The Facebook debacle & other issues

I own a few Smart Dolls, and have thought about buying one or two more, but with all that's happened this last year (especially these last few months or so), I've been leaning more and more towards getting a Dollfie Dream instead as my next one. It's frustrating that a few of the Smart Dolls I would be interested in end up suddenly discontinued for whatever reason, or get a surprise release that I'd be unable to get them at that time so I have no idea when/if they'll come back. And it really concerns me that if I have an major issue with my doll, I either have to contact the Smart Doll store and risk getting used as an example of a "bad customer who just doesn't understand our store/wabi-sabi philosophy" or just keep quiet and try to deal with it. Along with the fact that it's 'risky' to even  (for example) ask a harmless question on the Smart Doll IG page like "Why was  _______  released as/with _______ instead of _______?" is what's mostly keeping me from recommending Smart Dolls to others.

 

4 hours ago, sunlightandtea said:

 And what's even funnier to me is that they're hardly new dolls at this point! The difference between Challenge and Freedom is almost non-existent, or Clarity and Mirai. I get the feeling the reason we don't have blank heads is so that he can keep making the slightest changes to existing face-ups and selling people on entire new dolls.

Is it bad that I've somewhat started to refer to a lot of the newer dolls as a "Malibu Stacy with a new Hat!" (from The Simpsons tv show) situation, but replace "new hat" with "slight face-up change"?  I mean, yeah a lot of the older dolls have the same face mold, but at least I could tell "____ 's face makeup makes her look sweeter, while ______'s  gives her a sassy look/attitude."

I honestly feel like releasing all of these new non-licensed Smart Dolls is going to do more harm than good in the long run, if it hasn't already done so. Not too keen on the new pre-order system that he announced either, especially since part of what decides on a new doll being a main line doll is how many new customers buy it. Maybe it's just me, but if a lot of the dolls look the same, I can't imagine a good chunk of them will have a good "new customer acquisition" amount.

Edited June 30, 2020 by HanaLuka

15 minutes ago, Katsudon said:

Regarding customer acquisition, having a short preorder period is not going to help that. If anything, it makes it more difficult. It takes time for information to filter through.

Yeah Smartdolls are Luxury goods for most people. Once you get towards Upper Middle Class and whatever class is above that, not so much. For for the average Middle Class or lower person, SmD are definitely luxury product. And with most customer behavior studies, people take a much longer time to buy luxury goods because they often do more research, are at higher risk for buyer's remorse (like omg can i afford this?), and then there's the saving up for the doll too. With a 24hrs Pre-Order period, you'll get rich return customers, and possibly some new customers who just so happened to have $550 burning a hole in their pocket. The order period needs to be longer if he want's new customers tbh. Though one could argue that Danny's target base is Upper Middle Class+ people who can afford one of these dolls at the drop of a hat. I high key wish more marketing was done on the doll hobby cause I would love to see the demographic break-down of the customers. Especially for Volks and Smardoll

I feel not enough people processed the information that's bothering me the most. Personally, I would be fine with the 24-48h preorder period IF he wasn't, yet again, punishing us all and deciding that release dates are too good for him. The whole "I was late releasing Envisage because there were technical issues, but instead of warning customers and owning up to it, since some people dared to ask about her release being late, now there are no release dates at all because y'all wanna exploit my wokers" really, REALLY rubs me the wrong way. Why is it wrong to ask when a doll is going to be released, late or not?? Just say you don't know if you don't know?? Or say it's late if it is?? 

 

The doll hobby is a hobby of waiting. Most of us are adults, and used to having to wait months or even years for a doll. We can handle a message saying there were technical difficulties and to please wait a few days/weeks. There will not be an angry mob at your doorstep demanding that your workers do overtime, I promise.

 

I really think that having preorders appear for 24h without a warning will mean it will be mostly returning customers who will buy the dolls. The people who are already big time fans, on the wealthier side, who already spend a thousand $$$ every other month... The average doll hobbyist usually has to either prepare for release date and save up, or do a layaway, which he doesn't offer. And now he won't give release dates, either. :/ 

@LuluChan that's a good point -- if we were warned in advance, the pre-order period wouldn't be AS bad, but since we get no warning and a tiny window of time, I have a feeling the MAJORITY of his customers are going to start missing out on dolls they actually wanted and would have splashed the cash for. (Also, welcome to the forum!)

