BJD sweatshops?

Serenia- It seems to me that you haven't read through this thread.

TC

 

Yes, but at least for me, a big part of the question is that the one BJD company she named outright, Volks, is known for producing their BJDs in Kyoto, Japan. There are photographs of the Kyoto factory buildings on Volks website, as well as stats about number of employees, etc.
It's been mentioned that maybe the smaller, non-bjd, Volks dolls are produced in China, and perhaps that is what she was referring to. If that is what she meant, her statement is misleading since the rest of the post was specifically talking about BJDs. If someone were just reading that post and knew nothing else, they would assume that Volks BJDs are made in poor conditions in China. Since the evidence is rather overwhelming that they are in fact produced in Japan, for me it casts doubt on the rest of her allegations. We also have other DoA members (like angmasuzy who posted back on page one), who are familiar with at least some of the companies in Korea, and who state that the doll companies they are familiar with, do not use sweatshops.
Nevertheless, whether it's our resin BJDs or plastic dolls, poor working conditions are abhorrent and should not be tolerated. As someone who owns two Volks dolls, I am really hoping that she decides to make a statement here and clarify what she meant. If the resin dolls are produced in Kyoto, but other products are produced a hazardous or inhumane environment, I would like to know about it. As of right now, the allegations made in Paulette's post have not been supported by available evidence.

 

I will not email the companies and ask. First, I think it is a little rude, especially when the company in question (Volks) states their facilities and their locations on their website. I guess I just feel that an email like that may sound a little to accusatory to them. Now if they went and made a public statement about sweatshops on a public forum, as Paulette has done, then I would feel different.

I really hope she post here. Who knows if she has even checked her PM's? I sure hope she does because I really want to hear what she has to say.

 

same here. Plus.... just as was already mentioned that no clothing comes labeled as "made in sweatshop", I seriously doubt any company is going to say "sure, our dolls are made in sweatshops". Nope - I think they would deny it outright no matter what the truth is and all it will do is alienate them and possibly even casue them to stop selling overseas.

 

It's kinda hard to believe in a BJD sweatshop. It's like saying there's tons of pre-made dolls sitting on a shelf with face ups and everything waiting to be shipped out.

If so, then why do customers have the ability to request custom face ups from the companies? And why do they take so darn long to ship?

I think that BJDs are NOT created in sweatshops, seeing as that a lot of care goes into making them perfect for the buyer.

Sure, there's a few flaws here and there, but it's not like the companies aren't willing to replace the part that's damaged.

And the whole DZ is cheap and Volks is expensive, I think it's because the two companies attract a whole different crowd each.
It's not like a 15 year old has $1000 to spend on a doll. More like $200. (at least that's what it's like in my case)

I'm just saying that it'd be really hard to believe that a $700-something dollar doll would be made in a sweatshop.

If they were mass produced, chances are they'd be like $100 bucks or lower, and made out of something other han resin. Just reading the artists' bjd-making threads about casting and me being a BJD-maker myself, I find it a pretty hard thing to believe.

That's just my input on this matter anyways. >.>

 

While it may seem like there's a lot of BJD fans out there, I still really can not believe there's a big enough market for them to have a need for a sweatshop. Not for the dolls or the doll clothes. As someone said way back at the start of this thread, sweatshops are used for mass-produced things, like t-shirts, which you can buy at any store, a pack of 3 for $5. I have yet to see a BJD or their clothes come at such a cheap price.

If Goodreau did go to China, I think she either greatly misunderstood the meaning of "sweatshop," or is purposely exaggerating what she saw. That she's a maker herself, and didn't submit any proof, and was blatantly wrong about where Volks' dolls are made... it just looks really bad on her part to me.

 

I actually learned quite a large deal about the history of BJDs at animenext when one of the lovely people running the panel gave us a history lesson. In any case, aside from the remarks of the post, I just don't understand where she's coming from in the fact that BJDs were essentially, in their essence of how we know them today, created IN Japan by volks and thus other companies sprouted into existence all over asia and in respect to the original BJDs, continued creating different moulds.

Isn't there some unspoken artistic code that you're supposed to respect the ones that came before you? I know as an artist I respect the classic artists.. granted BJDs came into full-blown existence in the 90s which isn't very long ago but still, they STARTED everything and I just find her whole mud slinging towards the asian companies to be offensive and slightly disturbing that one would go to such lengths just to talk down to other companies..

Another thing, there's no penitence for 'talking off the top of your head.' Especially not in today's society. One simple quote, line, anything taken out of context can and most likely will be held against you in one way or another.

 

I completely believe that the BJDs we purchase are NOT made in sweatshops. Many really good points have been brought up by those posting here.
BJDs are made-to-order, and are manufactured after they are paid for. A sweatshop or mass production line would have a large supply of pre-made dolls ready to ship at any given time. (Although I have heard of some companies producing extra dolls to have on-hand in case of a busy season).

Dolls made in China are less expensive, but this dosen't mean they are made in sweatshops. China is a huge supplier and producer of industrial equipment and supplies; being right near the source and without having to pay import costs or international shipping, BJDs can be produced for much less money within that country. As mentioned before, China is not a third-world country and with all the technology and progress they've made in the manufacturing process, sweatshops quite simply don't make sense. I wouldn't be suprised if one day they invented a fully-automated machine capable of casting and sanding BJDs... hmmm...

