Pros and Cons

I need pros and cons about buying these dolls. (This part is for a video)  Give me five pros and five cons. You’ll get a virtual cookie for obeying

Pros?

• Their light weight makes them easily portable and posable, and the newer frames are well-made.
• Finding clothes, wigs, and eyes is easy for the DD/SMD/DDS/DDD  and MDD sizes. They come in all variety of styles and price ranges, and can be found everywhere from Ebay to Etsy / Booth, to secondhand sites like Mandarake, Y!Japan, and Mercari, doll-specific vendors, and specialized shops just for those makers.
• You can build your own dolls, or find good deals on pre-built ones secondhand for considerably less than what a fullset character doll will cost you if you don't mind waiting and some TLC.
• Because Volks is the oldest modern BJD company / the first maker of this style of vinyl doll, and SMD is well-liked by the influencer crowd, these dolls are less obscure than some niche hobbies, and there are conventions either dedicated to them, or with a section for them in many countries, as well as local meetup groups in larger areas.
• If you like toy photography, or just a great conversation piece, they're excellent models. Both expressive and reasonably posable. Things like the limited knees do not put a dampener on their potential when they're well-balanced overall.

 

Cons?

• The hard plastic frame is still flimsier than a big, heavy chunk of resin. You may gently hug, but you should not squeeze, or stuff them carelessly into a too-tight bag, or leave them somewhere they might be accidentally crushed. Older frames are especially susceptible to breakage, with weaker designs and aged plastic.
• The staining. Most long-term owners say it is inevitable, it can happen so fast. While it is easily treated on paler skinned dolls, tans and fantasy colours are still new enough that we don't know what the long-term effects will be. Hopefully no future fading, as we've seen in other vinyl toys.
• For in-between sizes like Angel Philia and Dollfie Dream Pretty, finding clothing is harder. Angel Philia makes out a little better, having at least two clothiers who tailor to her, and a dedicated fanbase. But Dream Pretty is petite enough to not quite fit anything, and new owners are better off if they can at least alter clothing.
• Vinyl can yellow and discolour, sometimes unevenly. While you can take your Dollfies out in the sun, you probably shouldn't leave them in a sunny room.
• Expense. There's just no way around it. Even a cheap fixer-upper Dollfie or Smart Doll is going to run you a few hundred dollars, and that may be without eyes, wig, or clothing. The flipside is that you are getting a good quality product, but it's not the kind of hobby you can plunk a few bucks down towards and walk away from. You will have to put in time and effort and research to get good quality wig caps, bodysuits (If you need them), wigs, eyes, and clothing, plus any internal frame parts or screws you may need. Then there's the faceup, maintenance, any additional busts, feet, or hands you might want...  Alternatively you can buy a pre-fabricated model, or a fullset character doll, but in one case you'll still have to buy clothing, and in the other, you'll be stuck paying whatever retail or the secondhand market sets the price at, which can range from $600 to $1300ish before shipping. With Smart Doll and non-Angel-Philia Obitsu, you may pay significantly less, but you should still be prepared to cough up to $450ish, possibly buy body and head separately, and will need to constantly watch the various secondhand markets for a good deal.

Edited January 23, 2023 by PolitelyNefarious

PolitelyNefarious is pretty spot on and thorough with the pros and cons. I want to add to the staining con, however. It WILL happen, it is just a matter of time. This is not a hobby if you value perfectionism. I had one doll I was absolutely so careful with, and her light grey wig stained her after her wearing it for a couple weeks. Couldn't believe it. Another con is that Dollfie Dreams are like cookies or chips: more than likely, you'll have more than one.

 

A good pro, however, is the huge boost of serotonin you get from dressing or even just admiring your dolls. If you photograph them, the desire to take outdoor photos eventually outweighs your fear of being seen with them by people. For the most part, people are merely curious. There is a certain satisfaction with being outside and carrying around a doll scouting for good photographing locations.

Ok, here we go.

Pro’s: 

-Purchase price….. Eh….. let’s change it into taxes to pay. Because of the way Volks uses the rules for shipments between Netherlands and Japan (EPA rules, no idea if they use them knowingly or unknowingly) they are much better with the additional taxes. Purchasing a Dollfie dream sister with outfit is in the end cheaper than buying a smartdoll without any outfits at all. 

-They look gorgeous from multiple angles and are very photogenic. The detailing and quality is really good. It is one of the items you should have owned at least ones at one point in your life. Ok, maybe that sentence is a bit overdone. But you will understand it when seeing a Dollfie in real life. The box and opening up that box gives me the feeling I hold something special (Verben goods uch* (*suspicious cough))

-The available spare parts makes it easy to replace certain limbs or joints when you accidentally break them.

-Posing. The way you can pose the Dollfie and let them hold certain items is great. Fun to do photoshoots with the Dollfie girls.

-Easy to put on wig and outfits. I think this is something important. Also a lot of outfits by the brand itself and third party’s are perfectly fitting. 

 

Cons:

-The head can get small cracks when putting on and of the head often. Therefore I prefer using outfits that doesn’t require the head to be detached. 

-The limited dolls are too limited. For some releases you must be up at weird times in the night and just have to be the lucky person to win the opportunity to buy the Dollfie. Not my style.

-It took me some time to figure out how the Japanese website of Volks works and how to place your order. That’s also the reason why my first vinyl BJD was a Smartdoll (not that I regret buying Smartdoll) instead of a Dollfie. Just too complicated procedure and the translation tool was then very bad functioning.

-High risk of staining. No further info needed I think.

-No specific doll stand. Where Smartdoll has the Smartdoll stand Dollfie has none. Also most aftermarket stands do indeed work but don’t do the Dollfie justice in looks.