How to spot a recast?

Not really. How smooth or even shiny a doll is can depend on a whole host of factors.
Most obviously, the smoother the part, the less wear on the mold, so many makers will prefer to cast smooth parts to keep costs down. Because of this you will se a slight tendency for dolls in the cheaper end of the spectrum being a bit shinier, but this is not a hard rule.
Sometimes the smoothness of the dolls will vary slightly even within the same batch because of texture changes to the mold as it gets worn.
Any kind of sealent used will change the texture of the doll. If you compare a blank doll to a blushed one, they may look quite different. And different types of sealents will have different texture as well, so when looking at owner pictures for reference you may come across a lot of variation in the dolls surface texture.
And then there is how the doll is lit for the picture and what editing has been done to the photo afterwards.

So, no, not a very useful indicator on it's own. Of course, educating yourself on what the doll you are looking for usually looks like is good and if the doll you are suspicious of does have a radically different texture, it's worth asking why, but it's not a reliable way to spot a recast.

 

@Lillith This is soooo helpful, thank you!

 

@ultrapandachan You are so right! Etsy was supposed to be a great site for handmade and vintage. I wish they'd try to do a better job banning the drop shipper that just buy bulk on Aliexpress and mark it up saying it's "handmade."

 

This depends of what process they use.
Some recasters focus of copying the doll itself and don't pretend it's made by the original maker. They may take the time to fill in names, mold numbers of anything else like that. In part because that way they have only copied the product, not the brand (makes a big difference form a legal perspective). In addition it makes it a little bit harder for a potential buyer to track down the original source for the doll.
Then there are recasters who do all they can to make the doll as true to the original as possible and go as far as copying certificates, boxes and even headplates and full set outfits in an atempt to actually trick buyers into thinking they are buying the real thing. In these cases, the marking will very likely still be there.
With that said, there are recasters who takes no care what so ever about the state of the doll when they make the mold. They just make the cast without any real prep work at all and then, of course anything that is in the sculpt will still be there, although perhaps in a slightly worse condition. Carved marks may have lost their sharpness, nameplates that should be a separate piece in a different colour may be cast in one with the doll and things like that. There has even been recasts with double mold lines.

Best practice is to inform yourself about what the markings should look like on a legit doll first and then compare it to the suspect doll. Take this only as one indicator and combine it with all the other things that have been brought up previously in this thread.

 

@Lillith This is a huge help! I appreciate you.

 

I’m glad it helped!
I am not actually sure, but I assume it’s very possible because a recast doll is cast from a mold that was created with the original authentic doll.

Edit: Lillith’s post explains it the best!

 

@Chantelle Thank you!