The company goes bad - can you still enjoy their dolls?

I recently discovered Glorydoll and I had planned on getting a Lucy, unfortunately I found out that their possible owner/sculptor? has two dolls banned here for body copying issues.... and that just totally put it south for me. I could never own one of their dolls, no matter if it were totally original, because I feel that the level of dishonesty it takes to do that once is bellow a second chance.

But if say my favorite company, Soom, was found to be rip off artists, and I found out that one of my dolls was a copy of someone else's hard work.. I don't think I could ever look at them the same as I do now.

 

Yes and no. It depends on what wrong was done, and what the company does to handle the problem.

Re-casts, there's not much you can do with these dolls, and I doubt most of us would be able to enjoy them. It's a real shame when honest people get duped into buying recasts.
A company that has had problems in the past, I could still buy from them if those problems remain in the past.
When a company eventually goes bad, I don't think there's so much of a problem there, if your experience with them hasn't been bad. Unless of course it's relieved that your doll is a re-cast, a sculpt that was stolen from another artist, or just plain stolen from another owner.
If a company goes and leaves you in the lurch or jerks you around, it can also be difficult to bond with a doll that has caused you so much pain and grief; I've had this happen (to my very first doll too!), and it does make it difficult.

I've had mixed feelings about this doll for a long time, I will often think about the pain and grief getting this doll home caused me. One of the things I did to bond with this doll, and to help make him my own as opposed to what the company sent me, was to do a bunch of aesthetic and mobility mods. Sand away the stigma I will also eventually replace his head and hands, which I can't do anything with.

 

I'm gonna run with the off-topic here. In the world I live in, men and women have shown equal ability to be catty, mean-spirited and obnoxious. And equal ability to be amazing and nice. I have met men who are kind and generous, and I have met men who are narrow-minded and believe they are superior to women. I have met women who will bend over backwards to help me and women who are judgmental and seemingly heartless.

I would be offended by the way you tar the majority of women with the same brush...but no. As I type this, I realise I don't feel offended. Just kinda sad.

 

Hey guys, this is a discussion thread, not a debate thread. And certainly not a debate thread about fleshy folk. Let's keep the focus on our resin men and women

As for the on-topic discussion:
I've posted here now three times because the more I read the more I think about my own loyalties. I keep hearing the misfortunes of the other ladies purchasing from Dolkot and I get really frustrated. The other day I looked at their site and I felt this cognitive dissonance of admiring their dolls while feeling "if I got it, it would just arrive broken."

It really doesn't paint a good picture for their products when the company is so frustrating to work with. Since I've already detached from my own Dolkot when I put her up for sale on the marketplace, I started feeling a lot more detached from the company I bought her from. Something in them lacks luster at the moment... But I'm actually waiting to see if this dullness fades if Dolkot fixes up the other dolls that just arrived home

I guess in my experience, a company can be forgiven if they show obvious signs of working to amend their mistakes.

 

Theft is bad, copying is bad, and public outbursts can make people look bad -- I can see a person being negative towards all of those. I didn't read catsick's post as saying what Charle's did was ok, but rather whether or not he can recover from this depends on how the situation plays out. I don't think she was saying theft doesn't matter. A lot of the conversation in this thread has focused on companies that have significantly messed up in the past, but pulled themselves out of it vs those who messed up and didn't. I myself am very dubious that Charles will be able to recover from this, but who knows.

Also, it's a huge leap to bring gender issues into this. Women can be mean, women can be nice. Men can be mean, men can be nice -- don't forget that before we're men and women we are all human beings with individual personality traits and experiences. It always saddens me to hear women complain that other women are all catty and mean spirited when it just isn't true. You may have had the poor luck to run into some less than friendly female souls, but that doesn't mean you get to make generalizations about half the people on the planet. I'm also not even sure why you would assume that catsick's opinion is based on Charles being male and LS being female. People have their own pet peeves, and LS's behavior may hit some people's.

I'm aware of the situation with LS, but have not done enough research to have a strong opinion either way. In my experience in the hobby, however, people can look at the same pieces of evidence and come to very different conclusions. She has the right to her opinion, as you have the right to support LS if you choose.

 

In regards to my "leniency" for CCC, I am the first to admit I know possibly a mere 15% of what going on in that area. I was commenting based on limited knowledge, and apparently it was even more limited than I thought at the time. I know what the dolls look like, and as I understand it people have been waiting an excessively indecent amount of time for things they have paid for and have nothing to show for it but empty promises, but that is mostly it. Perhaps I should've done a little more research before I decided to comment on the fiasco with Charles. I'm sorry if anyone feels slighted by my comments, but I assure you they were made as an outsider looking in. I was simply commenting that if he wished to continue his business as he did in the past, it would require a lot of work for him to win back the trust and respect of his customers. I wasn't trying to insinuate that what he is currently doing is morally and legally "right", because it's obviously not. His tinies are cute, but I realize that fact is really not at all comforting to people who have purchased one and are being put through the ringer about actually receiving what they paid for.

