Volks Super Dollfie - SD, SD13, SD16, SD17, SDGr, SDGou & FCS - XXIV

Regarding optional parts order forms through Volks USA:
I just pulled out the order form for Date II purchased through Volks USA and I can confirm that it's tied to the accounts of people who ordered based on these instructions:

"Please log in to your VOLKS USA Dollfie Store account and access the link below. From here you can pre-order the SDGrB option parts"​

This particular order ends 1/31 and I think my Date was delivered on or around Halloween, so it looks like they give you about 3 months to order. Just for kicks I put 3 of the same type of hands in my cart and told it to proceed to checkout. I didn't get any errors, but since I don't actually want to order 3 pairs of the same hand I can't confirm if they'll actually let you go through with the order. I'd be a little hesitant to try hosting a group order because I'm not 100% sure if they'll let you order more than one of the same item.

That said, I think they'll let you place multiple orders as long as it's within the order period though? There's nothing on the sheet that says it has to be done all at once. So maybe you can order more than one of the same thing?

I also assume others might be able to access the link on the sheet regardless of if they bought either of those dolls, but that Volks would cancel your order if there's no record of you having bought Date or Hasekura through them.

 

Got my lottery entry in for Oscar this morning. This is only the second Volks lottery I've entered.

It was the first time I'd logged in since they redid the website, and I noticed that my previous orders weren't showing, including an unfulfilled preorder that I've only paid the deposit on so far. I guess it's like that for everyone, and just a side effect of the new site?

 

@Selidor It is. Volks mentioned that they're going to be updating everyone's information, but it may take a while.

 

@silver sycle I think it's great that the Shigeta family are always present at the Dolpas. Even in the mass chaos of Big Site, it makes the event feel very personal. The new Ever Beauty skin is what I would love to order! It's quite amazing in person!! SD10, solid torso F-01 WS in Ever Beauty!!

@St. James Ah yes! I have that card too! And yes, I know many International customers have asked for a membership card of some sorts over the years. I guess I had the opportunity so I figured, yeah .. what the heck, I'll mention it again. I don't mind being part of the broken record club. Yeah ... I really don't understand why International customers can't have access to like 98% of what is available in Japan but .. you know, I know ... it's Volks. Good luck on Oscar!! Hopefully everything is okay on your form. I was sooooooo tempted but in the end, I didn't put in for her. I have an awesome character for her but ... but ... no ... must ... stay ... strong!

 

Oh my...and suddenly we are on thread No.24...how time flies

@pris84 Oh I didn´t know that! Considering that I could almost get a LE SD10 for the price of a flight ticket and a hotel room, it will probably be a few years until I can go to my first Dolpa - hopefully, I run into them then, that would be really cool.
And also - what?! They had the new material on display? I guess there must have been a "no pictures" sign because I don´t remember seeing anything of that sort after the event.
Now if you don´t mind me asking: How is it? Were some models on display or did some people get to handle the dolls? Did they give some more information on the material and services? Based on what you said I guess there was a clear visible difference (maybe feeling too if you got to hold one?)? I don´t know if you have ever seen the PS Bisque in person but how would you compare EverBeauty to the current standard skin?
Sorry for all the questions but I´m really curious now, I didn´t expect to get news about this material until the first people got their orders (I think they started accepting them in December right?)

I never thought I would get FCS because I can´t even really keep up with limited releases that I like, but I have to admit that there are a couple cute FCS sculpts and the new material has me interested as well. Maybe in a few years, I will set aside some money for an FCS girl .... maybe when they finally decide to add SDGr girl bodies (or better even SDGr Tenshi but that is probably even less likely than them introducing a VIP-membership for international customers at the next Dolpa..^^II)

 

I suspect it's a combination of xenophobia and concern about counterfeits, really. After the Takashimaya scandal, among other things, it's hard to imagine them changing that policy.
What might be plausible is an opportunity to purchase or submit orders for FCS parts in person at the LA Dolpa.

 

@St. James I guess I missed that too, but what is the Takashimaya scandal if I may ask? Or was this just the incident with Lorina 2?

 

@silver sycle Yeah, the Lorina thing. There are always really obvious, known scalpers, but they can't ban individuals so everyone else suffers for it.

