FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How to buy?
In the past, my dolls have been offered for pre-order through Jpop dolls. I am no longer associated with Jpopdolls and any orders or dolls sold from Jpopdolls are their own responsibility. Unfortunately, I am unable to assist you with those sales.
If you have a problem, please contact Jpodolls directly for assistance. I advise everyone to do thorough research when dealing with any business.
From time to time, I offer small numbers of in-stock sales or preorders of new dolls here on my website and you will find a page on the top menu. If this page has a password it means I'm working on it, please be patient.
If you would like to be part of my group where we chat, discover answers to questions, share photos and stay up to date with what I might be offering, please join the Facebook "Kaye Wiggs BJD Q&A" group linked at the bottom of this page.
I no longer run my own pre-orders, they are run by Ivy Lee (owner of the factory who has been producing my dolls for many years) and the dolls will be shipped directly from Ivy to my customers.
You can see if anything is available currently to preorder by heading over to this link https://kazekids.com/
What is RECAST?
Information about recasts.
A lot of new collectors are confused by what it means to be recast so let’s call it by what it is. It is art theft; these are counterfeit dolls.
Resin ball jointed dolls are sculpted by an artist and that artist (or the company they work for) hold the copyright for each sculpt.
Copyright law is in place to protect the rights of the artist's intellectual property so no one can copy their work without their consent.
It is illegal to copy someone’s art without their consent.
When a doll is recast, the person or company who is making the counterfeit dolls is buying a legitimate doll and then making a mold of the doll and casting exact copies of that doll for sale.
This is all done without the original artist consent or knowledge and it is most definitely illegal.
I have seen posts in clubs where the recast buyers are asking if others are interested in getting a certain doll recast, the recast manufacturer usually will purchase the required doll if they have an order for at least 5 dolls so in fact, the recast buyers are commissioning the dolls they want to recast!
Some of these counterfeit dolls are even supplied with copied certificates and packaging. Usually, the dolls are advertised using the photographs stolen from the original artist or company's web site or from collectors’ online photos. This is done to deceive unsuspecting collectors into thinking they are buying the "real thing" and getting a great deal. I have heard from so many new collectors who have fallen for this trap and later discovered they have bought a recast!
There is a lot of counterfeit dolls available on eBay, AliExpress and Taobao, I have also seen them on Etsy and I believe they are starting to show up on Amazon now. If the price of the doll is a bargain and the doll is coming from China, there is an exceptionally good chance it is counterfeit. There are some Chinese companies selling their own legitimate dolls so you will need to be aware of those, but I think most sell from their own websites rather than ebay. If the ebay (or other) seller has a variety of dolls listed from various companies and does not mention being an official dealer they are likely selling counterfeit dolls.
If you want to buy a doll on the secondary market always ask for certificates and original packaging and if possible proof of the original purchase (this is not always possible but worth asking for). If you have doubts then ask in one of the many Facebook groups or other forums such as http://theresincafe.proboards.com/ and someone will be able to help you.
How to recognize a counterfeit doll.
To be honest I have never seen one so my information here is just based on my knowledge of casting and on information I have gathered from the internet.
1: I think a very likely way to tell a counterfeit would be to look at the insides of the doll.
If it's rough and/or lumpy then I would be very suspicious that it was a re-cast (this could also be the case if the doll is from an artist who casts his or her own dolls but in that case, you would have the original certificate and I think most artists have a record of their sales so they would be able to verify the authenticity of the doll.
2: The doll maybe a little smaller than a legitimate doll as there is usually a small amount of shrinkage when a doll is molded a second time and even more shrinkage if it is cast a third or fourth time. Of course, if you have never seen the legitimate version you would still not know the difference.
3: As I mentioned before, if the doll is coming from China and is cheaper than the doll normally sells for and it is not a doll normally sold by a Chinese company then it is VERY likely a recast/counterfeit. Some sellers even state that the doll is a recast on the auction sites so read the description carefully when buying.
Some ebay sellers call their dolls "reborn" rather than recast and a lot do not identify as recast at all. Look for the word "unbranded" in the "item specifics" area where it asks for the brand, that is a red flag!
Some of the sellers offer free face-up and eyes and say the face-up will be 70-80% like the picture. If you see any of these from a seller from China then it is likely a recast.
4: The doll is in a colour not offered by the original artist or company.
How can we avoid buying a counterfeit doll?
The simple answer is to buy from the original artist or company who has the doll manufactured. If you are new to the hobby and you see a doll you really like then do some research to find out who the original company is. Ask other doll collectors where to buy, join Facebook groups for legitimate dolls and ask them to help you with your decision before you part with any money.
How does this affect the doll community?
Counterfeit dolls have already done damage to the secondary market. Those who don't want to buy a counterfeit doll are very wary about buying on the secondary market, so it is a lot harder to sell dolls that we know have been recast. There is something like 1000 dolls on the recast master list.
One of the biggest counterfeiters has applied for trademarks in China, USA, Europe, Canada and the UK of a large number of legitimate companies and artists.
This will mean the original artist and companies cannot sell their dolls using their own names, or any dolls that have previously been made under that trademark, in any country where the counterfeiter owns those trademarks. This is a big blow to those companies and artists.
To fight this legally will cost a lot of money, which most do not have! Despite recast collectors thinking otherwise, we artists do not make a lot of money from our art, we do it for the love of it. I've seen some members from the recast community saying it is the artists' fault and that we should have had their work trademarked, the fact is, most of us have copyrighted our dolls but we cannot afford to take out trademarks.
To be covered in all the major countries where our dolls are sold would cost tens of thousands of dollars, it is beyond our means.
Theft is never the fault of the victim, it is a conscious decision made by the thief!
For those with a limited budget, there is a list of legitimate companies who sell dolls for less than $300 on DenofAngels. I believe this list can be viewed even if you are not a member as it is listed in public searches on google for BJDs. https://denofangels.com/doawiki/index.php?title=BJDs_Under_$300!
Some of the dolls on this list are less the $80 so there is no excuse to buy counterfeit dolls because they are cheap.
Most companies and artists also offer layaway. I hope this information has been helpful.
Thanks for reading :)
Kaye