Have you ever bought a doll whose quality wasn't what you thought it would be?

All of my SD boys from luts have been an absolute pleasure, I think the only disappointment was (sadly) the first doll I owned with was a homme ivan from DoD.

His face up was absolutely perfect, thankfully, but one of the open hands they had sent me was extremely shiny while the rest of the resin was matte, his other hand had a chunk missing out of one of the fingers which looked like the mould hadn't been filled properly. My final issue with the doll was that he couldn't do anything pose-wise. He could stand just fine, but his arms wouldn't do a thing. I even tried tightening the stringing on his arms but they just refused to do stay up in any way. I'm sure I could have sueded him but it was just disappointing that my first doll had such issues from a normally extremely reputable company.

I had thought these to be normal-ish issues considering it was my first doll I owned, but since purchasing from other companies, I see I just had bad luck.

I have not ordered from DoD since, and hopefully if I ever do again my next doll wont have the same issues.

 

So far I've only had a Luts Delf girl, and an Iplehouse Akando. Resin wise my Delf was smooth and her seam lines didn't bother me at all, I rarely notice them. Despite my Delf girls limitations due to her very old school body, I have to say I preferred it. I was abit dissapointed with how the Akando handled, I think they could have made him alot lighter potentially too which would have helped. He was nice to look at but perhaps because I was just too used to my delf, I didn't like handling him at all. Iplehouse is beautiful but I don't think I'll ever own one now, my friend who had planned for a Jessica is feeling the same after having handled him too. In my case I think it's more preference vs a quality issue though.

 

Wow! Maybe you just got a really bad one? I absolutely LOVE the way Morghan feels, and he poses quite well (although I usually don't pay any attention to that.) He has really nice resin- but Unoas do take a lot of work. You have to sand them and everything yourself- if you bought the body already assembled, it's possible that whoever did the job didn't do it very well. I suggest taking yours apart and rebuilding it. There are copies of the manual online, but I could probably post mine if you need it! Don't give up on them though- they really are lovely when you get used to them!

 

I've been extremely lucky--I've been very satisfied with the quality of my dolls. I do try and check here to see if there have been complaints first, of course, but sometimes I buy very new models (lots of limiteds) and I can't check with owners since often no one has the dolls in hand to check them out!

This happened with the first colored-skin Bambicrony elves.... I bought two, one Misty Blue and the other Light Slate Grey. THEN I started hearing stories about French Resin yellowing and the colors fading and the colors on some varying wildly and some having color imperfections (white spots and uneven color). It took months and months to even get mine home and all that time I was hearing all kinds of horror stories. My Misty Blue Kumi arrived first and she was just fine. Her knee popped a bit, as others had noticed, but it wasn't bad. I still worried about her fading to pale green, which was being reported. I wish I'd known it was French resin before I'd purchased (it wasn't stated in the information on the website, as far as I know). But she was awfully cute, so I figured I'd just have to live with any fading that might occur in the future (or near future, as some people had reported changes within a month or two of owning).

Then my Light Slate Grey Pepe arrived, and he had white spots and odd sanding marks. I was very annoyed that Bambicrony had let such things through their quality inspections... BUT most of the imperfections were hidden by clothes and I knew the resin color had caused all sorts of problems and parts would be hard to match, and I had a custom faceup that I liked on him, so I didn't ask for replacements. I decided it was acceptable enough, but I was still annoyed that the company had not tested these colors out long enough beforehand to find out how quickly they faded or how hard it was to keep the resin colors consistent (I'd seen LSG colors in different dolls that didn't look remotely the same!). I was happy enough with my pair, but I still am not entirely confident about buying from Bambicrony after that. Especially since both dolls were quite expensive for tinies! But then, stuff like that happens. I guess it's just the risk we take, and I guess the companies can't always test things out beforehand, since I'm sure they'd prefer not to have the problems in the first place. I think Bambicrony is a reputable company--I know they tried to replace some of the dolls that owners complained about. But I now know that there are inevitable problems sometimes, so I'm a bit more used to expecting a few problems... Even with the top companies and the best of intentions.

 

LOL Having been modding and repairing dolls for many years now in this hobby, I believe I can safely say that I tried EVERYTHING on that doll and it was still a disaster that I couldn't get shot of quick enough. I actually stripped it, sanded it, rebuilt it, re-strung it and kips disc'd it and it still felt and behaved like a cheap plastic imitation of a resin doll. Nothing anyone can do engineering wise can fix poor quality resin and thinking on it, I own a Hujoo that has the EXACT same feel and that IS plastic!

