stable eyes and glass

And ofc, nendo Hanzo enjoys being able to be tall, lmao 😘

25. Being poor is not an excuse to support art theft.

DoA sales here!

“Wow, why are you using a really expensive, limited doll to support BJD artists?” Please allow me to explain. I’m not trying to be dickish, and I do agree that classism and socioeconomic issues can be a real problem in the hobby. This year, I was very fortunate to be able to travel to Japan to attend the Tokyo Bay Cruise, where I obtained the fabulous Mr. Williams here. At this event, I was also able to meet the founder of Volks, Mr. Shigeta, and his wife. The company included translators on staff so that my husband and I were able to speak to them and let them know how much we enjoy our dolls, and how pleased we were to be there. Take a moment to think about your job. If you don’t have a job, think about a job you’ve had in the past, or a job that a close family member or friend has. That job is probably difficult. It takes up most of your day, and most of your energy. You probably wouldn’t do it if you didn’t have to. Now, imagine that your job decides not to pay you. You already put in your hours, but that paycheck isn’t coming. That’s what it’s like when you choose to buy a recast instead of a legit doll. You’re taking work that a sculptor already did, and you’re not paying them for it. It’s easy to understand this problem when you see a sculptor like Harucasting, who is obviously just one artist, and who does a great job of showing his process and his personality on social media. It’s a lot more difficult to understand why recasting is a problem when you look at a large company with more opaque internal workings, like Volks, Soom, or Fairyland. Because you don’t know the sculptors at a company personally, it’s easy to assume that they don’t exist, or that they won’t lose money when you buy a recast of their doll instead of a legit. This isn’t true. What’s more, in a larger company, there are other people who are impacted as well. Faceup artists, casting artists, website designers, photographers, and shop employees are all part of BJD companies, too. Their jobs are necessary for the sculptors to be able to release their sculpts and produce enough of them to meet demand. Certainly there are companies in the world whose choices produce predominantly negative impacts in the world (Walton family, looking at you). But BJD companies aren’t really in the same scale. Walmart has $480 billion in revenue each year, while Volks supposedly did $50 million in 2008. That means it would take 9,600 Volkses to make one Walmart. There’s also the argument that ‘recasters need jobs, too.’ Yes, the version of capitalism going on in China right now is pretty fucked up, and yes, those individuals as people deserve the ability to earn an appropriate wage. But stealing intellectual property isn’t the way to do it. The other issue that many people raise in regard to recasts is that the BJD hobby as a whole discriminates against people who are disadvantaged socioeconomically, and that recasts are a way to level the playing field. But this doesn’t make any sense. Why, if you are a person who struggles with money, would you choose to take an action that devalues the work of others? You’re reenacting the abuses of capitalism that you’ve suffered from on another person, a person whose work you claim to admire enough to buy it. I do think that the hobby has taken a turn away from creativity and toward acquisitiveness. It can be really frustrating to watch 'haul’ videos, or see someone getting a new doll that you wanted but couldn’t afford. There isn’t as much emphasis on photography skills, or story writing, or crafting as there used to be. Perhaps this is because of the switch away from forums, where crafting journals or stories are more easy to publish, and toward social media, which is highly visually oriented but without a lot of ability to explain or converse. Another thing to realize is that the hobby has aged. People who were young and new to the hobby when it started are adults now, and generally, adults make more money than teenagers or college students. Eighteen years of putting your spare money toward a collection can yield a collection that seems massive to someone just starting out. I think it’s important for people who are new to the hobby to know that it’s not a competition to have the most dolls, and that it takes time to get together a large dolly family. For me, I don’t post about my dolly plans very often, and it’s not because I don’t have plans or don’t want to talk. It’s because I know I do have a lot of dolls, expensive ones, and I don’t want to be seen as bragging. Over time, and for a variety of reasons, I’ve felt more and more like I’m sitting in the corner with my dollies watching the party happen. Which brings me back around to the doll events I’ve attended, this year and in the past. Online, it can be difficult to talk to others, or to feel like you understand a person’s true motivations. In person, it’s really fun to be able to chit chat with people who share your hobby. I’m lucky that there are pleasant meetups in Boston and events in California, and that I’ve been able to meet collectors in Japan, too, who were super nice to me despite my inability to say more than “kawaii” about their dolls. I think, when people buy recasts, they believe that they’re buying access to the community. Unfortunately, that isn’t true. A recast represents harm to the artists. A budget doll that has been loved by its owner is a far more impressive and beautiful doll than a doll that was stolen. Support the artists. Buy legit!

Latergram of Sofie and Precious. She was trying to be a real pirate and steal that bear, but Precious had a sword! ;) #bjd #volksdoll #superdollfie