Feedback for Danny Choo

in another thread about smart doll, Pickle said that she thought the sculpts were average, and didn't like paint on the corners of their mouth (or something like that) and belpita responded kind of rudely like Pickle's opinion was wrong.

 

based on that thread, and this one, it kind of seems like belpita wants to defend danny choo and smart doll endlessly and not let anyone have an opinion. the responses are really aggressive (in my opinion) and venture off topic... i mean, it went from talking about a company that makes dolls to talking about people's morality. i don't get it.

 

it's not abnormal to stop supporting a company because they do things that are disagreeable. cauldroness gave multiple examples of companies that have had boycotts due to behavior of top employees/CEO/whatever.

 

i don't believe the products of the companies are "tainted" by anyone's behavior. whether it is smart doll, chic-fil-a, or hobby lobby. whatever it is. but there are multiple places to get products, and if someone does something that i find offensive... i will buy the product elsewhere. smart doll is a vinyl doll company. there are more than one. if someone doesn't like what danny choo says or does, they can get a vinyl "anime" looking doll somewhere else.

 

this is a dollfie dream forum, and the fact that smart dolls are allowed here is something that is special. a lot of forums based on one certain item or topic do not allow off topic things. i believe the fact that the dollfie dream forum allowing so much conversation about smart dolls is a very nice thing. i disagree that people say things negatively about them just to say something. it seems that belpita is very defensive and perhaps too sensitive regarding danny choo and smart dolls. just because someone says something negative doesn't mean they're talking only to talk. more than likely, it is their actual opinion.

 

i don't like that on a forum not about smart dolls in the first place, dollfie dream owners are being talked down upon because danny choo insulted volks. volks makes dollfie dreams. this is a dollfie dream forum. i think that being upset is reasonable. volks makes the dolls that we are here to talk about, the dolls that we love. the dolls that DANNY once loved! i think it makes more sense to have people wanting to defend volks here, since this forum is dedicated to their dolls. but that's just me, maybe i am the weird one.

this is a dollfie dream forum, and the fact that smart dolls are allowed here is something that is special. a lot of forums based on one certain item or topic do not allow off topic things. i believe the fact that the dollfie dream forum allowing so much conversation about smart dolls is a very nice thing. i disagree that people say things negatively about them just to say something. it seems that belpita is very defensive and perhaps too sensitive regarding danny choo and smart dolls. just because someone says something negative doesn't mean they're talking only to talk. more than likely, it is their actual opinion.

 

i don't like that on a forum not about smart dolls in the first place, dollfie dream owners are being talked down upon because danny choo insulted volks. volks makes dollfie dreams. this is a dollfie dream forum. i think that being upset is reasonable. volks makes the dolls that we are here to talk about, the dolls that we love. the dolls that DANNY once loved! i think it makes more sense to have people wanting to defend volks here, since this forum is dedicated to their dolls. but that's just me, maybe i am the weird one.

 

I think that's what gets me the most about the whole situation. Aside from the unprofessionalism, it's the hypocrisy of the whole thing. Back when Danny did Culture Japan he loved his Saber, and if I recall his studio had a whole lineup of DD girls. He even did a couple of episodes on Volks iirc. To go from that to this is really sad to me.

I feel like some of the things mentioned by belpita were directed at me, from that Mika forum, and I literally apologized. I made my statement, it received lasback so I deleted and apologized, with no forgiveness. But we still gonna vague about it. Made me ostrisize myself from the site. I went back to mostly lurking.

 

Everyone else’s comments seem pretty valid to me so idk. :I

I guess at the end of the day, the MORAL of the story is 'Don't toss if you can't catch.'

 

As someone who is often rash in both action and word, I can't say my behavior is textbook perfect, however, I felt sad that some of the people here were being called haughty or accused of sitting on a high horse, etc etc, when their criticism was both valid and constructive.

