Dollfie Dream Or Smart Doll

For over a month and a half, I've been saving money for a ball jointed doll. The thing is, however, i don't know which kind of BJD i want. I discovered dollfie dream over a year ago and thought of saving up for one.

but, I discovered Smart dolls earlier this month and I love both of the dolls but i dont know which i should continue saving up for. I asked a few people in real life and didn't get anything since most of my friends and family find dolls creepy.

 

What's your opinion? Which one should i go with?

Get the one that you like the most that you are willing to spend for. IMHO, most SmD look the same to me. I think DDs have more varied looks. But if you are only ever going to have one doll, then that doesn't matter (But honestly, I don't think anyone that stays in this hobby ever stays with one doll.). I picked DDs because Volks had Miku, and I love Miku. Otherwise I think I wouldn't of eventually gotten a SmD. I had learned of Miku in passing a couple years ago, and then learned of SmDs later, never putting the two together. It was only after stumbling across Miku again, when I had money, that I learned of Volks. And only after getting Miku did I really look what Volks had to offer, and then getting a couple Volks dolls that I settled on the DD side of things. If Danny ever makes a good Haruka or other girl in one of the licenses he has that I really like I'd probably buy one.

Also of note is with Volks you get a lot more customization options for skin color, bust sizes, body size/type, and easier to select clothing options. But with SmD, Danny is personally involved in the company and interacts with the customers as much as he can. He is also mindful of how the dolls stain easily and does his best to select fabric and materials to not stain, Volks not so much.

 

So the short of it is buy what you like, regardless of the brand.

Hello there

Choosing sure is difficult when there is lot of option, I was there before too ~

 

I guess it depends on your preference. Are you looking for a girl or boy doll? Also skin tone and the body shape, and their height too.

 

Volks have white, semi-white, and normal while their tan is only available via D'coord. They have DDdy, DD (58cm), DDS (50cm), DDP and MDD

While smart doll have milk, tea, cocoa which always available. They only have one body size for now.

 

For body shape and posing, better read this great comparison thread by baldylox, which you can see if you have any preference for body shape between DD or smart doll. http://www.dollfiedreams.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=10638

 

And the most important is the head. Smart doll head option is still a bit less compared to DD, however each of them is very cute so no wonder you love them. However if you find none of the head, you can look for Volks option head form DDH 1 to 10, their standard model or their limited head

Here is a really helpful chart of Smartdoll head made by ErrorObitsuChan

https://www.flickr.com/photos/69585428@N05/36970250361

 

Volks http://www.dollfiedream.tokyo/dd_en/about/

 

But if you also leaned to robotic-kind of doll, Smartdoll is a good choice too as Danny developed the USB torso and many more feature might come out in future.

 

I don't own any smart doll so all this information is just based on what I read, so someone who own both dolls may be able to give you a more solid answer.

 

However I do hope that you found which doll you liked more and be able to get your doll soon

Thank you both for the help and information on BJD's! I appreciate the help! I do not plan to stop at just one doll since I wish to expand as much as i can with my collection! After giving it a long hard thinking, I decided to go with Smart Doll Mirai Suenaga!

 

I've had my eye on Mirai for awhile now and I'm confident that she'll bring me a lot of joy! But i will not give up on getting a Dollfie Dream! After getting Mirai i will start back at square one and begin saving up for Dollfie dream Yukino! I'm not very experienced with ball jointed dolls so I'm excited and nervous for my very first one!

 

I am still on my way of having enough to be able to pay for her but I'm not giving up on it! Guess only time can tell on which side i decide to stick with.

 

Again, Thank you so much for helping me!

As others have said, it depends on your individual aesthetic preference, although I'd personally choose DD myself - the head molds are much more attractive, there's a much greater aesthetic variety and the poseability is greater (smartdolls legs don't move as much, for example).

However I don't know if this will change your mind any, but Yukino is one of the old standards who has now been discontinued. She's probably not hard to find because she'll still be available as long as there's stock, and there probably will be for a while as the old standards aren't very popular nowadays. However, if you are willing to wait until late October, there are new standard DDs coming out - Towa, Karin and Liliru. https://www.volks.co.jp/ddfes/2017/item_en/ These three are imo not only much nicer looking than smartdolls but also infinitely nicer looking than the old DD standards. You can see a lot of pics of them in this thread too: viewtopic.php?f=46&t=15539&start=100

Ah, Thank you for telling me! I'm not very up-to-date with DD! It's sad seeing Yukino being discontinued however. The new standard models really do pop out in my opinion (Karin is my personal favorite!)

 

As I've said before, I'm not so experienced with ball jointed dolls and will continue my collecting for as long as i can! a DD is my next goal after Smart doll. Hopefully my mind will stick to it however.

