Smart Doll or Dollfie Dream?

I actually didn't knew what topic to post this, but I will have some questions, so I choose "Questions", but I really love Ball-Jointed vinyl dolls, and I've been working to get my 1st custom doll, and i was thinking about a Dollfie Doll, but they actually are less acessible to my region, around 600 hundred R$ extra then a DD doll..

So I've been wondering, I actually have an SMD doll but she is a classic Mirai, anyways, I know Smart Dolls Internal frame quality, If someone could tell me if DD internal frame, articulations, vinyl quality and pieces are better then Smart Dolls, I'd be very happy! I kinda like the body diversity difference in SMD and DD, I like all of their bodies too, but if someone could answer wich one is better for customization, I'll wait for collectors answers!

Well Dollfie Dreams are the real deal, (meaning Danny choo copied everything about them) they're the inspiration behind smart doll so there you go. What better than the authentic quality product. 

Dollfie Dream internal skeletons are firmer, for lack of better words, than Smart Doll frames. My Smart Doll feels absolutely frail compared to my DD girls. I also like the vinyl quality on DDs better, but that's more of a personal preference thing. Both have similar articulation, though DDs have a bit more range in the knees department than SmDs. DDs have way more available in terms of option/replacement parts (assuming you're going for a flesh/semi-white girl) than SmDs. In terms of raw performance for happy anime girls, my DDs outdo my SmD any day of the week.

SmD is much better about supplying buyers with non-pale doll options and the occasional fantasy color. The pear body is a vinyl doll shape you won't find almost anywhere else, so if it appeals to you, you really only have the one option. I like the semi-real head sculpts personally and think it's a nice change of pace. I'm also a big fan of the telescopic stand design for easy on-the-go photos, but I recognize that isn't important to everyone.

9 hours ago, puxlavoix said:

Well Dollfie Dreams are the real deal, (meaning Danny choo copied everything about them) they're the inspiration behind smart doll so there you go. What better than the authentic quality product. 

I really think that SmD dolls have a little difference then Dollfies, I actually understand what you mean, the quality is probably better than the Smart Dolls but they are more fixed in Diversity and stuff, this is why I like both dolls! They are very cute in my vision, but custom Dollfies (Such as, dolls with extra details,dyed skins, customization freedom) Is something that seems extremely fair in Dollfie Dreams,Volks have 3 big bodies that are very cute but a lil too curvy, so I guess this time I will go for an Sister Dollfie, these dolls are beautiful ^^

🤔 I disagree that DDs feel sturdier, at least compared to the V2 and Evolve Smart Doll frames. Also DDs tend to loosen up quickly, while my SMDs have stayed nice and tight with travel and play. However without extensive stress tests, this is purely subjective and will vary with personal opinion. DD is certainly not fragile next to SMD; they're both good choices.

Which sculpts 'outdo' which is also subjective. It's purely personal taste. Though it is worth noting that many anime SMD sculpts have a flatter profile from the side than DD. This bothers some people, while others don't notice it. Both artist teams have 'same face syndrome', where a number of their sculpts look similar, since the same people designed all of them. Volks' substantial history as the oldest modern BJD and vinyl doll maker, with one of the larger workforces, isn't a fair comparison to any other vinyl doll company, SMD or otherwise. They have the widest variety of sculpts because they've been in business longest, and have more people to produce their stuff.

Vinylwise, DD does have a better grip on casting all parts at an even thickness. (This has less to do with SMD casting and more with sculpting choices.) They also use a softer vinyl, which is arguably more durable over time, while parts of Smart Doll range everywhere from soft to hard. However the tradeoff is that DD seems to stain easier. (Again, without comprehensive stress tests, this is subjective)

The hands are much easier to swap out on SMD, no question, and they stay in place once attached. DD hands are a battle to take off if you want to switch them, and benefit from heating up first. No need with SMD, and no stress / removal of the joint if you don't handle them roughly. Busts, arms, and feet are about the same. Heads are easy to remove on DD, whereas they're so secure on SMD that you might be wise to heat them up too. Not because you need to, but because it will be easier on the neck hole and help prevent potential cracking. (DDs are also susceptible to neckhole cracking) It is not necessary to do so though; you can remove them without, unlike the DD hands.

