Nishizumi Miho Smart Doll

I will second Solicitor, the character isn't too far from what Mirai looked like already, so maybe that's why...?

 

Also anyone else thought that Danny was hinting at Volks with this "Another reason is that I have a policy of only taking orders on actual product photos and not of prototypes. As a consumer, I know what its like to order something online based on prototype photos only to receive something that looks nothing like what I originally put my money down for. Now as a manufacturer I never want to put somebody through the same first world ordeal. "

While a lot of things he says could easily be (and some definitely are) jabs at Volks, this one is more an issue with collectable figures/dolls in general, especially figures.

One of the most infamous examples is this buttugly Levi figure that looked NOTHING like the prototype when it was released. Legit looks like a bootleg of the original. Nowadays he's in the bargain bin for like 80% off.

We all know Volks photos dont look exactly like the dolls but in my experience its always been the opposite problem that the real dolls look far better than the photos - I dont know if anyone has actually been disappointed by a real doll versus the website photos. I think it also goes for Azone a lot more than Volks though - the promo photos have the hair styled in ways that the actual doll doesn't come like (its more a problem with the anime character dolls which have more intricate hair though), and they also use the very first prototypes that actually have their eyes painted on instead of 'printed'or however else Azone puts the faces on the dolls. Like if you look at the closeups on the preorder pages you can literally see the brush strokes on the eyes.

 

still disappointed about this though - I cant believe I was mostly worried about him just reusing Mirai's body and then he goes and reuses her head as well? I hope he puts a bit more effort into the series I know he's more attached to (ie Cowboy Bebop).

if it is an attack on volks he maybe shouldnt try flinging stones in his glass house of endless Mirai sculpts, just saying.

I think mostly the problem with volks photos is just that they're often not that great at capturing the doll although lately they have improved! Sometimes there are slight changes from the prototypes but I think it's better to release early prototype pictures to get feedback and then release more up to date pictures closer to release.

 

Anyway bit disappointed. She's a very nice doll but not looking so much like Miho. I think the eye shape is off and it does look like Mirai's head?? If it is maybe Danny had a lot of extra heads he wanted to use up?

 

Another big thing for me is that the body doesn't match. Maybe he could release shorter legs in the future along with maybe slightly shorter arms to give the option of a 55cm doll. Maybe this is too expensive to develop and produce? Hope he's doing ok financially.

Not to make excuses for Miho, but Danny has mentioned previously that his business strategy is centered on targeting people outside the doll fandom. Maybe Miho is meant to appeal more to GuP fans who might consider getting their first doll as opposed to those of us who are already familiar with the Smart Doll mold and maybe already own one or more of them.

Not to make excuses for Miho, but Danny has mentioned previously that his business strategy is centered on targeting people outside the doll fandom. Maybe Miho is meant to appeal more to GuP fans who might consider getting their first doll as opposed to those of us who are already familiar with the Smart Doll mold and maybe already own one or more of them.

The issue with this idea is that I personally feel like she doesnt look like Miho. Again, I have no idea what her fans think, but if I was a fan I'd want a doll that actually looked like her and not someone elses character cosplaying her.

Still, I'm interested to see how well she does. Hopefully she ends up making a decent amount of money and can fund the company more.

What a huge disappointment. She's "meh" at best. I really hope Spike isn't disappointing

Ah well, this was underwhelming.. No new body, and not even a different head sculpt? :\ Mirai is cute and all but seeing yet another release of a different character, especially a licensed one, using the same head is really disappointing. When Danny uploaded previews of other prototype heads one of the male sculpts clearly looked very 'Spike Spiegel'-like, so I expected Miho to have a unique mold. Welp, I still hope that she sells well. Apparently 100 of her will be available from the beginning..

I thought maybe her eyes were a little different than Mirai's but on second thought, I can't tell. After so many Smart Dolls using Mirai's sculpt, this is disappointing. I thought at least the licensed characters would have new sculpts. Miho looks nice overall (given her boring character design), but the Mirai face with those shapeless lips are disappointing.