 

@St. James That´s true. I can´t imagine them ever lowering their guard when it comes to special dolls like Kasumi, at least in the near future. Sadly, this issue is mainly affecting the fans who don´t live in Japan - yet it doesn´t seem to be the reason for all of their sales practices. As I also sometimes buy figures and other merchandise from Japan, I have seen this type of behavior over and over again. "only for sale in Japan" "exclusive to this Japanese shop only" etc. - in the end, this doesn´t even serve it´s intended purpose. If I want a figure or a doll, I can just hire someone to get it for me or buy it off of the second-hand market. While this applies to someone who loves an item and wants to call it their own, it´s also true when it comes to scalpers and ... I dare say "recasters". If someone wants an item, it won´t be difficult to obtain it, even if the manufacturer put measures in place to prevent this. In the end, it only means overseas customers will have to spend a considerable amount more to get the same item - yet it´s not really "protected" any more than it would have been, had it been sold more openly.

 

@St. James I suggested that since a person has to make a reservation to visit Tenshi no Sato, what about adding a request to do an FCS order? This way the request could be made ahead of time and then Volks could approve (or not) the appointment. A time slot could be made ahead of time. I feel like another aspect of hesitation, is also the language because while they have some staff that do speak English, the staff may not be confident enough to translate a face up description from Japanese into English which I can completely understand. So, I also suggested that foreign visitors requesting an FCS appointment should bring their own translator or only be able to choose from a face up book if there is concern over the make up. I'd also love to see FCS come to Dolpa but I wonder if they could really pull it off on a 1 day Dolpa? Finger crossed. Here is hoping!!

 

@silver sycle The exclusivity and local limited goods is definitely a Japanese cultural norm.
@pris84 That's a good idea, and you're probably right that it's a language thing. No reason they couldn't be like a lot of places that get tourists and have an "English menu" though. But they also seem really averse to adding any shopping options that will add to their overseas shipping business. Or insufferably indecisive customers unable to articulate what they imagine in one language is enough!

 

Man, it’s only been one day after the lottery and the (probably futile) waiting is already killing me! I hope everyone who wanted someone remembered to get their entries in on time.

 

@Chobittum I know what you mean! Longest 2 weeks of my life! I don't know how I'm going to survive the final few days... And the likely disappointment...

 

There was one F-01 Ever Beauty gal on display, but it was not possible to handle her.

 

And the Dolpa 41 date is now set. Kyoto 16 before that. It's relentless! How does every Volks employee not suffer from total burnout?

 

@snowgray Thank you for the picture. She´s definitely cute but I also wish there was some sort of comparison next to a "normal" SD10. It might be just my imagination but the skin does look more ´matte´ than usual.

@St. James Oh when is Kyoto 16? The hype is real...I don´t expect to see any more (or at least very very few) "new" dolls from this point onwards. Don´t forget that they also have a new outfit collection in February, at least that's what they mentioned on the lottery-entry page. - Could that include some clothing rereleases? I guess they will rather save them for the Dolpas.
I can´t even imagine being a Volks employee... I would probably be in heaven for a few months and then get doll-burnout ^^II
Although it would be awesome to know about the winners of the Best Selection already - the suspense is killing me.

 

I am really looking forward to the announcement of the Best Selection too! Although ever since that false start where they put up the leftover lottery dolls from previous Best of, my patience has taken a bit of battering

Kyoto 16 is on March 9, and Dolpa 41 is April 28 in Tokyo

 

@Chobittum Oh no, I can hear my wallet scream already. ^^II
January Rose of Versailles *Oscar....*, February new clothing, March some doll releases, April more doll releases.... this year is off to a dangerous start. Also yes, I always get excited for no reason when they post old dolls and then its just leftovers from the last Dolpa for the online shop or a very small quantity for a Dolpa lottery. There are not so many curveballs left they could throw at us... the next familiar faces we see (in March?) will probably be the beginning of the rerelease-craze that will scar us for years to come...
Also...if Kyoto is on the 9th ... that means we might have less than a month until we see pictures of new dolls...possibly of some grails too
*uhhh I thought I was ready for this but I´m starting to feel like I´m not... *

 

@St. James So true!! Indecisive customers!! Both Japanese and English ones! They now have a different price structure for blank, set make up and fully customized which I think is helpful. I suspect they had a number of customers who complained about paying for make up when they wanted a blank doll or customers that sent back heads for make up redos. And I feel like there are more make up reference books now at the Sumika/Sato/Mado for making things easier. So who knows? Maybe in the future we'd at least have the option to pick make up from a book or at least get blank! Small steps, I guess.

