Would You Remove A Full Set Dolls Face-Up?

That's some dilemma indeed and a very interesting one too.

My gut reaction is that I wouldn't - primarily because it would decrease the value of the doll in case of reselling as you said, but also because it's professional - it surely cost a lot even considering it's a fullset which costs a lot as a whole. When I had this situation (the company faceup just didn't look as well as it appeared in the photos) I sold the head and... bought a blank one it would definitely become more complicated if that were a limited doll, not easy to get etc. But all the more, I'd most likely leave the faceup intact.

Perhaps the only scenario in which I'd remove a company faceup is when it'd be damaged anyway and/or it couldn't be altered according to the buyer's request. I guess some fullset dolls just come with a faceup and you can't even order without.

 

I like having all my dolls painted by me so I think I would wipe it - though I wouldn't order a new doll with faceup so I guess it would be a situation where I'd bought them that way second hand. Fullset faceups are usually quite well-documented given that they are on the official company pics and there are definitely others who have bought them that way, so I don't really feel like it's removing super precious work in the end. I can see how it's important for someone who is more concerned about their dolls retaining a certain value, though! It's just not how I like to collect.

If I was on the fence about it, or wanted to repaint but also wanted to remember the previous work on the doll, I'd just make sure I take some good, well-lit portraits of several angles and the whole full set on first.

 

I sure would!

A great example is the very doll currently in my avatar, and another potential example —if I obtain a full set or blushed version of him— is Constantine (of the same company); while their faces are lovely as-is and they're fine for me to leave them that way until I have the skills to do something I like better, I could do without the drip markings.

I love everything else about Achelous' full-set body blushing, it's what drew me to him in the first place. His face, however, was always just "fine, for now". No question about it, if I knew that I could do a decent faceup myself, I would've wiped his yesterday and had it redone already, I would only leave his ears as-is and the rest is getting totally reworked.

This could impact the theoretical resale value, but on any doll that's super unique and I'm very attached to, I'm not worried about resale, because I don't intend to sell unless I'm threatened with imminently living under an overpass.

I look at all BJDs as a perpetual work in progress. When they eventually yellow, I will probably need to redo their faceups, even on the ones I liked as-is and had no plans to re-do. And that's totally fine, I think I'm actually looking forward to that inevitable refresh!

Faceups are likely to take damage over time anyway, and I don't want to refrain from playing with my dolls just because I might ruin the painting. The paint job is superficial and can be redone. I guess it's similar to how I view my house; I don't refrain from painting and decorating it the way I want because it might impact the value... I'm not renting my house from its future possible owners, and I'm not renting my dolls from someone either!

 

My dolls are my own and subject to change on a whim. That’s just the nature of this hobby for me. I’ve refined my collection over the years and I absolutely adore each and every doll in it, so none of them will be going anywhere. I never even consider resale value. Even early on, when I was first getting my feet wet in this hobby, I didn’t hesitate to make a doll my own…and if that required wiping a company faceup to accomplish it, then so be it. It’s always been all about original characters for me. If a fullset doll happens to suit my character, I buy it because I enjoy adding that bit of artistic diversity to my collection, both in faceup and outfit (since I’ve done most of the faceups and wardrobes in my collection myself.) But if my character changes for any reason, then they’ll promptly get wiped and I’ll start fresh with a blank canvas. These dolls are designed for that after all, and it’s all a happy endeavor as far as I’m concerned. I have a Volks four sisters Megu from 1999 (one of the very first, with an original faceup) that I had found through the second-hand market. As you can well imagine, she was quite yellowed from age. I’d had her for a couple of years when I suddenly got a yearning to give her character an artistic white-faced Shironuri makeover. I didn't hesitate to remove her historic (but rather rudimentary) faceup and had so much fun bringing her Shironuri storytelling element to life. That was 3 years ago and I still adore her change to this day. And only yesterday I made changes to my fullset Myou Macarena. I love her, but I grew to believe that her lips were just too dark and lacking in natural dimension. But I loved the rest of her faceup, so I carefully wiped just her lips and redid them to my liking, changed her wig to a lighter brown one, and now she has that natural look I was searching for in her character.

