MAGICAL MIRAI 2017 --DD Luka is Coming!!!!

Here's a repainted custom Luka with a sort of BJD-style mouth, who might also have a mouth mod or could just be all painting:

 

 

She looks like she could be Marikos older sister ♡

I have a relatively dumb question. DD Luka is still available on Volks' US site (rip Canadian Dollar) and I was considering placing an order. The problem is I can't see if you pay right away or upon release. Has anyone ordered via Volks US and can say it's one way or the other?

I have a relatively dumb question. DD Luka is still available on Volks' US site (rip Canadian Dollar) and I was considering placing an order. The problem is I can't see if you pay right away or upon release. Has anyone ordered via Volks US and can say it's one way or the other?

 

Volks USA pre-orders are slightly different from volks international where all pre orders are full payments only. I don't believe that has changed but no further instructions are given too so go figure.

Volks USA pre-orders are slightly different from volks international where all pre orders are full payments only. I don't believe that has changed but no further instructions are given too so go figure.

 

Ugh what a bummer . I wish their site was easier to navigate- it just seems like a big hot mess if you don't know what exactly you're looking for.

I have a relatively dumb question. DD Luka is still available on Volks' US site (rip Canadian Dollar) and I was considering placing an order. The problem is I can't see if you pay right away or upon release. Has anyone ordered via Volks US and can say it's one way or the other?

Volks USA pre-orders are slightly different from volks international where all pre orders are full payments only. I don't believe that has changed but no further instructions are given too so go figure.

I don't think that was true for Jeanne and Saber; they required a deposit up-front and the rest when they come out, according to this page: https://www.volks.co.jp/sp_d_022_fgo_en/?version=en

 

Which doesn't answer the OP's question of course, just some additional info.

 

For this Luka preorder, since she will be shipped as early as early August, it's really just a question of paying in full now or paying in full potentially as soon as one month from now.

I happened to find a picture of a custom Luka head:

 

I would've never guessed that is her.

I happened to find a picture of a custom Luka head:

 

I would've never guessed that is her.

 

Wow, that's amazingly pretty!

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1094379870&ref=list

 

I'm posting this here, because you can get a bit of an idea of the staining Luka might get from her fullset.

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1094379870&ref=list

 

I'm posting this here, because you can get a bit of an idea of the staining Luka might get from her fullset.

 

So it looks like her pantsu, and either the tights, or the boots through the tights are the stainers.

 

Of course we have no way to know if the prior owner had her in a body suit. Can't rule out the rest of the outfit, but if they did have a bodysuit on her then the stuff that stained would have to be really bad.

 

What I find interesting about these photos is her face looks nothing like Miku's.

 

Hopefully this one gets a good home with someone who cleans her up and looks after her.

I just recv'd my Luka yesterday and I placed a protective suit underneath her fullset and I'm letting her stand in it for awhile.

If there's any staining after that I'll post pictures and warn people.

I expect people may receive an email about this but unfortunately it looks like Luka is being delayed until next spring, ouch.

I expect people may receive an email about this but unfortunately it looks like Luka is being delayed until next spring, ouch.

 

Whelp, that's a bummer. Was looking forward to welcoming both Luka and Jeanne in another two weeks.

 

Here is the English language page.

 

https://www.volks.co.jp/sp_d_026_newdollfie_DD_en/?version=en

=_= So now I have to play rulette on wether Luka will arrive on my new address or my old as we are moving in early spring 2019.

This actually quite upsetting.

Having to pay for the preorder in such advance, and now delaying the doll like this is just unfair.

I obviously prefer a good quality product over one with issues given by some production problem, but at the same time I'd have preferred them to charge me at the dolls release, instead of ending up like this.....

This actually quite upsetting.

Having to pay for the preorder in such advance, and now delaying the doll like this is just unfair.

 

Yeah that part bugs me a bit. I understood going in that my lottery entry might make me wait until November, but now they are tacking on 4 more months.

 

Still, if they had said Spring 2019 for some of the lottery dolls to arrive back when the lottery was going on I would have entered anyways.

 

I'm assuming she will still be on the DDIII body, and not the new F3 body too. I'd be more accepting of the wait if she ended up with the latest body, but I'm pretty sure they would have called that out in the announcement.

This actually quite upsetting.

Having to pay for the preorder in such advance, and now delaying the doll like this is just unfair.

