How limited are Limited Dollfie Dreams?

Hello everybody

 

Just wondering... now that im almost off to start looking for my latest unicorn, the question came to mind: how limited are Limited Dollfie Dreams? - volume wise that is.

 

I mean, we all know they´re made in low quantities, but has Volks ever disclosed the actual numbers for any of them? or is there some information to infere this?

No. Volks has never told us how many of each doll they make and probably never will. It seems like some dolls they've produced more than others, at least based on difficulty of finding certain ones, but it's impossible to figure out just how many of each exist out there.

Like I know Volk's dolls not limited at all. Limited just outfit. Volks can rerelease some dolls if they want

Like I know Volk's dolls not limited at all. Limited just outfit. Volks can rerelease some dolls if they want

Sure, they could re-release EVERYTHING if they wanted to. But will they? I doubt it. Updated versions like Saber maybe.

As someone who collected Barbies... being part of an unknown quantity is a good thing when it comes to prices if you ever have to sell.

I think Volks has a higher tendency to re-release their limited BJDs more often than their limited DDs. For the BJDs, often it is just the outfit/make-up that's limited, but I really think that's the exception to the rule for DDs...

 

I think the DD re-releases/head re-uses can be counted on your fingers, right?

 

Candy/Mirai

The Sirius triplets (if that counts as a "re-release")

Femi/Cheryl

The Shirakawa girls (4 total?)

Feena/Estel/Erika

Saber/Saber Alter/Saber Alter 2nd

Moe/Natsuki

Nanoha/Fate

Alna/Alna X-mas

 

And that's it, right, for the regular DD girls? (I think there was one or two MDD heads that went through re-release?)

And on Your list there are mostly re-uses of the headmold, because actual re-releases are much more limited.

Femi and Cheryl may share the same head, but have different faceup.

The same goes for other pairs (Nanoha/Fate, Moe/Natsuki)

Alna X-mas is WS so it's not even the same head as first Alna in NS. Same goes for Sabers.

 

So if You check the list for "v2" characters suddenly You have only 2 - Moe and Saber Alter.

Well, maybe three, counting original Saber and the Extra version, but they're different.

And the upcoming Natsuki.

Even then, the v2 releases have different clothes.

has some body ever came up with a number? for instance:

 

Sasara - 30

Yuki - 30

Saber - 60

Yuki - 60

 

Some one dare to guess?

Some one dare to guess?

 

Over 9000 !!!!

has some body ever came up with a number? for instance:

 

Sasara - 30

Yuki - 30

Saber - 60

Yuki - 60

 

Some one dare to guess?

 

Oh gosh alot more than that. At least a couple of thousand of each

I think Volks determines a lot based on popularity during the initial reveal, though of course this isn't always true. I'm gonna use the Gosick SD kiddos as an example. Upon release Victorique was simply loved, and adored. The outcome of this sheer popularity was that a bunch of her were released, and she is a pretty easy to get on the secondhand market because of it too. Kujo on the other hand did not have as much enthusiasm toward his release and thus a lot less were made and so more people lost, and now he's a harder mold to find. Many cirbleepstances can do different things to the amount being made too. I believe that the DD amount being offered may have been less partly due to the Saber orders. Doesn't mean they didn't have a good amount, but I do still think that that slowed them down. Some events you can determine the amount of their dolls, based on say it being a limited entry event (Like Huis Ten Bosch), but I don't think they actually have held any of those special events for DD. Also, I honestly feel like sometimes they just throw out a number for how many to make of the DD. XD

 

They do have rights to their Super Dollfie line to reuse and rerelease whatever mold (Disregarding the Rozen Maiden, and most likely Gosick based dolls.) DD do have to follow copyright laws seeing as the mold is created to be a character (This time disregarding their personal collection of molds), and so the chances of rerelease become very unlikely unless the company that owns the character allows it. (Such as Type-Moon continuously going back to Volks, but they also appear to have a very good relationship business wise.) I'm sure if they wanted they could work some things out and rename and then rerelease the mold (They've done it for a SD before), but to rerelease the character would have to go through the copyright system.

Sorry, I got a bit off topic with this last bit, and kinda rambled there. :P

My guess is 1000 for each character DD

My guess is 1000 for each character DD

 

It can vary by character, and how big the release is.

 

For Moe v.2's release last year at the Akihabara store, there were roughly 250-280 for customers that lined up in person, factor in another 1-2 for each of the Volks showrooms around Japan to keep on hand for display and archive, and then the few that they sold on the international lotto and there were probably fewer than 400 made.

 

At Dolpa's if you have a lotto number greater than 300, you're likely not getting a doll either. However, with Dolpa dolls, they set aside a bunch for the Volks Int'l website, and a few to send to Volks USA.

My guess is 1000 for each character DD

 

It can vary by character, and how big the release is.

 

For Moe v.2's release last year at the Akihabara store, there were roughly 250-280 for customers that lined up in person, factor in another 1-2 for each of the Volks showrooms around Japan to keep on hand for display and archive, and then the few that they sold on the international lotto and there were probably fewer than 400 made.

 

At Dolpa's if you have a lotto number greater than 300, you're likely not getting a doll either. However, with Dolpa dolls, they set aside a bunch for the Volks Int'l website, and a few to send to Volks USA.

 

Thanks for the info., but I have a good reason to say 1000:

For example,

All US stores (North America): 150.

Dolpa sale: 250.

Japanese lottery: 300.

International lottery: 300.

Total: 1000

 

150 feels like a high number for VolksUSA to get. Maybe they really do get that high of a number, but it generally doesn't feel like it due to how hard it is to get a doll from them nowadays.