 

The short answer is yes, I absolutely would. The long answer?

Well, when I got into the hobby, I would only ever order blank dolls. Partly because I enjoyed doing my own faceups, and partly due to funds. I hadn't really considered getting one with a company faceup... until I ended up buying a second hand Soom Beryl (the doll in my avatar!) full set. I've decided (for now) to presrve the full set faceup for as long as possible... or until I get tired of it, because it really is some gorgeous work. (She did come with another head, though, which I have considered wiping and doing my own faceup on. Maybe someday?)

But ultimately, it's not because of resale value or anything like that (I don't consider my dolls to be investments, really). Just that I appreciate the work and want to keep it for now! At the end of the day, part of my enjoyment of the hobby comes from the customization aspect of it, so I don't want to keep myself from fully enjoying any of my dolls just because they have a special faceup.

 

I’ve done this several times, and I don’t think it’s really something that devalues the doll as long as the faceup you put on in place of the default is well done. There are a lot of cases where getting your hands on a fullset means you have no option to get a doll blank, and that means if you want something different it’s gotta come off.

 

I would if that's what I wanted. Resale value is not a big deal to me. I've bought full sets to have all the pretty things they come with but never intend to keep them display as a full set forever and always, I see my dolls as an art I'm meant to participate in so no matter what they'll end up changing in one way or another.
Having said this I tend to love company make so it's not something I'm super likely to want to do in practice. If the make got damaged I'd most likely seek after service and only have it repainted by someone else if I couldn't have it redone by the maker.

 

Personally I feel that it's still someone's work, so especially if it's brand new, good work that has artistry in it, I wouldn't destroy it on a whim. Getting a slightly different faceup that matches my personal vision more specifically is less important than that in my opinion. It's not a value thing.

 

I actually did that once! My Volks Heath has his original face-up but it was early Volks and very bland. I removed it but didn't like my face-up attempts so I sent him to an artist.

Otherwise- no. If I'm paying for the fullset I usually like the make-up so I wouldn't change it unless the original got damaged.

 

I usually wait a few years with a company faceup or custom faceup because I paid “all that money.”. But after a while, I often get inspired by owner faceups of that doll and then I decide to wipe and do my own.

 

It would depend on several factors for me because as a general rule I do my own doll’s faceups and therefore buy them blank or secondhand.

If the fullset of a particular doll has a very strong, dare I say rather rabid, collector fan base then no I wouldn’t dare touch the original faceup even if it got damaged. I’d either get the faceup restored or sell the doll as the fullset including the damaged faceup untouched as someone else may be able to lovingly fix it.
However the chances of me being in that position are virtually nil as my tastes rarely align with the highly prized dolls.

I’ve only once ever bought a fullset that included one and that was only because I wanted other bits and pieces and they didn’t offer fullsets with blank dolls at that time. Usually though I avoid fullsets because I grudge paying extra for a faceup I’m going to remove.

Only once have I ever kept a doll’s company faceup because I liked it and still do!

Despite everything I’ve said I’m always conscious of the fact than any faceup is someone else’s hard work whether it’s professional or not and I always feel guilt removing it.
I regard fullsets almost as works of art in a way, they’re telling a story or part of one and you only see the whole picture if they’re as they were designed. That’s just my viewpoint though.

 

Yes, absolutely, even though I haven’t done it

I have a full set Volks Suiseiseki and have always meant to have her face redone. Her default face-up is super bland. While I find her cute as she is, the default face-up really doesn’t do this sculpt justice. Same with Hinaichigo, though I don’t have her full set (she also has her default still).

When I bought her, I cared about having her papers and outfit, but yea, never cared for the face-up! I am not really inclined to factor in what Suiseiseki is worth is to someone else. She was my grail doll and what personally matters to me the most is my own personal enjoyment of her.

Years ago I did pay someone to redo her face up, but life issues got in the way and I never sent her head out.

Currently I feel way too wary of commissioning a face-up because I am less confident in the postal system. Also back in 2011 I could insure my doll and be sure I could find one easily enough on the second hand market. Not so today. It would be more stress than I want to deal with to send her out now.

So currently the delay relies on getting my own face-ups to look the way I’d like them to, then I’ll do her face-up myself. For now, she’ll be keeping her default a bit longer.

