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

I know what you mean, I have an SD10 boy who has very few clothes because most of Volks releases now are for the larger boys. Or sometimes they will say they fit SD10 as well as the larger sizes, but that means that the pants will be way too long. I guess it saves me money, but like you I see all these sets I want and then look at the size and realize it won’t fit

 

Can Americans purchase items from the Japanese Volks website? Do they ship internationally and do they accept foreign credit/debit cards?

 

@TabletopPhantom Unless something major has changed with the new store, yes! The online store has always been international-friendly.

EDIT: Oh, something very interesting!! The "Adaptation Models" are finally being put up for sale at Sato during the Christmas Fair. These are the refurbished dolls that have been sent back to Volks from owners through the farewell service. Based on the verbiage and included set stuff they're being sold like coordinate models - that is, available for immediate pickup, and at low-ish prices with standardized clothing sets & faceups. (Prices haven't actually been mentioned, though, so I'm not sure.) To the surprise of no one their main face of the project at the moment is.... Tsukasa.

 

@ekala, what is the "farewell service"? I'm not familiar with that, but after all these years of collecting Volks, there's still a lot I don't know, lol!

 

@beamlette It's actually very new! They introduced it in May of this year. If you'd like to part with a doll, you can get a "farewell service" kit from Volks and send the doll back to them. They then refurbish it and resell it to a new owner. It's very unclear what the original owner gets out of said farewell service besides a "heart" present - there's even a note that this isn't a purchasing service. You can see the full site about it here.
It's rather baffling to me personally, but obviously they're getting some traffic through it!

 

Thanks for the Volks News scans/info @silver sycle

Not much tempting me this round. I'm a little surprised at the F-40 discontinuation. I've thought that sculpt is quite cute.

I'm anxious to see the rest of the VolksUSA Holiday event updates. I can't fathom what the Holiday Greeting event would include that is First Come, First Serve but still has a 10-day event period, as Holiday Greeting has always previously been One-Offs...

@ekala Why is Tsukasa being the feature of the Adaption Models not a surprise? Because no one wants him anymore? or is there something I'm not getting?
I do wonder if Adaption is meant to be Adoption but there is a typo/mistranslation?

 

Thank you for the explanation and link, @ekala. Unfortunately the translation mode on my Chrome browser didn't/couldn't translate it all for me It's interesting why Volks is trying this, unless they think it could help curb dolls being sold to bootleggers and recasters on the secondary market. I suppose it fits into their "Another Yourself" narrative, and being a good doll-parent.

 

Hilariously, the new webstore is blocked on my work network, while the old store wasn't.

I wonder what sort of impact the farewell service is going to have on the secondhand market in Japan. I can't imagine giving back a doll I purchased for several hundred dollars to the manufacturer, and this is definitely not like turning in a doll to that shrine(s) that bless/destroy dolls.

 

In Japan it's super hard to throw things away. They have really strict regulations on what can be put in your trash and what can be recycled. If you have an older doll that may not be worth much money that someone may feel they are unable or unwilling to sell, I could see them turning it into Volks just to get it out of their house. Or maybe some people just feel sentimental about donating a doll that was theirs or a loved one's.

 

Well, there is always the second hand shops and y!j if one just wants to simply get rid of it.

I see the Farewell Service more as a doll funeral service. I know in Japan they have shrines where dolls (and other toys) can be turned in with the idea that this doll has in a sense completed its duty and the owner no longer requires it. And therefore it’s given a funeral. There is one shrine in Osaka that has them all out but I think the rest burn them on certain days. So this might be Volks way to take that burden from people if they wish? It will be interesting to see if these dolls resurface with volks as second hand dolls or simply disappear. In my experience, many Japanese tend to shy away from second hand dolls. I *think* it’s the idea of an angry spirit or unrestful spirit in the doll and they don’t want to inherit that upset spirit. But of course, not everyone feels that way.

Edit : D'oh! I totally missed your post @ekala ! That is so cool that these guys will be "released back into the wild"! It will be really interesting to see how well this idea pans out! And the price point!

 

@ekala I'm also baffled why it's not a surprise, it is to me. XD *cuddles Travis*

@pris84 Yeah I've got a couple of Y!J 'rescues' of orphaned dolls who are old and less than 'ideal' who ended up with sellers who don't even normally sell dolls for super cheap where I was the only bidder. :< Lukas isn't even that yellowed, he just doesn't have his box/papers, and Alice(F-05 need to update my sig) is super yellow and missing her headplate/box/papers, but I definitely don't get angry or unrestful from them lol, more happy and relieved someone wanted them. :<

 

The Adaption/Adoption service is really interesting to me, personally - on the one hand, I'm really glad a doll that's unwanted will get a chance at a second life, especially dolls that are older or molds that are less popular (hey @ volks.....hit me up if someone doesn't want their Carol or Saki? please?)

