I don't often post other people's videos on my blog, but when I find something important or extraordinary, I will happily make an exception. This is one of those cases. Adam Savage - one of the guys from Mythbusters - is a model nerd. Who knew, eh? And he has released a video this week about the problem of recasting, where an unscrupulous person will buy a limited release kit and use it to cast their own moulds and then sell their knock-off versions.
I discovered this video via an email I received from Industria Mechanika. If you haven't checked them out before, you should - I got into their aesthetic when I was scratchbuilding The Seahorse, they do great sci-fi and steampunk resin kits. And they are exactly one of the sort of small, short-run model producers who are impacted by recasting. They put in all the effort, pay the artists, produce the amazing kits, and pay their way in the industry.
When someone else comes along and directly copies their work and then starts flogging it off much cheaper on eBay or Etsy or Aliexpress, it may be tempting to grab yourself a bargain. I'll be honest - I've knowingly purchased a recasting before. I'm not proud of it, but I have.
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| Finding these dodgy bastards took literally sixty seconds. Part of me didn't want to give exposure, but the main offenders need to be shown. |
When Adam says in his video that there are problems with the recasting, that the quality is never as good, I have some doubts. I'm sure some are piss-poor, but I'm sure others are pretty much indistinguishable from the legitimate originals.
But the important difference is this: if you buy originals, you support the artists who produce the cool thing that you love and want. You keep them in business. This equals you keep them producing more cool stuff in the future. You win long term.
That dude who knocks it off and flogs it cheap? He's not designing anything cool for release next month or next year. Screw him. Plus, it's just a really shitty thing to do, being a parasite and copying the creativity of others.
If you've ever read this blog before you'll know I love saving money, and doing it on the cheap if it is at all possible. But in this case, it's a false economy. Support the people who actually do the work - your purchase keeps the small guys producing the cool stuff. If they go out of business then less cool stuff for you in the future.
Video is embedded below, but in case that doesn't work here is the link:
Adam Savage on The Problem of Recasting
Cheers comrades,
Dave
Yea I watched this and it is very disturbing that this is big enough of a problem that it could cause a legitimate badass model maker like Industria Mechanika to be threatened of going out of business because of it. I personally have been buying models by Industria Mechanika for years with my first purchase being the Remora.
ReplyDeleteI find this practice to not only be in bad taste but makes me want to hunt down these recasters and tear off their balls and force feed them to their worthless asses!