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

I just had to google that incident, Frogg. And wow, talk about a company showing their true colours.

 

I have to echo Kim here. I felt terrible for them over the Leeke issue, but wow... no more sympathy here at all. I am utterly shocked.

 

I'm having a little trouble finding the full story, Frogg. I found the petition that was set up, though. Did anything come of it?

 

The Ringdoll incident. Fortunatly I wasn't really caught up in it and the company is slowly catching up. Even if they had crashed and burned in a big fireball, I would not hate the dolls I have now. I think they are amazing and it is not their fault the humans had issues.

 

There is more info here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nkane/6204954113/ (Mods, I'll edit if needed and totally understand if y'all do.)

 

This is sad that they have amounted to doing this. Not too long ago they were whining that big companies get away easily with copying smaller companies, now that they are the "bigger" company they are doing this to someone eles... completely atrocious and leaves me a bitter taste. Initially I was in love with both Mikhaila and Puns. But after all the drama, presently I dont think I could own a doll from dust of doll without feeling that I had supported bitter bickering either. What I really didn't get was if they were so insistent on copy righting the body, how come enaibi lilycat and doll chateau's 26cm body wasn't an issue? Im sure there were other non bjd dolls with pear shaped bodies out there too.

Back on topic...Otherwise, I would rather not buy from a company that has gone bad unless they had made strong efforts to make amendments to undo their wrong doings. Cases like Aidolls and CCC will take a very very long time to forgive even if they are presently producing dolls within 45days production time. Like the others, I probably would not hate the dolls that were already with me, but I would be unlikely to purchase another doll from the same company after.

 

If my dolls were the ones being affected, I would probably have to leave them on a shelf for a while. But I think (hope) I would not sell them on just becasue of that, unless I had huge issues with bonding with them.

However if I found out my doll was actually someone elses... I'm not sure what I would do.

 

So true on an even wider and more general scale. Since dolls are such personal creations, it's hard to look at them unbiased. If you like the creator, you may think a doll beautiful even when it's a bit ugly. If you dislike the creator, you see some of the creator's "inner beauty" reflected in the doll and may think it ugly even when it's well made.

 

Well, I'm still waiting to receive my order from RingDoll since January 2011. He should be here next week. I think I may love him more, not less, for having to wait for him for nearly a year. But the company? I will not order from them again. They are dead to me. If they have something I want in the future I will go through a third party seller, if even that.

 

I would still enjoy the dolls that I had already purchased from them but I would definitely think twice before ordered from them again.

 

Frogg, thank you for bringing up that incident - I had no idea. I'll keep my thoughts on that to myself, as it would be OT for this thread, but I'm glad I'm aware of it.

Now, for the topic at hand.

First, I'd like to get the "recast" aspect out of the way. If I found out that the doll I already bought is a recast, no, I wouldn't be able to enjoy it, even if I had already bonded with it. I'm not sure what I would do with it, though. Simply throwing it away would be a waste. Thankfully, I've never been in this situation, and, hopefully, never will.

The more likely scenario where a company is good, but then goes and does something unsavory, actually is something I have experienced with Custom House (and to a much lesser extent with Fairyland).

My very first doll was a Custom House Choa. I purchased her in 2003, when CH was on top of their game and produced outstanding dolls. Shortly after, I bought Petite Ai Gabriel full-set - the very first run of these dolls; she came to me with a face-up, body blushing, eyes, wig, shoes and outfit. I still have both dolls. They have yellowed over the years to a pleasant color. Interestingly, my Gabriel still has all her blushing intact, despite being handled and played with over the years. The quality of these girls is superb. My enjoyment of them has not been tarnished by what CH has pulled in the recent past. In fact, I appreciate them all the more, because from the looks of it, CH has taken a completely different direction from what it used to be and I no longer see the current company as the "Custom House" of the past - they are two separate entities to me.

Recently, reviews of Aidolls (Custom House's new company name) have been much more favorable, and because I will always have a soft spot for their sculpts, I decided to give them a chance and placed an order. I received my mini Cebee within about a month and she was very much worth what I paid for her. I do not enjoy this doll any less because of Aidoll's poor service in the recent past. However, I am very cautious buying from them and do not trust them fully just yet. Should this company begin to slip once again, it will not make me enjoy Cebee any less, but, it's pretty safe to say that I will not be giving them another chance.