Parts are undeniably a place where DD is superior, as long as you order in flesh or semi-white. There's a good supply of both inner and outer parts on the Volks websites. Tan owners are out of luck, except to either buy a new Dream Choice doll, or wait for the right one to come on the secondhand market and hope it is in their price range. Same goes for Dollfie Icon colours, and Icons are only sold through Volks lottery. Once in a while for special events they will sell option hands separately, but that's it. It is not that common for tan option parts to come up secondhand, but they do from time to time, and typically sell quickly. I have never seen tan frame parts for sale, nor Icon.

SMD offers busts, option hands, and heel feet / vinyl shoes. The stock is updated with their drops, and you're not guaranteed what will restock each time. They do not sell the inner frames or other vinyl parts separately, except to veteran customers (Two or more purchases) through the Chaos section. This is not ideal either, but it is possible to get ahold of what you need through sales and trading Facebook groups, sales tags on social media, and secondhand websites like Mercari. People who buy the Chaos packs often end up reselling what they don't need, and I have gotten much of my limited SMD stuff this way, without paying insane prices. Chaos ranges from partial to full frames, vinyl shells, heads, and hands, to the clothes and wigs. The downsides are obvious though: you are limited by what people are willing to sell, and by their prices. There are always scalpers looking to overcharge; it can be a lot of watching and waiting to catch what you need. Which would be especially painful in the case of a doll breaking.

If you decide on a new limited DD model, your best chance is to get it straight from Volks preorder. After that its value may soar or crash, depending on popularity. If you're lucky it will go down, and you can catch it for at or even below retail cost, but if you're unlucky it will go for many hundreds of dollars over. With Smart Doll, if it's a fantasy skintone like blue or black navy, you have a window of opportunity while that colour is being produced. There will be multiple drops throughout a year or two in that colour, and if you can't catch in store, it should pop up secondhand, both at reasonable and unreasonable prices. After that though, its secondhand pricing will skyrocket once it is discontinued, and finding reasonable prices will get harder and harder. As for their collab models, the girls with unique face sculpts or fun armor are valued, while the girls with default SMD molds and nothing unique parts-wise sit. Male dolls sell out immediately; you have to be prepared to order at the moment of release, and people charge outrageously for them.

If you decide on a default DD model, the Volks stores will restock periodically with a standard set to choose from, and you don't have to worry if one sells out. (Except for MDD Liliru; she's been discontinued)  If you decide on a default SMD model, the only constant is cinnamon skin Mirai. Everybody else comes and goes, but they will be restocked in the default skintones (Cinnamon, Tea, and Cocoa) eventually, though what faceup, eyes, and wig they come with will change. You can, of course, buy a Chaos head for cheap secondhand in the colour of your choosing, and get it painted in any style you want if the sculpt / faceup / skintone combo you wanted wasn't available. You also have the option of the semi-real girls with SMD, which are unique to SMD. Meanwhile Volks has a nice selection of blank anime heads in addition to their standard models.

Both dolls have pros and cons; SMDs on the V2 and Evolve frames had much better slouch and arch movement in their bust joint than Dollfie, but the 2.0 body Volks has released competes with that. Dollfie's 'hidden' elbow joint is easier to pull out than Smart Doll's. In fact the whole of DD's joints are buttery, while new SMDs tend to be stiff, but both allow for precise posing. I find that my Dollfies like to sag more, even when their screws are tight, while SMD stays in the exact pose you give her, always. This goes for V1, V2, and Evolve Smart Doll.