 

And @Sniiksnak, I probs ain't the best person to say this but I hope you don't distance yourself from commenting, as I mentioned before I think everyone has a right to their own opinion. You've apologized for your comments and didn't give excuses. Come join this little circle.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Guest

@swanmay - yes that is what makes me upset and confused more than anything. without volks, and danny collecting the dolls, i don't know if smart doll would even exist. he loved his dolls, he loved yuki and saber, and he shared them with us. now that he has his own "rival" company, i do not appreciate how he talks about volks at all

 

@sniiksnak - sorry, i am not sure what happened when you deleted your posts i only know about what happened with pickle because we talk often. please do not lurk, come back

 

@freakie-oppa - that's what i meant when i said the responses felt aggressive. there were a lot of words with negative connotation being used, including the examples you gave of haughty and being on a high horse. i had to say something because this is a forum for DD, and DD owners were being attacked (in my eyes) for wanting to support volks

I guess at the end of the day, the MORAL of the story is 'Don't toss if you can't catch.'

 

I've never hear this before, but it's SO perfect and I am definitely going to borrow it from you!! What a great metaphor.

A couple of observations.

 

This whole thing makes me sad, and I now really wish he hadn’t gotten an iM@S license. Hopefully it’s not an exclusive license for the characters. I really want a Mika, but I kind of don’t want it from him now. Kind of makes me feel bad for Mirai, because she really is a cute doll. I seem to recall him making a reference to how Mirai is representative of his business ethic, and that just went down the drain. It’s like she is now representative of an ass.

 

I don’t think you would see Volks representatives behaving in an indecorous manner like this.

 

Secondly, in looking through this thread I never got the impression that anyone was saying that someone who buys a smartdoll now is a bad person. These are vinyl bjds, and not blood diamonds or mink coats. I think the folks here get the difference. The parallel between Papa Johns and Danny is quite apropos.

 

Lastly, I’ve seen plenty of criticism directed at Volks by the folks in this thread. It’s perfectly legitimate to disagree with a company’s business decisions or design choices. I hardly think the criticisms I’ve seen directed at smartdoll are one sided.

The parallel between Papa Johns and Danny is quite apropos.

 

What John Schnatter said and what Danny said are definitely not that same thing at all. Not trying to pick a fight or anything, but that is not a good parallel at all. Schnatter is a racist while Danny acts a bit inappropriate on Social Media from time to time.

I mean the parallel of company heads acting like prats, and people boycotting the business as a result.

I mean the parallel of company heads acting like prats, and people boycotting the business as a result.

 

Omg, yes. I definitely see what you mean there.

I also think there is a parallel with brand identity, because both men are the primary promoters of their respective brands. Harm they do to their own image hurts the brand.

 

I just feel sorrier for Mirai than I do for pizza. XD

As someone who has also defended Danny before (in the Mika thread) and have seen some pretty "bad" behaviour from members in the SmD threads, I can see why Belpita thinks that there are members who comment just to say "SmDs suck". But I also saw said members apologize when they went a bit too far and were called out on their behaviour (such as Sniiksnak), so I don't hold any grudges or think that everyone is out to get Danny. I think most people just were expecting too much, because Danny showed promise and were disappointed, which is everyone 's right, same as when Volks picks something up, people hype, and then they fail to execute correctly (a good example is Sailor Moon and Luka, from recent happenings).

 

I agree with what the majority had said so far though. I don't want to support this kind of behaviour, and therefore I might just look into getting one second hand, maybe...

I'm not really commenting on whether or not anyone went too far, and I did narrow my defense to legitimate criticism of business practice or design choice.

 

I haven't read many of the threads here, so I have no idea if some folks have gone past the line of decency in their comments.

 

I'm just saying I've seen many of the same folks who criticize Smartdolls also criticize things about Volks and DDs. I don't think their criticism is one sided.

