Flaws, scratches, marks! Oh, no! But have they changed how you feel?

I bought my boy Benvolio in November/December... and when he arrived, a while later, I realized he was yellowed modtly on the front, and very little on his back... At first, I thought this made him special and I liked it, but my mind slowly kind of twisted and shifted it... Now I find that I'm not attached to him, and that saddens me that it's his skin tone... if he was the pink, the new-pink, I'd love him, but the yellow with the pink tones in the middle of his back... it bothers me... I kind of feel like I paid through the nose for him, and he really isn't the condition I wanted him to be in...

So yeah, that really damaged my love for him...

Michaeyl arrived in much the same way. I got one picture from the previous owner, and she didn't know what skintone he was. That should have been my first clue. He looked NS from the picture, so I just assumed. Well, he arrived, and he had yellowed, but he wasn't yellow, he was yellowy green (aged, 5 years old). This was... damaging... in my getting attached... fortunately, I found another local suitable owner who fell in love with him when she saw him (I'd done a lot of sanding and work on him by then), so I ended up selling him to her...


So yeah... I would be fine if there was a broken finger. I would be fine with a chipped arm. I was fine with the nicks in Benvolio's head/face, and the crack in his knee was not a problem. But the yellowing? The yellowing that wasn't as expected... that was pretty... pretty damaging...

 

Lucien has a few flaws here and there, but i really love him. : > I don't think scratches and marks should matter much, unless you intend to sell.

 

When I got my girl (a Zaoll luv) I was holding her so mother could see and then I almost dropped her when her back bent forward so her faceplate fell off and fell on the only place in my room where I don't have some thing soft (like clothes) so she have a bump or what you call it on her chin now. It doesn't show if you don't know where to look and it is easy to fix with the warm water thingy but I knida love her for it it makes her special and it is a constent reminder that I should stop being clumsy.

 

I don't have any experiences with full dolls yet... but when it comes to all my other possessions, scratches/ dents annoy the heck out of me! I put so much effort into keeping things flawless, but my reckless self always finds some way to accidentally damage things. *accident prone* Then I feel terrible. I really hope this doesn't happen with my dolls. I think I'd be heartbroken...but somewhat get over it because there's no real replacement for something you've grown attached to.

 

My Musedoll Erato is pretty beat up! I didn't realize how terribly she had yellowed until I removed her clothing! Her whole chest, her arms, her hands! Her stringing was odd - so she couldn't stand without suddenly having a knee awkwardly bending. Her ankle was nicked, and a piece actually broke off! I was genuinely quite frustrated with my beautiful girl. In default clothing and wig, just sitting there - oh my, she took my breath away. But once I took it all away, the poor thing was a bit of a mess!!

But I just fixed her ankles, re-strung her, hot-glue sueded her, and she's an absolute darling. I can actually put up with the yellowing, as I really love her mold, and she's generally in clothing anyway. I love her a lot, and I doubt she's going anywhere. Getting to work on her has made me fonder of her, really.

 

I hate damage! Absolutely farking hate it. When it happens, I scream and I sulk and I whine and I slam things and I curse like Quentin Tarantino for forty days and forty nights.

But when it's out of my system, then I move on. There are three options: If I can't fix it, and if I can't have it fixed, then I live with it. Instead of being unable to "un-see" this hideous imperfection on my prized beauty, my eyes & brain eventually learn to see that damage as part of the doll as a whole.

I have almost 30 dolls, and have been at this for about 5 years, and while I handle the lads with care, my track record isn't perfect either. ;;^^ They LOOK pretty near-flawless, in general! But because I'm their owner, I see things casual observers don't: Face-bubble-rubs, chipped eyebrows, yellowings, fadings, chipped blushing, tan-resin scratches, indelible spots or scuffs, one broken finger, and at least two forearms having their hooks suddenly pop out of the resin (he's a Lotus Near; he has 8 arms & 16 arm segments; the law of averages says something HAS to go wrong). Some of it's been reparable, & some is here to stay. But none of it diminishes the love, though, not a bit.

 

My general tactic is to go about creating a respectable semblance of age and damage, for I loathe newness and perfection!! Or at least the look of it. So I make them look dirty, at least, to start with. I keep hoping damage will happen, but it rarely does!! I'm too careful with my dolls, oh well!

Raven

 

My first bjd was a Sweet wind memory Torrie from Dollmore. She is white skin and as many know dollmore's white is a beautiful paper white. Sadly she has started to yellow. I didn't even notice it until I took some pics of her recently. it does make me a bit sad as she is my first doll and I really love her but I'm trying to except as I know I'll keep her forever.

 

Reading this thread is kind of simultaneously nerve-wracking (eep! all the terrible possibilities that can befall a poor dolly over time!) and reassuring (since many people seem able to accept it or fix it).

For me, I can accept little rubs to the body, spots getting shiny around the joints from movement. I can probably accept a minor scratch or two. Yellowing doesn't scare me that much either, as long as it's not greenish or uneven or bright lemon yellow. Faceups, not a problem as I did the faceup myself and simply look forward to the opportunity to improve it when/if it needs to be redone.

Chips do scare me - cracks utterly terrify me because they could worsen. And any damage to the head is just intolerable to me. Seriously, I'm planning to buy a backup-head for my doll just in case.

I used to collect antique/vintage teddy bears. I never got very far with it and have sold all but one (if you think bjds are crazy expensive you should see what the right tattered old bear can fetch ). I love my bear because of his wear and tear; his ears are frayed, someone has taken time to replace the pads of his paws with neat but amateur stitching, his mohair is worn down and his eyes scratched up and his head is just a tad loose so that it wobbles. I bought him specifically because I thought his particular pattern of damage was endearing and authentic.

