Yellowing: Is it "Natural" or does it constitute "Damage"?

9 out of 10 times my experience with yellowing has been positive.
To me it's only natural that the color changes over time, and often, the color is a very pleasant creamy color. The only incredibly yellow doll I once had, was a Zaoll Luv in the original French resin. She was yellow yellow. At some point it just started bothering me and even a bath in peroxide couldn't save her.
But otherwise, I like how my dolls are yellowing. It's going very gradually, so I don't actively notice until I redress them and notice how white their headcaps are lol.
I have one doll that doesn't seem to want to yellow (which is fine xD ) and that is my Zaoll Muse in the normal white resin. She has been paper white since I got her 3-4 years ago, and she's even been outside and has gotten as much exposure as my other dolls.

Personally I don't see yellowing as damage and always overlook it in sales topics, unless it is really bad (like the doll has been laying outside for 3 days) or very uneven (yellow tanlines). It just comes with age and as they yellow over time while they are mine, it sort of creates a bond. We're both getting older and changing.

 

Yellowing isn't really a minus. People consider it to be bad, but it's a natural process of all resins. They yellow with age until the resin's properties finally stop settling (something like that). Sunlight speeds up the process, but it'll happen anyway no matter how careful you are. Personally I like the looks of a lot of yellowed dolls. Sometimes they turn out like radioactive bananas, but I have a doll that's greatly yellowed, and all he's done is gone from solid pinky flesh to a faintly glowing cream. I didn't let him yellow on purpose, but once I saw how lovely he looked yellowed, I kept him in near sheer-curtained sunlight for a month or so without clothes on (so he wouldn't get those silly tanlines mentioned above. "Yellowed" resin is the ultimate end product of any resin. Embrace it.

 

I would say it depends on a case by case basis. All dolls will yellow over time as it's the nature of resin, but not all yellowing is created equal, if you will.

A doll that is several years old that has had average maintenance and exposure I would expect to have yellowed a bit. I would also expect the yellowing to be even. This is nothing to get upset over so long as the seller documents it. Any uneven yellowing I would see as damage because it interferes with the look of the doll. I would also find extreme yellowing that is beyond what I consider normal to be damage as well - see banana yellow french resin, beauty green white resin, greened tan resin, etc, or even some just extremely yellow urethane. I've seen some that make me wince that you could never convince me to pay money for. I bought one of the original Bambicrony coloured elves when they were first released and the company did not disclose their "colorfast" resin was french resin. I was PISSED because my blue doll started turning green almost immediately upon receipt. And then told I should be happy about the natural changes in my doll's resin. Um, no. I was sold a defective product and was mislead by the company.

Some companies age nicer than other companies and some resin shades are improved with a little time. I have a 7 year old Bluefairy boy who was cast during the company's very dark pink phase, and his mellowing has helped kill off the extreme pink he came with. He's now a very nice warm peach colour that I really like.

It's a personal preference, and people shouldn't be shamed or harassed for not liking yellowing. I honestly don't like it once it reaches a certain point, and I wouldn't touch certain companies with a ten foot pole because of how fast their resin colour changes. No matter your preference, even if you think it's the Best Thing Ever, yellowing is something I feel should be well documented in any sales thread to avoid unpleasant surprises for all parties involved.

 

Agreeing with everyone else: Mostly, I consider the change a positive one! But different brands and different types of resin will age and yellow differently, and some are more graceful than others. Personally, I've seen yellowing on Volks, Souldoll, old Luts/CP, and a K-Doll head. The Volks dolls have all turned a lovely soft creamy tan, like you describe; the Yos really do look like they've been playing outside all summer! My Souldoll looks a bit more YELLOW next to newer resins, but by herself it's still not a bad color. She was my first doll, though, so I tend to overlook minor faults because I adore her so much. K-Doll was the same way, from paper white to a very creamy ivory that I love, though I did have to airbrush that one whiter to match a new body.

My only negative experience was with the old Luts/CP. He was a Kid Delf from early 2006, and within 2 years he was butter yellow and extremely unpleasant looking. His resin also seemed to get more brittle and shiny in texture over time. I know that part of this was the natural process of resin, but it made this particular doll look cheap and unnatural in pictures, despite being the same age as several others. I ended up selling him because of it, but to be safe I actually sold him to someone I knew from meetups who could see and handle the doll in person before making the decision to buy.

I definitely think that people need to clearly disclose yellowing. It may be beautiful to some people, or on some dolls, but it's not a universally positive change.

