Volks USA No Longer Carrying Limited Dolls and Items

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but apparently Volks USA is no longer going to run lottery for Limited Dolls and items.

Here is the post on their Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/volksusa

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☆☆☆IMPORTANT NEWS REGARDING LIMITED RELEASE DOLLS☆☆☆

 

Unfortunately, VOLKS USA will no longer be offering lottery and releasing Limited Editions Super Dollfie® and Dollfie Dream® .

 

On a brighter note! VOLKS INTERNATIONAL and our authorized dealer, WeLoveDolls.com will be releasing future Limited Dolls and taking Lottery Entries on our behalf.

 

These changes will affect the Hometown Dolpa Kyoto 10 Limited Dolls and all future Limited Doll releases.

 

If you have any questions regarding these news; feel free to ask us anything in the comments or shoot an email over to service@volksusa.com

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Hmmm…. What is Volks USA going to carry then? If its just spare parts for DD and clothing, (which they send so little of) is there really a point for them to stay open? Many of us have shopped there for years, and supported the store to keep it viable in the USA. I understand the economics of business and why they may need to shut down and streamline, but it is a shame to alienate their customer base that is actually growing!

 

What are your thoughts?

yeaaaaa I saw this and it makes no sense what so ever. Why even keep a US office now? Getting the fullset dolls from them was about the only time their UPS shipping ended up being reasonable. I mean they said they're closing the storefront but now they must be just in the process of closing the branch all together. It could very well be shipping costs for the dolls overseas is something they want to cut out... but even then that makes no sense b/c they say to still use We Love Dolls.

 

If they don't sell any new dolpa clothing lines I really don't see the point in using them again.

 

 

I mean why in blue blazes would you as a company direct someone to a 3rd party (yet licensed) dealer for the dolls vs your own company that is in the States??? I'm baffled beyond belief.....

If this stands, I don't see them existing as even a web company within a year or so.

  kymaera said:

If this stands, I don't see them existing as even a web company within a year or so.

 

 

Maybe thats why they are going to be having a special sale on their website to clear all the old stock out ):

  kymaera said:

If this stands, I don't see them existing as even a web company within a year or so.

 

 

Such a shame. Feels like this is the end of an era.

 

I forsee some major group orders in the near future if that's the case.

Dang, what are they thinking? This means fewer opportunities to enter lotteries and get limited outfits Admittedly, I avoid Volks USA after my first order with them because their system's not very user friendly for Canadians ($40 shipping for some eyes? no thanks). I don't know how successful the US branch was for them to be doing this, but I agree with kymaera, I don't think they'll last long when there's so little point to them (no limited things, no storefront).

 

 

I wonder if someone more experienced with them can ask what their plans are. Do they plan to slowly close down the branch altogether?

I wonder if this could be possibly be a temporary measure, until they've had a chance to change locations, re-vamp procedures, update the website, etc.?

  Cauldroness said:

I wonder if this could be possibly be a temporary measure, until they've had a chance to change locations, re-vamp procedures, update the website, etc.?

 

Oh, I hope you're right--especially on updating the website. While they improved the organization and cross-referencing of items a lot last time they went offline, I think I'm not alone in loathing the Yahoo-based shopping system.

 

I agree with Yukamina, we need more info for sure! Not just on permanent closure vs. major revamp, but also on how this affects people with Miku preorders coming up, and Erica Fontaines potentially coming in the middle of this mess.

  Poofiemus said:

but also on how this affects people with Miku preorders coming up, and Erica Fontaines potentially coming in the middle of this mess.

 

Oh crap - yeah what about Miku o____o It's so far off in the year I forgot about that bit... Might be really worth asking them on their FB page.

  Poofiemus said:

I agree with Yukamina, we need more info for sure! Not just on permanent closure vs. major revamp, but also on how this affects people with Miku preorders coming up, and Erica Fontaines potentially coming in the middle of this mess.

 

I was wondering that too...

Its ONLY LIMITED DOLLS. Items will still be available JUST NOT THE DOLLS.

  Subaru said:

Its ONLY LIMITED DOLLS. Items will still be available JUST NOT THE DOLLS.

 

Prisma Illya's school uniform is considered a LIMITED ITEM and is not available for lottery through volks USA, so LIMITED ITEMS are included in this new policy.

 

Regular clothing releases should be available via "click war style"when the website is revamped, unless there is another surprise announcement that they have pulled out of the American market completely.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Guest

well apart from the clothes, where the clickwar is all the way up until you pay vs the international site where the shopping card is valid for so many minutes/hours... why have the online store only open to offer clothes? they're limiting their own products to the very people that want them.

 

I could see it if DDs/BJDs as a market was indecline but its quite the opposite. I'd seriously wonder if they get rid of the big items like limiteds, whats to stop them from selling base bodies and other higher end components. :\

I think the online store will still have all the optional parts to build your own DD or get replacement parts. They'll also still have the standard dolls. Honestly, the second prime reason I go to Volks is to get replacement parts so I'm glad they will still have it.

