Hello! Complete Noob in need of guidance...

25 minutes ago, Silky said:

Message me nicely and I may concider it. Otherwise not for your sarcastic attitude.  You can actually get free face ups from some doll sellers if you purchase a doll.  You been doing this hobby for 10 years wow!  And you still don't know anything... 

Well, aren't you a nice person? Someone asks for help and you refuse? Lol They tell you the experience they've had with artists and how much they've paid, my guess is you dont actually know anyone who actually does stuff at the prices you imply.

1 minute ago, CuteOne said:

Well, aren't you a nice person? Someone asks for help and you refuse? Lol They tell you the experience they've had with artists and how much they've paid, my guess is you dont actually know anyone who actually does stuff at the prices you imply.

Wow! There are so many toxic people here. I just suggested something and now I'm getting swarmed. Are you guys really into this hobby or are you here to keep trolling. 

Please stop! 

10 hours ago, Galvatim said:

@TheGildedStrawb, there's an Aoi 2nd head on Manda for 8,000 yen.  

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1117507442&ref=list&dispCount=240&categoryCode=020114&lang=en

 

 

9 hours ago, Galvatim said:

Sure, you can get a cheaper blank DDH-02 head.  The Manda listing is for a prepainted Aoi 2nd head with eyes, not just a blank 02 head.  

I think that's a pretty good price for a painted head with eyes. You can then order any F3 body from Volks Japan for about 250 Euro. Those prices should help with the VAT too. 

Personally if it were me, and that was the doll I wanted, I would snag that head and then save for the body & outfits.

You'd have the option of putting her on anything from an MDD to a DDDy, and maybe some folks with an Aoi head could show you some photos of her on some of the different bodies.

You'd still need clothing, but there are a lot of options out there including Volks own clothing lines. Volks tends to make very traditional Japanese styles of modern clothing, traditional doll clothing, and a variety of themed styles from lolita to schoolgirl to anime. They've done a lot of steampunk recently too.

DDS can wear smartdoll shorts too. I haven't tried them on DD yet, but I think they are a snug fit on the smaller DDS hips, so DD seems less likely to me.

Edited August 7, 2019 by BeyondTime

45 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

 

I think that's a pretty good price for a painted head with eyes. You can then order any F3 body from Volks Japan for about 250 Euro. Those prices should help with the VAT. 

 

A DD-f3 body from Volks will cost with shipping is 36,640 yen. Which works out to £284.69 British pounds. Which works out to €308,58 Euros. 

Once it arrives in the UK there is handling and Customs charge which Could be between 20 to 50 pounds. 

But let's just say she is charged £20 British pounds. The total price would be £304.69 which works out to €329.96 Euros. 

Where in her own country she can buy it for £290 pounds including shipping. 

Now please could you tell me how are you guys helping out? By getting her to pay more? 

16 minutes ago, Silky said:

Now please could you tell me how are you guys helping out? By getting her to pay more? 

I never said she must get the body through Volks. I pointed out that with the head in question she could get a body directly from Volks and the cost of an f3 is roughly 250 Euro. 

I could care less if she buys the body through Sakura Dreams, the point is ¥8000 is a good price for the head she wants with eyes. It’s then easy to get a body and pop the head on. She can then buy whatever wig and outfits she likes along the way. Frankly, she could also buy used items from the forum marketplace and probably save more money. 

If I tend to suggest the tried and true, it’s because there are fewer pitfalls for a first time buyer.

4 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

 I pointed out that with the head in question she could get a body directly from Volks and the cost of an f3 is roughly 250 Euro. 

 

But its nowhere near 250 Euro and here you say it again lol

My bad, I pulled the price for DDIII, and not F3. 

DDIII base would be about €250 for the body.

F3 would be about €290. 

Thanks to Gabriel for pointing that out to me. 

Building in pieces gives the choice of body, but the complete Aoi would've been DDIII so there's nothing wrong with the comparison anyway and I don't know what's going on here, other than what really seems like shilling for Sakura Dreams shop in this and multiple other topics, generally without even a mention of the fact it's a UK shop meaning it's not of much use to those of us who are in the US.

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by cfx

Blimey...this went south quickly.  It's easy to misinterpret what people have written.  Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but lets be civil to each other. I am grateful to everyone that has taken time to respond to me, thank you.

@Galvatim Thanks for the headsup (huh - just realised what I said :)) , unfortunately I'm not in a position to get it at the moment (payday is waaaay to far off)

 

@Yami Usagi thank you for that, i will have to practice my sewing, and then maybe...just maybe I too could do people sized clothes .  The Smart Doll seems to be a more "streamlined" buying process. 

6 hours ago, Monty said:

First of all there is no need to be so rude, especially in a thread for somebody who just wants help in this hobby and is currently being overloaded with information that is likely going to confuse them. (At least, if it were me, I would definitely be confused). 

8000 isnt cheap in the way that this entire hobby isnt cheap. If you want 'research', then here. When you add up all the components for Aoi (head, wig, animetic eyes, DDIII body, minus the slip dress which isnt available separately anyway), you are left with 6304 yen, so we can assume that's the value of Aoi's faceup. Adding that to the cost of a head, that's actually 10408 yen. If you think the 6304 leftover should also include the slip dress, I'd probably place it around 2000 yen myself, which makes Aoi's head plus a faceup worth almost 8000 yen exactly.

Secondly, if these puzzlingly cheap faceup artists exist, why wont you link to them or say who they are?  Again, 20 pounds - thats 24 USD or 36 AUD - is extremely low to the extent that I would suggest any artist offering it to value their time and effort more. Saying 'look them up' doesn't do anyone any favours. Most artists I have seen charge around $50-$80 USD, with popular ones charging much more. (In Japan, the average faceup -starts- at 20,000 yen, or at least thats how it was when I was living there and gathering intel for my own purposes.)