As for bodies, the DD and SMD Classic are roughly the same. (Accounting for the newest Dollfie frame; F3 Dollfies and older have much more limited bust joints) The legs of the current Dollfie Dynamite are a little harder to pose, due to the way they attach at the hips, but they are still capable of plenty. Both Dynammite and the old Mochi Ashi body have hips that connect to a single rod that rests between them in the crotch, and the rod is is too short to properly support the wider thighs, so you must squeeze their hips to push the connections back onto the rod often, especially when they sit. You only have to do this with Dynammite once in a while, whereas Mochi Ashi V1 needs constant squeezing, and can't manage many exciting poses. Meanwhile, the new MDD is a major improvement in posability over all the previous versions. Hopefully new Mochi Ashi will be as well. Its preview photos look promising.

SMD Pear poses quite well; she's one of the best-executed plus-size dolls I've seen in terms of articulation. I have personally found mine a little harder to stand than the Classic girls, but that might be less her, and more me not knowing her center of gravity yet. Time will tell. (Both Dynammite and Pear owners put their girls into expressive poses)

One important thing to consider if buying a new SMD is the Evolve frame, which has some minor posing improvements, but is also designed to be noisy. Ratchet joints click and vibrate when they are moved at the shoulders, hips, and knees. In a way it's helpful- it lets you know exactly where and how something is moving. But it's very different from the quiet posing of Dollfie and past SMD frames. It's reminiscent of action figures- if you collect Revoltech, or any sort of mecha / Transformers with loud, firm ratchet joints, that's the sort of thing we're talking. SMD has some of the loudest ratchets I've ever heard.

In terms of customizablity, neither is necessarily better or worse than the other for surface-level customizations like painting. SMD's firmer vinyl might keep tattoos on a place like the torso or thigh intact a little better than DD's soft vinyl, while DD's vinyl will absorb dye much easier than SMD's, but both are going to fade out quickly all the same. Dollfie would be easier to disassemble completely, due to the straightforward skeleton made from screw-tightened components and connecting rods. SMD uses a firmer vinyl on their heads, while DD uses softer, but you'd be heating both up to cut vinyl anyway, and doll vinyl is easy to cut when heated. SMD offers more default skintones, while DD flesh and semi-white have that more substantial offering of parts and heads. You won't have to shop the secondhand market at all if you just want a blank default DD. (But you could, and it might save you money, depending on the condition of the doll parts, and whether they were what you wanted)

If you want a tan DD, you have to wait until tan season. You can only order through a proxy, and your sculpt choices are now limited to Dream Choice exclusives. But the plus is that you have unique face choices, you can have any type of basic Dollfie including the male bodies, and you can choose the faceup, eyes, and wig they come with. There are also optional elf ears, if you want those, and it's the only regular way to buy hands in tan. As a double plus, @ragnamuffin is a fantastic proxy. 🥰 She made purchasing my own tan Dream Choice a perfect experience.

 

...Hopefully this was an objective overview. But on a personal note, I too owned one of the V1 SMDs, and I think you will find either a newer SMD or a DD on the F3 or 2.0 frames an improvement when it comes to feeling sturdy. If you are worried about price but want a DD, maybe buying secondhand from a place like Mandarake or Dollyterria might work better for your budget? You can find dolls in good shape for well below retail price- just make sure you do your research so you know which body you're getting, and read the description / study the pictures carefully for any flaws. (Dolls made in 2019 and after should have the F3 frame. I don't know about before; the F3 frame was announced in December of 2018) The DDS is a nice size- a little smaller than SMD and DD / DDDY, but bigger than MDD. Clothes that fit DD can run big on them, but they're mostly compatible. DDS is a little closer to SMD in the waist / hip size, but the sleeves and pants legs will still be long since DDS is shorter.

 

3 hours ago, PolitelyNefarious said:

If you want a tan DD, you have to wait until tan season. You can only order through a proxy, and your sculpt choices are now limited to Dream Choice exclusives. But the plus is that you have unique face choices, you can have any type of basic Dollfie including the male bodies, and you can choose the faceup, eyes, and wig they come with. There are also optional elf ears, if you want those, and it's the only regular way to buy hands in tan. As a double plus, @ragnamuffin is a fantastic proxy. 🥰 She made purchasing my own tan Dream Choice a perfect experience.

