DDS Ranko Kanzaki 2nd Ver.

15 minutes ago, Beani said:

@Monty Weird. Was just coming here to post the photos I took yesterday of her but the umbrella wasn't there then. Guess they are changing it up. Those are much nicer photos than what I managed too ha..

Aw, you should post yours too.

Just saw this reply to someone talking about stain potential:

 

'At Dolpa, the socks started to stain within the hour! The sleeves were unexpectedly fine but I wouldn't let my guard down.'

Figures; Volks black socks, from what I read here, are notorious for that, especially those semi-glossy ones, and from the pics these look like they might be like that.

At least it's plain black socks without any frill or anything so maybe I can find a replacement, or also can try washing these 50 times lol.

Would a body suit work against the staining of the socks? I’ve heard of cases where stains make their way through body suits, so I just wanted to hear everyone’s opinions.

1 hour ago, Arara said:

Would a body suit work against the staining of the socks? I’ve heard of cases where stains make their way through body suits, so I just wanted to hear everyone’s opinions.

Given time color can bleed through bodysuits & protective caps.

I have put white socks underneath dark socks as a method of protecting the doll before. It's doable with some effort, but it depends on how tight the socks are.

When I put the tights that come with the Holy Night Grifter set on my Makoto I put a body suit on her first. I took me 20 minutes to get those tights on over that bodysuit. Other black tights I have, like Rin Tohsaka's or Yui Hirasawa's, were easy to put on over a bodysuit.

I would expect that something that is staining within an hour is going to go through any protective layer too.

3 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

I have put white socks underneath dark socks as a method of protecting the doll before. It's doable with some effort, but it depends on how tight the socks are.

I thought about this before, but felt there would be some issues with it. The socks underneath would add visible builk, and for ones that aren't hidden at top under a dress you'll probably either see the top of the socks underneath or there will be a bump for where they end underneath, also leaving an area that isn't protected. They might also stretch the outer socks so they're too loose if you wanted to use them without something underneath.

3 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

When I put the tights that come with the Holy Night Grifter set on my Makoto I put a body suit on her first. I took me 20 minutes to get those tights on over that bodysuit. Other black tights I have, like Rin Tohsaka's or Yui Hirasawa's, were easy to put on over a bodysuit.

I wonder in this case if it's also damaging the tights by stretching them out, and also, since it's making them even tighter on the doll, may make them more likely to stain anyway due to the pressure.

My main thing though is I dislike how bodysuits compromise the look so if it's not one I can completely hide I won't to use it. I remember @foo mentioning cutting them up which sounds good but I don't know if they unravel without sewing up the edges, which is beyond my ability and would also make bulky edges.

Anyway, for this case all that is why I want to either find other usable socks or try to make these safe by washing them. Unfortunately I don't even know where to get other socks or ones that don't stain. I know HDP I think it is makes really nice-non-staining socks but unless you can go to doll shows in Asia those are unobtainable.

 

24 minutes ago, cfx said:

I thought about this before, but felt there would be some issues with it. The socks underneath would add visible builk

Not as much as you might think. 
 

25 minutes ago, cfx said:

I wonder in this case if it's also damaging the tights by stretching them out, and also, since it's making them even tighter on the doll, may make them more likely to stain anyway due to the pressure.

Part of why it took me so long was me being careful not to stretch them. They are made from a very clingy material which did not help. 

As was mentioned in the Arle thread, the Volks Dreamy DD Blog has some pics of Ranko from Nagoya:

https://ameblo.jp/blog-dd/entry-12561093039.html

2 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

3 hours ago, cfx said:

I thought about this before, but felt there would be some issues with it. The socks underneath would add visible builk

Not as much as you might think. 

My impression may be skewed by the stuff I have. I have one pair of protective leggings that are made out of cotton like real t-shirts, quite thick in doll terms, so they work ok under pants but not anything that's tight like jeans. The only opaque socks I have that I've done anything with are ones like shown in my old forum thread and those add a fair bit of bulk especially on the back where the seam is. I think the other example that sticks in my head is those pre-lined tights I had that caused my staining disaster; those really looked unattractive on the doll especially at that seam because it added so much bulk and didn't really conform to the legs.

