To Vinyl or Not to Vinyl

[MelodyT]

Lol. Resin is a plastic too.

Actually, apparently not. Anyway, I don't know all the in's and out's. As long as my dolliehs are sturdy and well put together, I don't care what they made of.

Here is an interesting article on the various 'plastics' used...

http://radiantdreamer.net/anime-pride/d ... one-oh-my/

[magkelly]

Resin and vinyl both yellow, they both chip and stain. Neither one of them impervious. Honestly except for the posing thing, I don't really see why resin is supposed to be better. I have vinyl dolls with more points of articulation than my resin ones actually, that pose better. My resin dolls are a bit heavier but in some ways they are actually more awkward to own. It's a royal PITA actually dressing my BJD's compared to my vinyl dolls and most of my vinyl dolls sit better besides. Delilah Noir, she's got body issues. She's not a typical vinyl doll and she does not pose well at all for a supposed BJD, and yes, she stains like crazy. I love her, but I also realize she's got some major flaws and that's likely why they discontinued her, because they could not be bothered to fix them.

But that's Ashton Drake for you. They were the same way about the yellowing and chipped Gene dolls too. They do not stand behind their product all statements to the contrary notwithstanding. Neither does Tonner. I've had two dolls come with minor damage from them in the past year, and neither time could they be bothered with it when I emailed them. One time they actually said they'd send new boots to replace the damaged ones and they never did. The second time they just shrugged off deep gouges in my doll's legs as nothing because she was "only playline" and "things happen" to playline dolls, and I can't reasonably expect collector's quality for those. I've almost stopped buying dolls from them because of this statement. Now, I mostly buy used, and only when I can see pics of the actual doll I am buying. Major loss for them because I used to buy 2-3 Tonner's directly from them every year, albeit usually only when they had a good sale. Now they don't get any $$$ directly from me and that's just too bad.

I don't think any type of doll is completely sans issues. I like any kind of plastic so long as it's decently thick and not hollow. But I am admittedly picky most of the time. I don't just accept any doll regardless of issues. If I do? It's because I really, really love that doll and think I can work around them maybe but when it comes to buying new dolls I prefer dolls in good shape and I will put back or send back a doll with major issues every time unless I know I can't get it any other way. The QC issues with my 2 RV Delilahs really ticked me off. But the doll store I bought them at clearly doesn't care that they are selling damaged dolls.

They were the last two and she really didn't want to take them back. Normally I would have insisted that she did, but replacing them wasn't possible and I still wanted those dolls so I just dealt with it. She won't be getting any more orders from me though, and FYI that was my second and third doll that I've gotten from them. 2/3 with issues and a "whatever" attitude? No way I'd ever buy another doll from them again. She just lost a regular customer in me which is not too bright in this economy.

I don't think owning resin dolls has turned me off vinyl. It seems to be that any doll material has it's issues. I'm having to put body stockings on the resin dolls to keep them from staining too. One of my RS dolls has stains now from a doll wig. It took her all of two seconds apparently to get some even though it had a rubber cap. I've got Barbies with stained legs from clothing and I've got 16" vinyl dolls that have stained too. It doesn't really seem to matter what they make them from actually I don't think. Don't be surprised if your Ello goes olivey over time. Tonner dolls can do that. They don't seem to go outright yellow too often but a few of mine have quite definitely changed skin tone over the years just like resin dolls, and they get near to no UV exposure in here. My Harry Potter is the worst. He's gone from a pretty light pale tan to an olive beach boy tan look in just four years. He's much darker than a Daniel Radcliffe doll should be now. He's still HP/DR but he looks like it's summer and HP/DR has been laying out and that's just so not what he's supposed to look like. He looks like a darned Beach Barbie now...

Eh, plastic people and their quirks, you just have to live with it and love them anyway sometimes....

[yarwel]

Here's the definition of 'plastic' according to the Oxford English dictionary:
"noun
a synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, PVC, nylon, etc., that can be molded into shape while soft and then set into a rigid or slightly elastic form."

I think we can safely say that resin falls into that category. After all it is made of synthetic organic compounds and is generally formed in a mold.
More importantly, classifying it as a plastic reminds us that it isn't really any better than the other plastics dolls are made of.

[Evelien]

I don't think anybody said one is better than the other. Everyone has their own preference. I love vinyl for its posing but I like resin for its weight and feel. You need to feel both to make up your mind . Or better yet, you don't need to choose at all and you can just have both ^^

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

I don't think anybody said one is better than the other. Everyone has their own preference. I love vinyl for its posing but I like resin for its weight and feel. You need to feel both to make up your mind . Or better yet, you don't need to choose at all and you can just have both ^^

This last bit - the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (excluding all mundane things like budget considerations ) And that's one of the things I like about here, it's about all the dolls!

[oniakki]

I don't think anybody said one is better than the other. Everyone has their own preference. I love vinyl for its posing but I like resin for its weight and feel. You need to feel both to make up your mind . Or better yet, you don't need to choose at all and you can just have both ^^

A note to start, this has become way, way longer then I had intended it to be. I'm not anti-resin, I just like hearing other's reasons for their choice, and figured I should at least provide my reasons in exchange. ^.^

I chose soft vinyl because of it's posability, feel, weight, cost, and the Obitsu specifically because of ease of getting replacement parts. In my experience resin is heavy and rather fragile (various formulai of resins used for 28mm miniature wargaming, lighter then metal, but heavier then the polystyrene 'hard plastic miniatures' are made from). If I don't like the weight balance of my Obitsu I can add ring weights to it's internal skeleton to rebalance it a bit. Incidentally I don't actually see any positive of resin other then the extreme level of detail it can hold, though I can see that easily countering many of those.

