Would You Remove A Full Set Dolls Face-Up?

Earlier in my hobby journey I initially bought a fullset doll because I liked the outfit. I didn't care one way or another about the faceup but I ended up selling the head and body and rebuying a blank version of the sculpt and did my own faceup.

Later on, I saw a limited fullset volks doll that was only sold as a fullset and I passed on it because I wasn't a super fan of the face. Later I saw a custom faceup on that sculpt and of course I had to get him. So I specifically bought the limited fullset doll 2nd hand in order to do a custom faceup myself. It def took a bit of courage though, wiping the company faceup.

I've done this now about 3 times, buying limited volks dolls with company faceups and redoing the face, and have 2 more on order that I'll do that to as well and one more on my wishlist that I'd wipe and do a custom on as well.
I don't do this to all my dolls. Some are just perfect from the company, like my SDGr Elsa or angell studio dolls. But others just aren't quite right for me.

Most recently I was told I ruined the value of the head I did this to when I proudly posted my doll in another bjd group which felt uncalled for and offensive, but I def like my faceups more than the company ones for the dolls I've done this to.

 

I think if I intentionally bought a doll with the fullset then my answer is no. I think the face up can be a major part of what makes up a fullset and without out it I wouldn't bother getting it in the first place? TBH I have never gotten a fullset, I get mine face up only or blank. Out of the dolls I got the company face up on, my reasoning was different depending on the doll.

Some have a face up from the company because I love their style and think it suits the doll the best. These I wouldn't wipe.

Then there's the one I got with a face up because I wanted them to be picture ready, although I do like the face ups on them, I plan on wiping these and doing them myself when I feel ready. I also had too many blank dolls to work on and didn't want every doll in that WIP look. Sometimes I just want to play dress up and take pictures!

 

I can understand both sides of to wipe or not to wipe.
Most of my dolls are from Volks, who don't sell blank dolls except through FCS (which isn't available to people outside Japan or via their US online FCS).
I've learned the hard way that dolls will outright refuse character ideas I want to shell in them, so I have to be flexible and work with the doll and see what character ideas it gives me as I spend time posing, going through eyes and wigs, etc.

Some of my dolls' fullset faceups work fine for the characters they've developed and I have no intention of wiping them (Ayame, my Standard Nico, my Shizu).
Others have some minor detail that bothers me and have me on the fence about whether to try and modify the faceup to better suit what I want – my Ryoma's lip corners are painted in opposite rising/falling directions that distract me when I'm trying to photograph his face front on.
I've wiped perfectly good faceups that didn't suit what I wanted for the head – my F-38 had an FCS faceup that wasn't to my taste, so I wiped it. Even though I'm very much a beginner at faceups and still haven't painted a version of his head that I'm completely satisfied with yet, he feels more "himself" even with my amateur work than he did before I wiped him.

On the other hand, if I'm looking at secondhand dolls, a custom faceup can be a deterrant for me, as most faceups won't work with how I want to style the doll, and at a certain price point, I feel like I would be paying for an artist's work, which, while beautiful, would be inevitably wiped and wasted.

On the topic of Volks, don't feel bad for wiping a faceup thinking a doll with the original faceup might not exist any more – Tenshi no Sato has a whole floor dedicated to a museum of all their limited releases with fullset outfits and faceups!

 

I have 0 face up skills. So if I don't get a company face up, I commission it.

So it often depends on the sculpt. Some I liked the company face up and I ordered it. Others I didn't and I got the doll blank and later commissioned a face up.

I only ever had one company face up wiped because it was so yellowed that I thought having it removed would help. I slightly regret it but the doll doesn't have a body yet so I can't be sure how much I regret it until the doll is complete.

 

As discussed up-thread, the whole appeal of a fullset is that it is a completed piece of art. I rarely purchase fullsets because I am typically only interested in the doll itself, not the various bits and bobs that come with it. If I do purchase a fullset, it is for a doll I otherwise cannot get my grubby mitts on unless I shell out for the whole kit and cabootle.

Personally, I have no issue wiping a default faceup from a resin doll, but struggle a bit more with wiping the faceup on my vinyl dolls. I think this is subconsciously due to the difference in value a faceup has. In the resin community, I find that default/fullset faceups rarely impact the price, especially when compared to in-demand/retired artist faceups that are hard to get slots for. Meanwhile, in the vinyl side of the hobby, the head sculpt itself is where all the value is, and many are willing to pay more if the head comes with a default faceup and eyes.

All of that said, though, a doll is yours once you purchase it. Wipe it and re-do the faceup with nail polish and hot glue if you so desire. The goal of any hobby is to spark joy, and how you derive joy from your dolls is your choice alone. Just make sure you're using proper PPE when doing faceups, as no one needs permanent lung damage for the sake of fun!