@silver sycle I saw the Ever Beauty at Dolpa 40 also. I feel like the Ever Beauty resin isn't getting the hype and attention I really thought it would. Mind you prices are almost double of pure skin resin. Here are the prices of Ever Beauty (Volks News 80) : SDM 100,000 yen, SD (girl/boy) 160,000 yen, SD13 (girl, seirei) 160,000 yen, SDGr (boy) 170,000 yen. Volks considers this the next evolution in material and place it above Kasumi.

@snowgray Volks has 3 Ever Beauty (F-01) on display at Sato. An F-01 in WS, NS and sunlight! I didn't ask to handle her (as I imagine you could't? unless maybe you were doing FCS?) but at least you can get a better look at them. It almost has a translucent sort of feel! Going on the Wishlist!

@ekala Yes! So early! I guess it's because of Super Golden Week this year. I bet Tokyo is going to be madness this year! 2 weeks instead of 1. Or maybe it's because of the VIP weekend happening in Atami (May 25 & 26)?

 

Kyoto 16 is on my birthday!! I won't be able to go but my friend said she was going to try to make it, solely because she's able to remember when it is because it's my birthday.

I too am going crazy waiting for the Oscar results. I really hope there are enough to go around because she is such a beautiful doll T_T

 

I think I did my ordered wrong.. I used the "Credit Card" option.. And just now realized it says... Ship within Japan only or something. I got the email regarding my ordered and credit card went through. Does anyone know when the ordered will be remove from your "Order History"??

 

When I was very little during the 70s, I lived in Singapore, I had many Japanese expatriate neighbours. My father worked all his life for a Japanese company and had business dealings with the Japanese, my step sister still works for the same company today. From a young age, I have this drummed into me that if you want your business to succeed, your company must serve your own people first, in your own country, the best products at the best prices must take off domestically before you can hope to export to other countries. Possibly, this was the kind of dinner talk we had with our Japanese neighbors, subconsciencely, this became something built into my belief system. I forgot about it but yes, serving the domestic market first is a Japanese business culture. I think I focused too much on recasters and scalpers. Oh....now that I recall, another reason for many Japanese products not made available for export is the scalability issue, it’s too expensive to make enough of these products for export.

I never understood the real motives of recasters, and Chinese doll companies who copy sculpts because in my mind, these companies should focus on the domestic Chinese market first and given their rich history, the Chinese should be able to sculpt and design very beautiful dolls. Just flip the pages of history and sculpt the great beauties of imperial China. I am still angry with what happened to Isao Nanjou. Don’t think I’d ever recover.

 

got this cute Miku wig for Rin to compensate my urge of having her DollfieDream version and had to take pics outside because winter in russia is super snowy again ♦

Spoiler: pic 2

 

This is very interesting, thank you for sharing! When you put it like that, Volks' decisions make perfect sense.

 

@HEEDLESS_X_FEI
I THINK you should be fine, but I would probably tell them about the mistake before they send you the card-payment invoice.
There are two options:
1. You write an email to Volks, apologizing for the error and asking if they can change the specifics of your entry.
- However, I don´t know if this would affect your entry negatively...if they can´t edit this information easily, they could choose to just chancel your entry.
2. You wait until they confirm you won the lottery and then message them, saying you just checked your entry and noticed that there was a mistake made regarding payment. Like that they might be more inclined to make the change instead of canceling your order because they already notified you that you won.
- However, I don´t know if they might just delete your entry when they notice your address is overseas and the payment method is "Japan only". They could just see it as an invalid entry.... if you fear this might happen, maybe you should message them before the results are announced.
I don´t remember if they will first send out an email just to notify winners and send the invoice at a later date - if they send invoices out immediately, it might be wiser to tell them in advance and hope they can save your entry.

