The Facebook debacle & other issues

I'd definitely like to know what that screening process is like. I guess the question of "How did you find out about Smart Doll?" is an innocent enough question but it should honestly be a straight forward transaction. Anything else would feel annoying and off. 

I ordered a smartdoll for the first time fairly recently. I got the automated email of my order confirmation. Then I got the (what I think is) another automated email saying my order was on hold, as it was my first order.  Below is the questions:

----

We always confirm with first-timers how they discovered Smart Doll and why they chose to invest in one. To prevent buyers remorse, we want to ensure that folks are good with our philosophy regarding business ethics and the handmade nature of our products. 

I was also asked to confirm the shipping address was correct.  

----

I replied with the two answers and confirmed the address was correct and I got the reply my order was approved within a couple hours (the approval reply one I think was actually Danny but not sure, it's a ticketing system)

 

22 hours ago, Keoka said:

I ordered a smartdoll for the first time fairly recently. I got the automated email of my order confirmation. Then I got the (what I think is) another automated email saying my order was on hold, as it was my first order.  Below is the questions:

----

We always confirm with first-timers how they discovered Smart Doll and why they chose to invest in one. To prevent buyers remorse, we want to ensure that folks are good with our philosophy regarding business ethics and the handmade nature of our products. 

I was also asked to confirm the shipping address was correct.  

----

I replied with the two answers and confirmed the address was correct and I got the reply my order was approved within a couple hours (the approval reply one I think was actually Danny but not sure, it's a ticketing system)

 

I see. Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm not exactly sure why he needs to know WHY someone wants to buy a Smart Doll (except for being cagey about someone selling it second hand, which he hasn't got any control over.) And what if someone said "I'm gifting it to my niece" or something like that? 

The why's and how's about the interview/interrigation can be seen in many ways, some more sticky in nature than others.

In all honesty its sort of silly, since anybody who's read anything about this part of the purchase experience knows to be on their best behaviour, even though I would be tempted to put in "Purchasing for donation to childrens toy safety validation" even as a joke, thats probably not going to end in a completed sale.

Its a fairly rude way to think about it, but one might get feel's from having people re-iterate how they want your product despite all the anti-purchase stuff here and there.

Which im sort of leaning towards with the need to tack on that world economy ted-talk in an otherwise clear cut out of bounds customer interraction.

38 minutes ago, finnleo said:

In all honesty its sort of silly, since anybody who's read anything about this part of the purchase experience knows to be on their best behaviour, even though I would be tempted to put in "Purchasing for donation to childrens toy safety validation" even as a joke, thats probably not going to end in a completed sale.

Honestly, the best thing might be if he got cut off from the US or EU markets over his shenanigans. He’s not going to change for asking, he’s going to need to get legitimately hit in his pocketbook, and better to have government intervention than a dead kid lawsuit. 

3 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

He’s not going to change for asking, he’s going to need to get legitimately hit in his pocketbook, and better to have government intervention than a dead kid lawsuit. 

I doubt he'd ever admit to it, if it were to happen, though. He'd probably frame it as "People cannot read *smiley face* Despite our warnings that smartdoll does not taste good, they've been feed to kids. So now we will be adding a verification step to every purchase to make sure there isn't a kid in your vicinity, to protect our dolls from digestive tracts *some corn related fecal joke*"

I sell on Etsy and any orders that have customization I always message the customer asking if they want to change anything before I start making the item. If a customer responded like Danny's did, I'd sure as hell cancel the order and never sell them anything. I wouldn't waste my time taking screenshots, writing an article and posting it on my social media. Thats the part I don't get.

On 3/29/2023 at 12:20 PM, Keoka said:

I ordered a smartdoll for the first time fairly recently. I got the automated email of my order confirmation. Then I got the (what I think is) another automated email saying my order was on hold, as it was my first order.  Below is the questions:

----

We always confirm with first-timers how they discovered Smart Doll and why they chose to invest in one. To prevent buyers remorse, we want to ensure that folks are good with our philosophy regarding business ethics and the handmade nature of our products. 

I was also asked to confirm the shipping address was correct.  

----

I replied with the two answers and confirmed the address was correct and I got the reply my order was approved within a couple hours (the approval reply one I think was actually Danny but not sure, it's a ticketing system)

 

I received that back in late 2019 too, when I bought Smart Doll Mirai for the first time on his store before Covid.

I didn't like how it is anti-consumer friendly and pretty unwelcoming for first time owners.