I'm not saying its a bad idea for strawb to do as you're suggesting - buy the parts from Sakura Dreams and contact a faceup artist in the UK. I'm saying that its likely going to cost more than what you seem to think it will. If price isn't an issue to strawb, then the convience of Sakura Dreams would come first, but that wasnt my point. However, 'getting a faceup' isnt a simple quick process either. You can't just 'get a faceup' like its another simple item to buy(unless of course, you want to do it yourself, but thats a whole other thing I dont know if strawb wants to even get into as a newbie). First you need to find an artist, then you need to see if they're accepting slots, and then you need to -wait-. Some faceups can take months to get through their queue and then take months on the faceup itself - they're all different with different terms. If I was a newbie, I wouldnt want to wait around in uncertainty to have my doll all together, I'd want to go the easiest route - although unfortunately that's no longer possible because Aoi is discontinued. But if the parts and faceup method is all this is okay with strawb, then sure its a good idea. I just personally think - given that Aoi herself was the one that they wanted - that buying Aoi's head would be the way to go.

Lastly, I say 'advertising' because, no offense, you have gone out of your way to mention Sakura Dreams in complete name and URL in most of the recent posts you've made on this forum including the one you just did now, so its hard to not interpret that as advertising. I don't think its necessarily a bad thing because its probably not a well-known store and I know a lot of people in the UK have been wanting a dealer due to import fees. If anything, it -should- be advertised, but maybe you could put the link in your signature or something. Your post made it seem like you were trying to divert strawb (or others) from buying from Mandarake in favour of Sakura Dreams. Maybe that wasnt your intention but with your other posts it read that way to me.

 

Anyway, I have a question for guildedstrawb myself. What is it specifically you like about Kanata and Aoi? Is it their stern expressions? It's made me realise that basically all the newer standard DDs have smiling faces... However, if what you like is their darker eyes and hair, remember these dolls can have their wigs and eyes changed. If there are other basic models you do like you could also buy a different wig and eyes for her. But if Aoi is the one you have your heart set on, it looks like you will either have to buy her painted head from that Mandarake listing (plus a body, and you have a few options on where to buy that - you could buy one second hand also from mandarake or one new from sakura dreams), or do as Silky is suggesting (buy all separate parts and find a UK artist to paint her - but I would research this option quite a bit). It all depends on how soon you want your doll of course. The only other option would be hoping to find someone who is selling their complete Aoi doll second hand, or having someone proxy-buy one from VolksUSA (although I'm not sure how expensive that might be?)

I think it is the expressions they have yes, however saying that, there was talk about a Kanata with more of a smile.  She's down as coming soon on the site.  I am actually thinking that I may not enter this hobby as I am not sure I'd spend enough time etc to justify the costs.

Regardless of the misgivings folks may have about Danny, his business is legit, and if you buy a doll from him you will get the doll you ordered delivered to you without issue. Don’t worry about the he said, she said stuff if your heart is set on Kanata. 

I highly recomend looking at owner photos here on the forum first. 

I also recomend reading all of Danny’s design philosophy, which he has prominantly linked on his website. Be sure you fully understand what he means by “weathered clothing” too. His stuff is nice, but walk in with your eyes open, or you may end up disappointed. 

The last thing I will add is his clothing styles are very hip and trendy, and they are not cheap. I have a pair of smartdoll shorts that I love, but just the shorts cost as much as a full outfit minus shoes from Volks. I have no regrets about buying them, and will buy a second pair at some point, but they are $$$. 

Edited August 7, 2019 by BeyondTime

2 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Regardless of the misgivings folks may have about Danny, his business is legit, and if you buy a doll from him you will get the doll you ordered delivered to you without issue. Don’t worry about the he said, she said stuff if your heart is set on Kanata. 

I highly recomend looking at owner photos here on the forum first. 

I also recomend reading all of Danny’s design philosophy, which he has prominantly linked on his website. Be sure you fully understand what he means by “weathered clothing” too. His stuff is nice, but walk in with your eyes open, or you may end up disappointed. 

The last thing I will add is his clothing styles are very hip and trendy, and they are not cheap. I have a pair of smartdoll shorts that I love, but just the shorts cost as much as a full outfit minus shoes from Volks. I have no regrets about buying them, and will buy a second pair at some point, but they are $$$. 

Yes I've read all of the guides on the site. You're right of course, the business is legit and I'll know when my order ships etc. There's a new Kanata too with a cute little coy smile 😊  If I decide to go ahead then I think I'll go the way of the smartdoll.

7 minutes ago, TheGildedStrawb said:

Yes I've read all of the guides on the site. You're right of course, the business is legit and I'll know when my order ships etc. There's a new Kanata too with a cute little coy smile 😊  If I decide to go ahead then I think I'll go the way of the smartdoll.

I'm happy you have chosen to go with smart Doll. Either way you wouldn't have been disappointed. I hope you get Kanata soon. She is very pretty.

I have ordered Mirai Cortex version because I like to build my own. 🙂👍

Alright that's enough of that.

 

I am locking this thread due to issues with certain people being rude to others.  I'm not naming names or anything here.  I will leave this thread intact because it does have some good info for the original poster to look at and check into.  But there will be no more discussion  here about this.

 

This thread is now locked and no more comments can be left.  I will be sending out some PM's to people concerning what was happening here so hopefully this won't happen again.  DO NOT start any more topics asking about what happened as they WILL be deleted by me.

 

 

Billy