Should dolls come with sanded seams?

I am kind of wondering now why some dolls have deeper seams than others? Does anyone know the answer?

 

It depends how far out of alignment the parts of the mold are, the further out the bigger the seamlines. So although small seams are to expected with any casting process, the really huge seams are basically the result of a not so good cast.

 

Sanding....here is a funny story for you.

My first doll was a Dollshe Hound, I really had no idea how big and how much work they are, well do any of us? But I got him, I had heard about seam sanding, but um...some of his seams were out by 5 MM! Being new I did not think too much on this and took to modding to get rid of them. Then I got Luts dolls and they had MUCH smaller seams, so I swore black and blue for a month about that. My first DOD body had shocking seams, and that was the limited Ducan body......seems to me my expensive dolls have the worst seams.

Want to know which ones were the best?

I just got a Lost Angel body, it cost all of $160. It was seamless, smooth as a baby's bum, in fact I could not even tell where the seams originally were! not even on his toes! My cheapest body was the best seam wise, my more expensive ones the worst. Now I know when I get a new doll I am sitting down for a few hours with some sand paper before I consider faceups etc.

 

Wow...I have about a dozen resin BJD and none have seam lines----they're all Dollzone, AoD, AR, and BBB, so maybe those brands have smooth resin all over? But I've never even seen seam lines on a BJD yet.

I guess though, if they did have them, I wouldn't really mind. As some others have said, Barbie, Tonner and other dolls have seam lines and I don't even see it anymore. You know they're there, but....somehow, it's so typical, they don't stand out.

And since all the BJD I own don't have any seam lines, it's really a non-issue for me so far.

But......if I did have an opinion, I guess I'd say that if these lower priced companies can make BJD without seam lines, then the huge companies who charge so much for their BJD should compete and make seamless dolls as well at no extra charge. But it's really up to them to decide how to sell their product. If they feel they don't need to do the seamless thing and still have a great product/business, they probably won't bother changing. They're just giving the lower priced companies a step up on them (which is good for us consumers) by upping their dolls' quality and at bargain prices.
So, then it's up to the consumer then to decide if they like a doll so much they don't mind the price and seam lines, or if they mind seams a lot, then to switch to the companies that do offer seamless dolls. ^^

 

In my mind seam lines are a part of the casting process that needs to be completed (sanded) before the doll is put together to sell to the consumer.

Call it my american consumerism ideals, but to me a product like that is simply not finished being produced! It doesn't stop me from buying the dolls... but it annoys me deeply that a product that I pay so much money for comes to me still needing to be "finished" by me. These companies make a huge profit on the dolls... and i'm sure when they take the casted parts out of the mold someone has to look them over by hand to make sure they came out ok... just pay that person a bit extra and have them remove the lines. /me shrugs.

 

A couple of things:

1. How much profit a company makes per doll has been debated here before. I believe the answer was: not as much as you think. But you'd have to dig up the old thread to be sure.
2. I don't think it's a matter of pay. I'm sure most of these companies have enough money to pay somebody to sand seams. It's a matter of time. Sanding can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a day, depending on how good you are. Multiply that by numerous dolls and it adds up to quite the delay. That's why most of the people on here don't want it to be automatically included in the cost. They don't want to pay extra, and they don't want to wait extra.

 

A lot of people seem to have this idea, and quite a few of them are very insistent about it. The thing is, big expensive companies with a huge fanbase don't need to compete with smaller startup companies at all. It's the newer companies that have to go the extra mile and offer a lot of extra features to attract customers. Also, I definately wouldn't buy a doll I didn't like as much just because it's seams were sanded. Seam sanding isn't going to make me buy a doll, magnificent sculpting and engineering is.

 

But BJDs are supposed to be finished by you the owner! Your ideals aren't necessarily bad, but they don't really fit with the nature of the products you're buying in this case. Just because they're expensive doesn't mean that they aren't supposed to be worked on further.

 

I agree with you completely. I pay for the artistry and craftsmanship. Sanding is not a craft it is a task. It takes much less skill to sand a doll.

But I do think it is smart for newer companies to sand for free. It is a nice way for them to offer something extra to a new customer! Obviously it is greatly appreciated by many

 

With sanding, I guess it's a case of what the company consider's good practice.. annd you get what you pay for. If you're going to pay upward of $1k for a doll I would definately expect the seams sanded. After all, similarly if you were buying a quality collectable resin cast, porcelain or poly-stone figure you would expect them to be fully finished - sanded and de-burred. However, if you're going for the cheaper "kit form" figure...much as wiith a cheaper blank doll, you almost expect that the sanding will be part of the process.
If buying a fullly finished quality doll I would have to disagree with you there, Isenn, in that quality craftsmanship dictates a fully finished product...especially if you're paying through the nose for it. I know I would be seriously disapointed to, say, buy a full set Soom DOM or Mecha Angel and find it wasn't seemless.

 

Then I suggest you don't buy a Soom MD or a Mecha Angel without looking at all the drop-down options because unless you pay for it, they WILL come with seams.

