If you've read about recasts, you've probably seen the typical arguments for and against them. I'd like to discuss recasts from a perspective I haven't seen before. All I ask is that you read this with an open mind. I think that some people see the decision of whether to buy a recast as a personal choice that an individual weighs the ethics of and makes for themselves. If you look no further than that, you might respect someone's right to make their own decision whether to buy a recast (regardless of whether you agree or disagree with their decision). Respecting someone's decision makes sense if they alone receive the consequences. So the question then becomes: Who does it hurt? The typical arguments are that buying recasts hurts the artists and the doll companies. But consider for a moment how the choice to buy a recast affects not just the individual buyer, the artists, and the companies but also the other hobbyists within the community. Imagine that you save up a lot of money to buy a legit doll. It's expensive for you. You give up other things you want in order to afford the doll. It takes a lot of time to save. You finally buy your doll, bring it to a meet, and find that someone else has the exact same doll - but they bought it for a fifth of the price (as a recast). How would that make you feel? Wouldn't you feel like the situation was unfair? Even if you wouldn't feel that way, can you understand why someone in that situation might feel that way? Maybe part of the reason that some anti-recast people are so passionate about their stance is that people buying recasts violates their sense of fairness, and they want a level playing field for everyone. From their perspective, couldn't it seem like people who buy recasts are cheating - like those buyers are getting an unfair financial advantage that they aren't getting? That was my reaction recently when I inadvertently watched a box opening of a recast Lucywen (and it prompted this blog post). You may know that Lucywen was extremely expensive, even for the BJD hobby. I struggled a lot trying to decide whether to buy her, and when I decided to, I promised myself that she would take the place of three or four potential doll slots in my doll collection because she cost as much as buying three or four dolls. When I learned that someone had bought a recast Lucywen for a fifth of the cost, much less than the cost of one doll (a Minifee), it felt unfair and hurtful. If people like me feel hurt or resentful toward recast buyers, I think that's a natural human reaction to an unfair situation. You might say, "Well, if they feel that way, nothing is stopping them from buying recasts too." But there's a problem with that argument. Let's imagine that a large percentage of people in the community who buy legit dolls decide to start buying recasts instead. The doll companies don't sell nearly as many dolls. They have to raise their prices in order to stay in business. (Yes, they could just make fewer dolls, but only to a point. There are fixed costs of labor and overhead involved, and at some point their business would no longer be financially viable if they didn't raise prices.) In this scenario, the remaining legit buyers must buy legit dolls at higher prices so that others can buy recasts at greatly reduced prices. And, of course, we can't take this scenario to its ultimate extreme because then literally everyone would be buying recasts, no one would be buying originals, and the doll companies would be out of business. I ask myself how I can support something that could benefit me personally but that I can't encourage everyone else to do too without the hobby breaking. The pro-recast stance isn't scaleable. Is it really something I can support if it only benefits me, on the smallest scale as an individual, and excludes others by necessity? If something is okay for me, it should be okay for you too, without negative consequences for everyone else. The choice of whether to buy a recast isn't just a legal or theoretical matter, or a matter of principle. It isn't just a personal decision that has consequences for the individual alone. It affects the feelings and finances of other hobbyists in the community. All of the reasons I've ever seen for buying recasts are ones that benefit only the individual buyer: money savings, the ability to own a sold-out limited-edition doll, and more. I can't think of a single way that someone's choice to buy a recast positively affects other members of the community. But the choice not to buy a recast shows respect and consideration for everyone else in the hobby, and a desire to play by the same rules. So if you are considering buying a recast, please don't just think about how it would benefit you. The only reason that some people can buy recasts is because others are shouldering the higher cost of legit dolls, so it's only natural that this unfair situation would cause hurt feelings, resentment, and a sense of betrayal that makes legit buyers want to disassociate from recast buyers. Your choice affects the fellow hobbyists you should care about - potential friends who could paint your dolls' faceups, sew clothes for you, buy secondhand items from you, go to meets with you, and give you help when you need it. Think of them too when you make your decision, and think of the greater good for the hobby and the community. Note: I am anti-recast for the reasons in this post and for the typical reasons that I didn't discuss in this post because they've been discussed so much and so well elsewhere. I feel a moral obligation do everything I can to discourage people from buying recasts through my statements and actions. However, I will never bully anyone or tell them they are an awful person for buying a recast. Everyone makes mistakes and struggles with their own decision-making. I condemn the behavior, not the person. If you are pro-recast, I will always be nice to you - but I will never stop trying to change your mind!
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