A Doll Injury: Hip Frame Replacement 50cm AZO2 Doll

In the summer of 2021, while putting a skirt onto our Leviathan doll , Lee, an unexpected thing happened . . . her hip frame broke causing her upper torso to fall into my hands while her lower body went crashing to the floor.

It was such an unsettling experience.

I didn’t know what to do.

Shaken by the whole thing, I placed her in the back of my closet to deal with on another day.

But after a several months (feeling guilty about leaving Lee in that situation) I knew it was time to make a decision.

Do I repair Lee or do I let her live the rest of her life in the back of the closet?

I decided to repair her but was hesitant about it.

Replacing the broke part seemed easy enough. But I worried I’d cause more damage to another part of her body during the repair of the hip joint.

Luckily, the dolly universe heard by concerns and a YouTube video by Linda of the channel Mes crazy expériences appeared.

Her Mahiro (Azone doll) had a loose arm due to a broken bust frame.

In the video, Linda shared how she handled the injury & repaired the doll with advice from a friend.

After watching the video, I felt inspired to try replacing my doll’s broken hip joint.

So I ordered an Obitsu hip frame from Amazon Japan. I was already going to buy a book, so why not add a doll joint to the order.

My items arrived about a week later.

It’s Time for Doll Surgery

With the hip frame in hand, it was time to replace Lee’s busted hip.

Since I had removed her legs and the broken piece in the summer it was time to put things in place & back together again. Should be easy, right?

But I struggled getting the new piece inside the torso.

It took some wiggling and dexterity to get the joint in the correct position.

But my struggles didn’t end there.

I couldn’t get the legs onto the new hip pegs. Something was preventing them from sliding flush onto hip.

Once again, the dolly universe heard my worries. And I stumbled upon a doll forum which led me to a great post on Dollieh Sanctuary on how to replace Obitsu 50cm torso.

Thank goodness it had detailed instructions & close up images.

Wonderful for a new dolly surgeon like myself 😉

Following the instructions, it took me several attempts to get the legs back in place.

I kept getting the swinging/dropping legs.

But I kept at it.

And I’m thrilled to say . . . that I was able to replace Lee’s hip frame and put her back together again!

What a relief!

Thanks to Linda for the video that inspired me to tempt the hip replacement.

And thanks to the awesome post on Dollieh Sanctuary that made everything come together.

Here’s hoping I won’t have to perform another dolly surgery for a long time.

Over to you

Have you experienced a doll injury before? What broke/cracked on your doll?

Were you able to repair the dolly injury or was it unrepairable?

Share your experience in the comment section below.

I look forward to chatting with you.

Here’s the video Linda shared on repairing her doll’s bust frame. Enjoy!