Dollshe Discussion - Part Eight

Ooh, a shiny new thread!

 

Oh, neat, new thread! Well what a better place to mention: on the old thread I had mentioned my long wait time, and coincidentally not three days later I got a shipping notice and my Orjean arrived on Friday! Technically should've been Thursday but I missed the postman by half an hour! He was nice enough to redeliver

I'm posting his box opening tomorrow but I'm just so thrilled to have him home after 7 months I can't resist showing him off


I'm working on a mock up of his faceup I'm going to do later this week B)

 

Ooh, he looks cool in grey.

 

Wow, grey Orijean is stunning!

Let me introduce my new doll I finished him and take some photos past weekend

 

@SteamWitch thank you! His home name is Hare (despite of his horns)

 

Thank you, everyone! ;v;

@SteamWitch Yup, his name is Nova Corpus! Big surprise, he's an alien. B) (I have a lot work planned for him)

@Rook_Sever I LOVE his horns and wig! Is that an angora wig?

 

@Zest , thanx It is alpaca suri ^^

@SteamWitch , yes, and I'm hunting him cause my IQ is under 72

 

New Discussion thread - tried to post on the old one - funny thing it would not let me.

What to heck is going on at Dollshe? I just got notice that they are shipping out my heads on order but I have already received those heads - 2 months ago - and they are shipping these heads to my old address - not the new address on file. sigh
I have written to let them know - perhaps all three emails they sent were incorrect AND Maybe they are shipping one of my dolls I am waiting for - Oh, but then that would be to the incorrect address.

 

Yeah I also got a shipping notice for a doll that already arrived. I assume there was some sort of hiccup in the system.

 

@Rook_Sever - Wow, your Hare is gorgeous! I love the blonde wig, and I'm a sucker for that sleepy eye face ^_^

I have a body being made right now (Akagidoll) for my sleepy-eye Saint, and it's killing me waiting to complete him. When he finally comes together with all his clothes I'm sewing and other things I'm making, it's going to be great

 

@jo1961 no worries, i got shipping noticed today as well from past order, the one i've made in NOV 2014, i guess that is just a mistake from the system, i've read in the waiting room that DollShe is changing again something in the web site so i guess that these are just normal issues, hope it helps.

 

Got this message from DollShe in reply to my message, about incoming shipping notices:

 

@PineRain thank you! Yes, I am also cannot resist this sleepin beauty!

 

@Rook_Sever - Hare is beautiful! He looks very graceful and other-worldly.

@Zest - That's a cool name! It fits him very well.

@jo1961 - Yeah, I got an email from them about some Fifth Motif parts I ordered waaaay back last year that had already arrived. It's not the first time I've received a doll and then had the shipping notice come months after they'd already arrived.

 

@Quiet and Insane thank you!

 

Sneaking back in here, even though I still don't have a body for my Saint xD
I've kinda been looking at the Ringdoll RGM-04, but it's 68cm and I don't wanna make him that much taller than my 65cm Migi Jina boy ><;

Is there a Dollshe Hybrids thread anywhere?

 

Oh, what handsome guys! I love seeing all of the different things people do with their Dollshe guys (and girls).

I was also confused by the random shipping notice and old news emails. I got excited thinking an email from Dollshe was a reply to my greening question. It's been a week and still nothing. I figure I'll message them again on Monday, since the site has been glitchy.

@Alchemist's Fire here's a hybrid thread.

Also, did anyone see the new category on the site? Looks like they're going to do custom sculpts now. (while I would love a custom sculpt from Dollshe, doesn't he have enough on his plate right now...)
Order-made BJD - DollShe craft

 

I do wish he would just focus on completing the orders he already has instead of going off in new directions all half cocked all the time. I suppose the custom heads is what he is doing instead of the casting for other artists business.
Too bad they don't teach business 101 in art school. (Snark).

