DD head texture/vinyl aging?

Hi sorry, I wasnt sure the best way to title this post.

I recently got a DD from 2007, and her head is like, rock hard. I have one new from Volks this year and her head is pretty pliable. Is hardening something that happens over time to vinyl? Or were DD heads once made from a different material?

The old doll's body does not seem any more hardened than the new one, just the head.

Older heads are made of hard vinyl vs the softer head cap ones.
The soft head cap versions started around May 2011 with the release of DD Neris and Airy I think.... So any heads released prior to 2011 will be the old hard type head. 

(I may be wrong though!)

Edited December 2, 2020 by Subaru

As above poster said - soft headcaps are a newer thing, older dolls had hardcaps. It was a chore when you wanted changing eyes, to pry them open

But also yes, vinyl does harden a bit over time. Its most obvious with certain bust pieces - the super older batches are waaaaaaay harder when compared to stuff made in last 5 years or so

Yup, Subaru is right--DDs used to have hard head caps. I have a couple hard head cap girls myself: Fate and Nanoha.

Sometimes you'll see older head caps with notches cut on the inside rim. People would notch the hard head caps to make it easier to open the head. (I notched Nanoha's, can confirm, it does make a difference.)

I guess Volks saw all these people cutting into the head caps of even rare limited girls and went, "Oh, uh, we don't want people doing that", and they finally did something about it by releasing the squishy head caps. Lol

1 hour ago, Poofiemus said:

Sometimes you'll see older head caps with notches cut on the inside rim.

Not just notches, some of the loose hard headed one's I've baught have had the edge shaved, and I think one cap has had the rim cut down to just four 6mm wide claws (so a reverse notch perhaps).

But as its been mentioned by everybody else so far, it will be quite a stark contrast after a squishy newer head (i was actually a bit freaked just how squishy Rise Kujikawa's head was), to what a chinese blueberry attack muffin how hard the older heads can be... and giving off a ping-pong ballesque sound as they accidentally bounce on the floor.

Just wanted to add in case it's helpful - you can test out some of the more flexible new headcaps from DD standard heads to see if one fits your old style hard vinyl head. My Asuka borrows a soft DDH-09 headcap so now I can change her eyes easier.

3 hours ago, jadepixel said:

Just wanted to add in case it's helpful - you can test out some of the more flexible new headcaps from DD standard heads to see if one fits your old style hard vinyl head.

I did that with Saber Lily - DDH-09 and Mio Akiyama - DDH-06.
 

The drawback is you have to buy a blank head for around $40, but we’ll worth it if you want to change the eyes regularly or pose the eyes for photos. 

Thank you everyone for the replies and tips! I might just try to get her a new headcap. But I am glad its how she was designed and not a defect 😄