[Adopted] Volks Super Dollfie - SD, SD13, SD16, SD17, SDGr, SDGou & FCS - XV

Aya looks great with your F-08!!

Haha -- I think some of my older girls (especially my Cyndy) need to list "hanging out and being yellowed together" as a hobby on their profiles!!

-- A

 

I don't know how many are waiting for the Hometown Dolpa Kyoto 11 items, but Volks seems to have started early. I was just able to buy the Sweet Rose (Pink) outfit for my little girl. Their server seems pretty slow, but it's still working.

Good luck, everyone!

 

This is such BS!!! Not all of us are on or look at Facebook; oh well, too bad for us, I guess. I'm so d*mn mad right now. All I wanted was the school desk, nothing else. Not that I would've gotten it, since they probably had only one available anyway *snerk*.

 

i am literally sick with stress. I finally got the lady archer outfit in my cart and i hurried to go to check out and get the hell out of there and the site crashes for me again and I don't even know if I still have the item in my cart... still trying to get it to connect... this is just ridiculous... I freaked out when I saw the facebook post about starting at 10 when I initially went to log in around 10:15 and couldn't access the site. I couldn't believe they started an hour early without prior notice. Just let me check out so I can get on with my life omg! x_X

 

Really, I use VolksUSA as back up because I got tired of them too... but I wasn't fast enough on the international site for the outfit I wanted, so here I am... argh... I guess they don't care cos they have limited stock, so this is their way of letting people battle it out. Has anyone actually gotten to make a purchase yet?

 

I can't even connect to the site now. Ridiculous.

 

Dear our valued customers,
Currently our web store server has been shut down because it had reached to the limitation of the accesses. We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused.
We would like to reschedule of our New Collection Release “Hometown Dolpa Kyoto 11” to Sunday, June 21th.
Thank you very much for your understanding.
VOLKS USA Web Service Team


i'm just so pissed right now. i had the item in my cart..... I've been sitting here refreshing for 2 hours hoping to finally get this over with. This is just.... argggghhhh

 

The semi-comforting thing in all this for me is that I'm not the only one who can't get anything on this latest release-- yet. As for those who did succeed, I send you a crabby "congratulations", LOL!

After I settle down, I remind myself that yes, they're just toys, and over the years I've been fortunate to get many nice things from Volks. That, and in a perverse way I'm happy that recently there's less Volks dolls and accessories I really want. Either the style doesn't appeal, or the dolls are re-releases of ones I have. Guess they're saving me money!

Still, I really did want the school desk, but, this may motivate the BF to build some. He's clever that way...

 

None of this is okay. Just reminds me why I rarely deal directly w/Volks, despite having a lot of their stuff.

 

I can relate to all of these problems with the Volks site, and just Volks in general. I tried to nab something from the international site from the last Dolpa, but couldn't even get on the page and when I did most of what I wanted to get was gone. I did recently pay scalpers' prices for the most recent rerelease of Lieselotte, which I did because I really wanted the doll and I was very lucky to have the funds to do so, but in doing my research about Volks prior to the purchase, a lot of their international business practice doesn't sit right with me.

Being exclusive and limited is all well and good, and probably served them well back when the hobby was being established, but now there's a lot more competition internationally. There are just so many high quality BJD companies out there who are a lot more accessible to international hobbyists. I'm no business strategist, but this alienation of the international community can't be a good tactic for Volks unless they want to keep their focus on the Japan hobbyists. If they want to expand outside of the Japanese homebase they're going to need to make a few adaptations - if only just to their website servers - if they want their customer base to keep growing. As someone who likes the Volks aesthetic but isn't a diehard fan with any of the nostalgia from back in the day, I'm really turned off by how difficult it is to buy things straight from Volks as I'd like to do.

It's just my opinion, but if I were Volks I'd be looking to start catering more to the international community to expand and start raking in more profits. I just think that if they were more accessible in terms of offering the FCS on the International site (I'm forever jealous I can't even access the USA site to see the available options I could be salivating over) they could be seeing more money and alluring more of the BJD community to their dolls.

I don't know I guess. It's just frustrating to want to throw money at Volks and yet they seem unwilling to take it

 

I understand the frustration totally, you probably won't get a lot of sympathy from the people here because some of them work really hard to collect, and they've done it for so long, they just feel like it is the norm now (myself included for the latter part). But, you're right, every time I start thinking of obtaining a new Volks doll or item, there is always that little nagging voice in the back of my mind that says, "Wow...this is kinda ridiculous even for my favorite hobby...".