To be clear, I don´t think it´s likely that they will cancel your order all that easily. When I entered my first lottery (in 2011 if I remember correctly) no one in my family was using Paypal or Credit Cards (here most people still prefer to use cash for regular shopping). My mother and I tried to figure out how Paypal works and she ended up sending the money to some general account of Volks. They did not make a huge deal out of it, this is the email I received (yes I still have all my important volks mails... *ahh all the memories *):

"Thank you very much for taking part in the Dolpa 25 After Event lottery.

We are truly very sorry, but unfortunately to avoid confusion or
problems we are not able to take payments via another way.
Thus, we refunded to you via PayPal.

Please confirm "Pre-order Payment Notice" email from us, and please
access the payment page and make payment according to the instruction.

If you hope to extend the payment deadline, please contact us again by
10:00 on May 21st (Japan time).
If we do not hear from you by the payment deadline, we will cancel your win."​

So they offered to extend my deadline, even though this was only about me not understanding how to use Paypal.
I wouldn´t give up hope, contact them and let them know that you made a mistake but would still very much like to be part of the lottery. That way they might be able to help you, and you avoid just being removed from the lottery pool silently because they consider the entry invalid.

Hope this helps.

Oh and also unrelated but....while writing this I decided to read the "purchase information" for this Dolpa again and came across this sentence:
"Please note that once you submit your application and win the lottery, you cannot cancel the purchase. Please make a payment and pick up your item during the period. If you do not proceed with the payment, you may be disadvantaged in the next lottery. Your kind understanding is appreciated."
Have they stated this openly before? I always remember that people were only guessing that not paying could exclude you from winning in the future, but no one could confirm or deny it properly.

 

Can anyone with the SD16 bodies tell me if there is a size difference between the normal and feminine shoulders? I really like the normal shoulders, but the few second hand bodies I find have the feminine shoulders and it looks less wide, but I wonder if it’s just because the shoulders are rounded or if there is an actual sizing difference between the two.

 

@dollsoflace

I hope this can help. Turbow has a comparison of the bodies. You can find them here on their Flickr: COMPARISONS & REFERENCES

They will be near the bottom on the first page. I wish I could give you a more direct answer but I've never owned them at the same time so I can't really compare. I figured at least a visual is always handy tho.

 

@ekala Can you tell me more about this "prepayment / credit hold system"? I remember that I saw the option of setting a number of payments on my account when I checked the settings. Can you do some kind of layaway with Volks now or am I just missunderstanding?

@dollsoflace I just checked and I was sure they talked about it on the wiki but they don´t. I would say, based on pictures, that the "normal" one is definitely wider next to the collarbone because thats the part that has been "rounded away" on the "feminie" shoulder. However, I would say the difference is not very big - looks-wise maybe but not in terms of circumference.
In case you are interested: volks USA had some nice comparison pictures between the bodies. You will need to go through the way-back machine on around Oktober 1st 2018 since the FCS page has been removed now.
I don´t know if I can link to a former version of a website but let me try: Volks USA 1. Okt. 2018
hope this helps^^

 

@silver sycle My understanding was that you needed to input your CC info and essentially pre-pay for any doll that you entered for and that they'd refund you if you didn't win. This was in order to cut down on people not paying if they won a doll/I assume cut down on people making multiple entries. That's why I initially went into this lotto expecting I could 1. use my CC and 2. pay for it in advance. I thought they used to accept CC payment for overseas orders a few years ago too, so I was a little confused once I read the instructions for international lotto this time! I'm not sure if it actually applies to international orders, since it's not like they can charge us through Paypal like they could with our CC info?

The number of payments thing is how a fair bit of Japanese companies allow you to buy things with credit cards. I don't think it's technically a layaway as you can do them even in stores and walk away with your item? I think it just makes several smaller payments on your card. It's something I've never quite understood about Japanese CC systems and never looked into it since it didn't apply to me.

 

RE: SD16 shoulders...

Looking at my girls (Ma'at, my Ami, has the original shoulders. Seema the Amethyst, and Maia the Narasaki have the rounded version-), there does seem to be a little bit of a difference. It's small, though... I'd say no more than a half of a centimeter or so at the very most, just from an eyeball estimate.