 

Yeah that part bugs me a bit. I understood going in that my lottery entry might make me wait until November, but now they are tacking on 4 more months.

 

Still, if they had said Spring 2019 for some of the lottery dolls to arrive back when the lottery was going on I would have entered anyways.

 

I'm assuming she will still be on the DDIII body, and not the new F3 body too. I'd be more accepting of the wait if she ended up with the latest body, but I'm pretty sure they would have called that out in the announcement.

Yeah, I didn't even think about the f3 thing... and now I am even more upset!!

Yeah, I didn't even think about the f3 thing... and now I am even more upset!!

 

I wonder if they bit off more than they could chew. Luka had something like 3 or 4 release events over the last year, so maybe they just got more orders than they could fill by November.

Yeah, I didn't even think about the f3 thing... and now I am even more upset!!

I wonder if they bit off more than they could chew. Luka had something like 3 or 4 release events over the last year, so maybe they just got more orders than they could fill by November.

I was thinking the same. Since the first shipment of Luka already happened as well as the ones sold at Dolpa, it's not a manufacturing issue with her specifically as any such problems would've already been worked out by now.

 

Volks has experimented with a lot of different DD delivery methods this year--Kaede's fairly typical lottery, Matoi's lottery where the dolls are all preorder, Yuriko's sudden and instant release that still didn't sell out in five minutes like we all expected it to do in a clickwar from hell. And then in addition they are now making all the new f3 stuff, it's a lot of manufacturing going on.

 

Bellatrix: I love that particular emoticon. I've used it at least once myself.

Yeah, I didn't even think about the f3 thing... and now I am even more upset!!

 

I wonder if they bit off more than they could chew. Luka had something like 3 or 4 release events over the last year, so maybe they just got more orders than they could fill by November.

A lot of people say ‘why can’t they do every release like this so everybody who wants one gets one?’ Well...this is why. There needs to be a limited number of the Dolpa dolls in order to have regular releases at all. I would personally rather have quantity of releases over quantity of each doll. The annual preorder project takes a whole year as it is to be absolutely sure they can produce all the dolls needed with no delays. I assume they thought they could do what they planned to with Luka because her preorder period was so short - only a few days if even that as opposed to over a month - so would theoretically get less orders...but they probably underestimated her popularity.

I also think that in the past few years Volks have gotten a lot more customers? That is just my guess - they already seem to be upping production. I do hope Matoi isn’t delayed though as her parts are more complex (although she probably didn’t get as many orders as Luka)

 

I hope she’s worth the wait for you guys - I do love mine a lot.

A lot of people say ‘why can’t they do every release like this so everybody who wants one gets one?’ Well...this is why. There needs to be a limited number of the Dolpa dolls in order to have regular releases at all.

 

The interesting thing is, I think that have done well over all with the larger number of dolls in each release. They've pulled off a number of doll releases with limited pre-orders between Luka original Dolpa and today, and seem to have managed them ok. I'm just speculating that Luka's many events may have just been too much to take on. The other factor may have been the two big Typhoons that hit southern Japan. That may have damaged their ability to fulfill all their orders for all their dolls on schedule. We'll probably never know for certain, but on principal I'm going to cut Volks some slack due to unforeseen natural disasters.

 

To be honest, while I am not thrilled by the delay, I am also taking it in stride. I'm used to delays with PVC figures, and Dollfie are way better than PVC figures. She'll be worth it, and she's already paid for when she does ship.

 

When my proxy got my Kaede he actually went back around in the line at the store event to get a second one, and it was a long line. I got the impression that quantity of dolls available is very different than it used to be at the store events. He wasn't sure his number would win, I think it was like 107, but he managed to get two, plus a bunch of event outfits for people.

Edited November 15, 2018 by Guest

I saw this today and my heart ached for all those who ordered Luka. I did not try for her but I think she is really cute. I also know how frustrating it can be when you are 'promised' (air quotes) a release date, pay in full based on that release date, then the company says "Welp, this is not actually going to happen at the time specified".

I understand delays can happen and sometimes plans just do not work out but it is still frustrating. I even see this in my job. I work in IT and if I think a task is going to take me 20 minutes to complete, I often tell the user it will take 40 minutes to give me time if I run into problems.

I am not sure if that can be applied to retail, but it would be nice to have a 'guaranteed' ship date.