Seams are not a "defect" nor an indication of quality (neither is how complete the doll is, by the way). They are part of the doll. Kind of like a nose, or a joint. If you want a jointless doll you cover it in a silicone skin, and if dolls with noses aren't your thing you sand it off. Considering how these dolls will never be "little people" due to extremely obvious ball joints, seams are a much smaller "problem" that takes away from their realism. (And I should probably add that in the hobby of collecting dolls with silicone skin which cost more than BJDs and whose purpose IS to look like little humans, dolls coming from the factory with seams is quite the norm. The owner is expected to trim and disguise the seams, and it's a lot trickier to do on a silicone doll than a resin doll)

When we say "high-quality doll" we mean a doll that has been cleverly engineered and balanced - and whose sculptor is talented and skilled at recreating the human body into doll form. Things like the distribution of weight that contributes to the doll's ability to balance in awkward poses, or a recreation of the subtle musculature under the "skin", or a well-designed joint. THAT is quality and craftsmanship and a representation of talents and skills of the company's artists.

Sanding seams is in no way a skill - it's menial labour that anyone with sand-paper and half a brain to read a paragraph of instructions can perform. It's not a reflection of the doll's quality or price. ETA: Just for the sake of not sounding confrontational, I'm not saying that you're dim if you don't sand your dolls (I don't sand my dolls either)/can't sand them due to health reasons etc., (in which case there are many customizers who do). I'm just saying that's all that's required.

 

Exactly.

If you want the doll sanded pay the extra. Again, I don't want to pay for other people's service nor do I want to wait longer for my doll because some people insist on having their dolls sanded. As for paying through the nose? Well no one asked any of us to join this hobby and pay for anything I think my dolls are worth the price. There is not one flaw on any of them and they are beautiful as is

 

I haven't read through all this thread, but here's my opinion on "cheaper" companies sanding their dolls, and more "expensive" companies not.

Often on these "cheaper" company dolls, their arms and legs are not as detailed (I stress OFTEN - don't want anyone to think I'm prejudiced against cheaper companies or anything). Sanding the resin to a nice smooth surface is a lot easier. Elfdoll also does this, and they aren't a "cheaper" company, but their dolls don't have intricate vein detailing and whatnot.

Conversely, on my Spinel's arms there are veins and muscle detailing all along, which is occasionally interrupted by a seam line. Sanding the seam without damaging the sculpting would be considerably harder than sanding a smooth arm or leg. Which in turn means more labour.

I don't know if anyone's drawn the distinction before, but that was my thought.

 

Additionally to this, a less-detailed arm or leg piece actually allows for the mold to be set-up differently - with the pieces fitting perpendicularly to the limb, not parallel. Which essentially means there are no seams to be sanded. A limb that has sculpted veins/muscles/etc has to be cast with an at least two-piece mold that fits together parallel to the longer axis of the limb (pardon me, I don't know how to describe it better....) and creates the seams.

Which therefore means that there's a lot less sanding to be done since the limbs don't require it, and only the more complex body-parts like the torso and the feet do. I don't know if that's what they do for sure, but it certainly seems reasonable to do it that way since it's a lot easier that way, not to mention a lot less messy.

 

Interestingly enough, out of all my dolls my Bobobie Ariel has the least amount of seams. She's almost completely smooth. My Soom Glati has almost no seams, and my Fairyland Woosoo has high, sharp seams along his torso. It just goes to show it's not always dependent on the company. YMMV.

 

One thing people don't really think about is those of us who can't afford to mess up their doll. Alot of people can afford to say "oh, well I screwed up a part sanding it, i'll just order another" but for me i'm barely able to afford the doll itself, much less trying to fix it after i've screwed it up! For that reason i'm glad alot of the "cheaper" companies go ahead and sand the dolls for me.

 

Let me say this....

I would never never never want to ever mess up my doll. Ever. Even if I could replace it 10 times over! No way. Also, some limited dolls you can't replace. I don't believe it is the norm for anyone on this board to expect to toss a doll because of a bad sanding job? So no one is forgetting your point, rather I think no one ever predicted that they would be seen as caring so little for the value of their doll because they tried to sand it??????

Unless you are sanding with a power tool I can't see how you could destroy your doll if you go nice and slowly. As I stated earlier, my first doll I sanded myself and I started around the ankle and went very slowly so I could monitor the results. Once I could see what I was doing I got braver and now ShuShu is all sanded np. I think you are not giving yourself enough credit here to do a good job. Also, you are misrepresenting the rest of us by implying that we don't care as much about the value of our purchase and could easily just buy a new doll. That is not true - at - all.

Anyway if you are scared to do it (certainly understandable) most companies allow you to pay for the extra service.

 

I wasn't saying every one on the board could go out and by another doll if they ruined theirs, i was just saying that those that can afford to to replace damage would be braver when it came to sanding their doll then someone who couldn't afford. I can totally see how my post was kinda severe sounding though now that i've read back on it sorry

Actually I can imagine all sorts of ways to break a doll while attempting to hand sand it. Dropping it, Pressing to hard and snapping off fingers, bumping pieces against stuff.... Maybe i'm totally underestimating resin (hopefully thats the case). I guess seeing the way a doll can be damaged when being shipped in a well padded box, I rate them as pretty fragile.

 

Resin is made of much tougher stuff than you seem to believe. Unless you're putting ALL of your weight into sanding one finger it's very unlikely it will snap off while you're sanding it. And sometimes those well padded boxes get the crap kicked out of them in transit. I received my Tan Delf Lishe's box with a giant footprint on it! Luckily my girl was fine, but resin is tough stuff, unless you're grabbin a belt sander or goin at your doll with asphalt-like sandpaper, the doll's gonna be fine.

~Gio

 

, i've probably read one to many horror stories! Didn't somebody say their doll fell off of something and it's ear broke into pieces or something? Stories like that have broken my mind toatlly warped my perspective