Volks News 84

August Dolpa outfit and accessory pages are up:

• Abyss Black Designers Collection
• Personelle Collection Black Label
• Personelle Collection Blue Label
• Tenshi no Koromo
• White Rose Collection
• Shoes Boutique
• Accessories

I'm interested in the SD, SDB, and SD16 Abyss Black sets, the SB-SD-235 boots and maybe the white straw hat.

Minor griping: While the previous names were kind of weird and arbitrary, I preferred the old naming system on Designers Collection where each outfit had some descriptive name other than just the primary doll size; i.e. Deep Blue had "Smart" "Beauty" etc. plus a descriptive word like "pants" or "shorts" in most cases, so it was a little easier to distinguish what you were talking about. With Abyss Black, as well as some other recent ones like Dark Owl, every outfit is just "Abyss Black Set" with only the doll type distinguishing anything.

Fortunately I'm only interested in the Hat, bag, parasol, and the overalls.

I have the earlier tan version of that hat and it's nice. I like this one too but noticed the ribbon is dark blue which probably makes it not go with much that I have so I may just stick with what I have.

The brim on the hat is a little fragile; mine came with a dimple that it shouldn't have in it, but by kind of massaging it I got it back to the intended shape.

If they release that parasol in black later I'll want that version for sure.

As most everyone knows by now, these accessory items tend to sell out quickly in the clickwar, but I didn't have trouble buying that straw hat before so maybe it won't be so bad this time.

I’m wondering if its possible to dye that thing black.  

I had the same thought. If it can be disassembled it should be fine. Shouldn't be hard to redo the threads attaching the vanes, but I don't know how the endpiece is done.

Still, as with the now-white hat that was previously released in tan, I think there's a really good chance Volks will have this in black later.

For Ranko I think hers was black with white lace edges. 

Probably, and if Volks releases a black one I'd expect it to be like that. That would be a lot of work to disassemble and dye it to make that though, and you run the risk of damaging the fringe, or having it get stained since dyeing the material will probably be less stable than original material.

Volks should just release this whole outfit for Ranko, with the parasol.

If she ends up as a Best of the Best doll we might just get that. 

To me it looks like the parasol is made from the same kind of material as an actual umbrella, meaning you likely can't dye it since polyester type fabrics don't take dye well. Most tutorials for sprucing up a patio umbrella recommend painting them instead. 

When do the Dolpa things go up for sale because? I’m dying for those little flower sandals.

45 minutes ago, Sniiksnak said:

When do the Dolpa things go up for sale because? I’m dying for those little flower sandals.

After Event is August 31st Japan time. 

3 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

After Event is August 31st Japan time. 

Thank you! That’s so far away though. T.T

13 hours ago, Galvatim said:

Volks should just release this whole outfit for Ranko, with the parasol.

Let's see...

Stockings.  One glove.  Two piece "bikini."  Collar piece.  Hair decoration.  Idolm@ster tax...

$119

Parasol extra.  

 

36 minutes ago, Gabriel said:

Let's see...

Stockings.  One glove.  Two piece "bikini."  Collar piece.  Hair decoration.  Idolm@ster tax...

$119

Parasol extra.  

 

But the staining is free with purchase! 

On 7/15/2019 at 10:06 PM, BeyondTime said:

After Event is August 31st Japan time. 

Thanks, I needed to know this too. I have a mighty need for that parasol. Most of the rest is kind of. . .close but no cigar, but the PARASOL

Hopefully it won't sell out in 30 seconds...

Did anyone find any reference or link anywhere to this Volks News being online now?

https://www.superdollfie.net/dollfie20th/volkspress/

Relevant text: "As of May 31, 2019, we have stopped publishing the WEB version of Volks News. Thank you very much for browsing."

Edited July 20, 2019 by growcian

That's a shame. It would be nice if Volks USA started doing a thing like VIP Membership with a sub, but that does nothing for fans in other parts of the world.

My guess is either their access logs showed the web version wasn't accessed enough to justify the effort making it, or alternately sales of the print version were impacted to a level they weren't happy with.

Of course, when they started doing it there wasn't any promise it would continue indefinitely.

nnnnnoooooooooooooo 😧

I suppose it was introduced as something for the anniversary and if did run for a year, but...it’s weird it would just stop like that before the anniversary stuff has actually finished.(at least I certainly hope it hasn’t...) If it was only for the anniversary I would have expected it to run at least until the end of this year. 

6 hours ago, cfx said:

My guess is either their access logs showed the web version wasn't accessed enough to justify the effort making it, or alternately sales of the print version were impacted to a level they weren't happy with.

I'm going to guess the latter.  I've noticed the last few issues of Volks News were available for longer instead of selling out instantly.  I'm comfortable with concluding that their sales were down as a direct result of potential buyers waiting for the online version.  

It would be interesting to see what the print runs on a Volks News issue are.  Obviously it pays for it's print run and then provides a meaningful revenue amount if they're nixing the online version in favor of continuing print.  I seriously doubt it's as high of a margin as lots of their other products, but this move to preserve it as a sales item is very interesting from a puzzling out their madness sort of POV.

 

 

 

 

They would never have been making much of a profit on Volks News to begin with, given that its free for members in Japan. It does get delivered to you if you're a paid member, but thats only 1000 yen a year and has other features besides Volks News, such as gaining more points on the point card, some exclusive events etc. Free members can still get the magazine free, they just have to go to the store themselves to receive it. I dont think the overseas/non-member sales would amount to much (i honestly have no idea if non-member sales within Japan are even that common at all given the free membership tier, unless its back-issues), but I could be wrong on that.

As I said before I would gladly pay a reasonable subscription fee a year for online Volks News if it was earlier than 2 weeks after the print version comes out.

Edited July 21, 2019 by Monty

I know USPS Media Mail is fairly inexpensive, but nothing USPS is that cheap anymore, and since Volks USA always has the free shipping campaign for Volks News, they're likely not making much on it here either.

2 hours ago, Monty said:

As I said before I would gladly pay a reasonable subscription fee a year for online Volks News if it was earlier than 2 weeks after the print version comes out.

Good point, because once that 2 weeks happens, most of the doll stuff tends to be online anyway. I know the August Dolpa clothes went up at about the time the online magazine would have. If they did charge for it they shoudn't be against putting it up about the same time as the print version.