I did follow the debacle with LS, though, and I stand by what I said about the situation she was in. I can completely understand her anger, indignation and sadness; but the way she handled herself and her accusers, coupled by the fact that the evidence I have seen was heavily against her, really ruined my opinion of her. If she had just been unprofessional, but had proven without a doubt that the doll was 100% her own creation, I would have a very similar opinion of her that I have of Elfdoll as a company - threw a tantrum, but is moving past it. Because I am fairly convinced that the work was not 100% her own, though, that is not my opinion of her. I'm absolutely certain I would feel the same way if she was not a woman, if that's what was assumed.

Also, I didn't realize that Elfdoll was once again accepting new members on a scheduled basis. Again I mentioned that I didn't know why Elfdoll had originally closed their membership, except for the vague idea that they were having some sort of trouble with their dealers, or distributors, or something along those lines. Perhaps I should've been more clear in saying that I respect Rainman as an artist, but that Elfdoll as a business has been far less than stellar. My opinion may change if I were aware of the reasons for their sudden withdrawal from dealers.​

 

Hm... I always love my dolls, but if I know they were recast-ed, I think I must let them go... I really appreciate artist whom make ABJDs, so I won't let myself ruin their works by having recast-ed dolls. Other things beside it won't change my love towards my doll family.

 

To nakitama and Cynthia in FlintHills: I also am in the same boat as you because I have purchased a unique Ai Temptation Cebee from Custom House back on 2006. And to see where CH is at now also saddens me a great deal. It's a shame people are are now buying CH don't know how great CH used to be. I also treasure my Cebee greatly.


I don't know that I necessarily agree with this. I have a Choa from 2006 that is LE of 17. She is in that grouping of quality that you mentioned. I also purchased a Sia last year and honestly, I can't tell a difference between the special LE and the basic from last year other than the only from last year is normal skin and my Choa is WS. Personally, I still love Custom House and will continue to support them. They might have had to change in order to stay afloat with all the new companies that have come out since 2006. I've never had a problem with CH and I find their quality is still better than a lot of BJD companies. I have BJDs I've paid a lot more for from companies that are well loved here, but their quality is shoddy to say the least.

Back to the original question, for me, if a company has been difficult/nasty, etc., it definitely affects how I enjoy the doll purchased from them. I've had it happen a couple of times and the doll just sits in the box. I don't even want to look at it since it brings up bad memories.

 

Hmm.

Let me state for the record that there is a lot to the LS issue that the public does not and will not know about because it's just not something you go flapping about publicly yelling oyez oyez about. I will say that I am extremely irritated with the copying accusations because it caused LS to pull Serenity from production before even thinking about the doll sent some of her physical conditions skyrocketing into critical levels. I believe the copying accusations are false because I have seen Serenity sans nose and mouth. Please explain how one sculpts around a pre-existing head that way. Would the nose and mouth not be there? Also, clay baked in the oven was used, you can see that in the in-progress photos clearly. Does resin not react badly to heat and give off toxic fumes? If she were modifying an existing head and put it in the oven, would anyone in that house still be alive?

The SD Ted copying accusation was deemed to be completely unfounded.

Moving on from that, LS has recently admitted the depths of her post-partum depression elsewhere. Combined with poor health due to the pregnancy taking a toll on her, she has been extremely ill for most of the last year. I can certainly see how she would have been driven to defend her reputation in a way some of you may not have liked, but then again, thankfully, most people do not know what it is like to be that physically ill so they cannot have appropriate perspective. Goodness knows if my professional reputation was being dragged through the dirt, I would have uttered more than a few vulgarities! I also probably would have sat on my hands, myself, but what's done is done.

If you have a handcast Ted and you are no longer happy with it, I collect them. Please, send them to ME


Now. I personally have had a falling-out with a company. Dollcatch. Dollcatch jerked me around and have hideous customer service. My doll arrived with the wrong event head, overly reeking of new resin smell, with seam lines out to the U.S./Canada border, and a giant ole air-bubble right on the edge of her bum where the thigh joint rests. Dollcatch never treated me appropriately and I notice that they are now retreating back under the Custom House umbrella, a company not exactly known for customer service awesomeness this last year or two. I almost expected to hate my full Dollcatch Elysia, but I decided to put my feelings for the company aside and take the doll on her own merits. I still have her, and I enjoy her. Wasn't her fault she came so badly put together and needed hours of labour to be brought up to an acceptable standard. I will never buy a single thing from Dollcatch ever again, so I suppose the enjoyment of any future dolls is ruined for me, but I still like my Elysia. People ask which mold she is all the time and I'll tell them and then warn them away from the company. I have my cake and I eat it too, that way.