If this had to do with any other potential future dolls. The answer is still yes, I would wipe a default if I didn’t care for it and if the only way of obtaining the doll was with a default.

Edit: Since it’s sort of related, the first thing I did when I got Suiseiseki was yank out her eyes. They were hot glued into her head, so that broke the seal on her being a pure full-set. Those original acrylic eyes are a travesty. One day I will invest in getting her a proper pair(s) of red and green Hand Glass Craft D24s.

 

I have, and I would again!

Many many years ago, I bought a Ringdoll fullset, the only fullset I think I've ever bought. The faceup looked nothing like the pictures and was this weird....grey and orange tone? Like the eyebrows and eye makeup were greyish, the lips and blush were more orangey, but the doll's default wig was wine red and the outfit was tan and burgundy. The faceup, IMO, looked awful with the fullset. I put up with it for awhile, then eventually decided I just didn't like it at all and changed it. No regrets. It's my doll, and I'd rather have it fit my vision than be a perfect fullset. I usually prefer to customize anyway, so if I'm buying secondhand, a default faceup or fullset don't really add any value for me.

 

I think it depends on my intent. If I'm buying the fullset for its own sake, I'll keep the faceup. If I'm buying the fullset to serve an existing doll at home, I'll wipe the faceup.

I like how Blodeuwedd put it: I think fullsets are complete works of art in themselves, the faceup is part of the package, and it's the only part that can't be put on/taken off at will, like clothes etc. I take this into account when I buy dolls, this quasi-permanent nature of faceup makes me think very carefully about whether I want it on this doll and (since I shell OCs) whether it serves the doll character. Which is why I've never bought a fullset -- I usually don't want the entire concept and don't want to spend money on unwanted product, not even for the sake of owning the sculpt. Conversely, if I ever bought a fullset, it'd be because I want the doll with the entire concept, and especially wanted them with that faceup. (I like painting my own dolls' faces but have also bought factory faceups if it served the OC.)

But if I'm buying the fullset to serve an existing doll, say as an alt head, then I have no qualms about wiping the faceup if it doesn't jive with my goals. I once bought a whole doll (non-fullset) to get an alt head for an existing open-eyed doll. This sleepy-eyed alt head came with a splendid face that was likely custom painted. It was probably the best faceup that I've ever owned, but it had one feature I hated (sad eyebrows), and it completely didn't colour match my open-eyed doll's faceup, which was to be expected.

I soon wiped the eyebrows and repainted them the way I liked, to tide me over for a while and let me enjoy the rest of the faceup. But I eventually wiped the entire head and repainted it to match my doll. My faceup skills are very inferior to that pro painting, and I felt a bit regretful that I couldn't keep that outstanding paint job. But it didn't serve the purpose I wanted, so it had to go.

 

i did this, more or less. i bought a limited doll from Souldoll and though i couldn't afford his entire fullset outfit and all the special accessories i did order him with the company faceup Souldoll had designed for his fullset. in his promotional pics on Souldoll's website, that faceup had made his sculpt look just like a certain character i had in my mind. he arrived, and it was fine in person, but the longer i lived with it, the more i realized the expression was just a little off and not QUITE giving the right vibe for his character. so close...but not exactly it.

...so i wiped it and had his head repainted with literally not a shred of guilt or one single thought about "resale value." and the new custom faceup was 100% spot on perfect, it captured the mood that was missing from the limited company faceup, and he still has it to this day.

tbh the whole idea of having to think about "resale value" for my own personal belongings has always sounded pretty bleak to me. like...is it MY stuff, or am i just the temporary custodian who's beholden to some future owner whose hypothetical preferences are more important than mine? i'm not buying dolls to hold them and keep them mint for some unknown future person...i'm buying them for ME and that means i get to do what i want with the dolls that i own.

i firmly believe that everyone should do whatever they want with the dolls that they own. life is too short to live tiptoeing around hypothetical people who might want your stuff someday!