On the other, this is a smart business move on Volks' part because now they're profiting twice from the same doll instead of seeing resellers/y!J auctions earn that money instead. I hope that's not too jaded to say

 

Shiba onesie in the February collection! Omg!

The adaption thing is odd to me in that you pay for the privilege of returning your doll... But I guess if it's difficult practically and emotionally to throw a doll out then perhaps it makes sense... sort of.

 

This is a bit of an odd question, but if anyone has one of the new standard girls (but especially Mai and Mel), could I get a photo of the inside and back of the head?

 

@beamlette Yeah unfortunately all of the farewell info is in pictures rather than text, so most auto-translators won't pick it up.

Ah to be clear, I'm surprised that someone turned Tsukasa in.... I too am very attached to our lovely boy. What I'm not surprised about is that Volks is like "see you can get stuff we know you want! Like Tsukasa!" I'm very very interested to see if prices for these pop up anywhere once they go on display.

Also I definitely misread their site yesterday as "adaptation" but on second look it's pretty clear that it is, in fact, a misspelled "adoption." /changes TnK...

 

@ekala I totally missed your post about the dolls being put back up by Volks! Thanks for sharing!

BTW, is it me, or does Dolpa 42 feel like a bit of a repeat of LA Dolpa 4 2019? Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy that the Japanese and international market will get a chance to bring home Dollfie Icon and DearSD Tiffany and Vanessa but I think I feel like it's a bit of deja vu? And I thought Icon, Tiffany and Vanessa were VolksUSA only? I'm really surprised to see all of this released. But maybe it had to happen for LA Dolpa 4 2019 to exist in terms of production and costs? For the most part, I'm pretty safe from most of what I've seen but I wouldn't say no to the chair and the love seat (releasing later). Where I can put it is another matter ...

 

I'm also having trouble understanding why someone would pay to turn their doll back in to Volks. Surely, someone would sell to Mandarake/Dollyteria/Yahoo Japan auctions before paying to give their doll away? I've seen a lot of old, damaged dolls for sale on Dollyteria, especially, so I know there are selling options.

Maybe this is a topic for elsewhere, but I have been almost... Alarmed? At how much the second hand bjd market has fallen in value. On the one hand, this is the reason why I've been able to take home so many dolls in the last few years. But on the other... If you can buy the doll for 2/3-1/4 of the original price second hand, before long, only exclusive releases will be viable for doll companies (something Volks knew from the start, it seems).

Maybe this Farewell Service is Volks' attempt to control their second hand market a bit, to prevent it from dropping the value of their dolls in general? But in that case, I feel like people who use the Farewell Service should receive a special gift in thanks, like maybe a doll head only available for Farewell Service users, that maybe changes every year or so. Just... offer some kind of incentive to doll owners to help Volks control their second hand market.

 

It might feel? better for the owner to turn the doll back to Volks? Maybe some owners have a difficult time (in their heart?) going to a secondhand shop and sell a doll that they once loved? I bet that Volks had encountered this issue in the past about people turning dolls back into them and decided to make a service out of it. And I guess it's a future plan maybe for some? In a sense of when they pass away, they can tell their family to send the doll back to Volks and know that it will be cared for. Maybe some people don't have friends or people they want to give the doll to but Volks is a guarantee? But seems to me if Volks has a service, there are people who are using it. *shrug*

 

@bronzephoenix There's a note about a message card and "heart" present that owners can choose to receive, as far as special gifts are concerned. But I wouldn't expect anything like doll heads - that's very against the Volks ethos. I do suspect that as you have to be a VS/VIP member there may be points involved, but there's certainly no clear indication.

Volks has definitely been working with the balance of availability lately, so I do think this is part of that. Still, obviously someone is using it!

 

@silver sycle Oh no, you're definitely right, the program is a big PR move by Volks to try and get a new generation excited. Though they won't be paying for the doll, it's a definite exchange - you get a free doll, they get a year of PR on your social media accounts (at least - it's noted that winners have to pick up in person at Dolpa 42, so I wouldn't be surprised if they ask for appearances at other events too).

 

.....So is Volks going to pay to keep a teenager's BJD in photo-worthy (probably Dolpa dealers) wigs/outfits/eyes and props, or is the kid on their own to cover how they present Volks' free PR doll on their social media? I'm so interested to see how this is all going to play out.

 

Hello all, permit me to ask a stupid question because I’ve been gone from the hobby for years. Is there any way to order SD13 boy hands in Pureskin white from Volks USA or one of the Japanese sites and have them shipped to the US?

