Should dolls come with sanded seams?

I myself have several dolls who's seams aren't visible, but they didn't come sanded, I always took that to mean that an excellent job was done when casting the doll.

For example, I used to own a Narae, I did not pay for sanding seam service and when I received her she had no visible seam lines. I chalk this up to excellent casting methods. There were a few spots where you could tell there had been a line, but it was so miniscule you had to reeeaallly look for it.

In my time collecting I've probably owned around 25-30 dolls. A lot of them have been sold, but I never requested seam sanding on any of them and didn't expect it, however so many of them didn't even come with noticeable seam lines, so I don't really think it's something that should be required from a company.

~Gio

 

Since no one else commented on this, i have to point something out regarding your initial thought on tan dolls. Tan and colored resin dolls (bobobie, resinsoul, bambicrony's colored elves, soom's greys, dod's greys, and any others i'm forgetting here) are all colored resin, not dyed white or normalskin colored dolls. I know for a fact that if you look at some of their websites (soom i think said it on their greys, and i know DoD has said it about their tans) that sanding the seamlines was a bad idea since it would cause very obvious discoloration.



That said, i dont really care about seamlines. To be completely honest, out of my various dolls, i couldnt tell you offhand who had them and who didnt, just because i don't care. I think about six months after getting my three fairyland minifees, i saw/heard someome mention that theirs came without seams, and only then did i even notice that they didnt have them. Furthermore, i'd had my kid delfs for a few months as well when someone asked about the seams, and it only occured to me then that they had them at all. XD; The only time they would bother me is if they are large and jagged enough to damage clothing (or my fingers). Past that? I really don't see the big deal.

its been said already: most other dolls have seamlines. A very large portion of plastic products (resin included) have seamlines. Glass too. Basically anything that has to be poured and taken out of a mold will have them. Sometimes the seams are conveniently places where we will never see them, but in doll parts, that just isn't gonig to happen


edit: There was definitly a thread about this somewhere, i just dont recall where it was o_O

 

But like it or not (I don't particularly enjoy sanding and don't bother with it myself), that's the way it's always been considered. It is part of the customization process. Not everybody is interested in customization or likes every aspect of customizing, yet the unfinished state that bjds come in is because it's what the hobby is centered around.

People sometimes forget (I don't mean you, Amy Angel, but generally) if they really knew to begin with, that bjds are really not meant to come as finished dolls, because the owners were meant to do the finishing. It's part of it being a hobby built around customization, and doing work on your doll has often been considered part of the bonding process too. Not everyone has to be into this, but people need to adjust their expectations so they fit with what the hobby is mainly about, because like it or not it is what it is. People can hate sanding, hated doing faceups, want to only use their doll as a pretty shelf piece, and that's just fine, but it doesn't change what the hobby is about and who the companies tend to cater to.

I don't know length of time exactly, but (correct me if I'm wrong) DOD used to sand seams and had to stop because it was causing production to take too long and people where complaining. Even if it isn't hugely time consuming, if you're doing it on every doll and it's a company that gets a lot of orders it can really hold things up.

I've had that happen too. I have quite a few that were never sanded, but are very smooth with almost no visible lines--my KD boy is like that.

 

I do understand this. In truth I'd really prefer if all companies would offer the option of kits like Unoa does (without all the difficulty and hassle of getting a Unoa) - I'd be happy to save the company all the expense of assembling and sanding and all that if they'd pass the savings along. But if the doll is being sold as complete (in the case of limited fullsets with blushing, etc.) they should come complete, IMO.

It's still not a big deal to me, not big enough for me to bother sanding myself. I just find it annoying that my "cheaper" doll look so much nicer than my expensive ones. Non BJD people always think the Dollzones (not at all cheap, but often considered so) are so much nicer than the others, and think the ones with seams are faulty.

 

I am very much a DIY type of person - I'm loathe to pay someone else to do something I could easily do myself. That said, I'm in the camp of people who dislike seeing seams, and would definitely do the research and sand them off myself. But if the option were available - for free - from the company, I would take them up on it, since they would know more about the process than I would, and would be more likely to do a better job.

