Dollfie Icon

7 hours ago, Monty said:

@Wasabi Keep us updated, I’m interested what happens. Sorry for the assumptions on my part. I didn’t know you did have a JP address attached which is good, but I’m worried about using the same card for both accounts (although I’m not sure if they check for this kind of thing outside of multiple accounts with the same card entering the same lottery).

No worries.

And I fully realise I'm not supposed to have two accounts. The only reason I had this one in the first place is because I messed up when I originally created my account. I set the country as Japan, not realising that you can't change that part of the address afterwards. I figured it was easier to create a new account than to contact Volks to change it. I never thought I would end up using it like this years later.

And just in case anyone is worried about that: I never intend to use it to enter a lottery twice. Because 1) I'm sure Volks would catch it. 2) if they don't and I would somehow end up winning twice that is more hassle than I care for. 3) I don't want to impose on the friends whose address I'm using too much. 

Probably a strange question but is it true that when you enter the Icon lottery Volks will deduct the money from your credit card immediately and refund if you don't win? My proxy told me that and it sounds so unusual, but I have never entered a lottery so far

14 minutes ago, pyoko said:

Probably a strange question but is it true that when you enter the Icon lottery Volks will deduct the money from your credit card immediately and refund if you don't win? My proxy told me that and it sounds so unusual, but I have never entered a lottery so far

Yes, that's been a thing for a few years. 

4 hours ago, pyoko said:

Probably a strange question but is it true that when you enter the Icon lottery Volks will deduct the money from your credit card immediately and refund if you don't win? My proxy told me that and it sounds so unusual, but I have never entered a lottery so far

Not sure if its any different for the Icons,  but to add onto what BT said about it being the norm now for lotteries in general - they actually do refund earlier than a losing result. It's more like a temporary hold that then gets released, and then you get charged again for real if you do win. (This is what happened to me with a SD lottery in 2020, and I've seen people report the same for subsequent lotteries - many were worried that the refund meant they lost, but it doesn't! ie I still won, and other people who got refunded before the results were out have also won)
From what I have heard this is only the international store and VolksUSA don't do this - you have to manually pay when you win. The international store started doing this around 2017 or so, I think (I think the SAO release of Asuna/Kirito might have been the first, or close to then). It's understandable why, due to how many people probably flake and don't pay, but it's also understandable to be nervous about it.

Edited January 19, 2023 by Monty

Thank you both for confirming.

Sad that so many people flake that Volks goes through that additional work. 

3 hours ago, Monty said:

It's more like a temporary hold that then gets released, and then you get charged again for real if you do win.

 

3 hours ago, Monty said:

VolksUSA don't do this - you have to manually pay when you win.

That's been my experience in both cases. 
 

With Volks international, all the credit card transactions seem to be temp holds that drop off, but a few weeks later the transaction shows on your statement. I don't think it's that they charge you again, they just process the paperwork to complete the original transaction. If you don't win a lottery, they reverse the hold. It might vary a bit from card company to card company based on policy.

 

It isn’t exclusive to Volks, many Japanese companies do this. I assume it’s to make sure your card actually works and has the details you provided.

On 1/16/2023 at 10:21 PM, Monty said:

@Wasabi Keep us updated, I’m interested what happens. Sorry for the assumptions on my part. I didn’t know you did have a JP address attached which is good, but I’m worried about using the same card for both accounts (although I’m not sure if they check for this kind of thing outside of multiple accounts with the same card entering the same lottery).

 

Update: attempt to enter the lottery has failed because... my VS membership is still pending.

Despite submitting everything on the 5th, and the order switching to "preparing shipping" on the 18th, my membership didn't update so I wasn't able to enter the lottery. Possibly my own fault because I didn't immediately want to send them an inquiry on the 19th (which was the deadline for applications according to the website). And then on Friday the 20th the website was under maintenance so I couldn't access the contact form until after business hours. RIP. Out of pure YOLO I clicked the lottery button anyway, but of course that didn't work.

Whether the VS membership is still pending on purpose, or Volks was just slow, we shall never know.
 

2 hours ago, Wasabi said:

Whether the VS membership is still pending on purpose, or Volks was just slow, we shall never know.
 

This right here is the most frustrating aspect of this...

I'm sorry it didn't work out.

On the plus side I'm sure the Icons will be back (especially since they only just moved to f3).  If your friend still lives in Japan, it might be better to have them enter directly, although maybe next time they will have a wider availability. I know they're usually JP/USA only, but I could have sworn there has been at least one instance of everyone being able to enter on the int store.

2 hours ago, Wasabi said:

Whether the VS membership is still pending on purpose, or Volks was just slow, we shall never know.

Sorry to hear this. I think Volks is just super backlogged with the anniversary and all of the events they’ve been doing.

I applied for VIP membership back in September and it took them TWO MONTHS to approve me. Like you, I wanted to order something exclusive to VS/VIP members and definitely would not have been approved in time if I hadn’t phoned them and explained the situation. Even then, they only gave me temporary approval so I could order the goods—the official approval took a few weeks longer.

For reference, it normally takes two weeks or less 😕

1 hour ago, Monty said:

but I could have sworn there has been at least one instance of everyone being able to enter on the int store.

At least one. I am pretty sure @baldylox won one of his Icons through the Japan store.

12 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

At least one. I am pretty sure @baldylox won one of his Icons through the Japan store.

