Vintage 1978 Star Wars 12" Princess Leia

[MEGOMAN]

I'm trying to figure out how to repair my wifes old Leia doll's hair back to the way it is supposed to be. We have the plastic that holds her hair in the classic "ear muff" hair style. Does anyone know how to fix the dolls hair or does anyone know of a web page that explains how to do it? Thank you for everyones time!!

[cjefferys]

All I know that it is a ***** to do. I had an extra one once, and my wife managed to do a fair job of making the buns (better than I would have) but it wasn't quite right. I've seen pics of other dolls that had their hair redone, and they also didn't look quite the same as a doll with a factory hairdo. You might want to try asking on the rebelscum forums, someone might know of a web page or something that can help.

[rche]

good luck with it.

It is a bear to get them buns back. I concur with cj, check rebelscum.com in the forums.

[kryptosmaster]

How funny. The thing that was pictured in my mind when I saw this thread title was how fascinated I was with the hair buns on this doll. My sister had her.
Total 30+ year old memory here but I seem to recall it being parted in the middle and then taken straight out on both sides of the head into a sort of pigtail look. Probably secured with a small rubber band. Then thread those pigtails through the plastic donuts and spread the hair back around to the head side of the donut so the hair covers the surface of the donuts evenly then take another rubber band and go over the donuts to secure the loose ends of the hair behind the donuts (between the head and the backside of the donuts).
Don't know if that will work or not but that's what's in my head whenever I think about this doll.
There might be a trick to 'tighten them up'?
Rich

[cjefferys]

Your 30 year old memory is pretty well right on, Rich. But yeah, the trick is to spread the hair evenly and tightly over the plastic "donuts" and then secure it underneath. It's much tougher than you'd think. I'd love to see how they did this in the factory back in the day.

One of the buns on my boxed Leia is starting to unravel a little bit. I'm really worried about it getting worse (or the 30 year old rubber band breaking) because I don't think I'd be able to fix it properly.

[MEGOMAN]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the help.

[English Paul]

The bands had perished on mine but were 'sticky' enough to still retain the style. I used those small clear bands that are used to hold most modern action figures into their packaging. They held the hair really nice and tight.

Obviously this won't help you with the restyle but they are good option once you get the style back.

[Altopwyn]

Got my 'Crazy hair' 12" Leia through the post yesterday morning, and did her buns last night. Didn't have the original 'rings', so used a craft/exacto knife and fashioned them out of a pair of matching soda/fizzy drink screw lids. I have read that someone used plumbing washers too. Then I followed KRYPTOMASTERS guide and it worked a treat, just a few loose hairs. May try to get it 'perfect' another time, but plenty good enough for my figure display. Extra tip; use the darkest lids possible, black or brown, or you may have to color them. If the hair isn't perfectly spread, you can see a white or yellow lid through the hair. I'm going to try and video this process at some point for Youtube, as it seems quite a common query. Good luck with yours!

[MegoMark71]

This is no easy feat. Good luck, and have lots of patience.

[MEGOMAN]

Got my 'Crazy hair' 12" Leia through the post yesterday morning, and did her buns last night. Didn't have the original 'rings', so used a craft/exacto knife and fashioned them out of a pair of matching soda/fizzy drink screw lids. I have read that someone used plumbing washers too. Then I followed KRYPTOMASTERS guide and it worked a treat, just a few loose hairs. May try to get it 'perfect' another time, but plenty good enough for my figure display. Extra tip; use the darkest lids possible, black or brown, or you may have to color them. If the hair isn't perfectly spread, you can see a white or yellow lid through the hair. I'm going to try and video this process at some point for Youtube, as it seems quite a common query. Good luck with yours!

Please do make the video. That would be really good!