As far as I'm aware, the concerns about discoloration are related to either dolls with uneven coloring in the first place (i.e, dying vs a single-color resin) or dolls that have already had their resin change color over time (yellowing). If a doll made of a single-color resin with no yellowing were to be sanded, how would those sanded areas become significantly discolored vs the rest of the body? Sorry if the question goes off topic, but I'm afraid I don't understand.

 

I'm only repeating what i've read around here over the past two years (and in particular the DoD tans, since a close friend of mine has one =] ) , so i could be a little off myself, but the way the color settles in the mold its often a little darker on the surface. Not sure why this is, i know theres a reason for it though. Something to do with how the color and resin sets in the initial drying process.

...of course, with DoD's shiny new website, they no longer have the information about their tans up >>; It had said something like, please do not sand since there will be a noticible difference in the color. Seams are part of the process and are expected, and they should not be removed for this reason.

 

Hey all, I'm brand-new to this entire phenom & want to know all about it as an artist.

I have some slight (VERY slight, mind) alterations to make to some WHITES which I am using for my project. I am going to carve into the chins slightly - I shouldn't have to do much, but the WHITE ones shouldn't be too altered as far as their coloring goes, should they? I don't want to ruin them - that is for DAMN sure!!

But I figured that the resin was a solid color (particularly for the whites) so I thought slight carving-in would be ok ( I have a tiny sand-blasting kind of tool to use).

How would this go, before I try anything?

 

Even a normal or white skinned doll is not going to be completely even in colouring the entire way through, and while there may not be an immediate colour difference, the sanded areas are going to age differently than the non-sanded areas.

 

No offense but what proof do you have of this? I have two dolls that were purchased in early/mid 2007 - one from DoD and one from Luts - I sanded the seams on them both right after they arrived. Neither has aged differently in the sanded areas and they are both still a nice even color all over after two years.

 

A bit OT, but I would love this as well. As a general rule, I tend to unstring and then restring my dolls immediately upon arrival anyway. I am rather particular about how tightly I like my dolls strung, so I like to do it myself.

Also, I remember that Soom sold some of the Gem dolls as a kit last year at a pretty good discount price. It was a limited event, but I would have bought my Nion then if I'd had the money at the time.

As far as seam-sanding on tan/gray/fantasy-colored dolls go... it can usually be done, but it definitely requires more care and detail finishing than lighter-skinned dolls. I've read a few threads in the Customizing subforum with some great tips, and I remember seeing a tan Limhwa Mano that had been completely customized by the owner, with no visible discoloration. (Found the thread! It's here.)

That being said... I also remember a thread about tan dolls from AoD arriving with discolored lines along the seams where they'd been hastily/poorly sanded by the company. Given the choice, I'd rather have the seam line than a halfway-done seam sanding job.

 

this is an interesting topic to me considering my doll history...and recent purchase.

my very first doll was from dollmore waaaaaay back in the day (lol a year and a half ago) when i was the kind of noob that people on DOA complain about. i knew NOTHING about dolls and i was buying one for $600. i had no idea what seam-sanding was, or what seams were for that matter. id never seen a doll, or owner pictures of one or anything and had to look it up. still not sure i paid for the service afraid that if my doll came to me not perfect id regret spending the money on him.

my next 4 dolls came to me without seems and i did not have the option to have them sanded off, it was just done by the companies they came from (B&G and Dollzone) or possibly by a previous owner, it was second/third hand volks body so i dont know....

the first time i saw dolls other than my own and was exposed to seams (lol that sounds worse than it is) i was kind of put off by them. they looked unfinished and wrong....but by the time i got my first doll with seams i was used to it and it no longer bothered me...

so i thought the next time i have the option i wont pay for it and just have seams. so when i ordered my DM Pado i paid to have them sanded off again. yeah i know, but srsly, i dont want to take the time to have them removed! i can do it, but if someone else will then why not? my next DM doll was limited and seam removal included (nice) and i just this morning ordered another body and paid for it again. laziness prevails every damn time. aaaaand this body is for my 3rd kara head and i cant have him feeling inferior to the other two can i? XD
so far i havent ordered from another company that offers seam removal...i kinda wish they all did and if i do order from one in the future i'll probably pay for it again....