 

idgaf. Unless the yellowing is uneven and looks blotchy I don't care if the doll is slightly yellow. I mean, skin is slightly yellow anyway.

 

I actually thought Amir looked a lot better after yellowing. He wasn't so bright white and washed out in pix. I don't care for pink skin on dolls either, so yellowing helps that as well. I think the only time yellowing is really bad is if it's very uneven, banana yellow or green tinted.

 

You're not the only person. I actually prefer the mellowed look of most dolls. Volks resin is lovely when it ages, I can't wait until my Williams gets the same skintone my older SwD Lucas has.

Yellowing is only damage when it's very uneven, or when the colour is unattractive (like beauty-green Iplehouse realskin dolls, or blue/green/pink dolls loosing all of their original colour).
I do agree with Kim though that yellowing should be documented when you're trying to sell a doll, even if you prefer the skintone. There are many instances where a yellowed doll might be not what the buyer is looking for. He/she could be making a hybrid, or maybe (s)he loves the original colour. The more you disclose the better.

 

For me, it's always bad. I don't like the way it looks, and it saddens me that there's no way to prevent it. It's like wrinkles: you can stay out of the sun and try to prevent them, but if you live long enough, you're going to get them. I envy people who prefer the look - it gives them something to look forward to rather than dread. I've considered selling my oldest doll due to yellowing, but I love his face-up so much that I try to minimize the appearance of the yellowing by dressing him in dark colors. Eventually, once I have a lot of yellowed dolls, I'm going to display them in a separate room away from newer dolls, since yellowing is most apparent when the old doll is beside a much newer doll.

In terms of reselling, my guess is that it would usually be neutral or a bad thing. People who strongly dislike yellowing probably wouldn't buy a yellowed doll unless there was something very unique about it or they planned to use it for face-up/mod practice. I doubt a large percentage of people would refuse to buy a doll because it was not yellowed. People who like yellowing may see it as a plus, but some who enjoy the look of yellowed dolls like to see the color change over time.

 

I think the horror stories about yellowing are worse than my actual experiences with yellowing. I have one doll that's slightly yellow,but it's kind of a peach yellow like other people said. I don't think it takes away from the beauty of the dolls,even though I love the look of pure white resin.

 

If it's not spotty and the colour is more or less natural (as in, not green or bright yellow) it wouldn't bother me. There are people with very yellow skin tones in real life, after all, and if a doll yellows its face-up and blushing can always be changed to match the new colour.

I did find photos of an experiment a few people from this forum made with resin scraps that suggest that resin eventually turns light to medium yellow-brown with age and small pits form in the surface. It could have happened just because they left the pieces outside, but if that happened to a doll, I'm not sure what could be done to salvage it. It'd be sad if none of the resin dolls would survive as long as the ones made of porcelain do...

 

I actually really love the look of yellowed dolls, they seem more realistic and lively, and the shades are often very lovely from what I've seen of the resin. However, blotchy yellow spots that are uneven or even scattered about on the doll annoys me since I only see it from the corner of my eyes, but it looks absolutely terrible in that view.

 

Yellowing can look very pretty on a dolls skin, even some company's have an option of a more yellow
skin color for your dolls skin. I think that the yellowish color
can look very pretty.

 

THIS! I don't mind natural yellowing, but I have a Bambicrony that is "Misty Blue"... I didn't know it was French Resin, either. And that pale blue-green wasn't something that was going to last even MONTHS! I was lucky... I saw some that turned the ugliest PEA GREEN ever! The blue just faded and the translucent French Resin solidified into yellow and the result was just UGLY (unless you really wanted that color, anyway). MINE was not going green as quickly as some (I keep her wrapped up). but she's still greening more than ANY of my other dolls. I don't mind natural yellowing, but yellowing that happens shortly after you get a new doll is just BAD resin/color formulation!

I have older dolls in ws. I don't mind them mellowing and being less paper white. I have one that is more green, but I don't mind that so much since it's not bad and I can fix it with blushing. (He's just got that pale, white that drifts towards green rather than pink, so it looks a bit less natural as a skin tone.) I also don't mind if the shift is gradual and even.

I once bought a doll from ebay and the owner did not disclose that he was yellowed. She said--well, he's just an older doll, so that's what you should expect and the price was lower than retail--so that was also what a buyer should expect (which is totally BS). BUT the yellowing was UNEVEN-- and exactly where it would happen if you had the head and chest exposed to light for a while. I didn't want the hassle of fighting this on ebay-- and I really wanted the doll, so I blushed the heck out of him to try and get his chest and face to match the rest of him... He's not perfect, but I can live with it. That was VERY annoying. But he was a super-rare doll... I really dislike it when owners mistreat their dolls and then don't disclose this in a sale. It doesn't mean I wouldn't have still bought him, but opening the box was definitely a shocker!