@MaKayla_Panda I know that Volks' main customers are in Japan with the US as a secondary (but sizeable!) market share -- and that apparently Danny's reputation in Japan has fragmented enough that the majority of his customers are Americans by a wide margin (I believe he said 80% in an instagram post, but don't quote me because it's possible I'm misremembering.) Volks also has the benefit of being so well-known and established in the hobby, of course, but... I think they're ironically able to get more market share because they do marketing and tell people what's coming and when it's coming in advance. It's easier to save up for a doll when you hear about it a year before the pre-orders open! Even if it's an expensive fullset, if you can save up for ages, that's a lot easier. I don't know... like... anyone who has 1000 dollars just laying around that they can throw down on something fun at the drop of a hat. But even I can get a doll if you let me pay it off in small chunks at a time or warn me that I have 10 months to save up! (Which is how I'm part of this hobby, because lord knows nearly all my dolls came on a payment plan. OTL )

Even a preorder WEEK would be DECENT, just- 24 hours isn't enough time for a bank transfer half the time. I can't drop 600 dollars on a doll at the drop of a hat. And even if Danny's trying to target the people who can do that... they're usually busy folx. They're not going to be hanging around on his every word for the chance he may drop a doll. I think if he had dolls stick around longer than a month, he'd realize a lot of them would sell much better- we're still in the Pandepression and many many people are still just beginning to recover from that, if they are at all. Disposable income is at an all-time low... I think now is the best time to be careful with money, on our end and on his.

(inb4 tHe tHiNg iN tHe WaY oF yOuR dReAmS iS yOu and "im not a coward and not a quitter and when others say stop i push forward" bc my god dude the thing in the way of most of our dreams right now is that 1/4th of people in my country are unemployed and even more are underemployed and a third of the earth's landmass has been swarmed by locusts for all you preach of being woke I'm begging you to have an ounce of perspective here.)

@Mothiraffe yeah I'm in a similar boat. Most of my dolls were bought on layaway, or were cheap enough that I could buy them outright without it causing me money issues (think less than $150 for a doll). I am definitely the "underclass" where I am XD so probably not the right market for Smart Doll lol. (Yup, we have an underclass and apparently I'm it haha.)

This is gonna be snarky... but is 24 hours even long enough for new customers to pass the purity test? XD If you're outside of Japan chances are your newbie test e-mail will arrive late at night. Oh god I'm going to get banned from the shop aren't I?

If we're not all banned already it'll be a miracle, @Katsudon.

(Which is so... shortsighted because like, we're the prime demographic of doll-buying public, the people here are guaranteed to be doll buyers because it is the fact that we own dolls that gathered us here today. And there's good business sense in serving a niche community -- you won't make All the Money, but you can make a consistent living if you find a community with needs and find a way to fill them. Acquiring new customers is important, but not if you do it by alienating your current ones as fast as new ones pour in. The whole international BJD community put together is probably smaller than the population of my state, honestly. It's the titular definition of cutting off your nose to spite your own face.}

Yeah, like if I didn't care about Smart Dolls, I wouldn't have an opinion! XD I worry because I like them, and was almost put off by all the surrounding stuff. I can't be the only one. I'm sure Danny would say he doesn't want customers like that... but really? I love my Smart Doll so much, and got so hyped over her arrival (as anyone can see in my thread about accidentally buying one).

Compared to when I got into the doll hobby, there's a lot more competition. I had a long break, and I was surprised by how many doll brands there are now I'm back, and a little overwhelmed. XD I do think Smart Dolls are something special, at least to me. Which is why being banned is so terrifying! Yes, I know they are 'just dolls', but I've had plenty of interactions with other makers without fear of being hit by the ban hammer. (Yup, even asking the forbidden "will this doll be out soon" question). So yup, I agree that the doll community is small, and add that the slice of customers available is smaller than ever too!

And there's not just fear of being banned and shamed by Danny. There's fear of being judged by the rest of the doll community for having a Smart Doll, because so much drama and junk gets spread around, it's a huge mess!

(Still loving my doll though. Still wanting another XD)

Edit: if I had started my youtube channel like I wanted, I would be less worried about being banned haha

Edited June 30, 2020 by Katsudon

Yeah. No matter how much I like Moment, Freedom, and Kizuna, the possibility of breaking them and not being able to get replacement parts stops me from pulling the trigger. Plus I’m probably already banned at this point. Oh, maybe we should make a club and get t shirts....

It'd be nice to know preemptively if I'm banned XD 'cos then I'll get a friend to buy me Singularity lol

(I started knitting a sheep plush because I give a sheep hahaha)

With a pre-order period, what about fabric friends dolls? It would help if they were included as well, as they offer layaway...
(but I don't know how on-top of things they are with releases)

I was almost tempted to ask them about availability of limited preorder dolls (though it would end up more expensive for me in the long run, 'cos I would likely get hit with more expensive postage and customs. But if it becomes the only option...)

The problem with Fabric & Friends is that it alienates anyone who's not on the US, and even then, you still have a markup on the price. If you're not on the US, hello shipping and tax charges... And it's not really a solution, either. This problem is artificial, and it blows my mind that we have to collectively get together to think of workarounds to give Danny our money (which I know he supposedly doesn't want, but still, I love the dolls and would like to be able to support them without having to walk on eggshells...).

