#TrueBJDCounterfeits

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Econ anon here again just wanted to reply to some of the comments https://at.tumblr.com/the-bjd-community-confess/not-quite/x59g10p6gbrq

Thank you for your input and healthy discussion, warms my nerdy lil heart!! 🥹

Regarding e-commerce sites, I’m speaking purely in terms of maximizing efficiency for buying and selling on the second hand market. Far easier to sort through items on eBay than the #bjdsales IG hashtag for example. Also that’s why so many (Western people at least) end up buying recasts entering the hobby as there aren’t very many luxury goods today that you can’t buy legit off of e-commerce sites. You aren’t wrong as to the “why” knowledgable legit BJD buyers don’t list/search those sites but the result is still an overall hindrance to legitimate secondhand market transactions. 

Regarding unknown buyers/sellers, this originally started back in the early 2000s when there were little to no recasts. The concern was overwhelmingly getting scammed and having someone run off with your money. Even now it’s rarely an issue an informed buyer is being sold a recast or being tricked into buying one. Most transaction issues with unknowns revolve around sale scams for legit dolls and items. I’d say recasts are part of the concern now, but that can usually be assuaged with a CoA verification . But overall even without recasts not selling/buying to/from unknowns would still be standard. 

Great comments regarding IP issues and price. Although I will say what you mean by “inflexible” actually means more flexible or more elastic in economic terms.  Lol it is a bit confusing but basically what’s considered “flexible” isn’t based on whether the price of an item ever increases or decreases or the frequency it does, its based on people’s willingness to buy when it does change. We are essentially saying the same thing though!  Companies that raise their prices will be generally unsuccessful.  

Taking this a step further this actually made me really consider if the BJD market is a competitive market as a whole. I would say the smaller companies and independent artists are price takers, meaning the above theory would apply to them as they cannot set a price in the market on their own. The market determines the price. Ex, heads are usually anywhere from $85-160 (depending on skin tone, size, etc). An artist charging $300+ for their head without any other extras, faceup, etc. would be looked at like they were insane lol. 

HOWEVER, companies like V0lks and Soom are more likely Monopolies. They can set that higher price themselves regardless of the market and consumers are willing to pay it because of their brand and products (superior goods).

Soom especially quality is rather mid in comparison to the prices they charge for a basic nude doll. Many people complain about QA issues of head cap magnets being weak, obvious seam lines, the resin skin tones are not consistent between batches, need to be wired/sueded to pose, jointed hands are DYI kits, etc. Yet they are still widely popular despite all these quality issues.  But it’s also a big trait of Monopolies in economics that they do not have to prioritize quality above all else as people will want them regardless. V0lks on the other hand has higher quality standards but they have their own unique way of selling and offering dolls (lotteries, one-offs, not being able to buy blank dolls, full sets coming with glued in eyes, etc) that people do complain about often yet there are still thriving in business.

Not to mention both V0lks and Soom come out with limiteds and full sets that can be 3x-5x times the price of an average BJD doll already costing hundreds. They don’t even have to offer heads because they know people will want the sculpt enough to buy the full doll. 

Going back to IP I don’t know much about IP law but I am not surprised at the costs to go through legal proceeds being ridiculously high, which you are right is likely the reason they don’t enforce. However, I don’t think it’s because the dolls are underpriced though. It’s likely even if they were able to charge say $300 a head, they still wouldn’t be able to generate enough to cover legal costs. Lawyers can be $300 & up an hour in addition to retainer fees. Only V0lks I would guess would have the resources to sue and even with them its likely the opportunity costs aren’t worth it to them. 

At that level it’s never really about the principle of fighting for your IP and all about the money. Now if a multi-billion dollar company like Matt3l started stealing V0lks IP, you bet it would be worth then to sue. Not to mention they could likely get attorneys who would work for a percentage of the amount won, rather than charge hourly saving on the up front costs of legal expenses. But that usually just happens in extremely high profile situations when lots of money are involved. That’s why you rarely hear of anyone suing anyone else over IP if they themselves or the person they are suing aren’t a big corporation with lots of money, the costs wouldn’t be worth the reward otherwise. 

Regarding Lou, I don’t think the argument about Lou its a bizarre at all. What you are suggesting would be a duopoly or a cartel (no not the drug kind lol!). Cartels in Econ are companies who each agree to make a certain amount of an item so they can split market profits on that item rather than compete (usually illegal to form in most industries due to anti-trust laws etc). Although I do think someone mentioned it in the comments too, the downside of cartels is one side (Lou in this case) is incentivized to cheat. Companies would be wary giving Lou molds as he could essentially then do what he wants, sell for lower prices, produce more than agreed upon, not give them their share of profits, etc, etc.  There is no promise he wouldn’t sell more than he is supposed to or even if they did give him an exclusive sculpt he could use it to copy and make his own (like he has before).