SO... yellowing--no big deal unless it's an unusually bad batch of resin that just goes really ugly quickly, OR if it is uneven yellowing caused by light on a doll sitting in the same position and in the same clothes for an extended period.

And in the latter case, I still wanted the doll, so it really depends. Obviously not a deal-breaker in my case! Although I'd avoid uneven yellowing if I could a doll in better condition from someone else!

ALSO-- MSC can yellow... especially the really old stuff. I think if I cleaned my oldest doll very carefully, he'd look much whiter. But so far I like his faceup more than I worry about how cream-colored he looks...

Oh, and disclosing some yellowing on older dolls can be good if someone is looking for a more yellowed body or head to match something older that they have...

 

I think that anyone who absolutely can't stand yellowing might be in the wrong hobby, or will spend much time selling old dolls to get new ones...
That said, I have 2 tan dolls (2 more on the way) & worry about them turning green I also worry about the uneven thing & keep my dolls in rooms w/curtains that block the light.
I really do like the creamy aged kind of yellowing - I've a little doll like that - I got her about 18 months ago & she was over three years old then. So beautiful

 

I absolutely agree with everyone that it should always be disclosed if you are selling them! Some people don't like yellowing at all.
The only doll I have that is really lemon yellow is a very old Doll Zone Megi. He was kept in the same dark room (although I take all of my dolls out, a lot, so for me yellowing was not a negative when I bought the little Yo-SD), yet he turned a BRIGHT LEMON YELLOW. It's pretty awful, he looks jaundiced. I think this was probably before DollZone really had worked out all the kinks to their resin formulas.

 

I dont think yellowing is bad at all. It is a natural process that happens sooner or later. I do not think it is bad as long as it is even/on the whole doll and not just patches.

Another one of my thought is that yellowing can look absolutely beautiful on some dolls.

I dont mind yellowd dolls, not one bit. It is just a natural process resin goes through sooner or later. To me, it is a sign of a well-loved doll . However, to some peple it is damage, especially if they do not like yellowing at all.

Yellowing is acceptable to me (on my dolls) as long as it is even, covering the entire doll.
Yellowing is unacceptable when there are patches of yellow/uneven yellowing.

I would buy a yellowed doll, depending on what doll it is. If the company of the scult does not have a resin color i like, such as paper white, I'll look for a yellowed sculpt just to achieve the ivory color that paper white skin produces if yellowed.

 

- Do you feel that yellowing is just a natural feature of resin, or does it constitute a damaged doll? Is yellowing a sign of a well-loved doll, or is it a defect that signifies improper care?
Yellowing is a natural feature of resin but owners who do not take heed of resin's reaction to sun exposure are damaging their doll IMHO. Generally areas with prolonged sun exposure are more yellow than areas covered up with clothing, making the doll splotchy.

- When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?
It's acceptable as long as it's uniform. When it's splotchy it is unacceptable.

- Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?
I would if it's a limited doll that I wanted or listed at a very reasonable price. Otherwise I buy new.

 

A little bit of both, really, I think it depends. I've accepted already that yellowing is going to happen to my dolls eventually and that I can't avoid it forever, though I still don't like the looks of yellowed resin. But it's how the doll yellowed that would bother me. I'd be able to deal with it if it's all-over yellowing of the same shade, I think it would be uneven yellowing that would bother me.

 

I have no experience with yellowing yet, but I would find it annoying when it happens. Such pop cost a lot of money and I want it remains good

 

- Do you feel that yellowing is just a natural feature of resin, or does it constitute a damaged doll? Is yellowing a sign of a well-loved doll, or is it a defect that signifies improper care?
I think that yellowing is an unavoidable natural feature of resin and doesn't always constitute as damage (some owners even prefer their dolls yellowed), however, if you get the doll new from the company and place it in direct sunlight on purpose all day everyday then that is improper care that can be called a defect should you ever want/need to sell that doll.

- When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?
if the doll is kept in front of a window all the time then that is "unacceptable" yellowing to me, "acceptable" yellowing is if the doll is old and has been kept out of direct sunlight other than for photo-shoots and regular outings.

- Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?
Maybe, it depends on the doll. If I had time I would try to fix it depending on how bad the yellowing was and how much it bothered me.