To be honest, when I took my former Cortex Mirai out for travel like at Disneyland, she fell down many times over even with the Telescopic stand on! It was pretty windy in Anaheim at the time, I was even careful too and the falls didn't break her seams at the elbows, in fact it was my adjusting of her poses for a photo that made the damages at the time.

It wasn't until I got home and discovered the damage and what horrible timing it was. Back in early 2022, Cortex was discontinued forever and getting replacement parts was a no go.

I should had gotten Vinyl first instead...but I learned my lesson.

Edited March 31, 2023 by ZandurFox

1 hour ago, ZandurFox said:

I didn't like how it is anti-consumer friendly and pretty unwelcoming for first time owners.

Whats funny when I bought my first smartdoll I didn't have any problem.. 

4 hours ago, TVXD said:

I didn't have any problem

its going to vary from person to person. even down to what kind of moment in their life the customer is, that what their tolerance is for any kind of contradiction to wanting to splurge on something.

Also the amazon shopping experience has made things fairly sterile, so something bouncing back at you with questions might be surprising, and perhaps in some edge cases infuriating -- as an example a stressed out parent whose offspring has been pestering them for a specific doll for months and they finally get enough extra cash for it, only to be interrogated as to why and even questioning your ability to type in your address in a order form. I can see this imaginary (but all things considered plausible) scenario having some spice to it.

but just to showcase that some people might not be able to take it as easy.

 

On 3/29/2023 at 8:11 PM, ladyandlion said:

I'd definitely like to know what that screening process is like. I guess the question of "How did you find out about Smart Doll?" is an innocent enough question but it should honestly be a straight forward transaction. Anything else would feel annoying and off. 

Towa nearly had a Smart Doll as a first sister.

When it came to that question, I wrote about having a Dollfie. I never sent off the order though and we remain a Smart Doll free house.

Maybe next time I'll order a load of Smart Doll clothing for my Dollfies just to troll Danny.

I don't have anything against him though. When I started visiting Japan I was a daily visitor to (and commenter on) his blog. He introduced me to anime, figures Akihabara and (eventually) dolls. As a fellow workaholic he definitely has unresolved issues. The works of the late Dr. Sarno helped me to understand how to overcome those [well off topic but The Mindbody Prescription is essential reading for anyone with long term health issues].

Where Danny is going, who knows, but the current Smart Doll line up is, uh, challenging.

I own a couple of Smart Dolls, and I will say that I personally didn't enjoy the purchasing process that much.

Getting a questionarre on the checkout page is strange enough (making me read through different web pages to answer his questions)
Then getting the email afterwards, of which can be known to go into the spam section for people as well.
It is quite off-putting, but I really liked Chitose and Mirai.

Now compare that to buying off of Volks. It's a completely different experience.
One feels like it's talking down to you, the other is friendly.

On 3/31/2023 at 1:28 AM, TVXD said:

Whats funny when I bought my first smartdoll I didn't have any problem.. 

What I meant is the Smart Doll First Time Buyer Guide and those huge text heavy disclaimers from his shop. It's not very good at all, it's as if he is asking why are you buying his products and thinks you're dumb in a polite way.

It's not funny and it is actually very not so friendly and very passive aggressive. You can receive your very first Smart Doll without any problems via delivery. But, don't criticize his shop, or ask about shipping time then he won't delay your shipping. I never criticized the DC man at all, but I'm not a fan of his business practices, "philosophies", and poor treatment of some fans.

I don't want to be a stan or flying monkey to that man's business and social media websites. I don't want his attention anymore nor "worshiping" him. It's the reason why I stopped buying from SmD shop for good and I used to like it. Sure, the Smart Dolls are all cute and cool, but I'm good.

 

Edited April 3, 2023 by ZandurFox

this thread's changin my prospective on a lot stuffs.    

On 3/29/2023 at 12:20 PM, Keoka said:

 

We always confirm with first-timers how they discovered Smart Doll and why they chose to invest in one. To prevent buyers remorse, we want to ensure that folks are good with our philosophy regarding business ethics and the handmade nature of our products. 

 

. . .you know, it's a good thing this question wasn't on the form when I got my Smartdoll boy in 2018, because the honest answer was: "This doll is hands down the best match for making a custom Viktor Nikiforov to go with my custom Yuuri Katsuki DDB. Yuuri needs his husband."  Yeah, I doubt that answer would have gone over well in Danny-land. 

On 3/30/2023 at 3:52 PM, Yumeiro said:

I doubt he'd ever admit to it, if it were to happen, though. He'd probably frame it as "People cannot read *smiley face* Despite our warnings that smartdoll does not taste good, they've been feed to kids. So now we will be adding a verification step to every purchase to make sure there isn't a kid in your vicinity, to protect our dolls from digestive tracts *some corn related fecal joke*"

LOL that sounds SO much like something he would post. And just his kind of ironic too, seeing as how he's marketed so hard to kids. 

