Making copies of your master sculpt and artist casting

I think it depends. I'm not sure sending a doll off to cast is worth it if you don't plan to sell it, but if you promote it it might not be hard to get people interested on it and could save you money. However if you don't plan to do that, casting yourself works just fine. It all depends of what you want.

Rough comparison:
Casting yourself:
Pros: fun, cheaper (if you're lucky), more freedom, you don't have to worry about mailing things back and forth
Cons: you need to learn and practice, need for safety measures (casting releases fumes), kind of a mess, results might not be as good as what you'd get from a professional company
Casting companies
Pros: good results, easy to get copies with consistent quality, way less work
Cons: can be quite expensive, mailing your master is risky, you need to plan the master sculpt around the company's methods

 

Making junk casts with silicone straight away can be really expensive so make sure to practice with small pieces first! And don't worry, it's good to think ahead because a lot of the time you need to take the casting methods into account while you plan the master.