Should limiteds or oneoffs be modified or split into pieces?

So if I buy a one of a kind doll because I like the MOLD and the artist who created and painted it initially says it is perfectly fine for the paint to be changed so that it becomes my one of a kind doll as well instead of just theirs.... or take a female head an place it on a male body because my character looks exactly like this but is male... or mod open eyes into a sleeping mold to give more character or emotion to the sculpt... Then do you find fault with someone who buys a one-off from volks and just changes the outfit? That is part of what makes it one of a kind after all...

I'd really like to know exactly why this disrespectful and not okay. This hobby was made for customization after all... the artists make these dolls knowing someone will change them... o_O

 

With all due respect this makes utterly no sense to me, especially when taken in the context of a hobby that lends itself to customization. By taking this viewpoint and applying it literally to this hobby, then it would be "disrespectful" to hybridize any doll -- limited or otherwise -- because originally it was 'meant' to be as a whole with its respective body.

I see no disrespect in taking a limited edition or one-off and using it as a springboard for one's own creativity and character. Some day I'd like to own a Shirou Tachibana. I don't want the full set. Hell, I'd be happy just starting with the head. I don't want the default faceup; I don't want the default eyes. Does that make the original purchaser "disrespectful" for splitting the doll up? Does it make me "disrespectful" for wanting only the mold and not caring much for the rest of the package?

If splitting up everything was "disrespectful" all of us would just have pretty dollies sitting on a shelf and we'd lose all the flexibility and adaptability that makes this hobby so appealing. If anything, I think seeing the promise and capacity of a limited mold and using it to bring a character to life shows a substantial amount of respect for the sculptor/artist; when no other sculpt will do, you know they're doing something right.

ETA: pinkspider, you beat me to it. XD

 

With all due respect, it is your opinion that my view is facile while I'm of the opinion that your view is very much biased and that your post is based on badly thought out reasonings but stated as if they're facts. Because it was sold as a whole therefore it should remain whole forever? That sounds like an overly simplified deduction and would imply that all, not just limited dolls, but all dolls sold as a whole should never be taken apart. Which makes no sense.

'It just is' also makes a very poor argument. It doesn't explain anything at all. As for your comparison of calling a woman a 'ho' to dissembling a doll, that's like comparing apples to oranges and doesn't work well either. If a woman is not a 'whore', calling her in such a way is a lie and is also an insult based on society's viewpoint. But dissembling a doll has nothing to do with untruths or the viewpoint of society. You clearly dislike the idea, but that doesn't apply for a lot of people. And no, saying 'it just is' doesn't make it true.

 

I do think it's important to emphasize on the fact that these dolls (although art pieces) were originally intended to be customized. Being a limited doesn't make it any less so. The only people that really get "upset" about limiteds being modified or split are other people who wanted it and couldn't get it. If i spent money on a limited and then modified and anyone said two nasty words about it, i'd tell them where they could go, and how long they could stay there. My money is spent on things that I wanted. Until someone buys it for me, then they have no say in what happens to it. There is no "disrespect" in changing a limited doll. If someone started sticking their nose into my business telling me what i could and could not do to a limited doll, i'd give them a few choice words.

So someone changed a limited. Did you buy it for them? Are you the artist that created it? If not, then, honestly, its no one's business.

That being said, i personally do not want to change limited dolls, so i buy the non-limiteds. However, that's not always possible. There are dolls that are limited, that are ONLY released as limiteds. And if someone bought one of them, and changed it, then great. Whatever they want to do. It isn't my doll, so i don't really care.

 

Both of my dolls are limited. At first I didn't wanted to change my doll's face-ups because both have limited face-ups, but I sometimes feel bored of looking at them because they have the same face-up as everyone else's non-changable face-up dolls and I don't want that.

I want my dolls to be original!! XD. I sometimes feel like I want to open their eyes just a little bit more because I want them to have a bit of an attitude expression. I want to change their make-up too and be more colorful and have more real-life eyebrows >.<.

I love them how they are now, but I just want to change the looks of their faces! X__X

 

Well I guess it's up to the person who owns it, it's your money but doing a total mod on a one of a kind doll then i say no because it meant they prevented someone else from getting it who would have loved it for how it looked. mind you if someone had a Luts chobits chii doll and modifed it. I'm going to be upset, simply for the reason, i want that doll more than anything and it means one less chance of me getting her.

 

Hypothetically speaking, even if that person did not buy that LE, it's still not a sure thing that you are someone else that really wanted it would have ended up with the doll. You either have the money at the time and/or get lucky and are fast enough to snag one or you don't. Other people are not responsible for whether or not you get the doll you wanted. I've seen comments like yours before "it's one less chance for me to own that doll." Well how do you know that person would sell the doll anyway? It's kind of like vultures circling and waiting, and I can't say that impresses me.

Expecting people to handle their dolls the way you want them to just because you wanted the doll, is beyond unreasonable. They had the same oppurtunities and right to own that particular doll as you or anybody else. No one is more entitled to a doll than anyone else in the hobby and the modded LE's owner very well could adore that doll just as much as you would.

 

Personally I die a little everytime I hear someone taking sandpaper or a drill to the face of a limited or one off. Especially when you hear of 10 or less being made. They're usually just special versions of existing molds right? So why not just get a basic one one and modify that and leave the limited or one offs for the people that love the doll the way it is. I'd honestly cry if I heard someone butchered a Mephistopheles ;_;

 

That's true but i take in the consideration of people who may never sell it and I know I'm not skilled enough to fix or trying to re-sculpt it back to what it may have looked like and I know I can dream.
I know it's down to luck of the draw half the time but i hate knowning if someone just bought just because they wanted to mod into something completely different. I don't mind the sleeping vampire heads being modded open eyes because I can buy them still at other BJD stores maybe not Luts but that doesn't bother me.

