Hypothetically speaking... Would you take on a restoration project?

Are you kidding me? If the price was right I would buy it in an instant, do the whole project myself and enjoy learning new skills along the way. I know I would love the doll all the more for it, too. It's trials and experiences like those that help me to bond. Additionally, if it was already messed up that badly then I would have NO FEAR doing all the customizations I might shy away from attempting on a doll in perfect condition.

 

I would personally like to buy my dream doll brand new and straight from the company. I think its mostly knowing that the item is brand new, and that it won't have any imperfections I need to worry about, and can just jump straight into my interaction with the doll.

That being said, if my dream doll was no longer available from the company, and not very easy to find secondhand, then yes I would consider undertaking such a big project. If I look at the picture and think, eh too much work... then obviously it wasn't really my dream doll now was it ^_^

 

I like to think I would take on a doll project like that, but I fear I'd only do it if the price was right.

 

I probably wouldn't take on a doll that needed parts re-sculpted, but I'd try just about anything else, especially if it was a doll I knew I'd never be able to afford otherwise.

 

That sounds like it would be really fun, actually. ^_^ If it was a reasonable price for a damaged doll, I would definitely go for it!

 

No, no interest whatever. That would be too much work, and with my lack of skill, the results would be horrific. I leave doll restoration projects to more experienced collectors.

 

If the price is affordable I would take the chance. I love actually making things, and painting them, so it would be super fun for me to put one together. I would love to make my own bjd doll, if the supplies was not so pricey.

 

Totally! I love a fixer upper, plus the doll becomes so much more personal to you once you've worked on it (in my experience anyway)

 

I agree with this.

I have no talent in this area. Part of being a dream doll would also be the condition it's in. I'd gladly pay more for better quality.

 

Will you take the trouble to restore the doll of you dreams? and why or why wouldn't you do so?


This sort of DID happen with me. I saw a LE10 doll on ebay. He'd been sold out years before. He came with he default outfit and wig. But the faceup had been altered... not erased entirely. The seller said they had not msc'd over her alterations done in pastel, so I though I might be able to bring him back to his original state.

HOWEVER... Once I got him shipped to me, I discovered that he was severely faded on his chest and head--as if he was left for a long while in direct light wearing an open shirt and no wig. AND i couldn't get the black pastel off his faceup, even with a Mr. Clean eraser.

I had to take most of his lips off, and a fair amount of his eye-painting and re-apply different colors, trying to blend it back into his skin tone, which I had to also try and blush to cover the faded yellow. Had to seriously blush his faded chest area to try and bring more pink back into it As I am not a professional faceup-artist, this was not easy for me and took a lot of time and effort.

But I got him back to looking close to his default.

I didn't really have much fun doing it. But I had no choice. I knew he was too rare to be able to have much of a chance to get in any other way...

I think that if I were more expert at restoring dolls, and if I really enjoyed doing it, there would be no problem at all. But I was not so good, so I feared I would not end up with a decent restoration job. I'm not sure if I would do it again. But, as I said, sometimes there is no choice if you really want a certain doll.

 

Hrm... It would depend on what the damage was. If it was something I believed I would be able to fix, I would do it. If it was modded/damaged so severely that it was beyond my ability, I would leave it and hope that someone who had experience/the talent to restore the doll would do so.

Even if I did get the damaged doll though, I would probably still wait to see if I could get a good condition one as well.

 

I don't think I would. Too much work, if there'd be modding involved. I'm not big on modding. I once modded a pair of Chalco fantasy legs to fit the hip-sockets of my Unidoll Ark. It went okay but it wasn't really all that much fun, so anything that involves more than re-stringing, sueding and maybe doing a new face-up is really too much work for me to bother. Besides - I already got my dream doll right here. *throws a fond look at her Ark*

 

I sure would go for it. To have my dream doll, and make it a labor of love would be a wonderful opportunity!

 

Sounds like fun. I'd do it if it was reasonably priced, and if my dream doll was one I could no longer buy new and shiny or close to new and shiny.

 

That's a challenge I would grab and run with, especially if it was on ebay. Most of the things I'd need for restoring it, I have lying around the house, some place or another. Ever since that flop with Spiritdoll, I'm all but completely turned off to buying new or direct from the company.....so secondhand is pretty much my only method of buying dolls anyway.

 

I did this with my Limhwa Mono. He is one of my FAVOURITE dolls as a result of my hard work restoring him. I highly recommend the proccess.

 

Personally, I'd pass on it. I don't have the skills or artistic ability to do a restoration. As some others here have said, I'd probably just make it worse. XD I'd either buy it and send it off to someone else for repair, or I'd wait for a doll in better shape to come along.

 

I'm a sucker for a broken doll.

 

I would snap the doll up in an instant. If i can't do the restore, i would find someone who could, and love the doll even more.. because i "rescued" it.

 

I did buy a doll once that was a definite "fixer-upper"... Nothing hypothetical about it, in my case.
He wasn't a dream doll, just a sculpt that I liked and had wanted for awhile. I'd been looking around for a project to tinker with over the summer, saw him listed in the Marketplace and pretty much bought him for a song.

It took a lot of work to get that doll back into respectable shape, and even after all the filling and sanding and scrubbing and stain-removal and such he's still not perfect, but I have no regrets. It was an interesting process, a lot of fun and an excellent way to pick up some solid repair skills that may come in handy if any of my other dolls are ever damaged. It also made me very fond of the guy. I spent so much time on Muninn that he became a favorite.