Is resin type/texture/look important to you?

I think there's some words missing in your text... But I think I got what you're asking. I personally don't like super shiny resin, and I was quite annoyed by one of my doll's body (he's a hybrid), because his head was matt (especially after a faceup) but his body was rather shiny. I didn't want to seal him with MSC or take the trouble to sand the whole body so I left it as it is, and usually it's fine since I'm looking at his face mostly, but when I use that shiny body for another doll head (casted from the same company), and by some fluke of MSC error (it's MSC flat, so I'm not sure why), his faceup is slightly shiny, and the overall shininess rather annoys me. :/ And I get what you mean about shiny resin not just being resin from cheaper companies, because I paid 450+usd for this body.

I don't think I would like french resin or environmental resin though, because they're kind of translucent. Of course, I've not actually seen any in real life nor do I own any so I can't be sure, but I don't see myself buying dolls made out of these types of resin (unless I really like the doll and there's no other option, I suppose). I've not sold dolls because of resin texture/colour, except cos of yellowing, but not so much the resin properties itself...

 

Resin texture/quality is pretty important to me. And I don't think price makes a difference. My Dear Mine dolls have a wonderful "rough" resin that is very toothy and very matte. My Minifee is a little shiny, though, or maybe just in comparison. I also like matte dolls. Shiny resin makes them look...more like dolls, less like people/characters, if you know what I mean.

 

Resin texture is very important to me, as is quality. I was turned off a sculpt before because I saw owner photos of it and the shininess ruined it for me. I like resin to look similar to skin in the way it reflects light. I know it's a very difficult thing to do/find, but I try to get resins that are close to it. I also like thick/heavy resin and find that, even if the doll is sturdy, if it feels really lightweight, I probably won't like it. That could be because I'm afraid of daintiness, or it could be something else that my subconscious is trying to tell me.

In short, yes, resin texture is very important to me.

 

I am not a big fan of the environmental or French resins myself. I don't think real people look partly translucent, so it bothers me. And my current BJDs are all mostly opaque (my Volks pureskin are the only ones who are not 100% opaque), so I want them all to look good together.

Shiny bodies can bother me too. My ElfDoll boy has a shinier body than most of my other BJDs, and my very first Volks guy is shiny in places simply because of all the handling he's gotten. It's a little annoying, but I can live with it. I could always do a very fine sanding on parts if it really bothered me. I did a full sanding on an unevenly yellowed DollZone body I received to even out the color, and it wasn't difficult at all (I used 1000 and 2500 wet/dry sandpaper, and sanded his parts underwater to avoid resin dust). It had no effect on the details of his sculpt, either. He looks as matte as my other DollZone BJDs now.

A shiny face might be a dealbreaker for me, though, unless I was already planning to change the faceup. I wouldn't want the extra expense of getting a new faceup if I really liked the one the doll had already.

There are some colors I just don't like. I'd probably never get a colored resin (green, purple, grey, etc) because my characters are generally not fantasy or alien. Early tan BJDs were painted on white resin, and the color could look brick red, or an odd ashy brown. And some current companies' "real skin" resins also look ashy and grey to me, though they are supposed to look tan. I don't like those, either.

Linda S.
galatia9

 

I don't like shiny resin... but if I really like the sculpt, I'll just try and use some MSC on the body to try and cut some of that shine.

Old style French Resin I do not like because I have a doll that totally yellowed because of it. I'm not experienced with environmental resin.

Resin isn't a deal-killer, but it is just one of the factors I consider when buying a doll. It's probably in the mid-range of importance, with stuff like sculpt, joints, posing, company service, overall quality, etc., coming in above it.

 

Shiny resin is actually my only deal breaker when looking for bjds. But I'm not 100% close minded to the idea. I just haven't found an exception yet.

 

A doll's face is the most important thing to me. The look and feel of the resin is a close second. Yes, it matters to me!! Not sure how to describe exactly what I like but I sure know when I see and feel it.

 

I have a doll at home that doesn't get played with much because he's made of environmental resin, and I hate the fact that his fingers are translucent. It makes me worry that they will snap easier than my other dolls (Unfounded, really, because he's survived so many faceplants, yet two of my other dolls have jointed hands because they've broken fingers but still) I just... don't like the look or feel of his resin and it makes me sad because I like him so much.

 

I really don't think I want any shiny resin dolls, unless I'm planning on getting them full body blushing and the sealant will reduce the shininess. I also don't really like resin that looks waxy.

 

Since ultimately all my dolls will get a full body blushing/spraying, shiny resin doesn't really bother me, because it's fixable through spray or sanding. It's not a deal-breaker for me at all.

