The Hatsune Miku (And Piapro/Vocaloid) New Outfit Thread

I'll refrain from doing THAT again.

 

I forbid you from ever refraining doing that again! Understood?

 

Anywho, any word on if it'll be a pre-order like the Snow Miku one will be?

I’m also curious if it’ll be a pre-order now that the Snow Miku Crane Priestess one will be?

Will they do two pre-orders?

The New Black Miku Dress is on the Volks site now, just not in English for some reason. :d

I think it's fairly common the English pages go up later?

 

From the tiny pic at the bottom as well as the text description, it's verified this set does not come with a wig but just hair ribbons you put on her normal wig.

 

From the picture of her back, it can be seen that the top at least is white lined. With respect to staining what scares me most is the high collar and thus the chance for stains on the bottom of the head, where treating them is always a risk.

 

Can barely see from the tiny picture, but the straps are part of the shoes, but from the other pics they're also clearly just ribbons and the shoes are pretty flat heels. In other words, they're definitely not that standard shoe I thought they might have been, and with the ribbons I guess they're constructed similarly to the Type-2020 shoes.

 

I like the outfit but don't love it. With the fairly high price and pretty high possibilities for staining issues I don't think it's one I'll get, but I'll be very interested to see pictures from those who do.

 

Also, that page explains it is indeed pre-order, the order period being 02/17 through 03/04 with delivery listed just as "summer."

The English page is up now!

http://www.volks.co.jp/miku/en/dress10/

Pre-orders same day as the snow Miku outfit, and at Volks USA too! YES!! 4 more days and I'll be throwing moneys at them.

Pre-orders same day as the snow Miku outfit, and at Volks USA too! YES!! 4 more days and I'll be throwing moneys at them.

While the wording there is less than 100% clear, I don't believe the dates for preordering on Volks USA are announced.

 

Pre-Order Period: February 17th (Sat) ~ March 4th (Sun), 2018 (JST)

 

Stores accepting pre-orders: VOLKS Website Store, “VOLKS USA, INC.”, DD Friend Shops and VOLKS Stores which provide DD related items (inside Japan)

 

* VOLKS USA and DD Friend Shops may have different schedule.

Please visit the official site of each store to check the details.

That note with the asterisk is there twice and is a disclaimer that the date for Volks USA and partner shops isn't necessarily the same. The link to Volks USA is the main page as there is nothing on the site about this yet.

 

While what I wrote above was true, it's on the USA store now, and indeed it's the same preorder period so you can order the two outfits together. http://volksusastore.com/webstores/dollfie/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=9068

 

Notice the price is $148.00; I point that out because the email I just received with this info has the price incorrectly listed as $198.00. Guessing they cut and pasted the text from the previous email on the Snow Miku outfit which is that price.

 

As typical, delivery is later as the International site says Summer and this says Fall 2018.

Got the following in an email from Volks USA:

 

DD Miku appears as a beautiful, yet mysterious vampire~

 

Wonderful news! In addition to the SNOW MIKU 2018 "Crane Priestess" Outfit set the gothic "Vampire" outfit from SHIBUYA MARUI's "Hatsune Miku VAMPIRE FESTIVAL" event will be available through Pre-Order February 17th ~ March 4th, 2018!

 

From the lace gloves, stockings and ruffles - this hauntingly alluring outfit is a must have in anyone's Hatsune Miku Collection! This gothic dress was specially designed by Rozen Maiden's author PEACH-PIT.

Oh, that Miku outfit is stunning! Do we need a creditcard for an order just like with pre-order dolls or is it without deposit for clothing? :c

Oh, that Miku outfit is stunning! Do we need a creditcard for an order just like with pre-order dolls or is it without deposit for clothing? :c

 

In the past it's been upfront payment for pre-order clothing.

As typical, delivery is later as the International site says Summer and this says Fall 2018.

 

That may be the case, but I'll still order via Volks USA so that Volks corp sees that value in keeping them, and perhaps get things to them sooner so they can have concurrent releases and sales. The extra couple months wait is worth that for me.

I don't care about the later release dates. I do care that Volks USA uses a worse-than-real exchange rate (usually 100 yen = USD $1) so that prices on the USA store are significantly higher, and because of that only use them for things I want that I can't get on the Volks International store.

I do care that Volks USA uses a worse-than-real exchange rate (usually 100 yen = USD $1) so that prices on the USA store are significantly higher, and because of that only use them for things I want that I can't get on the Volks International store.

 

Vampire Miku is 14,800 JPY+tax on Intl, and $148 on USA, what's the problem?

 

Volks USA exchange rate is more like tryin to stay afloat... as the yen/dollar fluctuates constantly & wildly! It was 114y to $1 few months ago, now it's down to 106 to 1, who knows what it will be in a couple weeks

Volks Itl will charge you japan taxes and 30bucks in shipping plus your bank might grab 10bucks (worst case scenario) for currency exchange, USA side will have cheaper shipping and end up costing roughly same

Doesn't the 14,800 include the tax?