 

oooh dear meeee!!! O___O i would love a custom sculpt but i don't see how on earth this would work! so you're supposed to describe it to him or have a 3D digital copy? and he's going to attempt to sculpt it???
and....am i understanding the last option on that link correctly? $100 000????? i'm so confused about all this! so i'm going to pretend it's not there <.< this all just looks a bit like a complicated nightmare really which makes me not want to order anything from Dollshe again....ever! as much as i absolutely adore the boys i have now! this is sad :/

here's my beloved Arrow ...wearing Ragnar's headdress <.<
Ragnar belongs to @Quiet and Insane

 

To paraphrase Apocalypse Now:

Well, you see @MaryamDN, things get confused out there: power, ideals, the old morality, practical industrial necessity. But out there it must be a temptation to be god, because there's a conflict in every human heart, between the rational and the irrational, between good and evil, and good does not always triumph. Sometimes, the dark side overcomes what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature. Every man has got a breaking point. You and I have one. Dollshe has reached his, and very obviously, he has gone insane.

 

my friend...that was deep *slow clap* !
i for one lost my sanity some time ago...i'm fine with it. losing sanity and losing touch with reality are very different things though! this will be interesting to watch!i genuinely hope this all gets canceled and they just go back to making simply beautiful dolls that people buy not because Dollshe is a great company but because they employ what is probably the most talented sculptor in the industry currently....but you're right...the truth of the matter is there are limits and there are rising sculptors that are quickly catching up to dollshe and companies and independent artists that are getting to that level....better yet they're operating in a much more reasonable manner. i'm hoping dollshe doesn't meet the same fate as Icarus.

 

But the sculptor, Mr Kim, is the company. This is precisely the problem. He has the artistic skill for this, but not the business acumen. I truly hope he is not going to engage in a custom sculpting service, now that he has done the sensible thing and cut back on his casting service. I understood that was so that he could keep up with his orders. Ah well. We wait and see.

 

Or he meets the same fate as Colonel Kurtz!

 

Money apart, could it be a way for him to brainstorming his way to another sculpting style?

EDIT: just read his announcement. Well, just looking at some TV programs, there are people with this kind of money in the world. Though I haven't met any yet!

 

@MaryamDN - I am so excited to get this parcel! I hope it gets here in time for the Emporium because I want to show it off to everyone. Ragnar's going to look amazing.

 

O___________O what's the Emporium precious? *insert golume voice*
i'm super excited for mine too! and to see Ragnar in this! ^______^!

 

yes...it would be an excellent way for him to spark some new inspirations...but that price tag wont really help! i personally can't imagine anyone paying that much just for a head....especially without knowing how it'll turn out and if they will be happy with it. as an artist i can say that often what you see in a picture, a drawing or a 3d digital rendition will not look like the physical copy...even when in theory they are identical! it just translates poorly a lot of times....the price aside, this is an interesting experiment...but it'll be extremely time consuming and very very complicated...now multiple that by the fact that it's a group order deal! can you get 10 people to be satisfied with the outcome in unison! this is risky!
so yeah... there are definitely people for whom this kind of money is pocket change and spent probably on a daily basis but their numbers within the hobby would be even more limited than it is globally and if you have that much money, chances are you're not going to go to Dollshe and wait until you have reached the minimum number for a group order (or you buy all of it i guess) , you're probably going to hire a master craftsman to make you your dream doll. i'm genuinely concerned for dollshe's business.

 

Well, it's not exactly like what he's doing is anything new. In fact he's kind of late to the game. DIM did "mini me" heads for years, and other companies and artists have done custom heads and bodies for group orders as well. There were good experiences and bad ones. The most infamous one probably being the group order for a muscular female body that was being ordered through I believe Nobility. We use to have a specific section of the board just for these types of orders in fact.

