Are you bothered by seams????

They bother me, but I would just sand the doll. Since the purpose of these dolls is to be completely customizable, I just take it as another aspect of that customization. No big deal.

 

Seams do bother me. I think they should be sanded off just the same as they do the gates from the moulds. Unless the doll comes un-strung as a kit, it should be sanded. Luckily so far all my dolls have come sanded from the companies. ^-^

 

They don't really bother me. None of my dolls have noticeable seams, so I've never bothered to sand them. I think I would probably only worry about sanding them if the seams were sharp to the point of hurting me when I handled the doll...

 

Seams bug me a lot. I'm sure if they were very minor and not very deep, I might be able to ignore them. However, yesterday I spent 3 hours sanding the seams off a doll. I just felt compelled to do it until I only saw smooth surfaces. I think it makes the dolls look less "toy-like" and more "sculpted."

 

I find it interesting how people are thinking of seams as a 'flaw' these days. They're really not, they're just part of the casting process. You're not paying for a 'perfect' product, you're paying for a hand-made one! You do have to understand that before you commit to buy.

Customisation is a big part of the hobby - I think the DIY aspect is getting a little forgotten by newcomers to the hobby and that's sad. People are expecting a doll to be exactly to their taste right from the box opening...but making your doll exactly how you want it is what happens after you get it.

We're seeing this a lot now with people unhappy that their doll can't stand right out of the box or a little afraid to unstring their dolls or afraid to attempt face-ups. These things, along with seam sanding, are all adjustments that are easy enough to make yourself. No company actually advertises that their dolls can stand unaided - the fact that some can stand alone is a bonus, the rest of us have to play with the stringing and add KIPS and wiring to get our dolls to stand and pose - even then it doesn't always happen. Is the next criticism going to be 'my doll won't stand, this is a flaw!' ?

Sanding is time-consuming, but it's a good way to bond with your doll and to help you realise BJDs aren't as fragile as you think. I do think everyone with a brand new doll should at least try to unstring and re-string their doll and attempt some light adjustments to help them get used to doll maintenance and feel more confident about handling their doll.

 

Seams only bother me when I want to blush the body and removing the seams would be difficult. Otherwise I don't really mind them.

 

Nope, they don't really bother me at all^^
I come from a long collection of obitsu body, so I am used to lines and joints and all.
I really don't feel like they take much away from the doll...then again, my Kirill has no really noticable seam, so it wouldn't be a problem either way.

 

I am not bothered by seams, but I am bothered by excessive and inelegant seams; there is a difference. Seams are part of the casting process; it's a natural part of anything made in a mold. If the mold is well-made and in good condition, the seams are minor. Both of my dolls have seams that are noticeable, but not overwhelming, sharp, large, uneven, or rough. I have no interest in sanding them. If the seams are poorly-done, then I would feel differently and want to sand them down. To me, seams are not a flaw nor an issue--they're just a part of the overall workmanship of the doll.

 

All of my dolls seem to be rather nicely finished, as I've never had a problem with excessive or untidy seams. Sanding them down wouldn't bother me though, I accept that these dolls are essentially sold as a 'blank canvas' and may need additional aesthetic work.

 

I only have one doll for now (Luts kdf) and I don't really mind her seams at al ^-^ But like I said, she's my first and I haven't seen yet the 'better' and the 'worse'. I suppose if the seams could hurt me or something, I'd probably do something about them, but I really don't mind them just being there <: I don't even give them any attention as I usually prefer to stare at her face and shoes hahah!

 

Yes. It bothers me even more so when high end companies charge an arm and a leg (*cough, soom, cough*) to sand their dolls. Especially when I have "cheap" dolls that don't have seams.

I get some resin colors cant be sanded, but on the resin colors that can be, I maintain that they should come sanded by default. >.<

But since they don't, I live with seams on some of my dolls until I get confident enough to sand them myself for much less than 100$ *siiiiigh*

 

Hear hear!

What I don't get is this assumption that because some companies sand the seams, therefore all companies that don't are bad and are evil miserly b******s.

What people conveniently forget is that 'cheaper' companies are cheaper for a reason (it's mostly based on location, as each Country's economy/currency value varies). Their materials cost less to purchase, overhead fees are lower, and the sculptors are paid less to sculpt. They can afford to pay someone to sand seams, while other 'more expensive' companies cannot.

Example time! I know the examples don't match up exactly, but I feel it shows my point.
Volks/Dollshe/Fairyland are know for their fantastically engineered sculpts. Obviously they used their budget on engineering their sculpts, and had no money left over to pay for sanding.

