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As someone who stumbled onto your channel due to my love of Sailor Moon, thanks for this video. I will ever only be able to admire the beautiful work of you and other GK artists. I can only ever wish I could do what you do as my own limitations prevent me from doing this. I've always wanted to, but, alas, I can't. Hearing the first-hand experience and history of someone who was there is the best way to learn something. I firmly believe Japan will wake up to the huge profit potential that is literally right there. My only hope is that it's before the people doing the kits aren't too old to care. If younger generations aren't given the chance to learn from people like you, then the art form will die, and Japan, I guess, with their closed society, will just continue on. If that day happens, it's the world that will be the losers.

This is the best thing I’ve heard since 1984 when I got started! Thanks for sharing and I love your work too!!!🎉

i remember a quote from another video i've watched: "communities live and die by our individual efforts". if more people act selfishly, the situation will become worse as more and more people join the hobby to make money rather than a genuine interest. if more people act in good faith, the hobby will resist dying as people help each other and more people are able to get their foot in the door in the first place. your channel is clearly the latter, thank you for providing the community with education and inspiration for figure enthusiast everywhere!

excellent video, ty for expanding my understanding on the gk community!

Great video, i found it very interesting

Really enjoyed hearing your perspective on the topic!! I've been thinking about the whole cultural debacle for a while, so it was interesting getting to know how someone else felt in that regard! Also, your videos have become such a staple to listen to while I work on my own artistic endeavours, so thank you for the 2 hour feast!

And My Queen, this is why we LOVE YOU ❤️

I HATE buying kits from the chinese market place because of the extrenous wait times (upto a year or more) so much so that I would rather 3d print my own kits.

They could never make me hate you, Leona! (L)

The new work room has come out lovely! The purple lights are a cozy touch. Also happy to see you again 😁😁

Btw...when it comes to 3d printing, WHY is Zbrush or Maya so expensive? blender is just so complicated

I noticed in the figure community on Tiktok it is now okay to buy bootleg figures for repainting and will actively get mad at you if you buy a legit version to repaint (particularly someone repainting the main girl from needy streamer). Makes you realize that the rules are not black and white all the time XD These people are becoming such gatekeepers then wonder why things don't change or their fave artists don't get more attention in the west.

Oh my god, as someone who CONSUMES video essays I am SO excited by the length of this video 😂

Look, the Japanese I understand how they feel, but we have no other options, I'm sorry but that's how it is. Until they realize that we cant get their kits anywhere else and have to rely on chinese marketplaces, the two sects of the community will drift further and further apart

just watching the other video Leona the Destroyer GK when? 😂

I miss you so much woman

Ellos solos estan negando su crecimiento. De niño no tenia acceso a juguetes lindos, ahora con una impresora no tienen nada que ofrecerme porque ningun producto esta mejor pintado que lo que yo puedo hacer. Si fueran accesibles claro que comprariamos productos originales, pero no se justifican los precios con lo que ofrecen.

Hearing about all the hate that comes your way I wanted to say something positive instead. I had a friend recommend me your channel a few years back, and I can't accurately express how appreciative I am of all the tutorials and everything you've made. It led me from just having a vague interest in the idea of GKs as I had no idea what to do, what I would need for materials, and just the basics of how to go about making one. To now where I have a full room dedicated to making them, and it's the most fun I've ever had with a hobby. So thank you for doing what you do, and not letting them bring you down. I never would have gotten into this hobby like I have if it wasn't for you.

I…but thats…dont they…HUH?!?! My brain cant even fully grasp the hypocrisy in all this. And the scalpers!! Like what?! 😱 I watched this whole video in one sitting, I was so invested into knowing more. I can but at the same time cant believe things are like this!! Drama and hate is the #1 reason I cant do social media like facebook or instagram but I appreciate the knowledge that reveals itself through things like this (like the intense xenophobia and such that I didnt think was THAT bad) And to hate on you?! Like what?! They must just be using you as a scapegoat for attention since your name has gotten so big and they wont get attention otherwise. On a bright side, you must be doing something right to get haters! Your youtube is literally one of the only ones that makes me feel like I CAN do GK’s in the first place!! Without you, not only did I not know this was a thing, but I get so discouraged in the hobby-world in general that I would never even attempt to try this stuff by myself!! You are literally the whole reason I felt like this was something I could do! I’m sorry you have to go through all this! I agree though, until they make it easier to buy directly from the sellers, nothing will change. So long as there is a demand, there will always be a market for it, doesnt matter how they need to get it, if they want it bad enough, theyll do anything. On a lighter note - your studio is beautiful!! The lighting gave the perfect atmosphere for the video and the shadows even hid most of your WIP kits in the background as silhouettes! Very mysterious and almost like a tease of videos yet to come! 😝