Regarding overhead costs of legit vs recast. This isn’t true at all that it would be more expensive for Lou to go legit or that he is saving lots of money by stealing at this stage. Although there are heavy fixed costs in the short run of starting a business, Lou is now a successful recaster. He has the materials and resources to sculpt his own if he wanted to. The start up costs of getting a warehouse, resin, casting materials, etc, for his recast business far out way the costs of spending a bit more time refining a doll with sculpting, sanding, etc. Time is the main cost in sculpting original creations rather than money. 

For proof of this look no further than some of the western artists presales on IG. They will get people excited with their sculpting process and get lots of preorders. But when it actually comes to paying a caster and getting other supplies to produce the doll that’s when they flop. They either take way longer to deliver or out right become a scammer and don’t deliver dolls because the overhead costs of producing the doll were way higher than sculpting one, even when they weren’t the ones doing the casting themselves (short run vs long run marginal costs). 

However, this is a pipe dream Lou going legit honestly. It’s far more lucrative and brings more economic profit for him to remain a recaster having a monopoly on it being the main recaster. If he were to go legit, another recaster seeing opportunity would take his spot. Thats why even if Lou’s recast factory blew up tomorrow and he left the businesses, it would only be a matter of time before another recaster took his spot.

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDCounterfeits #Recasters

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Mod: Your counterfeit, and art theft-related confessions are on the way!

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDCounterfeits #Recast Wednesday

[the-bjd-community-confess]

I‘m a bit shocked and thought I need to share it here. I follow some very vocal pro artist people who voice their opinion all the time but haven’t said a word about Ukraine being attacked. Many of my fellow doll friends are from Ukraine and it makes me sick that people seem to care more about bootleg dolls than people dying. Where is your seek for Justice now? You all suck 🖕🏻

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDCounterfeits

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Not a recast:

Today I learned: The “Night Lolita” dolls found on AliExpress and Taobao are -not- recasts. They are also not BJDs. They are something else.

“YeLoli” is a 3D animated series (can you even call that an anime?) in China. They started in 2013 so the first-gen characters all look kinda derpy. They’ve since mostly improved. The “Night Lolita” is a translation of the series during the first season but since then, the series was renamed “Leaf Loli(ta)” instead. These two names have the same pronunciation in Chinese which adds to the confusion. The series is a combination of the Magical Girl genre and Rosen Maiden, and has an aesthetic like a good number of Barbie movies. The main characters started out as grade six students (about 12 yo) and that’s the main target audience, too.

For more information, here: https://baike.baidu.hk/item/%E7%B2%BE%E9%9D%88%E5%A4%A2%E8%91%89%E7%BE%85%E9%BA%97/12740112

As for the dolls, they are considered a tie-in from the series; so they are basically “merch.” The jointed dolls are made from ABS + PVC. They are hinge-jointed with elastic stringing for the torso. They come in 1/3, 1/4 and 1/6 and a special edition 1/6 body. They’re uniformly priced, too. All 1/3 dolls cost $260 RMB (about $41 USD), the 1/4 are $200 (about $31.54 USD) and the 1/6 are $90-100 ($14.13-$15.77). The limited 1/6 usually run for $158 ($24.91). There are some “Royal Edition” dolls that run about $2000 ($315.34 USD) but they are not very common. Other merch items include accessories (like magic wands) from the show as well as other figurines, collectors’ cards, blind boxes, etc. Basically, the Leaf Lolita is an IP that’s similar to Barbie’s movies or Disney’s Fairies. They have a similar aesthetic, a similar production method and a similar target audience.

Just like BJDs, you can switch out their eyes, wigs and faceups. Their clothes are interchangeable. It’s easy for overseas collectors to confuse them with BJDs. With a much lower price point and language barriers, it’s easy for people to think they’re getting a BJD at a bargain price. It’s also easy for people to think they are recasts, too. But they aren’t recasts at all.

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDCounterfeits #HJD

[the-bjd-community-confess]

So will recasts be ok once the company becomes as big as Gucci? Because I once called out an anti for illegally downloading music and wearing a shirt from shein with a stolen design from a small artist. And they said “it wasn’t the same”. I’m confused because is it not? Both hurt the artist so-

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #TrueBJDCounterfeits #Art Theft #BJD Confessions #Community Confessions

[the-bjd-community-confess]

I made the mistake of going to the recast positive confession blog and I feel I lost brain cells trying to comprehend a majority of these anons confessions defending literal theft. But one confession that put me over the edge was this anon listing out all the “reasons” why buying from recasters are better because they supposedly “understand the business of selling dolls” than the artist they steal from.

