Volks SD - Disney Frozen Collaboration.

I think both Disney and Volks know there's too much profit to be made off this to just drop it altogether.

On 4/1/2021 at 12:53 PM, monkeypizzasonic said:

I think both Disney and Volks know there's too much profit to be made off this to just drop it altogether.

I wasn’t suggesting they would drop it; I was saying pre-order sounds to good to be true. 

On 4/1/2021 at 12:31 PM, BeyondTime said:

 

Totally agreed, but the pessimist in me says “sounds too good to be true.”

 

I disagree with this and I’ll explain why. 
 

Disney and Volks BOTH want money, and they BOTH know EVERYONE who buys one is going to *NEED TO* buy both. They’re PROBABLY telling so far in advance, giving us so much time, so we have even more time to save money up to get both. Which will earn both Volks and Disney an absolute fortune. They both want to milk this or the secondhand market will instead.
 

People paying thousands and thousands for them if they’re lottery only and super limited. I’d be one of those people if I didn’t win one or the other (meaning I’d only have to search for one lol). If I won none, I’d have to buy them aftermarket just like Rapunzel and Cinderella. 
 

First, a quick change of subject. There is a Disney Princess who is labeled as an unofficial Disney Princess. She has been in some Disney Princess collections but she isn’t officially one. 
 

Now, imagine if they made an Alice doll. From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland, if we go by Disney’s movie haha). 
 

I’d give my left (or right) kidney (or whatever other organ I can live with one or none of, or part, if someone needs a partial living liver donor transplant) for her, along with paying for all medical costs for both myself and the recipient, AND I’d buy the doll. I’d go so far as to do it all on a LOTTERY if they *promised* 50-50 odds, and before the results, even. 
 

I have the first edition copies of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and also Through the Looking Glass. Don’t Google prices because that’s about what I paid. They’re obscenely expensive but I love her, the story, and all the other characters, that I’d sell limbs or whatever if I had to lmfao. No, I’d just sell some bonds, stocks or options contracts. Seriously. I’d pay thousands and thousands... I would for Elsa and Anna too, but the chances of Alice being there is slim to none. I knew Elsa and Anna were coming. I also wouldn’t spend nearly as much to own them as I would Alice. I’d give 10 years of my life for her. 
 

Now I’m shivering with fear and excitement and idk what else lol. I want an Alice doll so badly I could scream. Lmao. 

On 3/31/2021 at 12:05 PM, demonmiko said:

Volks really seems to be taking their time with Frozen. It's kind of frustrating to plan around their releases.
 

I really hope they have Elsa as one of those pre-orders like what they're doing with the Dolpa 45 After Event. Lucia is calling my name.

Lucia... yeah. I totally understand where you’re coming from. Like, she’s one of the most beautiful SDs I’ve seen who aren’t based on something (like Cinderella) I’ve ever seen. The outfit is probably one of my favorite I’ve seen from Volks for SDs, and that’s the type of old fashioned style I love. My home is decorated with antiques because I love that old fashioned look. Lucia is SCREAMING for me. 

1 hour ago, Ui- said:

Disney and Volks BOTH want money, and they BOTH know EVERYONE who buys one is going to *NEED TO* buy both. They’re PROBABLY telling so far in advance, giving us so much time, so we have even more time to save money up to get both. Which will earn both Volks and Disney an absolute fortune. They both want to milk this or the secondhand market will instead.

the thing is you could also spin it that they are giving enough advance time so that as many people as possible could try for the lottery.

If these two companies were going for full bank money grab, Cinderella wouldnt have been a japanese only lottery release. Rapunzel sort of ended up as a footnote in the disney movie lineup, even though I sort of enjoyed that story more than frozen (Im weird, deal with it), But Cinderella is a more or less an established icon in the whole Disney thing.

When I actually took a good look at the Cinderella doll, after just having known of its existance, I was surprised at the whole aesthetic of it. It probably would have sold quite well to people who grew up with the classical disney releases, even in the western market, if just maybe given a push by the disney corporation -- But this didnt happen.