Edited December 23, 2019 by cfx

Some of the Volks store blogs now have pictures of Ranko:

Doll Point

Nagoya

That’s weird that they made these stain since Volks knows how to make non-staining black socks, and they do it frequently 😕 I would expect them to only use special materials that stained if they needed a specific look, or some kind of durability for stitching (?). Generally I’ve only seen black socks stain now where there’s elastics and threads involved. 
 

1 hour ago, foo said:

That’s weird that they made these stain since Volks knows how to make non-staining black socks, and they do it frequently 😕

Ok now I'm sad. 

Are any of the standard Volks separately-sold black socks non-staining? I believe I've read the semi-glossy ones stain...and I can't remember if they have others. If these with Ranko stain I'd like to find a replacement since they're just plain black socks anyway.

I have the Deep Blue Skirt Set (Beauty):

https://www.volks.co.jp/htd_osaka9/sumika_dc/

I haven't tried those socks on yet, but I don't think they are the shiny ones. I don't think they're as long as Ranko's though.

Edited December 24, 2019 by cfx
extra info

1 hour ago, cfx said:

Ok now I'm sad. 

Are any of the standard Volks separately-sold black socks non-staining? I believe I've read the semi-glossy ones stain...

Back in 2013 I bought the Volks semigloss DD socks and they were stain monsters, I had to throw them out. But I bought some semigloss for DDP and they were fine. The pattern nylons like these are also good,

I actually bought those in 2014. You should test them first. I stick a spare part (I bought some DD2 feet) to test them with. 
 

I also bought those ones she’s wearing there again recently when they were rereleased because after 5 years they were kind of frayed and worn. I haven’t had the chance to test them yet. If they’re nylon or polyester they won’t stain, but if they have threads to attach frill or elastics then those areas can be a problem. 

As feared, Ranko will be clickwar. Worse, she and Arle are both clickwar, and are starting at the same time. At least it's 3 hours after the clothing event:

https://dollfie.ec.volks.co.jp/category/D_191214_DP42/?__lang=en 

 

12 hours ago, foo said:

Back in 2013 I bought the Volks semigloss DD socks and they were stain monsters, I had to throw them out. But I bought some semigloss for DDP and they were fine.

I didn't know these were changed! The DD ones were rerelesed at the same time so those are probably ok. Volks Japan is sold out but USA still has them so I'll order those.

12 hours ago, foo said:

The pattern nylons like these are also good, I actually bought those in 2014. You should test them first. I stick a spare part (I bought some DD2 feet) to test them with. 

I have those; I bought them because of your pictures. I also have the flower-patterened ones; I guess those should be safe too? The flower pattern should be appropriate for Ranko. I can't remember if I ever bought the ribbon ones or the ones that look like "X"s on them. The DD2 feet for testing sounds like a good idea.

12 hours ago, foo said:

I also bought those ones she’s wearing there again recently when they were rereleased because after 5 years they were kind of frayed and worn. I haven’t had the chance to test them yet.

Thanks for reminding me they were coming out again as I'd like to get some more. I knew they were coming but forgot about them, and checking Volks Japan it's the upcoming after event.

Edited December 24, 2019 by cfx

Volks usa... i'm counting on you for a lottery! 

31 minutes ago, sweets said:

Volks usa... i'm counting on you for a lottery! 

Yeah. I wish they would say something soon, so at least we would know for certain that they're going to have her. I assume they will, but it'd be nice to have confirmation.

As for the clickwar, maybe there is some specific reason Volks Japan doesn't want to do lotteries anymore--the new website isn't set up for them, it's too much work for the employees, whatever. But I really don't get why they don't at least offset the starting times for the two dolls. They already do that between the dolls and outfits so it's clearly something they can do. From the Dolpa reports, it sounds like maybe there will be a good quantity of dolls so that it's not so hard to get one, but that doesn't matter when the website is going to crash from everyone trying to order at the same time.

@sweets, the expression your avatar is making seems really appropriate here, heh.

