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

- 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?
It depends on how much the doll is yellowed, how old it is, what sort of resin the doll is made of and how even the yellowing is. Whether or not it constitutes damage or improper care depends on those factors. Resin yellows naturally over time and it can be attractive or unsightly.

- When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?
My DoT Ducan has definitely "yellowed" since I bought him in 2007 but not a nasty lemon color, its mellowed from his original pink to a very nice cream. I see it as an improvement and I love my doll even more for it. However, a doll that has "tan lines" from being in the sun or looks dirty from being yellow, that seems excessive and I would consider it damage. Basically its damage if it makes the doll less attractive to me, and is something that must be repaired.

- Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?
I specifically bought an older El head because he had lightened and yellowed, to better match an Fdoll body. I have no intentions of "fixing" him as he matches better that way. I might buy a very yellow "damaged" doll for a discount so that I could fix it up, but really as I said above it would depend on whether the yellowing made the doll look better or worse.

 

If the yellowing is even all over (or has no sharp edges even if it's more yellow in places like face and hands, and paler on places more covered by clothes) then I oftne prefer the colour - most of the "normal" skintones are too pink for my liking and need a bit of yellow to make them more natural looking.... also, the face and hands of real people tends to be a different to the rest of their bodies anyway, so more yellowing there helps.

I have bought a doll that was described as yellowed in places, but I can barely see any difference in the areas described as yellowed.

Teddy

Teddy

 

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?
Hmm I'm with most folks in saying it's part of natural aging, everything at some point or another has some color alterations when exposed to the environment over time. And since I have no intention of keeping my girl locked up in a dark place I know she'll probably get some yellowing. I plan to keep her cleaned often if I can, hard when there's some blushing and a face-up ^^;; that and I'm always fearful that the oils in my hands will cause faster discoloration. So I tend to try to wash my hands before handling her.
I'd say it would be damage if the doll was left out in the sun/heat carelessly. Or basically anything done in a careless/negligent manner to cause some more major discoloration. I say it depends on the owner whether yellowing would be considered "well-loved" or "improper care". As mentioned, it would have to be done by carelessness, negligent or ignorance in the manner of care.

- When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?
I agree with other that it becomes unacceptable when it's dramatic and marbling/uneven and unfixable. Acceptable is when it's mild or should be easily fixable.

- Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?
Only time I'd buy a very yellowed doll is if it's either a rare/LE or if it's sold at a very affordable price. Depending how yellow, I may try to fix it. I tend to prefer my dolls to not have tooo much yellow, it's gotta still be within the nice normal skintone range. That and I have a habit of modding things anyways lol

 

for me yellowing is something natural, we can't avoid it and i don't care much about it and do nothing against it. it made me smile when i hear that people put their dolls to boxes or even do not play with them only because they're scared of yellowing.
i bought few dolls second hand, i think most yellow is my DES but it wasn't a much problem for me

 

- 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?

It depends! How yellow is the doll? How old is it? What type of resin is it?If it was a newer doll and very yellowed, I'd say improper care. If it's older, and very yellowed, I'd say well loved. I think how severe the yellowing is also determines how I look at it. If the doll is extremely yellow, I'd say damaged(though I know all resin does it eventually)

- When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?
When the doll is 6 shades more yellow. That's when it crosses out of mellowed out and into damage for me personally.

- Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?
Probably not. Yellowing doesn't seem to affect second hand price all that much, so I'd probably save up the difference and wait for a less yellow one to pop up on the marketplace as opposed to buying one that's already severely yellow.

 

I do think it is natural. One of my dolls is showing signs now of yellowing but it is very even all over her body so I am not too bothered. At the moment she is soaking in a tub getting clean I admit that the oooonnnnly bit I don't like is if the doll gets too green. Yellow is fine but not green

I don't know if I would buy a yellow doll. I am not that into buying older dolls that cost too much more than newer dolls. So I doubt I would feel the need to buy one. If I really loved an old sculpt I would consider it.

If the doll was very yellow I might try to fix it. It depends on how badly yellowed it is. If it is greenish I would give it a try. But a normal even yellow? Nah.

