Volks USA Tea Party Los Angeles March 15/16 2014

pris84 and Gothic_hydran, it was great hanging out with you! I hope you both can make it down to California again soon!

Ksusha: excellent photos as always, and thanks for taking a video of the speech. It's hard to believe the store's finally closed.

eleniel, congrats again on winning Seymour!! He's so adorable!

And thank you, Izam!

I can't wait to see owner photos of the final FCS dolls from Volks USA, and the display models and Tenshi as well. It'll be interesting to see where they end up and what people do with them.

 

Great hanging out with you too Chobi!! I definitely hope to make it down to CA again. Hopefully when I do there will be another event or meet going on.

 

Thank you for the video of the speech, Ksusha. He sounds very hopeful in some ways. Let's see where they want to go from here.

 

Thank you, Ksusha. You photos are so good I almost feel as if I had been there!

 

I don't think a New York store is very central... But whatever. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

I have been waiting for this thread to be active with all sorts of input from this event, it just seemed so much fun and looking at the pictures it makes me wish I was in that continent as a whole lol. Boohoo.

Congratulations to everyone who won something, or even just got to go, really it looks like the event was great! Man, I wish we had more doll related meets or events here :')

@ Kshusha: You have had quite the vacation there. Japan and then Volks Tea Party, you're lucky! Congrats on winning that little angel :> Thanks for posting pictures, seeing them is like going there for me lol.

@ Chobi: Ahh, that flower. It's really nice! Did they give them out for the attendees? Is it the "forever" flower mentioned in Kshusha's blog post? That would've been a really nice gesture!

So reading this, I get that there was not actual "Tea" party? Just the idea of a gathering and then cookies and water later on? Haha! I actually envisioned it would be with tables and actual tea for the guests while a speech was given or something xD

Thanks again to everyone who shared photos and videos, I was really looking forward to them

 

We played the game that they play at the doll parties in japan. everyone got to pull a string attached to a Komame bag, the ones with flowers just got the flowers, ones with nothing in them got Komame plushie or a Komame bucket, and they had a few that had blue ribbons on them that had the angels in them.

 

Hmmm... a more convenient store location would be expensive... but more convenient is better I suppose. L.A. downtown isn't that great. I never go there (maybe for a concert or theater or museum... but rarely for shopping. Little Tokyo, maybe!). The Torrance location really wasn't that bad as far as convenience. It was just south of the airport... But who knows?

I'm thinking that they should keep the online store going and maybe do special events, like mini Dolpas, where they will pack up stuff (like the FCS) and plan a special date in various places around the US. It doesn't have to be anything big--just renting a space and letting people buy stuff and have a few organized events... That way they can be available to more people in various regions, rather than just be in LA or NY only. And they can guarantee a decent attendance (have rsvps or something) rather than just having a store where some people will come in randomly...

I mean--it's all been OK for me, since I live in the LA area, but there's so many people who do not... and it's a big trip to make without there being some sort of special event rather than just checking out a store...!

(I guess I should post this on their fb?... heh.)

 

Wow what a epic weekend!

Volks fans have a lot to look forward too I was so sad that the Show girl was gone by the time I got in on Saturday ( I was in the third group # 75) but I did pick up a Yo-SD from the orphanage as a keepsake.

Sunday's tea party started off a little sad but picked up when Hideyoshi Shigeta, now in charge of the U.S branch ( son of Volks President Shigeta sama) gave a impassioned speech about the future of Volks here in the U.S. It is brighter then ever and we do have a lot to look forward to. This is the end of a chapter , not the book!

Congratulations to everyone who won dolls and plushies! Our keepsake 40 anniversary roses and Konanme bags were adorable too.

beamlette As always it is nice to see you and your BF again! Can't wait to see pictures of your addition! Congratulations!

FunnyLori It was nice meeting you ( we parked next to each other Congrats on your new addition! You cried so much hee hee!

ladydeath2007 it was nice talking to you in line,

nathankatt it was nice to see you again, I think by that time we were all melting!

gravitydoll It was nice to meet you!

april I didn't see you anywhere!

justkatie179 I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you!









My f-14 and my new Yo from the Adoption tables

I wish I could have met more of you but I didn't recognize anyone else For the next event people should wear their forum names too then I could say hi!

 

Thanks so much for sharing your pictures and especially the video, Ksusha!

It's so nice to get a little peek of and to hear about what those final days of the Volks showroom were like from those of you lucky ones who were able to be there.
I'm still so sad I never got to make it to the LA showroom or any of the events while they were there but I feel a little more optimistic about the future of Volks USA after hearing the goals of the re-boot actually stated.

Thanks to everyone who is sharing their pictures and experience of the event!

