New Chinese Piracy

I feel bad for soom. I mean the artists are creating their doll out of blood and sweat, and this company shows up overtly saying that they will be copying soom's dolls. They should be sued.

 

hmm I recently found a site selling a range of dollzone full dolls for $29.99. They apparently came with clothes and everything.. Im not sure if it IS possible to buy them at that price normally but im guessing they were knock off??

 

yes they are a knock off.

real dollzone dolls start at $ 440 for a nude doll - and $575 a full set - this is a 1/3 sized doll called Celine (info here :http://www.doll-zone.com/showproduct.asp?id=156 )

please not the prices i quote come from that one doll and the prices of their dolls vary.

A.R.N.F

 

Omg I hope this isn't true...

 

Don't get me wrong, but I don't know why anyone would knock off Doll Zone dolls, these dolls are already a lot more affordable than other doll brands... surely if someone was going to run a scam they'd knock off dolls that would command higher prices? It's sad to say it, but it looks like companies are going to have to only sell their dolls from their own websites to prevent unauthorised dealers and knock offs. If you can only buy a brand-new Doll Zone doll off the Doll Zone website, you'll know that anything else claiming to be a brand-new Doll Zone doll is a knock off.

Scammers make me sick, I can't imagine how poisonous a knock off doll that cost only $29.99 would be. There must be some seriously bad additives to the resin to be able to charge that low...or there is no doll at all.

 

Volks have posted a warning on their website about Chinese copies. Trouble is we have no sanctions against China so I guess we just have to be ultra vigilant when buying secondhand. As others have pointed out, there's no way of telling from pictures and if they can copy dolls they can certainly fake COAs. Wish I had an answer but it makes me very sad.

 

Even Forever Dolls cost more than that, the auctions are likely scams and there are no dolls.

 

i was told that

'if a offer seems to good to be true, then it is too good to be true. it is userally either a bad copy, illegal, or something wrong with it'

we will have to advise each other and all keep any eye out for bjd pirate companies.

A.R.N.F

 

Well, I am going to be painfully honest here and maybe upset some folks when I say...I would not chose to buy my BJD from China.

Now please before the flame emails start rolling understand that this is not about the Chinese...I don't dislike Chinese products or artisans. Most "knock-off" issues have as much to do with the buyers as the producers and we all know who is buying products mass produced in China.

The "Knock-off market" is a huge cash cow for China. Dolls are indeed only a small part of that market but there is money to be made. The problem is that I am too far away from China to inspect a doll in person and because I don't trust the validity of products in their markets...I just don't buy from China. I don't want the risk.

Overall the purpose of producing products in China is to keep the manufacturing price down. But we can see today the consequences of
that philosophy. For one, we have more stuff for everyone and not necessarily stuff that will last. Also, I will spare you all the ethical rambling about employees who work in crap conditions. I am certainly no angel when it comes to checking labels on products on this side of the globe. But as a North American I can say that our countries are rather hypocritical when it comes to how we view the production of goods. We have no problem buying low quality products from people who work in conditions that we would be outraged by here at home. It seems that we just want more more more and instead of caring for quality we care for cheap prices! Actually I think most of us SUCK at even identifying quality. Sometimes I get depressed because I think we are just filling the world with cheap disposable objects!

So, since the above topic does weigh on my mind I will say that for myself, I would prefer to save up for one really really nice doll that I will have forever! I want that doll to be very well made because lets face it, even 200 dollars is a lot to spend on a doll! I expect that companies like Volks would never allow their products to be produced off site where the quality would not be closely monitored. I paid an arm and a leg for my doll and I think that part of what I pay for it the quality of their production line and how it effects their final product - my doll. I pay them big bucks so I want to feel secure in the fact that I will see my return on investment and that means I want my BJDS made in Japan in their special factory. I am paying for top notch craftsmanship and real craftsmanship involves highly talented people who care about their work.

So to wrap it up, I don't trust the Chinese market when it comes to BJDs. I would rather play it safe and stick with buying directly from a company who has proven that they put quality first. If I ever purchased second hand I would be very very VERY careful who I bought my BJD from. As bad as this sounds, I would not chose to buy from a seller in China.

 

I have one thing to say about the Black Ducan... i know that the person who won it, lives in New Jersey and she tried to sell it about two years ago on ebay and after it didn't sell she decided to keep it. Now i have never seen the doll in person myself but i had spoken to her on a few occasions and she had indeed posted owner pics of the doll with the authentication papers and what not. She's not a member of the forums as far as I know. So unless someone from New Jersey is selling a black Ducan here or on Ebay or can't provide the fact they bought it from someone who lived in NJ, it will most definitely be a fake.

 

Isenn, if you didn't want to get flamed, you shouldn't have posted that. :P

The knock-off market relies on unaware or undereducated consumers to stay in business. If you choose to protect yourself by putting down a blanket ban on all products from China, then that's your business. Hey, it's exactly as valid as not buying American cars because they're gas-guzzling dung heaps. But you should know that every other savvy consumer has decided to educate themselves about individual companies and sellers and acquaint themselves with the quality of their products when deciding whether to make a purchase, regardless of where it's from.