 

I haven't ordered anything like that from the site. But I have ordered body parts, heads, and shoes and they are cheaper for me than ordering from the USA site. The credit card I use doesn't charge foreign transaction fees and the rate is either the real one or close to it. The current 107 is bad but that's the first time it's been near 100 in a pretty long time.

 

I made my first order from both shops back in December; I was going to have to order from both because neither had everything in stock I was looking for, but there were a number of items I could get either place. I initially put the order together with everything from the USA store I could get there. Shipping was an amount I considered excessive, so I swapped all the items I could to the international store, and it was less to ship from there to me. I made both orders on the same day, and received the international order three days earlier than the USA one.

 

I'm not telling anyone else where to order from, but my experience is that I've gotten my items quicker and paid a fair bit less for them by ordering from the international store, so I will continue to shop there for anything I can get there.

Doesn't the 14,800 include the tax?

 

noooooooope!

Volks Intl tends to write "(without tax)" or "(with fee)" after the prices, on the invoice itself it may show as "commission"

 

the credit card fee varies by bank I think.... Bank of America are outright bastards and on recent Fate/GO downpayment they absolutely charged me a foreign transaction fee

Doesn't the 14,800 include the tax?

noooooooope!

Volks Intl tends to write "(without tax)" or "(with fee)" after the prices, on the invoice itself it may show as "commission"

Ooh, I see now. The prices on the actual store include taxes, but the pages like the one on the vampire outfit do not. For instance, that page on the Snow Miku Crane Priestess outfit shows 19,800 yen while the store page shows 21,384 yen. http://www.volks.co.jp/miku/en/dress0901/ vs. https://www.volks.co.jp/sp_d_004_miku_snow2018_en/?version=en

 

the credit card fee varies by bank I think.... Bank of America are outright bastards and on recent Fate/GO downpayment they absolutely charged me a foreign transaction fee

Yes this is very card-specific; I looked specifically for a card that doesn't charge an extra fee. Capital One Quicksilver doesn't and gives 1.5% cash back. I think the conversion rate is the real one too but I'm not 100% certain on that.

I just paid for something and it was 102yen for $1. Also for shipping I live the next state over from Volks, so it's going to be about $15, and it normally only takes 2 days to get to me, instead of a week from Volks Int. But that has changed as of late. It seems the USPS is still backlogged from Christmas as everything from Volks USA seems to fall off the radar for 3-4 days before it appears on my door step. And that's in addition to the usual 2 days.

Shipping is going to depend on the size of the box. I've never been offered anything other than EMS shipping on the Volks International site, which is fine with me since that's what I would choose anyway. Shipping for me is from Japan to TX, but I imagine it would be the same for anywhere in the US.

 

One or two standard outfit sets is 1200 yen with no EMS insurance fee. This is shipped in a box and is probably what a single deluxe outfit set like the Miku Vampire set or the Snow Miku set would be shipped in.

 

The next size up is 2000 yen with a 50 yen EMS insurance fee. This is the size used for something along the lines of three outfit sets and a pair of shoes.

 

The largest shipment I've had was 2360 yen with a 100 yen EMS insurance fee. This order contained:

2 x pairs shoes

3 x standard outfit sets

1 x small accessory (a necklace, basically negligible in size)

1 x "deluxe" outfit set (large outfit with included shoes)

 

I've never ordered a full doll or body from Volks International, so I don't know how much that runs. I imagine if you were ordering parts like chests or hands it could stack up quickly. I'll have to leave that kind of information to someone else if they care to volunteer it.

 

In terms of shipping speed, Volks International seems to sit on orders for a full week before they ship (my most recent being an exception to this rule). After that it takes about 5 days to reach me.

 

On Volks USA I tend to use UPS Ground shipping. For 3 outfit sets and a pair of shoes the shipping fee was $19.30, so the shipping fees are roughly in parity to EMS fees in that scenario. One outfit and one pair of shoes was $15.66, which is a bit higher than what Volks Int would charge for the equivalent. Volks USA tends to take a day or three before shipping (although once in a while they ship same day) and the package takes about 3 to 5 days to reach me.

 

Now, if you're used to using USPS on Volks USA, your experience will be different, and the fees will be about 50%-70% cheaper. Plus, I don't know how different locations will affect the UPS fee.

 

All my cards charge me 3% for foreign transaction fee. Actually it's just a hair under that, but it's so small it doesn't matter. Pretty much any time anything I've wanted from Japan has been released (whether Volks or Arcadia or Bandai), the exchange rate has been about 0.0091 or 0.0092. The current 0.0094 is definitely less than ideal from my purchasers POV.

