End of Production for MDD Base Bodes (Update: New Base Body MDD 2.0 f3)

42 minutes ago, finnleo said:

Hmmm... The new preorder hasnt been announced yet. And theyve been a sort of launch pad for new bodies for volks

I’m not sure what you mean- this years preorder project is Kaito and he was announced back in August. There won’t be another one announced until August/September next year, and I really hope we don’t have to wait that long.

4 hours ago, Xiongmao said:

I think the Mochi-Ashi dolls have sold very well. They're certainly popular with collectors. When mine appeared for sale there were a LOT of interest and I was very fortunate I lived in the same country as the seller. On the downside her body is a mess so I'm sure Volks could improve the internals a lot.

It appears to be far more popular in the west than Japan tbh, but I don't think we have actual numbers. However, mochi d'coords tend to sit around longer than ordinary MDD, along with the lack of mochi ashi on jp twitter as mentioned above. 

6 hours ago, chantelle said:

I wonder if the Mochi Ashi hips are a factor in their lack of popularity (in Japan at least).

Maybe, but far from the main factor. 

4 hours ago, Monty said:

I’m not sure what you mean- this years preorder project is Kaito and he was announced back in August.

Well... if kaito has been confirmed as the one and only annual preorder project, then my bad.

though in my defence anything kaito related I would attribute to what they did with Luka back in the day that was an extra preorder that year, and for some reason I link the big annual bells and whistles count-down tease projects to october/november.

I don't think there was a problem with the MDD line, it's by far Volks' most popular DD line. It's more likely that they've come up with a new, better product to supplant it because it is so popular (it does say to watch for future announcements in the notice).

6 hours ago, finnleo said:

Well... if kaito has been confirmed as the one and only annual preorder project, then my bad.

though in my defence anything kaito related I would attribute to what they did with Luka back in the day that was an extra preorder that year, and for some reason I link the big annual bells and whistles count-down tease projects to october/november.

Infodump apologies but besides them using the Preorder Project terminology for him, The PO project has always gotten September volks news cover, which Kaito has. He was only unveiled early cos they wanted to show him at Magical Mirai, which was a few weeks before when that issue came out. Luka (and Meiko) did have a preorder but it wasn’t like the Preorder Project - they had much shorter time frames and required upfront payment, around May, and also shipped within the same year (Luka got a little delayed though). They also both got prereleases at the spring Dolpas, whereas PO Project releases don’t. (Meiko’s was actually just an ‘order her at Dolpa and get her earlier than if you order her online…but it turned out only a week earlier due to her being unpopular enough to ship months ahead of schedule ;; )

PO projects like Kaito get lengthy ordering periods of 2 months or more and only require a deposit. The only major difference with Kaito to the norm is that his projected release date is earlier than usual (spring next year rather than october-december).

 

I've been without internet for a month during a move, and hearing this is really upsetting. I would have thought Volks would have at least gave a sneak peak of the new body before discontinuing the old one. I have two bodies that I need to acquire, but I don't have the means to get them at the moment. I didn't have any mochi ashi, but I didn't have any problems or issues with the current MDD body. Looser joints, but those can be tightened. I'm hoping that Volks releases an upgraded version; I cannot fathom how Volks would just axe their most popular line without a back up in the works. That's something another doll company would do.

While it's a bit of a bummer to not know for sure whether there's going to be a new product and what it looks like, I guess it's the Volks way to make sure they sell all the old stock first... although, usually there's still some people who prefer the old product, so I think they'd sell the old MDD bodies just fine even if they'd already revealed the new product. But such is business and I guess in terms of storage, it could get troublesome if they have to hold onto old stock for a longer period of time than anticipated... 🤔

I'm looking forward to what they come up with, although I'd assume it wouldn't be too different from the current MDD body, at least as far as the vinyl shells go. I've been a bit out of the doll loop for the past few years, but didn't they just recently come up with an asexual onepiece torso that could be used for MDD boys (Dream Choice only though)? So would they scrap something that they just made so soon... well, unless we're getting an actual MDD boy body, which would be more than great. I advocate for boys in every size. xD

I'd definitely like to see a frame upgrade. Now, my only experience is with my 1st version Arle who has the III-type frame (at least that's the one Volks released her with but I got my girl second hand so can't be a 100% sure the previous owner hasn't switched out her body) but I'm a bit frustrated when handling my girl as her arms come off easily when I pose her and her hands fall off constantly. I did make sure to tighten every screw that I could find on her frame, but sadly it didn't help. I also tried to add a light layer of nailpolish on her wrist parts to make them less loose but then they refused to go back in, so had to scrap that plan. ^^; I never had any issues with my III-type frame DDdy, DD, DDS girl and DDS boy bodies so I'm a bit perplexed why the MDD version is so finicky, is it just because of the smaller size? ;-;

I guess at this point whatever they're going to release, I'll take it, as I'm not a fan of my girl's current body. xD I liked the idea of Mochi-ashi because they'd balance out the big head (and they also look very cute) but they did seem out of place with the rest of the body being rather skinny. At least a fuller waist to go with the thicker legs would be really nice. :3 

14 hours ago, mizya said:

I never had any issues with my III-type frame DDdy, DD, DDS girl and DDS boy bodies so I'm a bit perplexed why the MDD version is so finicky, is it just because of the smaller size? ;-;

Do you mean f3 or DD III? Arle's 2nd release was f3.