 

well...Twigling has changes her casting services to harucasting and it already seems to be going much quicker with Haru. her dolls had been cast by dollshe till now...so i guess casting has been canceled for real.

yeah...exactly. when i heard he was canceling casting i though great! now he can push out orders....but then this, which seems astronomically worse!

thats exactly why this is a bad idea though....how many of those movements lasted? mini mes were cool. i actually have a mini me in my possession right now that i'm working on (not mine) and it's brilliant...but those companies still managed to keep prices relatively sane. furthermore you had the option of choosing already existing sculpts (like real people) but this is quite abstract ...like @SteamWitch said, there's the 3D printing option now as well. it's not that this is new, t's that for a struggling company like Dollshe, it really could break him. i supose we can only wait and see

 

@MaryamDN i got experience with Shine Doll, DIM, Angelsdoll. Most of them weren't so nice and relaxed situation, so far only Shine Doll was very pleasant and nice, DIM had huge awaiting times also AngelsDoll was a huge ordeal for me, speaking about custom head.
The matter with DollShe is the price, that is a way too much highter but 3D sculpting is trickier

About Twigling and Harucasting: i'm in that order and i would not say that things so far went smooth or faster, only few dolls were shipped, and also the color batches were manifactured in a complete different sequence, pink batch will be the last batch while should've been the first one. So in terms of awaiting time i don't see big differences between DollShe and Harucasting.

 

The Minigenue is the first casting Twigling has done with Haru and it is indeed zipping along. The long pre-order for the full sized dolls are being cast by a different company, though I'm not sure which one.

 

Melbourne BJD Emporium. It's a market day/mini convention dedicated to BJDs! Ragnar is going to steal the show. Or raid it...heh Vikings right? He should hopefully have his shield and axe by then too! XD

 

Actually, the current "long layaway" order is being handled by Haru casting; the mini ingenue is not the first casting for Twigling that Haru is doing.

Due to the complexity and size of the dolls, Haru has had some delays in providing the dolls to Twigling.They were originally due in January, most of the dolls are still being processed.

 

I'm pretty sure the long preorder is not done through Haru Casting. They always post work in progress for their current casts, and I've been stalking them of more than a year, and didn't see the big Twigling girls there.
But that's kinda off-topic though.

 

And I'm quite sure of the opposite.however, you are right about this being a bit off topic.

Bottom line, if you can handle the Dollshe wait times,then order.If not, don't order from him. It will not change, and has not changed since he first appeared on the scene.even back in 2005-2006 the waiting times were 4-5 months; it has never been a Quick wait for his dolls.

Not aside, wait times used to be assumed to be 3 months at least , anything less than that was amazing! With the influx of more people since the 2005-06, the longer waits should not be a surprise, IMO.

 

We shouldn't so easily excuse the 12 month waits people have been experiencing lately, on the basis that Dollshe has always been slow. Even Dollshe have accepted that 12 months is too long, with their apology vouchers. Anything that looks as though it will extend that wait time is a justifiable cause for concern.

 

Anything that distracts his focus from finishing My Dolls is a cause for major concern for me but inevitable with Dollshe. We only buy from him because we know they will be gorgeous. Not because of his timeliness.

 

@Raesha @Ivelia agreed that is deffo OT, but i was just making a comparison between the two, as Twigling name was thrown as comparison in the agruing/discussion.
Haru anyway is manifacturing for small dolls only apparently, maybe his manifacturing studio has also more that one artist order, but not surely the high numbers of orders that DollShe has.
Anyway the long layway big order from Twigling is having lots of delays and other issues and awaiting time is approx 5 months already, at this point i don't know if this manifacturing studio has more orders from different artists, i assume not but i cannot tell.

As far as i know DollShe is well known as very slow, when i joined the hobby there were people that were waiting for a year dollshe dolls that makes 12 months, now the situations seems almost the same, but maybe DollShe has too much different types of dolls, colors, too much orders..
Don't get me wrong, i'm the first one that believes that awaiting times are most of time crazy and that collectors shouldn't just get used to it. But in past was never a problem, personally i was bashed and labelled as detractor of dollshe cause i've complained about three months of awaiting time for just two pair of hands, so now to me seems strange all the concern about dollshe awaiting time.

@MadamMauMau i guess that dollshe should make a sort of promotinal sales: orders from time to time, for different lines, once all orders are fullfilled and on shipping new preorders are opened, this maybe would be easier to handle for DollShe company, hope it makes sense.