According to them, because they sell dolls cheaper, make dolls faster, quickly answer to their beck and call, and offer customization with colors, that makes them a “better” doll company than artists supposedly who overcharge, take forever to ship and steal your money, don’t have good customer service, and supposedly don’t offer customization.

And I’m just like, yeah, because they have a fucking factory stupid. They have the space, resources, multiple employees to handle every part of their business from casting, social media, shipping, customer service, painting, and can charge much less because they’re charging you to cast the doll not because they created it vs the artists that they steal from are usually a one-man team or a handful of artists doing all those same roles all while making time to create dolls and expecting the same from a small business is asinine. If Fairyland, the hobby’s popular company right now with multiple employees, can take hundreds, possibly even thousands of orders a month, and they still take a few months to ship out orders, why are you expecting it from one person.

There is a reason why artists charge as much as they do for their work, and it doesn’t have to do with being “greedy”, it’s because running a business is hard fucking work that I’m very sure many of these anti-artists wouldn’t be able to handle if they were to take on this business. Artists are not fucking Amazon, they’re small businesses, and anyone who thinks like that anon, even if those who try to distance themselves by calling themselves neutral, you’re anti-small business, period.

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDCounterfeits #BJD Artists #Recasters

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Pro-recaster really using manipulative language. "Deserved" As in "Why do you think poor people don't deserve dolls." That's manipulative language, because it's not about deserving, or not deserving something. The right word is "entitled" no you're not entitled to have a doll. Side-note: Language like that is also used a lot by abusers. I know this sounds like a dogwhistle, but it's just me pointing this out, because my lived experience has made me very aware of how language like that is used to guilt trip, or make accusations at others for being "mean" or "snobbish", or gatekeeping. 

Being deserving of something is incredibly subjective, and not an argument in this debate at all, because it's not an isolated topic either. You can say you deserve something, but the moment it hurts others, or affects others, or any of that, then it's just plain old entitlement all around without a doubt. Why is entitled the right word? Because by asking that question, you're making it all about "one person" without care for others. You turn "deserving" into meaning "this person should get something, regardless of how it might affect others in a negative way."

People clearly say they're being affected by recasts, and that it does mess with their livelihood. Last week someone mentioned how their friend has their art stolen, and sold, and can't keep up, and losing sales. Saying you "deserve" something, but then also arguing that people creating certain art don't deserve full credit and monetary compensation, turns "deserving" into plain old entitlement. Obvs I'm talking to the choir here, but ehhh, whatever.

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDCounterfeits

[the-bjd-community-confess]

This right here is why scammers and bad companies are NEVER going to be gone from this hobby. R@p1993 is doing a collab with culor. One big name artist collabing with a very well known scammer who got her start in this hobby selling modded recasts as legit then later turned even worse scammer with the doll she created and all the drama from it. All the time I see posts asking about Dollshe wait time and wanting to order their new sculpts, then other posts about people waiting 2+ years for their dolls that they're lucky to even receive in the end of things. There are near daily posts on IG about wanting to buy culor dolls for literal thousands. It never ends. This is what's wrong with the hobby. This is why these terrible things keep happening. Because too many hobbyists allow this to continue. Even artists are allowing this to continue. How much must these scammers and bad companies do before enough is enough?

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #TrueBJDCounterfeits #BJD Artists #Community Confessions #BJD Confessions

[the-bjd-community-confess]

To the anon who is saying that they are “happy” Culurr’s doll got recast over them being shitty, I understand they owe dolls and her dolls being recast may feel like poetic justice, however, you’ve also forgotten to look at the bigger picture of how this isn’t just about her. Because of the demand and peoples pettiness to get back at her, luo has now unlocked a new way to steal artists by remaking their doll just from pictures. PICTURES. Meaning they’ve shown they don’t require a physical dolls anymore, and can use the artists own pictures against them to make a copy. That’s not only bad, this is very dangerous. And I don’t think many of you realize that they won’t stop at Culurr with this new method, they’ll go after other artists the same way to steal their dolls, even artists who aren’t scammers and especially ones with hard to attain rare dolls. This is why we say recasts effect all artists, not just the ones who are scammers. And again, I get it, it sucks she is basically getting away with this, but don’t subject other artists to being stolen because you want to get back at Culurr.