 

United States is a LARGE place so it is impossible for them to try to physically be everywhere. They are busy enough as it is with their events in Japan. It's not like they do not care about us, it's just hard. It's tough and we have to accept that part of it instead of complaining about it. That's what I think. I hate to say this but we should not act like spoiled children.

 

Oh gosh, I want to just gush but I'm still exhausted from the drive home.

Saturday I was somewhere in the middle of the line. I had done all my shopping and was getting ready to get in line when a friend told me there was a Kun downstairs. I didn't see either of them the first time through, but then I walked down the stairs and there was this girl, with her tag still on her (the other one had been claimed very quickly). I've always wanted a sunlight Kun, and had I done an FCS, she is what I would have ordered. (I wish we could have also gotten the sunlight Yori.)

Sunlight (Kun) F-22, my grail by funnylori, on Flickr

Sunday I pulled the right string and was one of the lucky people to welcome a Rei-Tenshi. I was trying to joke about which one was the right one to pull when it was my turn, and then it became so real when I saw the little blue ribbon tied to the bag I was pulling up. The wee angel is so tiny and adorable! Thank you Volks, for your wonderful generosity. I was vibrating with excitement and so overwhelmed I totally cried. Invisiblewings helped wipe my tears away, and then Mikey came over to congratulate me and I hugged her.


Rei-Tenshi by funnylori, on Flickr

The little Tenshi fits in the Dollfie+ wigs I scored in the lucky packs I bought. I feel so lucky and happy.

It was wonderful to see old friends, to meet people in the flesh that I've only known for years on the internet, and then to make new ones like CathyM and eleniel. Everything was so wonderful, and I'm so glad we made the drive from Vancouver Washington. I wish we could have stayed longer and talked more.

Aichan, it was great meeting you too! I couldn't help crying, I was so happy and excited. lol I'm such a goober.

 

Oops! I'm sorry! I was undecided too , I was a bit overwhelmed with the close quarters and all the people and almost bought a f-01 thinking it was another Sho then realized my mistake. I went upstairs to shop and It was my husband who went back downstairs to the Yo and got her because he told me I would regret not buying a doll.

 

I had tons of fun this weekend.

Got my FCS done. He will be my first Sunlight SD Boy. I hope he will turn out as good as the reference picture.

The "Event Title" is Tea Party, but it is more because it is a direct translation from similar event that Volks holds in Sato. It was lots of fun, I still could not believe how many presents there were.

I have very good feeling and look forward to the reboot. US is very big, the collectors in this country are pretty spread out thus no matter where Volks sets up shop (if they do decide to set up shop again) it will always going to be far from somebody. I will just be happy where-ever it will be.

Really hope to attend another Volks event in US in the future. Meanwhile, I will save up money to go to Japan with friends to visit Sato and DP

 

Wonderful pictures! I'm glad your husband brought a proper camera with him even though the invitation said "no photos"

I only took a handful on my phone, but they are up on my blog.

I adopted "orphan" Super Dollfie Ryo

 

Ryo has always been high on my wish list. Congratulations on your wonderful boy, Archangeli.

 

chobi, Minerva, Merangel, Chamillia, Nell, you are welcome and thank you! ^^

Aichan, now I realised that that was you behind me in the initial line, I recognised your F14! Congratulation with your new Yo! And thank you for the picture of me filling birth certificate for Rei-Tenshi!

FunnyLori, big congratulation with Rei-Tenshi and Kun!

archangeli, oh, I don't remember seeing "No photos" in the invitation I'm actually glad that you like pictures because I think the light was terrible there.
And I love that picture where your Serena is snuggling with Kondō! May I have one too please
Congratulation with the sofa and with Ryo! We were happy to meet you! ^^

 

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you either Aichan! I hope we'll be able to meet at a future Volks dolpa!! Your dolls are adorable, btw. Congratulations on your new Yo-Sd!

 

Honestly it's very disappointing they don't go more places like cons at least. It's is a bit hard but it's doable and be great for us who CAN"T travel very far. In fact I think doing con's would be a great idea for them to do since most of us have a fairly large one that happens close by.(I know of three anime cons within driving distance) Most of us would LOVE a chance to go to something like a dolpa but it's in japan or west coast which would suck up all our money. then why go if you don't have spending money?

 

I don't think it's too much to wish or ask that Volks create or attend more events around US. Especially now that they don't have a showroom to keep up (maybe they will open another one but we don't know), that might give them a little more flexibility to promote themselves at other conventions in order to better reach the American market. It might sound spoiled that we're wishing for more events and FCS and other things, while other parts of the world don't even get a dedicated website. But in the end Volks obviously show an interest to expand their presence in America, and there are better ways to do it besides staying in the Torrance warehouse.