Another example is my experience with Fairyland. Some folks, including myself, received dolls that, in my opinion, were not up to standard given the cost. FL's customer service refused to resolve my issue (others had similar experiences). In my view, FL's reputation has been tarnished (though, of course, not nearly as severely as other examples brought up in this thread), but I still enjoy my FL dolls just as much. I will cautiously continue to buy FL dolls through dealers, but if I am faced with another problematic doll, I will, unfortunately, have to take my business elsewhere.

Companies, like people, make mistakes, and, depending on the offense, I believe some deserve a second chance. However, I do not believe in third chances - if a company seriously messes up twice, then I'm done with it. The dolls I already have will be enjoyed just as much, but no future dolls would be acquired.

 

I don't think I could enjoy a copied doll, but it would be a great subject for experiments.

I think ABJD artists have bitten off more they can chew in regards to rising popularity and demand. So things will naturally get out of hand, especially when trying to keep ideas fresh and dealing with impatient hobbyists. Dealing with artist studios is different from dealing with big manufacturers.

 

It actually did happen to me recently, in a way... I don't love my doll any less, as she is obviously an original creation and was made long before the company went down a questionable path. Even though I think that in this company's case the recasting/ copying is probably a desperate try to keep their head above the water (it seemed like they were having some difficulties during the past few years or so), or perhaps they don't even know about it (maybe a new doll sculptor joined in and is doing it behind their backs? As usualy, I'm probably just being naive to even think about this as an option...).
I did lose a lot of respect for the company, and feel very disappointed to see them sink so low. They've made some amazing dolls, and have their own distinctive style, and I hate to see it all go down the drain because of money. If I were to ever purchase another one of this company's dolls, it will be one of their old, original molds- because great art stands the test of time, imho, and is still great art even when the artist goes down a bad path. I will, however, not but directly from them anymore, and not buy anything new. I don't want to risk finding out that I bought a re-cast.

 

This company aren't a bad company, I just had bad luck with them.

I ordered three dolls from them, the first time they sent the wrong doll, I was really upset because I'd saved over a year for that doll and it was my first BJD, I kept her anyway because I did want two dolls at the time. The second order was perfect they sent the doll I originally wanted. Although I was stressed out hoping they'd send the right doll this time. Again the third order they screwed up, it took three months of stress and back and forth with the company before the doll arrived and when she finally did she looked really rushed, her face up was nothing at all like the promos, there was hardly any detail added to the paint work. I never used them again after that. I'd lost all faith in them. I tried to bond with her for about two years but it just didn't work out.

I moved on to another company that had great dolls and great customer service, I re-shelled the character with a doll from there but now I've grown out of the that style and now I use another company altogether. They have the perfect dolls that I like and amazing customer service. I ended up re-shelling the third girl again and intend to re-shell the first two dolls from the unlucky company, 6 years later, with the company I really love now.

I do think they are a nice company with nice dolls but I wouldn't personally buy from them again. Dolls are too precious and too expensive to keep having drama and feeling stressed and anxious about what I'm going to get, now my doll orders are fun and I don't have any worries about my orders anymore.

 

If something like re-casting were to be discovered of the company from which I purchased the doll, I would most likely do my best to confirm whether or not my doll was a recast. If no, then I'd still enjoy it just like any other doll. If not, then it would probably leave a bad taste in my mouth regarding the doll because of what the company had done, but I would probably keep it because I wouldn't feel right selling it to someone else while knowing that it was a recast. That's really the only case when I would feel that way though.

 

It completely depends on the "bad".

If the company were found to be recasting dolls, I would probably want to get the REAL doll. It would bother me that my doll was fake, but I also think if I bought him not having a clue (there are SO many sculpts out there and nobody can identify them ALL) and was already bonded, I'd probably keep him, even if I couldn't post pix. It would be embarrassing, but it also wouldn't be like I knowingly chose to buy a recast.

If they were taking money and disappearing, it might actually make my doll more special, since I got him without the hassle. I LOVE my Ringdoll Valo and Shao, I got them both just a couple of months before the incident and love them more for sparing me that mess.

