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Use of this site signifies acceptance of the terms and conditions stated here:
This page gives detailed descriptions and explanations of our condition ratings. Please note: All our items are marketed to adult collecots, not for children under age 18. We do not warrant items in any way past our description. We are a secondary market outlet. Used items may be subject to minimal restoration and cleaning.
GUIDE TO CONDITION RATINGS IN DESCRIPTIONS:
NRFB- This item has never been removed from its original box and box has not been opened. The box itself may vary in condition from near mint to poor. No box is ever perfect. Boxes were designed to protect the contents of the articles inside, few are designed as collectible items in themselves. All boxes will show some evidence of handling as they must be handled in order to be transported, packed, etc. NRFB indicates that the contents of the box are complete and in mint condition - that is in the same condition as they would have been when assembled in the box in the factory. Please note: some items are not perfect even in mint condition. They may have been mishandled by factory workers in ways not evident until taken out of the box, have flaws caused by the manufacturing process or they may have deteriorated in the box due to the passage of time. Flaw in NRFB items may or may not be visible and/or known.
MIB- Item meets the above requirements but the box may or may not have been opened at some point. It may only be suspected that the box has been opened. We frequently use MIB for items that were not purchased directly from the manufacturer or a major retailer but were purchased on the secondary market. Most of these items would meet the NRFB criteria but we do not want to mislead inadvertently. MIB items are complete to the best of our knowledge.
Mint or other condition with box. Item has been taken out of the box and its condition may vary. Item may or may not be complete. Read individual descriptions closely.
Mint- new or like new, may or may not be complete, may be part of an ensemble or lot). Has no original packaging. A mint item will not have been played with and will show no damage, no abuse, and almost no handling. Hair will be in the original style.
For items that have been handled outside the box we frequently use the terms shows minimal handling or moderate handling .
Minimal handling is a secondary term used with mint, near mint and excellent condition to indicate that while the item might have been displayed or stored in less than perfect conditions, it looks as if it were only handled for a very short period of time after by its original owner. For example: An item may show minimal handling and still only be in excellent (not mint) condition if it were exposed to heat in storage or if it were otherwise affected by poor storage or display (ie: flattened clothing, sunlight or smoke exposure). Hair may not be perfect but will be generally in the original style. A article in near mint condition with minimal handling would still have that crisp mint look or appear one or two degrees less than crispy mint. An item that has been minimally handled was displayed, stored or even played with but with great care. (An example: I have a platinum PTS with lavender lips that was mine as a child, although not my favorite, it was the most beautiful Barbie I had. I was fanatical about preserving that doll in mint condition, especially the hair. I lost numerous friends because I would not let them touch her. She still appears mint to this day but in reality I played with her every day for many years. She shows no evidence of that play, in fact benefited from it as I discarded earrings early on and later in years replaced the rubber bands. We are in Texas, it gets hot here! Some of my childhood dolls show play but none have green ear and none have rubber bands melted into their hair.)
Moderate handling: This item has been handled and appears used ( not new or mint). Moderate handling covers all surface conditions, (including minuscule scratches on dolls and tiny imperceptible spots on clothing etc). An item that shows moderate handling has NOT been abused, damaged, soiled, nor is missing a vital part. If a moderately handled item has an interior part that is broken (such as a knee joint) it will be described and will usually not be evident in display. A moderately handled item may have been cleaned, but in such a way that the cleaning is not overtly apparent in display.
Minimal and moderate handling labels are not a statement of condition but rather a way to elaborate on the condition of the items which have been taken out of their boxes without going into extreme detail.
Excellent condition. This item is in excellent condition despite not being in its original packaging. It may show minimal to moderate handling (see above) An item in excellent condition will at first glance appear near mint or mint. Only upon closer inspection will flaws be apparent and most will not be visible to the naked eye. Excellent condition items may be been cleaned but in such a way that the cleaning is not overtly apparent or they may need a light cleaning. An item that is in excellent condition has NOT been abused, damaged, badly soiled, nor is missing a vital part. An excellent condition item has no broken parts, no vital parts are missing. (For example: Clothing ensembles may not be complete but individual pieces will be intact unless noted. For example a lined coat will not be missing the lining but it may be noted that a snap is loose or missing). Excellent played with condition is a subset of excellent to indicate the flaws the item has resulted from obvious play (or mishandling by an adult) rather than from cleaning, exposure to the elements or poor display condition.
Very good condition: Item shows flaws even when displayed but has not been abused or damaged in such a way that the item is undesirable. For example, hair may have been trimmed but not badly cut). Very good condition items will show noticeable differences when compared to the mint item but these differences will not detract from the overall appearance of the item too much. They may have been cleaned or need cleaning.