 

Most of my dolls, doing their faceup is part of the experience for me, but some of my dolls came with faceups that I'd only redo if/when it became necessary to-- and those aren't even fullsets. So, I think if I paid for a fullset with faceup, I'd be attached to that faceup-- and if I had to touch it up, I'd want to preserve as much of their original face as possible.

But, I wouldn't be preserving it due to resale value, just the personal value I place on it.

 

I have two dolls with a face-up, one was a full set I bought because I loved the outfit and the doll's face; the second I purposely bought the face-up because I really liked it even though the colors weren't quite right and Luts doesn't customize the face-ups.

I have no intention of removing either, largely because my own face-ups are not at the same level. I like doing face-ups but sometimes they can be frustrating when I want a doll complete and have to redo it several times because I mess up the eyebrows. And I have the hardest time with looking at my own work because I can see all the imperfections so at times I just prefer to have an artist do it. Because my dolls are made to be specific OCs once I'm completely satisfied with a face I will keep it as long as possible.

I would never begrudge someone for wanting to remove a company face-up, the dolls are made to be customized and everyone has their own vision of their dolls. Whether it's for value or personal preference keeping or removing a face-up is just one of the options available when owning such diversely customized dolls.

 

Came back to check everyone's opinions and I must say some of the points made were quite eye opening to me it is indeed a lot of work put into the faceup, whatever the outcome, and the fact that it's a company one doesn't change that. And I'm in the minority thinking of the value it seems although the good thing about it is that perhaps a buyer would really appreciate a doll I'd be selling a lot more than I used to, not being afraid to customize it as they please.

If anyone would like to check my first response, I was speaking from scenarios I've either experienced or could imagine in my own case which is that - if I'd be for any reason disappointed with the official faceup - I would simply hope someone else likes how it came out. I can't imagine splurging on a doll with a faceup that I at least am not hoping I'd like it would be a real pity for me to wipe a professional faceup that's well done and I would definitely try getting a blank head instead. Have a cookie and eat a cookie

Although if for whatever reason I'd love and could afford a limited fullset that I'd like to keep, but I absolutely loathed the style of the faceup... I can sort of imagine myself giving in and redoing it, but I definitely need more practice before that happens.

 

I haven't had my own fullset doll for very long (less than a year), but at this point in time, I'd cry if a part of his hand or face paintings came off from a scratch or rub. So nope, can't imagine wiping a FS doll clean... or at least just yet! TBD.

 

Yes, I would. Every face-up is a little bit different, even the full sets. It could come completely different than what I was expecting. Plus, it can fade or chip. A face-up isn’t going to be worthwhile if it looks bad.

 

I have done this to two different limited full set dolls! I regret doing this on one of the dolls because she is a character doll that I bought to stay as that character but for some reason I just wanted her to have a unique face up. Sadly this sort of ruined the bond with her. This was my fault sadly because I jumped into this faceup idea I had in my head without reminding myself that the reason I got this doll was for the character.

However I love the face up on my other character doll that I had customized but I also liked the default so much that I was finally able to obtain default face up versions of her.

Overall, I would remove a fullset doll’s faceup if I felt the vision in my mind would help me enjoy it more. I tend to avoid thinking about resell value when it comes to custom limited dolls because I’m buying the doll to keep hopefully forever.

 

I can't do face-ups because I'm highly inexperienced in that department. XD

However, if I like the current face-up, I will definitely leave it as is. If I don't like it, I might try to sell the doll or give it to someone I know who's a doll collector/lover who likes the doll. I don't have the heart to erase a beautiful face-up, even if I don't like it. Plus, removing a face-up requires either nail polish remover or straight up acetone, and I don't know how well certain BJD materials would take to acetone so I'd rather just give the doll away with the original face-up then try to remove it and give it a new one myself.

 

I just use 90% isopropyl alcohol.

 

Would you remove the face-up on a full set doll that you own?
Not likely. I tend to prefer buying my dolls first hand from the original manufacturer. I have a preference to buy the doll as a full-set with original face-up (either company standard face-up or the company's one-off face-up if it is an LE) as it is the full package that I fell in love with, not just the sculpt. That, and I wouldn't go near doing face-ups on my own. I had a traumatic experience of secondhand resin poisoning (nose bleeds, asthma symptoms that didn't go away, itching all over, etc) when my friend did custom face-ups for a time so I would never do face-ups for health reasons.

If I am looking at a secondhand market doll, even if it is a Grail doll, I tend to steer away from dolls whose original face-up has been wiped and redone. Partly because I tend to prefer mint or original face-ups, but also by the time a dolly without a original face-up shows up on the secondhand market there is also modding done to the sculpt which is also a hard no for me. From a collector's standpoint for me, if a dolly is without original face-up (even if it is a nicely done new face-up), I'm not willing to pay full value for the sculpt/doll unless the face-up artist is famous or is exceptionally talented. I have one floating head that was a Grail doll head with a face-up done by a famous face-up artist at the time so I paid premium for it. However, years later, I ended up getting the fullset Grail doll with original everything for way cheaper. So, it taught me to wait as I might get a better bargain if I do. I'm probably willing to spend between 25%-50% original value if a dolly is without original face-up. At that point, if I get a secondhand dolly that doesn't have original face-up, I'll just wait until the original company does a "Dolly Doctor" service where they can redo the company default face-up for a price as again I'm kind of traumatize by secondhand resin poisoning/face-up hazardous materials exposure so I'm not likely to send my dolly/sculpt out to a dedicated face-up artist unless they are good about using PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment) and other safety practices. But most likely, I'll wait until a default one comes into the market or the original company resells it.

