Polyurethane Resin??

thank you very much for that explanation! i prefer matte surfaces personally >_<

 

i just think it's another way for BJD collectors to feel higher on the doll collector food chain. to be the best. yes, this is a COACH bag, even though it looks the same as the ones from walmart. (speaking of dolls like obitsu and other dolls that arent resin, but still ball jointed.) ever since i was a child i have collected dolls, everything from barbies, china dolls, stacking dolls, nutcrackers, marrionettes, pollypockets, miss alexander, and now i have added ball jointed dolls to the mix. i really couldnt care less about what they are made of, and i have no problem saying they're made of resin OR plastic, because i love the dolls for themselves and for myself, not because it makes me look cool or rich or stuck up. just my opinion, sorry if i offend anyone.

 

there are bjds that arent resin? i didnt know...its only obitsu that arent resin? or other dolls from companies as well?

 

Obitsu60 and Dollfie Dream are made of vinyl and are not even technically BJDs (not strung with elastic) but were grandfathered in to be allowed here on DoA back when there were not as many companies around. Other dolls made of vinyl are not on topic, though.

 

I honestly don't care what people call what my doll is made of, or what it is. I have lots of dolls in all different materials. The only reason I'd make a point of saying something is "resin" is because non-resin dolls aren't allowed to be discussed on DoA and some other forums.

My opinion is that anybody who needs to make a big point that their doll is "resin" and not some other material, for any reason other than its allowance on a particular forum, has got some weird issues.

Edited to add, and by the way, I've paid big money at least a couple times for a plastic doll, too.

 

ok thank you very much for your nice explanations

 

i dont get mad when peole ask if shes plastic
if they say "is she plastic?" i say "yea , high quality plastic, that feels and looks more lifelike , sorta like porcalain" or something to that effect
and i let them feel the headcap or something. lol

 

I don't understand all the fuss between resin and plastic. I generally use the term plastic as it is more accessible by more people. What's the point of language if no one understands you? LOL

Further more, I don't understand why cheap = barbie because I can assure you that my barbie dolls are NOT cheap. Ok... cheaper than my BJDs but definitely not "cheap"... as in I still have to save up for them and pay them off over a number of payments.

I also work in the construction industry... whoever thinks all plastics are cheap are very very silly.

 

not adding anything here but out of all the encounters I've had with so many different people the first thing people ask is if it is a type of porcelain as they are more closely associated with the size of a generic porcelain or bisque doll. Are those also types of 'plastic' then?

 

Somehow, from reading this board, I definitely feel as though I'll be having a conversation with someone and I'll say: "Be careful, they're made from polyurethane resin! D8"
And then when they ask what it is I'll say "... A word for fancy plastic >3>;"

 

I've said "they're cast in polyurethane resin" and no one's asked what that is. My dad said "no wonder they're expensive" as he apparently has some experience with it (some mechanic related something, I'm sure). I use the term resin instead of plastic, because when the majority of people hear "plastic" they think "bendy", and these are not. They are a form of plastic, but it's not at all like what people think of when you use the word plastic, so "resin" is far more accurate. If they ask of course I'll say it's a form of plastic, but to just call it "plastic" is inaccurate.

 

I'm agreement with the majority here, though resin is a plastic, calling it so, though accurate for the most part, brings an image of something else entirely. It's like my mother often has a habit of calling my dolls "Barbies" (boy or girl ><) and that urks me to no end, because they are nothing like Barbies and I often tell her to just call them dolls if she can't say BJDs or ball-jointed-dolls.

 

I know that resin is a plastic, but if people ask what they're made of, I'll say 'polyurethane resin' because, well, it does sound better than 'plastic'. I don't know... I just want people to realise that they are semi-fragile and expensive and that they should be treated with some level of care.

If I just say 'plastic' it doesn't really inspire that level of care... Not that I would ever let anyone I didn't trust to be careful with them hold my dolls anyway.

