The Facebook debacle & other issues

I'll admit that I legitimately get nervous posting anything negative about Smart Doll, too -- but I'm in the unique position of not losing much if I get cut off, because even though I own five of them now, they're all secondhand -- I have been lucky enough to get some of the dolls I want without having to wade into the hornet's nest directly. (And I deal with consistently broken elbow joints as a result. If something is going to break on a Smart Doll, it's going to be the elbows, folks, let it be known.)

(Also if I get banned, let it be known that I have a diverse friend group on multiple continents willing to do me a solid. Try me.)

I want to get some of the ones on the store now- I'm obsessed with Reflection, I've wanted Sana for a dog's year, and I'm hoping to snag Infinity before all the milk girls disappear. But on top of not having the money to just spend several grand on dolls at the drop of a hat (or the capital and resources needed to start a new life, for that matter,) I just... oh I really don't want to give him money, y'all. I love Smart Dolls, I love that there are skintone options that don't require me to buy dye and pray, and I appreciate so much that they have a slot in their back for hooking onto a stand. There's so much to love about Smart Dolls!!

And yet.

Every time I go on the site and see Monday's lovely face, I proceed to read her description and my own smile falters. I see Danny compare working retail to modern-day slavery, and I hesitate on that "add to cart" button. I see him STILL continuing to go on about the wig and the shoes, and I close the tab, because I want to know about the dolls, not the petty grudges and long-winded diatribes of the person selling them. I make an effort to support companies and people I believe in, and I want to love Smart Dolls, I want to buy into the ethos of inclusivity and loving things not in spite of, but because of, their imperfections! 

But then I go to look at a bag of doll parts and Danny talks about a guy lighting himself on fire on a plane with a water-bottle full of petrol as a metaphor for "elite doll hobbyists" and I just. I can't buy into it. It feels so hollow and a bit unhinged if I'm being honest... no disrespect meant, but for me personally, that unnerved me. 

I'll still jump on secondhand Smart Dolls. I love these things in spite of their origins -- even if I feel... uncomfortable sharing them online, now, because they've become associated with so much unpleasantry (through no fault of their own.) But whether or not I break down to get Reflection or another girl directly, well. I wouldn't hold my breath.

Oh dear....I had no idea Danny wrote such things. The way he compares workplaces to SLAVERY is disgusting to me. What about factory and Amazon workers that have no other job to turn to? Or human trafficking...and actual modern slavery? Working in customer service, retail, etc. is hard work and I do believe workers deserve better working conditions, but making such a comparison just trivializes the atrocities that happened and still happens today.

I'm also pretty unnerved by Monday's description. Personally, I can't say I enjoy my major, social work, because it's emotionally draining. In my most recent semester, my PTSD was triggered and I threw up a few times because my studies are just that emotionally demanding. Am I going to give up? Absolutely not, I went in knowing that the road ahead is going to be painful but I care about what I'm doing. Does Danny think health care workers enjoy their job right now? No, many are having mental health issues and getting infected themselves. If they were to all walk out to pursue a career that they enjoy, frankly, we'd be doomed. They do their jobs because they care, and careers aren't always about being happy all the time. Honestly, even if I were to go into a field with my goal being to enjoy my work everyday, I can't even fathom it. Imo, that's why we have hobbies, it's a part of our lives in which we can enjoy after working hard for it. And to refresh myself after such an emotionally exhausting day.

I am by no means saying that finding a job that makes you happy is morally wrong or something, I think it's wonderful if a person's job is also their hobby. It's just that knowing the context behind what Danny said about the whole "slavery" thing it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. Overall, this just gives me all the more reason to not support his brand, which is still saddening. Also, I need to point out that I'm not judging anyone if they want to keep buying SmD products. I think hobbies are meant to be enjoyed, and for me personally I just wouldn't be happy involving myself with the hardcore supporters and directly supporting the brand.