I'm begining to think that maybe Goodreau saw an assembly line of workers when she went to China and mistook it for a sweatshop. Even then, it would have been the 1/6 plastic dollfies rather than the BJDs. And there's nothing wrong with assembly lines; they're fast, efficient, and (in our modern times) the workers get decent wages and hours.

 

She may not even know she has a PM here to check.

I don't know if this is happening to anyone else, but for the last few days whenever I get a PM I don't get the email notification about it. So the only way I know is if I log on to this forum. In the past, even if I didn't have time to check the forum for a few days, my email would let me know I had PMs or posts in my instant notification subscriptions. I don't know why, because my CP settings still show it turned on, but right now neither of those systems are notifying me at all.

 

But she didn't state her position well. She didn't give examples or explanations, so people have to question: Is she correct? Is she over exaggerating or making assumptions based on one or two companies? Is she misunderstanding what a sweatshop is? What criteria is she looking at in terms of working conditions? What particular factories did she see? Many many questions with no answers.

However, I have a hard time believing she could have seen even a fraction of the places bjds are made--there are many bjd companies, and not all manufacture in China. Making blanket statements with no evidence to back it up does not do much to convince me that she is correct. I am glad that she cares about the workers who make her dolls, but I'm not happy that she would say something so thoughtless.

I respect her for the work she's put into not only creating a line of her own dolls, but designing wigs and clothes as well. I actually like some of her sculpts and had been considering buying one of the vinyl versions of one of her girls, but I'm not so I would now. This leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

I know that a lot of people were not fond of her sculpts and openly said so, but I didn't think there was that much drama about them here--or did I miss something? (I very well might have). I did read and post in the orginal thread where she was talking about her own dolls. Not everyone is going to like everything that is produced, and her dolls never seemed to really be geared towards the serious bjd hobbyists (for lack of a better term, I'm tired tonight)--they seem like more of a crossover type doll that appeal more to traditional doll collectors. I know she has and is a fan of abjds, but I wonder sometimes how well she understands the community.

I really do wish she would explain herself better...

 

I think the "drama" that may have been referred to is the fact that they aren't considered part of the "ABJD aesthetic" and therefor aren't allowed on DoA?

Anyway, I really am hoping Goodreau comes and explains herself here in this thread. I DON'T think she's lying, persay, but she might be exaggerating or what she considers a "sweatshop" might not be one at all. As a Concerned Citizen, I would like to know just where she was and what, exactly, she saw that made her say such a thing. I think we all would.

 

I read the post on Magical Doll Forum by Goodreau, http://www.magicaldoll.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=123
and I didn't understand it... it seems like maybe it was a rebuttal to something that I am not aware of.

I wouldn't want to purchase an abjd from a company that has poor conditions for their workers... honestly, for $500 to $1000 I expect artisans who are getting paid a decent wage and working in a decent environment to be making my dolls. Resin is expensive, but it isn't that expensive.

Volks dolls cost more than most abjd on the average, but Japan's cost of living is high. I would expect to pay more because I would expect that the artisans are being paid a living wage for that country.

It is great to scope out your manufacturer to make sure that they provide good conditions as well as good quality, but in any case, it is not a cool move to infer that another company employs 'sweat shop' labor to build their dolls without some kind of proof. And large scale injection molded plastic factories (that would be for vinyl and other plastic dolls, not resin dolls), are probably not the most inviting places to work even under the best circumstances.

 

I'm not sure Paulette is willing to come back here. I don't know if this is OK for me to do this, but I have her on watch on DA and here is a journal she just posted. I hope this will clear things up a little.

http://goodreaudoll.deviantart.com/journal/14569082/#journal

 

Well, Paulette if you are reading this, thank you very much for replying. I appreciate your courage. I am happy to hear your explanation and it truly does put my mind at ease. I wish you the best of luck in your art and life. It was good the comment made people question things.

I really hope this link stays up (or my post for that matter). I think everyone was worried and everyone wanted to hear what you had to say. I hope both you and the rest of the bjd community can coexists in peace from now on.

 

I emailed Paulette have gotten a reply this morning.

She said she was completely unaware of the debate going on here until last night. She also says she is trying to get on here to post an explanation and reply but is unable to log on (so she probably isn't getting any PMs either). She says she will continue to try to log on to do so.

What she told me was, as suspected by some here, her use of the word "sweatshop" was casual, and no different than some of us were using (and got flamed for). She also said she was referring to the Volks vinyl dolls factory, not the resins that are handmade.

Hopefully whatever is preventing her from logging on will be resolved soon and she can post here herself in her own words

 

I am very glad to read that comment from Paulette, and I appreciate her taking the time to explain her statement.

 

I feel the need to say that people really need to be careful about the statements they make, especially when it concerns other people/companies' reputation. Clearly her usage of the word 'sweatshop' is different from the general understanding, and I do find that a bit careless because before you make a statement, especially as a representative, you should know what your statement means to the general public, not just to yourself. It's great to have very strong views about a cause, but strong views couched in badly used terms won't help that cause.

But at least she's aware of the mistake and hopefully, it'll be something Goodreau will keep in mind in the future. It's also good that she has taken the time to explain her comments.

 

Hello everyone,
At Paulette's request, I have removed her statement.

She told me:
"I apologize for my blanket statement about sweatshops. It was stupid. I was thinking outloud, and did not finish my thought. I was defining sweatshops differently then we think of them. I support ALL doll companies, and doll artists."

 

Seems more like a statement made to cover her ass. I do hope she fully thinks through her statements in the future.