Volks JP at Magical Mirai 2013 Hatsune Miku Event

Very true... Volks USA has some outfits I want, but they insist on charging a minimum of $35 USD for any small thing I want to order. The only time I ordered from Volks USA, I was buying doll bodies/heads--but when they arrived I had to pay a $100 brokerage fee Needless to say, I'm not too keen on ordering from Volks USA.

 

I think Miku has a bigger box, shipping from Japan cost 5400 yen for me (I live in Canada too), which is more than the last time I bought a DD from VolksInt. Nonetheless, there just seems to be no benefit for Canadians to buy from Volks USA

 

I've seen the photos of Miku's box and I thought it would be the same size as Makoto's box only fancier. If it is in fact bigger, than it does make some sense for the shipping price to be a bit higher, but I am still paying slightly more than those who ordered from International for shipping, from a country located next to mine, that is also slower than EMS. :c

 

At this point, I am hoping Volks will release a Sakura Miku outfit, since it'll probably be close to Spring when she gets here.

Very true... Volks USA has some outfits I want, but they insist on charging a minimum of $35 USD for any small thing I want to order. The only time I ordered from Volks USA, I was buying doll bodies/heads--but when they arrived I had to pay a $100 brokerage fee Needless to say, I'm not too keen on ordering from Volks USA.

 

But VolksUSA can't really do anything about those fees (unless they want to get hit with fraud charges for marking down packages). Customs is going to hit anything ordered from abroad. Unless they forced UPS or another courier that charges ridiculous fees on top of customs, but they definitely let me pick USPS/Canada Post whenever I ordered through them.

Very true... Volks USA has some outfits I want, but they insist on charging a minimum of $35 USD for any small thing I want to order. The only time I ordered from Volks USA, I was buying doll bodies/heads--but when they arrived I had to pay a $100 brokerage fee Needless to say, I'm not too keen on ordering from Volks USA.

 

But VolksUSA can't really do anything about those fees (unless they want to get hit with fraud charges for marking down packages). Customs is going to hit anything ordered from abroad. Unless they forced UPS or another courier that charges ridiculous fees on top of customs, but they definitely let me pick USPS/Canada Post whenever I ordered through them.

I'm fine with paying GST/handling fees like I've had to do with other US BJD dealers. I think that excessive brokerage fee was with the postal service, which was not Canada Post. I don't feel like they gave me good shipping options when I made that order, and right now, they don't give any option below $35 (compare to $12 EMS for small items from Japan).

I see people have already paid if they ordered from volks usa. and the international site said orders before september 30 2013 are being paid now and getting ready to ship. I ordered through international on september 24 last year but have no word from them. anyone else order from international?

I see people have already paid if they ordered from volks usa. and the international site said orders before september 30 2013 are being paid now and getting ready to ship. I ordered through international on september 24 last year but have no word from them. anyone else order from international?

 

Hmmm, I would write mail to Volks international (if you have already looked into the spamm folder).... Many people already got their inconvience days ago and not only here but on myfigurecollection.net as well. Asking can't hurt! You have to pay Miku till the 13th of october by the way.

I see people have already paid if they ordered from volks usa. and the international site said orders before september 30 2013 are being paid now and getting ready to ship. I ordered through international on september 24 last year but have no word from them. anyone else order from international?

If you view your account, does it show you are able to pay for your Miku order?

SakuraSylph You had the service so I'm sure you know better, but I don't think it's entirelly that the community doesn't want a solution. A lot of people would, as you said, prefer to wait to get it at retail because they know that they will stock up someday and they're willing to wait for it -perhaps while saving up for it too. And there's also the fact that a lot of people instead make splits to get bodies at a cheaper price so people know there is that solution to the problem also.

Indeed, I agree with you. I think it's great when folks want to wait until an official restock and pick stuff up for exactly retail cost. I do/would too, in most instances, since it's not often that I'm on a deadline for anything. Of course, choosing to wait also carries along with it the responsibility of patience, which is what I was getting at. Patience is what I think the community in general forgets sometimes. Not just DD Forums, but folks everywhere.. I'd love to see less complaining, and more patience.

 

The low interest in standard DD parts was pretty constant throughout all the changes that have happened in the DD marketplace. In both hot markets (like two years ago) and cold markets (like we have now), I was surprised to find that the demand for standard DD parts in particular, at least from me, remained low - even as requests for other types of things changed by wide margins up and down depending on the month. I think that was one of the surprising lessons I learned.