I don't think I could do the highly-translucent French/environmental style resins, though, as they wouldn't match with the dolls I have currently. Texture can be fixed to make them match, but translucency's something you're stuck with one way or the other.

 

I heavily dislike french resin, for the look and how it ages.
We have an old Limwha girl here and she has turned into some kind of translucent cheese throughout the years, not pretty at all.

I have two environmental resin dolls and except for the hands of the one guy I actually pretty like their look, especially the tanned one.
It's a rich, smoothy color with just the right shine to look "real" on pictures, and the surface is not too smooth/not too rough, just perfect for painting.

If I have a choice I prefer the normal, standard opaque resin though.
I heavily dislike super shiny dolls and too polished ones, it looks weird on pictures and it's harder to paint them.
Honestly, I'd rather live with seamlines than get one of these super smooth sanded dolls D:

 

I'm pretty big on texture and also thickness of the resin. I like having my dolls feel solid along with that toothy texture on their resin. Once sold on a Soom doll cause he just didn't feel solid enough for me. Oddly though another came along and simply felt thicker so he stayed for a little bit. Could be due to the size too. For smaller dolls I'm not as picky but I strangely like my larger ones to be thick and heavy (like Volks and Iple's EIDs).

I don't have any experience with the environmental or french resin, but aren't there doll companies that sort of have a mix between like environment and regular resin? Sort of makes me curious.

 

I'm not so keen on shiny or waxy looking resins, i prefer the matt, toothy type or ones that have been blushed untill they're not shiny. I quite like the look of translucent resins, although not too translucent for parts such as heads and non-fantasy style parts. I don't know about the quality of the 'environmental resin' but if it's less polluting or whatever then that's a point in its favor for me either way.

 

For me it entirely depends on the character of the doll and whether the type of resin suits it. For instance, my ghoul, Felix, has a Dollfamily body with a rather strange, smooth, plasticky resin that has a waxy kind of texture. It makes him look and feel a bit like a corpse. On another doll this would be awful, but he's MEANT to be a corpse, so it's all good. I'm also planning a ghost doll and am trying to find out if the company I want to order him from will make him from environmental/French resin, specifically so I can get that weird, translucent, glowing look to him. I love the look of French resin, it's so eerie, but I can't imagine it really suiting a non-ghost-type doll.

For aesthetic purposes and painting purposes, though, I like resin to have a good "tooth" to it. For me it should feel slightly smoother than an eggshell, and slightly rougher than a piece of sanded balsa wood. And heavy too, that's important. I like a doll to feel weighty and substantial when I touch it, as if it has a momentum of its own.

 

If it's a sculpt I really love I don't mind all that much, but that being said... I've come to dislike Fairyland because of the resin they use and I've planned for most of my minifees to be hybrids because of it. I didn't have that many issues with my first minifee but my moe line felt cheap and almost fake in comparison not only to my other dolls whose resin quality feels so much higher but also that of my first which was barely passable in comparison to my other dolls to begin with.

Crobidoll and Switch have by far the best resin I've had the pleasure of handling, it's smooth and feels thick and has no shiny spots or anything... So... so far, although resin texture and look might not always be a deal breaker, sometime it can definitely be, even for me.

 

It's important, but not the deciding factor in getting a doll.

I'll go against popular opinion here and say I personally LOVE environmental resin! If I could have every single one of my dolls in that resin type, I would. I like the 'glow' it has, and the color and texture..everything! I really don't like French, though, as it yellows so fast. I like the translucency, just not the yellowing.

For textures, I like a little bit of "grit" to it, and definitely some weight. I feel like the super smooth, shiny, lightweight resin feels too much like a plastic fashion doll. One of my girls is so lightweight, I almost throw her every time I pick her up because I forget she's so much lighter than my other dolls! I feel 'safer' handling heavier resin. haha

 

I love dolls with a more matte texture. My Luts doll has the most perfect matte texture to her skin, yet it feels so soft to the touch. And Enviro/French resin is a deal breaker for me. I know someone with a doll that is French resin, and I just can't get over the transparency. I was recently fully prepared to buy a new doll direct from the company until I found out that company only does french resin. It's disappointing, because I loved the sculpt, but I know I wouldn't have liked the resin and would have ended up selling him eventually.

 

Put me down as another one who's not big on environmental or French resins... I'm not a fan of shiny resin either, though I've been known to put up with that if I liked the sculpt enough. (My old-body Elf Doll Sooah's resin, for instance, is about the shiniest thing to ever shine its way into shiny-town, but I forgive it that because the sculpt is perfect otherwise. ) Shine isn't the instant "No way" to me that French resin is.

That said, I'm much happier with resin that has a slight tooth to it and a matte finish.