Recycling and being a professional sculptor
Okay, I have again opened a can of worms.
I am not asking anybody to feel sorry for me. I was just whining about something that has been a perennial problem for me. Am I really mad or angry about this? No, not really. Does it bug me from time to time. Certainly. But once I whine about it, it is all water under the bridge. So, I guess you guys have been slightly victimized by my belly-aching.
I am a full time professional sculptor. In this little section of the business, the pay is just enough to get by. So, if I am to make sure the bills are paid on time, I need to make the most of my time and efforts. This means cutting corners. If I can reuse a head, hand or, especially weapons, then I have saved myself a good chunk of time on my efforts.
Does that make me a "cheater"? Nope. That just makes me a wise user of my limited resources to get the most mileage out of my efforts. Does this somehow "cheapen" the end product for the consumer? Not to my mind. But then I am not the guy buying the products either. Recycling of repetitive, time consuming bits is just good business sense for me, and often the producers of figures as well. And if I am recycling parts that I made myself, then the work is still all mine anyway, so what's the beef?
Once a producer has a line of products, he essentially has a backlog of proprietary bits and pieces that can be reused to make new prodcuts more economically both time-wise and investment wise. Verlinden is one producer who allows his "sculptors" to recycle old bits and pieces. Why not, he paid for them!
The problem here is unathorized reuse of old parts that I made many years ago. That stuff is out there. Most of my stuff that was used by Brain Stewart over the years was paid for by Brian, or I simply gave it to him for nothing. That was my choice. But, between Verlinden and Warriors, this stuff has taken on a life of its own and reappeared in the work of people who I don't even know. These bits were created by me. Some other joker is getting a free ride off of my efforts.
Yeah, it bugs me. But that is just the nature of this business. Any sculptor worth his salt will eventually have his stuff ripped off in this business. Just ask Taesung or Quang. That is just the way it is. It is part of the price of being in this business. There is not a hell of a lot one can do about it but whine and kvetch when you see it happen. Then, forget about it. It will happen again. It is only a matter of time. So, being bitter about it does not pay. But whining does make me feel a little better about things......
So, would you guys like a little cheese with that whine?
Cheers!!
Mike
P.S. Yes, Taesung and I have discussed doing another project together. It will happen sometme later this year. By the way, I think the pieces that Taesung and Pangsatorn are creating are every bit as good as my stuff. Just my opinion.
