The Facebook debacle & other issues

I feel like I'm stuck in the Twilight zone because I'm pretty sure, as I surf this thread constantly out of habit, no one has insinuated that you're scum if you order a Smart Doll despite what is transpiring. I HAVE however, seen countless individuals actually ENCOURAGE others to continue with their purchases.

 

Regardless, as it needs to be reiterated 100 times every time new blood comes upon this, you are entirely entitled to buying your Smart Doll, and being thrilled to beans with your purchase. This is a good thing, it's a luxury item, and in these troubled times, dolls  are a source of happiness. New ones, even more so. Nothing really beats the feeling of getting something you like.

 

However, I hope you realize this thread isn't meant to deter you from buying a Smart Doll, however I feel that if a CUSTOMER, receives an email like what's on the last post of page 18, no matter the circumstance, they have every right to be angry, or just talk about it. That email was sent to a CUSTOMER, who had every intention of buying the doll. They are not a personal punching bag for Danny Choo, they are spending good money, and even if they got a refund, it is WASTED time, and WASTED energy. Two things you can never pay back.

By all means, if you have Smart Dolls, want to get one, or are getting one, please don't feel the need to silence your excitement, but also do respect that when people disagree with a person's behavior, calling it out isn't to boycott, it's because some people don't want to let bad behavior continue. And when people rant about their dislike for Danny Choo, please realize, some people HAVE had bad experiences with him, and all those voices, from an observer, or someone in the thicket, are equally valid. That's how I feel.

I have been searching for Justice second hand, and on mandarake, but not had much luck. Maybe she's not popular enough.

As a random aside, whenever I see children with smart dolls I feel... a bit odd. If the dolls are as fragile and breakable as Danny makes out, please don't give them to young children! There are so many more appropriate toys for kids that age. All the, uh bravado isn't quite the right word. Inverse bravado? Either way, it makes it impossible to tell whether his product is quality or not. It's at a quality price point, and all the dolls here look so wonderful! 

12 hours ago, bbotss said:

Also, it has been stated several times in this thread that it is ok to own and love Smartdolls. Most of us here still do. However, we can still admire Smartdolls while at the same time disagreeing with Danny's actions. It doesn't mean your doll is worth less or that you should trash it. That's exactly the kind of behaviour we want to discourage, because that's exactly the type of behaviour that Danny is promoting - that any person owning a doll which is not a Smartdoll is an entitled elitist who fails to admire the wabisabiness of his art.

Oh no O_O I hope Danny won't search for my e-mail and find my bjd collection haha. If there's a dolly purity test then I'll fail for sure XD because I also have a decent collection of Blythe dolls, and a few Ddung dolls too. (I have been collecting a looong time!) I just collect whatever I find cute. I mean, I have an anonymous name here to talk about smart doll, but it's easy to find me from my e-mail address. 

6 hours ago, bbotss said:

I was half-asleep when I typed my previous reply. Wrt your quote above, I would just like to add that in most cases, it's Danny himself banning people from buying and telling others not to buy from him. I still like Smartdolls and would love to get Athena and Moment, but unfortunately due to my failure to appreciate a wabisabi wig that doesn't fit on my Smartdoll head properly (much less hold the elf ears in place), I am unable to "buy [them] and enjoy [them]" as you have mentioned. I could have chosen to keep the wig and refuse the refund, but my ban was in effect the moment Danny received my email detailing the problems I was having with my wig, so it wouldn't have made a difference.

Oh no I'm sorry that happened to you. Especially if you have other dolls you wanted to get. Argh, was it really worth him losing over a grand's worth of custom over a wig that cost likely $20 or less to make -_-

@Katsudon Yeah buying SmD for children is a concept I can't understand. I guess if you're really rich or don't mind spending that much? No clue, but I'd feel pretty bummed when the doll (that's almost $700 in CAD!) breaks or gets dirty to the extent that I can't fix it. I would assume lots of kids would prefer their dolls to stay in good condition too.

Normally, I'd recommend getting a SmD, even directly from the store, because I think they're pretty high quality and rarely have issues. However it seems like Danny is gatekeeping (?) customers and straight up telling people not to buy them so...I can no longer give my usual suggestion. It just seems too risky to me. Of course you should still go for it if you really want to.

You can also try checking out DollyTeria every once in a while. Mandarake and YJA are great, but it's best to look at as many options as possible. They're run by the same company as ClosetChild, a 2nd hand jfashion store, and I've purchased from them many times in the past 4~6 years. Here's a purchasing guide.

Also, Danny STILL brings up the wig issue like every time he rants.

8 hours ago, SakuraRose said:

Yeah buying SmD for children is a concept I can't understand. I guess if you're really rich or don't mind spending that much? No clue, but I'd feel pretty bummed when the doll (that's almost $700 in CAD!) breaks or gets dirty to the extent that I can't fix it.

