2021 DD Pre-order Project - FFXIV Y'shtola

13 minutes ago, Bellatrix said:

I wonder how the earless head looks like. I got her to customise, but this actually scares me. 
Has there been published any related shots yet?

The only one I've seen is this, but she's semi covered by tape:
https://twitter.com/inoce_machico/status/1610138580873269248?s=20

5 hours ago, mk13 said:

This owner has a beautiful semi customised Y’shtola!
https://twitter.com/inoce_machico/status/1610133834665963522?s=20

Unfortunately though it looks her boots stain.
https://twitter.com/inoce_machico/status/1610142104101203968?s=20

I had a feeling her outfit in general would be a stain factory. Glad I ordered the body suit when I ordered all the hands for her. 
 

Has anybody else noticed that their tracking still has the shipping info received status? Hoping it’s just due to the holidays. 

Edited January 3, 2023 by hats
Spelling

2 hours ago, hats said:

Has anybody else noticed that their tracking still has the shipping info received status? Hoping it’s just due to the holidays. 

Yep, it's the same here as well! It does make me feel a lot more relieved to see it's not just mine! My anxiety tends to always make me think the worst, so it's honestly a relief to see it's normal.

3 hours ago, hats said:

 

Has anybody else noticed that their tracking still has the shipping info received status? Hoping it’s just due to the holidays.

 

1 hour ago, Roxanne said:

Yep, it's the same here as well! It does make me feel a lot more relieved to see it's not just mine! My anxiety tends to always make me think the worst, so it's honestly a relief to see it's normal.

Volks put up a notice that they were closed for new years, but depending on the department the closed ends at a different date. I think they are supposed to ship goods on the 4th, but some departments say they are closed until the 5th and 6th. 

On 1/3/2023 at 12:02 PM, mk13 said:

This owner has a beautiful semi customised Y’shtola!
https://twitter.com/inoce_machico/status/1610133834665963522?s=20

Look at that beautyyyyyy

On 1/3/2023 at 5:47 PM, hats said:

Has anybody else noticed that their tracking still has the shipping info received status? Hoping it’s just due to the holidays. 

My tracking says that it has left the DHL facility in Osaka. I also received, and paid, my customs notice for the package (around 200 euro, as expected). Current ETA is January 10th.

I think Volks did the same thing as I see many companies doing lately: they created the way label and marked the item as "shipped". I see a lot of companies do this to adhere to the "order before x and shipped the same day" promises they make. Nevermind that the item won't be picked up by the parcel service for another two days. Volks probably did it to adhere to the "winter 2022" shipping date.

In this particular case I don't actually mind though. I imagine it was an immense effort to actually get her shipped in dec/jan. Covid still disrupts supply chains on all levels. So I am truly amazed they managed to pull this off. I was actually counting on ~3 months of delay.

 

23 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Volks put up a notice that they were closed for new years, but depending on the department the closed ends at a different date. I think they are supposed to ship goods on the 4th, but some departments say they are closed until the 5th and 6th. 

They are not sticking to their own dates though. I sent an enquiry about something and the form said they would reply after January 6th. And yet I received a reply this morning 😅

Edited January 4, 2023 by Wasabi

Mine updated this morning, expected to arrive on January 9th. Also super glad I ordered the bodysuits, but those haven't shipped yet, so I may put her clothes on to admire her, then remove everything until the suit comes in. I have some friends who want me to video chat as I open her~

6 minutes ago, kranberrijam said:

Mine updated this morning, expected to arrive on January 9th. Also super glad I ordered the bodysuits, but those haven't shipped yet, so I may put her clothes on to admire her, then remove everything until the suit comes in. I have some friends who want me to video chat as I open her~

Mine is expected on the 9th as well. She'll be naked until that bodysuit arrives 🤣

I was so excited when I received the shipping confirmation from Volks. It's almost the longest I had waited for a pre-order. Custom fees were €149 which is not bad at all and the ETA is on the 10th. Guess who is working from home that day. 😄

I've seen some Japanese owners pics show up already and I am so excited to see them. If Volks ever brings out a G'raha I will go bankrupt haha.

Can't wait to see all your photos and box openings. I might film my own. 🤔

14 hours ago, hats said:

Mine is expected on the 9th as well. She'll be naked until that bodysuit arrives 🤣

I told my husband about the staining and now he doesn't want to touch her until the bodysuit arrives. Gonna be a hard wait, hopefully Volks ships that and the hands soon.

Guysssss. She's here!!! Link to box image. She is perfection~

I wanna dress her so badly, but I can see where the boots will very quickly stain. C'mon, need my bodysuit STAT!! For now she stays in the box, but my husband loves her.

I do have one question for you all: is there ANY way to get a Tan S-bust?