It's been a while since I did Dream Choice, but even with proxy fees, I think the cost of a Dream Choice DD & a SmD was comparable. 
 

I can't speak to the new "evolve" frame, but I have generally felt that DDs are sturdier than SmD and they pose better. The built in stand option does make it easier to keep a SmD upright in some poses.  
 

 

3 hours ago, PolitelyNefarious said:

Also DDs tend to loosen up quickly,

The DD f3 frames do need more adjustment, but you can adjust them. Since the screws are metal, temperature may affect how tight or loose they are. I have gotten DDs that need tightening right out of the box.

Torso and neck adjustments are easy, but arm and leg adjustments are harder. It's more difficult to get the parts out of the vinyl.
 

20 hours ago, BrukySama said:

I actually didn't knew what topic to post this, but I will have some questions, so I choose "Questions",

You posted in the section for questions about the forum software. I moved both your posts to the SmartDoll Questions & Answer section. There is a Question & Answer section for Dollfie Dreams, and one for SmartDoll, and one for Obitsu. Please post in the correct part of the forum. 

I recently got my first Smart Doll and I was surprised to discover that I actually prefer the Smart Doll body over the Dollfie Dream body. I like the proportions more as well as the chest articulation at the bust instead of the torso like in Dollfie Dream. I also feel like my SmD body is sturdier than my DD bodies, but that may be because it's a Gen 2 body and is newer than most of my DDs. I feel like my DD bodies have a tendency to become loose in some joints in comparison. I do like the feel of the DD vinyl over SmD vinyl though. All of my vinyl dolls are used, so I've never experienced what one may be like fresh out of the box.

2 hours ago, CatGirl said:

I recently got my first Smart Doll and I was surprised to discover that I actually prefer the Smart Doll body over the Dollfie Dream body. I like the proportions more as well as the chest articulation at the bust instead of the torso like in Dollfie Dream. I also feel like my SmD body is sturdier than my DD bodies, but that may be because it's a Gen 2 body and is newer than most of my DDs. I feel like my DD bodies have a tendency to become loose in some joints in comparison. I do like the feel of the DD vinyl over SmD vinyl though. All of my vinyl dolls are used, so I've never experienced what one may be like fresh out of the box.

I have seen comparisons and original eyes, faceups and body proportions of SmD are extremely superior than dollfies,obviously I'm not gonna afford original eyes and faceups but customize it, checking DD body type, is kinda uglier next to Smart dolls, but I like DDdy with S bust and DDS, they ate, but anyways people say DD have more quality, and I'll go for a Dollfie this time, I just need to hide her body because I don't like.

24 minutes ago, BrukySama said:

, I just need to hide her body because I don't like.

Have you seen the new f3 2.0 body? It's only available in DD & MDD right now, but the proportions are different than the earlier models. 

The similarity between Dollfie Dream and Smart Dolls come from the history between Danny Choo. Danny Choo developed Mirai, Inc. after Volks supposedly (or so I've heard) to collaborate with him on making a Mirai doll. This kind of created a one-sided feud with Danny Choo versus Volks. I think he's molding a lot of his designs to match Volks' while closely skirting patent laws. I do think Danny Choo uses worse quality vinyl though, I had read through his details when I bought a Smart Doll and he hinted at that with "disguising" language. The body design weren't too bad, but he really only has three head molds and, as someone said earlier, they have "same face" syndrome. Volks, on the other hand, has been creating Dollfie Dreams for over twenty years now and have been working on perfecting them. I like that I'm able to tighten the screws to my desired tension; although that might not be ideal for everybody, I think it's a nice addition. Also no "same face," and the bodies are very nice and sturdy. Tbh, my only gripe with either is the lack of male availability, and I would like a more muscular body for my and @rudebuster's Tengen, haha. (Btw, happy birthday, muscle bear.)

