The Facebook debacle & other issues

Lord...I don't know how I feel about this. I think there should be curvy or plus size options in the doll world, just like we need more skintones. But this is very delicate territory and I know this is going to wrankle some people. But as Yumeiro said, this prototype is laughable and why would you even bother to show this off when we can see full well that it's nowhere NEAR plus size...I just really don't feel good about this. But we will have to see I guess. 

13 hours ago, Emil said:

Absolutely agreed. While I understand this is a "prototype", it is wholly inappropriate in my opinion to say it's plus size. Far too many struggle with body image issues and this is the type of thing that will only worsen that. I don't get mad about things often but this is something that really does grate my nerves. In no way, shape, or form is this doll plus-size or pear-shaped. Sure, he's taking constructive criticism for once, but it's still awful to begin with. Ridiculous. 

Edit: to top it all off, as mentioned in the thread before, he's trying to market to *children*. What is a child going to think when they see a doll like this called "plus size"?

I doubt his tolerance for constructive criticism has grown over the years. And because he is aiming his market towards children, then this is a very slippery slope especially when dealing with body image issues. I don't need the scales to balance out that this would do way more harm than good. This is one of his most foolish ideas yet.

 

7 hours ago, Oculae said:

I don't often come to Danny's defense here, but there were a lot of comments on the post saying exactly that. For once he actually listened to them and is reworking the body to look closer to a ref provided to him:

It's a lot better than the first attempt, but we'll see how close he can get it to this.

Just saw that. I'm shocked that he was that agreeable to feedback and is listening. It will be interesting to see how he teaks the doll. I hope that if he is going to do this that he will do it correctly. One caveat if he does make a plus sized doll, not much of his designer stuff will fit. I love my DDdy, but it is frustrating to find her clothing other than buying specific sets from Volks (with a modded bust).

3 hours ago, Yumeiro said:

But I have a feeling it's gonna be the centaur all over again.

Oh gosh, lol. I can't get the sound of 'clippity clop' out of my head now.

20 hours ago, Emil said:

https://mobile.twitter.com/SmartdollLand/status/1645973123135848449 screaming

my g that ain't nowhere near "plus size" she still looks underweight 💀💀💀💀💀💀 dddy is literally more of a pear than whatever is going on there. 

edit to add img bc the twitter link didnt embed 

smd not so made to move Barbie.

I just saw the initial tweet about the prototype and at first, I didn't even notice a difference between the models. Then I read 'plus-sized pear body' and had to do a double take. 

Now, personally, I don't have any skin in the game. I'm not interested in plus-size and/or pear shaped bodies, so I got a good laugh out of this. Although marketing a body that is most certainly not 'plus size' as such - and to children no less is a concerning idea. I definitely hope that those who do want these types of dolls will get them and not.. well.. this first iteration. As others have pointed out though, there are certain difficulties with engineering and producing truly plus-size dolls that need to be considered. I'm curious to see where this goes, but I guess at this point we all know better than to hold our breath

I personally think that Danny is attempting to make a plus sized doll because he noticed how popular Mochi Ashi is and how little diversity there is on his doll line when it comes to body type. That probably stops people from buying more than a couple of dolls of his line because they all have the same body so it becomes kinda pointless.

As someone who has been looking for a non child chubby body for a long time, I really hope he succeeds. I initially had no interest in Smart Dolls because their bodies are very generic and same-y and I think DDs look infinitely better. They really have the variety going for faces and skin color though so it would be interesting to see a big variety of Smart Doll bodies too.

23 hours ago, Yumeiro said:

But that prototype is a joke. It's hardly bigger than standard SD BJDs.
And I get the issue with dolls with larger proportions - more material/cost, different weight distribution, lack of-/different mobility... So kudos to him if he actually makes something akin to the example pics. But I have a feeling it's gonna be the centaur all over again.

He has to think about clothes manufacture too. If he sells bodies that differ too much from existing proportions, he's going to need to make at least a few outfits, and deal with the inevitable "when is the plus-size version of outfit X coming?" He's not going to reasonably be able to make every outfit in both sizes if the plus sized one is a niche product.

Volks for example doesn't make shoes for Mochi-Ashi feet, they say to use SD sized shoes. They don't make pants for DDP, instead DDP just share kids clothes with MDD and don't get to use outfit releases with pants. Dynamites share outfits with the much taller SD16 girls. While these things are frustrating as an owner, I can get that they have to consider the market and make solid decisions for their business first. Their entire vinyl doll line shares clothes with super Dollfie for the most part, and only gets a few DD specific outfits through Tenshi-no-Koromo. Super Dollfie have thicker waists, and are sometimes bulkier, so the fits can be a bit off. 

