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El Mule said:
I think it pretty much comes down to intentions and profit.
You want to make the exact same base in clear resin by recasting it? Ok, you make a small profit for your disturb on it and give people something they want while keeping costs reasonable. Maybe keep the production run low, it's the kind of thing that would be "I'd like to make a new one but it would cost too much to make it affordable". That's ok in my books, it's a matter of keeping things reasonable.
But if you start selling at a high price, you're gouging and capitalizing on an already existing sculpt just for the sake of making money out of it. When a recasted base costs as much as a brand new base, you know something is wrong and the intentions behind are wrong too.

Example: a friend of mine came up with the idea of picking the Hulk PF Reg head, recasting it, tweak it to improve the attachment to the body and adding some texturing on the face to match the body. It's not exactly a ton of work and it's still partially based on a recast, but it's something that could interest people. If he keeps price reasonable and production run not very high, I think it's ok. If he charges 200 or 250$ like a brand new custom portrait, that's too much imho.
Click to expand...

See and that is where you get into trouble... "Recasting is okay as long as you don't make to many". So if I took your Phoenix custom head, dremmel off the hair, resculpt the hair, and then resell it to say 10-15 guys at a discounted rate that would be okay? As for your friends Hulk there was just a MASSIVE blowout among custom statue makers and it revolved around just that kind of practise. Most guys may start with a recasted head to get the key and the proportions right, but then dremmel the face and any masked lines totally off and start from scratch in terms of the important features. Now recently a few guys have been short cutting it when it comes to certain Martin Canale pieces where they have literally either just dremmeled off costume lines and added hair to make an unmasked sculpt, or even just cut the lower jaw and moved it to make an open mouthed sculpt. Now both require some work, but like your friend, not as much as coming up with an entirely new sculpt. Your friend should be careful

csi said:
I agree Recasters are scum, but I think you are doing a lot of justifying about what you do. If we're being honest here, I highly doubt DC/Marvel or Sideshow approve of what you are doing or would give you permission in any way to do it. I think your small enough that it is not worth their time or effort to go after you (or any other custom sellers) but that's not tacit approval of stealing their intellectual property. Don't get me wrong, you are quite talented and offer a great product and I don't take issue with it, but let's not kid ourselves and try and justify it as helping out the big companies. It's stealing, but not at the level that's worth their time to stop it.
Click to expand...

Actually, you are correct that companies can actually shut down custom projects when it comes to their products. I do know of one custom head project that had to be scrapped after a company and a particular artist had a very public falling out and the company forced the artists to scrap something that he was working on for a private collector. In the end csi I get what you are saying, and I will say with all honesty if Marvel or Warner Bros ever cracks down on say the artist allies at all the various comic cons I will stop making customs. To be honest I would rather be doing these under a license and if I could afford it I would. I have actually offered one of my headsculpts to a major company free of charge and though they liked it they were through the approval process already (maybe they were just being polite though).
 
Interesting discussion regarding IP theft and recasting guys. As far as recasting goes, what if someone offers to recast a hand or weapon that another collector has accidentally chipped or broken? Or what if someone had damaged Superman's cape and someone offered to recast one to replace the broken one? Would those examples be still be considered acceptable? Or is it only acceptable if the recaster isn't price gouging the collector in need or making a large run of it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Yea definitely a grey area for sure. For me, it's all about transparency and honesty. If you are recasting something, that's probably a bad idea to begin with. If someone asks you as a one off project to fix a broken hand or something and you just have to recast the original and you don't price gauge, that's ok in my book. Especially if it's a piece SSC can no longer afford to send to the collector. And if you recast, you might as well be honest about it. That guy who is doing the transparent base is playing with fire but in the end, he's just making another option for the base for the collector. You still have to buy the original Superman PF to actually make use of his custom. I think my issue with recasters is when they 100% recast a statue so that someone doesn't have to buy the original. Spidey making custom heads and other customizer making small profits from custom art doesn't bother me at all. Of course, ripping off another customizer is not ok in my book because you are cutting into the profits of a fellow private artist...not cool.
 
You can recast or make a custom statue or whatever as long as you don't sell it for money, once you sell it for money then your breaking IP laws, you also break the law if you use it to promote something else your selling... But as others have said most of the big companies are not going to go after someone who makes like 20 custom portraits.... but that doesn't mean your not breaking the law :)
 
How bout those armpits though?

2677497-3971370128-13606.gif


So good!
 
clibman said:
Apologies if this has been discussed:

I'm not too fond of the base to this superman. Can anyone suggest a custom alternative?
Click to expand...

There was a massive one done awhile back that simply slotted the original base into it, but I don't have anymore info on that one. There was a crappy recast of the original base made of clear resin full of bubbles that would make it weaker...Now, there is a new one in the works, but it is atleast a year off... It is going to be designed to look like fortress and include Superman, Supergirl, and Powergirl... But it will be designed to just suit one if that is what people want.
 

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