Are you bothered by seams????

At this point, I'm kind of over being bothered by them. Sure, if I had the choice between seams or no seams, I would choose without, but if my dolls have them then I really don't much care. I realize that I really don't like my dolls showing a lot of their body. I have only one doll wearing short sleeves, and he also happens to be the only one also wearing shorts (and even then he's wearing knee high socks so it's still not a lot of leg showing). All of my other dolls are completely covered from wrist to ankle. So being that they're constantly covered, I can't really tell who does or doesn't have seams anyway.

 

I think considering their expense, they should be sanded of all seams as part of the deal. I don't like seams on a doll.

 

my Luts doll has them, seeing as clothes cover them its not really an issue.

after i did some naked and partly naked lingerie type photos last year they became very noticeable to the point of distraction in the shots when i looked closer so i have considered sanding them off, as mine doesn't have the body blush option it would be fairly straight forward and i may do it sometime in the future if i do more 'risque' type photos, its mostly the seems on the side of the torso that stand out, the legs are pretty smooth.

and i totally agree, spending $700 on a doll id expect them to be sanded off, i mean for makers it would be nothing to do it and definitely easier when the doll is in parts before assembly, its almost like buying something not finished properly in my opinion, when i first bought a BJD i just assumed they would be no seams.

 

But then you're expecting these companies to make huge profit with every doll they sell and that's simply not true. The main reason why these dolls are so expensive is because the production costs are so high. More than half of it will go to silicone, resin, packaging, s-hooks, keeping the website up to date etc, etc. So, demanding companies to sand the dolls, will just result in a higher price and a longer production time.

 

Curious why you assume that it's no big deal for makers to sand?

Also, 700 dollars being a lot of money doesn't change the real cost of production. I think you're imagining that doll makers are big manufacturers and that the profits are huge. If we don't want seams all we need to do is buy from a company that offers sanding and be willing to pay extra and wait Longer. For those of us who don't want all that we can just buy the doll as is.

 

I'm not really bothered by seams, only one of my dolls has real noticeable seams. They don't show in photos so I just leave it alone. I may eventually sand a few of them down, but its not a huge issue to me. Even dolls who are mass produced aren't sanded (barbies, monster high, etc) the supplies to do it cost money, so why shouldn't they charge for it? I bought some of the correct grade of sandpaper a few months ago to even out some eyes and the cost was pure murder, had to go to AutoZone to even find any locally.

Sent from my RM-917_nam_usa_214 using Tapatalk

 

Hmmm well that certainly was a long rant and pretty inflammatory at that. Here's the definition of "fraud".

Fraud
deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage.

I really don't feel it's in good taste to label other people as frauds unless we have some facts supporting that accusation. That soap box you're standing it pretty darn flimsy.

 

Reading posts that say something along the lines of "I paid the doll company so-and-so much money! I expect no seams!" *Rage rage* I want a perfect doll right out of the box, Give me the perfect doll!!*rage rage throws dolly to the ground stomps on it* ' ((Ok,maybe not that far.))

Those that have been in the hobby for any length of time know to expect seams and those who are bothered by it do have the option of sanding the seams themselves or having the doll sent away to be sanded. Sanding is really not that difficult and the work will also help owner bound with the doll and (hopefully) appreciate the work that goes into making the doll more "perfect"

back on topic,

I'm not bothered by seams, because I can just sand them away myself. I happen to like doing hands on work with my resin babies.

If I want my dolls perfect, I will work on them Myself to make them that way. It's far more rewarding then raging at the world in general for the unfairness of receiving an "imperfect" doll.

 

I'm in the process of removing the seams on my doll. I don't like them.

As for whether companies should or shouldn't sand the seams as part of the base price, well, I guess it's law of supply and demand. People are used to paying for dolls without sanded seams, or paying extra for the seam sanding, and they are still willing to pay it, so that's been the hobby's standard. Now there are new companies coming in offering free seam sanding to sweeten the deal. That might one day change the standard if those companies get popular and people start to expect that service and become reluctant to choose to buy dolls that don't come with free seam sanding. There's no particular right or wrong to it, it's just how the hobby evolves.

But right now, for me, the thing is everything rides on my liking for the sculpt. I will gladly accept a doll with seams and do the labor of removing the seams myself if I love that sculpt. I won't buy a doll that I'm not in love with the sculpt, even if it comes with the seams sanded. However, if I'm choosing between two dolls I love equally and one comes with some extra perks like free seam sanding, you can bet I'm going with that one.

 

Before I got my first doll I was concerned about them and thought the same as many here, that they should be sanded to be as much like the original model as possible, the dolls are expensive enough as it is, I was worried about my inexperience wrecking the doll, etc. I was determined that I would remove them when my Bory arrived. But when he came I realised they weren't very noticeable and didn't bother me much afterall, it wasn't worth the trouble. I don't even notice them anymore.

