Quick question!

[magical-pudding]

Hi! I'm so sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong place. I have a quick question about the rules to this forum.

The rules say that recasts are not allowed -- is this referring specifically to BJD recasts, or are all knock off dolls not allowed? I don't own any BJD recasts, but I do have a Blybe and a Blyh, so I was wondering if it was okay to post about those or not. As far as I'm aware, knock off Blythe dolls don't have the same legality issues or stigma attached to them that BJD recasts have, so that's why I'm asking.

I hope I'm not being a bother asking this. Thank you for your time. : )

[Dark Angel]

I wanna piggy-back on this question. What about "Barbie" dolls that you find at the Dollar Store? Are the cheap/generic dolls welcome?

[WhiteDove01s]

I wanna piggy-back on this question. What about "Barbie" dolls that you find at the Dollar Store? Are the cheap/generic dolls welcome?

I second this and would also like to know just where the line is on that. I've used generic fashion dolls for experiments because they're cheap. In fact, I've got one pending experiment I don't know if I'd be able to share the results of because it involves a sticky cheapo doll head with vinyl degradation and a container of pure acetone... but even past the dollar store dolls, with cheap playline vinyl almost anything that isn't bobbleheaded is a Barbie clone in some way. There are dolls like the Yue-Sai dolls which from what I've seen when they're nekkid the body shape is pretty much an exact rip off an older Barbie body. The Mary Kate or Ashley doll that turned up in a box lot I bought has an early Teen Skipper body down to the exact measurements. So, are they knock-offs or not? What about Kenya dolls? Or Shani?

[K2!]

This whole subject is kind of prickly. The "recasts" that are the cause of all this uproar are resin dolls that have been created from molds made by a third party from another company's doll. Most of these dolls come from places where copyright laws are ignored.
Many of these so called "knock off" dolls are dolls made to look similar and given similar names so as to confuse the buyer into thinking they are purchasing XYZ doll, when in fact they are buying XyyZ doll. While this practice is not illegal it is dubious at best.
The big difference here is that the "recast" dolls are from stolen designs and being sold as the real thing or are claimed to be the designs of another company other than the original designer/manufacturer and the "knock off" dolls are entirely original works made to look similar to a known popular type of doll.

Here at Dolleih Sanctuary we would prefer not to have to create long involved lists of what is and is not "legal" to post. For now the rule of thumb will be that recasts as we know them are stolen designs, illegally manufactured and are not to be brought up on our site. Knock offs, those dolls masquerading as or clinging to the coat tails of another brand are allowable. If a particular knock off is actually an outright stolen design, it will fall under the recast ban.

[Greyhaunt]

I essentially second what K2 has said.

The intent is to protect the artists who make a living off of their original creations by not encouraging the purchase of bootlegged copies of their works. Dollar Store (and similar) knockoffs are fine to post and make fun of

[Dark Angel]

Dollar Store (and similar) knockoffs are fine to post and make fun of

Good to know

But thanks for clearing this up! I've been wondering for a while and I'm glad Magical-Pudding asked.

[magical-pudding]

Thanks for answering my question! I'm glad to hear that I can post about them, then. To be honest, I've grown ridiculously fond of my Blybe. LOL.

[WhiteDove01s]

*nods* Makes sense to me if I've understood right. Reiterating to make sure, the dividing line is in whether or not the doll is made with intent to defraud people who think they're buying an 'official' mold. And since it's highly unlikely that anyone would mistake most very low-quality dollar store knockoff fashion dolls for a real Barbie and consider themselves ripped off, then those are in the clear. Same with stuff like Yue-Sai, which shares a very Barbie-ish body and measurements but sells under its own name label. They might have very nearly ripped off the mold, but they're not trying to make anyone think they're a Barbie.

An example of a vinyl (well, partly) playline doll that would probably count as not good, though, (and I hope it's ok if I mention this once since I'm using it as an example to make sure I've got the rules straight) would be like the one I picked up at a yard sale thinking it was a newer Cabbage Patch doll (and feeling sorry for it because it had a severe case of black mold and they were going to throw it out), but after a lot of looking up some design oddities I learned it was a made-in-China clone... and in the research I saw sites trying to sell similar dolls as actual CPK.

Now to find out where I stuck that sticky head awaiting an acetone bath...

[K2!]

*nods* Makes sense to me if I've understood right. Reiterating to make sure...

I think you got it.