Yup!  I won my Clover thru the Japanese lottery.  I had tried 3 times prior ( 2 US lotteries and one from Japan ) to get her and lost every time.  But on the 4th try on the Japanese site I was able to get her.  My Tawny was my first entry and win in the Dollpa After Party in the US on the very first release.  I got my Serra and Iris from Facebook sales.

And I maaayyyyy have adopted another Icon this past weekend.  Might have.  Maybe.  😉

 

Billy

16 minutes ago, baldylox said:

I had tried 3 times prior ( 2 US lotteries and one from Japan ) to get her and lost every time.

Ok, so at least 2 open to the west. 

22 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Ok, so at least 2 open to the west. 

Both were Dollpa After Events so they may not allow you to enter regular ones like the one they had this month.  That one you HAD to have a Japanese address for.  Or you had to have a proxy ready to enter for you.  Either way you couldn't enter if you weren't in Japan.  I was thinking they were open to all but they weren't.  I'll just have to wait until the next US based one to try for another girl.   

 

Billy

I dread to think how much an Icon goes for on the after market but I was lucky to get Lilac at the 2019 Tokyo Dolpa. They only had maybe 17 dolls there but somehow I pulled second place to choose. ^^ Would love another Icon but they just don't cater to Europeans for whatever reason. Disappointing they didn't open this lottery to Global membership. 

6 hours ago, archeotech said:

I dread to think how much an Icon goes for on the after market but I was lucky to get Lilac at the 2019 Tokyo Dolpa. 

Odd you mention that.  It all depends on which one it is and how lucky you can get.  I've won 2 Icons in the lotteries and the other 3 were aftermarket purchases.  Here's how those 3 broke down:

Serra with Romantic Gaze = $750 complete with box and outfit and paperwork.  Got her from Ebay as a BIN.

Iris with regular eyes = $1000 complete with box and outfit and paperwork.  Got her from Facebook.

Iris with regular eyes and on new DDF3 body with matching joints = $1225 complete with box, paperwork, an extra outfit and wig.  Purchased at a local doll meet from a friend I have bought from before.

 

I keep a close eye out for Icons that go for sale on the aftermarket not only to possibly buy one that I want but also to track their pricing over time.  So far they are gaining value no matter the release version.  Clover and Iris seem to be the most popular with Terra in 3rd and Serra right behind her.  

With my Serra from Ebay being the exception, all Icons seem to be hitting the $1K mark on the aftermarket easily.  I've seen a couple of Terras go for that and also a Clover and two Iris. But they're so limited in number that they rarely pop up for sale and when they actually do, they're sold almost immediately.  AsianEd and I have been following them since they were first available and we reckon that with this latest release they just had in Japan in January, the total out there right now is less than 500.  I don't mean of each color either, I mean TOTAL across ALL colors.  We think it's closer to 450 but there's no way to know for sure since Volks doesn't release numbers. We just calculated from knowing how many were available at Dollpas and seeing what was available and posted about after other lotteries.  Our best guess is that there's a minimum of 30 per release with a maximum of about 60.  So adding them all up across all releases so far using 60 as a high mark for each, that's less than 500 since they were first released.  That's pretty limited and makes these girls pretty rare.

If you're after one and see her come up for sale, do whatever you can to grab her quick because there's no guarantee you'll get one thru the lotteries. 😉 

 

 

Billy

With Volks releasing the Icon bodies with matching joints have any of the old bodies with the 'flesh' joints shown up on the market?

I saw a flesh-jointed Icon on Instagram when the lotteries were happening, no idea if she was sold. . . That is the only one I saw but I also have not been looking.

8 hours ago, yLLiS said:

With Volks releasing the Icon bodies with matching joints have any of the old bodies with the 'flesh' joints shown up on the market?

I'm wondering if the flesh joint icons will go up in value in the coming years, given that they will be the originals, and only made for a brief period of time. 

I feel like people would value matching joints over 1st edition/rarity points though, given the hobby.

And wow, I feel really lucky to have won a Clover first time now.

2 minutes ago, monkeypizzasonic said:

I feel like people would value matching joints over 1st edition/rarity points though, given the hobby.

And wow, I feel really lucky to have won a Clover first time now.

As an owner of several Icons (including two that I got at the launch event in LA), I decided not to buy the new bodies for any of them. I don't mind the mismatched joints and think they add a bit to the charm. 

Then again, I'm also the person who has a 20+ year old Volks resin that has all of its seam lines on it "for nostalgia"... 

I liked the Icons but I couldn't get over the mismatched joints... then after a few releases I caved and won an Iris. The minute VolksUSA made the matched joint bodies available I snapped it up... and got her a matchy-minty sister. XD Now I'm just trying to figure out if I'm keeping the old body or not... 

3 hours ago, yLLiS said:

Now I'm just trying to figure out if I'm keeping the old body or not... 

At the moment it is your only source of spare lilac vinyl. Some parts like the torso and bust will absolutely work with f3. 

The Icon lottery winning notifications should have been sent today. My proxy didn't get one, so I guess I lost. Or Volks is late at sending out notifications 🤔

Anyone already got their notification? 

 

On 2/2/2023 at 9:04 AM, pyoko said:

The Icon lottery winning notifications should have been sent today. My proxy didn't get one, so I guess I lost. Or Volks is late at sending out notifications 🤔

Anyone already got their notification? 

 

Didn't enter for an Icon, but for SD Marie. I didn't get an email either, so I'm going to assume I lost.