@Mothiraffe I think it's ok to love Smart Dolls and still disagree with what Danny does or says. The dolls are lovely and I think that for most of us in the doll hobby, the dolls themselves are what drew us in the first place. It's not even like he creates them from scratch anyway since he has sculptors; it's just that the way he presents it makes it seem like he sculpted them himself (wasn't that why his first sculptor quit?). If you imagine the hard work the actual sculptors and designers put into each doll, maybe you won't feel so bad and keep associating the dolls with Danny, who's more the face of the brand. What I mean to say is, they're YOUR dolls now and probably a lot of hard work went into their creation, so please feel proud of them and share them online! ^-^

Edited May 19, 2020 by bbotss

16 minutes ago, SakuraRose said:

What about factory and Amazon workers that have no other job to turn to? Or human trafficking...and actual modern slavery? Working in customer service, retail, etc. is hard work and I do believe workers deserve better working conditions, but making such a comparison just trivializes the atrocities that happened and still happens today.

I'm also pretty unnerved by Monday's description. Personally, I can't say I enjoy my major, social work, because it's emotionally draining. In my most recent semester, my PTSD was triggered and I threw up a few times because my studies are just that emotionally demanding. Am I going to give up? Absolutely not, I went in knowing that the road ahead is going to be painful but I care about what I'm doing. Does Danny think health care workers enjoy their job right now? No, many are having mental health issues and getting infected themselves. If they were to all walk out to pursue a career that they enjoy, frankly, we'd be doomed. They do their jobs because they care, and careers aren't always about being happy all the time. Honestly, even if I were to go into a field with my goal being to enjoy my work everyday, I can't even fathom it. Imo, that's why we have hobbies, it's a part of our lives in which we can enjoy after working hard for it. And to refresh myself after such an emotionally exhausting day.

THIS is what Danny should write about. This is how Danny should encourage people.


I personally have found that if I pursue what I enjoy, as in do what I love for a job, I enjoy it less. I have learned that maybe it is better to have a meh job so that you have something to look forward to when off work, instead. (Sure, I would LOVE to be able to love work, as Danny paints it, but I just cannot see a lot of people being able to, not how the world would work that way...)
It's not wrong to motivate people with this. But he harps on and on about it specifically, and not the other side of the coin. It should not be relevant!

3 minutes ago, Yumeiro said:

THIS is what Danny should write about. This is how Danny should encourage people.


I personally have found that if I pursue what I enjoy, as in do what I love for a job, I enjoy it less. I have learned that maybe it is better to have a meh job so that you have something to look forward to when off work, instead. (Sure, I would LOVE to be able to love work, as Danny paints it, but I just cannot see a lot of people being able to, not how the world would work that way...)
It's not wrong to motivate people with this. But he harps on and on about it specifically, and not the other side of the coin. It should not be relevant!

I'm the same, I prefer to have a stable job with regular hours and benefits doing something that isn't necessarily enjoyable, but it pays the bills. If I try to monetize a hobby of mine, I end up hating the stress of it and quitting that hobby for a while until I've recovered. My job may be boring or sometimes stressful, but I still like it well enough to keep doing it, and I can look forward to my free time. So yes, I still don't like Mondays because I have to return to work, but I can't see how for me that would ever change, because work is work, whether you love the subject of your job or not.

@bbotss You're very sweet, thank you. I do post them from time to time- they're so photogenic, at the end of the day- but I need to get back into the habit. I won't let my displeasure with Mr. Choo bleed over into my enjoyment of doll hell if I can help it -- because you're right. The people actually producing, manufacturing, painting, and otherwise contributing to the creation of these dolls should be celebrated in spite of the frontrunner of the brand. They make good things, and that has nothing to do with the things Danny puts on social media. ^^

 

@SakuraRose I wish I wasn't aware of it, but following this man on insta has been taxing my patience. Sometimes he says such important information, updates to the shipping situation or how the Culture Japan team was weathering last year's typhoons. Things I want to know- I think Danny doesn't realize that many of his fans care about him and his team not just as creators, but as real people out in the world; he doesn't need to be so antagonistic towards the imagined sleights of randos on the internet, because most of the people he's protecting himself against are not his enemy. Far from it. I think many people here would have been potential customers of Smart Doll, if Danny himself hadn't put them off. I can say that I, personally, used to like Danny as a content creator and a human being before he showed his derriere in the digital space, and I'm legitimately remorseful that it's come to this.

 

Danny recently said something that I find very interesting, personally.

Quote

I don't want to continue to make everybody else suffer because of elitist hobbyists that swarm together to take pot shots about uneven weathered items or wigs which have bumps in them. I will just have to continue to deal with it by writing the usual long explanatory post in the hope that they jump ship and take some sympathisers with them. There are so many great doll brands out there - for the life of me I don't know why they keep coming back to Smart Doll.

