Would You Buy An Unstrung Doll?

Personally, I would buy an unstrung doll. It's much cheaper sometimes. For some it may be a little time consuming to string your doll together but, if it's a sculpt you have been eyeing for a while it's best to purchase the doll if that's all the company has available. I know DollShe and D.I.M had sales a few years back for discontinued sculpts and some dolls were only available unstrung.

 

It sounds rather daunting especially as a newbie, but if it’s a doll I really want and it lowers the price significantly/comes with instructions, then I don’t particularly see why not. I’ve done much more dangerous projects blindly and came out relatively unscathed; My main concern would be damaging the doll rather than damaging me I would think...

 

For me, restringing is a nightmare, but I would be willing to buy a "kit" where the doll comes unstrung and unsanded if they were cheaper. For the price they charge, I expect the doll to be finished (and that doesn't happen, that is one of the reasons I ended quite disappointed with this hobby).

 

Yes! With companies getting crazy on how tight they are stringing dolls these last couple of years I would definitely restring dolls myself as long as basic stringing method. But Fairyland, and those anthro dolls no way.

 

I bought two bodies during DIM's closing sale forever ago, and neither of them came strung, so yes! I would buy unstrung dolls!

 

Absolutely! One of the first things I do with my dolls is re-string them once they're home. I prefer my dolls to be pretty tight, and most dolls tend to be shipped with looser stringing to prevent damage.

 

If it were a doll I really wanted, I don't think I'd care. Restringing is a bit of a hassle but it's not a dealbreaker - sometimes you have to restring dolls when you get them anyway.

 

Of course I'd buy an unstrung doll! I have before. It often makes shipping safer or easier, not having a loonnnnnng dollbox and having each piece wrapped safely.

 

if it was a doll i wanted, yes, though if it was an SD i would definitely be more skittish about it. but also i prefer MSDs and below anyway!

 

Yes I would buy a doll unstrung if it was from a particular mold I am seeking to add to my collection.

 

Yep, have previously done so a couple of times - direct from the company and from other hobbyists. The only real downside is I do prefer to have the matching company boxes when possible for both organisation/storage and completionist tendencies!

In one case, it was because the company were selling off the last of their dolls since they were sadly shutting up shop forever. (Sighs wistfully at Light Limner's lovely sculpts.) It was no more difficult stringing that doll than any other routine doll maintenance since otherwise the doll was complete and perfectly finished (I think they just had a few dolls left over from previous production runs at this point that weren't worth purchasing another batch of branded packaging for).

In another direct from company example the doll was sold specifically as a kit-doll with quite a bit of finishing off needed, which required seamline and casting gates removal before even attempting stringing - now that one was a hassle! He did actually come with branded packaging thinking about it, though once he was assembled of course he was too large for it.

 

Oh definitely! I've done it plenty of times, usually to save on shipping. Restringing does not bother me at all, so it's an easy choice. Unstrung vs strung isn't even a factor in my decision to buy a doll.

 

If the doll is sold unstrung for less than the same doll strung, watch me. Buying a doll unstrung also might be better when customizing, it for people who want to. Personally, I have no problem with it, I think it is pretty fun to re-string dolls, it also gives you the ability to have them at the tightness that you like.

 

I highly prefer to own the box, but yes, I have bought 1 full doll and 2 bodies unstrung without boxes. Restringing is no factor and I'll probably end up adjusting the tension anyway.

 

I don't mind either way to be honest! Strung dolls are nice because they are ready to play from the get go. While unstrung dolls are like a crazy puzzle that I get to put together and I can get the string tension to a level that I like. I do also agree with a lot of what everyone has been posting, its cheaper to ship unstrung and it's a great chance to see any damage/issues from the sellers perspective to disclose to the buyer before purchase. And it's also cheaper to ship as well. But preference wise? I don't mind either way.

 

Yes, I would and often have bought unstrung dolls. I'm in the possible minority but I enjoy stringing dolls and find it easy. The price to ship a strung doll in the USA a decade ago via USPS was quite acceptable, but the rates have gone up to a degree I would not have imagined. The fact that it now costs as much to use the priority mail large flat rate box as it used to cost me to ship a 1/3 doll retail is bonkers. For saving myself money if I'm paying shipping on something I bought I would gladly do unstrung.
But on the flip side I also like having company boxes and I miss those days. (for anyone reading this in the USA, I've found that UPS is very cust effective to ship 1/3 dolls strung. It can even cost less than the USPS flat rate box lol)
Anyway I make a lot of my decisions in life with "which is cheaper?" And therefore it's often enough been unstrung dolls.

 

I honestly have no idea how to string a doll, so I'm a bit worried to try in most cases. I bought a 1/12 doll kit a bit ago and I'm honestly so nervous about stringing it that it's just sitting in the box still.

 

If you’d asked me when I first joined the hobby I’d say no, absolutely not lol. But now that I restring my dolls quite often, if it meant cheaper shipping (and the parts were all properly packaged) I definitely would!

 

I have not restrung a bjd yet but it wouldn’t hurt to learn, so if a grail was available but only unstrung I would definitely buy it.

 

Unstrung is fine by me. Not only is the shipping less expensive, but a lot of times dolls come from the manufacturer with lighter elastic than I prefer and I end up restringing them anyway.