cian's dolls: November 2014

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Support BJD Artists

Appreciate that each doll is the result
of their creativity, love and hardwork.

#ProBJDArtists

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This idea was initiated from a tumblr post here by Saskha, and I thought that I should do this, especially given how I was actually initially recast-neutral (more of that later on), but I'm now anti-recast (or more specifically pro-artists, since this is why I am against recast). Also, do note that I'm going to be using both terms (anti-recast and pro-artist) interchangeably in this post, although I'm aware that there are subtle differences between them.

First of all, I've not really been too vocal, so to speak, with my stance on recasts before this. To begin with, when I first heard about recasts, I wasn't too informed about what they were. I'm mostly on deviantart and DenofAngels, and specifically DoA is firmly anti-recast, and all I "learnt" was that recasting was not supported by the forum, and instances of recasting tends to be pretty old ones (back when recast dolls were poorly made and with toxic fumes etc). I pretty much keep my dA watches to people with legit dolls (since I usually come across them from DoA), so you can imagine I wasn't too informed about recasts, nor did I want to make a stand on how I felt about it.

After a while, the Castaway forum was made, and I think I came across it from confessions on Tumblr, so I went to check it out. For the most part, the forum was friendly, and I learnt more about recasts there. For one, I know that recasts are no longer than kind of health hazards they used to be (at least, no more than legit bjds), so the "health" argument wasn't valid. Nor were recasts so badly casted that they look bad. In fact, they were as well made (or more well made, as some may argue) than legit dolls. At that time, most people who were for recasts presented their main reasons as:

1. Recasts allows them to buy limited dolls who are no longer sold and are rarely found on the secondhand market. When they are sold secondhand, the prices tend to be much too high as a result of scalping, which they felt benefited someone who was not the artist.

2. Recasts allows them to buy dolls in colours other than the ones which are offered by the company, in particular, the preference for tan. (Fantasy colours became more popular afterwards, I believe, but I seem to recall the inital reason stems from tan resin not being offered by most bjd companies).

3. Recasts allows them to buy doll parts to replace broken ones that the original company does not sell (e.g. elbow peanuts or a single left calf). In some cases, the company flat out refuses to sell the part, but in other cases, the replacement of parts may involve buying more parts from the company than is actually needed, which leads to an unneccessarily larger price tag.

At that time, I thought these seem like rather understandable reasons for people to buy recasts. I say "understandable", because I can see why these reasons might be valid, and even if I don't agree with them, I don't think they are completely unreasonable (more of this later, when my stance changes from neutral to anti-recasts). At the same time, the hate that recast owners seem to be getting (I say "seem", because I've not seen hard proof so far, but I'm not going to assume that there isn't either) appeared disproportionate to what they have done. Disproportionate because hate is never really a good option. I believe we can agree to disagree, and even if I vastly disagree with you, I believe everyone should still behave in a civilised manner, and perhaps debate over it, and so on. But hate? No, I think hate, especially in a personal, targetted way is not to be tolerated. With both these reasons (the seemingly reasonable reasons why people get recasts, and the seemingly unreasonable reasons why recast owners get hate), I was a bit more alright with recasts then. This was when I was recast neutral. In fact, I did browse Castaway threads and commented positive things on gallery threads with recasts in the photos, as I would have done while browsing similar threads with legit dolls.

During this period when I was recast-neutral, I actually thought about whether I might want to own a recast because of the arguments (in particular no. 1, about limited dolls). I'm not going to lie - I have thought about it. and contemplated for a while whether this means I can finally buy a Volks Amelia boy (a recasted one), at a reasonable price. But, the thing is, no matter how attractive it seem, I could never get past the fact that this doll, this doll that is recasted, is just...wrong. I cannot in any way feel justified enough to buy a recast, no matter how much I could "understand" the reasons why people buy recasts. At this point, it is a emotional reflex. And as Armeleia points out here, although those of us who are against recasts tend to present logic to argue for our stand, there is definitely a very personal (and which I'll call emotional) reason why we are against recasts. Let me just say that even if at this point, I did not understand why I was anti-recast, but I was surely, turning away from being recast-neutral.

I think the thing that sealed it for me, and made me anti-recast, was how, really, the reasons for buying recasts stems form a sense of self-entitlement. I think we forget how BJDs are in fact works of art. The creativity and thought process behind the conceiving of a sculpt, the actual technical skills involved in sculpting (be in by hand or digitally), and the amount of hardwork one has to consistently put in over a long period of time to actually complete a doll. (This is essentially what I summarised for the message my doll, Cypher is holding above. The Creativity, Love and Hardwork). As someone who dabbles in drawing, very very infrequently sculpting, and who is an architecture design student, I feel like I should mention that all 3 elements, creativity, love and hardwork are needed in making something (which is, in a very basic way, the definition of an artist, I suppose). Leave creativity or hardwork out and the final product may never be produced (in this case, I can state that my inability to put in hardwork means my few attempts at doll sculpting never came into fruition). Alternatively, leave love out, and there is usually no motivation for any bjds to be sculpted, especially when most bjd artists work independently (I'll go ahead and compare this to when I have no love lost for my design in school and the only reason why I complete the project is because it's school work. Leave me to do it alone without school deadlines and it'll never be done.).