I will tell you why Volks may never change, and why it has in general not been in a hurry to change what it has changed so far: money. Volks itself, the company as a whole, makes lots of money from their toys, most of that not even from dolls I think. Their doll division however, is never hurting for customers, in Japan and online, their products really fly still after all these years. Sure, they have after events, and on a rare occasion there is a release that just isn't as popular as normal...but even that included, for the most part, items go quite easily, and money is always made.

For this reason alone, and for the lack of interest in dealing with foreign complaints (which would happen, particularly in the US where we think it is always okay to complain no matter how great or small the purchase), Volks will not change, and what it has changed...took literally almost a decade...lol

I will say this, maybe find that item or doll that you really love from Volks, and concentrate on it, I have been lucky a lot in making orders for things, but I also, like many here, spare no expense or effort. Otherwise, Volks as a whole is overwhelming, so I say good luck dear!

 

I am okay with Volks not changing their methods. I really am. I've accepted it a long time ago. What needs to change is USA's friggin website. How many times will they need to reschedule this release because of the site's issues? That's so stupid! I'm really bitter since I was trying to check out for 2 hours. All I want is for them to have a website that can handle the load of everyone scrambling on for the click war. I don't want to go pay over $200 or $300 for an outfit that was in my cart for $86. I would be more accepting of that I just missed it again like I did on the international site if it was a matter of click-warring, but the fact that I was sitting there for over 2 hours to get to check out, only to have this release rescheduled AGAIN because of site crashing is what pisses me off. I wonder if it's just going to be the same issue tomorrow? I mean... why wouldn't it be? And if they have to reschedule again, then what?

 

I have been off and on the Volks website all day trying to get 1 thing. I did not see that notice, that
They are going to do sale the 21of June. It lets me put the item in my cart but freezes up when I try
to check out. So do we go back tomorrow at the same time?

 

This is from Facebook today:

"Dear our valued customers,Currently our web store server has been shut down yet because it had reached to the limitation of the accesses. We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused.
We would like to reschedule of our New Collection Release “Hometown Dolpa Kyoto 11” to Saturday, June 27th @ 10:00AM (PDT).
Thank you very much for your understanding.
VOLKS USA Web Service Team"

 

Wow...you guys must really love that collection @,@ lol...

 

rescheduled again.... well... if it just keeps shutting down, what are they going to do? this will be the 4th scheduled release date.. ugh...

 

I'm not after anything from this release, but yeah, Volks needs to fix their bandwidth issues, not just keep rescheduling forever and ever! I don't understand why this new website can't handle the strain, when the old USA site could. Things sold out super fast, but the site always loaded! Anyway, best of luck to those of you who are going to try yet again.

Here's a quick pic of my girl Lulu that I took last night to share~

 

I love this girl's dark look! She's so beautiful and I love seeing her around And its a nice break from the frustrating posts lol Maybe I will share some of mine soon and enjoy what I have T_T;;

 

For a change, Volks's refusal to release any good boy clothes/shoes has worked in my favor... I get to avoid those server problems, which sound so ugly! It's not 2005 anymore, sheesh, I mean c'mon. Good luck to everyone who had to reschedule shopping for one outfit. I did submit a regular VolksUSA order a couple days before the meltdown, so I just hope they manage to get even THAT together.

But I find it difficult to remain angry at Volks while in the presence of many Shiros. Look! There's 4 of 'em up in here!

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/s...-(Volks-Yo-SD-Shiro-SD13-Shiro-x2-SD17-Shiro) <= more army antics

 

[MENTION=2595]thesaraghina[/MENTION], Lulu is absolutely gorgeous. My favorite Lorina ever!
[MENTION=6370]JennyNemesis[/MENTION], what adorable Shiros! SD17 Shiro is gorgeous. I do love SD13 Shiro, too. But I prefer the mold as a sweet girl!

RE: the fun website release (), I'm wondering if they'll honor the order I managed to make with my shoes in it. I also had wigs in there that I wanted, that had been in regular stock, so I'm hoping! But of course now, because I had an outfit in my cart before the site went down, I can't add anything to my cart. Or check out. The outfit is just sitting there, taunting me. O.o

Here is Vala, my Creamy Mami, wishing good luck for everyone trying to get items. They've managed to finally reschedule to a day when I won't be home!

 

Your item is still in cart? I wonder if mine is... i doubt it. I couldn't even sign on to look. Your girl is so cute tho!!!

I just got pics from Angel Toast on my f-40... I can't wait to share with you guys!