Edited October 30, 2024 by chupakiba

2 hours ago, chupakiba said:

has been creating Dollfie Dreams for over twenty years now and have been working on perfecting them.

Not to mention, they have a great many SD sculpts too. They have a lot of experience making unique sculpts.  
 

6 hours ago, BrukySama said:

but I like DDdy with S bust

DDDy only offers L-bust, and L-Shapely bust. You can put a smaller DD bust on, but you have to cut the vinyl to fit. 
 

6 hours ago, BrukySama said:

faceups and body proportions of SmD are extremely superior than dollfies

 

6 hours ago, BrukySama said:

but anyways people say DD have more quality, and I'll go for a Dollfie this time

I'm curious why you feel quality is more important than your own tastes? I think DD are higher quality, but I don't think SmD are low quality, and I can't say how "evolve" changes that comparison. Here I would defer to @K-2 for comparisons of all the various bodies from different doll makers. He's probably going to be your best resource for quality comparisons with SmD.
 

Aesthetics is important, the point is to get something you enjoy, and not something expensive that rots on a shelf because you don't like it. 
 

6 hours ago, BrukySama said:

I'm not gonna afford original eyes and faceups but customize it

Volks is much more supportive of customizing their dolls. You can get pretty much any doll part, wig, or eyes that are not locked to Dream Choice or a specific store. Tan is locked to Dream Choice, so if you wanted tan dolls or parts you need a proxy. Boys are also locked to Dream Choice.

It's easier to find clothes for DD than SmD, but that is changing over time. People make a lot of clothing for Volks SD13/SDGr and those share a fit with Dollfie Dreams, so the market is larger. More people are making SmD clothes today than they were a few years ago. 

It is easier to buy from Volks, you just place an order. With SmD there seem to be some extra hoops you have to jump through, and if they don't like your responses they may cancel the order.

4 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

It is easier to buy from Volks, you just place an order. With SmD there seem to be some extra hoops you have to jump through, and if they don't like your responses they may cancel the order.

Yes, I really think is easy but since I live in the LITERAL other side of the world, I think Volks shops are limited to some places of Europe and North America, not mentioning the taxes, but as a buddy that has a lot of curiosity about Vinyl dolls I won't give up on affording them! Even if I need to afford second-handed..

4 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Volks is much more supportive of customizing their dolls. You can get pretty much any doll part, wig, or eyes that are not locked to Dream Choice or a specific store. Tan is locked to Dream Choice, so if you wanted tan dolls or parts you need a proxy. Boys are also locked to Dream Choice.

In my vision, probably all people that experienced these dolls world may had curiosity on getting Dream Choice DDs, they are so unique!!😸

 

10 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Have you seen the new f3 2.0 body? It's only available in DD & MDD right now, but the proportions are different than the earlier models.

Yess! I think the curves are so much smoother and prettier on this body, other DD bodies sometimes need an one-piece torso to give this impression.

1 hour ago, BrukySama said:

I think Volks shops are limited to some places of Europe and North America

You can buy from their international webstore, and as far as I know they ship anywhere that you can legally ship things to from Japan. 
 

1 hour ago, BrukySama said:

but as a buddy that has a lot of curiosity about Vinyl dolls I won't give up on affording them! Even if I need to afford second-handed..

You can build a doll over time by buying the parts from the Volks webstore. You would be limited to the blank heads they have available for sale as parts. 

 

You might like their tawny color too, but it's only available on limited edition dolls like Dollfie Icon and Anthy Himemiya. either one would be expensive to get second hand. 
 

 

4 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

You can buy from their international webstore, and as far as I know they ship anywhere that you can legally ship things to from Japan. 

I'm gonna take a look in some few Volks official websites to see if I've already checked this one!And another thing, I see in a lot of posts that you are very supportive with the users, talking about shops, giving feedbacks and other stuff, you are a great moderator