Are you bothered by seams????

No, seams aren't blemishes. They're part of the territory. Even high-quality dolls have seams. A doll that is cast from a very nuanced silicone mold may have larger seams than a doll cast from a not-very-detailed metal mold, so its seams may be bigger in the end.

Out of a collection of 28, I have only ever bothered to remove the seams from 2 of my dolls.... One was used during a body-maintenance class, so he was how I learned to remove seams..... The other wears a lot of short-shorts and bare-thigh and bare-shoulder looks, so his body demanded more smoothness than usual. ^^ But he's the only case where I really had a need for sanding. Usually, I just don't even SEE seams.

 

cheshiretiffy Thank you for all that!
I was wondering about sanding outside, since I don't want to kill off the other living things in my environment I'll definitely check the sticky.
I also read message #43 on page 3, and I was wondering, how would you fix it if you fudge the sanding?

chibaraki Thanks also. I did read about the wet sanding somewhere and had forgot about it. And guess what. Just realized I did have a sponge left over from the last dollhouse kit I put together. And they are... "Glit Flexible abrasives WET & DRY"! and the ones I have are "Fine", too Fantatik

Baakay LMAO It does seem that seams and "seems" are a problem to some. But at the same time, I have to be understanding, since English is really my second language, but I had the great luck of moving to Canada at a very early age, AND I love learning

Gone to read the sticky thingy now. Thanks you guys. I appreciate it.

 

*laughs* Strangely enough it is. The hobby and the people drawn to it have changed to some extent (or so it seems), just like the popularity of some dolls or styles has changed. It just means that this hobby is evolving.

Didn't mean to sound old, but- Heck... I just sounded old!

 

I thought seams would bother me, but I now own girls who have them and it seems that I'm indifferent to them. The unsanded non-seam parts has a nice texture to it--is this what others call "bite"? Anyway, 2 of my girls are tan and they like to show skin, so I weigh sanding discoloration as a greater threat to their appearance than a line.

But then again, the seams I deal with aren't so bad that they cut me.
Certainly that would bother me!

 

I have tan dolls, so they can't (or rather shouldn't) be sanded. My Bambicrony Emily has streaks from where the company removed some of the seamlines. Honestly I would have rather had the seams than have the marbling even though they're not on an exposed spot.

In short: nope. Seams don't bother me. Even my old Yeonu's jagged seams didn't bother me. I really don't see them as a flaw either. They're just there.

 

I'm well aware these dolls are handmade and the effort that go into them. I'm not saying they should be free, I am simply saying that the price should include the sanding as well. Of course, leaving the seams untouched could possibly be an option for people who like seams. I personally am not bothered by other people's dolls having seams, just ones I own.

Not everyone has the luxury of being able to sand the seams on dolls or a place to do that and do it safely. I hear resin dust is dangerous and that would be something I would be very worried about exposing myself and my family to.

 

But where does that leave those of us who don't want to pay to have seams sanded? I don't care about seams and I have the knowledge and gear to sand them myself if I decide I want them gone. What I don't want is to pay an additional $30-60+ per doll to have something done to them that I don't want done.

 

I can assure you, being able to sand your own seams is no luxury, it's hard, evil work and there's not many people here that would tell you it's fun to do but I digress! Expecting the doll companies to include it in the price would not only increase overall costs but also stretch out already long wait times yet further. It's one of those things that's unrealistic to expect from EVERY company, there's only so much they can do and still get the things out to us on time and for a price we'd all be willing to pay! I know I would be unwilling to wait an extra week and have $50 tacked onto the price for something I don't give a toss about just so that some people could have silky smooth different coloured stripes on their resin and I'm pretty sure I'd not be alone! LOL

chibaraki says it all!

 

I think I get what you're saying here, the doll is finished in one sense when it leaves the manufacturer and finished in another sense when the owner has finished working on it to their satisfaction. BUT to me they're somewhere between a kit and a finished product and getting rid of seamlines is part of the finishing for me whether it's done by me or before the doll arrives.
I would argue that being aware of the amount of hands on work that already goes into doll manufacture makes seam sanding more of a reasonable expectation - you wouldnt expect a barbie to get that sort of individual treatment but a bjd. I can see more of an argument for one extra hands-on treatment on a bjd, even if I don't want sanding as standard.
I also have to say because some people don't want to work on the physical doll itself it doesn't mean they shouldn't limit themselves to fullsets, Not having to work on the doll doesnt mean you dont want to style it with different clothes/eyes/wigs. Not to mention, the mold a person wants might not be available as a fullset.

Thanks for the soap tip, Scrollbrush. I sand gesso a lot for my art and I was impressed with how wetting the surface gives a smoother finish. I'm planning on working in polymer soon and I was wondering what would work for it. ^^

In an ideal world, all companies would offer both the options - an extra paid for sanding service for those who want it or unsanded dolls for those who dont. I dont think wanting sanded seams makes a person any less appreciative of the quality of a doll or the work that goes into it, it's just a matter of preference. If a person personally doesnt like seam lines then they are a blemish to them and they have every right to remove them, it doesn't automatically mean they dont appreciate the production involved in a doll.

