How to find YOUR perfect misfit: A Guide

Composition dolls are dolls that are moulded from a combination of sawdust and glue (usually) that has been painted. Dolls can have either painted on eyes or inset ones, usually made of tin or plastic, though glass sometimes occurs.

Most composition, or compo, dolls were made before 1965. Therefore, they are usually very old and may have a long list of ails. Crazing, cracks, glazed eyes (that creepy 'white eye'), missing fingers, leaking stuffing, etc. Horrible!
But oh so lovable!

Just because a doll is coming to pieces, doesn't mean it can't be a favorite! When you shop for Composition on eBay, most mint dolls are high priced and difficult to win. The middle dolls are the dollies everyone ends up in bidding wars for while the poor little crackly dolls are forgotten. The 'crackly' dolls are cheap, anywhere from 99 cents to $20.00. Treasures!

How to find YOUR perfect misfit:

1. Look at the auctions with no gallery picture.
As eBay becomes more sophisticated and buyers become more selective, customers tend to scroll down pages at lightning speed, glancing at only the auctions with pictures. THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE MISSING! Items with gallery pictures are usually the 'crackly' dolls and are usually cheaper. BUT there are some amazing dolls that are in there as well! (I purchased a nice Tynie baby in a pictureless auction and she is a favorite doll in my collection) Also since no one is looking at the page as much, bidding wars are uncommon.

2. Limit your search
Searching just for "composition dolls" can often turn up over 800 items. 800 items will take FOREVER to scroll through, so limit your search. Since "composition" is a common key word in repair substance titles like paint and resurfacing creme, if you don't want to look for those, add a space and "-paint" and/or "-creme" to your search. Composition dolls sometimes don't even have "composition" in the title. Instead, sellers will shorten it to "compo" or "comp." An even better thing to do is to put a price limit on the search. $9.99 is a good roof for sweet, inexpensive baby dolls and greatly reduces the number of items in that search. Didn't find anything in the $9.99 and under range? Search for items between $10 and $19.99 and so on.

3. Don't call damage 'damage, call it 'character refinement'.
Baby dolls were NEVER meant to have frowns, but many mint dolls have sour expressions on their faces. Any change in paint can change the whole personality of the doll. A flake off the lips gives some dolls a charming smile, others get a precious pout. Eyes that are slightly crossed give a 'Oh my! There's something on my nose!' look to some dolls. HOWEVER, if the structure of the doll is falling to bits and you are not a professional restorer, be careful! These babies will need a little extra attention when handling.

4. Look at pictures
This is the most important step in the whole process. If you forget all the other steps, this method should still find the perfect doll for you. Look closely at the pictures, ask for more if you need to, and keep going back to look at them. Does the face in the pictures make something inside you snap as soon as you see it? Then this is your doll, despite the fact that the cracked ear, flaking paint, and sparse wig will look funny among your shiny collector dolls. DON'T let your special doll escape! Watch the auction, snipe, stay up till 2 in the morning! That doll came off the moulds all those years ago with your name in its leaking sawdust heart!

All the dolls featured in this guide were found for under $10.