Casting issue or damage?

It's hard for me to decide... because of the position of the seamline I think it could be an unfortunate blemish from casting on the top of the ear. But I never noticed it in that position on the ear itself before on any doll I've seen. I feel like maybe it's damage for that reason, although very minor. If I were selling such an item just as example I would probably mention it as damage simply because I think it's a bit outside of typical seamline defects.
If it was a little dent damage it would probably pop out again with boiling water, or so I hear.

 

I think if people experienced with this or other similar heads think it was a casting defect then no reason not to believe them.

 

I'm leaning toward casting defect, simply because if the ear got bonked in that spot the tip would almost certainly just break off.

In the bigger scheme of things, why does it matter? If you ever sell him, just make note of it. It doesn't matter if it's a defect or damage; a potential buyer will care about how it looks, not what caused it.

 

It could be either, but I am leaning towards a casting defect. Considering how pronounced the parting line of the mold is and the fact that there really should be a vent in the mold right about where the defect is. It looks like the parting line is running right along the edge of the ear and small defects along parting lines happens very easily.
Based on personal casting experience, a likely scenario may be that the head was cast in a worn mold and the plastic in the vent either got stuck in the mold as the head was pulled out and broke off too close to the head, or was uncautiously timmed after demolding, resulting in a small chip. Either is something that can happen quite easily and probably not considered serious enough to discard the head.
Another possibility is that the dent is actually the casting line itself, cutting across the ear tip. When comparing it to the casting lines on the head, the difference in level seem similar. That is proably easier to see in person, though, as the photos only give two dimentions.

With that said, it could of course be a dent that happened later in the life of the doll as well. Testing to restore it using the boiling trick wouldn't hurt anything and if it works, it works.

 

What does it look like in comparison to the other ear?

 

After discussing with my friend, it could be an air pocket and it wasnt bad enough to reject the cast.

I would just sand it clean. Ears arent necessarily symetrical.

 

What a cutie