Celebrity Dolls - Are they fair/legal?

I'm not seeing why there even needs to be a debate about this... Those that have celebrity dolls, they love them just as much as their standard company counterparts. So much time and effort goes into celebrity dolls, and I believe that it's rather insulting that people insinuate that they're some kind of dirty taint on the doll market.

I'd have given my right arm to have a Gackt doll two years ago, and yes, my tastes have changed and if the Minimee project had been around then, I'd probably have a doll I'd want to sell on the market place. Would he have decreased in value? Perhaps. But I'd reckon that bidding on a Gackt doll would go as high as some of the Limiteds that pop up from time to time.

Right now, I'm happy to not own one, in the future, I might wish to have one. I might want to immortalise my love of Balthier from Final Fantasy XII or Nishikido Ryo. I certainly wouldn't be put off by being called 'unoriginal'. This term often is branded about like some kind of curse word and then derrogative names come about for doll sculpts that are deemed 'unoriginal'. Chiwoo/El owners find the same kind of... elitism? in doll circles.

Our dolls are beautiful, regardless of who they're based on, original character or no. As long as the owner loves them and they are legal by Korean law (in the case of Minimees), what's the big deal?

Is there going to be a thread talking about the originality of Chiwoo owners next? Because regardless of the original post, that is what this debate has become, a debate on originality, rather than celebrity dolls.

 

I agree. To me no doll is "original" They're all massed produced. Yeah some are limited but there's always gonna be someone who has the exact same mold that another person has. Though they have different wigs, faceups, eyes, whatever. Strip all that stuff off and it's just like the others in the same mold. What makes them different is what personality you give them. Some of the people who are getting celebrity minimees are not getting them to be that actual celebrity and some are. So what?

 

I hadn't looked at this thread before. I can not understand why some people are throwing around the wordunoriginal like is something awful and horrible and why some people seem so pissed at what some other joe/jane is doing with their own money. Its really nobodies business. I really think the term original is laughable. There are for to many human beings on this planet and involved with everything for any human being to posses very much originality in any area of their life. Its like in high school when someone sees someone with a band sticker/tshirt/album of their favorite band they thought no one else at school liked at got mad because they stole their thunder. Only in reverse context. I am getting celebrity dolls. Yes I think its very exciting. Why? Because I like their costuming and style. I also want to choose people who look enough like BJDs that they'll fit into the rest of my crew. ABJD dolls are about beauty and the celebrities who I have picked are very beautiful and it seems perfect to put it into a doll. I don't intend to keep anyone's back story the same. I don't know enough about the individual and don't care to read mag after mag trying to grasp it. Public personnas aren't very accurate with what the perons internal world is like.

As for slashing.... gads it wierds me out. It makes me wonder how funny someone would feel if the saw it. It just seems like an invasion of privacy. I might one day think differently but as for now.....

 

Personally I don't really like BJDs based on real life celebrities since they kinda creep me out. I might change my mind later though, who really knows? (A Golf [a Thai singer who sings in JPN] BJD? Yes! )

Generally, I like the use of making "anime characters 'real'" you know? Maybe a pseduo-canon character if you will. I can't really explain it. ;;

 

RE: I agree. Last I checked, the joy of having a dollfie is that each of them are unique, and that there is no other dollfie like yours in the world. To make them look like celebrities... I don't know. I'm sorry, but unless my dollfie performs in front of millions of fans singing "Oops, I Did It Again", I consider making your dollfie look like a celebrity unimaginative, but that's just me. *shrugs*

 

crpsaiyan: That's a valid point, but by no means is it the only joy! ^^

I have several original character dollfies, all of whom have come straight from me, and aren't based directly on any pre-existing character or person (though of course inspiration is taken from the things I like, as with all dolls).

But, I've also ordered a celebrity minimee, and for different reasons. I don't consider myself 'unoriginal' for doing this. I'm just combining my love for bjds and a certain personality to make a doll that will bring me joy.

 

RE: *grins* Did I say that it was the only joy? *laughs* No, I hear what you're saying, and you make a very good point as well. My understanding from what you've decribed in terms of your dollfies is that they're "style celebrities". In other words, you're not necessarily making them look like the celebrity themselves, but you're inspired by a famous person's looks to create your dollfie, but with a twist. Do I have that right? I don't see anything wrong with that at all.

