Why YOU should purchase legit

Note: I've avoided posting this because I didn't want to offend some friends, but it's come to a point where I can't not post it. This was before I'd done a lot of thinking about recasts, so it doesn't express my full current understanding/view point. I'll do a more in depth, updated one soon ish.

Let's face it, recasts are pretty great. They give you access to expensive, high-end toys at a fraction of the cost, in colors your otherwise could never get, and often molds that are long-since sold out. I was pro-recast, but have since changed to recast-neutral. My intention is to get you to consider the importance of supporting the companies you love.

This is only my opinion, so take this for what it is worth.

There are so many discussions about whether BJD companies are small-time artists, companies, factories, etc. To me, this is irrelevant. I think of it in only one term: shrinkage.

A company, whether it be Walmart or the mom-and-pop quilt store down the street, measures the loss of product as shrinkage. Loss of product can be translated as loss of profit: e.g. loss of a sale or opportunity to make money off a product. When a shoplifter takes the sneakers, that's shrinkage. When the worker accidentally drops a crate of milk and the gallons burst, that loss of product is also shrinkage. When a person purchases the recast doll, the company sees that as a potential lost sale as shrinkage.

Recasts are shrinkage, and eventually they will take their toll on the larger company. The more people steal sneakers and shopping carts, the higher prices will rise to compensate for this lost sales potential and excess expenditure. They will also cease producing new product if the sales potential is not there.

Many argue that they would have never purchased from the company in the first place, so that by purchasing a recast they are not in this category. The company will not see it that way.

Prices rise and employee pay, hours, and benefits plummet to compensate for shrinkage.

I'm not an economist, so my understanding here could be a bit flawed, and I'm totally up for entertaining more opinions and ideas. Many see recasts as a way to put pressure on the doll market. We are not the doll market's primary customers. People in their respective countries are. We Westerners are an after thought, an extra market. In our home markets we have ways of putting pressure on businesses to indicate the need for higher or lower prices and more or less of a product. We don't have the ability to do that in foreign markets. DoA is the only way I personally can think of to affect these foreign markets, other than purchasing recasts.

I do believe that companies do not see it as, "Oh, they bought a recast because our basic is too expensive! Maybe we should reconsider our prices!" Instead they get offended and sometimes aggressive (like my personal encounter with Souldoll). It is my hope they will eventually understand why recasts are purchased when basics are available. It seems to be cultural differences regarding finances and economics that get in the way. Methods that work in one country just offend those in the other. I think this is improving as time passes and think that it will continue to do so, maybe even to the point where we have mutual understanding.

So when you can, when it is an option, try to save and purchase from legitimate companies. This means if you love Fairyland, buy from Fairyland. You will help keep prices in check and your favorite companies producing new dolls to love.

Don't worry: I'm no hypocrite. I had the funds and the opportunity to purchase from my favorite company. I did. I could have purchased an army of recasts, but I supported my favorite company to show them I do appreciate their work…even if I do own a couple knock-offs too. 

This post was originally written last year, before most of the drama regarding recasts happened. It seems even then I understood the risk of recasts. Since then, I've been selling off most of my recasts (at this time I have four recast anthros). If I hadn't modded these guys and made them so special, I'd be replacing all of them with legits too. I can't do that, so I'll be buying only legits from here on out. 

My next post will dive deeper into this.

And if this article doesn't have an impact on you, read this article here.

http://www.greenheartgames.com/2013/04/29/what-happens-when-pirates-play-a-game-development-simulator-and-then-go-bankrupt-because-of-piracy/

I really hope this hasn't offended anyone...

Thank you for reading, and happy collecting.