In this case, we're talking about a proposed body that would need its own line of clothes. As far as I know Danny has yet to make anything that couldn't use existing clothing except that one line of 1/2 scale SmD that he immediately discontinued. 

2 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

He has to think about clothes manufacture too. If he sells bodies that differ too much from existing proportions, he's going to need to make at least a few outfits, and deal with the inevitable "when is the plus-size version of outfit X coming?" He's not going to reasonably be able to make every outfit in both sizes if the plus sized one is a niche product.

Volks for example doesn't make shoes for Mochi-Ashi feet, they say to use SD sized shoes. They don't make pants for DDP, instead DDP just share kids clothes with MDD and don't get to use outfit releases with pants. Dynamites share outfits with the much taller SD16 girls. While these things are frustrating as an owner, I can get that they have to make solid decisions for their business first and consider the market. Their entire vinyl doll line shares clothes with super Dollfie for the most part, and only gets a few DD specific outfits through tenshi-no-koromo. Super Dollfie have thicker waists, and are sometimes bulkier, so the fits can be a bit off. 

In this case, we're talking about a proposed body that would need its own line of clothes. As far as I know Danny has yet to make anything that couldn't use existing clothing except that one line of 1/2 scale SmD that he immediately discontinued. 

He's very busy with (some) Smartdoll Creators lately, so maybe he could make a few basics and then like promote a creator that can make clothing for the new body. Just like he promoted DallasDollCo for wigs for example. I dunno, I think it is great that he is listening to feedback and adjusting the body. There are surely solutions to the clothing thing. 

2 minutes ago, Sebby said:

There are surely solutions to the clothing thing.

Sure, pattern releases are an option too. Ultimately he's going to have to make some clothing, but it would be hard to make everything he makes in two sizes if there is no real market for it. If the plus sizes dolls become a substantial chunk of his business, then it's a different story. 

I have a feeling this is going to follow the path or Cortex if it comes to fruition. He said he'd be producing 1/4 SmDs but other than a few teaser photos, there hasn't been word about them since they were announced. I feel he sets himself up for frustration. If Smart Dolls are only made to suit his needs and wants and the product being them is an aftermath, it makes no sense to ask for anyone's feedback. It would be better for him, it seems, to make and finish a project rather than tease half a dozen different things and then feel pressure from expectant interest from buyers' inquiries.

7 hours ago, Sebby said:

He's very busy with (some) Smartdoll Creators lately, so maybe he could make a few basics and then like promote a creator that can make clothing for the new body. Just like he promoted DallasDollCo for wigs for example. I dunno, I think it is great that he is listening to feedback and adjusting the body. There are surely solutions to the clothing thing. 

Yeah, he's done that before after all. The tiger kigurumi and that dress with the "piet mondrian" pattern, for example, were made by others and featured in the shop for a while. So it'd make sense to outsource clothes-making to others to gauge the success of the body, and for his team to focus on clothes that can fit both types.

7 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Sure, pattern releases are an option too. Ultimately he's going to have to make some clothing, but it would be hard to make everything he makes in two sizes if there is no real market for it. If the plus sizes dolls become a substantial chunk of his business, then it's a different story. 

I heard he is going to release free patterns for em.

The second iteration looks better already:

But yeah, people (rightfully) assume it's DC himself sculpting.

The new preview looks a lot better! Honestly the original torso with new arms and legs would’ve been cute if it wasn’t supposed to be plus size (its just objectively NOT plus size). But this one actually is and the torso sculpting is nice.

Its so weird to me he still acts like he sculpts the dolls instead of just… crediting the artists he hired. Or at least not acting like hes the one doing it. Like this lack of transparency is pretty gross.

To be honest, for all the shit I've given Danny the plus sized doll is honestly looking pretty sweet so far. I'm glad he's doing it. 

10 hours ago, IgelFullmetal said:

To be honest, for all the shit I've given Danny the plus sized doll is honestly looking pretty sweet so far. I'm glad he's doing it. 

We do need a lot more plus size Bjd, and I do appreciate the initiative. But it’s not the first time that he started making and posting ideas he had and making everyone excited just to make it disappear affterwards. 