 

Heh! I wish they were just plain old plastic, the cheap durable kind! I wish I didn't have to care if my doll falls from a shelf onto her nose, for example. Plus they might be cheaper too! I don't care what the 'plain-lifers' think of them at all. My main requirement is they be heavy and solidly constructed, whatever they be made of. My main complaint about DD and Obitsu, for example, is that they're too light and they topple over under the weight of their wigs.

Raven

 

Hmm... I think of Barbie dolls when I think of just 'plastic.' Although resin may just be a type of plastic, I think the word 'resin' itself suits BJDs much better than the broader, overgeneralized name 'plastic.' I'm not sure why, but plastic just sounds cheap. I suppose I'm in agreement with the majority of people on this thread too.

 

since vinyl and polyurethane resin are both plastics, and dolls are made of both sometimes, whats the dfference between vinyl and polyurethane? does vinyl come in resin form too? surely there are more kinds of plastics that come in a resin form right? i was very confused when i see that the only criteria regarding resin is that they have to be resin...?? polyurethane resin only? is there no other kind of resin? i dont understand. then i heard vinyl(which is a plastic like polyurethane) and i think.. does vinyle come as a resin?

 

xscene_laura- There are differences between the technical/chemical definitions of those words and the ways they are used on DoA- I guess you could say that they're used in a pretty hobby-specific fashion here.

When we talk about a "Resin doll" here, it's because it's easier than saying "Cast and cured polyurethane epoxy resin etc etc etc". It may sound vague, but really it just means a doll made of the specific types of PU resin that the major doll companies use. It seems to be a pretty steady definition- when different companies advertise a doll as being made of resin, they mean the same thing (even if it may be an ambiguous term to a chemist or engineer).

So sure, there are all sorts of resins out there, including naturally occuring resins. But dolls made of those materials (if any exist) won't necessarily be on topic at DoA because resin is used in a hobby specific manner here to mean a specific type of resin.

 

thats what i thought, but i really dont know what vinyl is so i asked(ive goggled it before i don understand)
plus let me tell you this, if u want to get real specific on resins, i was even going to sstate before i forgot it that the polyurethane resin is the actual first hing i have heard about online being the resin you use to make a doll, now let me tell you this,
i am not freinds with people in companyies that actually "cast" the dolls in resin, and i really dont find the type of resin on the item pages when i look at dolls for sale, if you want to get real hobbiestic on me, i understand that you call your doll fancy a hobby, whether u make, buy sell BJD related items, i want to let YOU know that it is NOT clear to a lot of people what kind of resins THE COMPANIES use to make the dolls, i have just read online that it is called polyurethane resin, but there are so many people and companies that make dolls and just call it resin or plastic even its really hard to tell, now im not stating that i dont think this forum as a whole actually hasnt contacting every single distrubutor/maker of the bjd's acceptable on this forum, but i myself will most likely not believe that they are all made out of the very same resin.

now let me tell you why, there is very many companies, people and its very hard to tell.
most likely, i will believe what i read from each individual company but im telling you not all of these places make it availible on there websites specifically and people do lie.

now MOST IMPORTANTLY, i tell you why im interested in the type of resin and thats because i am going to make some ball jointed dolls out of resin myself and willneed to figure out what to BUY.

 

Sure, different companies will use different brands or slightly different formulations of resin, but it's all the same type of material. Just as you can treat, dye, spin, weave, or knit cotton in different ways to make all sorts of types of cloth, but it's still the same base material.

If you're wanting to know about what types and brands of resin to buy for your own doll making, you should probably check out The Joint- they're a forum that focuses on making one's own BJD and I imagine they would have more info on places to buy materials and what to look for, since DoA doesn't have a dollmaking subforum anymore.

 

i have been posting there and i have found some things out such as polyurethane resin. this resin that u state is what every company uses, its called polyurethane resin? thats it? i have read that polyurethane is and epoxy resin and i have read polyurethane ISNT an epoxy. so what does that mean? im also not too fond of that forum because of its name and the main color of the site.