 

This girl arrived last week (June 18):



She is an old F-22 Kun head from 2006. She's borrowing a Delf body at the moment, as her older resin matches it better than my newer Volks SDGr girls'.

I hope it's alright to post her here, as she is currently a hybrid.

 

I'm still incredibly aggravated about the Kyoto Dolpa 11 release (wasted two hours clicking refresh on two consecutive Saturdays, including setting alarms to wake me while napping -- I am NOT amused), but I'd rather fill the thread with happy dolly spam to improve everyone's mood!

Lulu is gorgeous and pouty as always, JennyNemesis has cornered the market on Shiros, Vala is lovely (such a pretty dress and wig/eyes for her!), and Miffimifster, your dolls are inevitably gorgeous, and I love your new Kun!

(Hybrids have always been welcome in company discussion threads, per the mods, so no worries. She looks surprisingly proportionate on the slender CP neck!)

Here's my Kun, Kyrie, to join the cavalcade of pretty:


Bittersweet Princess by Ashbet, on Flickr

-- A

 

Love your Vala, snowgray! Her outfit is gorgeous on her. And what pretty Kuns!! I love the blush on them, it suits the sculpt so well.

Linda S.
galatia9

 

*squee* Shiro overload!
That's just way too much Cute in one place... We're talking weapons-grade Cute, here.

And yeah. It's more fun to post pictures of cute dolls than grump about the Volks web site. They seriously need to do something about the bandwidth issue, but Mother SD only knows when/if they actually will. At this point, I'd lay bets on them not doing a darn thing but waffle and offer occasional apologies...

Anyway. Dolls.

I can't remember if Peregrine has been posted in one of these threads before or not... But he was the one who ended up in front of the camera to document an important gardening occasion!



That would be Baby Groot (my still-tiny-but-definitely-ambitious little yearling cedar tree-) growing his very first branch. ^_^

BG's parent is an absolutely gigantic tree that, by best estimates, is probably closing in on its 800th birthday. This little dude has a *lot* of growing to do if he wants to catch up.

 

Thank you very much!
It is rather surprising how proportionate she looks on the Delf body... Her head really doesn't look much bigger than that of my old Soony's.

Ashbet, your Kun looks so cute and serious!

 

Both Kun's are so lovely

What I've noticed as a Volks newb is the sculpts are very versatile and one faceup can make it look like an entirely different head I'm not sure whether thats because Volks has been with us for a longer time thus there are more heads to go around and "play with" or some kind of black magic haha! Either way, its pretty cool!

Your Baby Groot is so cute xD I'm in love!

 

Wooow!! I feel like I've been gone forever and now I come back and get to see pages and pages of beautiful dolls!!
I don't even know where to start commenting, but all of them, every single one of your dolls is so so beautiful!

JennyNemesis, your Shiro army is impressive! Wow, they're gorgeous and the chibi one is so cuuute!

Brightfires, he's gorgeous! I don't know where you get those outfits, but I simply love looking at your dolls wearing them.

miffimifster and Ashbet, lovely Kuns are lovely!
Kyrie has such a calm expression, how cute!

snowgray, she's so pretty!! Really, really pretty! You're making me like this mold a lot more.

thesaraghina, wow!! Lulu is stunning!

 

I... don't actually remember for sure where that particular outfit came from anymore. o_0

One brain cell is telling me that it was made by the same person who did Crane's pink and white outfit, and the red, black and gold one that I used to put on Tien Jen so often, but darned if I can remember with any certainty... If it was from the same person, her name was Frieda, and she used to have a thread down in the Marketplace here. It's been awhile, so I don't know if she's still around or not.

 

Ok, since it's come up here on this thread before - April Story definitely IS a good company when you're looking for a body for your Volks-head. Can only talk about their NS here but I just collected my brand-new April Story boy from customs today and did a quick check. It's a great match (perfect, in my opinion, I didn't really see any difference) for my Volks Ryoma head. If there's any difference at all you can very likely fix that with blushing the head accordingly.

The proportions are great, too. So if you're looking for a body you can use instead of Volks' SD17 body, April Story Senior boy body will work just fine.

 

Oh them lovely Shirous! It must be great fun having four of them!

snowgray, Vala is such a pretty girl! I really like the wig/eye combination she has

miffimifster and Ashbet; thank you for sharing your lovely Kuns!

Here is my latest girl and one that has topped my wishlist for quite a while now! She's an SD13 Jun Tachibana one-off painted by K.Mayura. The seller said she was from last year but her certificate says she's from January this year - which was perfect since the resin matches perfectly with the body I got her (an SQlab DG61 from last year).
I only had a few days to play with her before leaving over summer bringing only a tiny with me, but I did manage to get a few pictures
Meet Saya!

