Wiping a Limited Face Up

I'm all for wiping a faceup if it's not for you, even if it's on a limited head. The whole point of this hobby is customization - making your perfect doll. As long as you're happy with the end result, it doesn't matter! For instance, I have a Volks Amakusa, who may be limited but was never the most popular doll (I think one's still in stock at the USA store). I love the sculpt itself but never cared too much for the original faceup. Luckily I got my Amakusa secondhand with an absolutely stunning faceup! Half the people who see him the first time guess completely wrong on his head mold. It's pretty obvious to me that the custom faceup (even done by an anonymous artist) has increased his attractiveness and his worth.

I do wince when people wipe Volks one-off faceups though, unless it's a super rare mold that's almost impossible to get unless you're lucky enough to win said one-off. You can't get faceups done by the one-off artists in any other way, and each faceup is entirely unique. It's like painting over a work of art .

 

I personally, if I didnt like the faceup would wipe it. Ultimately its what you like since its your doll.

 

How do you feel about people wiping the faceup of a limited doll?
I don't mind because sometimes the new faceup looks better than the default. Of course, I wouldn't suggest wiping a limited faceup just to practice, but it would ultimately be the decision of whoever owned the doll, not me.

Do you feel that the value of the doll drops because it doesn't have the orginal face up?
Really, only if the new faceup is really ugly or impossible to get off. If it's cute, then the doll would still be valuable to me. If you have to start sanding the doll or other things just to get the faceup off, then, no, not quite as valuable because you might end up ruining the actual face.

Also, would you buy a limited doll without the orginal face up, or is the actual limited head more important?
Yes I would. But only if I liked the faceup that was on it at the time. I can't do my own, so I'd be pretty much stuck with the one that came on it until I learned how. Some people's faceups I actually like better than the default. So that might make the doll even more special to me. It depends.

 

I will take a doll's face to be damaged if the original faceup factory sealed by the doll company is wiped off, erased, enhanced or tampered with in any way. I don't care how well done or how badly done the new faceup is because the person doing it is not a part of the doll company. I don't care how beautiful or how well done the new faceup is. I simply won't mess with the original art work on the doll's face. If the design on a doll's face is changed, the original design is lost. The doll cannot be considered an original designer doll. The artist who worked on the doll's face is not from the company which produced the doll. I have withdrawn from the ABJD hobby because of the modding on dolls faces. This is different if the artist paints on his or her own molds.

 

Let's see...

I don't really mind if people wipe the faceups of limited dolls - heck, I wiped and modded the original faceup on my Aika Unoss.

This was the original faceup:


Shallow Sleep's Faceup (after my mod jobs):


....so yes *cough* you can see the difference! I think if a doll comes with a faceup that you don't like, you should change it! It is true for some dolls that the original faceup can change the retail price, and some people are looking for dolls with their original faceups, but when you get a doll, he/she is yours, not the potential buyer x years down the road's.

 

I have a limited doll who's faceup chipped and I was so upset. I sent her away to Raven and now she's absolutely stunning and way better than the default. I'm almost glad that her paint chipped. I think the sculpt is the most important thing, not the original faceup. Let's face it, some companies have horrible faceups. I've seen dolls that I wouldn't think twice of before, but then you see one with a faceup done by a really good faceup artist and you start to take a second look.

 

It is probably best that you have withdrawn from the hobby in that case, as this isn't something that will ever change and even better -- It will happen more and more as the hobby expands. As face-up artists learn and specialize their talents and as more and more companies come out with new stuff, there will as a result, be an even greater variety of customization available.

Like the majority of all of the 'customizing/mods' threads, I think it's fine whatever people want to do, since they spent the money on it. I do think it's disappointing of course when an amateur buys an extremely limited doll only to mess it up, but it's still their choice. I have a limited doll with a wiped and redone face-up myself (DoT I-Ra) Considering I dislike pretty much all DoD standard face-ups, this was a great thing for me. One of the reasons I purchased the doll second hand was BECAUSE the face-up was redone. Despite it no longer being 'original design' it's still 'original art' just of another person's vision. And quite frankly? That makes it MORE original, not less. When face-ups are redone, it has the opportunity to make it a better version than the standard run-of-the-mill assembly line face-ups.

 

How do you feel about people wiping the faceup of a limited doll?
I agree, it's their money their doll their choice. I do however have a problem
when people modify a LE face AND then try to sell it because they no longer
like it *sigh*

Do you feel that the value of the doll drops because it doesn't have the orginal face up?
That really depends on the doll and the faceup. Some faceups really don't
work for the sculpt, but if it was the makeup that was LE and the doll was limited
to number not time then it could decrease the value. But value in the MP mainly
depends on amount sold and the demand. Some dolls are up in the MP more
often than others.