 

Also, I might be wrong, but it looks to me like, at least the US / EU market is coming to a...what's the word...standstill?

I think you're absolutely correct here also. Yes, almost a standstill, at least on DD Forums. I wonder, was DD a fad in the west that has pretty much now wound down?

 

I have a theory about this. It's the opposite of what you would think, but I hypothesize that the drastically better exchange rate we enjoy today killed off DD. Yes, cheaper things from Japan sound great, but it also turned out to mean that US sellers now can't compete at all with Mandarake anymore, if they try to sell for the same price they originally bought at. That 80,000 yen doll a hypothetical person paid $1050 for two years ago is now worth $780, all in just two years' time, even though the value of the doll in yen hasn't budged.

 

Even if someone isn't planning to sell their dolls, they look at the market like that and feel poor. It's a strictly psychological thing - remember they're not even trying to sell! Feeling poor then leads to fewer purchases of new dolls and clothes, even though now would be a great time to buy because prices are cheap. It's weird that way. And fewer buyers makes the market slow way down.

 

Perhaps this is an example of why economic textbooks say deflation is a bad thing for markets, even though it sounds like a great thing at first for your wallet?

 

To maintain the thread's topic, I'll add in a comment about Miku too. So far we just know about when the very first Japanese batch will go out; we don't know about any other Japanese batches or how long they'll take. It may well be that some folks in Japan also have to wait many months yet for their Miku-chans and Senbonzakura-chans to be delivered. I didn't order mine within the first few days of orders, and so none of the schedule Volks has published so far applies to me. (They haven't said anything extra to VS/VIPs either).

import duties and taxes make it a lot less fun...

Japanese fans may be a hardcore bunch but for how long are people going to keep buying these who already have 3 or 4? Outfits for all of them, stain prevention and general care, doll stands all that it just gets pricier then what it is worth. Most people feel attached to the dolls they have too so I think most people only spend money on the models that appear really special to them. Also its not like getting outfits is that easy, especially to someone who is interested in them but may not be up to date with the japanese system of purchasing via lottos and first come first served on laggy websites. Then the after market prices are crazy too, but I honestly think its where most first time buyers get stuff. If myfigurecollection is anything to go by.

Japanese fans may be a hardcore bunch but for how long are people going to keep buying these who already have 3 or 4? Outfits for all of them, stain prevention and general care, doll stands all that it just gets pricier then what it is worth. Most people feel attached to the dolls they have too so I think most people only spend money on the models that appear really special to them. Also its not like getting outfits is that easy, especially to someone who is interested in them but may not be up to date with the japanese system of purchasing via lottos and first come first served on laggy websites. Then the after market prices are crazy too, but I honestly think its where most first time buyers get stuff. If myfigurecollection is anything to go by.

 

Not just the price of upkeep (you can get everything except the dolls themselves from cheap third party sellers if you're not 100% set on a specific style), but I think the size of the dolls themselves is kind of a built-in upper limit for most people. It's easy to have lots of small anime figures and even smaller dolls but DDs are two feet tall. I think most people can only have a few before they kind of feel like they're taking over your living space.

Japanese fans may be a hardcore bunch but for how long are people going to keep buying these who already have 3 or 4?

You probably don't know just how hardcore otakus can get. 2-3 DDs a year is probably from their least expenses, when you consider how much more they spend on other anime merchandise. I'm guessing a lot of them keep them in their original outfits and don't care for staining too much since they buy them to put them behind a glass / on a shelf with their other figures. I'm also guessing their number is BIG if they can control the anime industry.

Japanese fans may be a hardcore bunch but for how long are people going to keep buying these who already have 3 or 4?

You probably don't know just how hardcore otakus can get. 2-3 DDs a year is probably from their least expenses, when you consider how much more they spend on other anime merchandise. I'm guessing a lot of them keep them in their original outfits and don't care for staining too much since they buy them to put them behind a glass / on a shelf with their other figures. I'm also guessing their number is BIG if they can control the anime industry.

 

I think most japanese otaku care about staining actually... As they want to keep everything in very good condition to keep the worth of the doll. Japanese collectors can be very critical about the condition of the stuff they buy. Look at Mandarake how they normaly even point out the smallest stains, defects on the box etc

 

I would rather think that some otaku don't open the doll at all to keep them like new!