Slightly unrelated, but for instance Tokyo Disneyland isnt owned by the disney corporation, but the Oriental land company that licences the disney theme's for their own profits. -- So even here you can see the difference in approach on the japanese market with this sort of thing.

So to chime in with beyondtime, to best set your expectations on a lottery and be pleasently surprised if it is a free for all.

Edited April 3, 2021 by finnleo

 

11 minutes ago, finnleo said:

the thing is you could also spin it that they are giving enough advance time so that as many people as possible could try for the lottery.

If these two companies were going for full bank money grab, Cinderella wouldnt have been a japanese only lottery release. Rapunzel sort of ended up as a footnote in the disney movie lineup, even though I sort of enjoyed that story more than frozen (Im weird, deal with it), But Cinderella is a more or less an established icon in the whole Disney thing.

When I actually took a good look at the Cinderella doll, after just having known of its existance, I was surprised at the whole aesthetic of it. It probably would have sold quite well to people who grew up with the classical disney releases, even in the western market, if just maybe given a push by the disney corporation -- But this didnt happen.

Slightly unrelated, but for instance Tokyo Disneyland isnt owned by the disney corporation, but the Oriental land company that licences the disney theme's for their own profits. -- So even here you can see the difference in approach on the japanese market with this sort of thing.

So to chime in with beyondtime, to best set your expectations on a lottery and be pleasently surprised if it is a free for all.

(Rapunzel is my favorite official Disney Princess besides Elsa/Anna so I guess I’m weird too. I have the Tangled/Rapunzel doll though, so I don’t have to worry about her like the others).

I already sadly *expect* a lottery, but with how popular Elsa is with little girls even still, you should see my niece (I’ll post a picture of her holding the Elsa doll when I get her; since I’m getting her no matter where I have to xD But she’ll be so adorable and happy), I just can’t help but think they’ll do the unlimited pre-orders (but 1 of each). It’s more of a hope, but I have faith in it. Dollfie is my religion, and my God is not having to deal with Lotteries. 
 

Gotta have faitttthhh!!!

 

(P.S. I grew up with all the classical Disney releases. I’m only 31, and in love with Disney for some reason so you can see why I love Cinderella too)

Edited April 3, 2021 by Ui-

15 hours ago, Ui- said:

Disney and Volks BOTH want money

Volks and Disney are making money on a totally different scale. For Disney the Frozen franchise is worth billions of dollars in revenue. One article I read claims merchandising alone raised 107 billion, but Wikipedia gives a more modest 10 billion estimate.

I really question the 107 billion number, but here is the source. I suppose the difference might be total revenue vs. Disney’s cut of that revenue. 

https://blog.mywallst.com/how-much-can-frozen-ii-make-for-disney/

The Wall Street Journal has predicted that Frozen’s growth has positioned it to become the world’s largest franchise, and as a brand it’s expected to last into the next century.

So let’s say Volks sells 1000 dolls, each with a $200 licensing fee, thats $200,000 in revenue for Disney, which is little more than a drop in the bucket to the 10 billion number. 10,000 dolls would take that to 2 million, which although a nice chunk of change, is still a drop in the bucket. Could Volks produce 10,000 hand painted dolls with handmade outfits in a short span of time though? 

In contrast, by November 2014 three million Anna & Elsa dresses had been sold. Assuming this is the same $30 dress you can get from Target, that’s $90,000,000 in revenue from one product in one year. If the license fee is only 10% of that amount, you’re talking 9 mil in revenue for Disney.

I’ll give you one totally crazy thing Volks could do, but I’ll stress that this is highly unlikely. Anna and Elsa could be made into a new line of licensed standards, with batches of dolls produced and sold on a regular basis. I don’t think this will happen for the simple reason that this isn’t really Volks business model for limited dolls, but the nature of the Frozen franchise would certainly seem to support this type of sales model.

