Two products that look nothing alike
A full-colour caricature arrives finished: skin tone, hair, clothing and base all printed in colour, ready to unwrap. An unpainted one arrives as a single-colour sculpt in natural cream PLA, with every detail present in the surface but no colour at all. Photographs of the two side by side make the difference obvious, and it surprises people who assumed a caricature is a caricature. They serve different buyers, and it is worth being clear about which you are getting before the parcel arrives.
The case for full colour
If this is a gift, full colour is almost always the right answer. It is finished, it is recognisable at a glance because the hair and clothing colours carry so much of the likeness, and the colour is printed into each layer rather than applied on top, so it will not chip off the raised edges over the years. It costs more, because multicolour printing takes longer and the sculpt is prepared with colour separation in mind. That extra cost is the difference between a gift and a project, and for most people buying a caricature for someone else, that is exactly what they want to pay for.
The case for unpainted
An unpainted figure suits a different person. Someone who paints miniatures and enjoys it. A parent who wants to paint the figure with their child as part of the gift. Someone who prefers a monochrome sculpture — the plain cream figure reads as a small statue, and on a shelf of similar pieces it can look more considered than a colourful one. It is also cheaper, because it skips the colour work entirely. What it is not is a shortcut to a full-colour figure: painting one well takes real time and a steady hand, and acrylic on the raised details will wear in a way printed colour does not.
How to decide
Ask one question: is the person receiving this going to finish it, or display it? If display, order full colour and be done. If they will genuinely enjoy finishing it — or if you want a monochrome piece on purpose — order unpainted and say so at checkout, because the unpainted version is clearly labelled and we would rather you did not expect colour that is not coming. If you are unsure, order full colour; nobody has ever complained that a caricature arrived too finished.
