Regarding Recasts

[Greyhaunt]

Technically this topic should be under the Dollieh Talkin' header, but I think it will get seen faster here, hence my placing it in this section instead.

I was recently asked about the forum's stance on recasts. And while I did answer that PM privately I think that it is becoming more and more an issue in the BJD community and needs to be addressed here as well.

Once upon a time, in Sedona, AZ, I met a man who custom sculpted dolls. These weren't BJDs, these were more what I would call Art Dolls, ones that are not meant for playing with, but for displaying. His dolls, however, were exquisite. Each piece was unique, hand sculpted, the clothing hand designed and sewn, the most incredible details individually made by him. I can still close my eyes and see the Alice in Wonderland themed doll - where miniatures of all the characters were made as part of the tophat which was part of the costume. I was in awe - and frankly envious to see something I knew I could never do.

Decades later I discovered BJDs, and knew that even if I could never make the doll base, I could now create some of the things I had dreamed of - and all thanks to people in Japan, China, Korea, and the US who COULD be sculptors and share their creations with us.

Recasts piss me off. They piss me off the way the kid who stole some of my paintings online and posted them as his own in a gaming forum pissed me off. The way another person stole poetry I had on my website and posted it under their own name. It pisses me off the way it pissed me off when someone put some of my fiction on their website without asking my permission. If you are curious, none of those people had my stuff up for long after I found out about them. It's amazing what a few threats of legal action and notifying their web services could do to eliminate their stolen worlds. I was lucky.

The artists who create BJDs aren't. They probably are not paid well to begin with and then they see people not only recasting their dolls, but bragging about it in online forums and on websites.

Recasting, like any other form of artistic plagiarism amounts to mental rape as far as I'm concerned. Sound harsh? Well maybe if you aren't an artist you can't understand, but when you create a painting, a story, or a sculpture a piece of you is part of that creation. Sharing that creation and that piece of you with the larger world is like standing naked at your graduation and hoping that no one laughs at you. But laughter is nothing compared to having someone take that piece of you away and copy it because they are too fucking cheap to buy an original or too fucking lacking in creativity to make one for themselves. Maybe if they did - and someone stole it from them and copied it - they would know why I call it mental rape.

Oh yea, I did just F bomb in the forum. I'll do it again if I have to - it means that much to me.

Recasting is a crime - pure and simple. If someone has bought a recast thinking it was an authentic doll then I'm not going to punish them by saying "stay out". But if someone is actively buying, selling, or promoting recasts then I recommend they keep that fact to themselves - or go elsewhere. There are places for them - this is not one of them.

Sound harsh? It is.

Recasting is THEFT, PLAGIARISM and MENTAL RAPE.

I recently read that Jpopdolls has announced they will no longer sell any of their products to people who are known to be involved in the recasting community. I applaud them, their integrity, and their willingness to lose customers rather than risk the artists they are representing having their creations stolen.

It won't stop recasting - because there is always someone out there who feels they are entitled to own whatever they want regardless of the consequences to another person. They think there are enough trust-fund babies out there paying the big bucks for Volks and Soom and Iplehouse so why should they have to.

You know what I say to them? Get a fucking job, save some fucking money and buy the real damn thing either new or second hand! EARN THE DOLL and maybe then you'd know why those who own the originals are so proud of them. Maybe if you stopped paying less money for cheap recasts you could buy the one REAL doll you really want. (Geez, that last line sounds like the Elitist argument about cheap dolls vs volks LOL.)

There are dolls I want that I may never own unless I find them at a good price second hand. But would rather take that chance then pay for what amounts to stolen goods.

Greyhaunt is now getting down off of her soapbox and thanks you for listening to her rant.

[Trethowan]

LOVE THIS POST!

[Kd_Bunchanumbers]

I personally think information ABOUT recasts should be made available and discussion on what to look out for on them should be a stickied topic or something BECAUSE of how easy it is to pass one off in the community without knowing what to look for so I really do not hope this stance on recasts does NOT hamper at least information for helping identifying and AVOIDING buying recasts in comparison to DoA who don't allow discussion and let a lot of mistruths about recasts run rampant.

So yeah, while recasts themselves are not allowed, I hope that we can help others help know what to look for when trying to avoid recasts since the recasts have gotten SCARILY good in imitating the real thing.

[Kirahfaye]

:Hit's LIKE button so many times it breaks:

[Stormlight]

Well-said! Recasters are a bunch of petty thieves who deserve prison, and anyone who knowingly buys recast dolls are nothing but self-centered assholes. They deserve prison, too, for willingly purchasing stolen goods.

[Greyhaunt]

KD - Great suggestion about a post about identifying recasts. I have absolutely no clue myself so if someone would like to put together some knowledge about that I would be happy to sticky it when it's done. It should probably go into Dollieh Talkin'.

And I do apologize to anyone who might be offended by my using the F bomb several times in my post, but, well, when I feel strongly I feel strongly.

[Glecs]

I know how it feels to get your stuff stolen and taken advantage of. Recasting is just like piracy except once it's made, it's there and will circulate. The unfortunate owners who bought them without knowing have my condolences. I think it's really important to know how to identify a recast as well.

[quidam]

Bravo!
Sometimes things just have to be said.(and from someone who doesn't use salty language: don't even worry about offending. It's not like we haven't heard it or read it in other places before!)

Mint on Card put up a notice a few days ago, and this seems like an appropriate place to share it:

-We are enacting a new policy as of today. We will no longer sell to individuals who we know to have purchased recast dolls, support or inform people of the purchasing of recast dolls, or are a member of a recast community. We realize that this policy will not be popular with some, but we believe that the majority of the people in this hobby will support our decision.

There's a bit more on their news page. I'm especially impressed by the fact that they won't even sell to you if you've informed people on purchasing recasts.

[happyknot]

This is awesome.

[arrowchild]

This!!
This a thousand times!
I have never, and will never, understand the recast 'thing.' Like grey, I've had my art stolen and used without my permission on a few different occasions and it's utterly infuriating/depressing/disheartening. I know that BJD sculptors must feel the same way when they see their work copied and sold. Not only that, but none of the BJD companies are large enough to take the financial hit if recasting continues climbing in popularity. BJD 'companies' are very small operations with just a handful of employees and if their sales are undermined by recasting, we just might not get to see any new dolls from these amazing artists.