AFAIK only Saber & Miku have gotten anything close to that kind of treatment, and even those releases aren’t the same doll each time. (We don’t know how the sale of Mikus at Vocaloid events was made possible. I.e. extra dolls from an initial run, or an ongoing production license.) There is also a reasonable question as to whether or not a 60cm tall $1100 doll will have anywhere near the demand that the $10 or $100 dolls have. IIRC, Volks doesn’t sell to small children, and their minimum age for purchase is in the mid teens.

What Volks does bring to the table is their status as a luxury brand, but I am pretty sure Frozen is a much bigger deal for Volks than Volks SD are for Disney from a revenue standpoint. I would think that the creators of Frozen will be tickled pink by the release of these dolls though.

There is no doubt in my mind that Volks is doing something different with Frozen. Their early announcement, and simultaneous launch of the Volks Japan & USA Frozen sites would seem to indicate that this release will be special in some way. We just don’t know what the difference will be yet. 
 

15 hours ago, Ui- said:

and they BOTH know EVERYONE who buys one is going to *NEED TO* buy both.

I need Elsa and want Anna. I like Anna, but not as much as Elsa. If it is clickwar, Elsa’s going in the cart first, and I’ll come back around for Anna. That isn’t to say I wouldn’t love Anna to death, but if I have to prioritize it’s gonna be Elsa. 
 

15 hours ago, Ui- said:

Now, imagine if they made an Alice doll.

I wouldn’t give up on Alice, she is a very logical doll to make. She’s also in the public domain, so AFAIK there is no licensing required unless they based her on a modern interpretation from current media.

1 hour ago, BeyondTime said:

I wouldn’t give up on Alice, she is a very logical doll to make. She’s also in the public domain, so AFAIK there is no licensing required unless they based her on a modern interpretation from current media.

One thing that came to mind, that does the orient land company have limited sublicencing agreements with Disney, cinderella and rapunzel being folktales so technically they only needed to get the agreement on using the outfit likeness and disney brand associated... hence these two being japan only.

for frozen being more or less a disney original they might have to deal directly with the parent company, hence the whole frozen subtheme, and perhaps agreement for a USA release also.

Though with Alice the big question here would be ... Tim Burton ?  ... though with that one the White Queen sort of steals the dress side of things, then again Alice gets the suit of armor.

Although here I am partial to the American McGee game version... ahem ... *goes and starts to 3D model a cranked peppergrinder...*

I mean, it's not like Disney is not that discriminating about who gets the Frozen license. to make Elsa dolls. Ive got a Figma, Nendroid, QPocket, and Real Action Heroes versions of Elsa and those weren't too difficult to come by.

2 hours ago, lardroom said:

I mean, it's not like Disney is not that discriminating about who gets the Frozen license. to make Elsa dolls. Ive got a Figma, Nendroid, QPocket, and Real Action Heroes versions of Elsa and those weren't too difficult to come by.

Volks products are considerably more luxurious, and their releases tend to be more exclusive. Even if they made a large number, I am thinking they will sell out pretty fast.

That said, they have made very popular franchises like the Vocaloids pretty accessible. In this case though I think we need to wait for the announcement before celebrating. 

7 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Volks products are considerably more luxurious, and their releases tend to be more exclusive. Even if they made a large number, I am thinking they will sell out pretty fast.

That said, they have made very popular franchises like the Vocaloids pretty accessible. In this case though I think we need to wait for the announcement before celebrating. 

I agree that we need to wait for an announcement before celebrating, but hoping for it can’t hurt. I’m not expecting it so nothing can bring my expectations lower. And either way, I’ll buy bigger aftermarket I want then so badly. So even if it is a clock war, I’ll go for Anna since I assume she’ll be the lesser popular doll and get Anna aftermarket. 
 

I have a question. Is this legal? Say I buy one doll and have it shipped to my property. I own multiple and my wife wants one too. Could she go for Anna while I go for Elsa in a click war, sent to separate addresses, with two different people buying them. But they will ultimately end up in the same household. 
 

Is that against the rules? If it is a click war. 

On 4/3/2021 at 9:46 AM, Ui- said:

Now, imagine if they made an Alice doll. From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland, if we go by Disney’s movie haha).

You mean SDGr Alice from 2011? (There was a YoSD version too, of her and a Mad Hatter/White Rabbit as well) She's my graill from release, but so expensive and hard to get that I honestly cannot justify getting her (not to mention the fullset).

6 hours ago, Ui- said:

I have a question. Is this legal? Say I buy one doll and have it shipped to my property. I own multiple and my wife wants one too. Could she go for Anna while I go for Elsa in a click war, sent to separate addresses, with two different people buying them. But they will ultimately end up in the same household.

I believe it's always one doll model per household. So like with past events and preorders, one person can go for both Anna and Elsa. However, if both of you apply and use the same address, I believe it will not be allowed.

12 minutes ago, Irulazuli said:

You mean SDGr Alice from 2011? (There was a YoSD version too, of her and a Mad Hatter/White Rabbit as well) She's my graill from release, but so expensive and hard to get that I honestly cannot justify getting her (not to mention the fullset).

I believe it's always one doll model per household. So like with past events and preorders, one person can go for both Anna and Elsa. However, if both of you apply and use the same address, I believe it will not be allowed.

Yeah we have multiple addresses. So I buy one and then she buys one, each using a separate address. I just don’t know if this is a loophole that could get me in trouble or not (if it turns out that’s the case). 
 

And I don’t remember that Alice. How much is she? 

I think they will not check it that closely, but I have no experience with buying two of the same doll from Volks. If you are in USA, you can probably try both via Volks International and USA though.

I found one sold out Alice head on Mandarake for 300,000 yen for reference. I think nothing less than 2000 USD for a head and probably much more. This is the same headmold as Lorina/Jo March, however, Alice was in white resin.

7 hours ago, Ui- said:

I have a question. Is this legal? Say I buy one doll and have it shipped to my property. I own multiple and my wife wants one too. Could she go for Anna while I go for Elsa in a click war, sent to separate addresses, with two different people buying them. But they will ultimately end up in the same household. 

Typically in their events each doll goes on a separate order, so one of you going for Anna while the other goes for Elsa shouldn’t be an issue. If you each want Anna, and each of you use a credit card in your own name I don’t think there will be a problem. I am pretty sure Volks is aware that multiple doll owners will live in the same home at times.

Their rule is one Volks account per person, and usually it’s 1 of each doll per person. For example this is stated on Lucia’s page on the Volks store. What they don’t like is individuals making multiple account so they can buy multiple dolls.

https://dollfie.ec.volks.co.jp/category/D_210418_DP45_DOLL/4518992434964.html

If you and your wife both use the same credit card, it might set off a red flag.

You can always email their customer service and ask for clarification. 

 

7 hours ago, Ui- said:

but hoping for it can’t hurt.

Oh I am hoping. A preorder would mean I could definitely buy through Volks USA, and they will probably offer option parts to North American buyers in an after sale of some sort. 

About the Alice - I have one! She's not based directly on the Disney version though.

There are more pics of her and her sister (Alice is white resin, her sis Lorina is the same sculpt in normal) over here: the yo-sd versions and the SD versions. There are more characters in the series as well, but again none of the Journey Into Dream Nights dolls were Disney-based. (Although their "Beauty and the Beast" girl is called Belle...which might make things confusing in the future.)

(You might actually want to look for a Lorina, since she has a blue dress while Alice has pink. I've seen them on Mandrake occasionally.)

Edited April 4, 2021 by monkeypizzasonic

On 4/4/2021 at 2:50 AM, lardroom said:

I mean, it's not like Disney is not that discriminating about who gets the Frozen license.

mmm, considering the ammount of knick-knacks you can find with the branding it really isnt a case of who could get it, but rather the cinderella thing is throwing me personally for a loop. Not to suggest that there arent classic disney fans in japan, but its still cinderella's castle in the disney logo, not elsa's so I find it weird that it was a japan only thing.

since I get the feeling that it wouldnt be out of place at a disney location in the gift stores, as something for the adult attendees, and wouldnt need a degree in resin doll knowledge to appreciate.

So based on that, I can only guess one was still maybe a bit easier to procure than the other with the terms associated.

Edited April 5, 2021 by finnleo

8 hours ago, finnleo said:

Not to suggest that there arent classic disney fans in japan, but its still cinderella's castle in the disney logo, not elsa's so I find it weird that it was a japan only thing.

Not to mention the fact that the Disney Princess announcement itself was made at the LA Dolpa, which was held very close to the Disney theme parks. 

The other princesses aren't popular enough to hold up an entire separate franchise by themselves though (personal feelings about that sort of thing aside). Maybe if the Frozen dolls do really well in the US market and more Disney fans who weren't aware of BJD previously show interest, they'll re-release Cindy and make all future Disney collab dolls available through Volks USA by default.

(Also Japan is more into polite traditionally feminine girls while the US is leaning more towards plucky action girls these days so there might be a popularity/marketability factor the companies based their decisions on that we're not aware of? Pure conjecture on my part here.)

20 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Disney Princess announcement itself was made at the LA Dolpa

Well thats a bit of an unintentional troll if anything.

"Here -- Shiny superdollfies on titles you might hold near and dear!" -- some time lateaer -- "Nope ... JDM only."

I’m also waiting to see what these girls look like.  I have the Disney limited edition frozen fever dolls so I’ve already scratched the, get a fairly large frozen doll itch, but if they hit it out of the park with adult Elsa, I’ll be in trouble.
 

On the ordering front, if they don’t do a full preorder, I shudder to think what the aftermarket will become, but that’s life I suppose.

I hope Volks doesn't do this by lottery because to get one doll and not the other would be tragic!  My daughter loves Frozen and these I know will be insanely priced!  I mean they will will probably be similar in price to Rapunzel or Cinderella... although I suspect more.  I would love to get these for when she is older, but for now mom will take care of them!

There was a one page advert for these ladies in the latest volks news, but no substantive updates.  Can at least take comfort that they are still working on them haha

Edited June 28, 2021 by abs2891

16 hours ago, abs2891 said:

There was a one page advert for these ladies in the latest volks news, but no substantive updates.  Can at least take comfort that they are still working on them haha

The update is towards the end of the scans I posted in the Volks 92 thread. It looks like the image includes some of the materials they are using on Queen Elsa’s dress. 

On 4/4/2021 at 10:25 AM, monkeypizzasonic said:

About the Alice - I have one! She's not based directly on the Disney version though.

There are more pics of her and her sister (Alice is white resin, her sis Lorina is the same sculpt in normal) over here: the yo-sd versions and the SD versions. There are more characters in the series as well, but again none of the Journey Into Dream Nights dolls were Disney-based. (Although their "Beauty and the Beast" girl is called Belle...which might make things confusing in the future.)

(You might actually want to look for a Lorina, since she has a blue dress while Alice has pink. I've seen them on Mandrake occasionally.)

Oh my god. That Cheshire Cat is truly amazing. Would you mind telling me the name? I want to see if I can possibly find that. I can do a custom Alice if I have to. Yours is absolutely adorable, though. I just have a different idea of Alice in my head. I used to fall asleep to the Disney Alice in Wonderland movie. I’ve done so much art about it. I’m quite literally obsessed. Lol. 
 

Anyway. I just want to find out if you can buy the Disney dolls from the Japanese volks store and have them shipped. If not, I’ll just use a forward or go there myself. To get Elsa and Anna SDs, with their outfits, I’d pay a kidney.....