Sanding

It really depends on if the seam lines bother you or not. Or if you think you'd be able to sand them yourself. I never get sanding done unless it's the company default, but that's just my personal preference.

 

I, personally, greatly prefer my dolls sanded, all the way up to favoring companies that sand the seams by default. But I hate seam-lines in a special way, whereas seams don't bother most collectors.

Most doll companies are really good about the seams not being too difficult or noticable, so you may not have an issue with it at all. Lot's of people on DoA can sand your doll for you if it is an issue, and it's not a diffcult task, though time consuming and you need very particular supplies to do so safely. (Resin dust is poisonous. It just sticks inside your lungs and you can't breath it back out.)

 

I know a girl who has a doll that every time I saw a picture of that doll I would see his seams and it bothered me. Now that I have my own doll, and he has seams, it doesn't bother me at all and I don't even pin-point my own dolls seams in pictures.

If I was to get Nika sanded, I'd do it on my own, which is what I've done most of the time. He's been hot glued, re-strung, wired, and has a face-up all by me, mostly because I'm afraid of sending him somewhere far away from me, since he's my first doll.

I would say that if none of those factors are holding you back, then sure, use the sanding service. ^_^

 

It depends on how you feel about seams. I wouldn't bother with it myself, but then seams really don't bother me--they just don't register. Most of the seamlines on my dolls aren't really all that bad anyway. You can also sand seams yourself if you feel so inclined--I'm sure there's plenty of information on sanding in the customizing subforum. It's entirely up to you.

 

I cared. Now I don't. If the seams were really sharp and deep I would do it...at least to smooth them so they don't pull clothes. But none of my dolls have seems like that so I stopped doing it.

It only depends on you. If it bothers you are not

 

I've seen some unsanded seams that didn't even register on my radar, and some seams that are so grotesque that they look like CRACKS in the resin to me, so really, I guess it would depend on the doll.

 

I know Dream of Doll is infamous for VERY noticeable seamlines... I've requested for them to sand the seams down, but they said they do not offer the service anymore.

Since then, I've been sanding down all my doll's seam lines. It's not too difficult or risky so long as you use a finer grade of sandpaper. I'm sure many people here on DoA offer sanding services and mods and lotsa customization options too.

 

Sanded and unsanded areas of a doll may yellow differently, so in the long run sanding may make your doll look worse! None of my dolls have really noticeable seams anyway so I'd consider it a waste of money.

 

I used to think seams wouldn't bother me, until I got my Soom Euclase. Soom seams are awful, and you can't sand grey resin without discoloring it. So it drives me batty every time I play with him. >_< I wish all companies sanded their seams by default.

 

I agree with what some others have said about it being a matter of how your feel about seams. Do they bother you when you see photos of dolls with seams? Have you ever handled a doll with seam lines? Did they look or feel weird to you?

I have never paid to have seams removed but I have, at least, softened them on all of my dolls that had seams because I really can't stand them. :

If you think you would be comfortable sanding them yourself or if you know of a customizer/friend who can sand them for you at a comparable price, you could just skip the sanding service from the company and decide after you get the doll whether or not the extra money or time is worth it. ^_-

 

Most of the time seams don't bother me, but I've done it on 2 of the tinies I got, since the seams were rather noticeable, it's not difficult just time consuming. After I sanded the seams I gave the entire doll a quick rubbed down, too, with the smallest grid sandpaper, so the resin was even.

 

If the seamlines are sharp enough to draw blood on me...(yes Fairyland and DollnDoll I'm looking at YOU) then I'll take them off myself, but if it's just a normal one that's just a little bit raised, nah, they really don't bother me tbh!

It's entirely down to the doll in question and whether they bother you.

 

DoD used to have the best sanding of any bjd company, but when they got overly popular, and the customers were, frankly, obnoxious to them about the wait times, they stopped sanding seams.
I can't blame them; I believe there were only three people working for the company, and they could only turn out so many dolls.

I notice some seams & don't others. Pretty random, really.

Ann in CT

 

I wouldn't order sanding service, because seamlines really don't bother me. I actually am rather fond of them. It's certainly not necessary to sand them down.

 

as most people have said unless seam lines bother you don't worry about it, but some companies have pretty horrific seams.

My biggest beef is the one time I did order seam sanding from a company (the particular company was dolkot) they did the crappiest job. There were still really bad seams all over my doll. I prefer to just do it myself.... it's not hard but it is a lot of work and labor intensive.

 

Really? That's odd, my Dream of Idol (and the DoC I got last year but later sold) hardly had any seams on them. In fact, out of all my dolls (three Sooms, a Luts and the DoD), my DoI has the smoothest seamlines - they're practically non-existent

From my own experience, I'd say Soom's seams are horrendous. My MA Sabik Elf had seam lines so sharp, I actually cut my finger on one. I ended up giving my Sabik a good sanding to get rid of the seams of doom.

Anyhows, back on the topic of whether I think sanding is necessary or worth it?

I'd say 'no' - not if you don't really mind seams. In my case, I don't because the majority of my dolls wear clothes and those that don't (or they wear scant clothing), I'm still not bothered by their seams appearing in photos or what not. I don't think I would ever pay for the sanding service, unless it's for a limited doll or something and I'm getting all the works (from full body blushing, to the outfit to seams sanded, etc).

 

Dream of Doll is a bit wonky on seams, they seem like they look for that in their dolls. Rarely does one get sent out with bad ones.

The only company I can really complain about, since I've seen many pictures and handled a few types in real life, is Fairyland. Seams so jagged and horrible that taking off a tiny's could lead to my thumb being lacerated? No thanks! The special head I bought has bad seams!

 

I would order a service if it was a special resin, like tan. For Volks Full-Choice System, they offer it for their sunlight-skin dolls. I wouldn't attempt it myself in case I messed up the skin-colour...

I sanded my first doll myself, because I wanted to see how easy it was and if I could do a good job ^_^ It's pretty easy, though it's rather time-consuming! Nowadays I don't really bother... I don't HATE the seams or anything. Though if they are rather funky around things such as fingers, for instance, I might get rid of them. Or if they are likely to pull on clothing.

 

If I can have sanding, I'd really rather have the company do it, I was sooo lucky that my girls body came with sanding as a default, though it made me have to wait for her longer, cause now they offer the same bodies without sanding as a default and charge more ^^; and I love the look better. Granted my boy is more a "tanned" variety and it looked like they sanded him down a little bit on some of the seams (probably because the seams were strong in some spots), but in general he's technically not sanded down. But with skin colors that are darker, you'd have to be careful as it can discolor. Now I have sanded down a full doll before (had to since it was older and stained) and gave it a good clean up and she look great, but it is a lot of work to do it yourself. I just keep a large bowl of water while sanding, to weigh the powder down, but still wear a mask.