely so far. Much to my dismay, however, I’ve noticed that all of my dolls that were manufactured in Indonesia share this glue problem. My Classrooms Deaducation Ghoulia’s hair is completely gunky on the back of her ponytail, my new Rochelle is already sticky at the back of her head, and my Spectra’s hair is getting sticky at the base of her head. About an inch (across and down) of her hair has been discoloured and ruined by this glue. This is bad manufacturing, people. Mattel isn’t treating their customers very well. These dolls, excluding beach lines and pyjama lines, are usually over $20 each in the store. You’re paying $20+ for defective items that do not last. If you examine your deboxed dolls and they have sticky hair (dig to the back of their scalp, usually at the lower end of the back of their head), I urge you to contact Mattel and submit a support ticket. Explain that this glue is destroying your doll(s) because, if you can feel stickiness, it will only continue to spread. This is a detriment to all collectors, whether they buy their dolls to display in-package or out, and especially to children. Mattel can be contacted through the options available at the bottom of this page: http://service.mattel.com/us/ContactUs.aspx

Since people seem to be noticing and finally talking about the glue issue with Monster High dolls, I figured I’d throw in my two cents. I bought my first edition Lagoona Blue in November of 2011. She came to me in near-perfect condition from Amazon, meaning that one of her eyes was slightly higher than the other. I thought, whatever, she’s such a pretty doll and if I tilt her head it won’t be noticeable in photos, I’m not sending her back.

Following that, I put her on her stand for display.

A few weeks ago I took her down from her shelf to dress her in some Bratz clothes. In doing so, I noticed her hair had become sticky. Since she was up on a shelf and out of the way of all offending dirt or anything else, I examined the stickiness a little more closely. It was glue, seeping out at her hair plugs. It was very bad on the back of her head and left side. Her hair was discoloured, sticky, and nearly unbrushable. I live in Colorado so the air here is dry, meaning humidity can’t be blamed for such a problem. On top of that, I don’t believe the temperature has peaked 80 degrees Fahrenheit since I bought her.

I figured the glue had to be leaking from inside her head, so I gave her hair a good wash in dish soap. This only made the problem worse. The glue was now throughout her hair making it look greasy, limp, and the stickiness hadn’t faded in the slightest. After that failed attempt I tried laundry detergent (Tide) and, when that also failed, I bought some Goo-Gone. None of these chemical cleaners were strong enough to remove the glue from my doll’s hair.

Feeling dismayed, I contacted Mattel. They issued me a voucher for $18.00 toward a new doll as they did not have a replacement Lagoona Blue. Later, when I found Operetta at Wal*Mart, they did not want to accept Mattel’s voucher! I almost left the store out of frustration. It took the store manager’s intervention to clear the voucher!

Once I was home I decided, since I’d wanted to try my hand at re-rooting, Lagoona would be my first project. It took FOREVER to remove all of the glue from inside her head. Many hair plugs came out with gobs of the glue.

I’ve since begun re-rooting my Lagoona and she looks lovely so far. Much to my dismay, however, I’ve noticed that all of my dolls that were manufactured in Indonesia share this glue problem. My Classrooms Deaducation Ghoulia’s hair is completely gunky on the back of her ponytail, my new Rochelle is already sticky at the back of her head, and my Spectra’s hair is getting sticky at the base of her head. About an inch (across and down) of her hair has been discoloured and ruined by this glue.

This is bad manufacturing, people. Mattel isn’t treating their customers very well. These dolls, excluding beach lines and pyjama lines, are usually over $20 each in the store. You’re paying $20+ for defective items that do not last.

If you examine your deboxed dolls and they have sticky hair (dig to the back of their scalp, usually at the lower end of the back of their head), I urge you to contact Mattel and submit a support ticket. Explain that this glue is destroying your doll(s) because, if you can feel stickiness, it will only continue to spread.

This is a detriment to all collectors, whether they buy their dolls to display in-package or out, and especially to children. Mattel can be contacted through the options available at the bottom of this page:

http://service.mattel.com/us/ContactUs.aspx