If not, what are my best options for finding at least a single Pureskin white hand? I have a friend who can physically go to any of the Tokyo stores but I’d rather not bother her if it’s not needed.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

PS White SD13B hands H-01, H-02, and H-03 are available on the VolksUSA website: Super Dollfie® :: SD Option Parts :: SD Hand (SD-H) :: Super Dollfie® 13B

I'm not having any success when I search on the Volks international site, so you might want to try that search for yourself.

 

You are a lifesaver! I am terrible navigating their new site

 

Has anyone else ordered from the new Volks International site? I thought I would try it out and ordered a stand and I didn't get any email confirmations at all but the order looks like it's still there and processing ...

 

I think I've just about figured out VolksUSA (though it keeps forcing me to change my password every time I try to buy something). But the new Volks International site? Labyrinth. Possibly a Minotaur in there somewhere. And 0 search results no matter what I search for.

 

‘Tis I! I already have Suigintou (and now Hinaichigo hehe), but thank you so much for the heads up!

 

@Mukino Kuneka You're welcome

 

I love this sculpt, but volks discontinue mimi when I want to buy her.

 

She had more recent releases for Dear SD, @finn ! Maybe that could interest you? I also think open eyed Mimi is still available in FCS, right? Anyway, secondhand market is waiting!

 

Do any of you guys happen to remember what eye size range SD13 F-17 wears? The eye shape is throwing me off.

 

@Rive: Mine is wearing 18mm and I've always personally felt like that's optimal! He could also easily wear 20mm, though.

 

Thank you very much!

 

Oh I see, the way I read it, was wondering if there was something I was missing

The Volks USA holiday greeting page is up now
Event Items :: Holiday Greetings :: Holiday Greeting 2019 December
It’s all DD. Nothing to tempt me

 

Just received the email regarding the Holiday Greeting event also and explored the page. Doesn't seem like there will be one-offs this holiday - bummer, but I expected that as it was labelled "first come, first serve." Hopefully in 2020 . . .

 

I like to think of it as Volks giving us a breather before unleashing the next year of Must Haves.

 

anyone else see this? Or is this the restoration items?

 

I just realized there’s no Hometown Dolpa scheduled for March
Huh.

 

I noticed that a week or so ago when I was looking for Dolpa info for the coming year, and had the hardest time wrapping my brain around it Instead it will be August 30, 2020, location TBD! So, no more Pulse Plaza? But they’ll have another Aquarium event in conjunction with it; wonder if there’ll be more salamander hats for the attendees’ dolls...

 

I guess we’ve gotten used to (spoiled by) the one-offs from VolksUSA at Christmas. While I’m sad there aren’t any this time, my wallet as I’m sure are others breathing a collect sigh of ease. haha I wonder if it was all the ramp up to LA Dolpa or something else that prevented it from happening? Or maybe one offs for the new year? We can hope.

Interesting on the no March Dolpa. Maybe they have a VIP event they aren’t ready to announce? Or maybe just trying to catch up on everything? I guess we shall have to stay tuned ....

 

Can somebody advise me about eyes for Miruku, Kurumi, Shinku and Luna? what best suits them?
I have them currently with 16mm, but I found some nice eyes size 18mm and 20mm.
What do you think, best suits the dolls. will like if there is photo references attached if possible

 

My Miruku and Kurumi wear 18mm, they can wear 20mm to be more doe-like.

 

Thank you for your help, you girls looks amazing .. I think 18 mm looks very good on them.
But what does doe-like mean? Also, do you use wigs 9-10? or good for them 8-9

Thank you

 

It means like, if you want them to look more innocent, young, going with bigger size eyes are one of the methods to achieve this look! And I use 9-10 wigs for them, they have very big heads XD
Glad I could be of some help! X

 

Well, I never got an email from Volks International but 2 days after I ordered from the new website, my doll stand was shipped. So yay! Fingers crossed website can handle the future click wars!

 

I don't think the website renewal included any backend improvements. XPasses went on sale at 10 a.m. Tokyo time. I had one in my cart by 11:30 or so, and finally at 2:40 I actually got through the checkout process... only to have the website blithely inform me that XPasses are sold out. As a friend pointed out, Volks has basically designed a system where they force users to more or less DDoS the Volks website in an effort to get their stuff. If they're selling 500 of an item, they need to be prepared for 500+ people being interested, and each of those people refreshing the page 20+ times a minute. I'm sure whatever web hosting service they use would be a lot happier if they sold everything by lottery...

 

Popping in with Shizu and Ryoya feat. a dress I made from the Marie Antoinette movie

Untitled by ame_hime__, on Flickr

 

I feel you @snowgray ..... Click war fail. Big time.

