Dollfie Dream 20th Anniversary Project

I just want to clarify something because I made a mistake/got confused on what my assumption of what Best Selection entails - because Volks confusingly uses it interchangeably to refer to two separate things, one being (very) limited lottery sales of certain past doll releases for special events (-not- rereleases but new old stock, like cancelled POs or whatever), and the other being the giant, multi-category poll that helps them decide rereleases (Miku, Ranko and Arle being the winners last time). I thought it was the former at first because when they announced Best Selection as part of the anniversary project at Dolpa they used a placard of pictures with *specific* dolls (which implies the new old stock lottery as they’ve done before). But I just realised the text on the anniversary website is referring to the poll to determine future rereleases. Given the placard, it could actually be both (unless the dolls pictured on the placard were just shown as examples of dolls you can vote for - particularly the ones that weren’t even out yet during the last poll.)

Anyway since the website confirmed another poll, I really hope that Tenshi no Koromo is an option this time because for whatever reason it wasn’t last time even though all the other clothing ‘brands’ were.

I'm new to the world of Dollfies, so much of this conversation went over my head. 🤷‍♂️

However, if there is a vote as to what dolls I'd like to see, I'd love to see either CardCaptor Sakura or Ash Ketchum from Pokemon.

 

Ryu

43 minutes ago, RyuichiSakuma13 said:

However, if there is a vote as to what dolls I'd like to see, I'd love to see either CardCaptor Sakura or Ash Ketchum from Pokemon.

The Best Selection is a vote for past releases of dolls and clothing to be re-released. There is supposed to be a suggestion survey for future new releases too, so you could suggest those during that event. 

Now I think I need a Saber!

Actually I've started playing Fortnite and this morning I spotted a player who appeared to have a BJD-like anime doll skin. So that's my next purchase if it ever comes up for sale again.

This is a bunch of cool stuff! But I don't know what I would want out of any of this...all the anime characters I like I would rather have in 1/6 Azone or Nendoroid form, the only licensed past DD I can think of would be the tan FF lady who's not even out yet, I don't even have the money to be thinking about a big Volks purchase this year since I'm still recovering from Anna/Elsa SDs...

What I actually want is stuff like "standard boy models" and "online DD Dream Choice orders" and maybe even "Dollfie Icon style girls in DDP/MDD sizes", so I'm just gonna wait and see what else they have in store.

Rin & Ren reboot... chance to obtain my twin grails completely new. I'd better start saving up right now.

 

For the poll... asking for Genshin Impact dolls would be murdering my wallet but I will do it anyway.
If not Genshin they maybe... hmmm... Tales of series? I wonder if that would be popular enough?

 

8 hours ago, monkeypizzasonic said:

What I actually want is stuff like "standard boy models" and "online DD Dream Choice orders" and maybe even "Dollfie Icon style girls in DDP/MDD sizes", so I'm just gonna wait and see what else they have in store.

ajdfakhdjadfgah you are brilliant.
Online DD Dream choice (even if just once a year). Standard Tan models. Standard Boy models.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Wasabi

32 minutes ago, Wasabi said:

For the poll... asking for Genshin Impact dolls would be murdering my wallet but I will do it anyway.

LOLOL SAME, MY FRIEND, SAME. 

If they ask for specific characters though. . .oof, that'll be hard to pick. I wanna say maybe Venti and Nahida as my top picks? But if they were done right, I could also throw down for Kazuha, Tighnari, Kokomi, Raiden. . . .there's so many good ones!

And I agree, an online Dream Choice would be AMAZING. Even a once a year thing like a pre-order, or heck, just once for the anniversary, would be a massive success. 

Also I would love to see tawny skin available for like, special order or Dream Choice or something. It's such a pretty color.

HOW DID I FORGET TAN that too plz. Standard models and parts.

On 12/28/2022 at 4:32 PM, Wasabi said:

Rin & Ren reboot... chance to obtain my twin grails completely new. I'd better start saving up right now.

Oh MAN, my partner would FREAK if the bills and the money calmed down so that we could add the twins to our household!  My partner adores them!

 

Ryu

The site's been updated, they're gradually showing the 20 projects,

https://dollfie.volks.co.jp/special/dd20th

There's going to be another Dollfie Best Selection survey and "DD commercialization questionaire" which is asking what you want to become a DD. Also a little movie,

 

The movie is cute, there will apparently be more so I’m personally hoping for some behind the scenes stuff (like production, concept sketches, etc). 

I’m also wondering if any of the other 20 things yet to be announced will be a new Afterschool Akihabara Girls character.