Unfortunately I don't have a handy way to get a more exact set of measurements for you. (Mr. Brightfires seems to have borrowed my tape measure and didn't put it back where it belongs. ) I can say for sure, though, that it hasn't been enough of a difference to make clothes swapping a problem. So far everything that I've tried on more than one of the girls has fit both body types.

 

Thank you for the link! Someone had provided me the image of the bodies from the front, but I had wanted to see them from the back and was drawing blanks where the reference was from. These are super great. I am always so thankful to those who take the time to share stuff like this. It's supremely helpful.

Thank you so much for this! I had forgotten the way-back machine even existed. This link helped me see the body parts I was curious about in more detail.

I actually wanted to hybrid a non-Volks head (an LLT Edria) on the SD16 because she matches my 2016 Mytyl perfectly and I thought wider shoulders would look very nice... since she's even bigger than Mytyl's head. So I was trying to find the widest looking shoulders possible, while still staying in the SD16 proportions which has a lot of clothing options. I'm hoping that the difference isn't too great and still wide enough! Otherwise I will have to wait for the next SD16 FCS!

Thank you so much to everyone for your prompt and informative responses. It's been so greatly helpful!

 

Hm, I thought they stopped PayPal payments for a while maybe due to the new DSVGO that went in action here in Europe a while ago. Basically, it's new, stricter laws on which customer/user info you're allowed to save for how long, so I assumed they were overhauling their system (together with overhauling their entire shop) to take those new laws into account (especially since there's gonna be new trade laws between Japan and Europe going active soon, too, regarding customs fees). Quite a few of U.S. news and newspaper websites were unavailable here in Europe while they were adjusting their websites to the new DSGVO.

No matter what reason - I'm glad I can still pay via PayPal since it's the most convenient way for me. I do have a credit card, but Volks' website was (still is?) set up in a way that required I entered a TAN for credit card payments, and boy was that a hassle to set up ... And then, my credit card is tied to my second bank account, which I use for stuff like rent money and paying regular monthly bills so every time I make a bigger purchase with my credit card, I have to transfer the money from one account to the other, which also is kind of a hassle. Just glad I don't have to jump through THAT additional hoop anymore.

 

@Khell Oh I´m so hyped for this trade agreement with Japan - I can´t wait to find out more in 1-2 weeks, but I try not to get my hopes up too much. Taxes make up a huge chunk of the price for most of my hobby-related purchases - it would be like 10xChristmas to see them lowered considerably or even removed entirely. I already called customs but they were only able to tell me that the specifics will be known on the 1st next month...Let´s hope for good news.

I´m also glad I somehow missed the period when volks tried to switch to credit card only...it would have been such a hassle. ^^II (And not getting the choice to pay for a doll in several installments means less temptation to overspend ^^)

 

@silver sycle I hear you! In 2017, when I got my Williams from the Volks Masquerade in Tokyo, I almost fainted at the customs fees. Those could have bought me another full doll, and I'm not talking Resinsoul here ... 1st of next month, you say? That would be great! Volks won't start shipping the lottery dolls until Feb. 2nd, so if I somehow succeeded in winning one, maybe ...

 

Does anyone have a picture or link to a picture that shows what the ear attachment on the now discontinued FCS fairy heads look like?

My F-31 (and the Kun I bought for my sister) finally arrived yesterday. His face-up got damaged in transit, not that it was good to begin with, but it'll definitely have to be removed now. Still thinking about what to do with him.

 

I don't know how I missed this earlier but my SDGr hand order form says that there's no item limit per customer. I think we'd all be ok banding together to get Oscar parts if someone here is willing to let us piggyback on an order form from Volks USA, provided they don't change the rules.

 

@ekala Thanks for that, but it's not the peg on the ears themselves that I'm interested in, but rather the slots or holes in the actual heads themselves, that the ears are supposed to fit into, that I'm hoping to see pictures of.

 

I had a bit of a giggle at the thought of Volks receiving an order from someone for 60 pairs of feet or something, and going “gosh, what are they gonna do with all those feet? It is a mystery....”. Hehehehe!