I tend to be more of the collector type than a customizer to my dolls and my husband (who is also into the hobby) is the same way. My friend on the other hand goes between keeping the original face-up or customizing herself. The only problem I notice is if she doesn't like the new face-up she did or had commissioned and ends up losing interest in her dolly because the dolly isn't the same anymore (which tends to lead to her either selling the dolly or shelving it until she feels up to redoing the face-up again which she might not do as she has a kid now and has health problems herself).

That being said, I fully support others to do whatever they want in this hobby. Their money, their choices. Hahaha. And to be sure there are a decent amount of talented people here on DoA that can do custom face-ups and moddings and it would be an amazingly beautiful or handsome doll. I can lurk and appreciate talent here. But I wouldn't do it for myself.

 

I think there is a good amount of people here that would love sculpt, no matter what face-up it has, and would cherish it for sure. And customizing that sculpt to fit your ideal is your right to do. But I do have a cautionary tale though that fits into that "what if" scenario of what happens if you don't like the company's original face-up.

My friend had an LE doll with company face-up but wiped it because she had a certain character in mind for her doll. She had originally paid for the custom LE face-up as the promo pictures on the company website fit her character that she had in mind. When it arrived, she liked it originally but over time she started to fall out of love with the face-up as she saw what other face-up artists were doing with their sculpts. She had bought blank sculpts before and done face-ups so she figured her character would just come to be if she did the face-up herself as he was already almost there being a handsome sculpt. Her face-up artist skills were new but not bad, so it was hard for her realizing that her face-up wasn't as good as the company's LE face-up and that it didn't fit the character image she had (the LE face-up was like some sort of gothic vampire look that was so emo hot while her style and new face-up was ethereal soft tones). She ended up selling her dolly because it wasn't matching her expectations for her character and kind of hoped that later she would get another one with the company face-up again (either LE or standard) down the road as she realized it was part of the reason why she fell in love with the sculpt. She has fallen in and out of the hobby over the years so when she came back she was ready to buy a replacement doll. Well...that company doesn't exist anymore and her LE doll is like Grail level now. It's like a big ouch for her. She asks me to look out for that sculpt when she has the funds for it (she has to remind me what it is every time), but I haven't seen it back on the market in years and if it does come back the price is prohibitive for her or it's so modded that it isn't the same (the nose or the vampire ears or the fangs have been shaved down).

On the other hand, she had two sculpts (one very rare and the other moderately rare) that she did custom face-ups for as other characters she came up with. She loved both of them, but had to sell them for reasons. She was able to buy back one years later (the moderately rare one) and redo the face-up exactly how she liked again as the owner she had sold it to had done their own face-up on it. For me, I can tell that she was relieved that she was able to get the same sculpt back and had the talent to give it the face-up that she loved as it was like getting back an old friend after a while. Alas, the other sculpt also ended up a Grail level floating head so it is not likely she will be able to get it back and she still has regrets about selling that one and the aforementioned Grail one.

I think for her case where wiping the original face-up and losing the love for the sculpt, but then regretting selling it once it was gone, it made me realize that maybe still hold onto the sculpt until one's face-up skills are up to par with creating your ideal character. Or take a humble bow and research and find a face-up artist that specializes in that kind of look you are seeking. Or, like what my friend has been doing lately, keep the dolly/sculpt blank for a while and just kind of wait and see where time and circumstance takes you. Removing a company face-up is one thing. But selling a sculpt and not being able to buy it back at a later date is another thing.

 

This is such an interesting question I had to really think about my answer! There are some fullsets I have that I got because they're a fullset, like my Hualian dolls, so I don't really intend to wipe their faceups. I'd be more comfortable making tweaks to them, unless I felt confident enough that I could make their faceups look more like the manhwa art, which I'm not sure I could. I liked them in their promos and I like them well enough in person too, so I don't feel the need to.

There are a couple other full set dolls that I like and I think their faceups are cute, but I'm more interested in their outfits, so I'd be more inclined to wipe that one and make the faceup more in line with how I'd style the doll all together. Like Gem of Doll Spring. She has a really cute faceup, but I'm more interested in the rest of her fullset than her faceup, and it has some details that I don't think really add to the look much. But I think in that case, I'd probaby want to order the doll blank but with the outfit, wig, accessories, etc. and do the faceup myself from scratch instead of wiping the one from the company.