 

I heard that travelling around to events IS Volk's plan for the US. But that info is like third hand so take it with a grain of salt... It'd be great if they did! They could reach more customers that way! I just don't know of many big doll events in the US. Isn't IDEX dead?

 

Does anyone have a clue as to which orphans were left over for the web event lottery besides Masha? I need to start obsessing.

Thanks!

 

I heard they had dolls set aside for the web event that weren't at the instore event.
So, those and the ones that weren't rehomed. I know the F34 boy didn't sell. I really wish I'd had enough for him too.
And here is a photo of my 'orphan' as he looked when I adopted him (he got a new wig, clothing...yeah...that white wig....)

 

Thanks, CathyM. I can't imagine any doll being left of the orphanage table at the tea party, so that's a comfort!

 

There were only a few left when I left on Saturday. The F34 boy and the F01 boy, the Masha, the Ruby, and another SD16 are the ones I remember. But there were a few others.

 

Sigh... F-01. Do you remember how much he was going for? Or Masha? I was wondering if the prices were discounted. I heard on another thread that people got chairs and sofas for something like twenty bucks a pop

 

I think the F-34 was $800, Masha maybe $900?

 

Many thanks! I am girding my financial loins and exercising my check out fingers in anticipation

 

The F01 boy was $480

 

(fans herself madly) F-01! Hopefully I can nab him pronto and then head on to look at the others. Masha is certainly tempting too. Oh....I can not see this ending well (cough) for my husband.

 

The online event will be a lottery, I was told.

 

I wish I could have also gotten the sunlight Yori. *Swoon*

Yep, I heard that too. Good luck to everybody that enters!

 

Ah! So much the better. i can enter for everything I want and then, if I win everything it isn't my fault. Right?

 

In my heart of hearts I knew this, Eleniel. But I always hope that Volks will not be on the side of the husbands. I always hope I will scoop the dolly pools and come up with an armload of resin and a proud but foolish look on my face.

 

Pics, more pics and an address where bouquets of congratulations could be sent (which would also do double duty at my funeral)

 

Actually I think you're absolutely right. The speech via Youtube/letter they wrote sounds like that's exactly what they have planned. They may try anime cons, but doll people aren't always Anime fans. (I would go if I thought Volks was going to be there) There is Dollism and few others coming up? Anyway, what I do suspect, is that we will see more web events with specific dolls for said event. Instead of a web based FCS. Hence, the emphasis on Facebook. Although, it's upsetting to learn of a building closing, who knows what 2014 will mean for them.

 

I didn't get into the Tea Party, but I did have a Doll Doctor Appt. on Saturday, so I was only at the store that day. Sorry I missed seeing you, too! But there were a LOT of people and half were stuck on line at any given time, so I'm not surprised that it was hard to meet up with everyone.

Glad you had such a great time!

IDEX is dead.

There is Dollism Plus US, BJDC, and smaller regional cons, like the one in Atlanta (if it's going on again?), and wasn't there something in St. Louis? There's the NW one, and the Aichan's N. CA con, and San Diego...

But I think Volks could easily pull in a lot of people if they just picked a city and rented a space for a day, if they announce it and give people enough time to schedule it in. It would be something like the NYC events they were doing, although I think it helped that FDQ was there in the US to help arrange things.

At any rate, I'd never complain about what Volks does. It's their business. They did ask for input from fans, though. It's all just something that would be cool. But I've been in So.CA all these years with easy access to the Volks Store, so I wouldn't wish for them to do anything like that for myself. I just think that there must be people who would love to do the FCS, but can't travel all the way to L.A. or Japan to do it...

 

They should just build a mobile dollstore/pop-up shop and travel the country! LOL! I still wonder how their travelling will work, they have only rarely showed up doll cons in the US...

I would DIE if they went to SD con!!! Maybe they could rent a whole room for themselves and we could all go! That would be AMAZING!

 

As cool as it would be to see Volks at an anime con, I don't see it ever happening. From everything I've seen, Volks likes to have their own event and control the flow. It's their party and they want to be the hosts. I think IDEX was a very rare case.

New York? Hmm ... from the speech and speaking with the manager and Mikey afterwards, I got the solid impression that they were staying in Torrance, just to a bigger warehouse. He really emphasized that they are 1) Not abandoning the North American Market 2) Are re-booting Volks USA 3) Are interested in the voice of their customers. From everything I saw and the staff that I spoke to, I think they are not trying to get ahead of themselves. It sounds like right now they are re-booting and re-structuring Volks USA in Torrance right now. What happens in a year or several years from now, is total speculation. That was the solid impression I was left with.

