Cortex release schedule

PRICES ARE UP!

https://shop.smartdoll.jp/products/smart-doll-gaia-cortex-version?fbclid=IwAR2pPVqxJkbb9oV83yWvrhj4_p0zwh8ewU9IbB6XffdSu-7Xu0EZxmIGtbU

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Edited June 6, 2020 by AmaFromEU

Not sure what you mean Mandarake is better - I've actually never seen anything below 40k Yen, they usually go around 45k Yen, which is almost same price as new? XD

Anyway, I like the price of the Final Boss, but I would personally not get it. If it came with instructions, maybe... but since it doesn't come with them, it's not something I want to have to deal with XD Maybe i'll someday try the Boss Grade if there's a girl I like in Cortex.

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Edited June 6, 2020 by AmaFromEU

I don't understand how this is supposed to be tempting to people... Lets take the first option as an example~ Its 39,800yen for a doll with seam lines and a different material, but I would always suggest to new people to save up 6000yen+ more and get a fully assembled standard model from Volks. The price difference is soooo low I will never understand why people would want to buy a low quality product like that when they only need to save up a bit more to get a good quality doll. Just my opinion though~

He hyped them too much for such a price.

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Edited June 6, 2020 by AmaFromEU

https://shop.smartdoll.jp/products/smart-doll-gaia-cortex-version

 

This is only for kits sold in the Mirai Store. It's 39.800 JPY for a bra set kit, 34.800 JPY for a Ninja Grade kit (no apparel included) and 29.800 JPY for Final Boss Grade kit (no instructions included). So basically, the price is between 245 EUR and 326 EUR for a kit. 

 

3 minutes ago, Eiko82 said:

https://shop.smartdoll.jp/products/smart-doll-gaia-cortex-version

 

This is only for kits sold in the Mirai Store. It's 39.800 JPY for a bra set kit, 34.800 JPY for a Ninja Grade kit (no apparel included) and 29.800 JPY for Final Boss Grade kit (no instructions included). So basically, the price is between 245 EUR and 326 EUR for a kit. 

 

 Not really sure what you want to say with this?^^" Doesn't change the prices rigth now.^^"

 

31 minutes ago, Kushina said:

 Not really sure what you want to say with this?^^" Doesn't change the prices rigth now.^^"

 

I'm just saying that the prices are the current prices for a Cortex kit sold in the Mirai store but as Danny mentioned that "prices are subject to change at anytime without warning ", it's not sure that these prices will remain that way. It might be that once the kits are launched online, the price increases.

Okay, I ran the Japanese text through Google Translate and the Bra set is an assembled doll. So the price difference between a bra set Cortex doll and a bra set vinyl doll is 12.400 JPY (approx 100 EUR). I can only speak for myself but for that amount, it's not worth it for me to switch to Cortex.

It also says that there is no instructions for the kits and no warranty for broken parts. If you break a part during assembly, you can buy the extra parts for these prices:ARMS SHELL (both arms shell) - 6.900 yen
TORSO SHELL (shell of the body) - 7.900 yen
LEGS SHELL (both legs of the shell) - 8.900 yen
FRAME COMPLETE (assembled frame) - 18.000 yen
FRAME (not assembled) - 9.900 yen

Edited July 13, 2019 by Eiko82

12 minutes ago, Eiko82 said:

 

 

So the price difference between a bra set Cortex doll and a bra set vinyl doll is 12.400 JPY (approx 100 EUR). I can only speak for myself but for that amount, it's not worth it for me to switch to Cortex.

 

Same here. Especially that it can break is disappointment for me, I prefer a stained body over a broken body.

The Cortex isn't lower quality though and a lot of people who got it have said so - it's just a different material ^ ^; Cheaper <> Lower Quality. I think that seams are not that much of a problem - resin dolls have seams and that's a more expensive material. I -personally- think that the Ninja Grade is tempting. The assembled one not that much, but considering that customs is also 25% of the price (including shipping), I can save another 4300 Yen in custom fees alone. I think near $150 is a lot of money (maybe for some of you not, but for me it is XD). Although the kits will have shipping on top. We'll have to see...

has it been mentioned anywhere if these are full cortex models? or hybrid? because if they still have vinyl heads/hands that could be contributing a little bit to the cost.

i am personally unsurprised at the cost, especially since the molds took so many iterations to finalize. 

Spoiler

Presented without comment: the SmD Cortex Pricetag.