Cutie! by Motiko, on Flickr

 

Says is gorgeous! What a vibrant faceup!

 

Just a quick heads up … Volks News 64 is releasing on (Mon) June 29 and it will have the details of Home Town Dolpa 12 in August. So in less than a week we'll know if we need to hide our wallets or not!

http://www.volks.co.jp/page.jsp?id=165685

 

Drive-by Yori-spam... GO!



Just because I decided Ming needed a new database picture.

 

Wow Saya is the most beautiful Jun I have ever seen!

 

I like the idea of spamming doll pictures to lift the mood I've been having so much fun with my girls! ALSO! I had my first experience removing hot glued eyes haha! Wow.. well.. my nails are still aching from all the scrapping. I used the blow dryer method and it came off clean with no damage.



Everyone's dolls look so cute! I love the Kun mold to death, but she's always on the back burner because of these damn limited dolls LOL. I'm excited for the new Dolpa because I'm financially prepared for once. But there's always a chance of a grail doll popping up on the marketplace and changing my plans! I REALLY want more doe-eyed looking SD16 girls and more SD17 boys.

 

[MENTION=1759]galatia9[/MENTION], [MENTION=6873]himitsu[/MENTION], thank you so much! Creamy Mami will get more popular, I hope... she does seem very typical Volks to me, but she didn't seem like a huge smash hit when she came out?
[MENTION=9402]miffimifster[/MENTION], I love the faceup on your Kun! Such a sweet look!
[MENTION=2315]Ashbet[/MENTION], I love Kyrie's wig. And her name!
[MENTION=4514]Brightfires[/MENTION], so nice to see your crew in the thread. Ming's faceup is so preciously retro!
[MENTION=43469]Motiko[/MENTION], Saya's dramatic brows are great! Not the typical Jun for sure!
[MENTION=55844]Burpieez[/MENTION], I loooove your Daria's faceup! She and Belle look so cute with the stickers on their picture
[MENTION=9220]pris84[/MENTION], thanks for the heads up!

Re: Volks sales drama, I got a shipping notice today for the shoes and other items I got between 10 and 11 on Saturday. That's a relief, as I was worried they'd put them back in stock instead of marking them sold! The item I had in my cart after 11 was deleted when I checked today, with a message that the stock was zero, though that's what I expected them to do.

And here is a picture of Françoise so I'm not coming empty-handed

 

Yes, I just finally got my "order completed" email from VolksUSA from a purchase I made last week before the clickwar brouhaha. I was beginning to think that the server crap caused everyone to just up and quit! I guess I shouldn't say anything until I get an actual shipping notice, though.

Everyone's mood-recovery spam is awesome. : Just the antidote.

PS. Thanks everyone for the Shiro-family-love. I just got that cute little [offtopic] Yo guy and the Shiro Army is finally a proper army! He has reminded me how much I love my other 3 guys. Shiro is my touchstone.

 

It really is.

I probably ought to have her faceup re-painted at some point, but she's one of the first-release Limited Yoris, and that's her original. I'd kind-of hate to replace it unless I had to. Even though it's very primitive by "modern" standards, it's part of what makes Ming who she is, if that makes any sense.

 

Yes! I myself would kill for a Shiro with the original super-primitive v.1 faceup intact.... just for his very is-ness. I consider the faceups to be separate artworks in themselves, just as collectible as the heads & bodies. The early primitive paintjobs as well as the modern nuanced ones.

(Also, the words 'resale value' must be said. ^^)

 

Okay, my F-40 head came home today but I didn't get home until after 10 and it's all dark, and I had to take a flash pic but I want to share anyway xD I didn't feel like taking my F-17 off the sdgr body he stole from the F40, so I put this shiny new head on my crobidoll b-line body... I'm totally in love! of course I'll have to get him properly dressed and wigged and take pics of him during the day, but gah.... I just have to share xD

​

 

: What a cutie! He's a dead ringer for Olivia/Sakaki.

 

Oooooh, reitaism, he's beautiful!! I love his large eyes. The F40 has been on my wishlist since he first came out!

How large is the head compared to your other Volks boys?