On the other hand, Bobobie/Resinsoul are known for their weak elastic. It's not good enough quality, as it's too weak to stand up to the tension. If they bought good elastic, there wouldn't be enough money left over in their budget to pay for the sanding. In order to keep on having sanded products, they'd either have to raise prices or decrease their budget in other areas.

tl;dr Different companies have different priorities in how they spend their budget.

 

You make an interesting point. And also, minimum wages differ across countries. Even in the region of China with the highest minimum wage, it's still the equivalent of $202 per month. In Japan it's $940 per month and in South Korea it's $910 per month. So companies in China can afford an extra pair of hands to just do sanding, but in Japan and South Korea, that pair of hands would be much more expensive.

 

@Adhara: I love you. And I agree with both you and Jessica: companies shouldn't be obliged to sand the seamlines for free.

The reason some companies charge a - for some large - fee to sand seams is because it takes a lot of time, resin dust isn't entirely safe when you're breathing it in all day and someone has to get paid to do it. It's simply business. They are only able to spend their money once and most of it already goes into sculpting and casting their dolls.

No matter how beautiful these dolls are, they won't be perfect right out of the box, because they aren't meant to be. Modifying dolls is fun, it's rewarding and it's ever so much a part of this hobby as taking pictures is.

 

On top of that, sanding is a process that can't be undone. I happen to LIKE doll seams. I would be highly unamused should I purchase a doll that came to me sanded without me asking for it or if that fact was not disclosed to me by a seller I am buying from secondhand. I can't remove sanding once it's there. There is always a danger that seam sanding will create uneven patches of colouring on the doll, and even slight ones in a normal skin doll would bother me.

Seams are no more a flaw on a doll than bellybuttons are flaws on humans. They are an inevitable part of the way these dolls are made.

Honestly, the more cynical side of me always assumed a lot of the less expensive companies sanded by default because they're able to save money that way by not having to discard as many cast pieces. Salvage more parts by sanding them into salable shape, as the labour required for sanding is less expensive than the money required for resin casting materials and labour, and then have the added bonus of customers thinking it's a bonus they get for free. It's a way to keep their costs down and promote themselves.

 

Haha, I'm just repeating what I and others have said (multiple times) in other threads.

In another thread long ago, I think someone suggested that the reason why less expensive companies sanded seams was because there was less effort to make sure the molds lined up correctly. Dolls were more likely to have larger seams, which is less attractive to buyers. So, to make them sellable (as you said) they were sanded smooth.

 

I also tend to believe that the companies that sand by default don't do it as a bonus to the buyer--they do it because they have to do it.

 

Yes, actually, I DO think a doll that can't stand is a flaw. I don't mean straight out of the box (though most of mine have been able to), but if no matter what you do, your doll STILL won't stand, I think it is badly designed.

But back on topic of seams being a flaw, I don't see that as part of the customization. I do my own restringing, faceups, sueding, minor mods, sewing....all of that to make it my own. Until I read Kim's post, I had never considered that anybody might actually choose to have seams. Nothing wrong with that and maybe I am overly picky, but I just can't get past it. if you look at a sculpture in a museum, it won't have seams. yet a Barbie doll does.

 

I don't really like them since they subtract from the realistic nature of my doll in photography. I understand she's a doll, and that there's a limit to how realistic a resin doll can look. However, I try my best to achieve the most (reasonable) realism possible.

Something I've never seen brought up before is that people have issues with bubbles in eyes (only glass does this, right?). I've never come across anyone who prefers bubbles in eyes as they are seen as defects, even though it's a result of the process of making eyes. Seams are sanded because they're often viewed as defects by some people. I think the line between defect and "part of the process" is a very fine one. I understand each side's reasons for believing what they do. I don't view them as defects, per say, just something I don't care to leave on my doll for aesthetic purposes.
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Not all doll eyes will have bubbles, however. It is entirely possible to make a bubble less doll eye, even if it is extremely difficult when making glass eyes by hand. You cannot make a seamless resin doll cast in molds. Much like how you cannot make Gunpla without the pieces having seams or coming on plastic sprues. There is a difference between inevitable part of the process and something that happens during process that can be avoided and thus is seen as a flaw.

Depending on the type of sculpture, of course there won't be seams. Carved marble won't have seams because it's something that has been whittled down. There were no molds involved. I could be wrong, as I do not know much about the process, but bronze statues and the like are created from master sculpts and cast in the metal of choice? Then they probably would have seams somewhere on them, which I imagine the artist could then choose to remove. Or are they cast so it is one solid piece with no places where two part of the mold meet? Barbies are made through mass produced injection molding, so again, there will be seams.