I am hoping that someone @bbsupport sees this and gives it some thought. I am also interested in knowing what you all think about it.
I mentioned on another post that my 4 yo grand daughter was asking for a “squishy baby” like her friend has. After my daughter sent me a photo of said baby she took I told her it was a China made cheaper silicone baby and mostly likely a knock off. I did not recognize anything about the face/limbs but one never knows how much to trust these cheaper companies. I explained to my daughter that these dolls are an unknown in ingredients safety at the very least of concerns and that many are reduced size knock-off of other’s work. Since then I found a small mini sculpt I could afford to paint for my grand daughter.
However, all this has me thinking about the d/c full body Blinkin kit they used to sell here. To me it was too dolly looking but now I wish I had gotten one when they went way down in price to have to paint for her to play with here. Even still, that baby would be a bit bigger and heavier than she could carry. The one her friend got looks to be about 14-15 inches long. So my idea is I wonder if BB produced a little full body silicone doll in this size that is just a basic Ecoflex 20-30 or so shore so squishy but not too soft so kids can play with them if anyone would be interested in purchasing them? I know we all would not want to spend a lot on a silicone for a kid, but if it were possible to do an affordable one such as this I would be interested. It would need to be big enough to wear a smaller real preemie sized diaper and onesie yet not too big for younger kids to handle. Something standard sized doll clothes could be bought for maybe. I think open eyed as well. For a kid I would just color the lips on the baby and blush it all over nicely then seal. That is all a kid needs on their doll really but one could also paint more if making it for an older kid or adult even.
I’m absolutely on board with this. They wouldn’t have to be big, but I’d definitely go for full body, not partial. Like 10-14 inch or so. Could even be a silicone version of an older doll, like Bryon or one of the other small kits.
I have been following this person on Etsy, too. I’m fairly certain they’re not knockoffs as I don’t recognize anything. They’re not as realistic, but pretty affordable!
I think a smaller lighter weight full body is a better option since the limbs can be easily pulled out of a cloth bodied silicone doll and we are talking about kids playing with them. Today I gave my Charlotte her little 4 inch full body baby I painted for her and she was so thrilled to have it. I made a little cloth diaper for it and wrapped it in a terry cloth baby washcloth with unicorns on it. I would love to eventually paint her something a bit bigger though that is also a little less squishy than this mini is. It remains to be seen how long this one will last but the blank was not that much money.
I believe paradise Galleries has a few full body silicone babies…two or three that are around 5” and one that is 14”. They seem to be pretty popular and cheap!
I did find that the 5” mini baby PG does is on sale for $15.99 ea. They even sell them on Amazon. I got 2 coming for my grand and me. I am tempted to get the 14” Rosie as well. She is on sale on the PG site.
This lady’s silicones appear to be very reasonably priced, does anyone know what they are made out of? Tin silicone or Platinum? Same with PG, theirs may be Tin silicone. Tin silicone does not hold up as well as platinum. I bought a squishy silicone thing at Disneyland many years ago (it was kinda like a ball with arms and legs and a pointed head), it was so cute. I had it for a couple of years I guess and one morning I got up and came into the livingroom and one of it’s arms had falled off. A few days later, the other one dropped off, after that the legs went one by one also. I have to assume it was made out of Tin silicone. What’s really weird is: they don’t show any wear and tear or anything, just fall off one day. This little thing was never played with or anything, it just sat there. It kinda freaked me out. Anyway that’s why I wonder what the cheaper silis are made out of. Just brought it up in case no one had thought about it.
I had a PG dolls partial silicone many years ago. It felt firmer more like a soft dragon skin or Ecoflex 30 and did not seem tin based to me. I kept it for a couple years and even rooted hair and lashes on it. It held up just fine. I eventually sold it to someone else.
I was wondering if it’d be possible to do something like this, with the foam core - I had a Miracle Moves doll by Mattel in the early 2000s and loved the doll. The limbs were made of 1/4 silicone-type material and filled with stuffing, giving them a texture almost identical to polyfil. I think a foam core could be a really good option - kids are really into foam squishies right now.
I’m curious what other centers there are. I’ve always seen “solid silicone” and wondered what “not solid silicone” dolls would be made from.
@lynn I’ve had some of her babies! They’re really high quality and fun to paint/dress.
Melissa McCrory used to come to the doll shows and sell her big toddler silicone babies. She had developed some way to make them less heavy where they had something else in the core of the torso. I am not sure what it was she used but it worked well for her and the dolls were still silicone. I had thought about that would be a good option for children’s dolls too if it could be done on a smaller baby scale. Might be cheaper but then again who knows? Sometimes things cost more to make adaptations that way.
Thanks for letting me know, it’s good to hear from someone who has actually owned them. I’ll give this some thought. Maybe I’ll be able to swing a smaller one.
I got 2 of the little PG silicone dolls today. I actually ordered them off Amazon so I got free shipping. They were on sale for $15.99. They are medium skin tone and just cute as can be. A bit firmer silicone that is perfect for a 4 yo! I went back today and ordered 1 more. I wish I had gotten the fat smiling sleeper one too before it sold out.
