BJD makers threatened by China-based counterfeiter / trademarks

There was a legit company that posted about the health problems. WAIT it was Luts.... here's the quote from them:

"Recast BJD is not only made by unsafe and untested material, but also casted in bad condition with rough finishing process.
They are low quality & shoddy finishing dolls, so that separated from the official BJD dolls.
We were reported about skin trouble and respiratory problem from some customers, who purchased the recast dolls without knowing."

Unsafe and untested material. They are the resin experts. I'm sure a lot of research has gone into what is safe and what is not safe to use for making dolls. If Luts says they can be toxic... I tend to believe them.

 

Just asking out of curiosity - is this DoA's official Tumblr? Den of Angels

It looks like it hasn't been updated in over a year. It could be a good, central resource if updated to be more user-friendly (personally, I'd also update the theme and colours). Moderators of this Tumblr could regroup various BJD references and companies all in one place, like the list of links that was discussed earlier in this thread.

 

Thank you for the information!

 

Just a reminder, of the 40 companies we know were affected, these ones don't have any confirmation of contact yet:
Kreamdoll,
Doll'n'Doll,
Chicabi Doll,
DolkBJD,
Monochrome,
DollBom,
Chica Bonita,
RAMCube,
Napi,
Cocoriang,
Migidoll,
Dara,
Sadol,
RSDoll,
April Story,
Aileen Doll,,
Lyllycat,
Withdoll,
Lina Chouchou,
Monodee,
Leekeworld,
IBJDD,
Dollmore,
Crobidoll,
Rosenlied

 

Lillycat is aware, but hasn't posted whether she is doing anything about it quite yet.

This is just an all around horrible situation

 

A BJD sculptor Jessica Karlsson has made a video about the situation: Link
It's good to hear the effects of this situation from people who are in/ are going to be in the bjd business themselves.

Also, Swandzz made a video about how to save money on buying a minifee the legit way (she listed cheaper legit bodies that resemble Fairyland bodies), which is great, since minifees are really popular and I bet they get recasted to hell and back.

 

This worries me so much. It always has and always will. Even more so since I'm usually dependant on the second-hand market where it was already hard to distinguish real from recast. I can't believe someone had the guts to go and trademark these well-known brands like that. Excuse me, let me correct that. That there is someone who would stoop so low and might actually succeed here and there...

This is art theft. It is insulting, depressing and a blemish on the whole community as a whole.

From personal experience I can tell you the pro-recasters here are cheering. Their train of thought is not 'What will they recast if there is nothing new left to recast?'. And I quote someone I talked to recently: "It's about time someone decided to do something about those greedy individuals that call themselves companies. Sure, it's harder to actually make a (new) doll but after a few sales they're more than break-even at the prices they sell them at. Anything more is just greed and should be punished. Greed is a sin you know?" When I point out that recasts are 'just theft' and thus also a sin they just said that they didn't steal anything. They just purchased the poor mans equivalent of a ball-jointed doll and that in the end their dolls have more value because they had to put more effort into them to make them as beautiful as the real deal.

Let's just say I'm fuming here right now. Even now some people don't see the damage that recasting does to this hobby. My heart is enraged and weeping and I wish the companies the very best of luck and strength in dealing with this issue. I and many others here for one will be sure to keep supporting them whatever may come.

 

@Audrina Mystique
Hey, Hon. Dollmore replied to me. I've copied the reply on my post earlier. And Ramcube also replied to me. I'll post it below.

@mangameow
A reply from Ramcube :

I'm going to PM you about complete reply from Dollits. ^^

 

I remember reading about the earlier days (before 2010, like 2006ish)that there were a few issues with people buying dolls they thought were legit on ebay, but the continuing offgassing of the resin once the item was home was one of the major signs something wasn't right. At that time the legit market was smaller and the recast market was smaller in scope as well. It probably wasn't the same disgustingly well oiled machine it is now. So at one point the quality of recasts was very poor and potentially toxic. Sadly, like legit companies, recasters have learnt and grown from their past mistakes.

This post by armeleia goes into some details with her experiences casting and working with resin. It goes into the ways improperly used resin could potentially be unsafe. Especially when not cured correctly. The next post in the thread talks about a legit head offgassing when it was being modded. So recasts do have the risk of being toxic to those who make them and those who sell them. Especially since there are so many different people doing it - not everyone is going to be successful, so the risk of poor quality and potentially toxic materials is still there.

 

To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Luo's dolls' resin was toxic. I don't think that somebody who were made fake food would care about his customers' health.

 

Speaking as someone who rather carelessly forwarded this rumor about fake food on Tumblr, I'd be grateful if someone would corroborate.

 

I don't know about the food thing, but I have to wonder, have any of Luo's recasts hit the 10 year mark? We know resin degrades over time, but who knows if his recasts will age safely. I mean, look at how we stress sealant and resin modification safety now. People got sick or did permanent damage because they didn't know better. For some people it was several years after the fact that the health issues showed themselves. Even chemical reactions aren't always immediate. It can take years for danger to fully come to light.