On 4/17/2023 at 7:50 PM, TVXD said:

We do need a lot more plus size Bjd, and I do appreciate the initiative. But it’s not the first time that he started making and posting ideas he had and making everyone excited just to make it disappear affterwards. 

I feel like DC is the master of having a heap of ideas, starting them, and then never really coming to fruition lmao

I feel the same thing

6 minutes ago, Vampurrr said:

I feel like DC is the master of having a heap of ideas, starting them, and then never really coming to fruition lmao

 

On 4/9/2023 at 2:45 PM, 3lysa said:

I miss the old Culture Japan blog, it was very useful for my first trip to Tokyo in 2014.....

OT sorta I swear I've seen Danny Choo at Volks shop at the reopening of Radio Kaitan were was a DD event it was full of DD owner (mostly men)

I watched a recent Japanese TV documentary about dolls. It featured mostly Volks, and some Azones. Many (most?) of the Volks customers interviewed were middle-aged guys (like me lol). Azones seemed to have more of a younger female following. Sorry I don't know what channel it was on (and the Bilibili copy has been DCMA'd).

I was a regular poster on Danny's original blog and it was quite useful when I was visiting Japan in 2007-10. I actually became his Facebook friend in the era before fan pages etc., but then he hit the limit of 256 or 512 friends (or whatever it was when they first set up shop).

Towa's sister was nearly a SmD, but that weird textbox where you have to put in why you want one put me off. He'd probably have cancelled my order because I said I already had a DD. Plus his disclaimer about his vinyl having 'birthmarks' in it put me off - Volks' vinyl colouration/composition always seems to be perfect. I'm glad I stayed with Volks.

On 5/19/2023 at 11:59 AM, Xiongmao said:

 I'm glad I stayed with Volks.

You can't go wrong with Volks!

On 5/19/2023 at 11:59 AM, Xiongmao said:

Towa's sister was nearly a SmD, but that weird textbox where you have to put in why you want one put me off. He'd probably have cancelled my order because I said I already had a DD.

Imagine canceling somebody's order just because they own a doll from the company you once praised then wanted to work with and is quite literally is the inspiration behind yours. Maybe he just doesn't want his's to be next to  DD for fear of comparison lol.

2 hours ago, puxlavoix said:

Imagine canceling somebody's order just because they own a doll from the company you once praised then wanted to work with and is quite literally is the inspiration behind yours. Maybe he just doesn't want his's to be next to  DD for fear of comparison lol.

Not defending Danny here, but has anyone ever actually had their order canceled because they had a Volks doll? I know there was the thing with "our clothes are meant for SMDs only", but for just owning one and mentioning it?

1 hour ago, Starwaia said:

Not defending Danny here, but has anyone ever actually had their order canceled because they had a Volks doll? I know there was the thing with "our clothes are meant for SMDs only", but for just owning one and mentioning it?

I didn't mention I had a dollfie the first time I bought a smartdoll, it was a long time ago but still. I only heard from stories so I wouldn't know. I really hope it's not the case.

He used to say that all doll were welcome in his store, when it was open to the public. But who knows what his stance is now.
Though I don't see why anyone has to specify what other doll-brands they have. Or why they'd have to be overly specific either.
Keep it simple (and vague)!
"Saw a review on youtube. Looks neat" "Looks like the best available doll-option for me" and so on.

As long as you don't say anything about using his products on other dolls, you should be fine.

Edited May 21, 2023 by Yumeiro

apart from the kid with the MDD getting denied, I cant recall for sure was there something similar brought up in the threads, but some accounts (stories that is) have been pruned from the threads for good reasons so cant check those.

But the trick with the purity test is that because the people who research and know about it, know how to deal with it, as yumeiro mentioned. So we probably wont get a result (for the lack of a better word) that way.

A clinical test is possible, but it requires a few things, for starters someone with excess capital, and something they might actually want from the store if the purchase actually goes through, since cancelling just for funzies is rude, and as we've witnessed will probably cause problems for other future possible customers.

But already since now I've mentioned a possible clinical test, its already invalid since "the secret shopper" idea is now disclosed to the public.

So yeah, in essance stay calm and buy what you want with level headed answers if necessary.

 

I will be buying from the Mirai store in the future as I'm itching to get my hands on the new evolve frame. Just waiting on excess capitail from a property sale. I have 5 DD's and my SmD zombie is currently wearing a DD dress so I'm guilty as charged but I will be sure to let you all know how it goes (or not).