Edison Doll Parts from eBay

[Hailey]

A grouping of Edison Doll parts just completed on eBay. In the event that they went to a member here on the Forum, I am in need of a head as well as a torso.
Please feel free to contact me at any time.
Thanks kindly.

[VintageTechnologies]

The Edison dolls turn up more often than original mechanisms. My mom was a doll collector and had a complete original Edison doll, except for the missing mechanism. The head was a dead-ringer for the one on eBay. The dress probably was not original, but everything else was. She sold it at least five years ago at a doll auction. I don't know what it fetched, but it must have been several thousand.

The mechanism on the eBay auction does not look "right" to me. Is it a replica?

[Hailey]

You are correct...the mech thet accompanied the doll on eBay was a replica mechanism. There were a couple different attempts at replicating these mechs. Both attempts resulted in pretty darn good little repro mechs! Nevertheless, even the dolls without the mech are a rarity, representing a wonderful, early example of Edisonia history.

[TinfoilPhono]

There have been several different production runs of replica phonograph mechanisms of varying quality. The best I have seen were made by Darren Wallace a number of years ago. The top picture shows one of the less accurate replicas. Note the more squared shape of the lower part of the machine.

Some originals had a paper label on the horn, with a list of patents. Some had that information stamped into the horn itself.

[TinfoilPhono]

None of the replicas I've seen had accurately rendered labels. The fonts were not even close. In this picture the top 3 are repro labels I saw on 3 different replicas. The label on the bottom right is original, on the bottom left is a replica that I made. I spent hours getting it exactly right in every detail. I used one on a replica mechanism I owned prior to getting a doll with original phonograph. I also gave a few of these labels to friends, so at least a few replicas out there do have accurate labels.

[JerryVan]

This has been an interesting thread on a topic I know too little about. However, I have to say, I can't stop being amused at the OP's statement, "...I am in need of a head as well as a torso." I know, it doesn't take much to entertain me.

[Hailey]

This has been an interesting thread on a topic I know too little about. However, I have to say, I can't stop being amused at the OP's statement, "...I am in need of a head as well as a torso." I know, it doesn't take much to entertain me.

Yea...I have been told that I am just full of laughs!