How limited are Limited Dollfie Dreams?

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)?

 

Likewise and your calculations.

 

I just used the 1000 as a round number to start with. By going with your estimates, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the earlier lottery DDs were in the 500s if current lottery items are limited at 1000 - before the Interwebs/Danny blew up their popularity forcing Volks to up the quantities a bit. Haha.

 

Since I wasn't a part of the Extra/Alter order and watched from the side lines, I do agree with you that Volks totally underestimated the demand for these two. At least they did come through, even with the delays. I doubt they'll ever offer any type of Saber again as a non-limited doll.

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)?

 

Likewise and your calculations.

 

I just used the 1000 as a round number to start with. By going with your estimates, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the earlier lottery DDs were in the 500s if current lottery items are limited at 1000 - before the Interwebs/Danny blew up their popularity forcing Volks to up the quantities a bit. Haha.

 

Since I wasn't a part of the Extra/Alter order and watched from the side lines, I do agree with you that Volks totally underestimated the demand for these two. At least they did come through, even with the delays. I doubt they'll ever offer any type of Saber again as a non-limited doll.

 

Thanks.

We are wasting time to guess randomly here, but Volks people are laughing at us and counting our money aside

750-1000 seems more reasonable for recent releases. It's definitely alot less for earlier ones. They really screwed themselves with the no limit on saber pre-orders, those two will be more common than aoi and yukino.

The new Saber Extra/Alter project was tragedy for Volks manufacture factory, but I think it is very successful strategy to know the size of the potential globe market. They can safely assume most of owners and all newbies will order them for their dream (first) girls and Volks can safely invest their money (used to be our money) to build new factories (if this hobby was really all made in Japan) to boost their manufacture ability for the future market.

 

I really wonder how many DD fans/owners on this planet. It may be more meaningful than how limited a DD is

 

Did anyone know how many attendees in each year Dolpa?

I'm hoping the Saber pre-order will give Volks a ballpark on the demand for their products.. I didn't have the funds at the time to get into the last Saber party (would have loved an Alter) but I'm so going in for the Sakura DD and battle uniform as my first image character DD..

(I have three customs, a 06+DII, and two 04+DD-Dy)

 

I'm figuring that there won't be many available on this side of the pond, so I'll need all the luck I can get..

 

That said, I hope Volks gets a clue that this isn't as obscure a hobby (obsession?) as it once was and ups the production numbers accordingly.

The Japanese might like "limited" items, but the rest of us aren't as impressed... We just want to lay our hammers down and take home a new Daughter...

 

Here in Ottawa, which is not a big city, there are at least 3 other DD owners in town, and the local DoA group has members that are quite taken by the girls and are leaning in that direction.. (and so another conquest begins... MuHAHAhAHA!)

Unfortunately this still a niche market. Just because the community is active doesn't mean it's a huge market. Price of DD automatically excludes a huge segment potential owners, only the diehards will get more than 2-3. Make no mistake, this is a premium product, and priced as such. Also there have been cases of doll release that didn't sell out during the lotteries, which means the demand isn't as high as some think. I don't think it's that difficult to obtain the girl you want at release if you really went after it. Saber event was crazy because it's saber with an amazing sculpt that has become an icon of the dd line. Most of other volks releases fails in one regard or another, either the character isn't well known or the sculpt is subpar. Lastly, if I was volks, all I need is to take a look at yahoo auctions to realize alot of the saber orders were sold to people trying to resell them for profit, by no means is it an indicator of actual demand for future releases. Oversaturating the market will destroy the line for volks, that's not something anyone wants.

I agree that oversaturating the market with DD's is a bad move but no one is asking for that. All we want is for Volks to actually acknowledge that there is a LARGE fanbase here in North America and to TRY and stock parts a bit better.

 

Even someone who has more than 4 girls will still want different hands for them. How lame is it that no one can even get ONE PAIR of extra hands for their girls unless you go digging on the International site or YJA? That's pathetic in my opinion for a company to just completely ignore a market willing and basically begging to give them their money.

 

And how do you think newcomers to this hobby are feeling right now when they can't even buy a base body or the parts to make one because Volks can't send us parts or even try to make extra runs of them? Bringing in new people to a hobby is it's lifeblood. Without new people in a hobby, it stagnates and eventually dies.