Also, would you buy a limited doll without the orginal face up, or is the actual limited head more important?
I always try to visualize what the sculpt looks like without company makeup
if I don't really like it. So far I haven't loved a doll with limited faceup enough
to forgo the doll entirely if it ends up in the MP. Did that make sense? lol

edit: That's very strange IMO stargazer_i but of course we're
all entitled to ours, but I don't know why you would withdraw/leave the hobby
over something like that...perhaps leave the community yes. I've seen people
do some strange things to dolls and I've seen some really amazing things
done....a lot of what draws people into this hobby is the ability to make these
dolls our own and individual.
This actually made me think about something....a long while ago I saw a doll
on ebay, the seller kept re-listing it and changing what they said about the
doll, they finally sold it but to me the listing was very fraudulent, it was a
modified elf Lati which the owner had changed to human ears and had the
original faceup removed...they were calling it a OOAK that was MINT
condition. Which obviously isn't true, since it was modded.
But what killed me is I actually saw the doll on Flickr, the owner was so
happy to get this LE Lati even calling it her dream doll but only a few weeks
after receiving it she had it modded then a few weeks after it came back
she sold it. I know there are a lot of people on here who are looking for
THAT LE doll, and she ruined it only to realize she didn't like it anymore.
That bugs me. XD

 

Faceups are done by hand, one at a time, by artists, by humans. They're not done on assembly lines.
Also, by definition, a Limited Edition (LE) faceup is not your standard run-of-the-mill edition faceup to begin with.

But good repaints are good. A bad repaint is bad. I've bought an LE with a bad faceup before, and then I gave him a less-bad faceup, and then I gave him a good faceup. I've bought an LE with a gorgeous couture faceup, even though I liked the company's LE faceup to begin with, because the repaint was so stunning. I've also kept a whole lot of company LE faceups simply because I tend to love them.

ETA: Yes, Stargazer_i, it is a good thing for you if you withdraw from the hobby. Repainting is a big facet of this hobby and it's not going away! If its very existence contradicts your own preferences enough to make you leave, your blood-pressure will thank you.

 

By assembly line, I basically just meant 'all the same'. Also, yes, a LE is not the normal as compared to all other face-ups by the company -- But they're still the exact same as any other LE version of that doll unless there is some sort of special exception from the company.

 

Yep, Septunie, you are absolutely right. I also came to same conclusion that I should withdraw from this hobby.

 

*shrugs* Leave the hobby because people remove faceups from their
own dolls that they paid for? OK. I've had the same "feeling" of leaving
the forum because I've come across some unpleasant people, but I
still love dolls so I'm sticking it out and just ignoring that part of the
community...we aren't all going to agree on everything and sometimes
people are just having a bad day and they vent here.
I'm very curious why it bothers you so much though, care to share your
reasons why?

edit: does that mean you would never buy a doll you loved if you didn't
like it's faceup because you would feel bad wanting to remove it
or do you never look beyond a dolls faceup for it to matter?

 

personnaly, i would'nt wip a limited faceup (unless its really) because i know the one i would make after would be messed up and that i would regret it and be like ''what have i doooone???'' (in those cases i buy the limited doll blank on the MP so i dont feel as much regret xD)
i really dont care about what others do with their doll (as long as they dont reshape the face of the limited doll. then i'm like : NOOOO you screwed up his limited beauty!! D: well it only annoys me when i see them on the MP XD )

often limited faceups are not that amazing though so i think its not such a big waste erasing it... :/ they're similar to any other faceup the company offers for his non-limited dolls but this one is on a limited head. nothing much. because of that i dont think the faceup should make such a big difference in the price of the head on the market place...

 

Buying a non-limited doll with a limited faceup and then wiping it wouldn't make too much sense. Unless after some years the owner gets tired of the faceup, or it's chipped /damaged etc.
If the sculpt is limited too then I think the sculpt matters way more then the faceup.
I find it's "worse" to heavily modify a limited sculpt than to wipe a limited faceup. You can always commission someone to replicate the original faceup if you want it back.
Do you feel that the value of the doll drops because it doesn't have the orginal face up?
Generally, yes. But as Sahoma said, some companies' limited faceups are not that amazing. A stunning faceup by a talented indipendent artist could actually increase the doll's value.

 

For the most part, i dont mind it, there are a lot of lovely repaints of Yosd and Volks limiteds, as well as other limiteds out there. and if Nobody customized these faceups, then they're just a little less unique. I fell like the only time a limited head would lose value is if the faceup was wiped and never replaced, or done by someone who was very inexperienced, and could not produce the best quality product.