 

archangeli Congrats on your Ryo, he was such a good price I was tempted but I already have a Ryo and did not want to be greedy!

Ksusha Hi! well it's nice meeting you here at least and I will make sure to say hi next time No problem and congratulations!

justkatie179 Yes! Next event we will meet for sure!

Chehime I was surprised not to see you there ;( Yes IDEX is dead I was surprised.

April Next time then!

 

It would be great to have 3 stores. One West, Middle and East hurrah for pipe dreams.

 

I can't see Volks at an Anime Con, either. They have traditionally held their own events (Dolpas) in Japan and in the US. They have been to... was it IDEX? anyway, one of the traditional doll cons... but as an exhibitor/vendor. I CAN see them maybe doing that, but they really haven't done it often, so maybe that one or two times was enough for them.

I think it's mostly the availability of FCS to people in the US that can be expanded. I mean, having the online store is OK for pretty much everything except that.

I don't think Volks will jump into anything. They have always been a very steady company. I know people really want a lot more and ASAP, but I think it's not going to happen.

Having Volks open out here again is just fine with me, though!

 

It would have been nice to go but I couldn't afford the expense. Also I was at FOGcon which was right about the same time! And I don't have the money to make such a trip worthwhile...

 

Volks is not gonna make any money by going to Cons and hold panels there. I do not even think they made that much money from USA dolpas when they held them in the past. Unfortunately it is the reality.

 

I get the same general feeling. For the LADP there was buffet etc (like the Cruise they held in Japan) so I think our admission barely just cover the food or the location rental

I have only been to two DP and two other events (the face up workshop in 2010 - or 2011 and this last Tea Party) while I enjoyed all four events, however I do not think that in terms of cash flow, these were not on the same scale as those hosted in Japan

 

Until they can build up a bigger fanbase here in the states, I think it'd be a smart move for them to actually attend more dollcons at the very least. They'd reach more new potential buyers that way, I would think! I know they like being in control of their venue and stuff, but this isn't Japan, they don't have the big masses of fans here that they do over there, so it'd only make sense to change their strategy here in the states.

 

I think that Volks does have a large fanbase here. However, I think location is the main issue. The US is huge compared to Japan. In Japan, no matter where you are, you can easily take the train to any event. Not so much here in the good ol' USA. It is seriously expensive getting plane tickets, hotels and other travel related needs. If we think about the reverse, Volks can't keep coughing up money to ship goods (from Japan) from place to place just to hit up cons. Anything that doesn't sale has to be shipped back. It's too costly at a business standpoint.

Having one event instead of many to go to makes sense so you're not constantly draining funds. Running one event already is high risk of loss. You can easily fall into the red just from the venue rental fee alone.

 

Yeah... the fanbase if fine, I think... but then, I'm in SoCal, so we've seen Volks events and that there's interest in them.

I do agree that the logistics is a problem... The US is just too big... we can't just hop on a train and be somewhere, like in Japan. There are a lot of fans but they are spread over thousands of miles. But I think if there is maybe one or two small events held in various places and if there is enough time to organize travel and hotel for people, I think Volks can get people to travel lesser distances to go to something. People were coming from pretty far away to get to the Volks Store closing... And that was on pretty short notice! And with very few events (just the very small, limited Tea Party).

But Volks knows what it's doing. They have stayed in business for a while and are successful. I'm sure whatever they will do will work for them. It may be frustrating for people who are too far away to be affected, but that's just how it goes.

----

Oh, and making money isn't the main thing in holding events. It's connecting with customers and PR. That's a legitimate and important part of doing business (and you can write it off, at least in the US). As long as Volks doesn't lose tons of money... as long as they can break even or make even a little money, then events can be a positive thing. The US events were mostly held many years ago--so things have been changing. It's very possible that events CAN be made to be more lucrative, now.

It seems as if Volks is interested in trying some different things, with re-setting Volks USA. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

 

Order placed for sale items. Now I just have decided if I should enter the lottery...I really want to!

 

Seriously, I need an intervention. I just spent HOW MUCH MORE???

 

Just put in for the F18 . I really wanted to try for Pearl, but i have to buy a new floor and skylights *sigh*. I still might give in

 

I kept having things disappearing from my cart while I was trying to check out. Didn't they bother restocking elastic, either? I needed a bunch in different sizes and only got an SD17 size packet for one of my bigger boys.

I cleaned them out of water wax though. That should last until they reopen. And I got one of the floor sample chairs. I can pass on the lottery dolls; no fairy heads.

 

I only bought two DD parts that I wanted to get. Aside from that, nothing else caught my eye. I was hoping for more MSDs available in the Orphanage but that's okay. More money in my wallet.