If you really want to know, my dollfie, Mini-Me Lady Saiyan is a "style celebrity" dollfie (or should I say "style character"?). Okay, we all know Mini-Me from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me -- he's the miniature version of Dr. Evil. In my dollfie's case, she's more or less supposed to be the miniature version of myself. But to call her Mini-Me Claudine just seemed irrelevant to me... well, that, and I'm not very fond of my name. *laughs* I decided to use my online/ cosplay handle, which is Lady Saiyan, and I thought, "okay, I'll call her Mini-Me Lady Saiyan." *lol*

 

There are very, very few celebrities I would like enough to even THINK about modeling a doll after. And most, if not all, of them are Japanese ^^;;

I do admit that my Dollfie's names were inspired from cartoon characters from my child/teenhood. Wisp is named after Rainbow Brite's original name, and Arnold is named after Arnold from Hey Arnold! I do not, however, go out of my way to dress them like their namesakes - the only time they might is for Halloween. They don't even act like them.

If I had the money, I just MIGHT make a celebrity doll. But I'm sure they'd take on their own personalities. I would have to imagine how they might act, what clothes they'd like, etc. because I don't know the "model" personally and can't know for sure. So it would never be EXACTLY like them, anyway.

So, if you want a Sesshoumaru from Inuyasha, or a Jack Sparrow, I say go for it!

 

Celeb dolls are great and all, just like any other. I don't prefer them myself, but as soon as they're mentioned, I -for some reason- attribute them to action figures and barbies.

 

One of my dolls was modeled after a real person who isn't actually a celebrity. Though I never met the girl, I loved her and felt like I wanted to take care of her in a way. So I made a doll to look and act like her. She's still unique, because she's the only one!

I have another who I named after a actress/model that I like but isn't actually made to be her. ^^

I don't know. Even if I didn't have those dolls, I wouldn't be against someone else doing it with celebrities they like. They have their reasons. I take it as respect or a tribute, because they love that person or character. ^^

 

As much as I say that I would like to have a celebrity minimee, when it actually comes to making one, I tend to lean towards original characters of my own creation. The novelty of having a celebrity doll would wear off quickly for me.

 

Wow, long questions! I am just going to sum it up by saying that I think it's so wonderful to have a likeness of a celebrity! It's like having him or her right there with you; kinda like the next best thing! And it makes people happy.
When Audrey Hepburn died, my mom was so broken up over it; she was her very favorite actress and she even got to meet her once too. My dad bought her an Audrey Hepburn doll as gift and it really cheered her up lots. She doesn't collect dolls at all, but this doll seems just so special to her.

So as long as fans are happy and the celebrities are cool with it, then why not?

 

I have a few. With Rian, Bram, Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Louis I chose head sculpts that matched best to the person I was making and painted them to look like that person. Rian and Bram are based on real people but I've made them OCs to make it easier for me.

Spidey and Louis are fictional and historical based characters. Spidey's face is based on Tobey Maguire's but he's not a Tobey doll, likewise Louis is based on an actor who played a character.

Jareth, and to an extent his twin Taffy, have a general David Bowie look to them but neither are ment to be Bowie dolls and the sculpts are not what I would have chosen. If I were making a Bowie I would have got a Hound. We won the heads and no matter what they looked like my sister wanted Jareth so I decided to go with a simular look with my doll.

There is the Christopher Walken doll who is supposed to be Christopher Walken. He's about a year old and I've found him becoming Dad to the dollhouse and taking on a bit of his own personality. I've used him for animated things on You Tube where he dances and done photo stories with him. I am careful to respect what I feel is the public image Christopher Walken has put out and do nothing I would feel as being disrespectful with the doll. To me the Dad doll embodies the fond memories I have of Mr Walken's movies, getting to see him live once, and the fun with my friend Kirk who's an impersonator.

As a long collector of dolls and action figures I see them as tangible memories of the actor/character/show like a 3-D scrapbook. I do worry when a likeness is not liscenced allowing the person to benefit.

