" I could totally wrap a story around this scene from the game. (This is my version of Lara Croft in my game). "
I will be talking about an issue I have never talked about before on my blog below the cut. It's something I have wanted to get off my chest for a while and something happened recently in bjd land that sparked it to life again. (also edited to add some more images from my Sims 4 game because of the pretty.)
I am sure by now the bjd community will have been aware of the whole Mirodoll ban from DOA.If not, then feel free to read about it on the forum (it's a public post) as I don't want to go into it too much here. I think they could have handled the whole situation a lot better and avoided the drama that followed altogether but hindsight is 20/20. What did irk me was the wording of a particular sentence, I quote from that same post on DOA;
"However, we believe their low prices are a direct result of them stealing the work other companies have done".
This is pure speculation on their part and not fact yet they present it as fact. I have never been interested in Mirodoll's sculpts (I have only known about them in the past year!) but this statement makes me feel very uncomfortable. It reminds me of when I first joined the hobby back in 2009. My first doll was a then affordable doll from a Chinese bjd company. I always felt shunned because I could not afford to buy an $800 doll but I wanted to join the hobby and bought a doll I fell in love with that fit within my budget. Plus the fact that it was by a Chinese company, I was made to feel like my doll was inferior and not accepted.
This kind of attitude is not very welcoming to people who are new to the hobby and it's sad that this feels like a re-emergence of that time. I can't help but feel like that statement is saying if a doll is affordable, it must be a copy. It also feels like edging out all those affordable doll companies (which incidentally are mostly based in China).
Not everyone feels the need or desire to own the higher priced dolls, not everyone can afford to and certainly not everyone should live beyond their means.
I fall into the "budget" group of the bjd hobby. I just refuse to spend above a set amount on any doll. I could if I really worked at it and really wanted to but there are other things I want to buy too. BJD collecting is not my only hobby. Doll collecting in general is not my only hobby. This is why I have a budget and this is why I shop within my means.
I have always hoped the community would grow and evolve and it saddens me that it really hasn't. I could also possibly be reading too much into that statement but having experienced what I have since I joined the hobby, it's not an entirely unrealistic conclusion from my point of view.
This is also why I don't spend a lot of time interacting on that forum. I have never felt welcome there because of my "budget" dolls. Sure, I own some of the big brands like Soom and Fairyland but I also bought them from a friend who gave me quite a generous discount. Most of my other dolls are on the more affordable scale and most were bought when the exchange rate in Australia was excellent and better than the USD (yes, that time did happen. It wasn't a dream.)
And yes my doll collection is big but I have accrued them over many many years. I have been in this hobby for 10 years. Things accumulate.
I have felt more welcome since I spent more time on my blog and flickr and IG spaces. I have met wonderful, generous, caring people who don't judge me or my doll collection and have made me feel so very welcome in this hobby. For that I give you a big hug and a big thank you. It means a lot to know the community still has people like you who make the world, hobby and outside, a much better and warmer place to be.
On a side note: I will be catching up on all the blog posts I missed over the next few days. In the meantime, it is well past my bed time here and I need to catch some much needed rest from a horrendously busy work week. This is what comes of losing track of time!
AM Edit (Why am I awake so early?): I wanted to add some more awesome images from my Sims 4 Jungle Adventure game because it's pretty and after such a heavy post, I wanted something pretty to look at.
I know what you mean. I'm not on DOA because it so elite. Many people with their big and expensive collections look down on those who do not have many dolls or don't buy famous brands, they form hermetic groups and make others feel unwelcome. I don't think owning a bjd makes me better than someone who collects Barbies or Pullips. And it's up to you how many dolls you want to have. No matter if you have 20 dolls or just 2, expensive ones or budget - it's just a hobby like any other. It's something you enjoy, there are no such things as 'must have'. Unfortunately there always will be people who want to show off just like the owner of Ferrari would laugh at someone driving a Corvette. The only rule I follow in this hobby is I buy only legit dolls. And I buy dolls because I adore their sculpts not because they are popular and prestigious. I style them the way I want, not to fit someone else's taste.
ReplyDeleteYes, blogging let me meet many great people who are reasonable about the hobby. And I'm glad I met you. I truly enjoy your blog.
I hope you will have some free time soon. Take care. Best regards.
There has really only been one thread on there that I've felt was welcoming and I interact with the people on there every now and then (incidentally, a thread that falls under the 'affordable' doll company umbrella), but I have got to the point of using it only for information and to see "in real life" photos of certain sculpts in the MP to see if I like the sculpt or not. I had always hoped the community would grow and mature but maybe that's too much to ask for.
DeleteI'm like you, my only rule is legit dolls and being that I am in that "budget" group, I find and buy affordable legit dolls (this is also why I could never understand the need or desire for recasts when there are so many affordable legit companies out there with beautiful sculpts.)
Maybe it's a side of human nature that I've just never quite understood. As you know by my blog, I love and collect all sorts of dolls. They all make me smile and make me feel young at heart again and massage that creative (and often tempermental) muse. I can honestly say that despite my many hobbies, I always love my dolls the best. They just make me happy and that's what the hobby, any hobby really is all about. Shh, don't tell the other hobbies that though!
I wish blogging was more on trend like in the old days. I like the platform to meet and discuss with other people rather than drive by, hit the like button and continue on. I like reading other people's blogs and keeping up with their hobbies, their life, their interests. I just like that more intimate connection with the blog author. You don't really get that with modern social media outlets these days.
