Would You Buy An Unstrung Doll?

I bought dolls unstrung a couple times, I am even currently getting a brand new doll unstrung (Rugged Realism Epsilon)! I had never strung a doll before either, and honestly I was very confused about all the narrow holes at first too, but the seller of my first unstrung doll was kind enough to ship him with strings ready. That's worth asking, then you don't have to go completely by guessing and if the results are too tight/loose for your liking, you can just move the knot.

I managed to string both my Venitus by myself, but it required all my four limbs and a stringing hook (that was too wide to go through arms and calves, but helped a lot inside the torso as I string dolls starting from foot.) I actually pulled back the previous part with my toes while pulling the string through the next part lol. I also used a crocheting hook for the arm parts.

 

as long as it came with the elastic and s-hooks i'd be fine with an unstrung doll! especially if it saved on shipping.
i tend to take apart my dolls when they first arrive and give them a good clean anyways, so really it would just be more convenient for me.
i feel like an unstrung doll might also be a little safer during the shipping process, which is another plus.

 

I definitely wouldn't mind buying an unstrung doll even if I've never had the chance to buy one unstrung before. I've restrung all of mine over the course of my life in this hobby. It really helps to learn how they're put together and it's also quite fun figuring out the engineering of the different companies.

 

Sure, it saves shipping and custom fees. In my country we pay 12% for a strung doll and only 4% for doll parts.

 

I don't buy unstrung dolls, mainly because I don't have the strength any longer to restring them. That said, when I'm selling I've often had people ask me to ship the doll unstrung. It definitely saves on shipping.

 

Some dolls I'd rather come unstrung. The doll assemblers sometimes string them so tight it is ridiculous and can damage parts of the doll. Also I like saving a bit on shipping unstrung dolls since USPS charges for longer packages.

 

I think I may be okay with an unstrung doll, but mostly if there is documentation on how to string them online or if I could find a picture of the strung doll. If they provided elastics for the doll as well I'd probably be more likely to buy one

 

Yes absolutely unless it's a Fairyland doll which are a huge pain to restring I have always found. Specially the LittleFees!! Misery.

 

i did once and ive never strung her bc the seller lost a part as she was boxing her up to ship to me and soom wont tell me if they can give me a replacement part or not. im at the point where im considering learning to hand cast just so i can put her together.

 

In the distant future when I'm more experienced with resin dolls, absolutely.

 

I mean never say never, but I don’t see myself ever getting an unstrung doll. Stringing a doll sounds very complex and like something I would struggle with as I do lose patience quickly with intricate tasks! But to those who see opportunity in an unstrung doll, power to ya! If I knew how to, I might be into it!

 

I'm the same way! With only one exception, I've unstrung every doll as soon as I've gotten it. I restring my dolls fairly often anyway, and I'd love to get a kit version of a doll! That seems so old fashioned nowadays.

 

I wouldn't prefer it unless it drastically lowered the price, but if it was a rare enough doll I'd do it.

 

I still consider myself "new" and only being familiar with a couple of doll body types, I'd much rather purchase my dolls already strung. Even if they string up job is loose and needs to be tightened, at least with that I can see how the doll is put together and go from there. Figuring it all out from scratch is horrible. I received my Bash back from the face up artist and even though I was familiar with how he is constructed, I still ended up putting his shins on backwards and had to start all over!!

 

Is it rare? Then yes. I wouldn't buy one just because it is cheaper. It wouldn't be worth the discount for me. I would buy a rare doll that I have not seen any other way.

 

I'm not confident in my stringing ability at all, so it would have to be at a large discount for me to consider it.

 

I've bought dolls unstrung several times. I wouldn't necessary say I prefer it, but I learned how to restring dolls early in my hobby life so it's never really phased me to open up a box of bubble wrapped pieces ^^; I think the only downside to me is that I love dressing up new dolls so when I have to assemble it first I feel a great sense of anticipation and usually end up rushing the stringing instead of having fun with it.