Linda S.
galatia9

 

Right? xD I was thinking Olivia too lol

You should get one!! I was honestly uncertain about him when I bought him, but looking at a lot of customs, I thought he had potential... but then having him in my hands, I was worried again because I didn't like his lips and I didn't like his sorta squared jawline, and the way his eyes sit-- facing forward, it looked like his forehead was too big. But with his new faceup, none of those things are really that noticeable to me anymore. The only thing that sucks is his eyes won't sit in him properly. they've already been beveled it looks like, but it seems almost like they need to more. Well anyway, I love him xD As far as his head, the face of his head is about the same size as my Tae, it looks smaller than my huge f-17 and even smaller in the face than the dwc-01 head, but his head is taller than all the others... if that makes sense?

 

Thanks for the comparison picture! That clears up a lot of my questions. He DOES have a tall head! The F-17 is so broad compared to him. And his jaw looks great. I'm surprised how long his face is, it looked shorter in some of the promo pics.

Linda S.
galatia9

 

SO broad in comparison! but then... all the older sculpts look that way to me xD I actually like the head on the bigger body though, he definitely pulls off more mature imo. But also, without a wig on, he just looks too big on the sdgr body... and even though the f-17 is broader, i think he looks younger so better on the sdgr...

​

 

Holy whoa. He is gorgeous. I never really thought about the F-40 until these pictures. He's really a looker!!

 

Okay, NOW he's just showing off.

LOL!!

Linda S.
galatia9

 

Thank you this mold is really rather scarce...

LOL well... yeah, he has to show off a little xD but I'm seriously considering getting a sd17 body for him now since I'm selling this one. I just plopped him on the sdgr body and it just looks too big... but it will have to do for now. I think I will be taking pics of him for days... haha.

 

He's well worth being smitten over. What a shame you're selling that body! He does look great on it.

Linda S.
galatia9

 

He does look good on that bod...

'Spiffy seeing a comparison between his head size and the others, too. I like the look of the F-40 a lot, but had wondered about that since he looked like a smaller head in some pictures than in others.

 

The body belongs to another doll that i was going to sell but after trying to list last night, i just cant do it ~_~ so he may get that body yet xD I'm actually debating having him replace my f-17 in character... his head still seems pretty big, but it fits in much better with my other dolls than the f-17 :\ The f-40 never looked like a small head to me, but it did still surprise me a bit. Anyway, took a quick day time pic before running out the door, he's on the sdgr body now tho

​

 

Relatively small, I probably should have said... as opposed to some of the melon-heads I'm used to.

 

Oh gosh, reitaism! I have a new doll crush. I always liked the f40, but your boy is amazing!

Some Illyana spam. Can't believe how fast I fell for f35's charm. :3
illyana by =＾● ⋏ ●＾=, on Flickr

 

Thank you! *^^* I'm pretty taken too lol. Your Illyana is amazing too... I really love the F-35 and it's definitely next on my list for Volks dolls.... it's just a matter of do I want boy or girl???

 

Have you ever successfully made a character switch from one doll to another? I considered replacing my SD13 Mimi with my SD13 Kazuya girl, but decided in the end not to do it. A friend (beamlette) said it would be bad dolly karma! Maybe if I hadn't had Mimi for almost ten years!! Plus she was the first BJD I KNEW I really wanted.

One thing I really like about the F-40 is that he sort of has that "old school" look to him. He fits in well with Volks older sculpts too.

Linda S.
galatia9

 

The F-40 definitely fits right between the older and newer looks... Thinking about it today at work (mindless work day... lol), I've decided to go ahead and do the switch over. It means letting go of my f-17 (cos i never end up doing something else with a mold that's replaced... even if they are near and dear to me), but I have in fact reshelled most of my characters. It's always kinda scary at first and hard to let go, but once it's done, the new mold always seems to work better and I'm happier with them. My fear is always regret.. maybe bad dolly karma lol... but it's rare in the end.

 

Looking at the F-40 and the F-17 side by side, they do have reminiscent features and a similar "feel". I thought the F-40 looked distinctly like Cecil/Cecile when I first saw him! Maybe with a little SchA thrown in.

He's like the F-17 without the broadness. I really like his mouth sculpt, too.

Linda S.
galatia9

 

I love the F-17, I know I've said this before, but it's my favorite sculpt. Even though I'll be parting with this one, I want to get one through the fcs someday in white maybe. But I think the F-40 more so just better captures what I want with the character than the F-17... but I love smirky boys in general lol. When I got the F-40, his Volks faceup made him look uber sweet. I really hope they keep adding more sculpts to the fcs for us.... I so very much want a F-57 boy. Since the F-40 was a gamble and I love him, I feel more confident to get other sculpts I've been eyeing xD