Hometown Dolpa Kyoto 13

I was able to get my tickets at Volks Osaka today. I'm very excited and need to save the rest of my yen until the Dolpa. (I did buy a few Volks and Azone outfits today though, I regret nothing~)

I returned from the Dolpa, la_ and I met there :3 Some thoughts,

 

• I went to the Sumika shop well after the main wave of customers went through (people who lined up in the morning), actually after lunch. Almost everything was still available! The first thing to sell out were some shoes I think, followed by the "white tiger" kimono (白虎の衣). When I got in they had two of the red one left. I took one
  
• They had a lot of Sheryl & Ranka's outfits. I took photos of a couple on display, I may post them later.
  
• I bought both katana (they had tons of those), and when I got to my hotel I realized that they're "overpriced." They only had them in boxes there so I couldn't tell, but the hilt is just cheap moulded plastic, the hand guard is a dull golden plastic (not chrome or anything). The blade is passible, if not chrome, but holy crap that tip is sharp, I'll probably sand it down. They were pretty expensive so I'm kind of annoyed.
  
• I saw several Takane, but didn't see a single new Rin; she might actually be pretty rare. I saw a couple old ones though.
  
• They don't have western toilets at the event, which prompted me to return early rather than see it through. I would have stayed around and photographed more otherwise (I didn't photograph much at all).
  
• This Dolpa was a lot bigger than last year's. They used a lot more floor space and had the Sumika stuff just outside the main hall (in a room openly connected to it, like around the corner). Last year it took up space in the main hall.
  
• I didn't bring enough cash, despite bringing a lot. I spent almost all of it within 30 minutes.

Some images of the expensively cheap katana would be greatly appreciated.

Some images of the expensively cheap katana would be greatly appreciated.

Well here's a photo showing how it's just simple plastic,

 

 

I'm only noticing it now that, when shining in the light, they did paint the hilt gloss black, and left the part that's supposed to be the wrap as matte black, so they get some points for that. On the red sword, the gloss black parts here are white. Including tax this was about ¥4000.

 

I'm still in Kyoto so I went out to the Teramachi shopping district and picked up a ¥350 souvenir to compare with.

 

 

 

Now, I had no expectation that what I was buying from Volks had these kind of materials (note the false gold finish, actual metal blade, wrapped with actual fabric, nice bundle of thread or whatever hanging off the end of the hilt). But when I took the Volks one out of the box it was like, WTH, I paid that much for two of these? For that price anything that would have made it feel like it's not a toy, like maybe a little chrome, would have helped.

 

As props go they're decent, but they're very expensive. The red one gets points for having white on the hilt, but loses points for looking like red toy plastic. Which I wouldn't mind at all if not for the fact that I paid ¥4000. It's kind of hard to find swords like these if you're not in Japan, so if you want them I'd say just buy one. If you're in Japan, you can get a really nice small fake sword for about ¥2500. This ¥350 one I picked up is a letter opener, not a model.

your so lucky !!!

wish i had option to buy the things i need instead of a click war try

Thanks for the images, I guess I'm skipping the katana then.

 

Oh, I'll just ask my bro to get me a similar letter opener next time he is in Japan.

oh darn... thank you Foo for images! You may have saved quite a few of us some money.....

 

shame on you, Volks. Even my crappy 5dolla halloween katana had real strips of cloth wrapping the blade <_<;

Foo and la_, did you get a chance to see RozenZebet's dancing Suiseiseki at the Dolpa?

 

Wow, that truly is impressive, the movements are flawless and I can only hope to admire the dedication required to pull this off.

your so lucky !!!

wish i had option to buy the things i need instead of a click war try

I'm hoping with the amount of stock they had that the click war will be easier. Last year I waited in the Sumika line, and by the time I got in all the good stuff was gone >_< However I was lucky enough to go to the After Event three weeks later in Akihabara and was 4th in line to get in

 

Foo and la_, did you get a chance to see RozenZebet's dancing Suiseiseki at the Dolpa?

Ah no, I didn't. Actually I haven't had time to watch that video yet, I'm still in Japan (･･')

 

Azone has a sword for about ¥3200 that's on display at their shop at the Radio Kaikan (I'm in Tokyo now). They allow you to take photos of stuff on display. It's a much better product, I'll post photos of it when I get the chance. I don't think I'm going to buy it, I've dumped enough money into toy swords now (~_~#)

 

Oh, I'll just ask my bro to get me a similar letter opener next time he is in Japan.

Actually, get one of the simpler models that are only ¥1000. The ¥2500 one I mentioned is like one with all the bells and whistles (a little stand for display, a nice finish on the scabbard), the ¥1000 are the same thing but not as luxurious. The letter opener I can't really use for a prop because the hilt is too small for the DD to grip, plus the tiny blade looks kind of weird. It's great for opening letters though.

