The Facebook debacle & other issues

That makes sense, I forgot he was footing the extra cost for DHL. I know a lot of people do large orders to get free shipping too. 

2 hours ago, AmaFromEU said:

Also he still says that he can not quiet it because it was costly.

Sorry, I am assuming you mean "quit it" here.

My suggestion was based on a post in another thread where apparently Cortex will only be sold as kits from here on in. That seems to me to indicate that cortex didn't sell the way he had hoped, and won't be replacing vinyls. I stressed the "if" just because twitter and insta posts by an owner don't necessarily turn into official policy.

If that is the case he would still need to meet any financial commitments that were made during development of Cortex, and which he may have been planning to pay for through the reduced production cost of cortex. That is just a guess on my part though, and my point really was it seems to me like he may have legitimate reasons for a cost increase that have nothing to do with wanting to make more money from his goods. The DHL issue is another perfectly good reason.

--

Cortex may have been an idea before it's time. It seems to me like eliminating the downsides of vinyl, like staining or yellowing, would be a good thing, but the downsides of Cortex may have made it less appealing to consumers than Vinyl. It doesn't mean the idea itself was bad, but there may be better ways of realizing that idea down the line.

Honestly, the superhero line might involve expansion into markets that aren't really into the effort needed to maintain vinyls. I mean if you think about it, vinyl and resin dolls are a hobby that is a lot of work to keep up, and Cortex would be one way of offering super hero fans a low maintenance version of a DD sized hero character. I sort of saw that plamo(sp?) hair thing in the same light; guys who aren't into combing Superman's hair get a Superman figure with hair like a traditional action figure, and that increases your market for the dolls.

Edited May 31, 2020 by BeyondTime

17 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

guys who aren't into combing Superman's hair get a Superman figure with hair like a traditional action figure

Completely off topic, I would love to comb Superman's hair. 😅🤣 

2 hours ago, WorldofBJD said:

Completely off topic, I would love to comb Superman's hair. 😅🤣 

Lol,

I'm sure some fans would, but I think there are a lot of men for whom it would cross the line from "action figure" to "doll," and yes that's silly, but it potentially limits the market.

The simple reason for plamo is likely just that you can create styles not possible with traditional wigs, but I also think it was a smart business move.

Edited June 1, 2020 by BeyondTime

I may be opening a can of worms here, I don't mean to, but,, what do people think about his facebook statement where he compared smartdoll fans to the minorities of the doll world in relationship to the situation going on now? I'm sorry if this sentence made no sense  

Edit! Post is taken down now

 

Edited June 1, 2020 by RobynnDoesStuff
Messed up on the images, Danny took his post down

I saw that on Instagram and tbh it made me very uncomfortable. 

He actually deleted that post really fast from all his social media. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by Eiko82

I'm kinda glad he realized how.... off his statement was (unless this had to do with comments) and deleted it... but yikes. 

Oh I just saw he deleted it, thank god. He could really use someone for his pr imo ^^" this stuff is just,, not helping his image to say the least

...

Edited June 6, 2020 by AmaFromEU

I think I get where he was coming from, but the subject was bound to provoke a backlash under any circumstances and on top of that the timing was really bad.

I mean, the other post he made with the different skin tones holding eachother is done a lot better :') I don't think he'll receive any real backlash for that

Wow, you really think Danny is reading this thread? That's great. Hey Danny: Stop talking about boogers and stuff, it's nasty!

But also yeah I'm done with smart doll for good. Tired of constantly worrying if I'm going to get banned by this guy.

Edited June 2, 2020 by sunlightandtea

Danny is 100% reading this thread btw. He never blocked me when I called him out publicly on my IG. After I posted the ableist comment in here I got a block asap. 

I never really looked at SmartDolls until their new Semi-Real line caught my attention, but reading the stuff Danny Choo does and says has pretty much put me off the brand. It sounds like Smart Doll is more of a vanity project for one guy's ego than a proper company.

It's a shame that he can't realize how his inability to act professional has created a real PR problem for himself. 

Edited June 2, 2020 by Blueberrie

3 hours ago, Kitsooni said:

Danny is 100% reading this thread btw. He never blocked me when I called him out publicly on my IG. After I posted the ableist comment in here I got a block asap. 

For someone who constantly rants about not giving any sheep, he sure seems to have plenty of sheep to give 🤣

On a more serious note though, the amount of effort he is putting in to identify and block people is actually pretty unnerving. (Not in a oh-I-better-watch-my-words-so-I-don't-get-banned sort of way. More like creepy-eeks.)