 

But yeah otaku spent much on merchandise and stuff. I am a fujoshi myself and spent a lot on stuff even if I think that the japanese otaku are much more hardcore as me and spent even more money. So many will probably own more as 2-3. And Miku might get some more into the hobby hihi

Seconding what was said above about otaku, but also as a doll collector... after my wishlist will be through I'll have 45 dolls ranging from 16 to 70cm (I'm at 36 right now, although a grand total of 12 lack bodies). And now consider for a moment that at least 16 - 20 out of them are taller than 60cm, with the majority of the rest ranging from 41 - 55cm (I'm not very fond of small dolls).

 

And after this, consider that I live together with Shailara above who also happens to have a collection much similar in size to mine, in a two-room apartment, and to this day we haven't been much deterred by the size of it, so I don't think their size would really deter a collector from buying new/ more dollfie dreams.

I get the impression that there are lots of ways to have dolls. Close "bonds", no bonds, tons, few, shelfbabies versus taking them everywhere. . . That depends a lot on the person. So by extension spending habits do vary quite widely as well.

 

I do agree that there does seem to be some "cooling" in the Western market though; I've seen more "leaving hobby sale" posts on this forum and on Figure.fm the past year than I have the previous two combined. I've noticed Figure.fm in particular seems to be getting increasingly quiet on the non-Smart Doll doll front, and that site used to be a *major* driver in the doll community.

 

What I can't tell is if the calming in Figure.fm was a cause in the market cooling or the other way around, though I'm certain one of them reflects the other. It's possible it's kind of a feedback loop. At the peak, nearly any DD related post got TONS of comments, regardless of whether or not the photos were all that great, especially if the doll was one of the coveted ones like Saber Classic or Sasara. Now even ones with nice photos don't get even a quarter of the ones they used to.

 

It seems to me that the people who got into the hobby because they (sometimes subconsciously) wanted attention online are kind of dropping out of it. And let's face it, a lot of that "classic otaku" collecting behavior is driven by a kind of competitive attention-seeking, so those ones in the Western market are probably the most likely to fall by the wayside. Once the attention cools off, there's not much drive for them to spend money anymore.

 

Those of us that are in it because we genuinely like having dolls around regardless of what others think may also be getting choosier. When DDs first were "hot", they were the only thing like them on the market; Azone practically didn't count because their heads back then basically all used the same low-detail mold, and Angel-Philia was practically unheard of. Now there's classic resin BJD makers making anime-style dolls, a couple like SQ Labs and 2D Doll that sprang up with exclusively anime-type dolls available, the silicone dolls like Evoke are catering to the anime market, Azone's stepped up their head mold game significantly with unique heads for each release lately, and AP's hardly even an open secret these days. Plus, nearly all of those other than Angel Philia are much more straightforward to acquire at release than Volks, making them more convenient. With all these options, a Volks doll has to be one you really love to be worth the comparative hassle.

 

Which brings me back to the original topic, actually. I've always been extremely picky about who I want to bring home, even before all these other options sprang up and became competitive, so it actually says a lot about how Miku turned out that I specifically made a point to get her fully paid as soon as preorders went up. I've wanted a DD Miku since even before I got Agatha; to me, my wait has been since 2009, not 2013. Here I was, finally thinking that with the International orders going out that I was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and here they're telling me that there's yet more wait. I suppose it would seem like after that long wait it would like, "Sigh, a little bit longer I guess", but it's feeling a little bit like they're holding her hostage.

 

Seriously, it's got me agreeing that Volks USA's increasing habit of giving their customers the short end of the stick is making it not worth it. Maybe we should start saying so on their Facebook page? Otherwise they may think we just don't want doll stuff at all, which isn't true; it's just the US branch's behavior we're getting sick of.

 

Looks like the *only* thing good I got about ordering Miku from USA was that I don't have to worry about whether or not I have the money for her now, since they let me pay in full. >.>

 

/ranttime

@ Poofiemus

 

Wow! That is interesting indeed as I have been in the hobby just a bit more as a year now (and got some of my friends into DD)

Now I want to know even more about it XD

 

And I agree that there are many diffrent ways to collect dolls. It is always interesting to see how other manage their collection.

Japanese fans may be a hardcore bunch but for how long are people going to keep buying these who already have 3 or 4? Outfits for all of them, stain prevention and general care, doll stands all that it just gets pricier then what it is worth. Most people feel attached to the dolls they have too so I think most people only spend money on the models that appear really special to them. Also its not like getting outfits is that easy, especially to someone who is interested in them but may not be up to date with the japanese system of purchasing via lottos and first come first served on laggy websites. Then the after market prices are crazy too, but I honestly think its where most first time buyers get stuff. If myfigurecollection is anything to go by.