 

EDIT:// Ahh it was already posted. I'm... not surprised, I guess. I mean, it IS a discount, for sure. Not the discount I was hoping for, but you know... I don't know if I'll get Cortex now personally, because if I save up just a bit more, I can just get a whole-arsed vinyl doll- and tap free shipping in the process. If they release just the bodies down the road I might pick _those_ up for especially messy photoshoots (swimming, or something) but for the doll itself, it's just not for me I don't think.

I'm bitter tho. -3-

Edited July 13, 2019 by Mothiraffe

Disappointed but not exactly surprised, I'll be getting a final boss grade kit because I think it'll be more fun and that's about the max price I can handle if I want accessories.

The assembled kit could have been cheaper, I can see he likely wants to market the ninja kits though since that is one of the benefits of cortex. 

 

However not sure if it's just me, but I'm really confused with the conversations that have transpired. XD

Can I have a clue as to why Dollfie Dream's prices are being used as a comparison to the Cortex, which is an entirely different material, AND when Smart Doll's vinyl girls have always been more expensive than DD's basics? I don't think it's logically fair to fault the price for cortex just because you can get a vinyl doll cheaper from a company elsewhere. To me, that isn't proper criticism.

You don't say 'This C class car from Mercedes is expensive. I can buy a local bike for much cheaper!' and consider it real criticism. It's a weak side of a debate because for one, the material category is different, their factory ethics are different, and their team size is different.

Because using that same logic, someone can easily just go 'Why buy a Dollfie Dream when Obitsu is so much cheaper????'

 

The cortex isn't necessarily 'weaker'.  Parts on the outside can break? Yeah okay but, a vinyl doll's SKELETON can actually break much faster than the outer shell of the cortex. Funnily enough, there are many things in the Cortex that is actually conceived better than the vinyl counterpart (and of course vice versa). There's been lots of reviews that stated the cortex is impressively sturdy, it's not made from the plastic used for spoons XD. 'Better material' in the case of vinyl and cortex, is subjective from person to person.

(Calling the cortex 'low quality' just because of seams and possible exterior breakage is...quite baffling. The resin cousins usually have seam lines when it's shipped from the company if you don't pay for a seam removal service. But resin IS a superior material to the vinyl because of it's resilience to temperature, staining, and much much more. This is a fact. The seams haven't cheapened their worth nor quality. So why does it cheapen the cortex?)

I think that this is still a decent option for others out there who don't mind seam lines (or at least, don't mind working to get rid of them). If an adult is willing to sit down with their kid to assemble the ninja kits aswell like a parent-child activity, not only is it way cheaper, the kid has the opportunity to learn valuable tips when it comes to doll assembly and owning in the process.

 

Does the cortex line have faults? Pretty sure it does, everything made by human hands has faults. Could the price for the assembled girls be better? Most likely. Getting a fully assembled cortex girl is not that different from the vinyl. So at that point, people are probably just choosing which material they are more compatible with over a huge price difference.

But I don't think the mentioned arguments to me, are legitimately proper in this case. Danny Choo never once said cortex's price could rival, example, Barbie. He said it was alot cheaper. And it is. 

Edited July 14, 2019 by freakie-oppa

Honestly I expected everything to be at least $50 cheaper. Especially the final boss kit.  At such a high price point, you really may as well save up for the vinyl. The fact that you apparently don't get free shipping w cortex makes it even less desirable. I agree that Danny may have hyped up Cortex a little too much, considering all his comments about making Smartdoll more accessible. 

9 hours ago, freakie-oppa said:

The assembled kit could have been cheaper, I can see he likely wants to market the ninja kits though since that is one of the benefits of cortex.

This ist just my opinion (as I already mentioned~) but I try to explain why I said what I said.

Danny started his whole buisness due to Dollfie Dreams and his dream to get his Mirai in Doll Form. They both are anime-styled dolls of the same size, I don'tsee the reason your not allowed to compare them.

9 hours ago, freakie-oppa said:

I don't think it's logically fair to fault the price for cortex just because you can get a vinyl doll cheaper from a company elsewhere. To me, that isn't proper criticism.

I think you misunderstand me. It wasn't criticism, its just my opinion. I don't want him to change anything, I don't want him to work on anything. I just don't see the point or benefit of the Cortex. And I still think its fair to compare the prices to other dolls, because that was one of the major selling points he promoted in the past. He wanted to revolutionize the market with his Cortex Dolls and the price was a big reason. I didn't pick this randomly.