 

The first reason are limited clothing, of course. I'm glad they will still have that.

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Edited June 1, 2014 by Guest

I don't think it's a licensing issue at all. Volks has never had a problem getting Type-Moon items in the US. We've had Rin and her outfit, four Sabers, the 1st Illya and her outfit, Sakura and her outfit -- there is simply no reason to suddenly assume that they've suddenly lost a license that we know they have successfully held for a very long time.

 

I am pretty sure that chibinezumi is correct on this and all lottery-limited items are included in this new policy. It seems like VolksUSA is no longer offering lottery items of any kind, including lottery clothing or accessories.

 

Regular limited items, sold on a first-come, first-serve basis, don't seem like they would be affected. So regular limited clothing, shoes, wigs, etc. should all be fine.

 

It seems like VolkUSA is trying to get rid of items that you purchase in advance of receipt. Click-war items are paid for and shipped immediately. Lottery items are usually won and paid for months in advance of the product ever arriving.

  Cauldroness said:

I don't think it's a licensing issue at all. Volks has never had a problem getting Type-Moon items in the US. We've had Rin and her outfit, four Sabers, the 1st Illya and her outfit, Sakura and her outfit -- there is simply no reason to suddenly assume that they've suddenly lost a license that we know they have successfully held for a very long time.

There might be different licensing agreements for Kaleid Liner, seeing as it's primarily a manga/anime published by Kadokawa, and not by Type-Moon themselves.

  Poofiemus said:

but also on how this affects people with Miku preorders coming up, and Erica Fontaines potentially coming in the middle of this mess.

 

*raises hand* my Erica is already on her way to me, so perhaps they got her goin out for everyone else Right Now as well?

  Subaru said:

  chibinezumi said:

  Subaru said:

Its ONLY LIMITED DOLLS. Items will still be available JUST NOT THE DOLLS.

 

Prisma Illya's school uniform is considered a LIMITED ITEM and is not available for lottery through volks USA, so LIMITED ITEMS are included in this new policy.

 

Regular clothing releases should be available via "click war style"when the website is revamped, unless there is another surprise announcement that they have pulled out of the American market completely.

 

There are some items not available through the USA site because of contracts and licensing... Illya just happened to be one of those...

 

We Love Dolls, a USA based dealer, is accepting lottery entries for Prisma Illya and her school uniform. I'd say licensing is not an issue here, but I rest my case, for the sake of not making work for our moderator.

Edited March 6, 2014 by Guest

  Chise said:

  Poofiemus said:

but also on how this affects people with Miku preorders coming up, and Erica Fontaines potentially coming in the middle of this mess.

 

*raises hand* my Erica is already on her way to me, so perhaps they got her goin out for everyone else Right Now as well?

 

I got my Erica yesterday so it would seem she's not affected by this change, I'd be surprised if it was honestly since the winners paid for her almost two months ago.

  Skaf said:

  Chise said:

 

*raises hand* my Erica is already on her way to me, so perhaps they got her goin out for everyone else Right Now as well?

 

I got my Erica yesterday so it would seem she's not affected by this change, I'd be surprised if it was honestly since the winners paid for her almost two months ago.

 

Glad to hear that the Dolpa 30 limited stuff is going through without a hitch!

 

I know they're obliged to ship out full payment Mikus no matter what happens to the site, but the dork in me wants to know the mechanics of it. I know too that some people had selected "in store pickup" for her, which isn't going to happen for obvious reasons, so I'm curious what their solution to that is. (Curious mostly for curiosity's sake, really, since I'm just far enough away I'd spend more in gas getting to the store than in shipping fees most likely. XD)

I asked them about this, they said that they will only be moving to another warehouse in the same area so the pick-up option will still be available. There just won't be a physical store where you can shop and look at items.

To make it clear, the VolksUSA drop in coverage is exactly as the title says: "Limited" dolls and items.

 

In Japan, Volks sells two categories of items, which you'll see in Volks News. The category that is going away at VolksUSA is called 限定商品 (gentei shouhin), which literally means limited/restricted products. It includes lottery dolls and their associated clothing.

 

The other category, "Sumika Items" (すみか商品), is what VolksUSA will still be selling. This includes all the regular clothing lines (Designers Collection, Tenshi no Koromo, etc), doll parts, and normal accessories. Even if they run out of stock on those things easily, they aren't categorized as limited/gentei.

 

So, according to the announcement, VolksUSA will still be selling the majority of what they were selling before.

Thank you for the clarification SakuraSylph! I was wondering if the Dollfie Dreams alternate clothes and accessories would be effected or not.

Thanks for the extra information! I was pretty sure that chibinezumi and I were reading the announcement correctly; it's good to have confirmation.

 

I really hope that Volks fixes their website soon! I hate the click-wars. I always get what I want into my cart and then lose it during the check-out process, so I've just stopped attempting to buy click-war stuff them them entirely. Outside of hands (which I buy... once a year?), now there's basically nothing for me to purchase from VolksUSA.