 

a dilemma and a clash between the collectors soul and the modder
A collector want his Doll to be mostly valored and a perfect (factory) condition, a modder want to tinker and modding the doll until perfection for the owners needs . I am not so good in making faceups and when i give it to others to do faceups its not my doll anymore, isn't this strange? So i would say, make your doll like you want it, see in the 2nd hand market nobody pays extra for the faceup (except Limited full doll set) . And even more if you dislike the factory faceup, so change it I once had a beautiful *limited* soom heliot doll full set, i never changed the factory faceup because i liked it on him. If you dont like the faceup anymore its time to give your doll a new personality. You can make a photo before and after to remember how he/she was looking before. But I personally would only do that if i am good at faceups and not on limited fullset dolls (in that case my collectors soul are crying) so other solution may be to buy an extra rolling head and doing your faceup on this head, so you still have the collectors limited fullset head

 

So the answer for me is both; yes and no.

We'll start with no: I don't do faceups, haven't got the necessary skills built up yet, so when I order a doll with faceup, it's because I like the company faceup. It saves me trying to hunt down an artist to commission, and is usually cheaper than commissioning an artist (not that I have an issue with the cost of that; artists, absolutely charge what you think is worth your time!) so when I find a doll whose default I really like, I'm much more tempted to buy the fullset. However, I actually do like sewing doll clothes, so if I like the faceup but NOT the outfit, I just order with faceup. And when the faceup inevitably becomes damaged and the doll mellows/yellows, I'd rather find an artist who will touch up the faceup without changing it; these are hard to find, but I'd rather just have it restored rather than replaced.

The yes, on the other hand; I can be a bit clumsy, and while he wasn't a fullset, my Lati White Laches' face has been dropped enough times that the sealant over his cheeks has cracked. While this is probably easily fixable with just another layer of sealant, it made me notice that there's actually a few things I'd like to change about his face. Ordering him without faceup wasn't an option, as he was an existing stock doll at Doll Peddlar, but I liked the default face enough that I just went for it. But now that his character has been established, there's a few additions and subtractions I'd like done if I find an artist willing to do it.

Also, resale value never really occurs to me: I collect my dolls for myself, and I only sell them on if I need the space or I just no longer care for the doll. I'm alright with taking a little financial loss because the doll isn't in pristine mint-in-box condition; I just want the doll to go to somebody who will appreciate them more than I do. While I wouldn't just give away an expensive doll like a BJD, I've been known to give my old fashion dolls to cousins and neighborhood kids who express an interest, because I just want the doll to be appreciated.

 

Yes, I would - and I have

I've bought a limited edition fullset for the sculpt, wiped it and had it repainted the way I want it, and sold on the outfit/other bits i wasn't interested in.

Full sets are all very well if you like everything about them, but sometimes they're they only way a sculpt is available. With most fullsets there's something about it I don't like (often there's more I don't like than I do like) and it's a waste of my money to buy a fullset if there's another way to get the doll without paying through the nose for the fullset, most of whihc I'm not interested in.

Teddy

 

I am all for the idea of the doll being your own and you can do what ever you want with it.
And it goes both ways. Want to wipe it: do it. Want to keep it: do it. Somewhere in between (keep it for a while, add to it etc.): do it.

I only ever buy new dolls blank, and second hand dolls with the intention of wiping them, because I want to paint them myself. It's a big part of the hobby for me.
But I do have one doll with a company face up that I've kept.
It's a Dollmore Narsha that I bought second hand at a BJD convention. She came with a Dollmore outfit and what I believe is a company face up, but I don't actually know if it was originally sold as a full set or just a basic doll with some extras.
In either case, the face up is very pretty and in good condition and I think it suits her beautifully, so it stays for now.
But if she had a very different, poorly made or damaged face up I would have bought her just the same and simply painted her myself. I didn't buy her for the face up, but since it's there and I am happy with it, I won't wipe it until the day it needs redoing because of wear or damage. And when that day comes I will wipe it, with no regrets.
The outfit is unlikely to get a lot of wear, but I have held on to it. It's pretty, but not what I want for her. I have no plans of ever selling her, though, so I have no desire to keep her all together just because. If I come across a friend who has a doll the outfit would suit better, I would be just as happy parting with it.
I always prefer it when things get used and appreciated, rather than just collecting dust in a box somewhere.