And to the price itselt. "He said it was alot cheaper. And it is." The unassembled Kit. True. I don't think that is the case for the frist option compared to other Dolls (as I mentioned in another post) And lets be honest, why did he not do an unassambled Kit for vinyl Dolls? With blank heads? Pretty sure it would have lowered the price as well?

Maybe I didn't explain myself (language barrier?) properly~ But I remember he invented the Cortex for three (?) main reasons:

1. Mass Production
2. New Customers = Lower Prices
3. Less/no staining

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but when I followed him in the past he acted a lot like a "Knight in Shining Armor" that will revolutionize the Doll market, making his Dolls affordable for everyone. I remember he always connected this dream with his Cortex, one of the reasons why people were hyped so much, he made this one of his main points.^^"

9 hours ago, freakie-oppa said:

'This C class car from Mercedes is expensive. I can buy a local bike for much cheaper!'

Sigh... I compared a Doll (that is deeply connected to Volks Dollfie Dreams by the way) to another Doll. If we use your argument, I compared a Mercedes to a Porsche and if the Mercedes is better designed than the Porsche or has better interior decoration I still think its fair to compare the prices, calling the cheaper car the better option to go for.^^"

Calling the Cortex "low quality" without an explanation was my bad though. For me something is of lower quality if it has flaws compared to something else and the Cortex (again for me) has a lot. To be honest I can't really believe the people that review his Bodys, due to his community. It feels like your not allowed to say anything negative about his products and thats why its hard to find "good sources". Luckily I found a person that made a video with the cortex body that was really helpful. She didn't say anything negative about the body, but she was constantly trying to close the gaps (especially the neck troubled her). Yes if you assembled it, it looks good for a moment, but as soon as she did stuff with her Kizuna or moved it around a lot, the gaps seemed to open/being more visable.

Yes its poissible she didn't assemble it the right way, yes it could also be a beta body and not the end product, yes other factors like the temperature could have affected the doll. But thats not really the point for me.

I guess if I have to sum it up: I don't see the point of the Cortex. You probably have problems with gabs, have to watch out for the seam lines if you want to take photos. I'm not sure if this Doll is a good traveling companion compared to the Vinyl Counterparts (one of Dannys main promotions) It could break if your unlucky (I'm biased here and I know that. I never had problems with the internal frame of DDs) and the price is not low enough to justify the flaws for me. 😕

for me he is only doing it to mass produce and I'm not sure what to think about that.

Edited July 14, 2019 by Kushina

...none of these prices include heads, right?

27 minutes ago, Cauldroness said:

...none of these prices include heads, right?

Its called "Smartdoll - Gaia (Cortex Version)" so I think with a Cortex head? 😮 (the head makes it Gaia for me at least xD Or is that a special skin colour? Don't know much about Smartdolls)

Edited July 14, 2019 by Kushina

39 minutes ago, Kushina said:

Its called "Smartdoll - Gaia (Cortex Version)" so I think with a Cortex head? 😮 (the head makes it Gaia for me at least xD Or is that a special skin colour? Don't know much about Smartdolls)

If you translate some of the Japanese text that's not in English yet, it does say the head is Cortex. Nothing about the hands though.

So is it the Mirai head, then? I find it confusing that the head mold isn't specified, nor is the skin tone.

1 hour ago, Cauldroness said:

nor is the skin tone.

Does it not say TEA?

Meh, that's disappointing! I was hoping the full Cortex would be around 300$, at that price it just seems smarter to get the vinyl version. Maybe I'll get the Ninja Grade some time. 

 

1 hour ago, Cauldroness said:

So is it the Mirai head, then? I find it confusing that the head mold isn't specified, nor is the skin tone.

Gaia is Mirai with Tea skin, so I'm assuming the Cortex version will be as well. 

 

Ah, I missed the skin tone in the list of options. I think I was mentally mixing this thread with baldy's thread, where it was body only / no head / milk skin tone.

I really love the tea skin tone, but not the final Cortex product...

There are things here that make no sense to me. 39,800 yen is assembed with underwear, but 34,800 is unassembled with no underwear? So for an extra 5,000 yen you both get something to wear and get it assembled as well? All the talk about big savings because of labor savings doesn't really seem to have amounted to much.

I don't think anyone has brought this up here, but the closest comparison to make between this and vinyl is the 34,800 yen kit and the store workshop for assembling your own vinyl doll. I don't know if the latter still exists as I couldn't find the page for it now, but that used to cost ~40,000 yen (I don't remember exactly). So again the difference in an equivalent vinyl and Cortex doll is about 5000 yen.