 

Consider that the western BJD community has all the same issues, and yet is thriving:

+ Space: there are resin dolls WAY larger than DDs (Dollmore Lusion, anyone?), and yet many collectors have 10, 20, 30, or more!

+ Care: Resin is far more fragile. Parts can break off, elastic grows loose over time, face-ups can easily be scratched, and resin can and will yellow over time. One of the main reasons I prefer DDs is because their "general upkeep" is cheaper & easier than resin.

+ Cost: DDs are expensive, but there are far more expensive BJDs out there (Soom's LEs regularly pass $1,000 for the fullset, for example).

+ Clothes: yes, Volks outfits can be hard to secure, but that's true for resin collectors (remember, they're going after the same outfits we are). Plus, there are a ton of other sellers making clothing for all sizes.

 

VolksUSA obviously knows there are doll buyers in the US. What they're doing with resins is incredible. USA is getting FCS for SD16 girls. USA is getting Sunlight Skin and Pure Skin Ebony Skin in FCS. That's huge! That is special treatment for US resin fans! It seems like Volks knows their resin market in the US has shrunk somewhat (with Soom, Fairyland, Luts, and other major companies eating up more of the resin market), and they're trying to regrow it.

 

So part of me almost wonders if Volks is ignoring the western DD market not because they think it's small, but because they know it's huge and it's not a point of concern for them. Maybe they know they can lose a bunch of western DD fans and still have a huge market, so there's no reason to give us special treatment. Heck, maybe they're hoping it'll retract a little bit, so it can get back to a size they can actually service without getting totally overwhelmed?

 

Either way, I'm still annoyed with the Miku delay, but I suspect Volks knows the truth... as long as they keep making DDs, I'll keep buying them.

I have to agree that I'm really impressed that Volks is offering SD16 and darker skin tones for FCS - this has never been available before, even in Japan. On the other hand, their 'FCS' isn't really the same functionally- you can choose between a small number of head sculpts and two standard faceup options. It's more like what the competition at Luts, etc has offered for years. They are definitely playing catchup in the resin market now.

 

As for DD, I can see that the surge following Danny Choo has tapered off, but there's still interest. It's just really difficult to enter into this hobby now. When I started there were 2 standard models, 3 body types, and 2 skintones (just for DDII). And even then folks still got confused and ordered 1/6 dollfie parts and clothes. Volks USA has ditched their blogs that had a lot of good info, and there's no real guidance for poor newbies anymore. Just try to answer the question 'What's a DD and how do I get one?' and see how convoluted THAT answer is. Miku was a great way to get the western audience into DD, but they totally yanked the rug out from under USA fans halfway through with the staff changeover and subsequent delays.

 

Either way, I'm still annoyed with the Miku delay, but I suspect Volks knows the truth... as long as they keep making DDs, I'll keep buying them.

 

The lady speaketh the absolute truth!

 

In the end, Volks will still routinely open my wallet and abscond with my meager earnings. (And I will still happily oblige, if it means another lovely DD or outfit coming my way.)

 

It feels like this has been a great way for folks to let off a little steam on the shipping situation. But as others pointed out, I guess we shouldn't be all that surprised.

 

Going OT, I agree VolksUSA is doing amazing things for their resin market, so I can see why we are a secondary concern, but who likes being a secondary concern? They need to find that balance.

 

Oh remember that Miku band outfit is supposed to release at some point, so I guess look forward to that in the mean time!

I think Danny Choo's popularity is suffering cause he's not been as active lately cause of his smart dolls and I don't post as much on figure.fm too much cause they only ever feature Mirai related posts lately. Also many people's posts end up in the upcoming section where they don't get viewed very much and the mods aren't on top of bumping the good posts onto the main feed.

 

The figure market is definitely cooling down as they've over saturated the market with too many re-releases and so many new figures but I'm not so sure about the DD market. Feels like it's still growing if not as rapidly as it used to. Thing is you tend to notice people who are leaving the hobby but don't see the new people coming in, and there's always going to be people leaving their hobby whether it's because they've gotten bored or have financial problems etc I know DD's are certainly getting more popular amongst resin BJD collectors.

 

Anyway back to the topic; I know Volks are going to be releasing the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Rondo outfit set for the Christmas Dolpa but wonder if they'll also release the Mikuzukin set as well?

I wonder if things seem slower in the aftermarket because so many people have ordered Miku? It's kind of hard to casually add another to your collection when you know you're getting Miku later on. Every once in a while something pops up in the marketplace and I'm like (๑╹っ╹๑) but then realize, once Miku arrives I'll have a total of four dolls around if I get that, which is definitely too much.