Many people have given him feedback, on this thread and on his own social media. Let me put my tinfoil conspiracy hat on and say that from the beginning he wanted to do 1-2 weeks preorders but was afraid of the backlash so now he makes us ask for it. That way he seems like a good guy if he makes it longer, when it's what he wanted from the beginning. Conspiracy theory over. Take it with a grain of salt, of course.

To the person who welcomed me, thank you! But this is actually a throwaway because I don't want my warranties and orders cancelled haha ^^'

He's just trying to save face. From the beginning, he set out to be different from Volks and other companies, by proclaiming that his dolls will never be discontinued, will always be in stock and ready to ship, and there will be no time-limited or quantity-limited events like Volks lotteries and pre-orders. His ideal business model isn't working out, so he needs excuses for why he is now doing pre-orders and time/quantity-limited runs. Employee welfare is just a convenient excuse, and if you complain about his way of doing things, then you must be a hater who treats employees like sh1t, and he'll let everyone know it.

The problem is that his time/quantity-limited runs are even more of a joke than Volks events that cause their website to crash. Moonlight in the new cocoa was supposed to be released, but because the mold broke, instead of doing a lottery or making an announcement for a release time of the limited number of cocoa Moonlights that were made before the mold broke, he just put them up for sale on the website without warning. I was one of those who was waiting for Moonlight in the new cocoa skintone, and really did not expect the only run to be a limited one because no more would be made in future due to the broken mold. They were gone in under an hour. The same thing happened with Gourai; people knew she would be re-released, but the re-release happened without any warning and she was sold out even before people knew she was available. At least with Volks you get ample notice of any upcoming releases/lotteries.

As for why he is no longer announcing releases... I think it's to encourage impulse buying. He has buyers who can drop $500 for a blind box, so why not shorten the duration of pre-orders to increase pressure on his buyers? Sure, there are some who have to consider carefully before spending $500 on a doll, but I'm guessing those aren't his targets. His target market consists of the abovementioned buyers who don't mind spending $500 on what could be a rock, if only to prove that they are brave and embrace the idea of wabisabi, parents who can spend thousands on a doll and accessories for their kids, customers who can buy 2 of the same doll by mistake during checkout and not realize it until they receive the dolls and decide to keep both as twins because they're so cute (I kid you not, it really happened), as well as fans who don't mind dropping $2k for a prototype (Moment). Also, it's hard to resist the urge to purchase when you never know if this might be the only pre-order, since any of them can be discontinued anytime.

I find it highly ironic that he is now going the way of pre-orders, just like Vooooooolks and those "elitist bjd" companies he frequently derides. Also, if he were to release seasonal dolls? That's just like the seasonal skintones available in Dream Choice. Dear Danny, if you're reading this, there isn't anything you're doing now that Volks and other BJD companies aren't already doing better :)

55 minutes ago, bbotss said:

His target market consists of the abovementioned buyers who don't mind spending $500 on what could be a rock, if only to prove that they are brave and embrace the idea of wabisabi, parents who can spend thousands on a doll and accessories for their kids, customers who can buy 2 of the same doll by mistake during checkout and not realize it until they receive the dolls and decide to keep both as twins because they're so cute (I kid you not, it really happened), as well as fans who don't mind dropping $2k for a prototype (Moment). Also, it's hard to resist the urge to purchase when you never know if this might be the only pre-order, since any of them can be discontinued anytime.

 

Amen to all of this. I remember the person who posted about accidentally buying two of the same doll. That literally made me go 'huh?!'. His price on prototypes too...*shakes her head* He's not about money at all yet a lot of those prototypes where well above a grand a piece. It's all done in the name of doll love, right? 😕

This might be weird, but as his dolls are made in 3D, I don't get why he couldn't make a new mold for Moonlight. ^^; Sure it might require the masks for the faceup being done again, but it seems like just one of those things that can go wrong in production.

If it's a matter of welfare/time/space, rotating some of the lineup could be a good compromise? I said it before that some bjd companies do that quite successfully, sorry for repeating. (Example - I missed out on a pet alpaca doll as I couldn't justify the spending on a non-wishlist doll. But because the company cycles their products, I know in a few months I will have another shot.) It could be a good compromise to keep his core dolls in stock, and cycle less popular ones for those who want them. Especially as for most of them he doesn't have to worry about different body types. That way nothing has to be gone forever, and it could ease the load from having so many characters.

(I can totally understand wanting to make new characters. I am overloaded with project ideas XD so I sympathise. It's nice though if old stuff doesn't get abandoned though just 'cos it's old.)