I've been reading most of the posts in this thread and was also a participant in the Smart Doll Lovers Facebook group discussion on the Twitter fiasco. I didn't say much but I basically think that it was very unprofessional of Danny to make such false accusations about Volks. I did see a lot of angry and defensive posts about how Volks was "bad" and "elitist" on Twitter and Facebook. He should've provided a direct link to Volks' page and their disclaimer. Both in English and Japanese. As for the company itself and his dolls, I already own a few and I'm still debating with myself if I want to buy more. I love the look of the dolls and the warranty he gives them. You just don't get that with Volks and other doll companies, however I really just feel ashamed of the way he's been acting online recently and how he constantly posts new products/ideas while abandoning those he's previously announced. It's really disheartening. I waited over a year for The Summer doll only for her to have a complete face revamp at the last minute. At the end of the day it's his company and he runs it how he sees fit, but he's alienating a lot of his fans and doll collectors alike.

Wow. . . . . well I missed a lot. Lol. Sorry for bringing this back to the top of the page without much to add, but I would like to include my two cents.

 

I never did get a response, just to confirm with everyone.

 

I still love the Smart Doll brand but the Dolpa comment greatly annoyed me.

Danny did put up that new calendar feature on his site after our email, do not know if it was related, but I thought it was a step in the right direction

 

Everyone is entitled to an opinion especially in a thread like this, lets just be sure to keep it civil. Not saying it has or has not been, just a gentle reminder from someone at the back of the room.

 

I agree with posts made on both 'sides' of the discussion that took place since I was away.

 

No one should be a wall flower because of things noted here. I am an expert wall flower for lots of reasons and I comment a lot even when people call me out. Only be a wall flower if you want to be.

 

I guess that was more than two cents. . . Well. . . I hope everyone has been having a lovely day!

Not to necro or anything but this was at the bottom of Danny Choo's recent Insta post with Prowess:

 

A group of people sent me mail saying something like “(name of doll company) gives us a year to save up after taking pre-orders and you should do the same.”

I was like mmmmmmkaaaaay.

 

I... can't help bit think he's talking about this? How many other groups of people have gotten together to send a joint message?

 

If it is this one, it's clear that he isn't taking the feedback very seriously. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Though this is still pretty much speculation. It's too bad if he did interpret the suggestions this way. I mean I guess if he's getting a lot of criticism this might just seem like more on the pile. But I guess he is considering some of the points, even if he did exaggerate the wording to make it seem more demanding rather than suggesting.

 

Sorry, I just find this so frustrating! I hoped that at least he took some of it to heart even without responding it, rather than use it to further the image of him being constantly bullied etc etc.

If he had just ignored it, I could assume that he actually cared but didn't respond...

 

 

That said, it does seem like he's making an effort to involve customers in decisions about who should be released first and such. So I guess group emails just aren't the best way to reach him.

 

Not to necro or anything but this was at the bottom of Danny Choo's recent Insta post with Prowess:

 

A group of people sent me mail saying something like “(name of doll company) gives us a year to save up after taking pre-orders and you should do the same.”

I was like mmmmmmkaaaaay.

 

I... can't help bit think he's talking about this? How many other groups of people have gotten together to send a joint message?

 

If it is this one, it's clear that he isn't taking the feedback very seriously. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Though this is still pretty much speculation. It's too bad if he did interpret the suggestions this way. I mean I guess if he's getting a lot of criticism this might just seem like more on the pile. But I guess he is considering some of the points, even if he did exaggerate the wording to make it seem more demanding rather than suggesting.

 

Sorry, I just find this so frustrating! I hoped that at least he took some of it to heart even without responding it, rather than use it to further the image of him being constantly bullied etc etc.

If he had just ignored it, I could assume that he actually cared but didn't respond...

 

 

That said, it does seem like he's making an effort to involve customers in decisions about who should be released first and such. So I guess group emails just aren't the best way to reach him.

