Would You Buy An Unstrung Doll?

I’ve purchased a few dolls here on DoA unstrung or partially unstrung. It saves money on shipping and I’m comfortable restringing dolls. it’s a great way to bond with the new doll.

I’ve only had one surprise with an unstrung doll, my Volks F01 with Oldskin body. Totally my fault because I was so excited to see an F01 come up for sale at a great price that I didn’t read up on the Oldskin body, which doesn’t use hooks to attach the hands and feet. Let’s just say it took several tries and I set her aside a couple times but before I got her assembled. No regrets at all and I learned a little Volks history.

 

I won't because I'm super clumsy and maybe I would destroy the doll instead when trying to strung it

 

Definitely! It saves money on shipping and stringing the doll is a fun activity + helps with bonding

 

Very much depends on the doll and it's condition, but generally I'd say yes, I have and will buy dolls that are sent unstrung! Mostly it's just tinies (1/6 scale and smaller) that I hate restringing...but those aren't usually unstrung for shipping to save costs so it hasn't been an issue for me. I guess the only other time I wouldn't want a doll sent unstrung is if the doll's company box was important. Like, it's part of proving they are legit, or it's the box of a limited doll with special art on it or something.

I will say that when selling a doll I leave it up to the buyer whether they want the doll put in a smaller box unstrung or not. I don't mind shipping a large box or a small one, as price is always factored in or discussed ahead of time anyway.

 

Most of the time it's not a problem for me.

 

You don't have to completely de-string a big doll to save shipping costs. Taking off the head and separating the chest/arms section gives quite a space saving, even when the three pieces are each wrapped in their own bubblewrap bundles. Of course, if a doll is so tightly strung vertically that yoinking that cording back up through the neck and getting the head back on will be a herculean task, and if there isn't any extra length to loosen the knots and adjust, it would be easier to get the whole length sent unstrung and just restring it to a more moderate tension.

Tinies now - you never know what kind of string or elastic/nonelastic cord the company uses until you have one. Nobody unstrings them for shipping, but sometimes older dolls will come apart whether you get them sent strung or not!

 

I have bought a couple of dolls unstrung and find it annoying. Nevermind that I may take a doll apart to clean up and restring (usually older ones) after arrival but I really prefer having the doll arrived in one piece. It's not logical, but just my preference.

 

Yes, many times, sometimes completely unstrung and sometimes the lower and bust/arms sections separate so the shipping box can be shorter to keep the parcel in a lower price bracket. I do have the experience now with tools I am happy with which helps. In my first year I didn't attempt any restringing tbh. Took a while to get the courage up to do this

 

I'd buy an unstrung doll, and I've agreed to have one sent to me unstrung before!

It's one of my Black Cherry dolls, my Zeri. I ordered her in December 2021 and knew it'd be about a six month-ish wait. Well, the next February, Russia invaded Ukraine, and the US obviously wasn't here for it. (For those who don't know them, Black Cherry Dolls is a Russian company.) In June, I got an email from them, asking if I was okay with receiving the unstrung doll, minus her COA, headplate, hooks, and elastic, from the caster in South Korea, with Black Cherry Dolls sending the rest separately. I had no idea whether anything from Russia would get to the US, so I agreed. If worst came to worst, I could dig up the receipt as proof of purchase, and I could buy hooks and elastic myself. I couldn't replace the doll.

That doll ended up being the first one where I did her faceup myself, and I also blushed her hands and feet. In a way, her arriving unstrung made that a lot easier.

I'm pretty confident with restringing my dolls, at least the 1/4 size ones. I think an unstrung 1/3 would make me hesitate, but the couple that I have are on the smaller end of the scale, 56cm or so, and I'm not interested in going any bigger. Plus, restringing is a great reason to put in kips and such. My concern would be less restringing and more that I like having the doll boxes, heh! Especially if they don't have foam, because then I can store doll clothes in them.

 

I buy dolls unstrung all the time! My sibling and I are pros at restringing dolls so I'm not bothered by it at all.

 

I definitely think I will, as most dolls I get need restrung anyways, and I'm currently looking at a couple Unoa boys. Both are unassembled kits, and I'm trying to conquer the fear of breaking anything so that I can just bring home some boys I've wanted for years~

 

Heck no and probably never will since I am easily frustrated if I cannot get something just right since I am a perfectionist of sorts. I will leave the stringing to the professionals since I am not artistically inclined and more science based in nature.

 

Just throwing it out there for folks who do NOT like their dolls unstrung - please let the seller know if you're buying secondhand. I have happily restrung and sueded many a body for a buyer. It's no problem at all for me.
Personally, when I sell a doll, I'll ship the doll partially unstrung to save on shipping. If the body is older, I tend to throw in some extra elastic, but if you're someone who does not like restringing (or you have health issues), I imagine most sellers would happily help a collector out.

 

I don't mind stringing dolls at all. It's just part of basic maintenance anyway, so any doll I own for any more than a few years are likely going to have to be restrung sooner or later. And I blush most of my dolls and that ids best done with the doll taken apart, so then it happens anyway.
And when sculpting my own I constantly have to put them together and take them apart to test the joints. Some parts of them will be restrung several times a day when I'm at that stage, it takes no more than a minute or two.

The one time I would hesitate is if it's a doll with very unconventional string configuration. In those cases some kind of guide would be welcome if a doll is sent in parts.
Other than that I have no hesitation. I'm a hands on hobbyist.

 

If it would save me money, sure. The only time I would probably hesitate a bit would be if the doll needed to be strung in a very complex and specific way and no visual guides existed for it, but knowing myself I doubt even that would actually keep me from buying the doll.

I've only ever bought dolls direct from company or through dealers though so all of my dolls have arrived already strung. Admittedly it is nice to immediately see whether the doll is what I expected as well as see where/if I need to hot glue suede it, typically they do need it at least somewhere or the stringing is too loose to my liking or something, which is why I generally do take the doll apart soon after getting it anyway.

 

At the moment? No, definitely not. I am not yet confident with doing basic doll maintenance of any kind.
That'll eventually change in the future, though. Also, saving on shipping costs sounds great.

 

Not at first but once you get the hang of restring a bjd, it was simple. It is the size of elastic for which BJD and where to find them is more of my problem. So the answer is "Yes I would buy an unstrung BJD"

 

I've never bought a secondhand bjd, let alone an unstrung one, but I actually would. The only way to get more comfortable with restringing a doll is to do it, and if it were direct from a company, I'm sure they would include instructions of some kind - I'm pretty sure some do provide a restringing guide, at least on their website. It can look daunting, especially when you collect teeny tinies, but I've always accepted restringing as something I would inevitably have to do anyway as the elastic will degrade over time, so I read and watched a lot of tutorials before I even bought my first doll, just so I had at least a vague idea of how to do it.

Short answer: Yes, because practice makes perfect.

 

If it’s 1/4 and under, sure I don’t know if I have the strenght to restring a bigger bjd

 

Yes, I would. I don't have a BJD yet, but I've watched videos on how to string dolls and it doesn't look terribly difficult. I think the process of putting your doll together for the first time will make the doll more special!

 

Lately my hands are really bad, arthritis and tendon issues. I'm finding stringing more difficult. Some of my dolls hands allowing on a good day I could do them. They're very basic in terms of the stringing.

Some of my dolls, the Minifees and my Domuya? NOPE. My Domuya big girl I can barely get her head off and she's strung through the torso in a very odd way. She needs tightening but I'm just not too confident where she is concerned! She's a wonderful doll but she's got the most complicated stringing I've ever seen!

 

I don't mind smaller, unstrung dolls, but I prefer buying the larger dolls fully strung, even though it raises the shipping price. I have such a hard time restringing bigger dolls, and yes, I know they'll eventually need to be restrung.

 

hmm... yeah, i think so. certainly for the right doll! it's not fun or anything, but especially if it made a price difference i'd be willing to make that sacrifice lol

 

If the only option is to purchase it unstrung, then I might consider purchasing it only if I really, really, really want the doll. But in most cases, I'd rather purchase the doll fully strung.

 

If a doll is second hand, I would prefer to get it strung, even if the string needs to be replaced. Idk why, I think it’s a bonding thing for me. Each of my second hand dolls has felt really special to get and I like feeling like they are being welcomed to a forever home if they arrive strung. I don’t think I would feel as much this is they adrives unstrung.

With new dolls, it would be way different, I’d absolutely love putting together a fresh doll from a kit! I’m not sure if my specific Volks F-12 had originally been a kit doll, but a lot of this sculpt had come from kits. I don’t think very many companies do this (Unoa does) but I wish more would do so. It would definitely enhance the new doll experience for me!

 

definitely less appealing. but would be a good chance to practice, less daunting than unstringing a doll to practice

 

I would probably have to work a bit if the doll came unstrung.