Good condition, Item shows numerous flaws, some minor damage, if a part it broken it is not evident in display. Good condition items will show noticeable differences when compared to the excellent condition item but the overall appearance of the item will still be acceptable.
Fair condition. This is ordinarily the lowest condition in which we offer any item. This condition covers items that have wear and tear from time, slight damage from poor display or storage practices and item that have survived a lot of loving but active play. Again no abuse is evident, any damage is not a significant detraction from the display appearance. This condition covers items with flaws that can be covered or hidden in some way but will be stated in the description. Items in fair condition will not have broken parts that are not evident or described.
Poor condition: Normally we do not sell such items individually unless they are rare and desired items. We do offer lots of TLC clothing and sometimes dolls and other items. We may occasionally offer some poor condition items in our bargain section for parts. We attempt to state all damage or show it in photos but by purchasing an item in poor condition, buyer accepts that the item may have flaws too numerous to list.
Other terms; light cleaning- an article could use a light cleaning with common cleaning agents found in most households; such cleaning can be done by any adult. A light cleaning is optional as the article will display just find without it and is done at the buyers risk. Pro cleaning- article needs cleaning by a professional to avoid harm. Note: cleaning and restoration is at the risk of the buyer, some items do not benefit from cleaning or restoration. Surface dirt: dirt that accumulates over time with handling; surface dirt may or may not come off with a light cleaning. Most out of box items have some surface dirt simply by having been touched by human hands. (Many NRFB items also have surface dirt, you just do not know it.) Other types of soiling are described in more detail if applicable.
By purchasing an item from us the buyer accepts our statement of condition of all items offered for sale by Ruskras Corner for Fashion Dolls unconditionally as well as these definitions of terms. Item conditions are subjective and so are not negotiable or open for dispute. We are not responsible for errors or for condition changes in transit or over time. We do our best to describe conditions and handled all items with care throughout the buying process.
About our listing descriptions - if we describe an item as new that means we know personally that it was never played with, either we received directly from the manufacturer, deboxed it ourselves or obtained it from a private collector whose standards equal our own. Please note; new item will often contain common factory aberrations that will not be noted in descriptions unless they are extreme, these included pinholes from where clothing is sewn to packages or other clothing pieces, blemishes from mold detachment and from mechanical handling, faint marks from elastic bands used to secure dolls and other items in original packaging. NO original packaging is included with any item unless noted in the description. Flaws from the manufacturer that will be noted include prominent discolorations, obvious damage and size variations.
Due to the huge quantity of manufactured items available, we are highly selective. If we used the adjective genuine to describe an item that means it was made for the specific doll mentioned or by the manufacturer noted. If that adjective is absent from the description the item may have been made by a different manufacturer.
When we label an item genuine we rely on various sources of information that include tags and other identifying marks on the item, personal knowledge obtained by decades of collecting, source of the item - i.e. if we removed it from a Barbie doll that had obviously never been undressed we assume it is a Mattel product. Only a small percentage of Mattel individual items are tagged, for example in an ensemble of several pieces only one piece may be tagged but they may all be made of the same material. If we have ANY doubt that an article is genuinely from the manufacturer or for the doll cited, include words such as appears, probably or the like in the descriptive terms.
Before asserting that any item is FOR or FITS any doll we literally try that item on that specific doll. Please note that in the instances where a detailed fit is required some seemingly identical dolls may have come from different molds or different age molds and not be able to fit the item perfectly. We cannot be responsible that any item will fit any specific doll . dolls sold as sets with specific items in our ensembles are ascertained to fit with the pieces they are shown wearing in the photos. More than one doll a set does not guarantee that all dolls included can wear all pieces included, only what each doll is pictured wearing. Often item marketed for or even coming with certain dolls do not actually fit that doll, we cannot be responsible for assumptions that an item made for a doll cited by the manufacturer will actually fit that doll. If we ascertain that an item fits one or more generic dolls a general rule is that 98 percent of the time it will fit the same type of doll that you have at home. We regret we cannot be responsible for aberrations previously listed that account for the remainder.
Items sold in boxes designated new are limited in condition description by view available of the item from outside the unopened box. We cannot be responsible for the condition of any individual piece once the box is opened or for any flaws the items may have as a result of having been left in the box too long.
Many Barbie and family dolls, especially Kelly and Ken, are often marketed in different packaging and clothing under different names. We sometime receive products originally marketed in countries other than the U.S. where doll are not called the same name as in their U.S. packaging. Therefore unless we are completely sure that the specific doll we are selling was called by another name originally and exclusively we may refer to all similar size dolls made by Mattel as Barbie, Ken, Skipper, Tommy and Kelly even if the same doll was called by another first name at one time or another. We will never call a product of another company by these names.
These descriptions of conditions are exclusive to Ruskras Corner for Fashion Dolls and are copyrighted by Deborah Kralich c 2005-2008.
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