Edited June 2, 2020 by bbotss

He posted an apology for his post yesterday and I can't help but feel that he missed the point as to why people were offended. 

What bothered me the most about that post was that he was comparing the treatment of his company by entitled customers and the doll community to how minorities are treated every day. You can't compare the two at all. 

Danny and his team do not have to worry if someone will harm them for just being part of Team Smart Doll. No one is gonna attack them in their home or on the streets for that. No one will be killed for it. At the end of the day, they can go home and enjoy their lives. Minorities don't have that luxury. So for him to compare his situation with minorities just made me feel sad and angry. 

I wish I could believe Danny will learn from this and educate himself on this issue. But I can already see the comments saying he did nothing wrong. So I know he wouldn't change.

4 minutes ago, Eiko82 said:

he was comparing the treatment of his company by entitled customers and the doll community to how minorities are treated every day. You can't compare the two at all. 

Yeah, this should not be about him or his company.
Sure he has multiple skintones and such to chose from - great inclusion. But the fact is, it's still taking advantage of the current situation, to market his dolls (and once again paint himself as the victim)....

Even his apology post is passive-aggressive.

Quote

I was told that I was making excuses for and encouraging racism, that I am only a doll maker that is not qualified to speak on the subject and that I should not use my products to highlight such issues.

By saying "he was told", it sounds like he is being forced to apologize rather than apologizing because he truly believes that he overstepped. Also, the part about him being "only a doll maker" is just screaming an invitation to his hardcore fans to praise and reassure him that no, he will never be "only a doll maker" to them, and that some people can be so sensitive!

It totally feels like he tried to take advantage of recent events to make himself and his brand look good with another "we're-different-and-misunderstood-but-I-will-stand-for-what-I-believe-in" post, not expecting it to turn out not-so-positive so he's trying to shrug it off as usual with another pseudo-apology. His fans will make his excuses for him anyway.

Edited June 2, 2020 by bbotss

He really did miss the mark with that "apology"..... I didn't see the post its self or the comments but as others have stated, the problem was comparing the struggles of his company to the struggles of poc.... not him being racist. Although, he absolutely can talk about those issues just not in the way he was trying to. Another thing it's really unnerving knowing that he could possibly be spying on this thread.... ( -I wonder if talking "face to face" would do any good?-)

 

1 hour ago, bbotss said:

he sure seems to have plenty of sheep to give 

 

NSFW - Profanity.

 

2 hours ago, bbotss said:

Even his apology post is passive-aggressive.

By saying "he was told", it sounds like he is being forced to apologize rather than apologizing because he truly believes that he overstepped. Also, the part about him being "only a doll maker" is just screaming an invitation to his hardcore fans to praise and reassure him that no, he will never be "only a doll maker" to them, and that some people can be so sensitive!

It totally feels like he tried to take advantage of recent events to make himself and his brand look good with another "we're-different-and-misunderstood-but-I-will-stand-for-what-I-believe-in" post, not expecting it to turn out not-so-positive so he's trying to shrug it off as usual with another pseudo-apology. His fans will make his excuses for him anyway.

I saw the apology and made the mistake to read the comments, fans were indeed calling people who deemed the post not okay snowflakes, haters, and bullies. I did not see a single person actually attacking Danny for this post, also not over here in this thread. I'm legit getting scared of the smartdoll community tbh, it starts to sound less like a doll community and more like a Choo cult. Ofcourse I believe he just, made a terrible oopsie by posting this and he had no ill intentions by what he said, but imo people telling him "heyo, that's not ok" isn't bullying him

8 hours ago, Kitsooni said:

Danny is 100% reading this thread btw. He never blocked me when I called him out publicly on my IG. After I posted the ableist comment in here I got a block asap. 

Let's start a Banned Club! XD I won't watch what I say just because someone gets upset when you don't kiss their feet. *waves at Danny and his fragile ego*

 

@BeyondTime I love that video so much!

FFS Danny, this isn't about you. Stop being a baby about it and direct your mob towards people who actually need the attention.

 

EDITED by Baldylox

 

There's no need to drop F-bombs here so don't do it again please.  Also there's no reason to bring ANY politics onto the forum at all.  This post was edited because I deleted the bits that were breaking forum rules.

 

Billy

 

The "only a doll maker" thing might fly, if people weren't sharing the statement Bratz dolls made about inclusivity and fighting racism all over the place. Huh.

Luckily the name I use here is not a name I use anywhere else so my participation can't be used against me. It's really a shame anyone even has to worry about that, though. Not cool.