(This is on the same page where he talked about people lighting themselves on fire, but I'll try not to focus on that atrocity in light of this much more interesting bit of bitterness. That said, Danny what the fuck.)

What I take from his statement, is that Danny views his detractors not as individuals with legitimate problems, but as a hivemind of people who have come together just to drag him and his brand, ostensibly because they don't want to see him succeed? I believe that by first dehumanizing those he disagrees with, he finds it easier to then lash out at them. He further makes sure to point out that it takes so much time and effort for him to try to convince people not to buy his products, which I view as a signal to his fans to take whatever frustrations they feel with Smart Doll (i.e. Danny Choo,) and direct them onto those who have vocalized their concerns, e.g. "If it wasn't for these people complaining, x would already be done- but because they just can't be satisfied, I'm forced to waste my time (and thereby your time) instead!" It's a very... clever way to shift the focus of blame from himself to his perceived attackers.

I want to add that I find it especially unfortunate that Danny is willing to publicly shame those who have Smart Doll issues. Danny has a significant social media following, and as we've all seen from youtube in the past, when someone with a fan following says "this person upset me," those fans are often galvanized to "protect" their object of interest by attacking and harassing the perceived "threat." The fact that Danny continues to bandy about "remember that time someone didn't like my doll shoes? Remember that time someone didn't like a wig?" in spite of that fact really bothers me, because things like that can do some real harm to people on the other end of the screen -- even when the person or persons at the source of the conflict never wanted that to happen in the first place. 

Danny continues to go on and say that he doesn't know why people continue to come back in spite of his "best" efforts (to dissuade them,) which I personally interpret as a sort of "gotcha"  towards that group -- "my dolls are so good, even the people who hate me buy them!" What he doesn't seem to realize- or perhaps does, and simply ignores, is that for every person that breaks down and buys a Smart Doll for whatever motivations they may have, there are others who see his behavior and never put an order in to begin with: like me. As I've said, I have a bunch of these in my house. I love them. I am reluctant to give Danny money to get more of them, however, because I worry that if there's a problem with my doll, he's going to tell me to send the whole thing back or worse, publicly name and shame me for not liking Six Finger Suenaga.

(I have actually had Smart Dolls break on me. I've been lucky enough to find replacement parts on the aftermarket, which is the last thing I feel Danny wants to happen -- because if parts finally become, reliably become, available to people outside of Smart Doll Land, if he loses control of the supply chain and people are no longer forced to go directly to him to repair their broken dolls, then he loses quite a bit of power to silence people he doesn't like. Because speaking personally, I can say I've kept my mouth shut just in case I ever do need to get replacement parts one day. I resent that I have to do that. I feel as though I am being a disingenuous customer when I don't tell a creator "hey, your elbow joints are prone to coming apart, I have had them come apart on three dolls now, I can repair them myself but if others have reported this it may be worth looking into their design!" Because as a creator myself, when I have problems, I WANT to know where they are and what I can do to improve, not just for the benefit of customers but just as a person who makes things, I WANT to do better! I used to be as thin-skinned as Danny seems to be about criticism, and it was awful. I still bristle sometimes and get hurt if someone says something I've done looks like a waste of celluloid, but I'd rather they tell me! But I digress.)

Danny's fond of analogies, so I'll try my hand at one to sum it up: If I was in the market for a new car, and I saw two car lots with equally decent cars, for relatively equal pricing, I'd go for the guys who don't pay much direct attention to me over the guys who alternately crow their superiority over other car lots and scream at the pigeons in the lot because one might, possibly, shit on a car.

