DDP Iori Minase and Yayoi Takatsuki(and Volks news 70)

It's nice to hear that the ones that have shipped are getting closer to home for people waiting for them. My Iori arrived home yesterday and I couldnt be happier! Admittedly I prefer her on my DDS body so my little Dove (DDH-08) has stolen the DDP for the time being~

My Yayoi just got to US Customs last night so hopefully I will have her sometime this week ^_^

A couple more photos,

 

Iori-chan by bodolza, on Flickr

 

I really love how she looks in this outfit! I'd like to take more photos in it but I guess I'll do that later, I want her in something easier to pose (a skirt) and compare her to my other DDs.

 

Took some pictures, but they don't do her justice so the world will never see them.

 

As a new doll owner I must say. Volks are tight. (not in a good way)

 

She's really cute and a little taller than I thought. She stands 54cm wearing her default shoes. Her bunny has bendable ears and movable arms, lots of detail that I wasn't expecting. Her toes don't seem to reach the tip of her boots, but I'm guessing that's normal behaviour for dolls.

 

Wasn't really keen on her default outfit looking at pre-release photos, but having her wear it in person I've changed my mind. That set is cool. Haven't tried the Twinkle whatever it is set yet and I also have the plaid dress from the September sale to try.

 

First thing I'm going to do though is try and make a four legged stool for her to sit on, kind of like the one pictured above, but not as complex. Apparently Volks don't even include the cheapest of cheap plastic stands so I'll have to improvise.

 

EDIT: Looking a little longer at that stool I can see it isn't that complicated. The whole thing is made up of about 5 parts.

 

Oh and the hoody doesn't fit on her boof head.

 

 

As a new doll owner I must say. Volks are tight. (not in a good way)

 

You mean the stiffness of the joints? It tends to vary from doll to doll, but I noticed that on Anya too.

 

Oh and the hoody doesn't fit on her boof head.

 

 

Her hoodie seems true to it's design in iM@S, at least in the product photos. Pretty sure it was drawn as more a styling element than an actual hoodie since these were stage outfits. Volks does sell hoodies pretty regularly, but none are DDP size yet as far as I can recall.

You mean the stiffness of the joints? It tends to vary from doll to doll, but I noticed that on Anya too.

 

No I meant in the doll cost $700 and they don't even include a simple stand . No big deal though as she stands stable(ish) on her own two feet. As for the joints, they weren't that stiff and the head is fairly loose.

 

Also hot glue for the eyes. Really? Don't know why, but I was expecting something a little more extravagant. Strange that a Pullip has a much more complicated eye mechanism than a much, much more expensive doll.

You mean the stiffness of the joints? It tends to vary from doll to doll, but I noticed that on Anya too.

 

No I meant in the doll cost $700 and they don't even include a simple stand . No big deal though as she stands stable(ish) on her own two feet. As for the joints, they weren't that stiff and the head is fairly loose.

 

Also hot glue for the eyes. Really? Don't know why, but I was expecting something a little more extravagant. Strange that a Pullip has a much more complicated eye mechanism than a much, much more expensive doll.

DDs never came with stands, idk why you were expecting one? I think if you'd research your very very expensive doll a little better, you would know they don't have stands in their sets and they used hotglue, I mean it's a topic that's been brought up a lot (how to remove the eyes from their heads).

Oh gosh, right when I thought i sorted out my mind about not wanting Iori, I see her custom pics. She is just awesome.

 

No I meant in the doll cost $700 and they don't even include a simple stand . No big deal though as she stands stable(ish) on her own two feet. As for the joints, they weren't that stiff and the head is fairly loose.

 

Also hot glue for the eyes. Really? Don't know why, but I was expecting something a little more extravagant. Strange that a Pullip has a much more complicated eye mechanism than a much, much more expensive doll.

 

I’m with you on the hot glue. I wish they just included eye putty and left the eyes separate.

 

As far as stands and cost go, the coolcats stands I use cost about $50, which is fairly competitive, so that would be an addition to the base cost of the doll. Keep in mind with limited dolls part of the cost is licensing, and part of it is driven by development costs associated with the head and accessories that can’t be recouped through mass production over a long period of time.

 

You can get Volks standards for 39,000 YEN, 350 USD, 300 EUR; those are produced in much larger quantities and have long production runs. They come with a basic wig and simple outfit and Volks owns the copyrights. I’m betting on the limited they have to license the head, the outfit, and any accessories separately. They usually develop custom eyes too.

 

 

I’ve never felt that $700 USD was unreasonable for what I get. These dolls are clearly made by craftsmen who take pride in their work. This is even more true with the SDs.

 

Volks wigs are a different story though. We’ve been complaining about the quality of those for years. A $20 wig from Korea blows Volks wigs out of the water.

 

The only pricing I really find steep is the Hatsune Miku stuff. $200 - $300 for an outfit that sometimes includes a Volks wig is just too steep for me. I want to get stuff for my Miku, but I can get 3 regular outfits for those prices.