 

The way it looks to most of us here in NA, Volks basically thinks of us as second or third rate and only sends us scraps of their leftovers *IF* they feel like it. This may be completely wrong as I have no idea what those guys actually DO think of us in NA. But the vibes they send out sure don't feel good. I understand that we are lucky to get anything from them at all since the US store doesn't even have to be here. But since THEY put the store here for OUR market, they NEED to act like we're a market and stock the damn store on occasion. If they're not interested in the market over here, fine. Close it down and make it even more difficult for us to enjoy our hobby. But at this point, ANY actions by Volks would be better than NONE.... which is what we seem to be getting now. The silent treatment sucks.

 

All I want from them is to ramp up the parts for this market in North America, that's all. I don't even mind the price increases. But it's hard to pay for stuff if it's not available.

 

 

 

Billy

Well we all know what's actually causing the shortage right now, it's not like the international site has an overabundance of stock while it's barren here. As for the US store, I just see it as cool it's there sort of thing. My sense is they are pretty content with the international website for foreign markets. The US store is more of status symbol that they are global. They are still using the same website design and yahoo checkout from years ago, until i see some effort on that end, things will prolly remain the same. Finally you do have to ask yourself, does it make any business sense for volks, to spend shipping to send items here and then sell it cheaper than what it can get from the international site? I never saw any merit in that other than earning some good will, if DD is truly popular here then there is no longer a dire need for that. Hopefully the price change is a step to address this.

Unfortunately this still a niche market. Just because the community is active doesn't mean it's a huge market. Price of DD automatically excludes a huge segment potential owners, only the diehards will get more than 2-3. Make no mistake, this is a premium product, and priced as such. Also there have been cases of doll release that didn't sell out during the lotteries, which means the demand isn't as high as some think. I don't think it's that difficult to obtain the girl you want at release if you really went after it. Saber event was crazy because it's saber with an amazing sculpt that has become an icon of the dd line. Most of other volks releases fails in one regard or another, either the character isn't well known or the sculpt is subpar. Lastly, if I was volks, all I need is to take a look at yahoo auctions to realize alot of the saber orders were sold to people trying to resell them for profit, by no means is it an indicator of actual demand for future releases. Oversaturating the market will destroy the line for volks, that's not something anyone wants.

 

Decent

I agree that oversaturating the market with DD's is a bad move but no one is asking for that. All we want is for Volks to actually acknowledge that there is a LARGE fanbase here in North America and to TRY and stock parts a bit better.

 

Even someone who has more than 4 girls will still want different hands for them. How lame is it that no one can even get ONE PAIR of extra hands for their girls unless you go digging on the International site or YJA? That's pathetic in my opinion for a company to just completely ignore a market willing and basically begging to give them their money.

 

And how do you think newcomers to this hobby are feeling right now when they can't even buy a base body or the parts to make one because Volks can't send us parts or even try to make extra runs of them? Bringing in new people to a hobby is it's lifeblood. Without new people in a hobby, it stagnates and eventually dies.

 

The way it looks to most of us here in NA, Volks basically thinks of us as second or third rate and only sends us scraps of their leftovers *IF* they feel like it. This may be completely wrong as I have no idea what those guys actually DO think of us in NA. But the vibes they send out sure don't feel good. I understand that we are lucky to get anything from them at all since the US store doesn't even have to be here. But since THEY put the store here for OUR market, they NEED to act like we're a market and stock the damn store on occasion. If they're not interested in the market over here, fine. Close it down and make it even more difficult for us to enjoy our hobby. But at this point, ANY actions by Volks would be better than NONE.... which is what we seem to be getting now. The silent treatment sucks.

 

All I want from them is to ramp up the parts for this market in North America, that's all. I don't even mind the price increases. But it's hard to pay for stuff if it's not available.

 

 

 

Billy

 

They may hear you: Volks USA store is hiring staffs

What about sakura shinguji dolllfie?

 

http://www.volks.co.jp/en/dollfiedream/dd_st_sakura.html/

 

Any guess?

 

500? Its an old series i guess it is not that many

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.

 

Those numbers really make sense and really intrigues me:

Asumming that they are accurate, it could mean that all of -insert limited DDs name here- we see on flickr, personal blogs, here on the forums, asian blogs and such are kinda like the tip of an iceberg and a greater number of them remain "underwater", kept away from the DD public life