 

also re: working, if I did the things I love as a hobby 24/7 I think I'd come to hate them. Not to get too far into a TL;DR about my Life Story(TM), but I... really dislike the ideal he espouses that it's only laziness and fear holding people back from their dream lives. For a variety of reasons. It's... kind of classist, and kind of ableist, and just very short-sighted overall to the reality many people are living with!

blog:

Spoiler

I have a 24/7 job as a full-time caretaker to my elderly father, who cannot live alone due to a combination of health issues. Before him, it was my mother and her family I came to care for; I had to drop out of highschool and graduated later than my peers to become a caretaker because those were the cards life dealt me. I have accepted my place in their lives, because the only other option would have been to abandon them to fend for themselves while I living on the streets, as a minor, trying to make a life in rural West Virginia where the only jobs are the coal mines and the walmart and where public services are more of a concept than something actually accessible, and where sleeping on the streets is 0F nights in winter. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did that anyway, because there's no one else around in our family to do this (they dead lmao,) and it's not like we have money to hire someone for it, and I am not about to leave my last living relative to die alone because he fell down. It's all well and good to encourage people to find their passion, to chase their dreams, to try and inspire another person- but you cannot do all that only to turn around and punch down on people for whom that has never been an option. Danny has talked about having a difficult childhood, and if that's true, I truly sympathise with him, I really truly do, like dear god do I get how that fucks a person up. But to come out of that and immediately turn around and say "I did it, so why are you failing to meet my standards?" Is disingenuous and just- callous, unspeakably narrow-minded and rude. 

(Sorry these posts are always so long, I don't post often but apparently I have a lot of thoughts re: Smart Doll vs The People's Court.)

tl;dr everything i like about smart dolls continues to be overshadowed by danny choo's speech bubble.

Thank you for sharing your story, @Mothiraffe. Danny's ideal of having a dream job is most certainly classist and ableist, and clearly comes from a place of privilege. It's not feasible for many and sometimes brandishing an ideal isn't inspirational, but hurtful in some ways. His whole Courage work rant/blurb was so messed up to me I actually needed to vent to some friends about it. They said it looked like the site was hacked.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there a time (maybe 4 years + ago or so) where Danny was very much willing to replace parts? I think I remember a person who had an issue with Eiji's arms and he just sent them a new pair and I think a newer version too. I liked him for that, and I'm pretty sure a large fraction of his current critics were fans of him as well...Why else would they even care to discuss SmD?

 

Thank you so, so much for your words, @Mothiraffe. You touched on things that make me uncomfortable in a much more eloquent way than I could ever say especially considering I do have things I have bought directly, and do fear being banned from buying any time I say anything that isn't 100% positive

@RainbowNanaki @SakuraRose Y'all are very kind fghfhggf,,, I don't uh. I don't particularly enjoy bandying about my personal experiences in public, but... I dislike even more the assertion that it is solely the fault of the individual where they end up in life. Simply put, shit happens.  Story re: that below, but I don't wanna clog up the thread more than I already have. ^^;;

Spoiler

 

My cousin was doing well in his life and career, and then he tw: discussion of grievous injury

Spoiler

lost his legs in a mining accident

and that, understandably, put a damper on his plans to put it mildly. There are many stories of people finding a path forward in spite of circumstances like this, and those people rule. But my cousin... was not able to do that. Where I live, in that time period, opiods were being given out like tic-tacs, and while his need for them was, understandably, legitimate, he ultimately wound up addicted to them as many have, and that ultimately took his life. Perhaps if he was not also dealing with familial issues at the time, perhaps if the incident had not dredged up old trauma, perhaps if many things had been different, he would still be here.

But that isn't what happened.

And to say that's on him is some abject bullshit. 

 

 As for Danny replacing parts, he still seems willing if you shell out for them (which is fine, imo! Parts cost money!) I inquired about replacing a broken part a while back, but then I found it on the aftermarket for far less, so I did that instead -- so I can say they have that going for them! But then, I don't think I've knowingly gotten on Danny's bad side, either, so caveat emptor... 

Recently Danny's released a bunch of dolls I want and it's frustrating. Hoping Fabric and Friends will pick them up if they don't show up secondhand |D;

Earlier Today (likely against my better judgment,) I decided to make a post on the Facebook on my concerns about danny's opinions on work ethic:

Image of the post here. I can't seem to put the picture in this post directly oops.

The responses initially were kinda mixed. Some people were adding on to what I said, however some just decided to tell me the whole "pull yourself up by yur bootstraps" thing disabled people like me have heard a hundred times. One guy decided to use my post to complain about sjws putting gay people into Disney movies (this comment had the 2nd most up-votes out of any response in the whole thread weirdly enough)

Finally, one person who I believe was either an admin or someone working for one commented that the Facebook group was not the place for these kind of posts, in which i responded that I was unsure where else to to voice these concerns, and that i was worried about being blacklisted for saying this.