I only got a bit in but i never understoon why when it came to limited popular series the artists didnt just sell them periodically sell them as if it was a resale (or hell at scalper prices if they need the money) But i wonder if regulating recipts and money at Wonderfest could stop the dealer dashing but it seems they dont want to 👀

This was so fascinating! I’m a total outsider to GKs outside of subbing to your channel back when YT recommended it to me years ago, so I love when you dive into this aspect of the community around it. You mention at the end that the issue is Japanese law, but it sounds more like the problem lies with the IP holders. It’s not as if American copyright/trademark law allows unlicensed figures, for example. The difference mostly lies in IP holders’ willingness to pursue enforcement. That the IP holders in Japan are willing to grant one-day licenses at all is almost generous compared to how merchandise rights work everywhere else. Similarly, the law didn’t change to make Crunchyroll legitimate. Instead, some Japanese companies saw the writing on the wall and bought out the company to make a legit streaming service with built-in name recognition from the site’s pirate days. It’s a good example of Japan actually recognizing the value of the international audience, though. You’re right that needs to change. But for GKs, it kinda seems like that would have to start with IP holders being willing to permit online+international sales, right?

I love your new studio setup and I REALLY liked this video. It was interesting and informative. I hope you do more videos like these in the future.

Your Lady Amalthea kit is the first GK kit I ever purchased. Having shown it to a friend of mine, it inspired us to start working on our own GK business. We are going to ReaperCon this week to get with the sculptors that we know to get some original characters that we have had drawn for us so we can start producing them in my garage. Thank you for giving us the inspiration to start something new.

I kinda wonder if the venom against recasts is something that has carried over from the miniature painting community (at least in part, I know from watching the video that there was also a huge firestorm from the Japanese artists on Twitter as well). As someone who started in the miniature painting community before branching into also doing garage kits, it's basically the same hobby (especially when it comes to larger "display" miniatures), and recasts in the miniature painting scene are also very much reviled, but it's also a very different situation since most of those miniatures are much more accessible to get legitimately. If people with those strong feelings against recasting branch into this hobby like I did without knowing the difference and history of things over here in the garage kit section, i could see that causing problems there. I know when I first started looking at garage kits (and heck, I'm still very new, but I'm starting to figure it out), i didn't even know how to tell the difference between originals and recasts. Heck, i didn't know about most of the stuff in this video until now. I did feel a bit guilty when i found out I had been buying recasts (again, I already had some baggage from miniature painting with that term), but when I tried to look for legitimate copies, I couldn't find anything. Nothing. At that point, what else could I do? I would like to support the artist whose work I enjoy so much, but if there's no other option? Well... As someone who grew up in the wild west era of the internet, if there's no way for me to go legit, I'm not gonna feel bad about finding a way. And yes, i mostly do 3D prints these days for a variety of reasons, but if there is a kit out there that i like enough that I decide to buy it, I'm gonna buy it. Legit if I can, always, but I can't be bothered feeling bad about it if there's just no way for me to get it otherwise.

I *love* learning about culture and that includes online culture in spaces I don't occupy! I absolutely love this kind of video, very informative and frankly? Entertaining. You got a good few laughs out of me and I also had many 'aha' moments. Thank you for making and posting it, I really hope it does well so we'll get to see more in the future. <3

I wish it was different, and that it was easier to get into hobbies. Feels like hobbies are a rich people's game

i have a recast of a very popular russian bjd 😞

Ok so I'm 30 min into the vimeo vid and holy smokes what a freakin' dumpster fire of a situation this is! It's Kinda sad that it seems some people care more about their reputation, clout, and cash more than the hobby itself. It should be a wholesome hobby but there is always those rotten apples... I'm sorry you have to go through this!

To the point about the hate for you, don’t listen to haters. I’ll tell you I respect the hell out of you. I’m more into Gundam and such models, but because I was looking for a paint technique I found your channel and it opened me to a whole new world, and now I dabble in GK as well.

Chair the vid pepole!!

Everything you said is so true. I agree. They are like that.

I came to GKs through the BJD community where the subjects of recasts is...as volatile. I remember 10 years ago where this group of people started the "Pro-Artist" thing and shunned recasted BJD. The resin parts of the doll can be recasted the in the same process of recasted GKs. (As an artist, I'm against such things.) When I first peeped into the GK hobby and found that one certain website that had all sorts of GKs figures, I was astounded. Until I saw the 'fine print' that, most of them were actually recasts from a several years ago. In my observations, I noticed that 'recast' items wasn't as shuunned in GK circles as it was in the BJD hobby groups. So that got me thinking, there might have been others like me who are more louder and vocal coming from One hobby to another and making sure that everyone knows what their stance is on recast. This is all conjecture of course, and there is no basis on it. It's just my thoughts. Anyways, that said. The GK that I have gotten are figures brought directly from the artist and I would like to thank my "Elders" like Leona, Who paved the way through all of the mess in order to give us new generations another creative hobby to engage in. Thank you Leona! =^;^= 💜

me at the japanese artists complaining when i gotta resort to illegal sources to access their work because they wanna gatekeep the gaijin and i was born a filthy south american: Shouganai deshou 😔

