Are Volks Faceups getting spotty in quality?

Only bringing this up b/c I've noticed with recent photos of the newest DDs,their faceups were a little spotty as a whole. For example, photos of a few of the newer gals (Yukiho, Shibuya Rin), like the paint around the lashes will be smudgy in more than in one particular spot, eyefold or eyebrow lines aren't as crisp.

 

Maybe it's always been spotty and I've been lucky in my recent second-hand purchases. I know my Airy has maybe the smallest bit of smudge on her lash line, but it's not an all over thing like some of these newer gals.

 

Thoughts? Am I crazy? They are painting from stencils, so it kinda confuses me more that there are faceups out there with such fuzzy lines.

Here are some photos to help illustrate what mangaemi means:

 

Aoko and Shibuya Rin

 

Kiriha

 

Mio

 

Miki

 

Melty

 

Chihaya

 

Saber

 

Yuki

 

Rina

 

Sasara

 

Rise

 

Kyoko

 

Kasumi

 

It is like they had more filled in sharper lines before. The paint on newer DDs rubs off more easily too.

I'm wondering if it is their new vinyl formula or something. maybe the paint doesn't stick as well?

Can you specify what you mean?

I'm not sure I'm seeing it...

you'l have to go on flickr and see the more upclose photos of Yukiho and shibuya Rin (Mitsuki has them, and I hope that isn't insulting that I mention her - she didn't paint them but has the most extensive flickr photo library of the newer gals hehe). it is where the very defined eyelashes, eyebrows, eyefold do not have crisp lines compared to the earlier facepaints.

Ohhh I see it now. I'm not sure maybe they're using new paint...? Maybe they want it to look more like it's handmade? Only Volks can tell us...

I totally thought they were doing it on purpose to make it look more blended in or something, wow.

I'll take a photo of my Airy to give an example, she has maybe 1/20th of the issue I'm seeing all over with the new DDs. like a little bit of smudginess I can see b/c they're factory painted, but not like all over the place - esp when these new gals are selling so high - I want semi-perfection! XD

Yeah, I've seen what you mean and I was surprised Volks was letting some of those out with obvious messy paint jobs. There's bound to be some error with these super-tiny details on a 3D surface painted with tiny stencils, but QA should catch that. There's usually no way to know what you're getting until it arrives from Japan and I'm sure the SD faces are carefully checked, so why not DD? I do remember someone on this forum had such an iffy paint job that they requested a replacement from Volks, but I'm not sure how that worked out.

 

I have a few limited DD that have imperfect faceups but it doesn't bother me much; it's not visible far away, it adds unique character, and a hand-painted face would have imperfections too. I doubt all collectors are as laid back as me, though ^_^;

IIRC all the resin SD face-ups are done by hand and not by machine, so maybe that's why we hear a lot less about the quality of a resin SD face-up being not as good?

Maybe it's also partially because Volks have progressed to using softer lines/etc on the faceups? More margin for error there. Compare a really old limited head like for example Feena to the current faceups.

Also, with the increase in DD popularity it's possible they're making more in general, so there's higher odds of QC issues slipping through the cracks. Think it's a combination of this and the softer, more complicated faceups like Waha said.

Well considering how hard it is to get most girls, I'd wonder how much more they are really making to qualify for the lack in QC. Like Yukiho, I've seen two diff photos of her head being sold on here and on DOA with the same issues, which is either really bad luck or they're getting a little sloppy. Not to say if one sees the slightest imperfection in a lash it's cause to cry out, but for their prices the paint shouldn't be fuzzy all over - b/c then they start to look like a gashapon paintjob

 

I can understand softer lines but this is like you painted with acrylic then bumped a cotton swab with acetone on it and it caused the paint to spider-out/bleed out.

This is a little OT but I've heard that Volks doesn't seal their face ups and from what I can tell this is true. Does anybody know for sure that DD heads are not sealed? And what about resin, do they seal those face ups?

(And to stay on-topic) Comparing my older DD (Nia Teppelin) and my newer girls (Yaya and Melty) there does seem to be a difference, however I think in my case at least, that it's just a softer, more feminine style than the older face ups.

Nia definitely has sharper lines but the newer face ups seem to be softer overall which makes me think of them as girly. Maybe I'm lucky and neither of mine have problem areas though. In any case the small inconsistencies don't bother me in this case even though I'm OCD about most everything else

I don't think they seal DD faceups. With the new soft vinyl, if you rub hard enough the paint comes off. With the old faceups, even when I am trying to get them off, they take more work.

 

I think they are going for softer more muted complex delicate faceups in warmer colors but if it comes out looking like the paint didn't attach well to the vinyl then it looks less purposeful. I am also wonder how many more they make versus how many more people are trying to get them. I think demand is still a lot higher than supply.

 

I forgot to say earlier that I don't mind at all being mentioned. I didn't do any of the faceups myself. It is fun comparing.

They do seal their resin face-ups-- the last few times I've heard of resin BJD's arriving to people with unsealed face-ups was Dream of Dolls and that was years ago. Volks default face-ups for resin dolls are actually pretty hard to remove, in fact (though not nearly as hard as Latidoll-- those face-ups are the hardest I've ever had to remove).

 

Volks default face-ups for vinyl dolls are super easy to remove-- as easy as Monster High dolls. The only downside is that sometimes they look like they stain, so you have to scrub extra hard on just those parts.

 

I wonder if they make more limited DD's than limited BJD's?

 

I'm still surprised though, as I had thought and still somewhat believe that they had done the soft halo around the opaque lines on purpose to make the face-up look more hand-painted instead of factory-done.

One of the theories that I've heard as to why the face-ups may be so soft now for DD is because a LOT more people are customizing them. With the SD line they actually seem to assume that you'll be removing it. (This is what I've concluded with my personal experience discussing things with Volks staff members and from simply the rate of people who do just that.) It can be pretty hard to find one that hasn't had the default removed and replaced mattering on the mold. (Really popular ones suffer from this the most, so like Luna, or Williams.) You can, but you'll find more customized after the initial release. The DD line may not be as sought after to customized, but you gotta admit it really has been happenin' more.

 

As a side note--if DD are getting more popular you won't be able to see the difference between Volks making more because that's more competition. Honestly, you'll never really be able to figure out the ratio between dolls made and people entering. It doesn't help that they never state how many are actually getting made, so the number is always up in the air. I'm pretty sure this is a set deal made with whoever is commissioning the work and I'm actually assuming there is a flat number for all the Idol dolls, but that's just me throwing around ideas.

I think what cause the problem is the more and more quantity of newer dolls. You can neve keep the perfect from 1 to 100.

I never stick with a "factory face up" for long, so I cannot say much about them >_< But as far as their resin face ups go- I saw their new girls in person at CCBJD and found that at least their resin ones are WAAAAAAY better than they used to be DX