Save a Sindy 2026: The New TLSM Limbs – The Little Sindy Museum

Save a Sindy 2026: The New TLSM Limbs.

For some years now, I’ve been trying to help dolls that are in a bit of a mishmash situation—not fully original and too much loved (or perhaps hated, if that’s possible?)—with my project, Save a Sindy.

During those years I also noticed that there are many Sindy dolls suffering from broken, bitten, or destroyed original arms and legs. (Why do children want to chew on their dolls’ hands and feet?) In those circumstances, not even a ‘Save A Sindy’ rescue project can help fully. So, I started thinking and came up with a solution for replaceable limbs.

At almost the same time, Kid Kreations released their amazing Sindy Collectors Range! And just a few months after that, we started to hear about them creating a Sindy play doll.

When they released their Kid Kreations Play Range Sindy dolls in 2021, many of us hoped the Sindys would have double-jointed limbs. We wanted them to be as fun to play with as Mattel’s Barbie Made to Move dolls, which have been on the market since 2015. Unfortunately, we were a bit disappointed.

So, I contacted Pedigree and Kid Kreations to see if they had any plans to produce a Sindy doll with more adjustable arms and legs, able to pose in more human-like positions. Sadly, they said their production costs were limited and their target group was 3+ years, which did not allow for a body created with the very small pieces that a double-jointed doll body needs.

Therefore, in 2023, I got to use my Master of Fine Arts studies when I designed articulated limbs for Sindy—TLSM’s Save a Sindy 2023: 60th Anniversary Collection Dolls!

Click here to read more about them.

TLSM’s 60th Anniversary Collection Dolls.

Sadly, the UV-resin available at the time was not strong enough for play dolls. They were only made for display. But that saddened me and other Sindy collectors who really want a Sindy to look like a Sindy, and still be able to move her body into human-like positions.

Since the 2023 edition of the dolls broke easily due to weak resin in the small joint parts, I changed my approach to joint construction entirely. I needed to create double-jointed limbs, and I wanted them to look as good as possible in both straightened and bent positions.

Here are the most important features I wanted the limbs to have. They should:

feel like they are made especially for Sindy dolls.
move into realistic, human-like positions.
have stronger and larger joint parts.
look clean and smooth in every pose.
let the doll stand on her own.
fit Pedigree Sindy’s shoes and clothes.
be easy to snap together for me when I make them.
be made of scratch-resistant and wear-resistant UV-resin.
not produce powder or dust when the joints move.
survive accidental bumps, drops, and daily handling.
arrive without damage during shipping.
be easy to attach to old Sindy bodies for potential future buyers who want replacement limbs for their own vintage dolls.

I started out with a foot designed to stand steady on the ground, but after printing it out and testing it while wearing Sindy-shoes, I realized I needed to make a choice. Either the dolls could stand barefoot by themselves, or they could wear Sindy-shoes.

I decided to make the feet a bit bent so they could still wear original Sindy shoes and stand by themselves while wearing shoes (but not when barefoot). Initially, I also wanted them to be able to wear original Sindy boots, so I chose not to have a joint between the lower leg and foot (see part A in the photo above). However, since the limbs are made of UV-resin, they are hard and unbendable, which did not work with Sindy’s high boots from the 60s and 70s.

I also realized I wanted the feet to twist to make sitting positions on the floor easier. At the same time, it was important that the feet wouldn’t fall off when removing shoes or posing the doll, and that the doll could still stand on its own. So, I created a click-in joint. This required a lot of adjustments to the small parts (see part B in the photo above). The joint needed enough flexibility to be pressed into the foot and snap into place without breaking.

Since I wanted the joints to be as strong and big as possible, another problem came up (see part C in the photo above). I had used too much space for the joint parts so the part belonging to the lower leg got too thin and easily broke. So I had to adjust that and when I’ve printed out a test it worked great. But the stability I wanted, that should make it easy for the limbs/the doll to stand by themselves, was not there…

What to do? Like so many times before, the solution came to my mind during the night: I would try to add a wire inside the joints! But of course another problem quickly appeared… The wire lost its position and got loose after some bending tests (see part D in the photo above). When printing with UV resin, you often want the parts to be hollow, and when so, the resin also needs to be able to drain out of the printed parts. This caused the problem with the wire. So, I needed a way to let the leftover resin drain out while creating a capsule to hold the wire in place.

Once I figured that solution out, I test-printed the leg, and it worked great! It had the perfect stability and bent easily. So, I kept going and used the same joint design for the arm. But I made the same mistake again! I overdid the joint, and the material in the arm got too thin, which made it break (see parts E in the photo above).

I fixed it the same way I did with the leg! When examining the printed leg again, I noticed that it didn’t bend as fully as I wanted. This led me to adjust the joint once again!

And finally I had the design I wanted for the TLSM Limbs (see parts F in the photo above) and almost at the same time, I got a message from my Norwegian friend, Mona, with a link to a newly released UV-resin specially produced for doll printing! Such a joy! I immediately ordered a bottle of resin to test it out and it seemed to meet my expectations! The printed material was much lighter and had more of a plastic feeling than the previously used UV-resin did.

I printed out a complete set of TLSM Limbs to use on my “mini-me”, Marta.

She still had the old TLSM Limbs and was in need of the new, upgraded version! I also made two prototype dolls to be tested in the Sindy community. I contacted Sue Scrase in England and Kat (@anya_sasha) in Singapore to ask if they wanted to help me test the limbs. They did! Here are some photos of the prototype dolls:

Sarah is worried about her upcoming trip to Singapore.

Make sure to follow Elsa’s new life in Sindy Town by checking out Sue @sewist53, and Sarah’s new life with the Sindy family in Singapore by tuning into Kat @anya_sasha!

With prototype limb testing now officially underway (which might take a little time), I can finally start working on the launch of ten limited edition ‘Save a Sindy’ dolls! So, which dolls should I save? I went through my box of damaged or not completely original Pedigree Sindy dolls and found these ten girls: