German vinyl vs China Vinyl

I am sure this is quite a touchy subject for many, but this is my blog and I want to share what *I* think about the two types of vinyls that are commonly used for doll kits.

As a disclaimer, I do not know all that there is about vinyl~I have much study left to do on this subject however, over the past couple of weeks I have given a lot of thought into the different vinyls and how they reborn. I also do not know where each vinyl kit is made. There are a lot of sculpting artists having their sculpts produced as well as a lot of kit companies.

I want to start off with a little known fact: Not all kits produced in Germany are made with German vinyl. I have been told by a reputable source that there is a company in Germany that imports vinyl from China to produce doll kits.

My preference for vinyl is definitely the authentic German vinyl. I know that Doll Dreams uses this vinyl for their kits and some artist who produce their kits privately also use authentic German vinyl. You can tell German vinyl from China vinyl by the smell of the vinyl (there is a very distinct smell to China vinyl and it does not go away), the feel of the vinyl (German vinyl is much softer to the touch than the China vinyl) and the color (German vinyl tends to be a light creamy color whereas China vinyl is usually a dark tan or pink color).

Once I start working with the two types of vinyl, I notice these things:

The details from the kits made in vinyl from China do not have good details. Now this could be from the mold makers that work for the companies in China~this I am not sure of. Many times the fingers and toes are webbed together and they lack depth in the creases and folds of the doll.

Many times, I have paid more money for an artists kit thinking the higher price would produce an excellent kit, only to be disappointed as the kit was produced in China. Having kits produced in China cost the artist MUCH less money so the higher price has made no sense to me.

The China vinyl kits take a LOT of paint to get a life like look which means extra time for me.
For one, the dark tones need to be neutralized before the skin tone painting can begin.

The China vinyl does not root as nice as the German vinyl does. They seem to take longer to root and they show more poke holes than German vinyl.

As I have thought about the different vinyls, it occurred to me that my highest selling dolls have been made with German vinyl and the dolls I have been most disappointed in how they turned out were made with China vinyl. These were kits by EXCELLENT sculpting artists whom I was excited to be reborning from but the overall finished product was not what I had hoped and I shed a lot of tears.

So there is my spiel on what I know about the two kinds of vinyl typically used to create doll kits.
I am a lover of quality so for me~German vinyl will always be my preference!

Have a great Wednesday! Oh..PS...Megan is finished and ready for her photo shoot!