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Here's an interesting issue.
A while ago I was approached by a lady who missed out on an ebay auction of mine. She's a good customer, nice lady and I respect her views. She asked if I could make a similar bear and ...grudgingly I agreed..and I set about making a 'similar' bear...
When I sent the pictures through..even though the bear is about the same size ..and, in my humble opinion, a far nicer bear...though obviously not 'identical'..she rejected the bear on the grounds that it wasn't the same as the original one.
I was never going to recreate the original as it is one of a kind..and also I am evolving my bears all the time and therefore there was always going to be 'a difference'.
I happily offered 'Dot' to my mailing list and she found a new Mom in a couple of minutes...but that doesn't wash away two feelings....one that I let someone down in their expectations..and two ,that I feel totally unsure of taking any orders ever again now for fear of a similar situation occuring....since I don't feel able to replicate anything I have previously made.
Do your customers expect an exact replica with a blue bow instead of a a pink one when you say 'similar'? To my mind OOAK means only one like that..I do make similar bears in the same fabric but always change a major aspect so that I don't get accused of selling the customer who bought the original down the river.
How do you feel about making 'similar' bears to your 'one of a kinds'?
Canna Bear PaintI will be very interested to see the response to this as well. I've on multiple occasions had people express interest in having a 'duplicate' to a OOAK bear made. When I respond with something along the lines of "thank you very much, I can make you a cousin of that bear but not an exact duplicate because the original was one-of-a-kind", the person requesting the duplicate tends to disappear... In fact, I'm working on a website overhaul in my spare time (what spare time?) and am strongly considering putting something about this on the site. Something like "inquiries about custom bears are always welcome, but please be advised that we will not create an exact duplicate of an existing OOAK bear".
So yes, I do agree with you that one of a kind is ONE OF A KIND. I feel that I must protect the integrity of the original work that was sold as OOAK (as in 'the only one like it in the world') by not replicating it on demand. That's why we call them OOAK and not OOAKUYAFA ("one of a kind unless you ask for another").
Cheers,
Kelly
Apple Dumpling DesignsJenny,
I don't think you should feel that YOU let anyone down. I think it's easy for people who admire your work to want you to recreate something they have seen because they like that particular piece. All you can do is explain to them as Kelly stated that each bear is an individual and can not be duplicated. They either understand and agree to that or they don't and move on...and that is not your problem. Even in your salon business you can't really recreate someones hair design exactly the same as another because it will look different on each individual, correct?
Your bears are obviously in demand and highly regarded...they are afterall selling like hotcakes before I even get a chance to toss in my bid for one... :crackup: :crackup:
I feel as though your potential customer really let you down in some ways by not respecting (lack of a better word this early) your OOAK creativity. You can only do so much...afterall you are a bear artist creating each piece from the heart...you aren't running an assembly line.
Hugs,
Shantell
Shantell...I can't even promise to the same haircut 6 weeks after I first cut it...let alone on someone else!! Like most artistic people the desire to try new things...and evolve my art is as important to me as selling my bears..and running my salon.
I know most of my clients come to my salon because of that...and one would hope that maybe that's why they buy my bears.
I don't want to feel robbed of my artistic license..which is why I only occasionally take commissions...
The issue of OOAK has bugged me for a long time..that the customer who wants the similar/replica is blissfully unconcerned if I were to replicate a piece which is supposed to be a ooak. In this case the lady was aware that I would not do a copy...but when it didn't look almost identical to the original she felt disappointed. I mean let's face it, even made from the same pattern..same fabric no two bears are going to be identical...purely because they are made as individual pieces..and would not look the same.
But how do we solve the problem of the 'similar' bear issue...or whatever name we like to refer to them by?
Do we just say we never do them..ever?
Chowlea BearsPardon me for chipping in here - I'm certainly not experienced in this regard but if I was buying a OOAK - I would feel let down if it was replicated for someone else. I would have bought on the understanding that it was not one of a limited edition however small that was.
Would it perhaps be possible to offer the lady first refusal on the next bear being made of that general size/colour/fabric type etc. That way since its not exactly a commission piece you have made efforts to honour both parties and you don't feel uncomfortable.