 

mohahhhaha!!!! i like the raid idea!!!! don't forget pix when you go! *____*

I'm not saying any of them were particularly good. the sculpt i have in my possession currently is a nice one. in fact what i'm arguing is that the lack of success in all those companies should be a pretty good deterrent for dollshe. i agree though that the price is a huge part of the problem.
3D printing is (i agree) still tricky, but not withstanding the sanding process, it is a pretty accurate method to use if you have a 3D digital copy to print from...still too complex for the average hobbyist though i think.

i'm also with @Ivelia ... not certain the long pre-order was with Haru

 

This appears to be what he is doing. However, he is not waiting for existing orders to be completed before opening a new sales period and he is starting a new project when the people who ordered Robin/Rosa have been waiting six months already with no sign that their dolls are anywhere near being completed. So, I suspect he has a good business idea every now and then, but can't stick to it. I have a mini Arsene on order and I fully expect to wait a year for it. I don't think that is acceptable business practice, but I wouldn't have ordered if I weren't prepared to wait. So, I am in the curious position of condemning how he operates, yet still buying his products. He would have lost his customer base a long time ago if the dolls weren't so stunning.

 

Of course not! Emporium doll shenanigans are the best!
Anyway, for those of you wondering what on earth we're talking about, here's a quick photo I took today:

IMG_8567 by Liz, on Flickr

 

Is there something wrong with the website? I cannot access it.

 

Have you tried different browsers? I just checked and was able to access it with Chrome.

 

Ah okay I will try that, thanks!

 

The headdress looks great. Ready for some berzerker action.

 

^_^ ahh Ragnar! how i love thee!

 

@derilan85 - It's working for me on Chrome too.

@Therealwalter - It certainly does! Huge thanks to MaryamDN for that. Now he just needs a weapon... (I have the makings of a tiny axe on my workbench! XD ).

@MaryamDN - He thanks you for finding such a nice animal to uh... 'skin'. XD

 

@Quiet and Insane the headdress looks insanely amazing! I love it! It reminds me why i got the IO lion headdress from Soom back in 2009

@MaryamDN the matter with 3D sculpting process is that basicly you can create whatever you want using a program and then make it into a prototype with 3D printer, which can requires any material you wish, even wood or metal. But making a BJD basing onto 3D sculpting well doesn't speed up things cause the manifacturing process is basicly the same as classic/manual sculting tecnique, hope it makes sense.
I was a huge supporter of AngelsDoll, the company was the first one to claim the using of 3D sculpting technique, and also i'm a supporter of 3D sculpting in general, but regarding BJD the prices are high cause making prototype well isn't cheap, hope it makes sense.

@MadamMauMau i agree completely with what you're saying, again what to me seems strange to understand is why DollShe seems to be uncapable to stick to a project or merely to a schedule..i know that DollShe presented the new 18yrs body lately, which can be an explanation of the huge late in manifacturing process, maybe Mr Kim focused more onto the sculpting of the new body, but here it's a matter to me to approach to the business part, cause in terms of talent and artistic view i guess that no one can claim that DollShe company isn't a very interesting company, surely the business part needs better management.

 

Thank you! MaryamDN did a fantastic job.

 

i agree entirely. that's why i'm worried for dollshe...with their prices and production time (cuz lets face it it'll be longer than what they say it will be) it's better to just 3D print a head despite the hassle and time it takes.

couldn't agree more! we buy because we fall in love with the sculpt....this will be interesting since the visual drive isn't coming from Dollshe this time....

it was a pleasure!

 

I was just rereading the "order made BJD" section on the Dollshe website. Why would anyone spend $70,000 on one doll when they can get 30 copies of the same unique doll for $60,000? Assuming someone rich enough to throw that kind of money arround has more economic know how than Mr. Dollshe has common sense. And a totally custom body is half the cost of the head alone?
He's losing it for sure. Just hope he finishes our orders before landing in the looney bin.

 

I don't think it works like that. I think he starts pouring them when he has finally finished titting about with the master sculpt. So, it doesn't matter whether you pay in full or in instalments for a new sculpt. You will all get it at the same time. 12 months after the order period.

Walter, I think maths is not Mr Kim's strong suit.