For the f3 it is because the screws are too small, which is what I think they'll address. When I got my f3 MDD, the hip/leg joint was too loose. I tightened that screw fairly tight, but when I assembled it again the lever effect with the whole leg attached made it still too loose. I had to make the screw tight in order to make the joint stiff enough to hold its position reliably. They're really tiny screws going into a tiny socket.

@foo I said in my post that my Arle is the first version, which Volks released with the III-type frame, but I got her second hand so I cannot be a 100% sure her previous owner hasn't switched out her body. So yes, I assume my girl has the III-type frame and not f3, but I also don't have anything to compare to since she's my only MDD.

20 minutes ago, mizya said:

@foo I said in my post that my Arle is the first version, which Volks released with the III-type frame, but I got her second hand so I cannot be a 100% sure her previous owner hasn't switched out her body. So yes, I assume my girl has the III-type frame and not f3, but I also don't have anything to compare to since she's my only MDD.

f3 is very different than III. With the f3 the arm and leg joints rotate around a ball as opposed to the III where they have posts that slot into a hole and friction on the post is what keeps the joint posed.

If you take off the bust and look at the upper torso frame on the f3 it will look like what you see on this page.

https://dollfie.volks.co.jp/dd/support/basebody/howto_ddf3_mdd.html

The DDIII upper frame should look something like what you see here.

 

 

I don't know how to link Twitter posts, but there's an update

https://twitter.com/volks_dd/status/1660485500657086465?t=VxwxLu6i2CSaMjOgX0AkUQ&s=19

 

 

Oh wow! This is exciting. Been looking forward to updates! I have two mdd (not mochi) that I got recently (my first Volks) so I don't have much experience but I really like them. Curiosity on the new is getting to me lol

11 hours ago, CeliathePikachu said:

I don't know how to link Twitter posts, but there's an update

https://twitter.com/volks_dd/status/1660485500657086465?t=VxwxLu6i2CSaMjOgX0AkUQ&s=19

 

 

Oh!! Finally!! Hoping to have bodies for my boys by the fall!!

So glad they are finally announcing the new body. I am looking forward to first pictures. Also I wonder if there will be a mochi ashi variant again. 

So exciting! I hope it is a shell update along with a fix for the mochi-ashi thigh issue.

Not thrilled about having to download another app to see the update but whatever 😅

I just tried to download the app to see if I even could, and nope I got the "isn't available in your country" message. I'm in the USA. Must be Japan only? 😓

6 minutes ago, Keoka said:

I just tried to download the app to see if I even could, and nope I got the "isn't available in your country" message. I'm in the USA. Must be Japan only? 😓

I’m in the USA as well and was able to get the app on IOS. Is your phone an android? Maybe its region locked for certain devices 

20 minutes ago, chantelle said:

I’m in the USA as well and was able to get the app on IOS. Is your phone an android? Maybe its region locked for certain devices 

Yes, I am on Android! Not going to mess with apk or VPN for this so hopefully the new info is posted here 🙏

A new MDD body? Praise the gods! Hopefully they will have an official boy too this time....

alright, who has a working thing to tell us if there's actual news or just more pre-hype

They are trying out a new thing where VS/VIP/GL gets early access to info - I guess normally this announcement would have waited until Volks News 100 in mid June. Not going to spoil the fun of that, but the first post they showed some pics demonstrating the increased poseability and said the next round of info will go more in depth. The info will be available for members until the end of the month - so maybe that’s when they’ll make it public.
 

A fun aside: this info went live around midday today and everyone trying to view the blog crashed the site like when there’s a clickwar. They have a new image for that, which is a cute Shirokuma Secchan apologising (in kansaiben). The alert for the blog post came through the app, but as the twitter post shows you don’t actually need that app in order to view it, you just need to be logged in with VS/VIP/GL membership. (Although, the tweet did come several hours after the notification in the app).

Anyway about the app - it seems like the main advantage of it before was being able to easily show a digital membership card at a tap, as opposed to having to log in via the browser, go to ‘my page’ etc (Ie when showing it to staff in store)so I wish I’d thought to use it when I was in Japan recently. Having push notifications for member blog posts is cool though so I’ll keep it for that reason.

Edited May 25, 2023 by Monty

The Volks blog information that was early released to GL/VS/VIP members was subject to a specific prohibition against re-posting:

'Secondary use and unauthorized quotation of information and images in this content is prohibited.’

We do have a specific guideline regarding this:

Authenticity and Copyright
You may not post content that infringes on others' intellectual property rights without their permission.

 

In this particular case Volks doesn't grant permission to re-post their content and images, so doing so would violate their copyright.

Sorry, I know this exciting news, but if you want to see it you will need become a GL/VS/VIP member and use their phone app.

Volks has been pretty nice about not going after us for posting their IP content, so we need to be respectful when they specifically say do not do so.

I haven't been able to log in on the JP site properly in ages, might try the app just to see if I can get it to work. 

Just now, monkeypizzasonic said:

I haven't been able to log in on the JP site properly in ages, might try the app just to see if I can get it to work. 

Did you follow their instructions for clearing up that issue? I forget if we talked about that before.

Just now, BeyondTime said:

Did you follow their instructions for clearing up that issue? I forget if we talked about that before.

Pretty sure I tried to at some point and nothing worked. Maybe I can try logging in on the phone. Or wait and see if they un-regionlock the android app.