Edited December 24, 2019 by cfx

On 12/24/2019 at 2:33 PM, cfx said:

As for the clickwar, maybe there is some specific reason Volks Japan doesn't want to do lotteries anymore

It might be the whole issue with people not paying when they win, and the unpopularity of having to prepay with a card and then get refunded if you don’t win.

9 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

It might be the whole issue with people not paying when they win, and the unpopularity of having to prepay with a card and then get refunded if you don’t win.

As I've never participated in one of these lotteries before, I keep forgetting about the prepay thing too. I'm sure that's not only unpopular, it's a hassle for Volks. It might also not make them popular with their card companies or payment processor, since that is a lot more refunds than happen just during the course of normal business.

Anyway, I can understand about the lottery, but I don't have a clue why they don't stagger the time for the two dolls. They already do it for the outfits. You can't buy both dolls in the same transaction anyway, and if you do want both then you have less chance of getting both. And it's just going to make the website that much more unresponsive and likely to crash.

I wish we had news from Volks USA on when or if they'll have Ranko.

Found some cute user pics on this twitter:

They have some more, all around December 15th.

And another, in something cute that isn't black (edit: mentioned in another tweet this is an Azone outfit):

Edit: I looked, and can't find that on the Azone site so it must not be a current outfit.

Edited December 27, 2019 by cfx

The original Ranko release honestly never appealed to me, but this one has my heart all aflutter. I may need to make room in my family for her

14 hours ago, cfx said:

And another, in something cute that isn't black (edit: mentioned in another tweet this is an Azone outfit):

Edit: I looked, and can't find that on the Azone site so it must not be a current outfit.

https://www.azone-int.co.jp/?sid=otf302&ca1=&ca2=&ca3=&bi1=68&bi2=&bi3=&pno=18

Outfit ID#: FAO118-BRW

According to Hobby Search, this outfit came out October 2018 so you're right in saying it must not be a current outfit. 😭

I've had no luck trying to find this outfit as an in-stock item at an online store. However, it's possible for it to pop up once in a while as a restock at Azone or secondhand (sealed and new) at Mandarake. (I say this from personal experience with a different Azone 50cm outfit.) No guarantees but at the very least, you have the outfit info.

Edit: The image above says the item# is FAR-118-BRW, which is wrong. The correct item# is FAO118-BRW.

Edited December 27, 2019 by growcian

I need Ranko in my life. I wonder if this is going to be a pre-order, click war or lottery. I'm currently saving all my Christmas money for this beauty. 

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Rocco_Lombardi_93

1 hour ago, Rocco_Lombardi_93 said:

 

I need Ranko in my life. I wonder if this is going to be a pre-order, click war or lottery. I'm currently saving all my Christmas money for this beauty. 

 

It’s a click-war. 

Lottery would have been preferable, but I'll try and hope for the best. Good luck to everyone else going into this click-war! 

I'm happy that the dolls will be available later than the clothes; waking up at 5 AM is far better than 2 AM. I'm not getting any shifts that Saturday, so I should be able to spend hours trying for her hahah, though it would be nice if it worked out within the first two hours. 

4am ok here we go T_T

On 12/22/2019 at 8:02 AM, Monty said:

'At Dolpa, the socks started to stain within the hour! The sleeves were unexpectedly fine but I wouldn't let my guard down.'

I found a twitter picture that shows the sleeves appear to be loose lined (or maybe double-sleeved is a better description), and recessed so it doesn't normally show, which is why it wasn't clear from the outfit set pics from Volks:

I'm hopeful now that the outfit is relatively safe. Meaning that there's certainly potential from threads and things like the ruffle around the collar or the choker, but at least it shouldn't stain big areas of the body which is what I've come to hate the most having been through that experience.

With that new faceup I feel she no longer looks like Ranko.

Any rumblings about whether VolksUSA is going to run a lottery or not and when?

I have the money set aside, but I'm also starting to think that I'm probably done.  I've actually been looking at pictures of Ranko and thinking I don't like her faceup's eyebrows.  She's one of those where I like her set and wig but I guess I'm not sold on the face.  I find myself thinking maybe instead of shooting for Ranko just calling it a good stopping point and go bleed cash on something else for a while.