DDIII Cracks

When I picked up my Sabers today at the shop, they checked them both for any cracks. When Nero was getting one of her arms pulled out, it came out a bit too easily. We looked in and there was a crack on the inside. Luckily there were replacement parts in store, so they switched out the upper body section. My Nero wasn't the only one that had that happen to, either.

Oh no O_O At least they had the upper body in stock! But really? How many other Sabers had this problem?

 

As far as I saw, it was mine and Max's. I didn't stick around too long after I got both girls.

When I picked up my Sabers today at the shop, they checked them both for any cracks. When Nero was getting one of her arms pulled out, it came out a bit too easily. We looked in and there was a crack on the inside. Luckily there were replacement parts in store, so they switched out the upper body section. My Nero wasn't the only one that had that happen to, either.

 

After you put her back together, did she crack again or do the replacement parts seem to be holding up?

When I picked up my Sabers today at the shop, they checked them both for any cracks. When Nero was getting one of her arms pulled out, it came out a bit too easily. We looked in and there was a crack on the inside. Luckily there were replacement parts in store, so they switched out the upper body section. My Nero wasn't the only one that had that happen to, either.

 

After you put her back together, did she crack again or do the replacement parts seem to be holding up?

 

I've just put an outfit on Nero and it looks like the replacement's holding up fine. After looking at the instructions on how to put on her default outfit, I don't think she'll be using it since it involves taking her apart.

Sheesh, I was really hoping these new Sabers weren't going to have these issues. But seeing as your Extra had a bad shoulder right out of the box, this doesn't bode well for me and others. I guess I have to take her apart and do a fine checkup on her to make sure I'm not screwed.

 

Thanks for the info tho, at least we know the replacement parts seem to be ok.

 

 

Billy

Mine was fine and had no cracks that I saw. The shoulder pieces were the newer ones with the grooves, though.

oooh kymaera sounds hopefull for the dp27 owners

The dd3 body on my recently arrived Sakuya has no signs of any cracks or damage. I can also confirm that her joint pegs also have those groves moulded into them as RaveOfNightmares had shown earlier.

My Saber Alter from Volks Korea was using the new shoulder peg with groove

My Saber Extra arrived today with both shoulder joints with cracks. Saber Alter seems to be ok though.

My Saber Extra arrived today with both shoulder joints with cracks. Saber Alter seems to be ok though.

 

I'm sorry about your Extra, Leadcrow. I was worried that this would be an issue with the Sabers.

My Saber Extra arrived today with both shoulder joints with cracks. Saber Alter seems to be ok though.

 

So does your extra have the new arm pegs with the grooves or the older ones? I figure that's the easiest way to see if it's the current design or the original. I'm curious if the new design is still breaking.

My Saber Extra arrived with a cracked socket

It wasn't apparent from the outside, but you can see it in this pic:

Her arms have the grooved post. The other arm is quite hard to move, not a surprise that the joint has cracked. I'll have to email Volks about swapping out this part.

I'm sad to see so many people's Sabers arriving cracked in the shoulder. I do hope Volks will make this right for all of you by replacing that inner torso bit.

 

I count myself very lucky that my Saber didn't have any cracks on her. And even tho she has the slotted arm pegs, I went ahead and sanded them down anyways to ease any strain in that area. Hopefully this will help keep her crack-free for a bit.

 

 

 

Billy

There's a small rip in the skin on the left shoulder on my Sakuya that's probably going to get bigger over time. Definitely looks like a manufacturing fault. Hopefully I'll get a replacement. Too scared to check rest of the internal structure now. Also gotta love paying premium price for defective product.

And another one bites the dust...

My Yukino v.2 has a crack in one of her leg joints, I had noticed her leg was starting to feel loose. She's only 3 months old and actually arrived from the Volks store with a broken shoulder piece (but they replaced that luckily). Anyway, I'm bummed that she has fallen to another cracking issue. :/

 

But, I am not disheartened, I still love my girl and DD's very much. Cracks, you can't bring me down! >

 

Also gotta love paying premium price for defective product.

 

Yeah and sadly there's not much we can do about it.

 

Her arms have the grooved post.

 

Does that mean those are the new and improved joints that aren't suppose to crack? D:

I don't have a DD3 body, but my original DDS body (from Marisa) has developed cracks in the shoulder sockets in the torso like folks are seeing with the DD3 bodies.

 

Strange that I've never had this problem with my older DD2 bodies. Seems Volks' quality control is going down :-/

My sad DDIII journey....

