BJD sweatshops?

What concerns me are the Chinese made dolls. They are much cheaper than the Korean/Japanese dolls, and that makes me wonder if the employees who cast the Chinese ones get paid way less. In particular, the new Memory line from Doll in Mind, which are affordable versions of 60 cm dolls, are assembled in China and therefore cheaper. Does this mean that the dolls were created by workers in poor conditions with lesser pay? Or does it mean that the Chinese casters require less because the standard of living is lower? I am not assuming anything, just wondering...

 

I don't know about conditions but yes labour rates are generally a lot lower in china, its part of why so much manufacturing in other areas is out sourced there. You need to bare in mind though that (I think, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) the cost of living over there is also lower.

 

Personally, even with the consideration of labour rates it's not only a tedious process to produce dolls, but the resin isn't exactly cheap either. This leads me to believe moreso than the payment of the workers, but worry about the quality of the product. It seems more likely that the cheaper companies are perhaps using cheaper resin? I mean I know nothing about doll making other than the basics but it honestly is simple economics. Cheaper product usually means cheaper materials... I mean this is not always true and jeez if there's a doll I like I don't care what company it's from, I'll buy it. I don't believe in doll company elitism.

 

Like so many others, I give no credence to the idea Japanese and Korean made dolls are made in sweat shops. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Chinese companies in this matter.

Just speaking for Volks, since they're the company actually accused in that diatribe, I would think they would get in a lot of legal trouble and there would a huge scandal in Japan if it came to light their marked "Made in Japan" items were actually "Made in China."

Volks dolls are made in Japan, in Kyoto. If you go to the Japanese website there are pictures of where the factories are and I could have sworn at one point Shigeta-san has said he hopes to someday open up a factory tour. (Much like the one one can take at Licca Castle) I am sure all Volks employees are paid a decent salary, let alone not working in sweat shop conditions, as umm otherwise they would quit and get another job.

 

I've handled DollZones dolls, and I've heard nothing but good things about Bobobie's resin quality, and the DZs are very nice. I think the difference in cost probably goes back to the fact that it is cheaper to manufacture goods in China. This does not mean that companies are using sweatshop labor, but that the cost of living is much lower and therefore the pay is lower. This is why so many US companies manufacture their goods in China.

There is a variety of pricetags on dolls depending on the company, and it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with cheap materials. You have cost of labor differences, cost of keeping up the facilities which may vary, and in the case of Volks, there are physical stores that have to be maintained--lots of variables there. I would be wary of saying a doll is low quality without actually handling one first.

 

On Volks Website they list where their showrooms and production facilities are.
I am not sure if these are all of their facilities, but it does seem somewhat enlightening in wake of the current conversation.

http://www.volks.co.jp/en/volks/index_volks.aspx

It is important to keep in mind Volks is NOT just a BJD company only and they make many garage resin kits and other hobby items (and they did so long before the creation of Super Dollfie).

 

Can someone please tell me exactly what a sweatshop is?
I know what the general term means of course but how is a 'sweatshop' defined? Low wages, long hours, inskilled workers, unhealthy environment???

Loads of people work in one or some of the above conditions in the western world so i wanna know what is meant by 'sweatshop'.
I never rule anything out as totally impossible any more - fact is stranger than fiction as they say........

I would'nt buy a doll from a company that used a poorly treated workforce to produce dolls so to me it does matter.

 

I own several dolls made in china and by chinese companies and I don't for one minute think the resin or anything else about the quality is inferior. Actually I'm grateful for nice dolls at more affordable prices.

I'm also not sure what actually constitutes a "sweatshop" in the context of this discussion - seems to me the term is maybe being used to refer to all "factory" production in china.

I have also heard that some companies in korea do in fact send their resin work out to china and then assemble them back in korea. I don't have any way of knowing if it is true or not, and can't speak for those who told me so but they are in the industry so I believe them. DIM is doing this openly now, but my guess is they are not the only ones.

I also have a good friend (not Goodreau) who is in the process of producing a doll that will be made/assembled in china next year, and yes, it's a "factory" but not a "sweatshop" and they are still hand-made and hand-assembled.

 

It is possible for many of these dolls to be made in "china" or anywhere for that matter in a factory and be mass produced and not be made in a sweatshop. It seems like mass produced and sweat shop are getting intertwined here. There are sweatshops that don't mass produce, but the conditions meet those of sweatshops and there are companies that produce on a massive scale, but aren't sweatshops.

 

For a decent definition of sweatshop you can visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_shop

It's not just low wages, it's living wages, which does vary by country. And its not just crowded, but crowded to the point of dangerous, particularly a fire hazard.