 

I bought a few unstrung dolls in the past. Sometimes it has become difficult for example I had an old Super Gem body and those are strung differently from the normal way which I was unaware of so the doll ended up being strung incorrectly for a time until my friend showed me the correct way.

 

Strung, unstrung, doesn't matter much to me as long as the seller packages it properly. I can see it being a downside to those not well versed in stringing a doll, but besides that it's a great way to save on shipping and the seller doesn't have the hassle of having to drag a big box to the post office.

 

In a heartbeat, if it saves a lot on shipping or the seller doesn't have the original box. Older dolls will probably need to be restrung anyway. Elastic looses its stretch over time.

 

If it's a doll I really want, sure. I've restrung dolls before. Of course I greatly prefer a prestrung one.

 

I string all my offtopic/in progress printed dolls. I appreciate company-strung dolls, if it’s done well (and it’s usually better than my stringing), but I’m perfectly comfortable stringing a doll. If I could get a better deal on an unstrung doll, I would absolutely take advantage of it, though I’ll admit I’d probably think a bit about *why* it was being sold unstrung - if all the product photos were unstrung too I would be worried about the doll being in poor condition in a way being unstrung made it harder to see (like uneven yellowing.)

 

Not yet as I’m not comfortable yet as not got the hang of putting them together

 

If you know how to string a doll, I don't see why not. If it saves shipping costs, even better! Though I'd rather the parts be divided into individual ziploc bags or something so that I know what parts are left/right/etc.

Given, restringing is... so annoying when you get to the hands/feet, but if you have someone helping you, it's all fine.

 

I haven't had a problem with LTFs, but the one time I had to restring a Puki Fee....it was almost the end of me. I was at that thing for hours before I finally figured out the knot goes in the larger thigh. Tears were cried that day. Many, many tears.

 

Shipping costs to places like Europe often rise significantly due to custom taxes. Because of this, people often request for parcels to be undervalued to evade these very high (and often kind of unfair imo) taxes. However, even when value is marked down, parcels may sometimes still be caught by customs, in which case you'll have to pay custom taxes anyway. Downvalued parcels that are smaller are much less likely to get caught than bigger parcels; and where most YoSD and MSD-sized dolls are small enough that they don't get caught by customs, I would definitely have interest in buying SD-sized dolls unstrung. This way, the parcel can be small enough that those won't get caught by customs either!

-If I learn how to string dolls first, that is

 

There's also a compromise unstringing - the torso/pelvis, legs, feet and head joined by the larger cord are unstrung and pieces wrapped separately. But the chest part (if there's a jointed torso) and arms/hands joined by the shorter cord are left attached and wrapped tightly "mummy-style". That still allows you to use a much smaller box, but alleviates some of the restringing headache.

 

I would absolutely buy an unstrung doll and have done so before. I've found that I'm really picky about how my dolls are strung so it is almost better for me to get them unstrung. It helps too that I enjoy restringing, sueding and wiring my dolls.

 

If it came with the strings & hooks it'd be fine with me ^_^ but it can be quite daunting! I can feel my fingers aching right now! Restringing traumas of the past O_O

 

If the doll comes directly from the manufacturer, I’d definitely want it strung and very well strung in box, with complete outfit and accessories. Nothing missing or damaged. Without spot and blemish.

If the doll is bought from the secondary market as a non full set, then, it can be shipped unstrung without box and accessories to save on shipping. If the doll is very old like more than 10 years old, I will unstring it when it arrives for purpose of cleaning, inspection and maintenance which includes re-stringing. My incoming doll which I bought from DOA market place is on his way home unstrung without original box and accessories. He’s 14 years old.

 

I've bought unstrung dolls before to save on shipping. I've even bought a doll that had no box so had to be sent unstrung. Its not as difficult as people think to restring a doll, especially since I tend to buy SDs or larger. I'm not even worried about restringing a tiny, it just takes patience, stubbornness and determination, all three of which I have when it comes to BJDs.

But, because I like to keep the original box if available, I'd rather have the doll strung.

Either way is fine with me, as long as I get the doll I paid for.

Ryu

 

I would buy it if it's something I absolutely love. Most of the time, I just buy my dolls directly from the factory or the dealers. I'm addicted to that new resin smell

 

I have absolutely no problem in buying a doll unstrung, even though I'm still not the best at getting the right tension on the elastic when I restring. Actually, I find restringing quite fun, in a puzzle-like way. For now, the only one I've actually bought unstrung was DiM Flowne during DiM's closing sale.

 

There has no problem with me for the unstrung BJD 'cause I think I could restring myself.
Just care about the beauty of the child and how it will delivered to my house
(In my opinion, there might has some breaks by delivery in case the doll is unstrung, and in compare with the strung BJD, it seems it happen more usually)

 

I wouldn't buy one unless it was one of my grail dolls or a bargain priced one that I really like. But yeah, whenever I see dolls that are unstrung in the Marketplace, my eyes automatically skip over them and I have to remind myself to really check to make sure they are not one of my grail dolls. Although I've been in this hobby for years, I don't trust myself enough to do it correctly. My first doll had messed up string because of the way a friend played with her so I took her to the Volks store way back when to have them restring her. If I needed to do it again with any of my dolls, I probably would email Volks and hope they would be willing to do it for me even for a price.

 

I would definitely get an unstrung doll. My first dolls (off topic BJDs) I made myself, so stringing was certainly a process, but not something I would shy away from. Some dolls i'd love to see unstrung just to see how the joints/pieces look for reference for making more dolls myself in the future.

 

I prefer to have the original box and I have both coordination and strength issues that make restringing an absolute nightmare, so no.

I got a doll as an unfinished kit once fifteen years ago when I was new and nooooope never again.

 

Definitely to save on postage cost.

 

Most of the dolls I've bought were strung, and overall I'm pretty indifferent about it, but I think if I really had to choose, I would prefer buying unstrung. There have been times when I've had to redo the stringing or change the stringing, and other times when it was good enough for me. I don't think I'd mind just starting with the whole process myself. Living in the USA, we have it easier than a lot of the rest of the world in that we don't get custom taxes, but shipping costs for bigger boxes tend to be more expensive, so that'd be another perk to buying unstrung. I also feel like the pieces have less of a chance of getting damaged when they're not under tension from being strung.

 

The second doll body I ever purchased was an unstrung body from Migidoll Big incentive was the reduced cost price. He shipped in an adorable box designed to look like a suitcase

Not sure if I would buy one unstrung specifically to save on shipping (because I’m a box hoarder lol) but I think having the option is nice. Pretty sure I have considered asking for it in the past.

 

Personally, I would buy an unstrung doll. It's much cheaper sometimes. For some it may be a little time consuming to string your doll together but, if it's a sculpt you have been eyeing for a while it's best to purchase the doll if that's all the company has available. I know DollShe and D.I.M had sales a few years back for discontinued sculpts and some dolls were only available unstrung.

 

It sounds rather daunting especially as a newbie, but if it’s a doll I really want and it lowers the price significantly/comes with instructions, then I don’t particularly see why not. I’ve done much more dangerous projects blindly and came out relatively unscathed; My main concern would be damaging the doll rather than damaging me I would think...

 

For me, restringing is a nightmare, but I would be willing to buy a "kit" where the doll comes unstrung and unsanded if they were cheaper. For the price they charge, I expect the doll to be finished (and that doesn't happen, that is one of the reasons I ended quite disappointed with this hobby).

 

Yes! With companies getting crazy on how tight they are stringing dolls these last couple of years I would definitely restring dolls myself as long as basic stringing method. But Fairyland, and those anthro dolls no way.

 

I bought two bodies during DIM's closing sale forever ago, and neither of them came strung, so yes! I would buy unstrung dolls!

 

Absolutely! One of the first things I do with my dolls is re-string them once they're home. I prefer my dolls to be pretty tight, and most dolls tend to be shipped with looser stringing to prevent damage.