I was subsequently banned from the group (or not, I'm not sure because while the group doesn't show up in my list it still has a check mark next to it, but when I click the button it shows up with a blank page. Facebook is garbage.)

I'm honestly really hurt by this. I know not to judge a product by it's fans but I don't exactly feel comforted by the fact that they don't seem to be open to marginalized people voicing criticism about the actions/words of the creator of their interests. I really wanted to get a tea Monday when she eventually comes out but I'm not sure if I even can anymore since I've heard stories of Danny blacklisting people for being "troublemakers."

Edited May 21, 2020 by IgelFullmetal

@IgelFullmetal I think you were banned, I'm sorry. Danny apparently left the group after your post, and I was halfway reading through the comments on your post when it just failed to load, so I think it was deleted. He did this too the last time there were complaints about the price of the Mirai Carry, and it is definitely effective because everyone rallies around him as the victim. He'll be back soon enough once they make yet another Danny appreciation card to show him how much they worship him.

Edited May 21, 2020 by bbotss
so much for not giving any sheeps lol

This really hurts, looks like I'm gonna have to look forward to him sub-tweeting about me and making fun of my concerns in his next personal story. I guess I'm just gonna have to wait until dollfie dream tan parts to come out so I can make my OC doll 😰

Edited May 21, 2020 by IgelFullmetal

@IgelFullmetal There was another post earlier this week about cortex which had the group up in arms. Danny probably couldn't handle the audacity of 2 non-supportive posts in the span of a week. He should take his own advice about not giving sheeps.

You could consider Dream Choice too if you're looking for a tan girl.

1 hour ago, IgelFullmetal said:

One guy decided to use my post to complain about sjws putting gay people into Disney movies (this comment had the 2nd most up-votes out of any response in the whole thread weirdly enough)

There is an entire movement around this, so it's not really all that odd. They use bots to scan for this sort of stuff and then upvote it.

 

1 hour ago, IgelFullmetal said:

This really hurts, looks like I'm gonna have to look forward to him sub-tweeting about me and making fun of my concerns in his next personal story. I guess I'm just gonna have to wait until dollfie dream tan parts to come out so I can make my OC doll 😰

You can order a tan option parts on the website right now, but if you want a full doll you will need to have someone proxy a Dream Choice doll for you. I don't think you can buy all the parts you need to make a full doll online, and tan parts will likely go back to store only when the shelter in place ends.

Edited May 21, 2020 by BeyondTime

2 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

You can order a tan option parts on the website right now, but if you want a full doll you will need to have someone proxy a Dream Choice doll for you. I don't think you can buy all the parts you need to make a full doll online, and tan parts will likely go back to store only when the shelter in place ends.

I can wait a few years for them to do a full release on tan DDs. Not like I can afford one now- I'm currently saving up for a new pc.

9 minutes ago, IgelFullmetal said:

I can wait a few years for them to do a full release on tan DDs. Not like I can afford one now- I'm currently saving up for a new pc.

As far as I know they are a DollPoint exclusive item, and there is no indication that this is going to change at any time in the future. We can maybe hope that they will decide to keep selling this stuff online after the Covid situation is resolved, but I think it's a slim hope.

The one thing that could happen is a re-release of Kanu, but she's DDDy iirc.

Edited May 21, 2020 by BeyondTime

🤔I have also been banned from the SDL group. I can't find it in my groups anymore and a couple of friends in that group have confirmed the ban for me. Which would be creepy because I have not posted anything apart from the infamous wig post and that would mean I got banned for my comments HERE.

Edited May 21, 2020 by bbotss
big brother is REALLY watching O.O

@IgelFullmetal I’m sorry you were banned. I think your post was reasonably-worded and should not have been deleted. 
 

I’m sure Danny/Smart Doll gets a lot of silly complaints, but it seems like the Facebook group is very averse to any kind of criticism, which rubs me the wrong way. I don’t think Danny is a bad guy at all—in fact, I think he’s most likely a really great guy and he seems to treat his employees very well—but the way he responds to criticism does seem unprofessional sometimes. Of course, it’s his company and he can do whatever he wants, but I hope he gets a PR consultant at some point. I love his dolls. Their diversity is awesome and their designs are lovely. However, the way he and the main Facebook group respond to criticism does sometimes put me off a bit. 