 

 

Edit: well I got the chance. Currently at coin laundry. Here's what the Obitsu thing at the Azone store looks like on display,

 

Obitsu prop katana at Azone Radio Kaikan by bodolza, on Flickr

 

Azone actually lets you take photos of stuff in their display cases The thing has a decently painted hilt and a chrome blade. I remember thinking that the hand guard was lame, and also the scabbard, which IIRC was a dull plastic. That's not much of an issue unless you intend the doll to show off the scabbard though The important bit though is that IIRC it's ¥600 cheaper than Volks'.

 

Actually here it is at HLJ, they sell it for ¥2300,

 

http://www.hlj.com/product/OBT05186/Dol

 

The best option is to get one of these,

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10054016 (I can't seem to access Hobby Search's english site while in Japan! I had to use a VPN and delete cookies, otherwise it redirects me to their JP site).

 

You have to assemble it yourself but it's fairly easy. I got one but being a model builder and a perfectionist I wanted to paint the thing. I got partway done then realized I wanted to redo the chrome too with Mr. Metal Color or something, and shelved the project temporarily...

 

The only downside to the chrome on those things is that you have to cut the parts off of a typical model kit parts tree, and you can see the spots where you had to cut them off because there's no chrome there, obviously.

HTD Kyoto 13 After Event - 2nd, April 2016 (11:00 JST)

https://www.volks.co.jp/page_ex.jsp?CONTROLID=SC0020&BUSINESSID=InitDisp&category=HTDK13&version=en

just bought the white samurai outfit from yja... I know I overpaid but basing the price on the treefairy set I bought well after the afterevent from that dolpa, it was around the average price for a volks outfit... saves me the frustration of not being able to get it on the afterevent click war. lol.

Thanks Foo, I'll probably go with Hobby Search katana, the only thing I can see it being a problem is tying the string around the hilt hehe.

I returned from the Dolpa, la_ and I met there :3 Some thoughts,

 

[*]They don't have western toilets at the event, which prompted me to return early rather than see it through. I would have stayed around and photographed more otherwise (I didn't photograph much at all).

 

 

Traveller's tip: check for a handicapped bathroom in case you are in a bathroom emergency and don't care for or are unable to deal with the squat toilet. Handicapped bathrooms will be western styled throne toilets, and well stocked, so you don't need to take those handout packs from touts.

I bought the Azone katanas last year when i was at Akibahara, definitely skipping their katanas this time~

Errrr.... forcing me to use paypal and then pay a handling fee.....

Errrr.... forcing me to use paypal and then pay a handling fee.....

 

So just CC wasn't an option? I thought I had selected that when it then pushed me to Paypal. I didn't want to risk losing out by going back so just used the CC through paypal.

 

Thankfully while the order pages would come up blank refreshing brought them back without resetting anything. I don't have Sheryl but I wanted her military outfit to try on KOS-MOS and Alna.

Agree that they kind of forced me to pay handling fee as check out via paypal seemed to be the only option.

 

I went back and forth to check, but it was only payment option available. =(

 

I still paid for my order as I didn't want to lose the order.

I got most of the outfits and shoes I wanted... Except for Sheryl's Military Oufit! I have underestimated the popularity of that outfit so when the DD click war began I started with the other items and got to it last, as I was adding it to my cart it came up with a message saying the items sold out..

I'm really regretting not grabbing it sooner and now I can't even seem to find it on YJA...

Well that was unexpected and totally unwelcomed surprise with paypal. It still didn't marked in their FAQ so maybe that's temporary problem.

Nevertheless I paid for the order, really wanted these corset dresses.

Was flipping cold in Tokyo today but I got what I wanted and it's worth it to already have my girl wearing it.

 

 

Glad to hear people mainly got to secure what they were after even with the PayPal issue.

no luck for me...

i really want that Sheryl Military Uniform set...

I got the blue plaid dress set pretty easy *,*

 

I was surprised, the only time the site crapped itself was when I tried to log in 30 mins early it had some weird glitch. But after a 2nd log in attempt everything went fine, besides a long loading time while paying :p

Got everything i wanted this time, except for the Sheryl military uniform, which go sold out almost instantly

I guess I'll have to wait for its second release this summer...

Was flipping cold in Tokyo today but I got what I wanted and it's worth it to already have my girl wearing it.

 

 

Glad to hear people mainly got to secure what they were after even with the PayPal issue.

 

Would like to inquire if any part of this set stains?

 

I got both White tiger and this dress set, can't wait to have my girls to be badass haha!