 

I personally think its a bit questionable for the sculptor of a celebrity look a like doll to profit on their likeness.

However, I don't question the motives of someone who wants to own such a doll because their reasons are personal and entirely their own, and none of my business. Besides, it goes right along with someone basing an existing doll on a certain personality and there is nothing wrong with doing that either.

As I said, the only thing that unsettles me is that there are those out there profiting on someone elses face. Someone who has no idea it is happening. That, to me, is wrong. These are not like the collectors celebrity dolls that are put out with permission from that person or that persons family.

I think it is more of a moral question than a legal one, however. Would these celebrities care? Maybe, but probably not since it is being done on such a small scale.​

 

Disclaimer: Copyright law is neither here nor there in my opinion of something; whether I DO it might be affected by the legality of the issue but whether I APPROVE of it isn't. Therefore, I don't really care if someone wants to make a "celebrity" doll. I know people who have written novels and, in their mind, this character looks like Dominic Monaghan or Jensen Ackles or Jessica Biel or whoever...but on the page you'd never know. I could respect them getting a doll that resembles that person.

It's one of the least harmful things you could do to a celebrity, just as writing fanfiction about them isn't very harmful. I think that paparazzi, following celebrities around and taking uncomfortable pictures of them, are far more harmful, as are journalists who speculate about their weight or drug use. Yet judges have ruled in the favor of documentary journalism and street photography time after time, saying that these are things done in public, and moreover, that representations of the public persona created by these people when they chose to be a celebrity, are not protected.

So why is their FACE protected? That's as weird to me as Suicide Girls saying that the model can't use their OWN face. Their face is everywhere, probably not representing the real them, but WE can't use it? If someone wanted to make a doll of me I would be flattered. I wouldn't necessarily want to know what they did with it...okay, I'd be on DoA reading my own stories and laughing my ass off, just like the emo band members (MCR, FOB) Googling themselves and reading their own fanfic.

In any case, I think it's silly. Fanfiction and celebrity dolls can be very original and not just for the novelty of being able to make Brad Pitt date a Minimee of yourself, or have Johnny Depp sleep with Orlando Bloom. It's about the ability to create stories and invent characters based on a persona that you only suppose at. I think that's the real attraction. We don't know these American royalty, so we invent their lives, for the same reason we read gossip tabloids.

Besides. People have been making Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe Barbies forever. What's the big difference? People love their idols. Let them have them.

 

You did that? That was one of the first things I saw when I YouTube searched BJDs. I thought it was amazing! Mini-Christopher Walken is really impressive.

 

I think it is. So yes, Kosher.

 

Did that, very carefully. Big dolls can do it too, I did the Bowie twind but their strings are rather tight. Most of him is in the sculpt but I'd say that about all my dolls. Of the 25 only 2 are celebrity sculps, the rest are the result of their face up, and some I've had to make a bit of lemonade. (The Bowies)

Having to think what a celebrity doll with a certain personality might want can be a great exorsize in imagination. Looking for finger puppets for a little Muppeteer has brought me to stores with things for the other dolls and made me wonder how hard it would be to make his puppets. Trying to outfit a doctor has been another adventure. I won't get started on looking for the right plushie owl for Jareth but shopping for clothes to cut down for him with my sister has been a blast

 

I am just guessing, but isn't it likely that some stars or their estates or movie companies have contracted with Mattel, Tonner, or other major vinyl doll companies giving that company exclusive rights to produce dolls representing that star? I don't think just anybody can decide to produce and sell a Johnny Depp doll or a Brad Pitt doll.

However, if someone owns a doll and decides to paint/dress their own doll to look like a star, that's fine. I think it's probably also fine to get someone to make a doll for you whose face sculpt looks similar to a star.

Carolyn

 

I think it's ok for people to have Celebrity based dolls. It's like fanart on a higher level. And if you appreciate them enough then go right on ahead.

As for minimees...I honestly don't have a problem with people having Celebrity Minimees made. The only thing that annoys me is the fact people are trying to say you can't recast the same heads as them. You do not own the Celebrity. You don't know them. They are not your copy right.