 

- 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?

Well, whether we like it or not, yellowing IS unavoidable. I wouldn't consider faint natural yellowing to be "damage" really. A doll that's not that old and looks VERY yellow and uneven probably isn't being cared for properly... There are always exceptions, but for the most part unless you keep your doll pressed against a window or outside all the time the yellowing doesn't look that bad.


- When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?

When the doll starts to look blotchy or uneven and the owner doesn't try to cover it up with a little blushing or something. >>; It makes me think that the doll might've been overexposed to the sun or other nasty things.

- Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?

Very yellowed? Maybe, depending on how much I liked the doll. As for "fixing" the doll, again it would depend on how severely yellow it was. If it was terribly lemony yellow or green I'd probably send it off to someone with experience in bleaching dolls or something like that since I have no experience doing so.

 

I don't think yellowing is damage at all. I don't have a doll, but I know some yellowed dolls look nice, even (in my opinion) I think "damage" should be constituted as cracks, broken/missing parts, and the like.

 

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 damage. It can be slowed tremendously with proper care, except in rare cases or with French resin.

When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?
When you can tell it's yellow even without comparing it to a pink-toned resin of similar color.

Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?
I have before, because I knew it would be a long time before I saw the same head mold and skin tone again. He whitened a slight bit with some cleaning but I never did anything dramatic. I probably won't buy a yellowed doll in the future.

 

Thanks for you all share so many good opinions. I learn a lot here.

 

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?

Depends on how much yellowing there is. If there is a lot, maybe improper care-I'm not really sure.

When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?
When it is really prominent-or really uneven

Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?
I am to new to this hobby to buy and try to fix. After I get so more experience, and thought that I could improve (not necessarily fix-remove all yellowing) than I might consider it

 

I don't feel that it is any way a 'damage' to the doll. Yellowing can be 'reversed' or slowed down with UV cut MSC...etc. Either way, the dolls will turn yellow-ish. but I've heard that if white skin begins to yellow, it gives it a nice, creamier look, more natural. In fact, you can sand down, so I wouldn't mind buying a verry yellowed doll, since I could fix it.

 

- 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 it's graceful aging really. It decpits a well-used doll to me.

- When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?

Unacceptable would be serious piss yellow.


- Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?

I wouldn't. That is just me though, I can't really respect someone else's yellowed doll, because it isn't mine. In said case, I probably would fix it.

 

I understand that yellowing is a natural occurrence and on my own dolls it hasn't taken any of them beyond the parameters of what I consider a normal human skin tone, so I'm not all that bothered by it. Leery of it getting worse on some of my dolls that were originally more yellow-normal, but so far it hasn't been too bad.

What makes me think of yellowing as damage is when you get a doll that is unevenly yellowed. I've seen two year old French resin dolls up close, and they have the skin tone of a mottled zombie. Given that they were once a beautiful translucent peach, that feels like they've been ruined to me. Maybe if I'd owned one from start to finish I'd love them anyway, but just coming in as a bystander it really bothers me that something so expensive just seems to degrade over a short period of time and no, I wouldn't buy one.

 

- 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 consider it undesirable. My four-year-old dolls have yellowed some and I feel bad that I wasn't careful enough to keep them away from flourescent lights.

- When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?

I guess if/when the color gets so ugly you feel compelled to do something about it.

- Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?

I would not buy a second-hand BJD, period. If I'm going to pay hundreds of dollars for a doll I want it to be absolutely pristine.

 

- 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 have only physically owned my two BJD boys for almost a year, but I've been doing research for much much longer, and all I have read and now seen has been that resin just yellows. It does. No amount of hiding them in a dark corner in a box, covering them up with lots of clothes or anything is going to totally stop it.

Resin. Yellows.

Its not something I consider damage, it just happens to be the nature of the beast. As it were. I suppose the type of care it receives is how you define how it's cared for, but so long as you aren't just shoving it into a window for days on end, I don't think its due to improper care.

- When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?

If it were really noticable, that would be 'unacceptable' I think. Such as having very yellowed arms and hands and legs, but a very markedly differant coloured torso and feet because of shoes and clothes or something, or a very yellowed head, that might be unacceptable, but for the most part I can probably live with any yellowing that happens. I'm flexible on stuff like that.

- Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?

Sure I'd buy it, if it were a sculpt I really wanted for a good price. I might try to 'fix' the poor thing, if it seemed really bad, like someone had turned it lemon yellow somehow, but mostly I could live with the yellowing if it looked nice. I've seen some dolls that have yellowed into lovely shades until you'd swear that was supposed to be the colour of the resin!

 

Yes, yellowing is a natural part of the material my dolls are made of. Whatever I do, my dolls will, one day, be yellow. However, I can extend the time it takes to turn an unsatisfactory shade of yellow by caring for my dolls when I'm not playing with them. My dolls sit on a shelf in my room when they aren't being played with, and when it's very sunny (my room get's a LOT of sun sometimes), I cover their shelf with a thick blanket that blocks out sunlight. This has definitely worked for me...there has been no change in the resin colours of the dolls I currently own, while it took less time for dolls I used to own and have now sold, to discolour.

I think it's possible to strike a balance between enjoying your dolls and watching out for things like yellowing, without being someone who is afraid to touch and leave them in boxes or someone on the opposite end of the spectrum. There is nothing wrong with being careful.

As for the rest of the OP's questions, I prefer a pinker shade of resin, so I don't like a lot of yellowing at all. I do have one doll that's about 5 years old now, and he's just on the cusp of being too yellow for me, thanks to me leaving him in direct sunlight once or twice when I was a noob. But I love him dearly, so he can get away with it! :P

It would have to be an exceptional doll or deal that would make me buy a yellowed doll, and I would never ever buy a doll that was unevenly yellowed. I prefer my dolls in a like new condition.

 

- 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?

It is a natural feature... and it is also a sort of damage. I wouldn't consider it really 'improper care' unless it was strong or uneven. But either way, I'd consider it a negative when considering buying a doll.

- When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?

Slight yellowing might even improve a resin color, I don't know, but where it gets to the point where it's immediately noticeably 'that's yellow', that's definitely 'unacceptable'.

Well... for buying, anyway. My own doll, if I owned it long enough for it to yellow that badly, I'd probably still keep it. Sentimental value and all that. Worth more than some off color!

- Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?

Never. Never never never never never, not on any circumstance, no matter the sculpt, nope, no way no how. I probably wouldn't even buy a slightly yellowed doll. I'm one of those people that like to buy 'mint new'. I'll let my own doll yellow with time with me.

ali

 

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 don't consider it damage. Even if it's french resin doll that's been taken outside a lot and as a result yellowed unevenly. Obviously I wouldn't expect a doll like that to hold its original market value, but I wouldn't consider it improper care, just because the doll's owner wanted to take it places.

When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?

It's always acceptable. There's always a way to incorporate it into a character, even if it's tan doll gone partially emerald green. And if the original owner wouldn't want a doll like that anymore, someone else out there would!

Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?

I would and I did. 3 times. One was very unevenly and very deeply yellowed french resin Bambicrony. I love her just the same. Another is also Bambicrony that was described as yellowed, but it turned out that it was only her coating that went yellow. And the third is a french resin Supia Yisol and she's yellowed evenly in most places, although her torso has kept the original color better, being covered most of the time. I purchased them all knowing about the yellowing and I paid less than original value - so I was and am 100% happy about my purchases and I will buy another yellowed beauty, if the right mold turns out at the right price and time on Marketplace

 

- 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 very slight yellowing is natural in resin when it's aging. But if it's very dark, it could be a sign that the doll hasn't been properly cared for, like it was left in the sun a lot or whatever


- When does yellowing cross the line between "acceptable" and "unacceptable"?
Well, if the doll looks like it has jaundice, I'd say that's pretty unacceptable :P lol


- Would you buy a very yellowed doll? If so, would you try to "fix" it? Why or why not?
Probably not, unless I totally fell in love with it and couldn't find one that wasn't yellowed. I would not try to fix it, I'd be afraid of damaging it. Plus I have health problems, so I can't do the kinds of things necessary to fix it anyways.