Now if you wanted to argue about working conditions for people in the "entertainment" industry and some of the English language schools in Japan, I could see some of the former being considered nearly sweat shops.

Volks does the whole process in Japan, they are not having the pieces made elsewhere and then shipped back just to be put together. If that were the case, MSDs would not be marked made in Japan as the standards come as unpainted parts.

I'd also like to point out now that not all of DIMs dolls carry that little disclaimer, just the Memory line, which makes me think that it does not apply to all their dolls and might explain the price difference between Memory and Love lines, since both dolls are the same size. I think if other Korean companies were doing such, they would also have to carry such information.

And finally, one can have a factory in China that is not a sweatshop and is just well factory. ^^

 

A $500 DZ doll is hardly cheap. Plus DZ did scuplt the dolls before making molds, they did not make molds directly from the scuplts of other dolls companies. The reason why Volks are MORE expensive is because they use silicone molds that only last so long, and they use a higher quality resin. DZ uses metal molds, but still they hardly mass produced. When I say "mass produced" I mean like Hanes T-shirts. You can't count them, there are so many! Therefore, even though DZ has made less expensive dolls, they are unable to have been made in sweat shops.

Anyway, let's get away from the whole piracy issue, that topic has been beaten to the ground!

 

sorry - removed

 

generally speaking cost of living therefore wages are much lower in China (half my relatives live there XD) I think perhaps this is less of a 'sweatshop' issue, as people have brought up the complications of casting and whatnot, and more of a social/economical issue at large on a global scale.

If I made what I make here in Canada, only in China....could live like a queen...but alas...`tis not the case XD

 

Exactly what I was thinking when I read that post.

She says vague negative things without being specific as if to lead the reader to come to a negative conclusion without her having to make a blantant accusation.

Has anyone ever written any of these companies and simply asked them about their production arrangemets?

As far as China goes. It is a sore area for me, because most BJD's are made in sweat shops. My dolls are being manufactured at a BJD-only factory.

I find it very very hard to believe that Volks, CP, Angelregion, and other BJD makers are not BJD only factories. In fact the few pictures I have seen look more like artist studios than factories at all. I know Volks also makes action figures and such but I think that's definatly within reason for them to do.

So that tells you that the precious dolls you think are made in some other place are really from another lovely country

I find that to be an incredibly snide, hurtful and condescending thing to say to prospective customers of your product. Especially when you fail to provide any proof at all to back it up.

 

I agree. I am not quite sure what she was thinking when she said this. I love all types of dolls and had wanted to buy one of her little girls. But after this comment, I don't think I can even bring myself to buy one of the outfits.

I have been very tempted to contact her via her web page and ask exactly what Volks dolls she was referring too. I would also like to contact Volks and inform them of this woman's accusations, though I would be afraid I would offend the lovely people at Volks so I probably won't do that. You don't make accusations like that without proof and think she has some explaining to do.

 

Echoing my agreement in this. That line was pretty rude and insulting. It seems fairly preposterous that she's flinging such accusations without any supporting evidence.

 

I'm not defending anything here, but at the time she was under pretty heavy fire and may have been talking off the top of her head without thinking about what she was really saying?
has anyone actually asked her what she meant? or for supporting evidence?

 

I too would be very interested in hearing a clarification of what she meant. As someone else said here, the Volks resin dolls are made in a factory in Kyoto. I wonder whether she is referring the smaller, plastic, 1/6th scale Volks dolls? I do not know myself where those are made, but if they are made in China and that is what she was referring to, then the statement was either misleading, or she was simply ignorant of fact that the Volks resin dolls are made in Japan.
I agree that the company in question was being harshly criticized at the time that post was made. Nevertheless, a professional, representative of any company needs to think carefully before making an accusation like that about a rival, particularly in a public setting. I am a little surprised that the allegations, particularly of Volks dolls being made China, wasn't questioned by anyone in that thread.

 

She was and I believe still is a member here. I would love for her to come and clarify what she meant. I think I will PM her a link to this thread and see what she says.

I should be fair and give her the opportunity to explain what she meant before I judge her. I want to hear her side of the story.

EDIT: I went ahead and sent her a message. I really want to hear what she has to say as I really liked her dolls and did feel that some of the criticisms made against her and her company were unfair. Hopefully she can clear some of this up.

 

I agree, and I hope she does chime in here. It's a shame, because though the dolls weren't my style, I did feel that she was unfairly ripped into when she asked for feedback and I don't think she was expecting that reaction. But then, one reads the statements about other bjd makers and Volks in particular, and it's hard to know what to think.