QOTW: Is there controversy behind owning a fake?
Written on May 5, 2014 at 12:00 pm by MichelleFiled under: Question of the Week
Fakes, factories, TBLs. Whatever you call them, they’re not made by nor sold by Takara as legitimate Blythes. ADGs, long since discontinued, have not been ‘faked’ since or during the time that they were being actively manufacturered. ADGs have, however, gained in monetary value, especially those who are still mint in box.
Let’s consider this. If a person owns a fake designer bag, it’s still a fake (or counterfeit, if you want to use that term). And it’s fairly frowned upon. And yet, when it comes to Blythe, a lot of people turn a blind eye to the fact that someone has a TBL, or just ignore it altogether. Because there’s just so much joy when it comes to owning, and playing with, these wide-eyed dolls. Is it wrong to own a fake doll? In the ball-jointed doll community, a lot of people frown upon re-casted dolls – people still own them, enjoy them love them; but as a whole they’re still frowned upon, and some BJD forums even ban the resale of re-casted dolls. Yet not a lot of public frowning seems to come along when someone is announcing a new doll that happens to be a TBL, or selling a custom doll who’s origin are less than legitimate. I will admit that since people started scalp swapping (otherwise known as hybrid Blythes), it’s harder and harder to tell which are the ‘real’ Blythes (with minor alterations) and which are the factory, TBLs or fake Blythes. After all, people have been customizing these dolls since the beginning. Blythe makes a beautiful canvas that seems to know no bounds. A scalp swap here, a change in face-up there. It can be difficult to tell the difference between what is faked and what is customized.
Is there outrage over owning a fake doll? Is there a sense of controversy? Or do people not care at all about if there’s fakes floating around? What happens when someone sells a customized TBL as a real Blythe, either intentionally or unintentionally? It can be rather hard to tell them apart. Sometimes, it’s hard for me to tell (in a photo) if the doll is a fake or not, mostly because of the way the doll is positioned or customized. It can be difficult, especially if a hybrid doll is created from TBL and real Blythe parts. A FrankenBlythe, if you will.
Is there controversy behind owning a fake?