Plus, you may be surprised to find out where your dolls are actually being made. SoulDoll's dolls are cast in China, and no one would argue that theirs is an inferior product, or a less expensive one. And then, you have the many Chinese companies who produce a highly competitive product (and in some cases, a superior product), like DollZone, Angell Studio and Domuya. The bottom line is: know who you're buying from, and what you're buying. It's your responsibility as a consumer.

But this thread was never meant to be a debate, just a warning about a particular company of scammers who just happened to be Chinese.

 

this is wrong. just plain wrong. i hope they close down. it just suks seein buetifyul dolls copied.

 

TBH, I think that reason there would be why (though marking them THAT low tells me that there's no doll at all because seriously now, that's sorta kinda totally nuts). Something like, say, a Soom MD set that retails at $500? That'd send up red flags all over creation. But you take a doll that usually retails at...oh, say, $250, and you knock it off and sell it at $175-$200...people are a lot less likely to blow the whistle right away, because it'd be more plausible to think 'oh, I'm just getting a good deal on it' and the thought of it being a knock-off might not immediately occur to the buyer/potential buyer.

If that makes sense.

There's already a strong undercurrent in some other posts I've seen that people are thinking even basic dolls should be less expensive than they are. It just seems plausible to me that knocking off a less-expensive doll might make sense, in that it might not get them caught out as fast as a blatantly obvious thing like a cheap "Soom MD". (God I'm cynical.)

 

myuumyuu- Please re read my post carefully and I will do the same for you.

I think you are totally correct about it being the responsibility of the customer! I think I said that in my post. That is why I am over cautious. I feel uncomfortable buying something I can't see in person no matter what! That is why I do my research and I guess...I limit myself because of that uncertainty. It sounds over the top maybe but...man don't you wish we could walk into a store here in North American and hold a doll and really check it out!??? That would solve everything for me

I never said I put a blanket ban on all Chinese products. I also said that in my post. Because I am investing so much in a doll I am just super cautious about China. Maybe it is not fair but as a customer this is how I feel. Knock offs tend to come from there. I don't want to accidentally support someone who is stealing from the original doll artists. I don't want to get scammed.

Thanks for making me smile about the "debate". If you didn't want to debate why did you post? I didn't think I was debating actually. I saw that this is a discussion thread. I thought we were just chatting. I happen to notice that lots of people in this thread are chatting too. I am happy to talk with you about why you don't agree. But I kindly ask you to please keep the insulting tone to a minimum and we can discuss more easily!!!!!

No hard feelings. I am just expressing an opinion and I am always open to having my mind changed on subjects like the above! For real.

 

Well. I have to admit, the only second-hand doll I'd ever want belongs to my friend, and he's not going to give him up, so I'll be ok on the whole after-market thing. I just hope people don't stoop so low as to help this 'company' make a profit and keep working. Ugh.

That said, I do fully plan on making several more purchase from AoD. In fact, there's the desire for a set of quadruplets from them. I'm not going to let that stupid 'company' stop me from buying beautiful dolls from a wonderful company that I love.

 

The shamelessness of this company astounds me. I really hope the copied dolls will be easily spotted. I dread this fake stuff making its way to the marketplace. YUCK.

 

Terrible.........................

 

Sooner or later this was going to happen, sadly and I bought a B&G body from ebay 2 days ago ( they're a chinese company, right?) the seller told me that they were already made but they come directly from the company, should I have known about this sooner I wouldn't have made the order...I *think* I know they're not fakes because the seller has 100% feedback, the thing is that now I'm afraid to buy any BJD from a chinese seller on ebay and even here >.<

My Dantès (CP Chiwoo) is one of my favorites and he's second handed and so is my Jubilee, I love them immensely and I'm happy to give them a good home and the love that their previous owners didn't feel for them. It saddens me a lot that after this I won't be able to trust anyone outside the company itself, there are so many dolls out there that are not loved by their owners and they need to find a good home but many people will be afraid to buy them because they're not directly from the company T_T at least that's my case *sighs*

 

Isenn, it pays to be cautious--especially on the secondary market, but do be aware that there are very legit Chinese companies with lots of very happy customers who produce nice dolls. I may have misunderstood what you were trying to say, but it sounded like you were painting all Chinese made dolls with the same brush. It would be very sad if people did this due to the bootleggers, because it punishes the legit companies who are going about the business of making dolls honestly. If nothing else, you can easily find out who the legit Chinese companies are by doing a search here on DoA. Buying dolls direct from the companies or asking them who their official dealers are will also help ensure that you don't get caught in a scam.

 

i can't believe the quality of these knock-off dolls is anywhere near the quality of the legitimate company. and i can't imagine that anyone who cares about bjd's would buy this inferior stuff. i hope there are some legal means by which our favorite bjd companies can fight and win against these fly by nights.