One of the first questions asked by those new to fashion doll customizing is "how do I safely remove the doll's head?". It's the first step for rerooting hair and rooting lashes, and sometimes it's helpful when dressing the dolls too.

In Part One of this article, I include instructions and photos for my methods of beheading a newer Barbie®, a newer Ken®, and Beyond Pink Barbie® and Friends. In Parts Two and Three, I will offer instructions for beheading other dolls, including Candi®, Gene®, Tyler Wentworth®, and Barbie® Family members.

Please use caution, there is no guarantee that the dolls won't be damaged, even if you do follow these instructions. We have all seen enough dolls with broken neck knobs and head splits to realize what can happen when enough care is not used. I have had a few cracked neck knobs causalities with Barbie® dolls that are a few years old. The vinyl either gets more fragile as it ages, or perhaps the vinyl used a few years ago was more brittle to begin with.

Beheading the Newer Barbie® Doll

To avoid problems with the paint coming off while removing the head, it's best to grab it away from the face. It helps to heat the head slightly before removing it I cover the hair with a wash cloth (so it doesn't get damaged or reset) and use a blow dryer for about 15 seconds.

There are two parts to the new neck knobs. The first part is like a flattened ball. Work around the head and with your fingers or a flat screw driver, and gently pry the head over this first part of the knob. Try not to pull too much on the neck knob while doing this.
The second part of the knob is like a 2 prong hook, arching out in opposite directions like an open umbrella. Once you have the head over the first part, you will be able to feel this hook by pinching the jaw area of the head. Tip the head to the side, to position one side of the hook towards the opening. Once you get one end out, you're in the clear.

Cutting the hooks off makes it easier to remove the head the next time.

Beheading the Newer Ken®

Ken's® head is attached in a totally different way then Barbie's® head. It's attached with a knob, molded as part of the head. This knob, or rim of vinyl, fits down into the body and is glued to a post which is anchored inside the torso. Once this glue, or seal, has been broken, Ken's head will always be easy to remove, and with hard play or rough handling, can fall off. If you wish, you can glue the head back onto the doll's neck post when you are finished working.

	The first step to removing Ken's® head is to gently push the head up and away from his body. There is a slight "pop" noise as the knob slips past the vinyl rim.
	Continue to pull on the soft vinyl head. You will see the bottom of the head and the hard plastic insert that fits inside the torso. The hard plastic insert is the part that is glued to the vinyl head. This insert looks like a post perched atop a flat disk. I haven't ripped the insert out of the torso, but I can tell you that the insert moves freely around inside the upper neck area of the torso and when attached, it allows the head to rotate.
	Sometimes the head will easily pull free from the hard plastic insert and sometimes it's necessary to use a small blade to seperate the soft vinyl from the hard plastic. To do this, just slip the blade under the edge of the soft vinyl. The head will now be free from the body.

You can now clearly see where the head was glued to the post projecting from the doll's body. Push the rim on the vinyl head back into the hard plastic torso to hold the head in place.

Beheading Beyond Pink Barbie® and Friends

There are probably other dolls with the same type of neck knob, but Beyond Pink Barbie® and Friends are the only dolls like this that I have worked with. Beyond Pink® dolls have hard plastic jointed bodies.

This type of head has no hooks or glue holding it in place. A hard plastic knob firmly holds the rim of the vinyl head. The head can be gently pushed or pried off. Heating the vinyl head with either hot water (which can also reset the hair)  or a warm blow dryer (as described in the section on Beheading the Newer Barbie®) will make the job easier.