Hopefully they will reboot Haruhi Suzumiya.

For a new DD, Nezuku (Demon Slayer) would really be interesting.

If and when the suggestions poll for new licenses comes out, I'll add one for Enma Ai of Hell Girl. Ai-chan is steeped in traditional Japanese folklore and dress, which would go well with Volks' Tenshi no Sato - whether they make her as DD or an SD.  Azone has made both 1/6 and 1/3s of her in the distant past, so the license-holder is open to doll representations, at least.

Another thought to suggest could be Shantae, of the WayForward video game series by the same name. There's your pointy-eared tan elf genie, something very different that folks might like. This one is something that Volks' doll department talked about in person at Dolpa LA 2017 but nothing has been heard since. Volks already makes a Shantae Chara-gumin (garage kit) so they already have some form of license for the character. Always wondered what happened to this one.

17 minutes ago, SakuraSylph said:

Another thought to suggest could be Shantae, of the WayForward video game series by the same name. There's your pointy-eared tan elf genie, something very different that folks might like. This one is something that Volks' doll department talked about in person at Dolpa LA 2017 but nothing has been heard since. Volks already makes a Shantae Chara-gumin (garage kit) so they already have some form of license for the character. Always wondered what happened to this one.

This could be an awesome idea! Another point being, with all the Icon Dollfies that are out, having Rottytops wouldn't be all that difficult to make in Dollfie form, now.

 

7 hours ago, SakuraSylph said:

Enma Ai of Hell Girl.

Ai is always interesting, but at the same time difficult in terms of her Kimono. Do you go with the full black, or try to do the interstellar dimension thing that Azone did with the Mizuki based doll, which ended up looking a bit awkward to me personally.

 

7 hours ago, SakuraSylph said:

Shantae, 

Always wondered what happened to this one.

Not wanting to be a downer, but logically wouldnt it have been a thing to do a Shantae for the 20th anniversary of the franchise? although with the disney SD's thing its not a totally impossible concept anymore. Volks has done Tardis-ponytails (More volume out, than in) before, but the outfit probably might be a pain in the butt to make, depending on the version (Pirate curse one seems doable, half-genie hero the more or less floating hip-blades are a thing.) ... also the thing about Volks's last arabian dancer doll barely keeping the pants on if I recall correct.

 

7 hours ago, SakuraSylph said:

Chara-gumin

Volks'es chara gumin line does include some amusing entries and a few things that were made into dolls by other companies too, like Super Sonico, and Garupa... But what I wasnt expecting was to find Cross Ange sitting at the end. But again wouldnt know what the difference between negotiating a garage kit figure versus a full doll would be in the end.

On 1/15/2023 at 6:48 AM, Xiongmao said:

Hopefully they will reboot Haruhi Suzumiya.

For a new DD, Nezuku (Demon Slayer) would really be interesting.

I would love to see her in an updated form as well with the crew

I‘d love to see a Volks release of Enma Ai, too. ;-; She is one of my favourite characters.

 

Sakura of Card Captor Sakura or the girls of Madoka Magica (Madoka, Sayaka, Kyouko, Mami, Homura) would be nice, too. 

 

I‘m personally not a fan of the Persona games or series but I’d also welcome more characters besides Rise as their sculpts would rock for sure.  

 

Edit: Totally forgot to mention Chi from Chobits. I‘d love to see a new interpretation of her in DDS-form. The resin doll is very old (I suppose she was one of the first anime resin dolls Volks has ever released) and her face is not of my liking. 🙈

Edited January 19, 2023 by Victoria

Idk if the voting will even be open to online/non-jp but I’ve been thinking abt who I’d vote to get a DD anyway and it’s difficult!

Obv I’d love to suggest a character with a tan/tawny-like skin tone but it’s kinda tough when those are pretty rare in anime in the first place, so I couldn’t think of one that was rly plausible/well known enough to get DD :,)

This might be a long shot since it’s been years since the last 765Pro doll, but I’d love to see them complete the og idolmaster set by doing the other girls from 765Pro. I’d especially love to see Hibiki & Azusa, but Hibiki would be difficult to recreate her skin tone, since it’s not rly the same tint as tan but it’s definitely more saturated than flesh.

But as a SideM main I also rly wanna ask for an imas boy, and I think Touma might actually be possible? He’s got that non-muscular teen type of build so he’d look great on DDB/DDSB, and he was around in the original imas too, so people who have 765Pro dolls might wanna get him to go with them!