Sorry if I'm speaking out of turn here :redface: - after all what do I know?. :doh: : ..............
Strange BearsOne of a kind means just that One of a kind. I can remember feeling really ripped off as a collector when I bought a bear from a bear artist (actually it was this incident that made me start making bears) and was told it was OOAK. Next show on her table was "my" bear in a diffent fur and the fur was NOT that different. To me OOAK means totally that..the pattern is not used again. OOAK in a series....means the pattern will be used again but never look the same.
I think all artist should be clear on this point.
I use this stance as a selling point on my bears ....buy now or miss out.
As I hate the pressure of making bears to order I don't take them and just tell collectors to watch ebay, my website and look for my table at shows.
Flying Fur StudiosJenny, congrats on the demand for your bears!!
If I feel in love with an OOAK bear, I dont think I would really care if it was reproduced. I don't buy them as investments, but maybe others do?
As for the customer, I think you can never make them all happy. This is with any business. As nice as they can be, they just don't understand our creative process.
I know it makes you feel bad, what we do is soo personal, but don't take it to heart. We can't please/save every customer, and ones that want exact replica's are better shopping for a manufactured bear, or just taking what you have available.
But that's just me. I just won't take orders anymore. Sucks all fun out of it for me.
As for my definition of OOAK, I'm not picky, if a bear is made one at a time, it's ooak to me. Like you guys said, 2 bears with the same pattern and material and they're going to look different. So to me, that's ooak. But 'I'm pretty lax on my standards.
Don't fret Jenny, you're bears are selling well.
Laurie Lou BearsI sold a panda on ebay once and someone who missed the auction wanted me to make one similar.I couldn't get the same fur anyway so I told her this and in the end she did buy him but I did wonder if he really lived up to her expectations.
We can't make them exactly the same as otherwise they wouldn't be ooak but the slight differences seem to be enough to put the person off from what they want as you are not making exactly the same bear.This has put me off making any bears to order though as I just like to make what I want and when I want and feel that your bears turn out better this way when you are free to create in this way.You are also able to take the time to decide exactly how and what you want your bear to turn out like without any pressure.
I must say I have great admiration for people whose bears look so similar as I haven't been making bears all that long and if I use the same pattern and similar mohair they come out completely different and you would never think that they had come from the same pattern.I always say though that my bears are like me -they have a mind of their own. :crackup:
Laurie :hug:
Well..for the record I believe one of a kind ( ... only in my opinion..) means that this bear is different in some way from the other bears that I make. For my part I feel it would be unrealistic for me to discard every pattern that I make after each bear. So in that respect I do make bears that are similar, I have about 8 well used patterns which I mix and match, indeed yesterday I threw an new slant into the mix because I hand drew arms legs and body straight onto the fabric...no pattern involved ( a wait and see bear!!!)...but I use these patterns for all my bears pretty much.
But in some ways I change the look...be it through size, sculpting, painting and shading, eyelids..nose-shape..clothes...accessories etc. So in my mind these bears, though they are made from 'my patterns' are fashioned to create an individualistic look..and I am happy with that and sleep easy at night in that regard.
I am always moving on too...trying to improve or change ...so because of that, I don't get why I had a problem because I am trying to act with integrity as well as be creative...
Maybe I should just start a production line!!!!!
Newcastle, OntarioJenny,
You have just described exactly why I won't take orders and I do not mark my pieces OOAK. I think OOAK is a piece that will not be replicated, even similarly. If you try to make something similar you end up upsetting the original buyer or the new customer as neither feels satisfied. Then there is the issue of trying to make a bear look the same as a previous bear - not an easy feat. I admire people who can make identical bears, but I can't do it so it's easier for me to stay away from orders. I also find repeating pieces excruciatingly boring, as there is no creativity. I want to "play", every time I make a bear.