As of this morning, the Smart Doll Lovers group on Facebook has been archived.

Quote

James Davis

Admin

 

To the loyal members of the group.

As you know, we were leaving the group due to real life needing us right now.

Lisa had already left a few days back and I was going to hand this to a new admin next week.

However, having witnessed the recent troll posts, thinly disguised as ‘debate’ starting here and instantly being discussed in another venue, I can’t in good conscience hand this to another person. It’s just not fair to them to give them the stress that this group attracts.

To those who loved this group, I’m sure you understand the need to let this ridiculous ‘them and us’ fight die.

It’s not fair on those that just wanted some peace and it seems you can’t have it here.

I sincerely hope you can create something new or join other existing groups.

This group will now be archived, allowing you time to connect with the friends you’ve made along our journey together.

And with this we bid you a fond farewell.

In the spirit of Smart Doll, PEW PEW!

 

This is all so immature and TBH I would expect nothing less from the majority of the SMD cult.

 

Danny posted about his business being a sinking ship - yet apparently taking things people want away, writing a rant about it and pissing people off is the answer (why not just expand, people need jobs). If anything is going to sink his ship, it's his own unprofessional attitude and the horrendous cult he has formed. He is too careless and allergy to criticism seems to be apparent in himself and everyone. What he really needs to worry about is how his brand is slowly but surely being associated with this negativity... more and more - and no wall of text will fix that. 

Wait, so is the SmD Lover's group no more? Do they know about us? Also are they trying to pass valid criticism as trolling or peope being haters? How can they not see all of this is so wrong? So many questions...this is all so frustrating....

2 minutes ago, Mame said:

Wait, so is the SmD Lover's group no more? Do they know about us? Also are they trying to pass valid criticism as trolling or peope being haters? How can they not see all of this is so wrong? So many questions...this is all so frustrating....

 

Yes they are trying to pass off valid criticism as "trolling" which in itself is more immature than a lot of what the angry people could say. They can't see why it's wrong because they live in this weird fantasy world where everyone has to agree with them or be damned. I hate this. So much. They think they're the only ones who can run a group as if they're some kind of Facebook demigod

6 minutes ago, littlebirdzoom said:

 

Yes they are trying to pass off valid criticism as "trolling" which in itself is more immature than a lot of what the angry people could say. They can't see why it's wrong because they live in this weird fantasy world where everyone has to agree with them or be damned. I hate this. So much. They think they're the only ones who can run a group as if they're some kind of Facebook demigod

Was I really the final straw that destroyed the main SmD community hub? if so, this is NOT something I want to be known for tbh. Any chance i had to legitimately buy a doll from Danny's store went right out the window.

On 5/14/2020 at 4:46 AM, Mame said:

Yikes. What went wrong? Danny used to love Dollfie Dream and now he hates them with a passion. I wonder whats happened to the ones he used to have? 

I'm pretty sure that he sold all of his Dollfie Dreams.

My guess/theory is that before he launched Smart Doll, he contacted Volks to make a Dollfie Mirai Suenaga. We know for a fact that he met up with Volks in 2013 because he blogged about it. They probably turned him down and after that, it soured their relationship for good. 

 

EDIT: I'm actually shocked to see the SmD Lover group is no more. I know that the group hated criticisms of any kind of Smart Doll. But I never expected them to just pull the plug like that.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Eiko82

Just found out that the group is archived. I'm truly blown away by what little it took to make it shut down. It's not the first time Danny had a tantrum and left the group. He came back after all the 'we love you, danny' chanting. I had stopped posting in the group, because I didn't feel I could contribute anything any longer. I love my Smart Dolls, and I'm sad that all this and Danny's behavior...I won't get another Smart Doll. I can't. I wish I liked Dollfie Dreams better so I wouldn't continue feel like I could somehow justify another Smart Doll if one came along that I had to have. I'm worried about getting parts if either of mine break.

 

Why in heaven's name would someone shut down a group just because of a few opposite opinions? In the time I've been a member, I never saw anything said that was below the belt (but I could have missed it). When did criticism of a product become so detrimental? I didn't throw tantrums when I got a grade lower than expected on a paper in college or high school. Jeezum! I'm not privileged to be able to purchase a Smart Doll; Danny had the privileged to have earned my hard earned money.