I would give anything for him to make a new moonlight mold, she’s my grail and I’ll never be able to afford aftermarket pricing on her  

The only thing danny has over other companies are the skin tones. That's basically all he's coasting on. Evrey other vinyl doll company I can think of does better in basically every other category except for maybe staining. The minute volks decides "you know what, let's dip our toes into the dark skinned doll market", he's gonna be in for a rude awakening.

22 minutes ago, IgelFullmetal said:

The minute volks decides "you know what, let's dip our toes into the dark skinned doll market", he's gonna be in for a rude awakening.

This 1000x. The opportunity to get a dark skinned doll is the main reason that I'm still interested in Smartdoll. 

4 hours ago, LuluChan said:

The problem with Fabric & Friends is that it alienates anyone who's not on the US, and even then, you still have a markup on the price. If you're not on the US, hello shipping and tax charges... And it's not really a solution, either.

I didn't know there was a markup on the price.
But yeah, it is not a solution. However, not all companies offer layaway either. I mentioned them for those who'd benefit from layaway - if they'd offer the pre-order dolls.

Just because Danny doesn't care about "us", doesn't mean that we can't look out for each other - even if those that benefits, in this case, is only in the US.

Thirding this... I consider Volks 'sun skin' to be a bit of a Joke because you can barely tell the difference if they're not sitting next to a NS/SWS doll. Kanu is a little better, but Smart Doll has the better tan and the only brown and until that changes, unfortunately I'm going to keep buying them.  Dollfie Icon Tawny now, that slaps- for the love of god Volks, more like that, I'm begging you. And make a real brown while you're at it ;-;

I guess the other thing he has over Volks/Obitsu is male dolls, too, since his are slightly easier to get compared to the discontinued Obitsu bodies and the Dream Choice limited boys, but... given how rarely Danny stocks them, that's hardly a point in his favor either. Especially since Crimson is basically discontinued and the Cocoa boy seems like he will NEVER be released. (Maybe as Gemini? dear god give us something.}

Literally everyone wants Danny to rerelease Moonlight and the old cocoa skintone; the Kurenai sculpt is one of the most ambitious ones he's ever done because she has... cheekbones. He'd make a small fortune, but I know even if he did re-release her on some miracle, she'd be super limited, marketed as  "stock we found in the back" if advertised at all, and will sell out in under 5 seconds at a 2000 dollar markup. Because that's just how Danny does things these days, and it is a miserable customer experience. Does 'protecting your employees' require you to give all your customers anxiety that if they sleep at the wrong time they're gonna miss a whole doll release, if they're not already banned from your store in the first place... it's nuts the hoops we jump through just to try and give this company money for their products. It's such an unnecessarily antagonistic business relationship... it doesn't have to be like this! Yet here we are...

4 hours ago, MaKayla_Panda said:

This 1000x. The opportunity to get a dark skinned doll is the main reason that I'm still interested in Smartdoll

Also, if you are willing to put in the time and effort you could paint the vinyl and joints to be a new skintone. You would likely need an airbrush and proper preparation equipment but it could be done.

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by IgelFullmetal

11 hours ago, Katsudon said:

There's fear of being judged by the rest of the doll community for having a Smart Doll, because so much drama and junk gets spread around, it's a huge mess!

You will NOT be judged or shamed here!

 

8 hours ago, bbotss said:

Dear Danny, if you're reading this, there isn't anything you're doing now that Volks and other BJD companies aren't already doing better

*insert OH SNAP gif*

 

Twenty-four hours is WAY too short for a preorder. Period. And no announcement ahead of time? You're gonna sink your own battleship Danny.

As for the cost, yes, most of use don't have that much just sitting around. For example, I REALLY want a Dollfie Icon, but I have house expenses that have to come first, so I'm going to miss out (again), despite knowing that they were coming ahead of time. Also, I'm waiting for Sailor Venus and she comes before my house. I know I'm not the only person who has to prioritize RL purchases over 99% of hobby stuff due to everything that's going on and the uncertainly a lot of us are facing for the unforeseeable future.

Edited July 1, 2020 by kranberrijam

Did you guys see the Monday boy?

I'm legitimately disturbed. 

6 minutes ago, TithorArgentus said:

Did you guys see the Monday boy?

I'm legitimately disturbed. 

I think he's.... kind of cute lol.... the puppet type mouth thing is definitely weird haha. 

@TithorArgentus If not for the puppet mouth I'd be here for him NGL. I know Danny's trying to be 'cute' and punish his customers with this for asking about the boys 'too much' in his opinion (you want a boy so much?? well here, take this hideous one!) but like... ironically Monday's sculpt looks great with short hair lmao.

Why does Danny seem to resent the male dolls so much? Like he seems to actively be upset that he's made them, that people want to buy them, that they're popular. It baffles me how antagonistic he is about them. He seems to have only made them to cash in on the ability to make licensed characters, and does everything in his power to quash their availability, never markets them in his photos/vlog, barely ever releases them... I just don't get it.