You shouldn't feel badly about what happened - you handled it well. You said you wouldn't replicate the bear exactly and you didn't. She wasn't happy the result, so you sold the bear to someone who was delighted with it. A win-win situation, I would say. You will just have to decide what you will do, if the situation arises again.
hugs,
Brenda
Jane Perala Designs Ltd.Like you Jenny, I have several patterns that I use on a regular basis. If I were to make up a new pattern everytime I made a bear, my already slow production would grind to a screeching halt. I think discarding a pattern after one use is impractical for me. In my humble opinion, a OOAK bear is one that does not look exactly like another that I have already made. Whether that be the colour and style of mohair or the clothing and accessories. I tend to make "series" of bears - ie: as in my "Girls in White Dresses"; my "Young Ladies" ; or my "Linen Cupboard Ladies", etc. While they are a series of similar bears, I do consider each a OOAK bear. So far, nobody has complained that so and so's bear looks just like theirs. Having said all this, however, I don't generally mark my bears as OOAK.
In the end, I think we each have to do what we are comfortable with.
Jane P.
Newcastle, OntarioMel and Jenny, I completely agree that it's unrealistic to discard a pattern, just to call a piece OOAK. I think you can make many bears from the same pattern and they will be VERY different. I just feel that making a bear "very similar" to a bear marked "One of a Kind", with a different bow or slight change in accessories can lead to disenchanted customers, when an original owner realizes their bear is not as unique as they thought or the new buyer finds out they aren't really getting what they wanted. It's a tough call and every artist has to do what they feel its right for them and their customers.
hugs,
Brenda
Posts: 1,836Jenny,
I think you did the right thing in that your first bear went to a buyer as a OOAK and it would be unfair to him/her to replicate that bear exactly for another buyer. I wouldn't take doing commissions off the table, just make it clear to the new client that her bear too will be a OOAK and never duplicated for another. That as an artist you can not duplicate a previously disclosed OOAK, but will ensure that her bear will be just as unique as the last and never replicated for anyone else. If that doesn't make him/her happy then there's not much you can do. In the end this is your business and you have to run it to your standards and what makes you comfortable. 
As a teddy bear buyer (I'm not sure I'm a collector at this point) I too have had questions and my own concerns with the term "OOAK". I love a signature look and style, but I'm not totally on board with with a new bow or different color defining OOAK. To me OOAK means only one, not the only one in leopard print. If it's the only one in leopard print, then list as the only one in leopard print. I'll respect the artists work and could love the bear, but if it's the same bear as last week I won't take the OOAK verbiage seriously. It doesn't mean I won't look, love, or maybe buy, but it's not OOAK for me personally.
For me being a new seller I'm asking myself this prior to listing: If you lined up your works are they really one of a kind bears, the only one, or are they a series or edition? If you purchased (at the going rate) a OOAK designer wedding gown and your friend showed up in the same gown on her wedding day and the designer said..."no it's OOAK, yours was cotton whisper white with pearl accents and hers is cottage whisper white with bead accents", what would you think?
Probably not a new topic, but it's something I've thought about as a buyer and as a new seller.
:hug:
~Chrissi
Posts: 8,574I am sorry you feel you let down a good customer. I wish you wouldn't. Especially since you both agreed on a similar bear. 
Besides, she might like to remember that OOAK, means OOAK. There isn't another exactly the same anywhere.
That is the best differance between Manufactured bears and Artist OOAK. I know my OOAK from; name your favorite artist:______________________________will not be exactly duplicated
On the other hand, I do admire the artists who can get close. I can't ever seem to do the same thing twice. 
You both agreed on similar........and similar sounds like it was better. Her loss and someone else's happy gain!
And how wonderful that you have a "following".....congrats to you, my dear!
I think that basically I am not going to call my bears 'one of a kind' in future...though they are individually made and have an individual appeal.
My website does not claim that my bears are all OOAKs but that does not mean that I intend to replicate bears...however , while I don't want to reproduce bears...I do want the ability to make whatever bear I wish.
But, I don't want to get pushed into a corner when someone asks for 'similar' bear either. I will never be able to recreate an exact copy of anything...and though it will have 'my look'..it is going to have individual qualities but will be made from my 'patterns' and so is not totally one of a kind...ie new pattern for each and every bear.