BTW - Just kind of curious about how he is towards parents who might contact him if their kids doll breaks. Has there been any issue for anyone to get replacement parts, really?
I don't think I've seen him be nasty towards anyone in that regard.

1 hour ago, Yumeiro said:

BTW - Just kind of curious about how he is towards parents who might contact him if their kids doll breaks. Has there been any issue for anyone to get replacement parts, really?
I don't think I've seen him be nasty towards anyone in that regard.

Yikes, somehow I never thought of that. I think when I was in the SmD Lovers group, it was said that you had to spend 10,000¥ in an order to get replacement parts. Or some amount like that, I just remember a person complaining over and over again (they have the right to complain, but it was getting too much for me) about how it's expensive and unaffordable to replace one wrist. I absolutely do agree that's too much to just replace a wrist though. Someone correct me if I remembered incorrectly, please and thanks! I don't want to spread misinformation. But I am certain about my memory of a person who complained a lot about replacements though. 

Of course, I have no idea how he handles replacement parts nowadays. 👀 I hope dolfun makes more SmD parts. 

Golly wowzers, those emails. I still really like my doll but yeesh! Here's to hoping I never have to contact support!

What Danny's been saying though does kinda worry me. I wonder if he's like, alright.

That's some nasty e-mails .......

He really need to focus on R&D of the doll, and hire someone handling PR and social media

On 5/29/2020 at 3:57 AM, SakuraRose said:

Yikes, somehow I never thought of that. I think when I was in the SmD Lovers group, it was said that you had to spend 10,000¥ in an order to get replacement parts. Or some amount like that, I just remember a person complaining over and over again (they have the right to complain, but it was getting too much for me) about how it's expensive and unaffordable to replace one wrist. I absolutely do agree that's too much to just replace a wrist though. Someone correct me if I remembered incorrectly, please and thanks! I don't want to spread misinformation. But I am certain about my memory of a person who complained a lot about replacements though. 

Of course, I have no idea how he handles replacement parts nowadays. 👀 I hope dolfun makes more SmD parts. 

Yeah, 10k - 20k. I had to order for 20k to get a new part for a doll, that was... March or April this year? I think it's a good option to still get replacement parts outside warrenty, as long as you need other stuff or can do a group order or something. 

Regarding the complaining person, I know who you mean and I must admit that I think the team got tired of them too because they kept breaking stuff. Some people even told them to be more careful. 

Edited August 6, 2022 by Sebby

9 hours ago, WorldofBJD said:

Yeah, 10k - 20k. I had to order for 20k to get a new part for Ky (his entire right arm plus frame), that was... March or April this year? I spoke to Ai-chan though, one of the guys that does most of the support-email replies. I think it's a good option to still get replacement parts outside warrenty, as long as you need other stuff or can do a group order or something. 

Regarding the complaining person, I know who you mean and I must admit that I think the team got tired of them too because they kept breaking stuff. Some people even told them to be more careful. 

I've also spoken to Ai-chan. Very pleasant experience all around there. 20K yen though for a replacement arm, damn. I have to do some long, hard thinking here

58 minutes ago, Deyja said:

I've also spoken to Ai-chan. Very pleasant experience all around there. 20K yen though for a replacement arm, damn. I have to do some long, hard thinking here

my eyes popped out at the price of 20,000 yen for a replacement arm.
was it for one? or a pair of arms? either way... That's a LOT

2 hours ago, Subaru said:

my eyes popped out at the price of 20,000 yen for a replacement arm.
was it for one? or a pair of arms? either way... That's a LOT

Hence me debating on whether I want to sell my Smart Dolls.

Am I the only one wondering about the large price increases on most items? It was expensive before and now almost everything is out of budget for me, which is super frustrating because I was thinking about getting another doll and can't afford to spend $100 on hands alone

I used to be part of the SMD Lovers group... and I don't know if I was blind... or it was covered up before I saw, but the drama that was supposed to be there? I didn't see it... and I'm NOT saying it didn't happen... but this is just appalling what has been happening.  I am new to the doll line, getting my first- and probably only now- second hand in February. A Gaia cortex, to be exact. 

I noticed some of the drama in SMD Lovers aside from Danny's uh... fits? His latest posts remind me of my three year old niece's tantrums, when I've seen nothing but love, and positive critique to his products. One that was critiqued was the fragile upper arms of the cortex bodies? I only recently found out that the material just above the elbow joint has a tendancy of breaking- and I checked today my Megumi has the fracture.

So I posted on the SMD Friends group about it, requesting tips on repairs for the part, and it got locked? The mod who locked it got in contact with me and was SUPER helpful, directing me to the Support channel for SMD, and while my response from them, I am concerned about.... and even checked with other mods and admins about the repair method that Danny suggested, to see if it had been used, and said from what they knew it was(Does anyone know if superglue will have an adverse reaction to the material?)

