Dolpa (Dolls Party) in the US

From Tsubasa126's and Nakitaninja's respective quote from San Diego Comic Con International, I learned that there are two Dolpas that were held in the US, one in L.A. (2007) and the latest one in the state of New York (2010).

There has been a Dolls Party in Los Angeles in 2007 but Volks have not had one in L.A. since then.

http://site.volksusa.com/html/2007/dolls_party_la_2007/

 

To my understanding the last one took place in NYC in 2010 and there have not been any more announcements as to the future of Dolpas in the US- anywhere. If it makes you feel any better the focus was never on the Dollfie Dreams but almost exclusively featuring resin:

 

http://site.volksusa.com/html/2010/dolls_party_ny_4//

 

Who knows though? Perhaps in the future the popularity of the DD will bring Volks back with limited one-off models. *drool*

 

From then, I realized that I didn't know anything about the past Dolpas that were held in the US and decided to take on a mini-research endeavor. ^.^

 

As I dig deeper into my research, I found out there were two other parties that were held in the US. The first US Dolpa was held in New York City in 2006. The other party isn't a Dolpa, but a Tea Party. It was held in L.A. at VOLKS Mansion.

 

[Dolpa] After Reports

New York City (2006) -

Los Angeles (2007) - <http://site.volksusa.com/html/2007/dolls_party_la_2007/news/report.html>

New York City (2010) -

 

[Extra] After Report

Tea Party in LA (2006) -

 

Now the question is...

When is the next US Dolpa?

 

Volks USA, Inc. doesn't have any factory here in the US that produces the products offered by Volks, Inc (in Japan). If Volks USA, Inc. has factories here in the US, there would have been more Dolpas held in the US.

 

Volks USA's stocks/supplies come from Volks, Inc. through high-volume shipments from VOLKS INC.

in KYOTO, JAPAN.

 

My opinion: The cost for Volks, Inc. to ship a large number of their products oversea to Volks USA, Inc. discouraged Volks, Inc. and Volks USA, Inc. to hold many Dolpas in the US.

 

Source:

http://www.importgenius.com/suppliers/volks-inc

 

There's something interesting in the previous source. Volks, Inc. exports to an importer in the state of New York. Could there be an upcoming Volks store (Tenshi-No-Sumika) in NY, USA? Maybe it's just a warehouse, and not a Volks store... What's everyone's opinion on this? I'll keep my opinion to myself, but I'm interested in what everyone here has to say about Volks, Inc. exporting goods to an importer in New York, USA.

 

Thank you for looking~!!

I believe it's the general "crap" nature of the economy and the fact that the Dolpas are run almost exclusively on unpaid volunteers that resulted in Dolpa(s) being put on hold at the moment. I've seen a few conventions put on hold due to funding and the fact people have less money to spend on luxury items.

 

The last Dolpa ended with the Volks representatives thanking the main volunteers and offering them each a paid trip to Japan to visit Tenshi-no-Sato as kind of a, 'thank you for everything you've done and farewell~' sort of thing.

 

I just feel lucky we still have the Volks USA store and try to shop with them as much as possible to support them. That doesn't mean we shouldn't have hope for the future Dolpas, it's just unlikely we'll see a Dolpa anytime soon.

 

 

(I look forward to eating those words and seeing you all at the next US Dolpa. *^^*)

 

 

My guess about the warehouse/importer is that it's likely a stock or materials supplier and used specifically for importing and exporting. Just because Volks makes dolls doesn't mean they are invested in different kinds of business such as plastics or... jez, I dunno, Sham-wows?

 

A Volks shop in NYC would be dreamy though, eh? It's probably why the Dolpas were held in NYC, if there was a reason managers had to come and evaluate materials or product, then why not bring a few dolls and host a local Dolpa, have the die hard fans runs large part of it and promote your product? It actually makes a ton of sense.

I was lucky enough to have a chance to go to the 2007 L.A. Dolpa. I'd have to say the lack of Dolpas has more to do with overall cost than anything else. The cost of the hotel or space, the cost of bringing everyone over from Japan, the cost of bringing that many dolls and clothes they all add up to a lot. I know I wasn't charged enough to really cover their cost for the 2007 L.A. Dolpa and that there weren't nearly enough people there (although there were a quite a bit) to really cover those costs. I don't know if they've really made any money off of the Dolpas. I know that the NYC Dolpas were sponsored by FDQ and were probably the main reason they continued on regularly.

At the last Dolpa in NYC there was a limited edition

Volks resin doll that was only available for purchase by members who subscribed to FDQ Magazine (Fashion Doll Quarterly). I think it was either the Queen of Hearts or the Mad Hatter, but I don't remember offhand.

 

I wrote to FDQ earlier this year (around Feb) and asked if they were going to have another limited doll at the Dolpa this year and they responded that there was something planned but they would make a formal announcement in a few weeks. I took that response as a positive sign that there would be a Dolpa this year.

 

Then the devastating earthquake hit the Sendai area, and after that no more news of any Dolpa in the US. Volks closed several of it's stores immediately after the quake to make sure all their employees were safe (it was posted on the international site) and I'm sure the company had other more pressing matters than to plan a big event overseas.

 

I hope that there will be another US event someday though - I'd love an excuse to go to NYC or LA

Funny I originally started the thread the San Diego Comic Con International to see if there have been any Dolpas or get togethers at Comic con or any anime convention for that matter. Also is anyone bring their dollfies to the next comic con?

 

I'm actually interested whether or not they will have more Dolpas.

It would actually not be any cheaper for me to attend a Dolpa in the USA than it would for me to just go to Japan, but I would still like to see one here, for all the fans who aren't in that situation. If it were in LA I would definitely go, but I'm hesitant to say I would go if it were in NYC...

I'd be ecstatic if we had Dollpa here. Imagine, rows of Chun's and Maridah's clothes, maybe Fenrir could make some dollhouses to sell there, Anne could bring pajamas, Kerbey Lane could bring general products and of course we could all hang out with our girls...

 

*drool*......

I'd be ecstatic if we had Dollpa here. Imagine, rows of Chun's and Maridah's clothes, maybe Fenrir could make some dollhouses to sell there, Anne could bring pajamas, Kerbey Lane could bring general products and of course we could all hang out with our girls...

 

*drool*......

 

Now you're just talking about a good ol' fashioned convention. *^^*

 

Volks events are not that open, though it'd be nice if they were. Some of the doll conventions are very close to what you describe and invite all sorts of dolls, owners and accessories. Although Dolpa sounds amazing, I love seeing the BJD diversity~

 

There's one right here in Austin and it takes place every other year. It had a fun offering and the classes and whatnot are pretty cool. It's not huge like an anime convention but there was still some fun shopping to be had and everyone was walking about with their amazing dolls on their arms.

 

http://bjdctexas.com/

 

There's a lot of conventions and it might be worth it to search in your area! Might be a lot of fun~ ^^