I can't do that!!
OOAKUYAFA ("one of a kind unless you ask for another").
HA! :crackup:
I only make one of a kinds and I wish I could say it's purely a decision borne of integrity. But the truth is, I couldn't duplicate my work even if I tried. There are too many variables, so even just one needle sculpting stitch, placed just one millimeter to the left or right of the original, pulled just a smidgen tighter -- or left a smidgen looser! -- would change the look of a piece, compared to a previous piece, entirely. I'm sure most of you know exactly what I mean! I think if I had a more "straightforward" working style, with less needle sculpting and shading and more precise placement of features (such as eye holes actually MARKED on each pattern piece), then I would be better able to replicate work. But I don't work that way; I use the "whim" method, doing what feels right in the moment. Which doesn't lend itself well to repeating outcomes!
I used to take commissions and people who took me up on those commissions more or less said, "I like so-and-so-bear. Make me one LIKE that one."
So I would do that, and in about 50% of the cases, the new bear would be rejected for not being "enough like" so-and-so-bear.
That was okay with me... and with the commission seeker, because I never charged any kind of fee for my commission work. I looked at it instead as an opportunity to make a new bear from the perspective of someone else's tastes. If that person liked the outcome... great. If they didn't... also great, because I could just offer it on eBay or elsewhere.
In the end, tho, I decided to stop offering commissions. It was less fun to work as a production artist under someone else's art direction! I liked being in total control of that process, myself, and missed it when I was doing commissions. I found that sales were still brisk and that stress was reduced by simply making what I wanted to make and offering the results. If things change for me in that regard I may consider doing commissions again but at this point my thinking is that I'm happiest and most productive when I don't.
I do have to admit that several of my commission seekers became email penpals with me and I got to know them quite well, and their stories, which was really heartwarming. One woman received her commissioned piece from me as a 50th Anniversary gift. And boy, was I thrilled to be a part of such a special occasion!
Bears by EdieI also feel that a bear needn't be made from a totally new pattern to be a OOAK - I've been making bears for nearly 20 years and there are only so many things you can do with pattern pieces - lol! In fact once when I was making a bear I lost the arm piece and had to redraw it. Amazingly enough, after I finished the bear, I found the lost piece and compared it to the new arm pattern I had drawn and they were EXACTLY identical (I wouldn't have thought I could do that if I tried!) Anyway, my point is even if you throw out every pattern and start fresh you are going to duplicate your patterns and the real difference in a lot of bears is not so much in the pattern but in the details of the bear. I do actually redraw the patterns for most of my bears, to accommodate changes I am making, but I start with a previous pattern so that if I want the legs longer or arms shorter or whatever, I can achieve that more easily than starting fresh - I'd be more apt to end up with the same thing! I usually find that if I am using the same fabric and a different pattern a bear will have more of a tendency to look like a previous bear than if I am using virtually the same pattern (I find it hard not to make SOME changes to a pattern each time I use it!) and an entirely different fabric. In fact I was shocked at one show to have a customer remark on seeing one of my bears that she had bought that bear from me the year before - and the ONLY similarity in the bears was the same fabric! Sometimes we just can't win! :lol:
I have been asked to do similar bears to OOAK's and have done so on occasion but always make it perfectly clear that the bear will not be exaclty the same as the original and the differences will be enough that I do not feel I am compromising the original OOAK. Sometimes the customer has been delighted and sometimes they say it is not what they wanted and then I just sell it to someone else - no hard feelings on either side - and the customer might be quicker to buy a bear she likes the next time once she realizes that a "similar" bear is not the same thing!
Anyway, Jenny, I don't think you need to feel badly as obviously the second bear was great if it sold that fast and the problem was with the lady expecting the exact bear even though you had told her it wouldn't be.
Bear hugs, Edie
Just for fun, here's an example of two bears I called "OOAK" pandas. I revealed at the time of their sale that:
-- they are made from the exact same pattern
-- they are made from the exact same two mohairs
BUT... I still consider them OOAK because I created them in two distinct styles. I gave LYCHEE, the girl, a very feminine energy, and a certain placement of her features, including high ears and nostrils. I stuffed her softly so she absolutely cannot stand. She has leather pawpads.