In fact, since I got rid of mine, both I and several modding friends of mine have begun refusing to work on them since we've found them all to be the same, so...maybe you got the good one?

 

I had the same thing too and my Machina was also cast by Batchix herself, but I knew when I ordered my Machina that she would have bubbles and large seams. Still I was caught by surprise when I got to see my Machina for the first time. I guess there's a difference between knowing the facts and being mentally prepared for them. XD

Sanding the seams revealed more bubbles, but I know that would happen. I chose to have a seamless doll with bubbles, because the seams were too large for my taste. I also split the fingers and sanded them slimmer. I had to make the fingers a bit shorter too, because of the air bubbles that were under the surface of the finger tips, but I like how the hands look now.

The elastic in the arms are tearing the slits in the arm peanuts (the small elbow part of the double jointed arm) and I still need to fix it with epoxy. It is the main reason why her arms aren't posing right and I guess it will be okay after I fix it. Batchix fixed the design of the arm peanuts before Dollfair started to sell Machinas, so I think people who buy a Machina from Dollfair won't be faced with this problem.

The thing that really put me off the moment I got my Machina out of the box is that she wouldn't stand at all. Her arms, torso and legs twisted in all directions and her legs wouldn't support her. It was the stringing that caused the problems and after restinging and sueding she was able to do the most amazing poses that really makes me love her.
An artist cast doll is in most cases a "project" doll like a blank canvas. You need to work on them to get to the beauty. In my case I'd buy her again if I had to.

 

I was definitely disappointed in the Bobobie...no matter what I tried I couldn't get her to stand at all. Her resin was too smooth and plastic for my taste...so I sold the body within like 2 weeks of getting her.
I loved the doll family body I bought awhile back...for the price it was amazing. (but unfortunately it was paper white)

 

"Flashing" is the term for the little bits of resin that the companies USUALLY cut/sand off to leave the seamlines. At least that's what it's referred to as in all the hobbies I've been in anyway! How accurate a term that is I can't be sure.

It's basically the resin that escapes the mould when it's being cast. Think of a grilled cheese sandwich being pressed down on, the ooze around the edge, in resin terms, is flashing

 

Flash is a term used in casting: a thin irregular ridge of material on the outer face of a casting, resulting from seepage of the material from the mold's seams.

It's a little bit different from seamlines in that seamlines result from any cast with a multi-part mold, but flash is excess, usually looking like a fin, spike, or frill , that is not the result of a well-formed cast. Flash usually happens when a mold is overfilled, not properly sealed, or leaks; it is considered a casting defect.

You can see a good picture of flash on this webpage, although it isn't resin: http://www.abymc.com/tmoranwms/Casting_Defects.html

 

I bought a BBB Tony (Lgt Tan) last year. (I think his body might be a Resinsoul body.)

I really love the light tan color-it was one nice,solid color. (no marbling unlike the chocolate color that they used to have)

In terms of maitenance/repair- My guy arrived w/ a small hole in the socket of his arm-nothing too bad, but it irks me. Restringing and hot glue sueding helps the guys out a lot.

I also restrung my BBB and added S hooks to his feet after noticing that my (newer) Resinsoul doll had S-hooked feet. I'm going to (attempt) to find some way to add S hooks to my BBB's hands eventually to get him "the way he should be" IMO..

It seems like RS and BBB keep updating their bodies-which is a good thing, but it makes owners of the old style bodies really want the new types...

 

The Soom dolls that I own have insanely thin resins which I think is not worth their price tag. If not for their gorgeous head sculpts, then I really wouldn't consider them. I've had a arm chip because the sides were so thin they couldn't even deal with me changing it's hands. Compared with Iplehouse who are just as pricey, never heard of this problem and the head sculpts are nice and thick. The thickest I've seen are LLT and Granado. The insides of the head is five times thicker than Soom dolls...kind of ridiculous.

 

I have had an experience like this, and at the time I was a little too inexperienced with dolls to realize what was going on, but back a couple years ago I bought a Pipos limited edition Nightmare Cheshire because I had wanted one of their limiteds for a long time. Two months or so go by and he's here. The mint green is a lovely color and the faceup is phenomenal, but the resin is rough. Like, you wouldn't need to spray MSC to get pigments to stay kinda feeling. The biggest peeve is his legs. One is somehow slightly shorter than the other, and it makes standing him near impossible.To top that off his little legs kick like crazy. I don't think it's the stringing because his arms are just fine. It sucks, because my basic cheshire is a posing machine. I didn't think to complain to the company because at the time I only had 2 other dolls and just figured, "Well I guess that's how it goes."