 

I don't mind seamlines at all. I hardly even notice them, to be honest, 'nor do I really care about the difference. I remember when I was buying Hana from Dollmore a doll owner freaked out at me because I didn't spend the extra money for getting her sanded, and I sort of started to panic that there were going to be these big ugly ridges on my doll. When she got home(3 weeks to the day after I ordered her, best service from a Doll Company EVER), I didn't even think about the fact that she had seams, and I kinda gave the other doll owner hell for giving ME hell about it.x.x

 

This is the original idea behind these dolls, yes, and maybe companies still treat them this way: something between a kit and a finished product. It is the owner that has to finish the doll by giving it eyes, a wig, a face-up, clothes and - if he wants to - sand the seams, restring etc. And, you know, that's why I do not want companies to do the sanding for me. To me, customizing is the fun part of the hobby.

 

I agree with this except in the case where people express the want for sanded seams (or any other service) in a kind of uppity self-entitled manner and have come to expect it somehow, when it is very common for the base price of a doll to not include sanding at all. It is when it is expressed with that kind of attitude that it comes across as unappreciative. But yes, there are plenty of people who prefer sanded seams that come across as perfectly appreciative of the effort involved in doll production.

 

I've got no problem with people wanting the seams sanded by the company at all, my point is that it shouldn't be EXPECTED, nor should it be FREE. The whole concept of seams meaning the doll is unfinished is a foreign concept to those of us who've been in the hobby for a while, it seems to be a very new idea that all of this stuff should be done as part of the price and this is why some of us are struggling to understand the mentality behind the idea.

Expecting the companies to do all of this is going to lead to prices and wait times rising, it just IS. If they're busy stripping the seams off your doll, then they're not working on all the others and when you're talking about companies as tiny as many of the BJD names, that makes a HUGE difference. Some of them are literally one or two people in a workshop after all, so inevitably you end up with delays and cost issues.

My point remains that you can't expect them to do EVERYTHING and do it for free. Offer it as a paid service by all means, but by sheer definition of the manufacturing process these dolls are made by, you can't call a seam line a fault, and you can't, therefore, see it as unreasonable that some companies don't throw the service in with the price or indeed offer it at all.

 

I agree with you on all points. It just seems odd to me to expect the company to sand the seams off every doll by default and expect them to do it for free. I think a doll is much more "unfinished" if it has no faceup, eyes, clothes and wig than if it has seams, but no one expects companies to include free wig, eyes, clothes, and faceup.

I think where a lot of newer owners get this mindset is from newer cheaper companies like Bobobie who sand all their dolls for free as part of their marketing strategy. They'll say things like "if my ___ doll came with free faceup and seam sanding, why doesn't this more expensive doll?" I want to make my own decisions about my dolls and would hate to be forced into having my doll's seams sanded. I don't begrudge those who like their seams sanded but really, pay the extra fee and the company will do it, we don't all need to be forced into having default sanding.

 

Sanding the BJD is a lot of work, so I have to decide what bothers me more; the sanding or the seams. I bought the best mask and filter I could find at the hardware store to do the work so I wouldn't ruin my lungs. I couldn't even smell the Mr. Superclear varnish.
Carol

 

I'm probably in the minority, but I could care less about seams.

 

Seams aren't a big deal for me and they never have been. Sometimes I'll sand the seams anyway as it's a bonding experience for me and is something to do on a nice day when you have nothing else to do. Out of the 8 dolls I've owned I have only sanded the seams on 2, maybe 3 of them. I've done sanding for others, but in the end I don't even notice the seams.

 

depends on how bad the seams are, it does not badly bother me, but indeed smooth does feel better. I only have one doll sanded and I do like it, but not enough to actually sand them myself or pay for the service xD

 

This is where I am. Instead of sending stuff out unsanded and charging extra for doing standard production work that should be done to a casting anyway, I think companies should send out stuff sanded as default and give a price break to the folks who want their dolls unsanded and have the skills and equipment to work on them-particularly the tan dolls. I definitely understand why someone might want the option of having their tan doll sent to them unsanded and live with the seams rather than the lighter streaks. But though I can sand, and I have the proper equipment, that's not my idea of customization, it's just manufacturer finish work-I think of face-ups and mods and such as customizing.

And I'm sorry, but yes, I do wonder why Bobobie or Resinsoul can send me a sanded Sprite for a reasonable price, but Soom can't be troubled to sand their seams without charging extra for it. Not to mention the fact that my Elfdolls are perfectly finished with not a seam in sight and I've just seen an Iplehouse Jessica new out of box who is perfectly smooth. My older DIM girl doesn't have seams either. I don't buy the "companies would have to raise their prices and we couldn't afford them" argument because there are apparently plenty of companies out there who can sand seams and still sell at a decent price. And that makes me feel like the companies who are charging extra for the privilege are price-gouging.

Now in Soom's defense, my new Beyla has nary a seam on her, so perhaps they've gotten better about things. But I recently bought an older Supergem girl body (from a Beryl, IIRC) that I had to sand to remove dye from. Seam city! Including two ridges 1/8" deep across the top of her hip joints that I literally had to carve down before I could sand them. I actually spent some time looking at the hip joints to see if those ridges were intentional and perhaps used to hold the doll in position they were so huge. IMHO that's not acceptable in a doll that costs what Soom charges, but there are obviously plenty of other folks who think it's perfectly reasonable, so maybe it's just me. And I'm not picking on Soom particularly, they're just the company that in my personal experience had the worst seams. I'd feel the same about any company who sent me a doll in that condition.