Are you bothered by seams????

Afaik, bronze/metal sculptures have to have things like seams whittled away- at least, I recall watching something with Kiki Smith where she mentioned always having something to file. I've never cast my clay/waxworks into metal myself.

But in reply to the topic; In my own dolls I am irked by lack of seams. If a seam is really sharp then I can sand it down myself but if not I prefer some evidence of the method of production used. These arn't sculptures in a museum; they are my dolls and I'm fine with being reminded of this fact. I don't consider them a defect like I do eyes with bubbles, to use an already stated example, nor do I think my veiw is down to a lack of pickyness over what I own. Quite the opposite x)

If it is an owner's wish not to have seams, then it's not like taking the doll apart and buckling down to sand 'em off is hard for the average owner. Having the confidence to be hands-on with them can be quite important if something, sometime down the line goes wrong.

 

If companies don't advertise that their dolls can stand unaided (to the best of my knowledge, no companies advertise their dolls as being able to stand unaided), then a doll that can't stand is not a broken or flawed doll. If your doll can stand unaided, its a bonus, not a given.

 

Honestly, all of my dolls have seams. Dollmore offers a sanding service but I never needed one from them. The seams are rather small and unnoticeable. I got a doll from Island doll and her seams I dont believe were sanded. But the doll itself is not diminished in the least! I worry when a doll gets sanded that the people who do it might not care about the doll and wear the resin too thin in places leading to a premature breakage. Esp in the joints. I have had a friend who got a doll (I honestly cant remember from which company) and the seams were huge and Sharp! Only then do I think sanding is merited.

 

agree.
I often see on the MP that people list seams as a flaw on their doll. I find it a bit weird.
sometimes they are, some dolls have some very terrible seam lines! my Migma's left thigh was quiet awful, the seam line was sticking out of about 3mm Ôo that doesn't sound like much, but take your ruler and remember that dolls are small and therefore waht seems like a very small thing on a human, is pretty big on them.
something like that, I would mention it.
but every single dolls come with seams so it's not something I consider a flaw and most of the time I don't even notice it!

on a side note about seams: I have sanded seams a few times (with a few different technics) and it takes really long to do and it is painful for the fingers. I think it's NORMAL that if you really can't stand them, you would have to pay extra to the company to do it for you. or else, do it yourself and have fun! you better not complain <.<


"No company actually advertises that their dolls can stand unaided"
no but if it can't stand at all I am not keeping it for me, standing is the very minimum I require for poseability! I won't be mad at the company for not 'warning' us about it, but I will unfortunately not enjoy my doll :/
if it doesn't stand straight out of the box because it need sueding or restringing, it's a bit annoying since I don't have the proper tools and therefore it's kind of a pain in the @$$ but not even gonna complain about it honestly. as long as in the end it can do it! (and pretty much all of my dolls have required at least one of those X__x )

^yup!
but badly designed still doesn't mean flaw IMO. since I doubt the first purpose of a doll is to stand up on its own.

 

I don't like seams but I'm too lazy to sand the off and I'm too broke to pay someone else to do it. ^ - ^

All in all I just don't care enough for it to actually bother me.

 

So far none of my dolls have came to me with seams but I would just sand them down if I ever get one with them.

I do think companies should sand the seams out of thanks to the buyer though.

 

Personally, I wouldn't want them to be sanded either. Just like joints show how these dolls move and I don't want to cover them up, I like seams, because it shows how these dolls were made.

Well, it's really not that cynical. It is partly why some of the less expensive dolls are sanded. When you have molds that are less perfect, they leave big seams. Since moldmaking is the most expensive part of the process (costing thousands of dollars), I'm inclined to thinking that some companies rather sand the resin parts than to make new molds.

There's also a rumour that some sculptors use metal molds. The upside is that you'll never have to replace the molds again (silicone molds only last for 30/40 casts). The downside is that your doll won't have as much detail, the molds will leave big seamlines and you are forced to sand the dolls if you want to sell them.