 

If it were a doll I really wanted, I don't think I'd care. Restringing is a bit of a hassle but it's not a dealbreaker - sometimes you have to restring dolls when you get them anyway.

 

Of course I'd buy an unstrung doll! I have before. It often makes shipping safer or easier, not having a loonnnnnng dollbox and having each piece wrapped safely.

 

if it was a doll i wanted, yes, though if it was an SD i would definitely be more skittish about it. but also i prefer MSDs and below anyway!

 

Yes I would buy a doll unstrung if it was from a particular mold I am seeking to add to my collection.

 

Yep, have previously done so a couple of times - direct from the company and from other hobbyists. The only real downside is I do prefer to have the matching company boxes when possible for both organisation/storage and completionist tendencies!

In one case, it was because the company were selling off the last of their dolls since they were sadly shutting up shop forever. (Sighs wistfully at Light Limner's lovely sculpts.) It was no more difficult stringing that doll than any other routine doll maintenance since otherwise the doll was complete and perfectly finished (I think they just had a few dolls left over from previous production runs at this point that weren't worth purchasing another batch of branded packaging for).

In another direct from company example the doll was sold specifically as a kit-doll with quite a bit of finishing off needed, which required seamline and casting gates removal before even attempting stringing - now that one was a hassle! He did actually come with branded packaging thinking about it, though once he was assembled of course he was too large for it.

 

Oh definitely! I've done it plenty of times, usually to save on shipping. Restringing does not bother me at all, so it's an easy choice. Unstrung vs strung isn't even a factor in my decision to buy a doll.

 

If the doll is sold unstrung for less than the same doll strung, watch me. Buying a doll unstrung also might be better when customizing, it for people who want to. Personally, I have no problem with it, I think it is pretty fun to re-string dolls, it also gives you the ability to have them at the tightness that you like.

 

I highly prefer to own the box, but yes, I have bought 1 full doll and 2 bodies unstrung without boxes. Restringing is no factor and I'll probably end up adjusting the tension anyway.

 

I don't mind either way to be honest! Strung dolls are nice because they are ready to play from the get go. While unstrung dolls are like a crazy puzzle that I get to put together and I can get the string tension to a level that I like. I do also agree with a lot of what everyone has been posting, its cheaper to ship unstrung and it's a great chance to see any damage/issues from the sellers perspective to disclose to the buyer before purchase. And it's also cheaper to ship as well. But preference wise? I don't mind either way.

 

Yes, I would and often have bought unstrung dolls. I'm in the possible minority but I enjoy stringing dolls and find it easy. The price to ship a strung doll in the USA a decade ago via USPS was quite acceptable, but the rates have gone up to a degree I would not have imagined. The fact that it now costs as much to use the priority mail large flat rate box as it used to cost me to ship a 1/3 doll retail is bonkers. For saving myself money if I'm paying shipping on something I bought I would gladly do unstrung.
But on the flip side I also like having company boxes and I miss those days. (for anyone reading this in the USA, I've found that UPS is very cust effective to ship 1/3 dolls strung. It can even cost less than the USPS flat rate box lol)
Anyway I make a lot of my decisions in life with "which is cheaper?" And therefore it's often enough been unstrung dolls.

 

I honestly have no idea how to string a doll, so I'm a bit worried to try in most cases. I bought a 1/12 doll kit a bit ago and I'm honestly so nervous about stringing it that it's just sitting in the box still.

 

If you’d asked me when I first joined the hobby I’d say no, absolutely not lol. But now that I restring my dolls quite often, if it meant cheaper shipping (and the parts were all properly packaged) I definitely would!

 

I have not restrung a bjd yet but it wouldn’t hurt to learn, so if a grail was available but only unstrung I would definitely buy it.

 

Unstrung is fine by me. Not only is the shipping less expensive, but a lot of times dolls come from the manufacturer with lighter elastic than I prefer and I end up restringing them anyway.