This brings in the purpose of the doll which affects how important each of those values is, so I can understand why people would prefer resin dolls. (There seems to be, at the very least, a much much wider selection of sculpts in resin then vinyl.) I don't want a heavy doll, I'm planning on carrying them around a lot at conventions, being lightweight but sturdy is important. I like my doll's skin to have a little give when I touch them, makes them feel more... real? alive? human? warm? comforting? not sure what to call it, but less cold and lifeless. There's also cost, when I can get 1.5 to 6 Obitsu for the same price as a doll that poses worse, weighs more, and is more prone to damage... I haven't had one that calls to me strongly enough to counter those hurdles.

While I don't mind dolls with minor damage (it gives them extra character), serious damage needs repairs, which Obitsu assists with greatly. Allison arrived with a broken shoulder and a damaged hip, though I didn't notice the hip till I was attaching her tail, and as the damaged hip hasn't affected posability much (she can't high kick long with that leg, it ends up slowly drooping), I've been holding off replacing it. She just tends to favor one leg over the other slightly.

I don't own any resin dolls (unless the Freya counts, I thought she was PVC or ABS), I have handled a few at conventions... they are one of the big reasons I held off as long as I had getting into the dollieh hobby, they seemed far to fragile to be hauling around at anime conventions, especially given their cost (which had I known how much they cost when I was at the con, I probably would've been too afraid to even touch them).

[Yanagi-sen]

In my experience resin is heavy and rather fragile...

I don't own any resin dolls (unless the Freya counts, I thought she was PVC or ABS), I have handled a few at conventions... they are one of the big reasons I held off as long as I had getting into the dollieh hobby, they seemed far to fragile to be hauling around at anime conventions, especially given their cost (which had I known how much they cost when I was at the con, I probably would've been too afraid to even touch them).

I like MSD resins... only a pound or two and the weight only starts getting to me when I have to hand carry one for a few hours. As for the 'fragility' and travel... Nagi is 5 years old and has no damage, the rest are a year or two younger, no damage. My dolls aren't 'shelf' dolls. Both Nagi and Momiji have been on trips to Europe, and NOT in a doll bag, but just wrapped in white cotton with a face up protector in my backpack or messenger bag, pulled out repeatedly for pictures. I've hauled everyone on flights to conventions or to visit Kiki-chan78 in Puerto Rico... four MSDs and two tinies in a doll bag designed for one MSD. If they are packed in tight it's not like anyone is going to be moving around!

I just make sure the hands are tucked in, everyone is wrapped in fabric so they won't pick up stains from each other's clothes, and face up protectors are on. I've had dolls face plant on tables and slip out of stands, no broken ears or noses. Granted, none of mine have fancy ears that are more likely to break. I like my elastic strung boys who aren't breaking hips and shoulders and elbows repeatedly. Besides... for 1/4 size... the Obitsu are actually more expensive than most of my resins.

Obitsu are awesome posers... resins are cuddly. (Unless we're talking a Kiki-chan78 Sweet Dolls resin, which is in their own SPECIAL posing category.) ^___^

[yarwel]

I didn't mean to imply anyone here had said that resin was superior(I guess I was thinking about some general prejudices people have like on *that other forum*). I just wanted to convey that they really are all plastics and resin doesn't need to be in its own *special* category, if that makes sense.
I love my resin(and how heavy he is) but I love my play-line and polymer clay dolls too, Oh, and my wooden and porcelain girls, of course.

[oniakki]

{...} I like MSD resins... only a pound or two and the weight only starts getting to me when I have to hand carry one for a few hours. As for the 'fragility' and travel... Nagi is 5 years old and has no damage, the rest are a year or two younger, no damage. {...}

That is good to know, I suspect I'll end up with a resin girl at some point (the Doll Chateau Y-body-03 keeps catching my eye, but I've yet to see a head to go with it.)

{...} Besides... for 1/4 size... the Obitsu are actually more expensive than most of my resins. {...}

I haven't actually looked at many of the 1/4th dolls, probably should consider it, even if I currently feel they're too small. The Obitsu50 is a 6' 6" or 200 cm tall person at that scale. And it'd be much easier to scale things into quarters rather then thirds.

I didn't mean to imply anyone here had said that resin was superior(I guess I was thinking about some general prejudices people have like on *that other forum*). I just wanted to convey that they really are all plastics and resin doesn't need to be in its own *special* category, if that makes sense.

I personally didn't get the impression anyone was claiming that any of the materials was truly superior (as in better period) (though I apologize myself if anyone thought that from my wall of text ^.^;; ). Personally I feel each of the materials should have their own category simply so people can find the strong and weak points in particular areas they want for their particular wants/needs/desires. Though I don't mean the different materials should be segregated, because I like seeing people working on/pampering their dollieh friends/children no matter what those friends/children are made from. I just like knowing that doll X and doll Y are of materials P and Q so I have a better idea what I'm getting into when I consider buying one. One of the reasons I like reading about everyone's experiences/preferences with each of the materials.

[DollyKim]

I've carried my Dollzone mini boy around a lot in the almost seven years since I got him and he's doing fine. The Obitsu 60 is the only one who ever broke, his shoulder when I grabbed his arm after a cold snap and his hip but that can happen to the best of them. As for the resins the only break was a Brownie wrist post while changing hands. All fingers are still here, no one has fallen down and gone boom. The 70s are the only ones who stay home a lot because they're just so big.

Of all the dolls I have The Medicom RAH has been the worst design, he disarms himself, and I have a term called Volks Fragile which is special to just them. With most of these dolls you would have to go out of your way to break them.

I'm primarily 1/6 scale because that's where I'm comfortable and I came to the party with a lot of Barbie stuff form my childhood. Go with what feels right to you. With the holidays coming you'll be able to pick up lots of "Re Ment" play food and dishes for larger dolls.