1 hour ago, Damiensdolls said:

Idk if the voting will even be open to online/non-jp but I’ve been thinking abt who I’d vote to get a DD anyway and it’s difficult!

The Best Selection voting was open to everyone last time, and I am pretty sure it was open to everyone the time before that too. 
 

1 hour ago, Damiensdolls said:

Hibiki would be difficult to recreate her skin tone, since it’s not rly the same tint as tan but it’s definitely more saturated than flesh.

I'm sure they'd just use tan, and Y'shtola opened the door for them to release limited DDs in the DP limited color.

Oh I didn’t know there was one before! I’m curious, who won last time? :0

2 hours ago, Damiensdolls said:

Oh I didn’t know there was one before! I’m curious, who won last time? :0

Hatsune Miku -.-

Honestly, nothing wrong with Miku, but she was very easy to get back then, so it was really frustrating for people who were hoping one of the dolls that cost thousands aftermarket would be a winner. E.g. Saber Lily or Miki Hoshii, both of whom were over $2000 at the time.

Instead we got Miku, who was available from Volks at least once a year. They did do her as an f3 reboot, so she was upgraded, and that does seem to have led to the follow up Snow Miku / Rin & Len reboot. Those are good things, so it's all good in the end.

Ranko Kanzaki was the second place winner, and she got released with her Gothloli outfit and they added her Gothloli parasol. They also re-released Uzuki as Smile & Treat and I am pretty sure she was billed as Best of The Best then. She got an updated version of her school uniform that was much improved too.

Just be aware that the poll is a factor in the re-releases, but Volks makes the final decision. A popular vote winner wasn't guaranteed a re-release last time. For example, if they can't get a license to make another release, then it won't matter how many votes a doll gets. The ability to make a doll to the license holders specifications could be an issue too, so if Namco required Miki Hoshii to be unitorso, Volks doesn't have an f3 unitorso at this time and couldn't meet that requirement without expensive development of a new torso frame. They might just decide there is no market for a new version of the character, or feel far more enthusiastic about the 4th highest vote getter than they do the 1st.  

2 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

54 minutes ago, Damiensdolls said:

Oh I didn’t know there was one before! I’m curious, who won last time? :0

Hatsune Miku -.-

Before that in December 2014 we got Sasara and Melty.

Edited January 20, 2023 by foo

Arle was the MDD winner too!

You were able to vote for 3 in each category every day so I’m glad my faithful daily Arle voting paid off.

2 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Instead we got Miku, who was available from Volks at least once a year.

To be fair at this point in time Miku had only actually had one true release, and the ones that tended to appear on VolksUSA holiday events and Magicai Mirai were all new old stock, not rereleases. I don’t think anyone outside Japan or the US got those multiple chances at her, although it’s certainly true she used to be all over mandarake and yahoo auctions and one of the only DDs you could reliably find for under RRP, so it was still a bit of a surprise for me. (It’s hard to believe how much the tables turned though) 

Although now that she got all rare and coveted, there’s the possibility of her winning AGAIN… I love Miku and all but I really hope they give other dolls a chance if she ends up with reboot v2. Alternatively, I would like them to reboot her more than just the f3 frame. Her relatively sparse faceup (especially compared to the others, even Sakura/Snow Miku) could do with an update and it would be an opportunity to put her in her NT or V3 outfit cos the OG is pretty dated by now. Even Project Sekai had her in what resembles the v3 outfit, as well as most of the current merch. (ie the more dark grey/silver parts are a lighter white) You can kinda date a lot of Miku merch by how light or dark her outfit is lol.

1 hour ago, Monty said:

Arle was the MDD winner too!

That reminds me. Since I didn't really have specific DD re-releases I wanted, I ended up voting for dolls like Arle that other people wanted. 

What dolls do people want to see re-released this time? 

I think the categories were:

DD

DDDy/DDS

MDD/DDP

Who knows if they will do the same categories this year though. 

10 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

What dolls do people want to see re-released this time?
 

For DD, I have no real preference either but will probably give some votes to Tamaki. Not because I expect there’s any chance of a rerelease given that To Heart isn’t exactly current (maybe if it has some big anniversary coming up though idk) but because I want to show support for the type of sculpt she has in the hopes we get similar ones eventually, as I really like her expression. Maybe also Sakura from Fate but I think they missed the ideal window to rerelease her in (during hype for the Heavens Feel movies).
 

TBH I’m more interested in the SD part of the poll. Even though Captain Cecile got a preorder in 2020 it was a bad time for me and he’s impossible to find anywhere near RRP.