And I gave BONZAI, the boy, a very masculine energy, and a certain placement of his features, including low, back-set ears, and a triangle nose. I stuffed him VERY firmly with the intent that he would definitely stand as his preferred posture (although he can, of course, also sit!) He has upholstery velvet pawpads.
What do you think?, and I ask this honestly. I felt very okay calling these two pieces OOAK offerings because they are so different. Would you have known, without actually LOOKING FOR IT, that they shared both pattern and fabric, given how different they look? From my perspective, I thought, No, they look really different. Which is why I called them OOAK. I never, ever want to do anything that collectors or fellow bearmakers might perceive as "tricking" the customer, however, and some of the comments here have me thinking about how nice it might be if we had some kind of industry standard, or official definition, for OOAK! Ya know?!!!
See what I mean? Great case in point, Melanie! We definitely need someone to define these terms for us! Laughing here... 
I think in the doll world that an open edition is the case of one particular doll that can/will be reproduced, exactly, for... as long as the creator wants to reproduce it, in whatever number he/she decides.
I think that a limited edition is like an open edition in that it's a reproduction of one particular doll, exactly... but the total number of reproductions is limited from the outset. For example, and I'm making this up, I might offer a doll named AMY, who wears a red dress, in a Limited Edition of 100.
When limited editions are offered, they are usually numbered. The first AMY off the line would be 1/100, the next 2/100, and so on. The lower numbers tend to be more sought after and even sometimes cost more. If a "set" is offered -- JACK and JILL, for example -- in a limited edition, the "best" way to collect this pair is in the form of matched numbers. In other words, both dolls would be #4/100, and so on.
It gets more confusing when there are AMY molds being used, but the AMY doll that mold produces is being dressed in a handful of different outfits. Then I think the doll folks call it something else. Sometimes they say, "AMY in her red dress" for one doll, and "AMY in her blue pants" for the next. Other times they'll say, "CINDERELLA created with the AMY mold" and "CHRISTOPHER ROBIN created with the AMY mold." I think it all depends on exactly how they're introducing the particular line.
I think that, unlike dollmakers, the difficulty for bearmakers is that even if we use the exact same pattern to start with, we don't end up with the exact same bear each time ... even when we try our darndest!
An AMY porcelain doll mold will always produce a fairly consistent AMY porcelain doll.
But Jenny's DOT bear pattern could produce a DOT with wide eyes or big eyes or small eyes or a triangle shaped nose or an oval nose or a square nose, all of which really shifts the final look of that DOT pattern in ways that a cast-mold process just can't touch.
I remember talk some time ago about how much we need a guild or a society in the bear world, that can help us define some of these terms; set artistic standards for achievement; etc. Kinda like NIADA in the doll world. Are you familiar with that? We're having a lively and friendly and positive discussion about commissions and definitions here, now -- yay! -- but I've seen these discussions grow heated when people hold certain positions firmly and think the 'other side' is WRONG about how they define the words used to describe teddy bears. I'd love to be a part of shaping some kind of guild or society such as this but I admit, my background in knowing how to do so is extremely limited and I'm at a loss. Plus I still feel very new in this industry and kinda like an imposter, and would prefer to have lots of foundational bearmakers at the ground level and to use their experience and expertise in forming such a society.
Anybody else think this might be a useful thing?
I think of open editions as an ongoing repetition of the same pattern/design...same fabric...same bear. An edition is , I think, when you have a metre of fabric and you say I can make 6 from this therefore I am doing an edition of 6.
I totally agree Shelli, that each bear...in spite of it's being the same pattern, same fabric is different.....I did attempt a couple of editions and gave up a/ because they looked nothing like eachother..and b/ it was boring to have to replicate...well I thought so...some folks are good at it.
I agree that it would be helpful to have a 'definition' of a one of a kind bear..that clarifies it and doesn't become open to interpretation...
But that'll never happen...(LOL!!)