With this in mind, reexamining the reasons pro-recasts give for their stand then seem very selfish and self-entitled. I mean, to begin with, we should all realise that dolls are non-essential goods, which means that we only really *want* dolls, we never *need* them. Think about it. No matter what kind of arguments you give, chances are, look at it again, and you'll see that dolls are *wants* and never *needs*.

As such, with regards to the pro-recast arguments 1-3 mentioned above, here's why I think they really stem from being self-entitled:

1. Limited dolls: No, one one *has* to own them. If the prices are too high on the secondhand market, one need not pay such a price, which they might find unreasonable. To *have* to get this limited doll, by hook or by crook, stems from being self-entitled. No one owes anyone any limited doll.

2. Tan/Fantasy colours: Again with 1 above, no one *needs* a doll in some colour the company doesn't offer. Also, if anyone wants it enough, dyeing and airbrushing have been done way before recasts were a thing, when people wanted such coloured dolls. Yes, they chip and rub and are sometimes uneven. But, such an inconvenience is due to your *want* to have the doll in another colour, and if *you* are unwilling to pay the price, how does it make it right in any way to make another (the BJD artist) pay this price by buying a recast? (There is honestly, no logical logic - repeating the words because sometimes people forget, for some reason, that logic stems from logical reasoning - involved in this line of thought).

3. Replacing parts/getting just a part: In terms of replacing parts, chances are if it's the company's fault to begin with, you can find some way (whether through contacting them and providing evidence, or in some cases, having to argue with the company, perhaps?) to get it from them. I'm aware that there are exceptions, however, and to be honest, if this is the case, this is probably the most likely case where I would be more sympathetic to getting a part recasted to replace. However, if it's for some reason, one's own fault for damaging a part to the point of needing a replacement...it's hard to say, and I'm sorry but there was likely a chance of preventing that from happening to begin with. Again, I'm likely to be sympathetic because damages are often unpredicatable and not always due to the owner's fault, but I am of the belief that owners should do what they can to prevent damages or live with the damages that are the result of their negligence. That might be a bit harsh, but that's my own policy, at any rate.
In terms of getting a new part, often it is because some form of hybridization (fantasy parts etc) is involved, and when there is a secondhand market out there for parts, no matter how strange (for example, a doll with company x body, but company y arms), and the only drawback is the price (e.g. buying bodies from both company x and y just to make 1 doll), the argument that one can buy just the part one needs for cheaper from recasters is really being selfish and self-entitled. No one says anyone needs a hybrid doll in any way.

In addition to the original 3 arguments, there seem to be more arguments for pro-recast, which I also find stems from being self-entitled:

4. Recast dolls are cheaper and poor owners cannot afford legit dolls: I will be brief here, because many others have written about it, but dolls are luxury items. There is always an option of saving and to use the poor card is to ignore the fact that dolls are not necessities, while pretending that just *wanting* a doll entitles you to owning one, for a price you find "reasonable" in the form of a recast.

5. Certain BJD artists are assholes, and deserved to get their dolls recasted/Certain artists are recast owners themselves, so they should be fine with or they deserve to have their dolls recasted anyway: For the first one, any person's opinion on the artist should not be reason to recast their dolls. As I mentioned earlier, I think people should behave in a civilised manner even if they disagree, and no matter the attitude of any person, even if you feel like they behave like assholes, is no reason to do something else against them in the form of recasting or buying their dolls once they have been recasted. There is no inherent logic (stressing the logical part of logic again) in this argument either, and it is mostly emotional. To wish bad on someone (the artist) for whatever reason is really, being self-indulgent. With regards to artists who have recasted dolls themselves, I believe their actions should never dictate how the rest of us acts. (I should mention that I do believe this makes such artists hypocritical. And I should also note that I do not know of any artists who do own recasts, but then again I could be uninformed, so I'll go ahead and assume such a scenario exists because it has been brought up in recast confessions). Again with the attitude bit, another person's actions may not sit well with you, but that does not mean you have any right to do wrong by them because of that. Doing so is being self-indulgent and self-entitled because you think your opinion/stand matters more than theirs.

And being self-entitled, in particularly as a consumer of bjds, really means neglecting and ignoring the artistic endeavor and sacrifices bjd artists make to produce the dolls you like. If as a consumer you are not willing to "sacrifice" (by this I mean paying the original retail price, or waiting out on the secondhand market for a legit limited doll etc) to get the doll you like, then you are not compensating the artists, the people who have sacrificed their time and effort to make these dolls. You are not supporting the very people who are the reason why there are dolls for you to enjoy to begin with. Without BJD artists, where would these dolls come from?

I think we should show our appreciation: recognise that each and every doll out there is the result of someone's creativity, love and hardwork, by only buying legit bjds. Support BJD artists.

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P.S.: I realise that this post is long, so kudos to anyone who read this far.

Also, if I have made any points you do not agree with, feel free to present your own opinion (whether you support artists or recasts or are neutral) if you want to, because I think logical debates help to inform everyone, but I won't tolerate personal attacks.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. :)

November 27, 2014

November 16, 2014

Support BJD Artists

November 5, 2014

Fall