 

14 minutes ago, kranberrijam said:

I do have one question for you all: is there ANY way to get a Tan S-bust?

A Proxy buyer like Sophie Bear. I got a tan S and a tan SS for her using a proxy.

Alternatively, you could search yahoo Japan to see if anyone is selling one.

As far as the boots, just put some white socks on her, or in a pinch wrap plastic wrap around her feet and calves. 

55 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

A Proxy buyer like Sophie Bear. I got a tan S and a tan SS for her using a proxy.

Alternatively, you could search yahoo Japan to see if anyone is selling one.

As far as the boots, just put some white socks on her, or in a pinch wrap plastic wrap around her feet and calves. 

Thank you, I will certainly reach out to them! I wasn't sure how limited the tan parts actually are. EDIT: they've already gotten back to me, I'll be finalizing an order in the next few days!!

Husband REALLY doesn't want to risk staining, so he's holding off on any black touching her right now. I can't blame him, it's his first doll and I was the exact same way.

Edited January 6, 2023 by kranberrijam

1 hour ago, kranberrijam said:

Husband REALLY doesn't want to risk staining, so he's holding off on any black touching her right now. I can't blame him, it's his first doll and I was the exact same way.

I do socks under black boots all the time and it works. In point of fact, a decent pair of thick socks will be better than the Volks body suit. The thicker the material, the longer bleed through will take.

That said, staining can occur through a bodysuit and other clothing. The longer the clothes are on, the more likely dye is to bleed, and humidity will hasten this.

1 hour ago, kranberrijam said:

I'll be finalizing an order in the next few days!!

Mine has a chance to be here tomorrow. I can photograph her with S & SS busts if you want to see which one fits the character better. There is almost no way an SS bust will look right in her dress though, and even an S bust is likely to leave it looking a bit baggy. 

VolksUSA has tan bodysuits restocked.

omg omg omg omg, she's home!
That suddenly went super fast. She arrived in Europe at 1am this morning and traveled cross country to arrive on my doorstep at 3pm.

 

I wrestled her into a Smart Doll stain prevention legging so I could snap a quick picture in her full outfit:

Spoiler

And because some people were curious about the sculpt and how she looks without ears, here are some shots:

Spoiler

 

I'll do a full detailed arrival post/thread/thing over the weekend.
For now I'm just going to stare at her because I am IN LOVE.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Wasabi

Wow she looks intriguing. I must have been doing something else when she was available for pre-order.

Is she the first ear-less DD? Also is her neck tattoo something Volks put on or is it a transfer like the Vocaloids.

And what's that silver thing on her head cap?

1 hour ago, Xiongmao said:

Wow she looks intriguing. I must have been doing something else when she was available for pre-order.

Is she the first ear-less DD? Also is her neck tattoo something Volks put on or is it a transfer like the Vocaloids.

And what's that silver thing on her head cap?

She comes with the neck tattoo.

The silver things on her head cap are the magnets for her cat-ears. They are removable if you want.
They are quite strong actually, the ears are super secure. If you bring the ears near the magnets they immediately snap on.

Picture of the magnets in her head cap (it is kinda hard to find an angle where you see both):

Spoiler

 

 I just looked at the Square Enix to see if she shipped yet. I happened to notice that on the product page her release changed from January to March. I really hope I don’t have to wait that long. 

22 hours ago, kranberrijam said:

Thank you, I will certainly reach out to them! I wasn't sure how limited the tan parts actually are. EDIT: they've already gotten back to me, I'll be finalizing an order in the next few days!!

Just a quick note, replacement bust does mean no neck tattoo unless you add one yourself. 
 

If you put her staff back in its package, make sure the gems dangling off the head are properly in their channel in the shell, otherwise it won't close properly. 

Y'shtola arrived today and I must say, she's absolutely stunning in person. I put her in a flesh body stocking and white tights until her body suit arrives. Her details are lovely to see up close. Her staff is super top heavy though. 

Yeah the staff is really difficult to pose with, even when holding it in place with an elastic.
For now I've returned the staff to its box until I've found a better solution for it. Until I have a body suit Y'shtola won't be wearing her default outfit anyway.

We've got to figure out display for her too. Her staff makes it a lot more difficult and the customized one will have a lance that'll be even longer. O.<

2 hours ago, kranberrijam said:

We've got to figure out display for her too. Her staff makes it a lot more difficult and the customized one will have a lance that'll be even longer. O.<

I’ve found that a small bit of the dollfie eye putty keeps her staff in place in my display cabinet. 

4 hours ago, hats said:

I’ve found that a small bit of the dollfie eye putty keeps her staff in place in my display cabinet. 

Blu-tack would probably work too.