Shelli..I am totally in favour of something similar to NIADA...which would be a way of offering guidelines to bear-artists...
Ooooooh. One of those slippery slopes with differing opinions. 
I remember reading a standard for OOAK quite awhile ago...actually I think it was when I first started designing bears. OOAK in the truest sense was a pattern created as a one only, never to be produced again in any form regardless of a mohair change, color change, eye change, dress change, etc. I wish I could remember where I read this.
The article went on to talk about the term "Series" as being created from the same pattern with changes to mohair quality, color, etc. "Limited Editions" were a limited amount of bears produced using the same pattern with everything exactly the same on said bears.
Now here's a question for you. What makes a pattern OOAK? I suppose in the truest form it would be to take pencil to blank paper each time. However, I take my pattern and make pencil changes to EACH piece and then cut along those lines ending up with a whole new pattern for every bear. In my mind, that is OOAK. Just look at the bears I have listed on my web site and eBay. All of these bears are made from a OOAK pattern but two of them started out with the exact pattern to which changes on each pattern piece were changed. Is anyone following me?
Okay. I've had too much coffee. I admit it. :crackup: :crackup:
Shelli,
I think a published industry standard is needed to clarify all of these details. Who volunteers?
Warmest bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
Chowlea BearsJenny said
indeed yesterday I threw an new slant into the mix because I hand drew arms legs and body straight onto the fabric...no pattern involved ( a wait and see bear!!!)
GOOD GRIEF - Somebody get me a chair and a stiff drink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Actually - I don't consume but you know what I mean)
I've really enjoyed this discussion - its given me a lot of food for thought. Can I thank everyone for their comments.
Hi Guys,
Call me an old cynic, but... the problem may not even have been anything to do with your bear! The customer may not have had the money to purchase the bear at that particular moment and was too embarrassed to say so. (You never know what's going on that you're not privy to). Or her expectations may have been unrealistic - a 'similar' bear is never going to look identical to one you have made previously, is it? 
I agree with those of you who have said that a bear can be called OOAK even if the same pattern has been used before - after all, how far can you go?? Unless you are really going way out, a bear is going to have a head, a body, two arms and two legs - there's only so much you can do with that!!
Jenny - don't beat yourself up about it; someone else snapped up the bear in a nanosecond, so your workmanship is not at issue here. I do believe that there is a person for every bear and this one was just destined to go somewhere else
Hugs,
Chrisx
Laurie Lou BearsI used to think that I was at a disadvantage as my bears never look the same even when I use the same pattern and the same mohair but in a different colour(even the head shapes are different) but I am now happy to say that as I am hopeless at reproducing "something similar" I need not worry any more that my bears are not ooak and I can rest at ease that this lack of skill will make my life easier :crackup:
Laurie :hug:
Fascinating to read about these OAK bears! I do agree that it will be ridiculous to think a designer will make a pattern for each bear he or she makes....for life? I can make more than one bear that looks the same but.....I don't want to, it will be boring!! That does not mean I make a new pattern for each of my bears. Like many of you said in here, I do interchange the bear patterns parts or alter them to have the look of a bear I have in mind at the moment. We all know that, a little more trim, a difference in eye placement or size, a different nose, not talking about the actual bear size, makes a bear completely different, ( even a boy or a girl!! ) the picture in here, prove that. They are made out of the same pattern, same Mohair and color, same size, just different trim, eyes sizes and placement and embellishment. I enjoy making bears and a BIG part of the enjoyment is how different they come out, same pattern or not! Many times and I am sure that I am not alone in this, I had in mind a girlbear and ..."it" decided to be a boy!! A lot of people that collects but, do not make them are "dificult" when they like a particular bear and ..it is gone!! I think that is right to just say :- I am sorry. It was one of a kind bear:-
I am curious...I will like to know how many of you designers, are collectors too. I am not selling my bears now but, I am a collector and many times when I made a bear for a family or friend I do fall in love ..and have to keep him or her and make another one hopping I will not fall for it too ! Has that happened to any of you?
Bear hugs and Golly smiles.
Gladys 