But if I tore him or let the moths get to him or got him dirty, I'd seriously cry! Even though he's already pretty beat up (hey, it's been 80 years), and no one but me might notice a little extra damage, I would know and I would sulk about it forever and always feel a twinge of guilt.

With a modern doll, where any damage would show up much more prominently, I'd be even more upset.

 

I quote your post because it is the clearest and best thought - I daresay even "neutral".

I understand your point of view very well and perhaps my own the least. I stand on the other side of the fence; while my dolls are neither dirty nor broken, it is obvious they are handled (and played with) often, but their marks that occurred while they were in my care (notably 3/4 of my dolls are second- or thirdhand). Also notable is the fact I've never had any serious damage the two years they've endured my rough handling. No broken fingers, no deep or serious scratches. I'd also like to emphasize they are not dirty; if I notice lots of blemishes, they're unstrung and thoroughly cleaned.

This is also another part of the ownership process for me, as much as shopping, dressing, taking pictures and fixing whatever needs fixing. However, I can also be called a territorial person - I want my dolls to be mine. I'm more than happy to share my dolls with other people, such as borrowing and playing/posing, but at the end of the day, they're mine. Flaws occurring in my care are kind of "proof of ownership", weird as it sounds. This is also why fullsets and/or limiteds aren't usually my thing - thirty other people have the exact same thing, how in the world can I make it 'mine'? Flaws make me love them more, though I won't go out of my way to intentionally damage them.

I'll admit though, my Barbies looked terrible when I was young, too I never did half the stuff your sister apparently did, but they were still hot messes.

I hope this post came across clearly, I have a hard time explaining myself sometimes.

 

I actually find that, if the scratches and scrapes aren't too distracting/ detrimental, they can become a little endearing to me (although scrapes to the faceup drive me a bit nuts since I do them myself, lol).

My first doll was my little Alice (BB Tiny Erin), and amongst other noob issues, I hadn't the slightest idea of how to sew properly, especially for something so tiny. Alice remained my only doll for about 8 months, during which I sewed an ungodly amount of little clothes for her. However, in being self-taught, I never realized that having the clothing pieces on her WHILE I stitched it up with thread and needle was probably not the best method to use. Now my dear Alice has multiple *tiny* scratches and scrapes from the needle on her resin, however I dearly love them because they remind me of how much I've grown from that, and how much I bonded with her during that time!

(Also *more of a resin "fault" ,really* she has this tiny dark spot/ freckle on her bitty bum that most might consider a flaw, but I just love it to pieces!!! XD)

Edit- Since that was some 3 years or so ago, though, I have learned to sew without hurting dolls in the process, and I try to avoid damage at all costs, but if it happens, there's not much to be done, but to accept the inevitable~ ^^

 

I am quite paranoid when i saw my dolls have a very slight staining of dots. at her ear, thou it will be removed using nail polish remover. So i was trying to ignore the spots since with her wigs on, i wont be able to see it.

So the question is.. will you mind if there was very slight staining on your doll.. or once you see the stain you will try to remove the stain?

 

I don't mind usually.
And don't use nail polish remover! If your doll has a faceup, it will whipe off the MSC. You can use special white sponges they sell at places like Leeke and CoolCat. They are miracle workers.
But I'm not too worried about stains. They make them seem more human. I mean, no human is without blotches or whatever.

 

Wow no, don't use nail varnish remover, it could take off the faceup and even stain the resin itself! I don't mind stains- most things come off with a bit of elbow grease. I wouldn't want to treat my dolls like those little crystal animals that break if you so much as look at them.

 

It depends on where the stain is. But I know it can be removed so I don't fret about them as much like I use to when I first started into this hobby .

 

Most stains can be removed surprisingly easily by just wiping them off with a dry Mr. Clean magic eraser. (I highly recommend that instead of the nail varnish remover!!). Usually clothing stains and such come right off that way, so I definitely don't worry about clothes staining my dolls. Maika had blue-black dye all over his legs from his jeans, and I simply wiped him off and then he was fine- good as new. That's the worst I've ever had staining wise though. I'm about to be the proud owner of 8 dolls, and never had a single one stained to where sanding was necessary. I guess that's why I don't mind a bit of a smudge of something here or there, there's never been anything so bad that I'd actually worry about it. I do of course try to remove it once I see it though, (it is somewhat unsightly for a pretty doll) and I usually identify the source of the stain and try to avoid it.

 

As long as it's not someplace that would normally be visible (e.g. someplace not usually covered by a wig or clothes) I don't worry much about it. I have yet to find a stain that I couldn't at least lighten with a bit of elbow grease and remove entirely with a magic eraser. I worry more about yellowing because there just isn't much you can do about that, and while a doll has the potential to shift into a nice color, there's also the potential for the doll to come out looking kind of bad. So I worry about that more than I worry about topical stains from wigs or clothes.

 

oh!! ok.. lucky i haven used nail polish remover.. i am going to find Mr. Clean Magic eraser!! i am just trying to forget about the stain.. well since it was my very first stain on my doll..

 

everyone has splotches, scars, ect, so stains would make a doll more human-like. if it bugs me too much, those Mr. Clean sponges aren't too much money. :3

 

I guess it depends on what spot the staining is. If it's only on their toes, legs or other parts that are usually covered with clothing, I don't mind at all, but it annoys me much if it's somewhere on their face or head or somewhere I'll see it all of the time. Usually if I spot some staining anywhere I'll try to get it off with a magic eraser as fast as possible, because the more time the staining stays there the bigger is the chance that it might stain the doll permanently.