My friend informed me that Iori and Yayoi reached her And since I might have gotten smth sold, I'll have the money for my girl's shipping to me~! Do you guys think $150 marked on package looks "believable"? I had a doll come in marked at $250, but I think now maybe I overdid it... I just don't want them calling me to confirm the actual price at customs

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! My girls are in town and will be delivered tomorrow!

 

But waiting is like:

 

As for the stands, it would add a lot to the cost to the girls, just for the stand (are Volks stands very good?), extra boxes or fitting it into the boxes, larger boxes to ship stuff in... Japanese tax that Volks makes everyone pay... and additional customs or VAT charges for those that have to deal with those as well. All of that together, by just simply adding a stand would make many more people look at the sticker price and flat-out say no way! Just look at the Saber/Ruler thread to see that. There are plenty of comments that are essentally "Ugh, THAT much for just one girl?" DD are usually stable enough to not need stands for photography purposes and they can sit down. Personally the only stand I own I bought from Parabox for my 1/6 sized Volks EB Mini and I think I used it once. I don't like having to use them if I don't have to but there are exceptions (that pic was not photoshopped. You can see the stand if you know what to look for.) I don't even use the stand that Eiji came with. It is all about balance. (Ralph, the boy, is on a DD body here. No stands, no hidden supports. Just good ol' posing.) If you still need a stand (I'd assume for a display girl. We don't have any of those, our Kiddos are pretty active. I rarely use the metal base plates that came with our Obitsu bodies.) there are plenty of options out there. It's something I need to look into for my resin boy but I just kinda detest stands. So Ollie will just have to sit for now.

 

~Sister Kyoya

...is there any doll that DOES come with a stand besides a smartdoll?? I think the only other ones that do are ones that can't stand on their own anyway.

...is there any doll that DOES come with a stand besides a smartdoll?? I think the only other ones that do are ones that can't stand on their own anyway.

I'm supposing they were they thinking of figures...?

Honestly I get annoyed enough at accessories I don't need jacking up the price of the doll (looking at you, Len's keytar), I don't need the price of a stand on top of that. Good DD stands are fairly pricey after all. I did buy one cheaper one - an Obitsu one - and that still ran me about 2600 yen... and it frankly sucks, so I should have got one of the sturdier, pricier ones anyway. But I only want one or two - not one for each doll, especially cos they stand just fine without one...

Honestly I get annoyed enough at accessories I don't need jacking up the price of the doll (looking at you, Len's keytar), I don't need the price of a stand on top of that. Good DD stands are fairly pricey after all. I did buy one cheaper one - an Obitsu one - and that still ran me about 2600 yen... and it frankly sucks, so I should have got one of the sturdier, pricier ones anyway. But I only want one or two - not one for each doll, especially cos they stand just fine without one...

 

I live in earthquake country and I love the heavy solid base of the coolcats stands, but they aren’t cheap. I ended up going with them because Volks is always out of stock on their own, and I never looked back. We had a 4.1 quake here a few days ago, and the dolls didn’t move an inch.

 

The largest I’ve been in was a 6.9, and even that probably wouldn’t have displaced them from their stands. At least with the type of quakes we have here.

Edited October 19, 2017 by Guest

So hypothetically a decent stand coming with a doll would increase not just the price but the weight of the box a fair bit too, huh? It's why I haven't bought any of the heavier ones while I'm here, because I don't want too many heavy things to ship back.

DD stand very well on their own. Better than most resins who also usually don't come with stands as far as I know. There's really no reason to include a stand with them and I don't get why you're getting so incredulous over it as if it's some atrocity.

 

And you can get really good stands for about 30 here. http://www.acbjd.com/invisable-doll-stand-p-8630.html?cPath=145 If you can afford a several hundred dollar doll this isn't a big deal. And IMO these stands are better than coolcat ones. Wider base and all.

We sure are spending a lot of time talking about stands (･･') It is really weird when you get your first doll and there's no reliable way of making it stand securely. It's one of those 'first doll checklist' items that you don't know about.

 

And you can get really good stands for about 30 here. http://www.acbjd.com/invisable-doll-stand-p-8630.html?cPath=145 If you can afford a several hundred dollar doll this isn't a big deal. And IMO these stands are better than coolcat ones. Wider base and all.

Actually this is kinda useless with DDP,

 

 

That's the same Invisable Stand [sic] trying to hold up Iori. On a full size DD there's a lot of good spots to grab (waist, crotch, thigh, etc), but the clamp is very oversize for DDP.

 

But as long as we're talking about stands, my fav is definitely the Volks stand with the metal base (you'll need the adapter for DDP which is being sold at the next clickwar). It's heavy and secure, the base is very thin, height is easy to adjust, and it packs compact when travelling.

 

The Invisable Stand is really hard to use quickly, you have to pre-bend the arm into place using both your hands and then put the doll in it. The clamps that holds the doll has hard edges and if the doll is left too long in it, depending on how it's holding it can leave indentations in the vinyl.

