New Chinese Piracy

I think the idea of it being a sick joke is more related to the original chinese post where they were actually laughing about the copies. Not your post specifically.

There's a post in the news forum about a company that's been copying Iplehouse sculpts as well.

 

Happens a lot in many areas, not just dolls. I'm a doll costumer and I can never understand why someone would want to copy someone else's work anyway. The joy is in creating something new and unique! If you have the skill to copy.. you have the skill.. trust your creative spirit to come up with something all your own. Well, that's my feeling.
The only reason I can imagine someone would copy is they have no confidence that someone might like their own work. It's sad.

 

I'm sad to say this is not a far stretch from other various popular markets for this. The proper term for these are called "recasts" and what happens is they have the original and they create a mould of their own and cast up a set of their own and sell them. This happens ALOT in the figure world where other companies such as Luts and Volks are also involved in.

I am not for this type of activities but... it happens. I agree with pixxells that it's sad to see them keep doing stuff like this despite they have the skills to make stuff to a decent quality.

 

It happens. It isn't right but it seems as if there are always some unscrupulous people who don't care about the ethics or the quality who will buy knock-offs and as long as they are then other folk will produce rip-offs to sell to them. If they're making copies of the dolls then they'll be more than capable of copying the papers and packing and authenticity marks. Just check out some of the designer bag copies on ebay. One production company even sells 'authenticity' cards, dust bags etc. If huge companies like Louis Vuitton and Chanel struggle to have them put out of business then I'm afraid smaller, specialist companies like Soom aren't likely to have much more luck.

It doesn't look good for the secondary market and, as someone who has bought almost all her dolls pre-loved, it concerns me that I may be viewed with suspicion should I need or want to move any of my tribe on and I can't prove otherwise.

Whilst I do try and research a lot before I buy, keeping every doll you buy and only buying direct from the manufacturer isn't always realistic.

I wish I knew some bored hackers... anyone fancy signing on to the forum, making out that there is lots of interest in specific dolls so they go to the trouble and expense of casting them up and then backing out of the order? Maybe if they lost money doing it they might be less inclined to think it's a profitable business. Or could someone give their email address out to some spambots?

 

Oh wow. That is pretty much indistinguishable from the original. D:

 

I'm not sure if I'm being selfish here but...
Imagining people around me all have BJD because they're now super affordable... just no longer feeling special for cutting my own neck and selling my own blood to get my dolls...

Imagining walking down the street and see kids whacking their bootlegged BJD around because their mommies get them for cheap.. gonna hurt me alot dX

But I don't dare to imagine seeing a cheap shiny BJD with barbie-like 'stamp-on' faceup around the places.
Why are they doing this, WHY???? Dx

 

Money. Simple as that.

 

Wow, that Dion is a pretty darn good recast.... not to compliment the people who are illegally recasting these dolls of course, but I'd certainly have trouble identifying that head as a fake from the photographs alone. At least, not with just a quick glance at the photos... maybe if I took some time to compare the fake head with a real head, I might be able to spot some discrepencies.

I can't imagine someone who is new to bjds will be able to tell it's a fake unless they can read chinese or ordered from the people that did the recasting.

They even have the SDF + number inside the head like my SDF Cian has and the numbers/letters came out pretty clearly too from the looks of it.

 

I don't think I would ever spot that as fake, unless the real thing was right beside, and maybe even not then.

I feel really helpless now. I want to be able to do somehting about this. I'm sure a lot of other people are feeling this too >_<

 

TT____TT

this is awful.

 

I think head-plates with serial numbers, coupled with
BJD-databases, will help keep people who don't want
to buy fakes, from accidentally buying them. Other than
that, the people who support these type of illicit activities,
will continue to do so, regardless of what anyone else
thinks/does.

Carving company names/sculp-#/serials, it doesn't
truly help much. Something like a metallic-head plate would
be harder to replicate, and if the doll is added to any of the
many existing databases, that will probably save at least
a few from buying copies. Although, just seeing how well
they recreated that head, they'll probably find a way around
head-plates as well. However, it will at least add a certain amount
of authentication to a doll, more so to those bought second hand.
The plates could also complicate things for these people, depending
on how intricate, the respected BJD-companies, decide to make their
plates/tags. Just my two-cents.


- Enzyme ^.^

 

I wouldn't even waste the money on a knock off, and I say waste because who knows how cheaply those dolls will be made and how many problems may pop up with them -_- Can't they get into trouble for that anyhow?

 

poor Dion he was knocked off last time too by the other Chinese company.

Taobao had stated that if Luts can provide evidences that these dealers are NOT legit then they will close them off (from listing on Taobao). This new company actually have forum which states that they are copying, so I hope this will be enough evidence for Taobao to consider removing them off their listing

 

The copying of the Luts company logo (I'm not sure if that is the Luts logo) is serious offense if the item isn't produced by Luts. I don't think it is difficult for Luts to press charges. It's like committing a crime in someone else's name! It's robbery. Copies should not be marked or they should be marked differently unless they have the intention of passing off the copies as original.

Is that the way Luts mark their dolls? If so, it's not enough. A serial number, original faceup, head plate (that does not fall off easily), box, original tagged cloths will help to authenticate the doll. I don't see any faceup. It's just a mold. It's pretty hard for any artist unless a company artist to replicate Dion's original faceup. There MUST be some way for buyers to differentiate copies from original. This is scary for people who buy from the secondary market. The real nightmare comes when people put a copy in a real box with real papers and sell at original price!!! I don't like what I see.

How are they priced?

 

why do people have to be dishonest in this world...how far will people go?

 

The head cap of my Man '08 head has its Luts logo in a different font... I wonder if they couldn't successfully duplicate the actual logo in their recast and stamped their molds with something else themselves?

 

I -think- they were about 200. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I posted an inquiry to an agent that specialises in purchasing on your behalf from TaoBao about the Unoa, they are already for sale and have been for about 6 months now. The reply that I received from the agent was:

$316.02 USD for a Unoa including shipping to Australia..... If only they were real!!

Its the exact same reply I was given about my Inquiry into the Counterfeit Puki Rose, the comparison pictures of Rose have been replaced with the company ones from the web-site. So given that he has had 12 buyers at this stage then there are 12 fake dolls out there somewhere..... The only person I'd buy from second hand besides DoA at this stage are Natalies Toyhouse (She buys her Unoas direct from Japan during the ordering period)

Also another note. The Fake Unoas do not come with a box at all... They are sold unstrung in a plastic bag and then bubble wrapped and boxed - I know this from further correspondance with Obook. I questioned them further about the legalities of selling counterfeit dolls - their response was that I had been informed and if we chose to buy something that was declared to be a counterfeit then the responsibility was ours for any ramifications from the company that originally owns the doll.

In a nut shell - Its not the agents responsibility it would be the buyers....