Tan skin dolls: Problems/ issues?

Depends on company but most I know, the resin is coloured all the way through. The applied to the outer layer thing has been propagated for years but I don't think it's been the case for the majority of companies for a long time, now. Sanded seams and chips tend to show more because of plastics' habit of lightening when abrasion happens, or it's put under pressure. It happens in NS resins to but their lighter colour makes it less noticeable. This is all stuff I've personally observed in my dolls to, where they came sanded in places from the company (which is normal as part of the casting and finishing process).

I don't keep my dark skin dolls for display only, but I am more careful with then around light sources, since sunlight can cause green discoloration in some companies. Everything varies from company to company, but generally following the standard advice of keeping dolls out of sunlight and reasonable caution when handling is enough to keep dark skinned dolls in good condition.

 

I have a Dollzone Tan Yuu. Just like the companies will warn in their standard disclaimers, with the "darker" skintone resins, the higher the odds of marbling and the like. Dollzone sands their seams, and there's a little bit of indication of it if you look, along with a little color marbling.

I honestly don't mind it, to be honest.

I've heard stories about tan resin greening, but resin is bound to change color with age anyway. Sometimes, as it's such a gradual process, it's not even noticeable until you put an aged resin piece alongside of a newer resin piece of the same color/from the same company. And, well, the days of the Beauty Green seem to be well and gone, as far as I know. Someone did do a greening experiment thread awhile back, though. If you're interested, you should totally look for it in the forum search.

 

It really depends on the company. I have a couple of light tan dolls, one from Resinsoul and one from Impldoll. The Resinsoul tan is cast all the way through, and ages beautifully--it basically got one shade darker over a year, then stopped changing as far as I can see. The Impldoll tan is a layer over white resin, but it hasn't scratched in her joints at all, and I play with her a lot. (She came with a spare head that was damaged in shipping, so I saw the layering in the chips.) I don't think her color has changed in the 10 months I've had her.

 

There's some discussion about the colour changes and histories of tan from different companies in this thread: Are tan dolls harder to care for?

 

I've got a number of tan dolls but haven't had any problems so far. I think that with new resin mixes that end up going wrong, you will hear about it within a few months. I haven't heard of problems like that in a while... but it's always good to check in the specific company's discussion threads.

 

I've heard most company's tan resin is the same color all the way through, but sanding can lighten it slightly as explained above. I've read somewhere in DOA that BBB and RS don't have this problem.

 

I'd say go for it as long as you're buying from an long established company that have been offering the darker skin shades for several years.

I have several dolls of color, my oldest is my Volks FCS MSD Boy "Yamanaka" who has Sunlight skin. As far as I can see, his skintone has not alerted at all since the day he was delivered to me from Volks in 2007. I paid Volks to do the seam sanding and body sealing on him, and don't see any color difference in those areas. I'm also now the proud second owner of a Volks Ruby in Volks Ebony skin that also appears to have held her color perfectly.

I bought a Fairyland Chocolate Pukipuki Black Cat Cupid when they were issued, and there is a bit of color difference between her head cap and the face plates. That said, I haven't found this to be a problem, since my Pukipuki always wears a wig that covers her head cap.

Last, but not least, I am the second owner of an Iplehouse BID Erzulie in their Ebony skintone (which is much darker that either Volks or Fairyland), and she has complete even tone. That said, I haven't had her very long, and will not be sanding her since she came from Iplehouse completely smooth.

Juli DC

 

I went thru many different company's tan dolls, I must say all of the ones I have are tanned thru out (aka the pigments are mixed in)

I was only able to keep Volks and none of my has changed color

 

I love tan skinned dolls. I think they look so healthy, only thing is that they are unique and usually cost more

 

This is a new problem I hadn't heard about before, my new girl is light tan so I hope she behaves herself and keeps her tan well! Thank you for sharing I will have to keep an eye on her but at least you have made me aware of the problem.

 

I have a FCS MSD from Volks in Sunlight & she had held up beautifully, & I had them sand, & coat.

I love to dress her up, & I've found that red wigs work really well in contrast to her sunlight skin tone.

 

I have Soom, Dikadoll, BlueBlood Doll, Jie Doll and Island Doll all in tan/chocolate colors. I haven't really had any problems. My biggest issue was MSC clouding on chocolate skin, but I switched to ZM finishing spray and no longer have that problem. I'm a little sad that my Dika's seams aren't sanded, but the others are (I only have a Soom head, not sure what the bodies look like) and I don't see any discoloration. I really don't treat my tan dolls any differently than my NS or WS.

 

Thank you so much for this thread, I've been eying some Iplehouse Special Real Skin and was afraid if I sanded any seams it would be discolored.