 

The Coolcat stands I don't like, although it was my first. They have a very thick base which makes posing difficult, both feet need to be either on the base or off it, otherwise the doll's unbalanced. The mechanism to increase/decrease height isn't very good and slips (it's a screw). It's also too tall; if Melty (DDS) isn't wearing shoes, she can't keep her feet flat on the base. It's pretty good for holding headphones though.

 

*Edit: I posted that picture in the DDP thread. Don't reference it for height comparison because Iori has the tallest heels and her stand's base is thicker.

Foo, your girls are so pretty! I love their outfits! Thank you for the picture, it’s nice to get another picture and to see how the ddp would fit on a stand. High heels or not, it still is very informative.

 

As for stands, I’ve never once used one - with the exception of Eiji’s Smartdoll stand. It’s a good design, and easy to hide, but I still don’t know if I like the hole in the back. Some dolls do have weaker joints and would be better off on stands if not sitting, but a lot of them will pose fine anyway. I live with 3 cats, 1 dog, occasionally 5 kids, and I’ve never had any of them fall from standing or sitting position. We’ve also had earthquakes, and what seems like an earthquake every time the dryer turns on and rattles the whole house.

 

Doll for dreams are fairly sturdy, and can balance very well on their own. It just takes some time to get comfortable with balancing them in my opinion. I don’t mind that they don’t come with stands at all, I suppose it has never occurred to me that they might consider adding stands really. I definitely wouldn’t see that as a defect or a problem from Volks at all as they offer stands as well. Would I use them if I had them? Yeah probably, but not for pictures or anything like that and honestly all mine are fine without. If Volks needs to work on anything first I would argue it be quality of clothes.

 

Anyway, on topic I’m seriously regretting not preordering these girls now. I knew I’d like them, but like them so much more than expected. I can’t wait to see more pictures!

Foo, your girls are so pretty! I love their outfits!

 

The grey outfit on the right side is being sold by lottery through Volks USA at the end of the month. In the promo photo's on the Volks site it's a perfect fit for Miki. I can't recall if the middle one was one of the outfits from the last Dolpa though. If it is then they probably have that one too.

...is there any doll that DOES come with a stand besides a smartdoll?? I think the only other ones that do are ones that can't stand on their own anyway.

 

If we count the metal round things, Obitsu/Parabox dolls do come with one for their magnet feet. But they do stand just fine on their own. Well...Kaito is finicky these days from his disproportionately small feet, but I think he just needs some screws tightened because he stood fine when he was new.

 

I live in earthquake country and I love the heavy solid base of the coolcats stands, but they aren’t cheap. I ended up going with them because Volks is always out of stock on their own, and I never looked back. We had a 4.1 quake here a few days ago, and the dolls didn’t move an inch.

 

The largest I’ve been in was a 6.9, and even that probably wouldn’t have displaced them from their stands. At least with the type of quakes we have here.

 

I see we probably live in the same area of CA. ...that 4.1 knocked out 5 out of 7 of my dolls. Because guess who wasn't using a stand for their weakest standing DD? No damage, but I was out of town at the time and was quite peeved when I came back to clean that up. Maybe I'll have to look into a coolcat stand too...I don't even think my MDD-size Obitsus could stay standing on their magnets through a 6.9. And I practically have to pry them off those when I pick them up. I hope to never find out though.

Karrigan Kat (Savaryne) posted beautiful photos of Yayoi to her Flickr!

 

 

Foo, your girls are so pretty! I love their outfits!

Thanks Like Wolf said, they're from the latest clickwar/lottery.

So happy to see her out of her default~ She's adorable Can't wait for my girl (well boy)!

Before we drop the stand issue entirely (and apologies for it getting somewhat out of hand), I would just like to say that I come from collecting Hot Toys and Sideshow figures that include stands in the set, probably because they have zero balance and fall over at the drop of a pin. However I will say I can see all the reasons everyone has pointed out and I agree. The stand are expensive and no one wants the dolls to be even more expensive, and I can even see why Volks don't really include one because it's not needed.

 

She's been standing next to me on my desk since I unpacked her yesterday and hasn't moved. I've even tried several times to push her over and she just comes back. The cat was even lurking and didn't knock her over. Speaking of cats, do they have a taste for vinyl?

 

 

Now on to much more important things like putting her in a new outfit.

 

 

Oh and does anyone know what shoe size Iori takes. I jumped the gun a little and order some black shoes from Alice's Collections in 1/4 scale thinking that 1/3 would be far too large judging by the size sheet they have available.

Can someone who ordered two girls check this for me? Can you fit both of them in one box, with or without removing the white carton they hold on to? I was thinking it'll probably save me some shipping since the box will be smaller + customs will more easily believe the value of $200-250 for a smaller box. My friend gets creeped out and disgusted with touching vinyls, so she's really hesitant about even trying without touching them (by taking and placing from the cellophane without touching the girls XD)