I'm also in Texas.

 

I've had just two orders from the international store and one from the USA store. First one from Volks International had shipping of 2360 yen and 50 yen insurance. That order consisted of a pair of shoes, three pair of large hands, two pair of hand internal frames, a set of arms, a couple of other body parts, skin protect tape, wig wax, Dream Rescue, a pair of socks and a set of feet. Testing ordering from Volks USA the same items, but not all of them as several of the body parts and the Dream Rescue weren't in stock then, was over $20 to ship cheapest method; as this was back in December I don't remember the exact amount I'm thinking it was about $25 but I'll just say over $20 as I'm sure of that.

 

Recent order was a head, a wig cap, pitatto ring, face cover, and a pair of boots. Shipping on that was 1200 yen.

 

USA order was a pair of socks and a head after I decided to order most from the international store, and that was just $3.90 to ship.

 

So for a very small order it's definitely cheaper in shipping to order from here. For the outfits where they are using 100 yen = $1 for the outfit price before tax, it likely comes out very close and perhaps in favor of the USA store. The items I ordered weren't priced like that though, the body parts have dollar prices here that appear to be based on the tax-included prices.

 

Anyway, I get wanting to support the USA shop so it stays around. I'm just very cost-conscious so ordering from the international is usually better for me. This is an expensive hobby and I need to minimize that as much as possible.

 

It seems the USPS is still backlogged from Christmas as everything from Volks USA seems to fall off the radar for 3-4 days before it appears on my door step. And that's in addition to the usual 2 days.

This part, but it's been going on for me for a lot longer than that but has certainly been worse since December. I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere so the mail is sorted in a city ~150 miles away, sometimes a different one about twice that distance. Lately things have sat in those locations for up to three days before ever getting to me. I order figures from Amiami that are usually shipped Registered SAL Small Packet and for me those enter the country at New York, then go to New Jersey and finally on to me. For the past year or more, it usually takes 4-7 days for a package to move just from NY to NJ. It's all ridiculous. EMS has to be delivered faster, and those enter at Chicago, but lately even they have sat for two days at the sorting facility that's a couple of hours away before getting to me.

Looks like new Happis are being released for Magical Mirai 2018.

 

 

 

Not sure if they are exclusive to the Volks booth only, but seeing last year being booth exclusive I have a good guess these will be exclusive as well.

 

Source:

They are about $30 each, correct? Is anyone going? I would love one for my Len and Rin. . . . . .

If anyone is, heed this advice: get in line for MM literally as early as possible (like...2 hours before or even more) and head to Volks immediately after getting in. They sold out within the first half hour of the venue opening when I was there (I had gone directly there myself and the ‘sold out’ announcement happened while I was in the Volks line for them) and a huge number of buyers are scalpers. Maybe Volks will make more this year and put a limit on how many a single person can buy though, because last year was honestly ridiculous.

 

Speaking of MM, Volks News did confirm that as usual Volks will showcase new products, so look forward to it. I’ll be refreshing twitter like mad once the day comes. I really hope there’s new Kagamaine outfits this time, since neither of the ones for Rin so far interest me.

Interestingly the new Osaka one happens -before- the Tokyo one so if Volks are appearing at both we’ll see the stuff august 25th.

If anyone is, heed this advice: get in line for MM literally as early as possible (like...2 hours before or even more) and head to Volks immediately after getting in. They sold out within the first half hour of the venue opening when I was there (I had gone directly there myself and the ‘sold out’ announcement happened while I was in the Volks line for them) and a huge number of buyers are scalpers. Maybe Volks will make more this year and put a limit on how many a single person can buy though, because last year was honestly ridiculous.

I would've liked to had last years', but the $200-300 aftermarket price was ridiculous. But it really sucked that people who were there like you couldn't even get them.

 

 

Speaking of MM, Volks News did confirm that as usual Volks will showcase new products, so look forward to it. I’ll be refreshing twitter like mad once the day comes. I really hope there’s new Kagamaine outfits this time, since neither of the ones for Rin so far interest me.

Interestingly the new Osaka one happens -before- the Tokyo one so if Volks are appearing at both we’ll see the stuff august 25th.

I think I'm jinxed on their Vocaloid outfits. With all the ones they've made for Miku they haven't really made any I like enough to buy, and I really don't like the extras for Rin/Len/Luka so far.

I'm still sore about scalpers getting them all last year. These happis are the only Volks Miku outfits that I don't have in my collection. I either have in hand, or on order, all the others Volks has made. I get that the Japanese have a thing for limited and rare, but come on, there are just as many Miku fans outside of Japan that would love to give Volks their money for these, and not scalpers.

Volks has updated the pages on Crane Priestess and the Vampire Dress; both will start shipping on September 29th.