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDCounterfeits

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Culvr posting a new body and then having the AUDACITY to make a comment that people can’t be trusted. Literally, shut the fuck up. You’re a thief. You tried to blame your shitty behavior on a Harv. It’s fucked your doll got recasted but you’re not some unique victim here, plenty of other amazing and talented artist are struggling against their dolls being recasted. They still don’t steal from their customers. And I don’t know what’s worse? Still trying to be a victim when you block customers you stole from or people pathetically clamoring in the comments as “pick me”s. How many times in a row do we gotta beat this dead horse? Culvr will let you down. Once is accident, this is a way of life for them.

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDCounterfeits

[the-bjd-community-confess]

If a person buys 2 1/4 recasts they can afford a really really nice legit 1/4 doll from a company like D0ll Leaves. People who claim they can’t afford legit dolls while buying multiple recasts… Just save a little bit and you can get a legit doll. It may not be a minifee, but that’s okay! There’s several companies making really gorgeous affordable legit dolls. I understand it’s frustrating if you want a specific doll and can’t afford it immediately, but just save over time and it’ll be worth it.

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDCounterfeits #BJD Companies #Going Legit

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Pro recasters are always like "why are legits so expensive, there is no reason". Artist dolls are made by a very small team, sometimes only one person. It takes an incredible amount of skill, work time and resources, casting fees, paypal fees, customs fees , packaging materials. People should actually inform themselves before claiming there is no reason why legits are expensive. Imagine an artists hourly wage... they are underpaid even with selling "expensive" dolls!!

People are so used to mass production prices that they don't realize that a fair minimum wage means a higher price. It is not exclusive to dolls tho. I used to work as a cake designer and people would legit come in and say they want a two tier wedding cake for 50$ because commercial cakes aren't that expensive either and ingredients are cheap. Ok while the ingredients might only be 20$ I also have to make it, which takes several hours, I use utensils that I have to clean, throw away, might have to make time consuming decoration specifically...etc. people don't get that work time costs money!!

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #BJD Confessions #TrueBJDCounterfeits #Pro Recasters

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Mel0npan clutching his pearls over being called xenophobic when he and sheepy released a statement a long time ago saying they wouldn't ship to China because of recasters. I really want to have more context on the L3na thing. Because the jointing system on the pumpkin doll sh33py made is the same as l3na, and the same-ish cartoon feel to the body as L3na. Sh33py and m3lonpan are clout chasers, and considering m3lonpan doxxes people to defend himself, l3na should be careful. At least they stayed drama free, but for some reason m3lonpan went public with this... are you surprised? I'm not.

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #TrueBJDCounterfeits #Community Confessions #BJD Confessions

[the-bjd-community-confess]

People who own recast dolls and want to be part of pro artist spaces and call it elitist when they aren't allowed is so pathetic. It's like a person who eats meat getting upset that they aren't allowed to share their meat recipes in a vegan cooking forum. Or someone who copied the Mona Lisa not being allowed to sell his art to a museum XD Like y'all?? Stop being obtuse. There are good reasons to not allow counterfeits in a legit hobby space too. Sure many people take it too far and I am not for bashing anyone who owns recasts but have you not seen the scandals of people passing off recast as legit and scamming people?

There are legitimate good reasons to not allow recasts in legit spaces. Sure your dolls may look the same on the outside but I have owned recast and legit of the same sculpt in the past and they are definitely different. The resin quality and drilling and also stringing and small details are completely different quality. Yes there are recasters with 'good quality' but the point is it is not the same. If you buy a product you want that exact product. Imagine buying a sandwich with pickles but the vendor just adds no pickles because it 'tastes better' you'd be upset too.

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #TrueBJDCounterfeits #BJD Groups #Recast Quality #BJD Confessions #Community Confessions

[the-bjd-community-confess]

I mainly collect legits but I do have to admit I own two recasts too who I don’t post. Both from closed companies and I was ignorant and didn’t want to pay the marketplace prices. Does this justify my actions? No. But my other dolls are all legit and I support small businesses and companies all the time. The recast friendly confession blog makes it seems like we all hate artists and the companies. That’s not true many recast owners have a lot of legits too

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #TrueBJDCounterfeits #Community Confessions #BJD Confessions

[the-bjd-community-confess]

I was introduced to BJDs by a 100% legit collector to a 100% legit source. It took me weeks to decide if I really wanted a doll. Even then, when I put that first doll in my cart, I hesitated. I knew recasts were wrong and I still thought about buying one. I grew up in a household that prioritized saving money, skimping on quality for quantity. I knew my dad would've wanted me to buy the cheaper recast. But I didn't. I'm glad I didn't. It was a big moment for me emotionally, looking back

~Anonymous

#BJD #ABJD #TrueBJDCounterfeits #BJD Confessions #Community Confessions