 

Same here! But it's what they're going to have to deal with since we can't use the Japanese order forms

 

Hi! new-ish member here. Heard about Volks during the early 2000s, but it was always just a hypothetical image at the back of my head. Never really had any plans to go into the BJD hobby, but then Ringdoll released their Wei Wuxuan licensed doll, and I ended up buying him because I'm a huge fan of the show. And now that I've started, might as well buy my first Volks somewhere along the line. I'm also a fan of Rose of Versailles, but sadly I wasn't able to enter the lottery. Is there any chance that she and Andre will show up on the webstore after the lottery orders are served?

Anyway, regarding the credit card... It looks like a lot of stores in Japan will ask you if you'd like to pay for big purchases in one go, or if you'd like them to charge separate payments. I once racked up totals of only 13,000+ yen and 14,000+ yen at two stores in Tokyo, and both times the cashier asked me "something something ikkai" in Japanese. It's been a while since my last Japanese lessons, but I do remember that ikkai can mean "once" or "one time".

 

There is a chance that Oscar and Andre could end up in the webstore after the Lottery, you would have to check the website regularly and have a account with them before you can put anything in the cart.

 

Ooooh. Guess I should start checking in February then. I'm not sure if the volks store does layaways, but I hope it does!

 

No Volks has never done Layaway for any of their dolls.

 

Oh well. Full payment it is then. I suppose they'll be at the 140-150K yen range? I'm not sure my card's credit limit goes that high, so I need to check. Then there's shipping on top of that.

Almost makes me want to wait for secondhand market ones, but there's no guarantee they'd pop up there. The only other LE doll I really liked so far was Okita Souji in practice uniform, and I didn't see him when I checked the usual Japanese resale sites. Lots of Saitou Hajimes though, I wonder why.

 

Sadly I don't think there will be any Lady Oscars left after the lotto period as I have never seen this many people put in entries for a resin doll, only DDs. And when that happened, there weren't enough dolls to go around. I guess there's no real way for us to know until the results come out though! I do think there are going to be Andres leftover though. If you compare the wishlist numbers for Oscar vs. Andre on the Volks international store, the discrepancy is huge. Hopefully I'll be able to pick him up for about his original price after a year or so! I really do want them both, but Lady Oscar is a must.

Lady Oscar is currently abut 1900,00 yen "2nd hand" (new but being resold for a profit, sadly) on y!J. I think they'll drop a bit after the lotto results are released and dolls are shipped, but ultimately go up higher than that once things have settled because of her popularity. I'm personally bracing for the worst for her . There is going to be the Volks USA store lottery for her sometime in February though, so keep an eye on this thread because I'm sure someone will post any new info!
P.S. Welcome to the hobby!

 

Awwww. I guess I'm probably out of luck then. BeruBara is a pillar of shoujo in Japan, which is probably why so many people want her. If there aren't any left for website sale, then I guess I'll just have to settle for the Oscar Pullip that was released many years ago (and is actually available in the secondary market close to her release price). But who knows? maybe I'll find her for a reasonable price some day when I'm not even really looking anymore? I'll keep hunting for practice uniform Okita Souji for the meantime, because I really like the way Volks did his eyes.

Edit: I missed the part about the Volks USA lottery! I'll try my luck there too, just in case. Do Volks USA dolls ship out from the US or from Japan? I'm closer to Japan, so if things ship out from the US I don't even want to think about the shipping charges yikes.

 

Oh well. I have friends and relatives in the US, and an employee discount for express shipping with my employer (so I can have the dolls shipped from their place to mine, so ordering from the US site and shipping a 10-15 lb package won't cost me as much as it should without the discount. My estimate is that the cost to ship the doll from the US to me should only be around 30-40 dollars for next (or maybe two) day delivery. Assuming the sharks at customs release it as soon as it arrives, that is.

The question would be if Volks US's webstore would accept a non-US issued credit card or associated Paypal account.

 

you can pay VolksUSA order by paypal. I did that last year with my Santa Alteria.

 

That's good to hear then. But if i do try for her, that's definitely the rest of my doll budget for the year. T_T

 

Maybe they will do pre-orders for more Oscars. The demand is really high.

 

Pre-orders for Oscar would be great but I won't be holding my breath ...