I like the eyes and I guess it came out okay. Hope this isn't a "if she doesn't sell well enough we won't do others" sort of ordeal.

Hopefully he'll see the more honest feedback here and try make new sculpts for future characters and maybe a new body type? Like even having alternate legs would be very cool as smartdoll legs are exceptionally long even by doll standards plus would often suit the character better.

 

I want to buy more smartdolls but I already have a Mirai sculpt and not really keen on another as I'm sure is the case with a lot of us.

 

I know it costs more and takes time to get a new sculpt but it would definitely be worth it I think. He also needs people he knows that will give him honest and helpful feedback because I feel like someone should've said all this to him before he released her rather than just clapping him on the back.

 

I do hope this doll does ok but hopefully he will be careful and not over produce as not feeling like she will do amazingly.

Hopefully he'll see the more honest feedback here and try make new sculpts for future characters and maybe a new body type? Like even having alternate legs would be very cool as smartdoll legs are exceptionally long even by doll standards plus would often suit the character better.

 

I want to buy more smartdolls but I already have a Mirai sculpt and not really keen on another as I'm sure is the case with a lot of us.

 

I know it costs more and takes time to get a new sculpt but it would definitely be worth it I think. He also needs people he knows that will give him honest and helpful feedback because I feel like someone should've said all this to him before he released her rather than just clapping him on the back.

 

I do hope this doll does ok but hopefully he will be careful and not over produce as not feeling like she will do amazingly.

 

This hit the nail on the head for me. If I didn't already have mirai, I would be all over Miho, but I have no desire to own two dolls that look so similar.

I don't think he made this for current Smart Doll owners :/ He's still interested in expanding his customer base, and it's the first anime property he's doing. Someone who doesn't have a Smart Doll (or any doll) might find Miho more appealing than Mirai.

 

It could be that his first license had to be something he get away with re-using Mirai's head sculpt for, for cost reasons. There's a bunch of other work to do when working with a licensed property to make a product to spec & market it, and maybe he needed to demonstrate to license holders (and himself) that he could pull it off. This really does feel like a test product, it's just so easy as far as the doll itself is concerned.

 

It's good he showed fresh sculpts before Miho's reveal. If he wants to do more anime properties he'll need a variation of the body type, fortunately Faye is a good match for the current one.

I don't think he made this for current Smart Doll owners :/ He's still interested in expanding his customer base, and it's the first anime property he's doing. Someone who doesn't have a Smart Doll (or any doll) might find Miho more appealing than Mirai.

 

It could be that his first license had to be something he get away with re-using Mirai's head sculpt for, for cost reasons. There's a bunch of other work to do when working with a licensed property to make a product to spec & market it, and maybe he needed to demonstrate to license holders (and himself) that he could pull it off. This really does feel like a test product, it's just so easy as far as the doll itself is concerned.

 

It's good he showed fresh sculpts before Miho's reveal. If he wants to do more anime properties he'll need a variation of the body type, fortunately Faye is a good match for the current one.

 

While I proposed a similar theory myself, if this was Danny's thinking, then it seems odd that he picked Miho to be the first licensed character to receive the doll treatment. Miho is both too short and doe eyed to look right with the Mirai sculpt, and GuP has a huge cast to pick from, many of whom would probably fit the mold better.

 

I get that Miho is the main character, but in my observations of the GuP fandom, it's never felt like she was ever the most popular character.

 

Also, if he decides to do other GuP characters in future, Miho locks him in a weird scale. Any character her size in the show is going to look at least a little off, and I presume there won't be a taller mold for characters taller than Miho

I can't post images yet but I opened photoshop and well I'll let you guys judge

 

i.imgur[.]com/HqYNpRK.jpg

I agree with SolicitorPirate, why choose such an unsuitable character?

 

Anyway, I was surprised to see that outside this thread the response has been overwhelmingly positive both in and out of Japan. That kinda disappoints me because it's not going to encourage him to change things up. I'm seriously wondering what the reason is that he makes new sculpts for the male characters and not the female ones, and I'm wondering if it has something to do with the fact that he did originally say he had no intention of making licensed female characters. Maybe because Volks still aren't making any men (we've got Len now but he's still a young boy) he wants to go all out on them?