Thank you for reading my blog. I'm glad you did as I was able to find your blog and have enjoyed seeing your posts. I always drool over your props. You find some really cool stuff. And of course, Akira and Hikaru always makes me smile. I'd love to see more of Luna. She has such a great style (and of course, blue hair. My favourite on dolls.)
DOA has never been my thing to be honest. I was a member very briefly but soon found out that it wasn't for me, I felt much better on blogs and Flickr back then. I guess technically I'm still a member, because if I'm not mistaken I couldn't unsubscribe lol!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Nana on everything she writes.
Don't let it get to you too much, it's not worth it. I too enjoy your blog very much, and I love your doll collection (not only the BJDs, but all the dols). And your beautiful photographs!
Hugs :-)
Back in the day (I sound old now!), forums were spaces that were about encouraging and supporting each other. Particularly hobby ones. Sharing, gathering information, experiences. I belonged to quite a few through various hobbies and they were always welcoming to new members. I'm not sure what's happened over the years but they don't seem to function in the same way anymore. There seems to be a sense of competition these days that I don't quite understand. It's all a bit foreign to me. I miss the old days.
DeleteIt doesn't bother me anymore but when I was new to the hobby, it did quite a lot. I've learned to just stick to my own spaces these days and I'm much happier for it. I have met a ton of new and great people like yourself who share that same love of dolls in general. It's just so awesome to find other people who do like more than one type of doll and have fun doing it.
Thank you for your kind words on my collection and photography. Dolls are definitely one of the reasons I picked up my camera again plus they are so much easier to direct than live models!
I am finding myself inspired by your mad sewing skills. I love the outfits you make and your stories are fantastic. Love all the set ups you do for them. I know they must take a lot of work. I have debated off and on about doing a photo story with my dolls and I started to with the bjds but I just never could find enough props in those sizes and had trouble trying to get backgrounds that could easily be interchangeable. I do know of a UK collector who did bjd stories and her sets were amazing.
I am in awe of those who can do photo stories. You all inspire me. Maybe I will try one day again.
Oh their recent statements have bothered me too. (in particular the one where they seemed to encourage the recast outrage thing, instead of reasonable discussion)~
ReplyDeleteI'm only on DoA for the marketplace whenever I need it these days, I hardly participate XD
So glad to see you got Jungle Adventure too! The environment in that pack is sooo gorgeous. Are you getting Seasons this month also? :3 I am still debating.
I know and I am pretty sure one of their rules is that they don't like people talking about recasts on the forum so it's kind of strange and a bit of a double standard. I use it for the marketplace although I never buy anything from there anymore and information on sculpts. Sometimes I might pop into a discussion if I need some info and can't find it on there. At least hybrids aren't as shunned these days as they used to be!
DeleteOh definitely will be getting Seasons. I've been waiting for that expansion since Sims 4 came out. It's my favourite expansion. Jungle Adventure is a lot of fun though. I've been collecting those totem style relics and been both blessing and cursing other sims, hehe. The skeleton assistant was good but gets annoying as he/she starts wanting to talk to you all the time so you can't get any work done! I haven't turned my Sim into a skeleton yet but I do have that relic. I might do that when she goes exploring again so she doesn't have to fuss with her needs all the time.
Yeah I think that's very odd as well about DoA. They're not the most diplomatic of places xD;
DeleteSo glad ~ I might wait until it's discounted a bit to get Seasons, but I am definitely hoping to get it!
Could I add you on Origin? :3
Yes you can certainly can. I will email you my origin name!
DeleteWhen I started my journey in this hobby, I felt that DoA was something great and I wanted to be a part of it. First thoughts about their rules and musts, was that it felt a little harsh. But after a while I thought that this is a way to stop those ”not so into the hobby kind of persons” (and by the way, who decides that - we all enjoy this hobby on our own way and should be allowed to do so, too). You can find me at the DoA, but I feel that I am less there now than before I was a member. Strange.
ReplyDeleteIt has been a lot of drama in the BJD zones lately. And at some point I feel that this is enough. I do not have the time or the energy to keep track of these kind of things. I do not like theft, copy cats or people/companies Frankensteining (taking bits and pieces from others work and making a new one, calling it their own) dolls. Tried to catch up about Mirodoll and read the post at DoA. Got more questions than answers. If Mirodoll really 3D scanned the doll and then modified it, should not there be some evidence to back up an announcement like this (more than just some poor photos) and why wasn’t anything done in the earlier recast suspicions with the Dollstown? And what does the companies say?
I feel like you, blog, flickr and instagram is a better place to be at. I have been seriously thinking about leaving some social media and just focus on some, instead of all. There is no need to be all over the social media, it takes too much time and energy. Here in Sweden, they have looked into Twitter and said that it has turned from a mini blog to share happy happenings to a war zone, where people criticize others.
Sending you big hugs, sunshine and many thank you’s for being just you! I am so happy to know you!
PS: Beautiful photos from the game!
I really think they didn't handle the whole Mirodoll situation well and ended up causing a bit more drama than they intended. I think a statement at least from all the companies would have been nice. That would have headed off a lot of the drama had the companies said they felt it was a copy or not. Hopefully they learn from the experience for next time.
DeleteI cannot keep up with all the social media out there right now. I stick to my blog and IG mostly these days. Too many social media involvement and I would start to feel this hobby is more of a chore and that would not be fun!
Sending hugs your way! I'm glad I was able to get to know you too. So many wonderful people in the blogsphere. Shame this platform is not as popular though.