 

too late XD! my woosoo had his eyes opened. I don't think it decreases the value of the doll at all, honestly and I don't intend on ever selling him, so I think it's more of a question of do they still hold their worth once they're split or modded. I guess it depends on how severe the modding is? supply and demand is a funny thing..

 

OT: darthblue: Chii was from Volks, not Luts. (unless they some how got the rights to her, which don't think they did). I just wanted to say this so people reading this thread know who made the doll in case they search for her they know what to search for. ^_^

 

But what about the person who modded the doll...? If they didn't mod the doll, they wouldn't have gotten to love the doll that looks the way they made it. If the face is perfect for what they want, but for some details, how else could they get that but to mod the limited?

 

But if they love them they wouldn't be selling them, plus I've seen simple mods done to some limited heads that end up looking like any other head with the similuar mod. It's kinda dis-hearting a bit to me but I'm not going to flame any body for doing this. In the end I don't control what happens in life or what people do with their actions. I just hope one day, even if I have to pay $5000 just to get Chii, I would hope she hasn't been modded. True some mods aren't to bad, I know some people mod joints so some dolls can't pose better. Some poeple add teeth and I don't think I'll like that look on her. I know there's a good chance, if I fall for any other limiteds. I may never get my hands on them but I can dream of one that may still look like they did when they first were ordered and up for sale. Lets just say I still were those rose colour glasses.

NabeeRain: Thank you, I always seem to mix up those compaines. I apppericate the correction.

 

Not true at all. When the doll was originally purchased the owner loved that doll. If they modded said doll to fit their vision, then they loved that mold enough to put in substantial effort to help it come alive as their character. If circumstances changed since the purchase -- monetary problems arose, after a few years they decided the hobby wasn't for them, the character shifted and grew to the point where another mold would work better for them, whatever the reason may be -- then selling the doll does not mean that the doll wasn't loved. We (well, most of us) don't buy dolls just to sell them. We buy them because we love them, and if we sell them later that doesn't mean that we never loved them -- and if I purchase a doll I'm going to adapt it to my desires, not constantly be thinking about 'everyone else who might want one'. I didn't buy the doll for them.

Your dream doll may be a pristine limited with no mods, but to someone else changing one or two things about that same limited may be what it takes to make them into their dream doll. In the end, as I think many people have said in this thread, it's your money and your doll to do with as you like.

 

I've only seen dolls being sold because they owner couldn't get to like them even after a mod they hope would help. And no I haven't been in the marketplace yet, not got activated for it so I can't see what reasons may be for some.
I know I'm new to the BJD, so I don't know all the ins and outs of it yet. The only experience I can relate to collecting, is my little ponies. So here go, if I went up to other collector and see that they own an OOAK pony. (doesn't matter if I think she is wonderful and I would say it) I would ask, which pony did she use. G3, I'm not picky about, G2, you can keep them but a G1, now that would make me curious. I would want to know how bad her original condition was before the mod because i hate to know if there was nothing wrong with her. I know we can do what ever we want with in the legal requirements of course but when it's something so old as a G1. I'm disappointed, I can't deny it because Io feel they have no excuse for it.
That's my view that I've carried over from my MLP collection into BJD collecting because I'm still learning about the community.
sorry I seem a bit ridged from it.
As the saying goes: To each their own and own to each. Do not preach what you never teach.

 

That's just ridiculous.

 

Please understand that different collecting communities run differently. Just because someone's selling a doll doesn't mean they don't love them. Also, Tez is right about mods. Most people mod their dolls to fit a vision, not to make you suspicious about the condition of the doll.

Learn to separate your view of the MLP community, and don't associate it with the BJD community. It will only get you into trouble.

 

Another Volks lover here... and when you deal with a company where it seems about 90% of their dolls are limited in one way or another... then if you don't like a part of what comes with them, sell it off.

I think this works better for the future second-hand buyer too, because often you can repiece together the doll at a lower cost.

 

That's very true. Heck, with Volks especially I go into looking at their limiteds already in pieces. I am searching out my characters, not looking for a doll already put together perfectly, as that's pretty much impossible. So for me I see a sculpt, possibly a faceup, and almost never a wig and an outfit or eyes that I'll be using as I already separate the doll in my mind beforehand. This is a customization hobby as well as a collectors hobby, and I would even suggest there are more customizers or people trying to create an image from their imagination than there are hardcore collectors.

And I don't want to divide collectors and customizers totally. I have some dolls that I've barely touched, and one I've wiped the faceup off within a few hours of owning. To me I don't really see the big deal between changing a limited or a standard. If other people want to get upset it's their prerogative, but it doesn't affect me or my views on how I want to enjoy this hobby.

 

It's pretty unfair to others who desperately want the limited, when someone mods them. Selling off the clothes is different, as the limited clothes still hold value in themselves. But modding a limited - for instance, as I recall, someone ground down the breasts of SD16 Amelia to pass her off as a boy (yours truly passes out in rage) - is a knife in the chest for those who want the doll but can't get their hands on it. Not to mention it means one has been taken off the market.

This applies mainly to ACTUAL limiteds though (like Volks dolls), and OOAK, as opposed to "Special" versions that are just the standard doll with a different faceup and clothes.