Baby Dolls
Buy and sell baby dolls in Guatemala.
A baby doll gets fed, changed and pushed around the house in a toy stroller, and the ones that come with their own bottle and potty get the most of that. Soft first dolls for toddlers, all-vinyl dolls that can share a bath, and the drinking, wetting and crying kind such as Baby Alive, Baby Born and Cry Babies change hands new in the box and pre-owned, along with the cribs and high chairs that go with them. In Guatemala the doll is easier to find than her refill packets of food and diapers, so a used one that still has them is the one to look for.
Baby dolls that eat, drink and cry real tears:
these are the ones children ask for by name. Baby Alive, made by Hasbro, eats and wets, and some versions move their mouth as they eat and fill a diaper afterwards. Baby Born drinks from a bottle, wets and cries tears, and has a screw cap in its back that has to be closed before it goes near the bath. Cry Babies are filled with water and cry when you press on their head. At the quiet end are soft-bodied first dolls with stitched faces, for children who still chew everything, and all-vinyl dolls made to share the bath with their owner. A child who would rather dress a doll than feed her has moved on to fashion dolls, and for a baby who is not yet walking, something from baby and toddler toys is often the better first gift.
Powdered food, play dough or plain water:
that choice, printed on the box, decides how much looking after a doll needs. Powdered food is mixed with water, cannot be saved once mixed, and has to be flushed out of the doll afterwards. Play-dough food goes in, comes out and can be used again. Drink-and-wet dolls take nothing but water and are the easiest to keep clean. Dolls that talk, giggle or cry out loud have electronics inside and never go in water, and a cloth body soaks up water and stays damp inside. For bath time, choose a doll that is vinyl all over.
Baby Alive on the shelf and the refill packets behind it:
together they set the price of a used one. New, a Baby Alive runs from about Q100 for a small doll to around Q300 for a set with food, bowl and potty. The doll is the easy part to find here; the food packets and spare diapers she uses up are stocked far less widely, and once the packets in the box run out, a feeding doll becomes a drink-and-wet doll. What a used one fetches comes down to its kit. With bottle, spoon, potty and a few unopened packets it can fetch a fair part of the new price, while the same doll on her own goes for little more than a plain soft doll.
The tubing inside a used feeding doll:
deserves more of your attention than the face or the clothes. Food or milk left inside grows mould in the tubes, and none of it shows from outside. Ask the seller to run clean water through with the bottle while you watch: it should come out clear and smell of nothing. Warm water with a splash of white vinegar flushes most dolls clean, but very hot water can soften the tubes, so do not scald one to be sure. On a Baby Born, check the screw cap in the back is still there; without it, bath water has been getting into the body. Sleeping eyes should open and close together when you tip the doll, and an eye stuck half-shut will not sort itself out. A cloth body that feels lumpy or smells damp has been through the washing machine, and the stuffing will not recover. On a Cry Babies doll, fill it and press: no tears means something inside is blocked or leaking.
A bottle of water at the handover:
settles most doubts about a feeding doll, so bring one. When you list it, write what the doll eats, whether powder, dough or water only, and say plainly whether it was ever given real juice or milk and when you last flushed it. Lay out the bottle, spoon, potty, pacifier and any packets or diapers that are left, and photograph them with the doll, because the kit is what buyers are really pricing. If the doll talks or cries, record a short video of it doing so. A parent driving in from Jutiapa will want to watch it drink and wet before paying, and a doll that does it on the spot goes home with them.