Now that I'm sculpting my own dolls and know how much work and incredible expense it is there's no way I'd expect the companies to be able to sand the dolls completely smooth in addition to the rest of the messy costly process. Costs really are a big factor in this, I never realised just how low the profit margin was until I'd researched casting costs for my own doll.. I don't know if I'll honestly even be able to make a profit at all with the price I'd wanted to ask, one which is slightly higher than the standard bjd companies.

Because of all this I really appreciate my company BJDs more now, seams included and evidence of all the work that goes into them. I actually wish all BJDs could come as rough kits with full seams and even gates(!) so I could do all the finishing work myself and bond more with my dolls. I wish we could return to a hobby where more people wanted to be a part of the bjd process in this way, where they could participate in the creation of their doll and appreciate them as the works of art that they are and feel closer to the artists who sculpt them.

I guess I just really like the art/craft side of BJDs and I like that the dolls are not always perfect and 100% complete when they arrive.

 

This ^

A millions times this, I wish that I could get a rough BJD kit to put together myself, (not only would it shave off some of the price, but the creative aspect as well)

 

We pay for shipping, so the price of the packaging is probably included in that. I have 6 resinsoul dolls and none have seams. I have one minigem which has lots of seams. I paid more for the minigem second hand than I did for my sd resinsoul dolls. I am sure the price of the doll covers the resin, s hooks etc, or they would be running at a loss.

 

When you pay for shipping you are paying just for that: shipping.
The cost for your doll to go from point A to point B.
That does not cover the box,labels,COA,shipping box, bubble wrap, etc,etc
The dollmaker has to pay for all that, usually in large quantities; you can't order
Just one doll box at the time from the manufacturer.

Bobobie is made in China,where the labor cost and material cost are far,far lower than South Korea.
Bobobie can afford to absorb the cost of sanding; soom cannot.

In fact many of the Chinese companies are finding it increasingly difficult to find workers
Willing to take on the sanding of seams; it is long, hard, dirty, and dangerous work to do on a regular basis.

This is one of the reasons the wait times on Chinese company dolls has increased dramatically, in recent times.

Seam sanding is not really free!

Besides, seams are NOT a flaw; they are a byproduct of making a doll and an inherent characteristic of a doll, much like visible joints are an inherent characteristic of a jointed doll.

 

chrystal, you do know that I run my own company, right ? Don't you think that I know what is and isn't covered in the shipping fee? Like MAITALIA said, shipping covers nothing more than getting your doll from point A to point B. The box, bubblewrap, shipping box, certificate, pillows etc are part of the production cost.

Yes, Resinsouls come with their seams sanded. The price of their dolls is also less than what I have to pay for production alone. The labor and production costs are different and the cost of living is lower in China. To give you an idea: according to Numbeo, the cost of living in the Netherlands is 107% higher than in China on average. This is exactly the reason why Chinese companies are able to sell their dolls for a lower price, while still being able to offer services like seam sanding for free. They make a significantly higher profit. (it also helps that they don't have to import their resin and silicone)

And even then, more and more Chinese companies discontinue their seam sanding services. It's hard work. It takes many unpaid hours to sand a doll and when more people order your dolls, there aren't enough hours in the day to offer it.

 

seams never bothered me~
but lately i got a lovely tan soom gem, but the seam on 1 shoulder was completely off, like the back part of his shoulder is almost 5mm higher than the front part.. which makes it look like he was put back together but not in a correct way~

problem is i cant sand his shoulder without removing the tan......... ............ perks of tan resin....

 

As I'm still waiting for my doll, I can't give first hand opinions. However, I have a question. Many moulded objects are extremely smooth and shiny. If you were to sand such an object, you'd permanently remove the sheen and leave a texture. I get this on my plamo kits to a small degree. I was wondering if the same happens with resin or whether it is textured from the start, so there's no sheen to sand off. I have heard that Blue Fairy don't have much seam, so I'm hoping to get a fairly smooth doll.

 

@Cyrus: it depends on the company. Some dolls are shinier than others and it has to do with how they were prepped for molding. Silicone molds catch everything, even finger prints, so if you'd like your doll to have a bit of 'tooth', after polishing the master sculpt, you'll have to finish it with a spray that gives it a small texture. I often use Mister Super Clear.

 

Seams don't bother me at all! I see my dolls as dolls first and characters second so I know seams are just a part of that. Granted none of my dolls have ever had really bad seams, so I've never had to sand any of my dolls down.

 

I don't really mind them unless they're just OBNOXIOUS and I'm cutting myself on them...which doesn't really happen, so...whatevz. XD

 

Honestly, seams don't really bother me unless they're really protruding off of the resin.
But even then it doesn't really take away from the dolls beauty. Seams are just something that I've expected to come with the product.
It's fine if it has it, it's fine if it doesn't.