 

I was going to post about this but was afraid that I was just jumping to conclusions! Yeah I find it really sad that this is what he got out of that message, especially with him recently posting these long rants(?) about how he gets so much hate but just meow lollolololol pew pews it all away. Lol.

With this continued behavior and those rants starting to read like a victim complex I've lost the respect I used to have for him.

 

With that said anything else I say is probably just ranting too...but I did want to add that the way he handled Gourai's rerealease was really bad and I don't really buy the "I got caught with my pants down" excuse for it.

I'm upset at how he took serious concerns and basically made them into a big joke. I was already not going to buy any of his things, but now I'm even more sure in that decision. How extremely disappointing.

I wouldn't know if he'd particularly aim that comment towards the joint letter but considering that he likes picking at the comments that he doesn't really get frequently instead of the bigger, pressing matters, it IS possible.

 

I don't think I'm the only on that feels like he's been making alot of 'I'm the victim here!' posts as of late? Like those lengthy posts about a small pool of customers whining about things that professional companies would usually know to ignore and not waste time on?

 

I dunno, I felt it, and I got bored of that category of drama so I sort of realized that reading through all of his posts now on Instagram is getting difficult

Did we even mention another company in the letter? I thought we specifically avoided any comparisons to anyone else because we thought this night happen. Maybe other people have been sending letters?

I also do no recall asking for a 'specific length of time' to save up for preorders, just that a little planning or for-warning would be helpful.

 

Also, some of his posts I actually liked for calling out the community. There are some very needy doll owners and it may be better for Danny to say 'be aware of what you are purchasing' instead of getting frusturated with another customer about returning a doll or demanding a replacement or whatnot (this does not fully explain what I think but it is too early to form good sentences yet, lol). This does not mean I think all his posts about that as of late are good. 3 posts would have gotten the point across, yet I think he is up to 6 and they get more 'whiny' as they go.

It is getting tiresome, yes. He has some good points and policies. It is cool that he shares them, but not when he has such a terrible attitude...

Childish/petty behavior, and then commendable actions such as introducing Valiant... Whiplash!

His company will not grow if he does not learn how to take/listen to (proper) criticism. Like, there will always be trolls, choosing-beggars, and toxic people. I'd hoped he'd be mature enough to be above them and not give in it... or take it out on others.

I think by "group of people sending me mail" that he meant a number of random people and not one single group of people. Nothing you guys wrote seems to match up with any of this so that's what I think.

 

As for the "saving up over a year" thing, it's an obvious jab at Volks pre-orders, something he has been vocal about way back when he first started doing his Smartdolls.

 

And in saying that, Danny pays much more attention to certain Facebook groups and Instagram than he does anything else. Most of the time when he is venting about people giving him lip or ticking him off, it's on FB. I saw a LOT of trash talking about his practices and especially the bag pricing on FB and I'm confident that is what he was referring to when he said hat about a "group". So I'd hold off on jumping to conclusions that he's venting about the group here sending that one email, I'm sure he's not.

 

Why he goes off and vents about all this publicly is still beyond me but one of these days it might really bite him in the butt.

 

 

 

Billy

That may be so, baldylox. But Danny does not shy away from bending the truth either...

I'll admit that the thought did cross my mind that he was referring to our mail but given that we sent it in May last year, I doubt that Danny would only comment about it *now*.

 

From what I've seen, when Danny does lash out, it's usually about something that recently happened e.g. his rant 'Beware of Smart Doll' with the Trinity photo was (in my opinion) obviously a reference to a member of the SmD Lover Facebook group who had complained to Danny about the asymmetrical eyes and faceup. So my guess is that recently, people have been complaining about not being able to save up for certain dolls (licensed dolls or soon-to-discontinued ones).

 

I just re-read the draft of the mail that we sent and we never mentioned anything about another doll companies or "saving over a year". We only mentioned that we'd like a bit more structure in his release schedule and tbh I think it has improved a lot over the past year.