Call the doll ambulance!

July 10, 2024 7:59 AM

A friend is in search of a reputable doll hospital for minor repairs of stuffed animals.

My friend asks:

"I have some old, moderately fancy Steiff stuffed animals and I’m looking for a reputable doll hospital to give them (minor) repairs/refreshes because my sister is pregnant (!!!) and I want to pass them to her kid. And it turns out all doll hospitals have janky ass websites where I cannot tell if these people are legit or not."

Do you have a personal recommendation for a doll hospital, or actual experience in getting stuffed animals refreshed or repaired by another type of professional? (These are vintage like from our childhood, not vintage like rare and super valuable, but I still wouldn't want to suggest just dropping them off with a clothing alteration person unless I knew that that person had experience working with toys.) Ideally this would be somewhere in Philly, which feels plausible because we have an accordion repair shop and a typewriter repair shop? But I think she can ship them elsewhere if necessary.

The animals thank you! I've seen some of them and they're very cute.

posted by babelfish to Grab Bag (3 answers total)

Back in 2019, my daughter's beloved stuffed hippo was chewed on by my parents' puppy. We sent her to this place and had a great experience. Beth was very communicative and provided options on fabric color for a place where something had to be remade. The repair was in a tricky spot — the top of the hippo's head, around an ear — and the repair is visible but very neat and has held perfectly despite heavy use. I would absolutely recommend without hesitation.
posted by SeedStitch at 8:29 AM on July 10 [5 favorites]

I also had an excellent experience with Realms of Gold! I sent them a beloved teddy bear to have repaired a few years ago and they did a fantastic job. I highly recommend them.
posted by maryellenreads at 11:55 AM on July 10 [2 favorites]

Angelic Creations successfully repaired a meaningful doll from my childhood. They are located in Chicago and I sent my doll in by mail. The owner corresponded with me and sent me surgery pictures. She returned later with a sweet hospital bracelet and a working hip again. From their pictures and reviews I see that they also work on stuffed animals.
posted by Liesl at 7:46 AM on July 11