 

I've spent a few days doing research on Dollfie dreams and Smart dolls trying to see which i would be more happy with saving for. I'm still young and will most likely continue collecting as much as i can! It expensive but I really do hope to be a professional collector one day.

 

Anyways, I'm rambling. Thank you for giving me more information and helping!

Hello!

 

I have a bit of everything, including both DDs and SmDs. I personally prefer SmDs. While the possibility of DDs are superior to SmDs and there are more parts available for them, I think SmDs generally look better. But that is my preference, just as everyone one else who has responded has a preference. I have been doll collecting since I was really young (like. . . 3) so I have acbleepulated a log of different types of dolls and have had a lot of time to think on which dolls I actually want in my collection.

I discovered Volks first (since SmartDoll was not around then). They were the only type of 'anime' doll on the market then besides Obitsu and I do not like the bigger Obitsues so DDs was the obvious choice, however they never were quite what I wanted. When Danny Choo started actually selling his 'SmartDolls' I was hooked. Mirai was my first SD sized doll, however DD Miku came shortly after.

Unfortunately you really cannot grasp the 'feel' of them through a computer screen, even less so if one of these will be your first doll of this type. Go with your gut. If you are young you can always get the other version later to see which you like better. For example: I had been agonizing over buying my first BJD for 3 years before I actually bought my first YoSD at a doll convention, I was 16. Fast forward to last year and I bought 5 dolls at the age of 22 (because of a pay increase and no payments yet. . .). What I am trying to get at is, if you are young, then you have plenty of time and as you get older you will earn more money for your use (aka blow on dolls). The first doll is always important, pick the one you want, go with your gut.

 

And have fun!

I have to say that i discovered Volks when i was 14 AKA early of last year, but Smart doll didn't catch my attention until this month. I mainly had a hard time deciding because this is my first ever BJD so i want it to be a doll that i know will make an impact on me. I wanted a BJD when i was a lot younger but i knew i wasn't ready for it. fast forward to now, I feel more mature and ready for something big in my life. each penny that i manage to earn goes towards a BJD i want. Mirai is who i want to be my first because she seems to be so positive and cute! I've had pullip dolls before but i guess i wasn't ready for them.

I've ran into a few people with BJD's before and I really want to grasp that feeling of having my very own.

I think Miku was what introduced me to Volk's, I had a Pullip Hatsune miku at one point but I sold her away.

I really do hope to have a DD after getting a smart doll.

even if my entire family thinks my obsession with BJD's is weird.

 

Thank you for giving such a long reply, It really helped me!

I don't suppose you have access to meetups or any other way you might get to see them in person first? I think that can really make a difference in helping you choose, especially because so many dolls look different in person to in photos. (It's my personal opinion that most DDs look better in person and most smartdolls look odd in person, but to each their own) Even if its not a dedicated doll meetup, sometimes anime cons have BJD tables or meetups attached.

 

At the end of the day though it's good that the ones you seem to be interested in, SmD Mirai and DD Karin, won't be difficult to get and will 'wait' for you to save up. And like you said, there's nothing stopping you from getting more afterwards, even if it takes time. It's just that it's a lot of money, especially at your age, so if there's any extra steps you can take to make sure the doll is one you really want (like getting to see one in person) I would advise it.

my entire family thinks my obsession with BJD's is weird.

There will always be people who think the doll hobby is weird, but nobody here is in the hobby for these people. We're in it for ourselves. It makes us happy.

I think the entire "fantasy sports" obsession is weird.

I think the entire "fantasy sports" obsession is weird.

Ha, that just reminded me of how I never understood what exactly 'fantasy' sports was referring to and so assumed it was some kind of D&D campaign based around sports, or sports featuring fantasy creatures, or some kind of fantasy version of football (quidditch??!) I was pretty disappointed to find out that the reality was something far less exciting.

I, sadly, don't have access to cons or doll meetups. Not for any specific reason, just blandly because I struggle to leave my house every now and then (social anxiety)

 

I would love to be able to see DD's for myself! but even so, Anime cons and Doll meetup etc. aren't popular from where i live so It's difficult to find one. I would love to go to one one day though! I'm still young so the chances are still high.

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

However I don't know if this will change your mind any, but Yukino is one of the old standards who has now been discontinued. She's probably not hard to find because she'll still be available as long as there's stock, and there probably will be for a while as the old standards aren't very popular nowadays.

Luckily Yukino's sculpt is the same as the 03 head, so at least her sculpt is still available, though without the Yukino faceup. And I agree Yukino herself shouldn't be too difficult to find. I still want one, too!

 

Linda S.

galatia9