INTRODUCTION
Before I kick the bucket, I want to encourage as many humans as possible to live life as they are instead of the way others want them to be. For this reason you will see that many of our products symbolize and remind us of this importance. I know of folks who cover their vitiligo patch (as I once did for the birthmark on my face when filming Culture Japan the TV show) but nobody should have to modify the way they look for the sake of others.
All humans are completely imperfect although it may not be as obvious on the surface. For example the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) ended up doing a scenic route as humans evolved a neck - it loops around the aorta and then back up the larynx when it could be much shorter and thus efficient. Humans also have a retina that is backwards which is why we ended up with a blind spot. This is because of the way we have evolved from living an aquatic lifestyle.
And then there are some of us who have evolved to be different on the surface. There is no survival advantage of changing our appearance for the sake of others - this is something that should be left to the Mimic octopus which does indeed rely on its ability to change its shape to survive...
ABOUT DEVELOPMENT
Whenever we develop new products, we must always think about scalability. When we first released Liberty, having more body parts with a vitiligo patch didn't quite work out at the time. Today we have a much more streamlined production process for vinyl which has enabled us to release Liberty with a vitiligo patch on her bust and upper left arm.
The paint masks for the vitiligo patches, extra production time and failure rate has increased costs for Liberty but I'm keeping the price the same as she represents so much of our values.
The bust is soft and squishy so when its pushed tight against the paint mask, parts of the bust tend to warp and paint seeps under the mask so we end up rejecting quite a few of the paint jobs.
The paint masks were electroplated from a cast from mold 4. We have multiple molds for busts that enable us to mass produce. However, as some of you may already know - a paint mask can only be used with the cast that it was created from. The reason is that every single mold we make has slight differences in shape and size due to how mother nature likes to do things. Slush casts are electroplated and not machined.
A FEW THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT THE VITILIGO PATCHES
The edges of the patch may be a mixture of both crisp and fuzzy. There may be specs of dust or lint caught beneath the surface as we do not have any airtight working spaces but - we are currently in talks with Elon Musk to loan us one of his SpaceX ships to use as a spraying booth.The texture of the vinyl for the arm, head and bust is different - do not expect an exact color match between all three components. There are no plans to add vitiligo patches to other body parts or other bust sizes.
We do not know what the behavior of the patch will be like when it interacts with tight fitting clothing. If you are concerned about this then you can request a non-vitiligo patch body in the order notes when ordering. Do note that you will not get any discount for requesting such a body because I didn't increase the price in the first place ;-)
For folks who currently own Liberty without the vitiligo bust and arm - I'm currently trying to figure out a workflow to sell separately but I need some time. While we can sell the new Liberty at no extra cost, we cant provide the bust or upper arm for free to existing customers - nor can we paint them at request.
ABOUT THE PRODUCT
Due to the material properties - all soft vinyl is prone to scratches but they are hardly visible on our Cinnamon or Tea skin tones - for Cocoa however, they are more noticeable. For this reason, we include 1 Melamine sponge with cocoa vinyl bodies incase you scratch their body with your fingernail.
Take the sponge and brush lightly on the surface to remove the scratch. If you scratch the face by accident, brush very lightly with the sponge to remove it or you will end up removing the makeup too. Some of the sponge will leave white powder on the skin surface - just blow it away. Scratches will either disappear completely or become not as noticeable unless you are staring at it with a microscope.
All joints on the internal frame are lubricated with grease which may seep out in transit - no need to panic - just get a towel to wipe it off.
Also, the properties of soft vinyl encompass blemishes through the slush casting process which are more noticeable in the Cocoa skin tone - refrain from buying if this is not cool with you ;-)
ABOUT TAKING PHOTOS
Dust shows up more clearly on Cocoa so make sure to check the face for dust before taking photos. You may need to turn up the exposure slightly when taking photos of due to the dark complexion. If you got Lightroom then you can highlight the face with the radial gradient tool to increase the exposure of the face while keeping the exposure of the rest of the photo the same instead of blowing it out.