 

I have only owned 4 dolls (sold one a couple of years ago, so now I've got 3) but fortunately all are well.
I only have one issue with one of them though, my boy, who has some big seam lines in arms, legs and torso, and he is from SoulDoll!
I know it is easy to fix but after paying a lot for him and waiting 3-4 months... I expected something better.
I didn't complain because I had sanded seam lines on another doll before (the one I sold) but it wasn't really what I was expecting for such a big company.

 

I've had a number of dolls that I just didn't like the look of once I got to see them "in person"... but that was more a matter of taste than quality.

The only one I've had much of a quality quibble about is my OnlyDoll Yi Feng. His resin is shiny, light and honestly seems more like ABS plastic than regular resin. It's very comparable in both look and feel to my little Hujoo cat. Granted, at just under $300 I wasn't expecting a lot from him... No matter what anyone says about the quality of low-end dolls, there are always going to be cut-corners and compromises in that price range. It's just a fact of life... But honestly, I have to say that among the SD-scale dolls and bodies I've handled from around that price-point, he's the cheapest-feeling of the lot.

He really does remind me of an over-sized Hujoo. The material Only Doll used to make him does a disservice to his sculpt. (Which is actually pretty good for a doll in that range. His bod isn't the most refined or detailed thing ever, but over-all? It's not a bad job, and the face-sculpt is cute.... but holy hell, that awful, awful resin...)

 

I've only had minor problems. My Dollzone tiny used to curl into a ball constantly. I wired her arms and legs and that fixed it. When I first realized one of my Lume dolls has a bubble between his toes I was upset, but then remembered he's an artist cast doll, and it's not that noticeable. All my Lume dolls have uneven seams and flashing between their fingers, but I pretty much knew that when I ordered them. I was a bit disappointed to discover my Soom "Coffee black" Noellia is actually dark purple.

 

I bought an artist cast kit doll from a European artist. I was expecting seams and having to drill and remove flash and all but what I got was so poorly cast it never should have sold, even as a kit. The resin was uneven in color with heavy marbling and crazing- little cracks that I thought would sand off but nope, they go deep into the resin. Also she has big patches of micro bubbles throughout. I sent the head to a well known face up artist and bjd restorer to finish thinking I'd at least try to salvage the head. She did what she could for the doll but there were so many micro bubbles on her face she couldn't really sand the head much. I paid a lot of money for that doll and I still have her- though I still can't look at her without cringing. I'd sell her but I don't think anyone would want to buy her; she's really that bad!

 

This might sound odd, but I'm actually disappointed in my Luts doll the most. She poses terribly on the whole and has been high maintenance. Her resin was pretty shiny with a plastic-y feel when I first got her, and her seam lines were pretty dark in some spots, so I had to sand her all over. I would have just sanded the seam lines but then her skin would have looked super uneven. Also somehow her ear (she has elf ears) folded in one corner and I don't really know how to fix it. I can't tell if it's folded or squished, because it's deformed somehow but doesn't entirely look chipped or broken. I've also realized now that her hands and feet are just too huge for her body. I don't entirely know what to do with her because I'm really just disappointed. I've had her for years and I don't really know what to make out of her, but I don't want to get rid of her because she was my first doll.

 

@RainyAeon, as someone with an elf with deliberately-folded ears, try heating the deformed ear with hot/near boiling water or an embossing heat gun. It may just pop back into shape!

For myself, I think the ones I was most disappointed in were the Miro body I bought, and the old FDoll body I bought. For the Miro body, I do know a lot of people complain about the engineering/posing, but for me, the largest problem was the proportions. The character I was using it for is supposed to be small and waifish, but he ended up looking like a shrunken linebacker with giant yaoi hands instead. His new body is a better fit to him, and the Miro body has moved on. Similarly, the FDoll body was off-proportion for its head (in this case, too tall and leggy), and didn't have the posing range I wanted. It was a more solid stander than the body that character eventually ended up with, but the aesthetics and capabilities were just too far off for me to ever be happy with it, so it moved on as well.

 

My most disappointing experience with "expectation vs. reality" has got to be Iplehouse. For the price and the hype, I expected a doll of much higher quality. My guy's resin is rough in places, he has raised seam lines and he poses absolutely terribly. I have far cheaper dolls from Chinese companies who are much higher quality. I do love my nYID's sweet face though (he's the one in my avatar) so it's not all bad news.