 

Also, there is a Volks Korea in Seoul. Volks sends dolls there too.

OK, I re-worked with the numbers:

 

All international stores: 100.

Dolpa sale: 200.

Japanese lottery: 300.

International lottery: 400.

Total: 1000

150 feels like a high number for VolksUSA to get. Maybe they really do get that high of a number, but it generally doesn't feel like it due to how hard it is to get a doll from them nowadays.

 

Also, there is a Volks Korea in Seoul. Volks sends dolls there too.

 

Oh yeah - I forgot about Volks Korea

 

I doubt Volks USA gets as many as 150. But who knows . . .

 

OK, I re-worked with the numbers:

 

All international stores: 100.

Dolpa sale: 200.

Japanese lottery: 300.

International lottery: 400.

Total: 1000

 

You're an optimist. But that's not a bad thing.

150 feels like a high number for VolksUSA to get. Maybe they really do get that high of a number, but it generally doesn't feel like it due to how hard it is to get a doll from them nowadays.

 

Also, there is a Volks Korea in Seoul. Volks sends dolls there too.

 

Oh yeah - I forgot about Volks Korea

 

I doubt Volks USA gets as many as 150. But who knows . . .

 

OK, I re-worked with the numbers:

 

All international stores: 100.

Dolpa sale: 200.

Japanese lottery: 300.

International lottery: 400.

Total: 1000

 

You're an optimist. But that's not a bad thing.

 

Thank you

 

And it may increase according to the growing market...

Just my guess on numbers but I have a feeling that the older limited DDs that had an overall smaller audience and the actual numbers for those are lower than the newer lottery/limited items. As demand and popularity of their DDs grew, things had to have been adjusted. I mean, Volks is a for profit company and I'm sure the max number of a certain limited run has been bumped up steadily to meet "demand" - i.e. if original Saber was a run of 1000 I think it would be safe to assume that there might have been 2000 for Saber Lily.

 

The caveat to this is the whole popularity of said model and how many actually make it into production. There has to be certain ones that never met that max ceiling and there are just less floating around.

Just my guess on numbers but I have a feeling that the older limited DDs that had an overall smaller audience and the actual numbers for those are lower than the newer lottery/limited items. As demand and popularity of their DDs grew, things had to have been adjusted. I mean, Volks is a for profit company and I'm sure the max number of a certain limited run has been bumped up steadily to meet "demand" - i.e. if original Saber was a run of 1000 I think it would be safe to assume that there might have been 2000 for Saber Lily.

 

The caveat to this is the whole popularity of said model and how many actually make it into production. There has to be certain ones that never met that max ceiling and there are just less floating around.

 

Considering there are 4 Dolpa and other events every year, I doubt that Volks can make more for each character.

 

Is it just me, I feel Volks Dolpa is too often. Maybe 2 Dolpa per year is a better idea

Just my guess on numbers but I have a feeling that the older limited DDs that had an overall smaller audience and the actual numbers for those are lower than the newer lottery/limited items. As demand and popularity of their DDs grew, things had to have been adjusted. I mean, Volks is a for profit company and I'm sure the max number of a certain limited run has been bumped up steadily to meet "demand" - i.e. if original Saber was a run of 1000 I think it would be safe to assume that there might have been 2000 for Saber Lily.

 

The caveat to this is the whole popularity of said model and how many actually make it into production. There has to be certain ones that never met that max ceiling and there are just less floating around.

 

Considering there are 4 Dolpa and other events every year, I doubt that Volks can make more for each character.

 

Is it just me, I feel Volks Dolpa is too often. Maybe 2 Dolpa per year is a better idea

 

Plus, they do not want to saturate the market, either.

Not sure if Volks can actually saturate this market quite yet but again, this is just my opinion. Even with me assuming that their overall production capabilities has grown over the years, I'm sure there is still a limit to the amount of product they can produce within a given time frame - hence limited/lottery items for the most part. But I do assume it's fairly safe to guess that the overall max production numbers are higher now than before.

 

And I have a feeling that Saber Extra/Alter was an experiment for them to see if they could actually meet the crushing demand of a popular model. Again, I'm just guessing here.

Not sure if Volks can actually saturate this market quite yet but again, this is just my opinion. Even with me assuming that their overall production capabilities has grown over the years, I'm sure there is still a limit to the amount of product they can produce within a given time frame - hence limited/lottery items for the most part. But I do assume it's fairly safe to guess that the overall max production numbers are higher now than before.

 

And I have a feeling that Saber Extra/Alter was an experiment for them to see if they could actually meet the crushing demand of a popular model. Again, I'm just guessing here.

 

I totally respect your opinion.

 

Volks releases about 12 DD+MDD per year in total. For every Dolpa, there will be at least 2 DD. They have to make 1000 (my guess) model for each character; there will be 2X1000=2000. Volks also sells SD. So, they have to make at least 3000 DD+SD in 3-4 months period. Of course, they also sells new outfits etc.

 

The Saber Extra/Alter experiment is a tragedy. It seems Volks less estimates the demand and over estimates their producing ability. So, they were delayed again and again. But, they are still worth more than the retail price, which is really amazed me

 

Did anyone know a DD was sold less than the retail price (full set and for a good condition, of course)?

I have bought 3-4 fullset DD's in as new fullset condition for cheaper than their release prices

I have bought 3-4 fullset DD's in as new fullset condition for cheaper than their release prices

 

Lucky you

 

Would you mind to tell me who (DD) they were?

I'd rather keep their exact identitys to myself but its very possible to get them cheaper