 

If a company was going stealing molds from other companies I think the companies being stolen from should do something about it, with the CCC issue that is awful all the problems they were having, personally if i paid money for the dolls i would love them just as much as any other doll i would buy. because when you pay for something it should be your responcibility to take care of the item, no matter who thinks its stupid, ugly, something "they wouldnt want", if you liked it before you should still like it then, no need to punish the poor dolls for something they cant control it wasnt their fault that the people who made them cant be honest.

 

I would probably still enjoy my doll (as long as i dont find out it was one of the re-casted doll)
if its pretty and that i have already bonded with it, my 'feelings' wont change toward it
and anyway i'd probably think: yah, goof luck re-selling that thing...

 

Unless it was a safety hazard, if a company went bad after I bought my doll, I'd still enjoy my doll. I have the doll, I've bonded with it, I've probably customized it, and I've 'lived' with it. Seeing it every day probably has become part of my routine. I think getting rid of my doll at that point would be like cutting off my nose to spite my face.

I would hope that other members who saw me with my doll would not somehow accuse me of knowingly funding whatever they were doing, or not caring that they were doing it.

That said, I wouldn't buy from them again until they got their act together (and I saw a lot of good reviews here). It would be really awkward if something happened as I was saving for a doll. I'd rather look for a dealer/distributor that had the doll in question, in that case. Otherwise, I'm stuck looking for a different doll.

 

I'm less worried about Soom ripping off dolls and more worried about the woman posting BJD sculpting videos on youtube where she blatantly admits she's copying Bygg/Beyla...

Catsick: Charles has now owed people dolls for exactly a year. Yes, some people ordered their dolls (and re still waiting on them!) since Aug 2009! He's lied many times, sent false tracking numbers, and lied even more! He didn't even have the decency to pay some of his employees, which nearly brought them into financial ruin! He owes something like $15,000 USD, but it's most likely more because from what I hear, not everyone's owning up to the fact that Charles owes them dolls because they're still loyal and think he'll 'do the right thing'. Can you honestly say you'll trust this guy in the future with $300+ of your money? Unless he pre-makes his dolls once he smartens up and sends a limited number to dealers like DDD and Luxor Academy so that they have the dolls in hand before they sell them, I know I won't trust him. I'll never trust him enough to even consider buying directly from him.

 

I had no idea the situation was anywhere near that bad, at all! People have been waiting a year with nothing to show for it? That's beyond ridiculous. I must say I thought the time frame and debt was much, much lower than it really is; if this is the case, I would definitely agree that he's ruined his reputation beyond any repair I could see possible. There's no way I'd be willing to pay him for a newspaper, much less anything else now that I know all of that.​

 

Well, I have issues with Dollzone for stuff they did to me personally and stuff they did to one of the companies I'm a distributor for. At first I told myself I wouldn't buy any dollzone products, but now I've just decided to look for the few DZ items I want on the market place or to buy them from distributors who already have the items in stock. In both cases, DZ has already been paid for the items, so it's not like I'm helping them make more money.

 

I wouldn't have any changed feeling about my dolls if the company was shady. The doll would be mine and in my possession. Just because they created her doesn't mean that she is "bad" too. I wouldn't like it if my doll was recast, but that wouldn't change the way I feel about the doll. Like others have said, I would probably end up posting less pictures of her or something like that. Only to comfort others who were wronged by the company. I'd probably continue to take personal pictures of the doll though.

 

It would probably make me stop purchasing from that company, but it wouldn't affect the love for the dolls I already had.
As others have stated: It's not the doll's fault and neither is it mine.

 

If for some reason DOD decided to do that kind of malpractice, i would still love the boys i have right now. On the other hand, the dolls that are bastard children may be evil and dont need to be in my company. Mainly because the dolls DOD make are beautiful the way they are. Yes, even compared to volks. Suck on it V!!!

 

I have a doll from a company that had a shadow cast across them this year. I don't like what they did, and maybe if I were more noble I'd react against my doll. But I think my inner imagination world holds more sway over my feelings toward my doll. She is such an innocent faced doll. More round face and little girl-ish than most of my dolls. It is hard for me feel "mad at her"...

 

I could respect their sculptors and the time they put into their dolls - unless, of course, the bad thing they did was recast or copy - but I couldn't support the company or the people involved in whatever ruined them for me. If I already owned a doll from them, I would love it no less, but I doubt I would buy any more.

This has happened to me recently with Dust of Dolls - I've been following the thing with them and Nefer Kane (not sure how many people have heard of that) and while I think what they did is terribly unfair, I can respect that they make beautiful dolls. I don't know how I feel about them as a company any more though, and I don't think I would be able to buy a doll from them without disliking it on a personal level :/