Newbie Questions

Hi. I recently decided I wanted to get into DDs. I’ve had resin dolls for a really long time but I’ve always thought the DDS and MDDs were really cute. On the Volks website though their MDD fullest options are really limited Though. They only have the MDD リリル. Should I order it all separately and then send the head off for a custom face up somewhere?

thanks for your help! 💕

If you want to, I don't see why not?

I just have no idea how it works. How did everyone else start with their first doll?

I pretty much stick exclusively to limited character dolls. They don't necessarily stay as their intended character, but I find I never like the standard heads as much as the limited ones. Lately that has started to change with some of the newer heads, but in general I buy either a limited fullset or just the head and a body 

my first and only MDD was an Umineko character collab, and only major change on my part was her wig...and bust

When it comes to NOT copyrighted characters... Volks originals just tend to be one basic for each body type they have. So if you really want an original cute girl, start shopping around for face-up artists!
If there's a super-specific chara they've made that you do want - heads tend to show up aftermarket all over the place. At triple the price if old or very popular chara

Hmmm I see! Thank you for your input! It really does seem like the character models are much cuter than the standard ones! They’re not released that frequently though it seems? And limited dolls are hard to find on the second hand marketplace!

Also, does Volks offer a customising service like they do with their resin dolls with their FCS?

sorry for asking so many basic questions!

The main aftermarket sources for limiteds are Mandarake and Yahoo Japan auctions.

Since you're in Japan:

8 minutes ago, Sophiealicebear said:

Also, does Volks offer a customising service like they do with their resin dolls with their FCS?

Yes, more or less. Only at the Doll Point store, there is Dream Choice:

https://www.volks.co.jp/dolpo/dreamchoice/

Some of the stores also have D'Coord, which are premade dolls made from a selection of parts, and like Dream Choice there are some heads that exist nowhere else:

https://www.dollfiedream.tokyo/dd/model/dcoord/

1 hour ago, Sophiealicebear said:

It really does seem like the character models are much cuter than the standard ones!

There are also the option heads which you can have painted to your specifications. You can make a lot of really cute characters with Volks heads and each head can look really different depending on the face-up you give them.

1 hour ago, Sophiealicebear said:

They’re not released that frequently though it seems? And limited dolls are hard to find on the second hand marketplace!

Yes, they're fairly rare. Volks currently sells dolls in the following ways:

• Base bodies without a head in the different sizes and skin tones, and separate blank heads. This is the way to go if you want to build your doll from scratch.
• Standard models. These are "always" available in that they keep restocking them. They all have unique heads that aren't available otherwise.
• Limited Collaboration and Volks models. These are rare and are typically sold once at Dolpa events (once every couple of months), and then online a couple weeks after the event. Very rarely they do re-releases. To get the chance to buy one of these, you have to win a lottery draw because they don't make many.
• Pre-order limited collaboration dolls. They do this once a year. They're limited in that they do only one production run, but they open a preorder period around September and (eventually) fulfill all the orders they receive until they close the pre-order period, usually in December. It usually takes about a year until you get it.
• D'Coord one-off models are sold at stores in Japan, although I've never seen them in stock when I was there. They have a lottery for these at Dolpas sometimes.
• Dollfie Dream Choice is similar to FCS although the options are much more limited. It's a service at Doll Point in Akihabara that lets you make a doll using Volks standard parts & accessories (eyes, wig, etc), including a standard head (some extra heads too). But heads are pre-painted (they have 3 variations for each one) and they can be pretty cute. There are also some things you can only get via Dream Choice, such as boy bodies and tan skin tones. 

The Volks' Dollfie website is a good resource actually,

https://dollfie.volks.co.jp/dd/

Thanks for all this great information! This has helped me so much. I think I'll look further into the dollfie dream choice... or possibly just buying a body from Volks and then finding a custom head on y!a or somewhere like that. That MDD Dream Choice girl is so cute! I'd never heard of d'coord either. Next time I'm there I'll see if they have anything available. As cute as the standard models are, I think I'd probably regret not getting something that absolutely suited my ideal girl.