 

Seriously though the laziness with the body here makes me worried he'll do the same for Haruka once she's out. He could also justify using Mirai'a sculpt for her because they're related :/ (never mind that they don't look anything alike)

 

edit= according to the pics on twitter looks like heaps of people went to buy her at the Mirai store today, so they're happy at least.

According to latest stats that Danny posted, 93% of reporting Miho purchasers are first time doll owners. That might be a reason why so many people are happy--they don't care how similar she is to Mirai because they don't have or want Mirai. Also I'd imagine that the new buyers are GuP fans who are just so happy to see a doll of Miho that they aren't going to think about the places that she doesn't resemble the character that much, especially because they aren't used to dolls, and to the extent that you can really make a doll resemble a 2D character.

 

The weird thing is I remember Danny posting a progress update tweet mentioning finalizing molds for Miho. I wonder if there were plans to have her be a different/new mold and something happened...

There were GuP 1/6 scale fashion dolls of Yukari and Miho released by Medicom Toy late last year. Each one comes with multiple clothing pieces. They have a younger girl aesthetic than the Smart Doll version.

 

Linda S.

galatia9

I don't think him using the Mirai head sculpt is justified. I mean you have to spend money to make money right? I know making a head mold for a doll can be really expensive, but it just doesn't feel right re-using sculpts for a new character doll, I can understand for things like different skin color, outfit set(Example: Mariko) but just as long as it's the same character.

 

I'm not really one to judge because I don't stand in Danny's shoes but if I was a frequent Smart Doll customer don't really find this a "good" thing. It's just showing that in the future he might do the same for other dolls.

I'm worried he may be doing this because he's referring to them as fashion dolls, which is what we call Barbie, who often have the same face...

As soon as I saw Miho, I thought it was Mirai's sculpt too, but as I saw more owner pictures, I started to wonder. Then someone on twitter posted a picture of Miho, Mirai, Chitose, and Kizuna all in a line, facing direct at the camera. I did a little playing with overlaying the pictures, and I'm now 90% certain that while Miho has an undeniably Mirai look to her, she is not in fact the same sculpt.

 

Here's a link to the original picture on twitter:

 

Here's an overlay of Kizuna and Mirai (who we know for a fact are the same sculpt):

Mirai_Kizuna by Nozomi02, on Flickr

They match up really well, and any differences are probably due to the fact that I did this really quickly.

 

Now here's a similar overlay of Miho and Mirai:

Mirai_Miho by Nozomi02, on Flickr

Miho's head looks wider and less rectangular than Mirai, and her eyes are in a totally different spot. No matter how I tried, I couldn't get everything to line up the way I could with Mirai and Kizuna.

 

Again, not sure how much this matters since she does look a lot like Mirai, but I admit I do feel a little better knowing it's not the exact same sculpt.

Actually now that I see both Mirai and Miho side by side there IS a difference. Miho's head is slightly bigger slightly chubbier, and her eye positions are different.

 

Here's a picture I did quickly with the one Nozomi02 did

 

But this one I lined up the lips and nose, they have the same alignment but from there it's different on the cheeks and eyes.

Same as Nozomi said at least he's not reusing the sculpt

It doesn't make sense though. If you're gonna make a new sculpt, why not try to make it more unique?

Are you sure its not just because Miho is a lot closer to the camera...? It would be nice if its basically just a bigger version of Mirai's head, but that photo makes it look like she's just closer to the camera.

To do a proper overlay, you'd need the dolls to be photographed form the exact same angle, same size photo, and no distortions (there was discussion in another thread about how faces can look wonky if you take the photo too close).

I was thinking it was camera illusion as well, but the eye positioning still would look different.

It wouldn't surprise me if he DID use the Mirai sculpt but changed the eye shape/size. I think someone did a comparison earlier with the official pictures and came out to be exact. But again camera illusion could be the cause of it.

 

If anyone owns both Miho and Mirai it would be great to take a photo side by side.