 

On the day she arrived, after being pulled out from her box, her arm fell off. Luckily at the time, she was still under warranty from VOLKS USA and the problem was more or less solved.

 

 

Now, only 3 months later, I have sadly discovered more cracks... but this time, there will be no replacement parts from Volks.

 

Her leg was starting to feel loose and when I inspected, sure enough, there was a rather large crack.

 

 

 

These two cracks I've only just discovered. I had read on this thread some people experiencing cracks within the elbow joints, so I quickly inspected my own DD only to be dismayed with my discovery.

 

 

I'm very frustrated, angry and feeling rather helpless.

Ugh, I'm almost scared to check my girls. I've got nothing but problem bodies in my house... Looks like I need to set aside a weekend afternoon for some serious peg-sanding activities.

After my replacement sockets arrived from Volks I sanded down both shoulder pegs and one of the leg pegs before I put my DDIII back together. Now, the leg joint is a little loose but I figure that's better than broken.

 

After I got the parts back I sent an email to Volks to ask them what were their recommendations for preventing further cracks. Here's what they said:

 

"To avoid issues in the future, we recommend not disassembling your

doll unless absolutely necessary. Many breaks occur accidentally during

disassembly.

 

Even though disassembly is much easier with the DDIII, we still recommend

using a hair dryer to warm and loosen the parts, to help avoid any excess

strain on the material.

 

You can also take some care when posing to not strain those areas. Although

the DDIII is more capable of different poses, it still has some limits. Make sure

that you get to know her so that you know where her posing limits are."

 

My problem seemed to be that the joint pegs were way larger than the sockets which is why I did the sanding.

My sad DDIII journey....

 

On the day she arrived, after being pulled out from her box, her arm fell off. Luckily at the time, she was still under warranty from VOLKS USA and the problem was more or less solved.

 

 

Now, only 3 months later, I have sadly discovered more cracks... but this time, there will be no replacement parts from Volks.

 

Her leg was starting to feel loose and when I inspected, sure enough, there was a rather large crack.

 

 

 

These two cracks I've only just discovered. I had read on this thread some people experiencing cracks within the elbow joints, so I quickly inspected my own DD only to be dismayed with my discovery.

 

 

I'm very frustrated, angry and feeling rather helpless.

 

Besides the places showed in your pics, there are other problem areas I should be aware? My doll will arrive in a few days and I want to know where I should look for cracks...

Just a thought, but has anyone tried using ptfe tape to hold a joint together

while using superglue to fix the crack? Thought it might be an alternative to a vice.

Just a thought, but has anyone tried using ptfe tape to hold a joint together

while using superglue to fix the crack? Thought it might be an alternative to a vice.

 

I've had to repair cracked areas before and superglue will NOT hold no matter what you do. You have to use an epoxy made specifically for joining plastics back together in order for it to hold properly. I've always used Permatex Plastic Weld and it works wonders. It runs about $8 USD and can be found in just about any auto parts store.

 

You can probably use that tape to help hold things in place if you want to but with the epoxy I mentioned, all you have to do is hold the parts together for about 4-5 minutes and then you're good to go. It starts to harden in 5 minutes and is permanently set after 4 hours. So I didn't have to use any vises or anything when I did my repairs.

 

 

 

Billy

My sad DDIII journey....

 

On the day she arrived, after being pulled out from her box, her arm fell off. Luckily at the time, she was still under warranty from VOLKS USA and the problem was more or less solved.

 

 

The shoulder joint on my Yukino v 2 snapped in exactly the same place, and I realized after careful scrutiny that the real problem is that the screw holding those parts together isn't long enough--it extends through one piece, then just barely grips the others together. Meanwhile the screw hole extends all the way through to the other side. I got a matching diameter 1.25" screw at the hardware store, replaced the screw, and now it's stronger than it was pre-break. I may go through now and examine all the screws to see if they need to be replaced.

My sad DDIII journey....

 

On the day she arrived, after being pulled out from her box, her arm fell off. Luckily at the time, she was still under warranty from VOLKS USA and the problem was more or less solved.

 

 

The shoulder joint on my Yukino v 2 snapped in exactly the same place, and I realized after careful scrutiny that the real problem is that the screw holding those parts together isn't long enough--it extends through one piece, then just barely grips the others together. Meanwhile the screw hole extends all the way through to the other side. I got a matching diameter 1.25" screw at the hardware store, replaced the screw, and now it's stronger than it was pre-break. I may go through now and examine all the screws to see if they need to be replaced.

 

Interesting. How long of a screw did you use?

I used a 1.25" screw.