If I may be serious for a minute...

So, I have noticed a disturbing trend in the whole Art Toy/Designer Toy/"whatever you want to call it" scene: Somebody does artwork (such as sculpting a figure, painting a figure, or doing art in support of a figure/line), and then somebody else, that had little or nothing to do with the creation of that piece,  takes credit for that work.

I have friends in the field, that have sculpted figures only to find that another party has taken credit for the work... Hell, it has even happened to me. One of my friends has almost an entire portfolio's worth of work that has had it's credits usurped by the person producing the toys. This is completely unacceptable. I have even heard of some of these producers making off-handed commentary about how "it's customary for the producer to get credit for the work", and that does ring true in the case of the larger companies like Hasbro and Mattel... But we're not talking about large corporations that compensate their artists for work... We're talking about individuals who are making money off of artists, with empty promises of "exposure" if they even bother to promise that.

Let me be blunt:
Exposure doesn't buy groceries. Exposure doesn't buy art supplies.
Exposure also doesn't mean jack shit, if the person producing the piece is taking credit for it.

This happens a lot, and often it's so innocuous as posting pictures from their social media, not crediting the artist, and when that piece gets complimented? "Thanks", as if they had spent the time and effort to design and sculpt the piece.

I'm going to close with this: Spend the extra two seconds to ask who produced a piece. If you know somebody else did the work, don't let some usurper deprive the artist of their due.

If you ARE one of these artists, speak up for yourself. I know the basic culture insists that you don't create "drama", but I assure you, calling out a thief isn't "dramatic" at all. If these artists would speak up, these underhanded tactics would stop. They NEED to stop, and you all deserve your due.

-Rommel