5 hours ... I spent 5 HOURS trying to get X-Pass and the worst thing was that I was through the payment section in the PayPal window in PayPal 3 TIMES! and couldn't complete the transaction!! It just punted me! I was literally in the confirm section and it's like ... ya no I don't think so. How does that make any sense? And it was still in my cart and then it tells me it's sold out. I'm like ... but it's in my shopping cart ... what do you mean, it's sold out? How can it be sold out if it's still in my shopping cart?!

Echoing on what people on Twitter have expressed, there should just be a lottery for Xpass or go back to the old system. I'm fine without getting an X-Pass but going through that emotional rollercoaster nightmare was beyond stress. And for me, the most annoying thing will be to see all those passes go up on Y!J for big bucks. How does that make any sense?

 

The new website hasnt improved anything with click wars because that was exactly the same thing I had happen to me ( including the 5 hours of playing with the cart and refresh button!) with the MMM dress click war. I always got to the last page and got booted back, credit card payment - paypal payment, they didnt care that you logged in, that it was in your cart or that you were at the final page, as long as you didnt get a confirmation, nothing is there and then you get hit with the sorry its sold out page. Its annoying and frustrating.

Definitely wish it was a lottery, it would make more sense for high demand items to be prepaid lottery so that only people who are serious enter for them.

 

That is awful @GreenTeaSlug !! I just have ... no words.

Ok ... How is this possible? The Xpass is on Y!J already! They haven't even been received.

ボークス ドルパ42 XPASS 公式ガイドブックセッ... - ヤフオク!

 

Well, if what the description says is true, they put in for the pass and got it, then realized they couldn't actually go because they couldn't get time off work. So they're selling it before they even have it in hand. Which is NOT good business practice IMO, but that's how scalpers work, I see them do it with limited dolls too=_=. There's a reason the DoA MP doesn't allow selling of items that aren't physically in your possession. But yes, that is VERY quick, I seem to remember it even took a day or two before the order is officially confirmed? I'm sorry, @pris84 , @snowgray and @GreenTeaSlug , missing out like that sucks>.<

 

@ShuriTigerH Thanks for the translation. I guess they have a confirmation number so that's all they need? If it's true, and they couldn't get the time off of work, they could just have a buy it now price with a lower value .... but I see the buy in now price is 15,000 yen which is triple the pass value. Ah well. Another X-pass battle has come to pass. You know if Volks forced people to pick up the pass at Dolpa, then this item could never be scalped.

In other more pleasant news, I see the Cyndy and the Tsukasa from the Adaption Service (Tenshi no Sato) have found new homes! I saw some photos of them with their new owners on Twitter. Nice!

 

The lottery entry for Rapunzel is discouraging. I am not sure if I want to enter or not . I don't like their new system of payment in advance. Specially they took for Luna and Liselotte a month plus to get refunded .
There is always other ways, such as authorization for direct deduct. without actually deducting.
I know they want to minimize their flaky customers, but they are holding lots of customers money as well without a guarantee. I hope their old system or a new system with a deposit to be paid and the rest once wined

What about you guys, anyone entering .

 

I will be trying. Yeah upfront payment is harsh but it makes sense if there is a history of people not paying but waiting a month for refund is tough

 

I would love to enter for Rapunzel, but it's just not gonna happen. I wouldn't mind my credit line being tied up, but they don't seem to accept discover card (my own fault for having a weird one, I suppose). And I am definitely not ok with using my debit card, when their disclaimer says funds can be held for 60 days. I just think that's ridiculous. I am kind of sad about it though.

 

Im not sure why some of you have had issues with refunds? When the results are out, I usually get my refund 2 days after the notifications go out, and it gets back to my card 3-4 days later? I entered for Lieselotte and Mana, lost for both.

Im all for prepaid lottery. It was disheartening to see some people say they regret entering the lottery because they didnt expect to win, that they entered and didnt think it through, or not paying their entry because they found out they couldnt afford it after all. Prepaid lotteries are better for those who are serious and committed to buy, plus, with prepaid there isnt that click war for dolls that havent been paid for once the payment period is over.

Clickwars is something I wish Volks would cancel. Non doll items I understand, but very rare designer clothing collaborations or dolls should be prepaid lotteries in my opinion, never a click war unless its a basic/ non limited doll that might get restocked later.

 

I think the prepaid lottery is an excellent idea. Definitely cuts out the people who might flake. My banking institution just lives in the stone age, so I'm certain I'd be one of the ones who had the hold for ages if I don't win. I'm not willing to risk that, especially with the holidays so close. I really do love this Rapunzel though, so I'm already envious of the folks who get to buy her.