My Yosd Kuuta's default is lovely, I simply adore it. but when the time comes he will have to be wiped and get his faceup redone, because hes well loved and is already starting to show some places where the MSC just isn't what it used to be. I have seen instances though after the Release of a new Yosd, where two brand new yos were for sale completely blank. As if the seller had purchased them just to wipe them clean and sell them, I liked their defaults and it kind of upset me. but again, its not my choice.

 

I would not buy a limited doll with a face up that was not the original. I’m not saying that if I saw a picture of a doll with a different face up then the original that I would not buy it if I liked the face up. I’m saying that a limited doll is no longer the same once its been changed. Like if you get a new car and then change the motor in it some people might like the new motor because it perhaps improved the car. But others would not like the change because it’s no longer exactly as it is supposed to be.

 

How do you feel about people wiping the faceup of a limited doll?
i dont really mind it as long as they know what they are doing its heartbreaking to see a beautiful doll with bad face-up work

Do you feel that the value of the doll drops because it doesn't have the orginal face up?
maybe a little? no?...

Also, would you buy a limited doll without the orginal face up, or is the actual limited head more important?
yes i would isnt the point of having a limited to be different and how can you be different wen everyone has the same faceup the heads the canvas you work on its just as importent as the painting which is created

 

I'm fine with the repainting of dolls' faces now, but that hasn't always been the case.

When I first started collecting these dolls I was of the opinion that a repainted face was devalued in some way and not worth my time or my money to consider. But, as I have gone deeper and deeper into the hobby I feel that every doll manufacturer has strengths and weaknesses. For example, I think resin quality is a strength at Volks but face-ups are a weakness. Volks face-ups can be very beautiful, but I think the finer details are lacking. There will be dolls with too little MSC as a base coating, others will have eyelashes not inserted correctly, there are uneven lips on basic dolls, eye shadowing is off, too much paint on the lips, etc. Yes, the dolls are painted by hand, but they are done in such a quantity that I feel they don't have the time to really pay attention to the finer details.

I applaud those who experiment and do their own face-ups, but I would hesitate to buy a doll with a face-up done by an amateur (even though some are very good) and prefer the original forms. I keep my dolls in their original forms (done by the company) until I identify a personality and face-up style I want. It's more of a way for me to celebrate the company's face-up then personalize it later on for myself if that makes any sense. It also gives me time to warm-up to the doll and then sell it in its original form if I find that I feel it doesn't suit me and my collecting. I understand the "purist" perspective and often lean that way myself, so I try not to "tamper" with dolls I don't intend to keep just for the sake of experimentation.

But, as I mentioned, I haven't always felt wiping a face-up was a good thing to do. It has mostly occurred as I see such stunning work by people who truly know what they are doing and treat each head like a piece of art. And, the sad truth is that companies simply don't have the time to dedicate to the details that I have grown to admire. On a face-up, I feel details are everything. One stroke gone wrong and it can affect the entire face-up. A company generally won't wipe to start over. An individual with a reputation to protect will because they take pride in face-up work whereas for a company it's a relatively small part of the equation, I think.

So, if painted done well, a repainted limited doll can be worth more than the original because it is unique and is painted by a good face-up artist. But, if not done well and painted in an amateur way, it is worth less, I think.

 

How do you feel about people wiping the faceup of a limited doll?
Its their chose honestly, if they didn't likr the faceup then they should do whatever they please with it.

Do you feel that the value of the doll drops because it doesn't have the orginal face up?
It wouldn't surprise me, but most of the time the people buy the doll because of the doll. If a person saw a certain faceup they liked on another doll, they could always put the faceup on the doll themselves.

Also, would you buy a limited doll without the orginal face up, or is the actual limited head more important?
I don't want to say ones more important then the other but most people (including myself) prefer looking at the sculpt then looking at the faceup. You can always change the faceup, no biggy.

 

How do you feel about people wiping the faceup of a limited doll?
I'm not weird about it. Some doll molds themselves are limited so the only way you can get the doll you want is to buy the LE one anyway, the faceup is another matter.

Do you feel that the value of the doll drops because it doesn't have the orginal face up?
It doesn't matter unless you plan to sell it afterwards... real value is something sentimental!

Also, would you buy a limited doll without the orginal face up, or is the actual limited head more important?
I bought an LE Catish doll from Dollmore, she was my first BJD ever and I was completely in love with her. After a year I decided to open her sleepy eyes (BIG MISTAKE), her eyelids disappeared since they were so close to the lids in the first place, and she ended up looking like an alien. I was heartbroken, but contacted Dollmore anyway hoping I'd maybe be able to buy a new one.
They were marvellous and let me buy another, though she didn't come with a faceup.
I gave her a faceup the same morning she came in the post, it was much more inkeeping with her character than the default had been to begin with.
So yeah, it all depends on you and your doll.