 

I'm not including MDDs in that count, though >_>

 

And if Rin gets released again because of the new Fate/stay night animes + tenth anniversary, or if they do Luka.... I may still end up with four.

Anyway back to the topic; I know Volks are going to be releasing the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Rondo outfit set for the Christmas Dolpa but wonder if they'll also release the Mikuzukin set as well?

 

That'd be so cool if they did Mikuzukin already! That's the one of those two I really want. But it's been what, a year since they announced that Do-Re-Mi-Fa Rondo would get made? :/ Yeah, I'm expecting a delay until at least the Kyoto Dolpa in March for Mikuzukin, personally. ^^;;;

I really want to see better pictures of Do Re Mi Fa Rondo. I love the design but in the picture of the finished outfit, the jacket looks kind of bulky and awkwardly fitted. I'm hoping it's just an issue of the pose she was in or something.

 

I was hoping for more pics during Magical Mirai in Tokyo, but it looks like that passed without anything new happening.

On the "cooling off of the Western market", I wonder if the other contributing factor may be frustrating with getting items.

 

First, with the US venues (Volks USA/Kerbey Lane...not sure about We Love Dolls) no longer doing limiteds, there are less chances for the NA people to get the dolls than before. And to do so, they have to deal with the extra hassles of going through international. Some people just don't like dealing with the extra hassle.

 

Second, this is my impression, but it seems like the limiteds have been a bit more scarce lately. When I did the stats for the Win/Lose thread a year and a half ago, the majority of the limiteds had a > 50% win ratio from those who responded. If you look at the posts from about middle of last year to now, the majority of the posts have a losing record..and most of the winning ones were older dolls. If you look at the newer release threads, the win rates seem to be abyssal. For example, I remember doing a count after Ranko released and I think the win rate was ~10% from those who posted. That also matched our local group's win rate. Alisa seemed about the same. Is it not having the extra chances? Is it less of them being made (resources being diverted to Miku)? Combination of the two? Solar flares? Who knows..but I know it's had me wondering if I should keep bothering with buying DDs.

 

Back on topic, my best guess would be DDy Luka for the next Vocaloid. #2 guess would be Rin. I think those are the two with the biggest fan base.

Excuse me for possibly sounding rude but that's how it has been for everyone all these years in Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. In every single place of the world other than America people have singular chances to win any lottery while also competing with 100% of the fanbase that is clamoring to get the same item. In America not only could Americans enter their own lottery, having to fight against maybe about one quarter of the competition since every other country is forbidden from joining it, but also the International lottery giving them over twice as many chances to own the doll of their liking than everyone else (and lets not mention all the additional chances of winning through distributors). And I didn't see the smaller chances prevent the huge European DD fanbase from trying to further their collection or own the dolls of their dreams. So as much as I want to understand Americans for "feeling discouraged" for having less chances I feel like they should -and pardon my language- suck it up like literally every other person in every other country has been doing all these years and continue doing what they like.

 

Also, there aren't less dolls being made, if nothing the quantity has largely increased over the years. It's just that now you've got to compete against a lot more people than you did before, but I digress.

 

Anyhow. I don't think they'll be making Vocaloids for one big reason. We've never had back to back releases from the same franchise ever before so I don't see the reason for them to change them now. A Luka would be more than welcome however. I'd love to see what Volks would do with her.

i haven't won a lottery since mid 2011. I met up with mitsuki in Chicago for a concert when the lottery opened for Alisa, and we both entered while saying we'd both loose. Mitsuki bought Alisa off YJA. I like the new version of Mirai, but I should probably just not even enter for the memorial version, I won't win anyway.

 

I feel for those of you who ordered Miku via Volks USA. Delays are always annoying. I get the impression that Volks is marginalizing the USA branch. At least DD-wise, they don't seem to care about us.

 

I know Black Rock Shooter was related to Vocaloid somehow. You think there's any chance she could turn up as a DD? I didn't order Miku, so I can't see myself wanting Luka Rin, etc.

 

Soenatte, while I had the option to enter twice, I rarely did. In fact, it was only once I started constantly loosing on Volks USA that I started entering (and loosing) both lotteries. Maybe popularity is up, and supplies can't meet demand, or maybe after Mari and Miu ended up not selling out through the lottery, Volks cut back on production a bit. Probably both.

 

We've had a pretty steady stream of Idol Master DDs for the past year or so. Maybe not one right after the other, but it feels like it to me.