 

I think I would only have a real problem with seam lines if they're cutting up my hands or something, and I'm really not sure how often that actually happens.

 

Is that what it is? I thought it was the other way around -- the metal could fit a lot more flush than silicone and stay that way but you sacrificed a lot in detail. /easily confused

 

I actually have some weird love of them.

In question of why companies charge for seam removal when the dolls are already expensive, I would also ask why they charge so much for blushing and face-ups as well, because sending out a blank doll is also in some ways not sending out a 'perfected' product.

However, aside from whether or not companies 'should' sand them as a 'free' service considering the price of these dolls, the seams on my dolls just add to the whole their being human-like yet having aspects that aren't. It also gives me a hint of how they're produced, and I always like to see hints of how things are made on objects, as long as it's not carelessless or sloppiness or bad quality that caused it.

 

I don't mind seam lines in general, but for my own dolls? I have sanded them down since my first doll was sanded and thats what I got used to so it's more about touch than look for me. I don't see the seams as a terrible flaw

 

Seams used to bother me. When I first got into the hobby I imagined that every aspect of these dolls (for the "extreme" price) had to be the absolute best that it could be!
But as I grew into the hobby I started to simply view the dolls as DOLLS and not much more. They are very expensive DOLLS and they look and behave like DOLLS. No matter how much goes into their construction they will always just be DOLLS and will always have certain specific limitations. So why bother being bothered by trivial things?

 

Seams aren't a flaw to me. They're a normal part of the doll-making process. That said, they still drive me nuts!

 

Coming from another hobby where seams (either on plastic or on resin sculpts) is extremely frowned upon, I can't say that they're my cup of tea... My PeaksWoods girl has some seams...bleck.

 

The short answer is that seams don't bother me at all, unless they are bad enough to hurt me while I handle the doll. I've never seen a doll with seams bad enough to cause injury, though.

Interestingly, the dolls that I bought in 2003-2004 arrived virtually seamless (these include - Luts, Custom House, Dream of Doll, Bluefairy and Angel Region). There is maybe one spot at most on each of my old dolls where I can see remnants of where the seams used to be, if I look for them in good light.

The dolls that I bought this year have all arrived with either very light seams (Dear Mine, one Fairyland doll), moderate seams (Bluefairy, Volks, Soom) or heavier seams (most Fairyland dolls, Infinitidoll). Only one doll arrived seamless - Custom House Junior Ai Cebee, who was the cheapest of the bunch by far.

I find the above observation quite peculiar, since I did come to accept seams as standard, yet it seems that companies are producing dolls with worse seams than when I started out.

But, like I mentioned, as long as the seams don't hurt me, I don't mind them and tend to forget they are even there. I did opt for seam sanding service from Soom on my two Faery Legend girls because I also bought blushing - I figured that if I'm going to have them blushed, it should be on nice and smooth resin. If I don't want a doll blushed, then I don't request seam sanding, neither do I bother doing it myself - why go through all the work, if I tend to forget they are even there

 

Seams don't bother me. Sometimes I wish I had the courage to sand some down, as they're big! But I tend to ignore them.

 

Most of mine have minimal seam lines, at least in my opinion, so it really hasn't bothered me. If they were bad enough, I guess I would consider it a flaw.

 

I'm not bothered by them at all. In fact, I kinda like them. C: Most of mine have minimal seams, at least to me, but if they were cutting up my hands/fingers, then I would probably sand them down a bit. Otherwise, I don't mind them and even forget they are there at times!

 

I'm a little bothered that both my LUTS dolls have seams... mainly because well..I have never casted a doll (yet) but why are all the seams on the outside of the arms and legs? Wpuldn't it be better placed on the inside so it's less noticible? It doesn't make any sense tp me...

 

I'm not bothered at all I'm more paranoid with the face ups and the sculpt...the minor unwanted detail will put me off to no end but as long as the body is in good condition, I don't mind seams or the lack of blushing.