 

If the recast has a toxin that legits dont (cause resin is not the safest material overall), it doesnt matter if they are roughly the same product, so it wouldnt affect. At least in my country is not a "by toy" thing, but by brand and so on, so you can have a product banned without all the similars being too... I dont know if this really fits USA laws though since even kinder eggs are banned there c.c

I think its pretty obvious they can be toxic, as I mentioned, just resins overall can be, but would surveillance work with only the possibility? We do have to wonder how that affects the legits too, thats why it would be great if someone from inside could test before, but I myself have too many years before my university thesis.

The aliexpress store only has 5 years, don't know if he/she/whatever sold somewhere else before...

I'm pretty sure its only a rumor, fake food is such a serious thing that if there was proof out there Luo wouldnt problably be so free. Not saying it cant be true, but just that it would be hard to corroborate. I tried searching for it and the only result that was actually about luo was doa one. There was other results with "luo" - luoyang market for example - but none with luo ligui, again this a pretty common name in china, so maybe whoever come with this was confused?

 

I do find it quite lovely that Luts is rewarding those who pay it forward and stand behind their product. If anyone noticed/saw their notice on a contest for legit purchased dolls.

 

thank you for posting this!
ramcube, dollmore, aileen doll, and lillycat are all on the list now, so i've removed them from the quote for people looking for an updated list, i hope that's okay! ^^

@Vienni thank you so much, i've added RaMcube to the list! they have also released an official statement on their site as well. ^^

 

It's probably been said before but it's been something I've been thinking about for the past couple of days. Just doing some tests of looking around for bjds as if I was a new owner, it's scary how many recast stores pop up in the initial search over the legit companies. For a newcomer, this can be very tempting for those who don't know about the issue.

I've seen some other people on other sites do this but I was thinking if more owners on other social media did this, maybe it'd really help those who find the hobby through cute pictures. Listing links to DOA's wiki, links for Legit dolls or dealers, I feel it could really help with a lot of the lure these fakes give new hobbyists.

I understand it's not anyone's job to hand-hold people with their research but with how things are popping up, I feel it might be best to counter it.

 

More a question than a statement, because no one has mentioned it. When it comes to recast awareness, should Wikipedia be updated with a clearer explanation of what they are and why they are so harmful to the artists and the hobby as a whole? They are mentioned in about two sentences on there and when I was a newbie, Wikipedia was one of the first places I looked for info. And while we’re at it, the list of companies on there is also short and doesn’t include links to companies websites. I know this info is found in other places such as the DoA wiki and BJDCollectasy, but these are not the most logical places to look first, since one would have to know they exist. Even linking these on Wikipedia would probably be OK, but I have no experience with editing Wiki listings, so that’s why I’m asking here what everyone thinks.

Also: Luts are just so sweet for having this CoA contest. They’re one of my fave companies for a reason and I will certainly enter if only to show my support.

 

Makes me wonder if they are using 3D printing to do the casting of a legit head and make a mold that way, who knows I was looking at Luo's web page on Ali and it states they use imported French resin, so like my original Supia Roda she was casted in Pinky White French resin and she aged banana yellow in 2yrs. Wonder if his French resin recast's will age just as fast.

 

Phew, took me a while to read through all the pages, since i only just found this thread. I've been trying to update our PA BJD Owners page with info now, along with my own facebook artist's page, since I go to comic conventions sometimes and host BJD fan tables and hand out info to people outside the hobby...

Was wondering, in case I missed it, are the dealers for these artists/companies being affected as well? I just messaged dolkus.com today about an order I'm waiting on, and did ask them about the issue. It'll probably be a day until I hear back from them, but I'll gladly share their response here if they say anything. If they've already said something and it's been shared then I'll skip.

When I first heard about everything going on, I'm not gonna lie I cried! xD I cry when I'm angry, haha, but seriously...this is heart breaking! I know I haven't been in the hobby long, only 4yrs, but I've bought so many dolls now from various companies, and I love following all the artists & companies I even haven't gotten dolls from yet. When I learned about the creating process of these dolls I was so impressed, since it's so much work and there's always so few people involved. One of my grail dolls was bought from a single artist company! Her and her work are both super impressive! A ton of my friends are artists, I dabble in art though I'm primarily a writer...just the thought of any kind of art theft makes my blood boil. There's no excuse for it! And I think the time has long since passed for anyone to claim they are 'neutral' on the recast issue. Either you're for it or you're not...

I do believe that harassing those who have bought recasts is not the way to go, however. It just alienates and upsets people, who will then most likely feel even more strong in not wanting to listen to what the rest of us have to say. I'm not sure what the proper answer is to that part of the problem, but I think politely, yet strongly, educating pro-recasters in how they are harming the hobby, how recasts in general are harming the hobby, can be a great start. We can't change someone's mind for them by yelling at them and calling them names. I just wish there was more we could do.

 

It made me so angry when I first hear about this news, since I am from China too...Shame on Luo, really, the whole bjd community in China is angry,I feel like now Luo is gonna give a bad impression to the world about Bjds from China..
I was talking to an agent for a Korean doll company, apparently the owner of the brand is really upset because it costs a lot of money to sue him.. and most bjd companies are personal or small business, it's really not fair for them that they have to pay to get their own trademark back..
A lot of domestic companies in China are now taking action, I wish things turn out well