Try god again. He loves you and im sure his always wiling to hug you, no mater what. I know pepole in your past have hurt you in his name, but thats pepole, not him. His real person and im sure that if you make direct contact with him, all your questions will be answerd. Read the new testement, or beter yet, open the bible ramdomly, see where it lands. He wants to talk to you. I beg of you, dont give up leo. As a friend whose life was changed by his personal love. Try. Pray as respectfully as your heart can handle, or be honest. Tell him good morning. ...try. love you❤😊

i'm unfamiliar with the gk hobby and mostly just enjoy watching you do repaints, but i do think there's a bit of a false equivalency going on with how you describe japanese artists getting upset... my perception is it's one thing to pirate naruto or whatever; the fandubbers don't make money from it, and shounen jump isn't any poorer for it, the mangaka is fine. but recasters make money from selling casts of sculptures they did not make, and while for sure it'd be great for japanese artists to open up to foreign markets, them not doing so doesn't make it okay that their work is stolen. it'd be like me not buying a US fanartist's naruto fanmerch t-shirt bc it's prohibitively expensive, so instead i buy the same shirt off of temu with the stolen art bc i can afford it. it's justifiable in a lot of ways, but is it right? is a corporation or a person being hurt on the other side of it? also the difference between $280 vs 28,000 yen given transport costs + labour costs + customs + fluctuating exchange rate for a figure you could get from a local con vs. one you could theoretically get from japan doesn't seem the worst. it was an interesting insight into a world i'm not familiar with at all, and it super sucks that there have been targeted harassment towards you. just wish there was a little more delicacy in describing artists who have in a very real and material way had something stolen from them.

Oh no, global south people want to take part of a hobby which we don't want to make available for them? Let me get my pearls to clutch them

A looong one but very honest and open. History is a really, really haaaard thing to learn up on. And shittalking is so ego, so selfish and often based on jealousy and a huge amount of bad self esteem. Attacking and badmouthing makes others feel like they have to follow the Shittalker instead of finding their own information and make up their own mind. I am learning a new thing for every little video that comes out, so sticking around. ;-)

Fan art of copy right things is legal. But asking money for them is not.

What a good video very well put together and educational!

Love the studio❤

I guess more 3D modelers need to make awesome kits so everyone outside of Japan can avoid Japan.

As someone who only ever goes on MFC to update my personal collection, it’s so wild ppl r hating on you like what 😭 is MFC even the place for that?

Encuentro la parte donde wonderfest tenía que estar de "a fuerzas" como intermediario bastante interesante. Como artista suelo usar páginas o servicios donde no puedes tratar directamente con el cliente, y a veces contactar con el artista puede hacer que te lleves un baneo. Viendo este video me pregunto si más que para facilitar el trato (escusandose detrás de la personalidad, timida/retraída o antisocial de los japoneses y la gente en internet), es un intento de forzar un benefició para un tercero que técnicamente no esta haciendo nada, y que a la larga mucha gente se acostumbra y piensa que les hacen alguna clase de "favor" aunque les cobren.

there's a japanese tweeter who's been going off on you called kizakiaoi

I did miss The resin queen👸☕️👀hope you're doing well besides the drama *continues to watch the video*

I've never bought or painted a GK figure, but I kinda figured there was something weird going on with GK scalping and the like. I have a saved search for one of my favorite anime series on eBay, so I get daily notifications about new listings. Over the last few months I've seen a lot of listings for a new GK of the most popular character in the series, and the prices are... quite high. Even the decades-old vintage GKs don't go for that much 🫤 Anyways, I love the look into the internal operations of this business! It's really interesting to learn how the process works in bringing these figures and kits to market. And a little splash of drama and intrigue never hurts 🤭

Im not into gk yet. But you make anything intresting.😊 ❤

About the shady proxy site to buy online: does white rabbit shipping not help in this case? I have never used white rabbit, I only heard about it once long time ago and see it is still running on the website.

And here I thought the Artist communities were the only truly unhinged hobby based community (and believe me, as a recovering digital artist, it gets VERY unhinged VERY fast). ADDENDUM: The day Japan culturally moves on and actually learns about the reality that is "they aren't the only ones" is the day that Hayo Miyazaki goes to his son to admit that he wasn't a great parent and begs for forgiveness in person and not though animation.

I do love a piping hot cup of tea on a Wednesday. ☕️