Though I do get that problems ruin dolls. I have that issue with 5star doll. They were expected to deliver my Tumnus within 5-8 weeks and it ended up being 5 months of little to no communication and every "update" was just "we're getting ready to ship" to MoC and that went on for 3 months. When he finally did come in, his head did not match his body. I love the head, it's perfect for my character, but he will be getting a new body and I don't plan to ever buy from 5star again. I'm not even totally sure I'll keep this body.

 

The responses seem interesting, I just read a couple of them. Many seem to mention the re-cast problem but can a company recast their own dolls? I feel safe buying directly from Soom or Iplehouse because I know I won't get a recast lol but I don't think I will buy any doll from ebay because I'm afraid of receiving a recast doll (bye bye limited Volks dolls ={ ) and I have no idea how to spot one.

If I have a bad experience with a company (first purchase), I will never buy from them again even if they have good feedback or I like their new dolls. Thank goodness, I have never had this problem and I hope it continues this way *touches wood*

A few years ago I wanted to buy a doll from Custom House but the feedback they were getting at that time were really bad so I never purchased from them.

As for the places I have bought from (DOD, Luts, Soom, Iplehouse, Fairyland) they are wonderful companies in my opinion, never had a problem with anything but if they start to go bad (like having bad customer service, problems with their resin, face ups etc) I would feel sad but I would wait for that bad time to pass and I would buy from them when everything gets better.

As for my current dolls, I will always love them no matter what, they're here with me just as I want them and that's all that matters to me.

 

Not really. They're inanimate objects. Just because the creators did something awful doesn't mean my doll is tainted... I still like the sculpt, and once I've found a sculpt for a character/given a character to the sculpt I cannot see that character as any other sculpt.

But I guess actions of companies can effect how I think OTHERS perceive my dolls.
I'd say Dollzone is my favorite company, but whenever I think about going to meets I worry that "oh... today will be the day someone who still hates DZ happens to be around"... And that, along with social anxieties, and a bunch of other issues, keeps me away from meets. So I suppose there is a stigma that effects me in the long term.

 

I think it would depend on if I were personally hit with poor service, and how atrocious said poor service was, to be honest.

I don't think I'd be too bothered if I wound up having a recast. I mean, sure, I'd be a little disappointed and would probably want to seek out the original sculpt, but I could find some way to work with it. Even if it meant keeping it as a personal enjoyment thing that couldn't be photographed or sold. While it's not right that the company might've ripped off someone else's concept, it's still a terrible amount of money to throw away and not see any enjoyment or use out of. The recast would likely wind up having an experimental faceup which may or may not be elaborate, and probably some level of modding. I'd more than likely want to do a lot of mods to try to make it "my own" after a scandal like that where the sculpt I owned was one of the recasts. Maybe have the character I associated with the doll undergo a revision/change while said heavy modifications were underway. Or give the doll a new character altogether and reshell the old character so the old character can still be photographed and shared with the BJD community while the recast would be more of a personal "one-off" that you couldn't really photograph or share.

If a company took my money and ran, I would be genuinely upset. They'd get a personal boycott from me in that I would refuse to do any further business with them. I would also probably be turned off the hobby for awhile and become extremely wary about who I'm sending my money to. It's also for this reason that I tend to mind the bad experiences people have had with companies for my future purchases. If someone I know tells me that one company or another really managed to rub them the wrong way or something, it'll definitely stay at the back of my mind.

If the company just fell in on itself, as many have, without much in the way of fallout or anything, but just having to close up due to insufficient sales or something? I'd be sad for the loss of the company, but I would still love my doll.

 

One of my most-beloved dolls is from a company embroiled in a bit of a scandal awhile back. I bought the doll in 2008 though, well before the issues. I had a bit of a bad taste from the situation, but that was more with how people outside the situation were acting. I got over it, though, and the doll is one of my favorites, regardless of how other people feel about the company. People and tastes can be fickle, opinions sway all the time and I try not to give these things any space in my hobby.

So, I guess it depends on the situation. When I hear about companies that aren't sending dolls, or sending them after ridiculous waiting periods, or not taking care of their customers, I pay more attention to these sorts of incidents. If a company goes through a period like this, I'd want proof they'd reformed before I gave them my business.