Either way, I find it horrifying because of some hardcore cultists, and the creator himself, that we have to be cautious of what we say or even what we ask.... I really wish I liked DD dolls more.

Super glue works nicely in my experience. I repaired one of my mirai's arms that way and its held fine. Unfortunately when I first built my cortex mirai I snapped that spot in the opposite arm and ended up damaging it further trying to fix it by using the wrong glue. I need a new upper arm part but with cortex selling out and the expected cost of the part it looks like she's staying broken for a while

4 minutes ago, Miabird24 said:

Super glue works nicely in my experience. I repaired one of my mirai's arms that way and its held fine. Unfortunately when I first built my cortex mirai I snapped that spot in the opposite arm and ended up damaging it further trying to fix it by using the wrong glue. I need a new upper arm part but with cortex selling out and the expected cost of the part it looks like she's staying broken for a while

Thank you. ;;w;; I really wanted to hear it from someone who repaired their doll with it. May I ask what brand did you use? Was it just straight super glue?

I believe it was either gorilla glue or krazy glue. 

I'm really disappointed with dannys attitude because other than that I prefer smart dolls sculpts and face paint way more. Theres very few dollfies I've felt really drawn to which is why I don't have one yet. But my god its off putting to see him banning people because he thought an actual product defect was "wabi sabi" and they just didn't appreciate it. Its really weird to me how he keeps trying to tell people not the buy his products and slapping 50 disclaimers on it, he's never gonna expand and just alienate more people if he keeps having this attitude. 

Whelp guys, I can say that at least someone on the SmD team is checking out this thread. I have been blocked from Danny's Instagram account and am betting I'm muted on his Twitter (no way to check). I have never once said anything on IG (nor even liked any of his posts). So I can only assume that I was blocked for my comments on this forum. Big Brother Danny is watching.

That or I was blocked for this post from 41 weeks ago, where I didn't even tag SmD, but had the gale to put the jeans on a resin doll, lol.

Edited May 30, 2020 by kranberrijam

9 hours ago, Deyja said:

I've also spoken to Ai-chan. Very pleasant experience all around there. 20K yen though for a replacement arm, damn. I have to do some long, hard thinking here

He's super sweet. Met him on Dokomi (Germany) a few times. He actually has Instagram (@ Alphond) and the most gorgeous Violet Evergarden doll.

8 hours ago, Subaru said:

my eyes popped out at the price of 20,000 yen for a replacement arm.
was it for one? or a pair of arms? either way... That's a LOT

I personally didn't find it that bad but that was also because I was already planning a big clothing order so I easily got above that amount. I wanted to get all the Tshirts lol.

It was for the full arm shell and the inner frame. 

7 hours ago, WorldofBJD said:

He's super sweet. Met him on Dokomi (Germany) a few times. He actually has Instagram (@ Alphond) and the most gorgeous Violet Evergarden doll.

Omg I had no idea Alphond worked for Culture Japan. 😮 I'm mind blown for some reason lol. Maybe because Danny strongly dislikes Volks but Ai-chan has pretty much a "celebrity" Dollfie Dream for lack of a better term. 

21 minutes ago, SakuraRose said:

Omg I had no idea Alphond worked for Culture Japan. 😮 I'm mind blown for some reason lol. Maybe because Danny strongly dislikes Volks but Ai-chan has pretty much a "celebrity" Dollfie Dream for lack of a better term. 

I don't think he strongly dislikes Volks dolls, but more the company itself? He used to have Dollfies himself too. No idea really. 

What a thread to find as I'm in the midst of purchasing my first Smart Doll. (not from the website, so there's no need to fear my order being cancelled). 

Nothing about Danny's response, as someone who has worked customer service for over 15 years, sounds like the frustration of a looked down upon worker. To the contrary, it reads like someone who is heavily disconnected from the life of the common man. I have been cussed out by customers, had misogynistic comments made at me, and here he is putting passive aggressive smilies and cancelling orders over tiny complaints. All I can think is spoiled, bratty rich boy being condescending to those he deems beneath him.

I still will enjoy my doll, and look forward to participating in other threads here, but I am gobsmacked. This is not normal.

On 5/29/2020 at 8:28 PM, Miabird24 said:

Am I the only one wondering about the large price increases on most items? It was expensive before and now almost everything is out of budget for me, which is super frustrating because I was thinking about getting another doll and can't afford to spend $100 on hands alone

If he is indeed writing off cortex as a failed product, then it makes some sense he would have to recoup the investment another way. 

Aside from that, I think the switching to DHL shipping during Covid-19 has a substantial part too. Supposedly he was footing the difference in the shipping bill, and I am guessing with the large spike in orders it was really hurting business. So I think with that, the demand, the shipping conundrum, and them having a harder time getting supplies due to Covid-19 is the cause for the mark up.

...

Edited June 6, 2020 by AmaFromEU