This sweet doll with the wild and crazy hair is a My Buddy doll.

“The My Buddy doll line was a toy brand made by Hasbro in 1985 with the intention of making a doll to appeal to little boys and teach them about caring for their friends. My Buddy is one of several dolls said to be the inspiration for Chucky, the evil doll from Child’s Play, along with That Kid and Robert the Doll.” ~ Wikipedia

My youngest son asked for, and received, a My Buddy doll for Christmas, somewhere between 1985 and 1990. I know we have one of the original Hasbro dolls because the clothes are removable. Playskool made later versions of the  dolls with non-removable clothing.

Recently, My Buddy moved back to our house. After three decades, his hair was an unmanageable version of its former self, more like a punk rocker, than a sweet childhood friend. A good tip for getting a doll’s hair under control is fabric softener. Doll hair is more akin to fabric than actual human hair, fabric softener works wonders in taming the strands. Doll diaries has a good article on both soaking and spraying your doll’s hair. I know from experience fabric softener is great for smoothing Barbie hair, and other dolls, such as American Girl will benefit from the treatment too.

After soaking My Buddy’s hair for about an hour in a fabric softener solution, I rinsed it and was happy with the results, especially in the back.

The front, while smoother, was a bit of a lost cause. I could see after combing it down, someone had given My Buddy a shorter haircut. I like his new look though…definitely more modern than a Dutch-boy style.

One more quick tip: grime on the face can be gently washed away with a bit of toothpaste on a soft cloth. Take care around the painted features, as pressing too hard can remove the paint.

I think I will dress My Buddy up in a costume for Halloween, because yes, he does look like CHUCKY of CHILD’S PLAY.