 

I personally dislike sanded seams on a doll. Also, sanding is a lot of work, and the companies would increase the price of the product due to the additional labor. I would any day take a default faceup and eyes over the option of having my doll sanded. I don't want it.

If a doll is listed in the Marketplace as having its seams removed, I immediately gloss over that listing. Too many people in this hobby do a poor job removing the seams, and it's not a risk that I am willing to take.

 

I don't have pictures, only personal experience from what I have seen, and I have seen dolls with visibly different coloured areas along seam lines that were sanded. It was highly unattractive. Not every sanded doll is going to look this way, of course, but you're exposing different layers of resin. It creates the potential for uneven colouring that would not happen without it.

You can't undo sanding, so for those of us who do not want it, it's simply not something we can sell or wipe off. It's permanent. None of my dolls are sanded - though I do have a head that is modded by sanding and I am fearful of how he is going to age - I do not buy from companies that sand as a default, would never pay someone to do it, and would definitely think twice about buying a second hand doll with sanding.

Seam lines don't bother me, they're a part of the doll, they add to their doll like appearance. For those that do want them, it's not a difficult task to do.

 

I'm probably not the only one, but I don't want my dolls to have their seams sanded. They are supposed to be dolls, so I want them to look as doll-like as possible. Including joints, including seams.

Personally, I'd like it if companies would have an option to sell their dolls as kits, just like Alchemic Lab does. BJD's weren't meant to be finished products in the first place and finishing them does help with the bonding process.

 

I think companies should give customers the option to order the doll sanded for an extra cost, just like they give the options to include face-ups and blushing and whatever, but I don't think they need to include it in the basics. They should also show comparison pics between dolls they have sanded and ones they have not sanded, so that people can see how well they can do it.

 

I think the problem with that is a lot of people don't finish the sanding with a fine grade sand paper. If you sand any material it will appear lighter than other places until they are the same finish once more. I noticed last night sanding my Unoa that the seams only appeared to be lighter until I worked my way up to the finest grade I have(2000).

 

Unless the seam lines are incredibly huge I don't mind seams. To me they're just another part of the doll, like the joints are.

It's nice to not have seams, but I don't really care either way.

Sanding takes a lot of time and effort, and I think it's reasonable that bigger, busier companies charge for the service. Could you imagine if Soom took the time to sand all of their MDs now? With the way wait times were (and still are for some Amber/Heliots/GlatiGlots) things would just get slower.

 

I wouldn't want any doll of mine to come pre-sanded.
If the seams bug me , I'll do it myself.

As others have mentioned, sanding can cause some problems - People can't wait to get their doll home, and want it ASAP - Sanding will add more to the wait time.
And tanned dolls - Have you seen Dollstown & DOD tans? The ones I've seen, although their seams aren't sanded, the area where the pour gates are have been sanded, and it causes severe discolouration .
I would not (!) want that on my doll at all!

Also, some dolls I've seen that come presanded (Elfdoll comes to mind)...The resin is shiny..I like my dolls to have a matte finish, and not look like a buttered ham >.<
Surely they must know not to use a too high grit sandpaper??

 

Actually, if you sand an older doll, the resin underneath is not the same color. I did this to a doll that was already about 2-3 years old, (mind it was more than the seems, but those too) and there is a very different color underneath. Even with the high grade sand paper. The resin had mellowed a bit, but underneath, it was different, lighter. Time will tell if it will even out. Same idea with a white skin doll. Two different companies. You also have to keep in mind that resin is different from batch to batch, not to mention all the companies. Sanding will affect some differently than others.

As for me, I like my dolls to get to me as soon as possible, and most come with unnoticed seems. I wouldn't want to wait or pay more for this.

 

I can see where sanding is a pretty labor-intensive process and since a lot of the companies don't have many employees, it would be a hassle to offer free sanding or perform it on every doll. Plus, as some have pointed out, some dolls have less visible seam lines because of the type of casting or resin used, so for those dolls I wouldn't want to have to pay extra for obligatory sanding.

If I desperately need to have a doll sanded, I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself.