2021 DD Pre-order Project - FFXIV Y'shtola

I really wonder to see how her head looks without the ears??

It might look rather... awkward, to be honest. Maybe it's only me, though. I have Fairyland's anifee Vanilla, and she has no human ears either. This kind of a head demands a little bit of attention when it comes to choosing a wig. Vanilla can't really wear any wigs that reveal the place of her non-existent ears. For example, twin tails like Hatsune Miku's. It just looks weird, even with the cat ears on.

Hmm, I'm not sure where I went wrong in my calculations but it's looking like I'm going to be just short Y'shtola's final cost...

Not sure if I should scrounge some extra cash out of some old stuff I don't need anymore, or if I should just wait until next year and (hopefully) get her second-hand. Why couldn't she just be like the previous pre-order dolls... I'm suffering over here! I'd do anything to pay a deposit like the previous pre-order dolls lol

On 10/11/2021 at 3:43 AM, hellFlower said:

Hmm, I'm not sure where I went wrong in my calculations but it's looking like I'm going to be just short Y'shtola's final cost...

Not sure if I should scrounge some extra cash out of some old stuff I don't need anymore, or if I should just wait until next year and (hopefully) get her second-hand. Why couldn't she just be like the previous pre-order dolls... I'm suffering over here! I'd do anything to pay a deposit like the previous pre-order dolls lol

I have a feeling she's gonna be costly on the aftermarket. I think that Volks are only manufacturing enough to meet the preorders.

On 10/9/2021 at 4:50 AM, Lynn said:

It might look rather... awkward, to be honest. Maybe it's only me, though. I have Fairyland's anifee Vanilla, and she has no human ears either. This kind of a head demands a little bit of attention when it comes to choosing a wig. Vanilla can't really wear any wigs that reveal the place of her non-existent ears. For example, twin tails like Hatsune Miku's. It just looks weird, even with the cat ears on.

Most of the in-game hairstyles have bits of hair that conveniently cover over where the ears would be so I'm probably gonna try to do something similar with the wigs I use on Y'shtola.

33 minutes ago, Riesz said:

I have a feeling she's gonna be costly on the aftermarket. I think that Volks are only manufacturing enough to meet the preorders.

And with a full prepay there will be no leftovers due to people defaulting on their payments. 

I finally pre-ordered her!  Shame you have to pay upfront from Volks (JP/NA) or SE Store. 

On 10/14/2021 at 12:45 PM, xtedvisuals said:

I finally pre-ordered her!  Shame you have to pay upfront from Volks (JP/NA) or SE Store. 

Doesn’t everyone just throw it on plastic anyway?

I prefer to keep my dept as minimal as possible so I pay for dolls out of my available funds. Even if I pay with credit, I immediately pay it off. I am sure there are some do do similar. I cannot pre order her myself until my next paycheck because of this.

2 hours ago, marishade said:

I prefer to keep my dept as minimal as possible so I pay for dolls out of my available funds. Even if I pay with credit, I immediately pay it off. I am sure there are some do do similar. I cannot pre order her myself until my next paycheck because of this.

I do this as well. I put aside funds each month, and once I have saved up enough I buy something. I also waited until my paycheck for Y'shtola. Technically I had enough funds to buy her, but that would have dipped into money that I set aside for a different doll. 

The more I see her, the more I want to get her... ☺️

Hmm. I know the answer is unknowable and may come down to "strange, mysterious input from license holder", but why is the front of her dress (above the fur ruff) changed? The character has got a laced-up open part over the collarbone area as a prominent feature, on the DD version it's not there and there's solid cloth above the fur (which has accordingly been moved up a little higher on the bodice, I think).

It's interesting in light of the fact that the very similar laced up panel on the BACK of her dress is faithfully replicated and has attention drawn to it in the photos.

I think the panel is there (in a simplified form), it is just incredibly difficult to see on most shots.

If you look at these pictures you can see it a little bit: Tenshi blog post, and on Beani's pictures:

 

My guess is they simplified it because of either costs, physics, or both.
The lace-up part on her chest seems more delicate and may be difficult to faithfully reproduce on doll scale. Or it is possible but it is so delicate that it easily breaks. Or it is possible but the costs are too high. Or any combination of these.

1 hour ago, Wasabi said:

I think the panel is there (in a simplified form), it is just incredibly difficult to see on most shots.

If you look at these pictures you can see it a little bit: Tenshi blog post, and on Beani's pictures:

 

My guess is they simplified it because of either costs, physics, or both.
The lace-up part on her chest seems more delicate and may be difficult to faithfully reproduce on doll scale. Or it is possible but it is so delicate that it easily breaks. Or it is possible but the costs are too high. Or any combination of these.

Oh, you’re right, there it is! Thanks for the links. Yes I guess they just simplified a bit. It is kind of impressive that a combination of angles and fur has managed to hide that part from view in every sales pic.

I wonder if people would get Y'shtola faster from buying from Square Enix store or the Volks USA store? 🤔 

I'm assuming that folks ordering from Volks INT would always get their stuff faster.

Just wanted to share with you the meme my bf made for me, this is going to hang above my work desk. I'm just so excited ;_;

On 10/25/2021 at 9:50 PM, hanasori said:

I wonder if people would get Y'shtola faster from buying from Square Enix store or the Volks USA store? 🤔 

I'm assuming that folks ordering from Volks INT would always get their stuff faster.

I'm wondering that too. I decided to order her directly through Volks just in case there's any issue. I'd rather be able to go straight to them than having to possibly contact Square Enix support and wait for them to go through Volks for me.

I ordered through Volks because even with import taxes (which I'm estimating at around a 100-150 euro) it will end up being a lot cheaper.

My initial thought was to order through SE to avoid import taxes... then I saw the price on the EU store and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I also can't find any info on where they are shipping from currently. The Square Enix EU store used to be located in the UK, and after Brexit that would mean import fees to mainland Europe. So the higher price + possibility of import taxes anyway made me go for Volks. There is no guerrantee on which one will be faster anyway, so I'm going with the less expensive option. 

@Riesz Yeah, I was also thinking it would be better to order through Volks because SE has to go to them if there happens to be any issues. Hopefully, there'd be none but I'm reminded of some people who had received 2B heads that had some cracks in the neck-holes which was an unusual QC issue for Volks dolls to have. I'm always grateful we have this forum and some other places where we can double check for any issues because some I wouldn't have noticed otherwise without people pointing it out. ❤️

@Wasabi Oof, import fees are always a pain. I always ask if anybody wants me to write down a lower value for packages going to the UK or Europe. It would be really cool if we had a Volks location for our doll people there too. I think the dealers ease the pain somewhat but there seems to be an uptick in prices or still some fees inevitably. 😰

 

I'm kinda wanting her now because I'm thinking of turning her into my Miqo'te character. But I have too many dolls coming lol. What to do, what to do.. orz

I'm seriously still debating pre-ordering her. But I'm slightly worried about that outfit staining the doll to hell and back. 😔

On 11/6/2021 at 10:19 AM, hanasori said:

I'm thinking of turning her into my Miqo'te character.

Actually... that's a splendid idea. Why didn't I think of this? 🤔

15 minutes ago, ChrisFhey said:

But I'm slightly worried about that outfit staining the doll to hell and back.

Volks has gotten really good at lining DD outfits with white. The chief thing you will likely need to be concerned about is any seams stitched with black thread. Coolcats sells body stockings that aren’t a full body suit. Some have shorts and / or short sleeves, some have skirts, and there are other varieties. You can probably get something that will cover what needs to be covered and leave bare what needs to be bare. 

On 11/8/2021 at 1:51 PM, ChrisFhey said:

I'm seriously still debating pre-ordering her. But I'm slightly worried about that outfit staining the doll to hell and back. 😔

Actually... that's a splendid idea. Why didn't I think of this? 🤔

Jooooin me. I want to see cool custom Miqo'te characters! 

I guess I'm getting a Y'shtola. I already ordered my character's eyes and wig....ugh. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by hanasori

2 hours ago, hanasori said:

Jooooin me. I want to see cool custom Miqo'te characters! 

I guess I'm getting a Y'shtola. I already ordered my character's eyes and wig....ugh. 

I'd have to paint her ears somehow though, as my character's hair is very dark purple. 😄

I have a thing for white haired characters in everything (anime, games, etc.) so my character will have the default vanilla color for her ears and tail. Purple ears sound so cute! If you decide to go through with it I'd like to see the Miqo'te cat tax. 😄

 

Welp, made the jump and ordered her today. Idk why I do this to myself lol.  

On 11/8/2021 at 7:51 PM, ChrisFhey said:

I'm seriously still debating pre-ordering her. But I'm slightly worried about that outfit staining the doll to hell and back. 😔

Actually... that's a splendid idea. Why didn't I think of this? 🤔

I expect that I'll have her wear her official outfit once or twice for photoshoots... and that I'll be dressing her up in other outfits for the rest of the time.