 

Hopefully the time until she is actually shipped out passes quickly for all of you!

I wonder if they bit off more than they could chew. Luka had something like 3 or 4 release events over the last year, so maybe they just got more orders than they could fill by November.

A lot of people say ‘why can’t they do every release like this so everybody who wants one gets one?’ Well...this is why. There needs to be a limited number of the Dolpa dolls in order to have regular releases at all. I would personally rather have quantity of releases over quantity of each doll. The annual preorder project takes a whole year as it is to be absolutely sure they can produce all the dolls needed with no delays. I assume they thought they could do what they planned to with Luka because her preorder period was so short - only a few days if even that as opposed to over a month - so would theoretically get less orders...but they probably underestimated her popularity.

I also think that in the past few years Volks have gotten a lot more customers? That is just my guess - they already seem to be upping production. I do hope Matoi isn’t delayed though as her parts are more complex (although she probably didn’t get as many orders as Luka)

 

I hope she’s worth the wait for you guys - I do love mine a lot.

Disclaimer: I'm too vague below because I think Volks changed some of the details of both Kaede's and Matoi's sales between initial announcement and what they finally actually did; I don't think the pages say the same things they did originally but I can't prove that or even remember accurately anymore. I think I'm also confused about rules for store sales versus web sales.

 

As you state, Luka was an unlimited preorder with a shorter delivery period, no doubt a test to see what might work. They had the lottery to decide between the two release dates, and while the assumption would've been that there was a 50/50 chance to get either date, from posts here more people seemed to get the later November delivery. That's a clue that you're correct that they got more orders than anticipated, because in that case Volks likely alloted the number to the earlier delivery that they knew they could manufacture for that, and then the rest got dumped to November.

 

Matoi was, I believe, always listed as a limited preorder, though the in-store preorders are listed on at least one page still as unlimited. That would've still been limited by how many people they could deal with and such. The reality is she is still available to order now, so apparently they didn't get sales to meet the amount they are making. Then she ended up being sold by lottery (which the page originally didn't claim at all to the extent I can remember) and as typical for lottery she was unavailable but then came back on September 22nd with a "Special Sale" and is still available now.. Anyway the main point I'm getting at is she's not unlimited like Luka so maybe Volks already realized by this point that they couldn't do that again.

 

Kaede ended up being a normal lottery though I think she was originally listed as a short limited preorder too (I can't prove this anymore so maybe I'm wrong and maybe it was a cut-and-paste in error from Matoi's page, who knows). I don't want to spread misinformation.

 

Anyway, to me it looks like Luka being bumped to Spring 2019 looks like that Matoi should still come this winter as planned; they moved Luka after that so as to not delay more than one doll though by doing so delayed her more. I hope that's how it works both for those getting Matoi, and so Volks doesn't end up where Good Smile, Max Factory, and to a lesser extent, Alter, are right now with figures where they had a number of delays about two years ago that have cascaded into a mess that they haven't been able to correct yet where most figures now have a preorder-to-release time of about a year instead of the 6-9 months it used to be.

 

Darn, seeing again that Matoi is still available tempts me a bit.

 

Darn, seeing again that Matoi is still available tempts me a bit.

 

I have an equation for that dilemma: Chihaya > Matoi.

Very true.

 

I'm actually trying to work on a list of what I want with priorities assigned since I can't get everything I like and even if I could it's more dolls than I really want to own. It's a little complicated because of differening prices i.e. what I most want tends to be the most expensive of course and there's a few I like that are quite reasonable like Rin Tohsaka v2 but they are otherwise a little lower in priority for me.

Since this isn't volks's first rodeo in any way or form, they might have had a catastrophic problem with one of their item suppliers since apparently everybody is affected. Typically when a figure gets delayed its a quality control issue, if the hubbub on MFC is to be believed.

 

in the past if they've gotten huge pre-order numbers they've just added more shipment batches if they've been overwhelmed by order numbers. So they've confirmed supplies for a said ammount but will have to reorder more for the orders they didnt think they would get.

 

 

So this time instead of having pieces for some, they seem to have none.

 

oh well... on the bright side I can now put the allotted Luka customs money into paying for Art Jr. a bit sooner, but still not happy, especially with the few first release luka's roaming flickr adding some insult to injury so to speak .. heh.