On 4/4/2023 at 4:05 PM, Poofiemus said:

. . .you know, it's a good thing this question wasn't on the form when I got my Smartdoll boy in 2018, because the honest answer was: "This doll is hands down the best match for making a custom Viktor Nikiforov to go with my custom Yuuri Katsuki DDB. Yuuri needs his husband."  Yeah, I doubt that answer would have gone over well in Danny-land. 

LOL that sounds SO much like something he would post. And just his kind of ironic too, seeing as how he's marketed so hard to kids. 

protect the kiddos from choking on a the perfectly imperfect   

Hmm...originally Smart Doll wasn't marketed to children, instead it was marketed for first time adult BJD owners and adult BJD collectors in general at the time.

There is nothing wrong having mature children to own a BJD or Smart Doll, but I don't like how it is now heavily marketed to children nowadays while having young adults as secondary at most.

Because, BJDs are meant for mature 17 & up doll collectors. Due to interchangeable bust sizes for female BJDs, doll nudity, and racy clothing/outfits.

Dollfie Dream, Super Dollfie, Smart Dolls, and other BJDs is still a huge niche market compare to mass produced Barbie dolls, generic brand dolls, and Disney dolls.

I remembered I discovered DC's blog way back in 2015 before my discovery of Volk's Dollfie Dream brand. It was the reason for my huge interest for BJDs.

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by ZandurFox

I miss the old Culture Japan blog, it was very useful for my first trip to Tokyo in 2014.....

OT sorta I swear I've seen Danny Choo at Volks shop at the reopening of Radio Kaitan were was a DD event it was full of DD owner (mostly men)

https://mobile.twitter.com/SmartdollLand/status/1645973123135848449 screaming

my g that ain't nowhere near "plus size" she still looks underweight 💀💀💀💀💀💀 dddy is literally more of a pear than whatever is going on there. 

edit to add img bc the twitter link didnt embed 

Edited April 12, 2023 by Emil

1 hour ago, Emil said:

https://mobile.twitter.com/SmartdollLand/status/1645973123135848449 screaming

my g that ain't nowhere near "plus size" she still looks underweight 💀💀💀💀💀💀 dddy is literally more of a pear than whatever is going on there. 

edit to add img bc the twitter link didnt embed 

Holy crow...I'm at a loss for words. If that's plus size, then that would make me a whale shark (yay?). Also...I know the mochi ashi MDD is cute, but if you are going to make a plus size doll all parts of the doll should be bigger! I don't see too many plus size people with only a slightly thicker frame and spaghetti thin arms and legs. SmD arms are too skinny as it is, and this just makes them look even more bizarre to me. Just...wow.

9 minutes ago, Eighteafive said:

Holy crow...I'm at a loss for words. If that's plus size, then that would make me a whale shark (yay?). Also...I know the mochi ashi MDD is cute, but if you are going to make a plus size doll all parts of the doll should be bigger! I don't see too many plus size people with only a slightly thicker frame and spaghetti thin arms and legs. SmD arms are too skinny as it is, and this just makes them look even more bizarre to me. Just...wow.

Absolutely agreed. While I understand this is a "prototype", it is wholly inappropriate in my opinion to say it's plus size. Far too many struggle with body image issues and this is the type of thing that will only worsen that. I don't get mad about things often but this is something that really does grate my nerves. In no way, shape, or form is this doll plus-size or pear-shaped. Sure, he's taking constructive criticism for once, but it's still awful to begin with. Ridiculous. 

Edit: to top it all off, as mentioned in the thread before, he's trying to market to *children*. What is a child going to think when they see a doll like this called "plus size"?

Edited April 12, 2023 by Emil

Ok seeing this just made me laugh like an idiot lol. The arms and thighs are too thin for the torso. Its also DEFINITELY not plus sized, the torso is just what the average (real) woman looks like. Not a bad thing ofc, but it seems tactless to call this plus sized. I feel bad for the people that were expecting an actual chubby/fat body.

Edited April 12, 2023 by chantelle

i do like doll bodies that are more pear-shaped, so the prototype body is definitely appealing to me, but i agree that it is not plus sized by any stretch of the imagination. i think if the arms had a bit more definition (a.k.a. any curvature to them), it would look a lot more balanced.

Plus size? XD.....  Please XD......

Smartdoll are really skinny, this look just a normal torso, and why is dhe shorter?

I don't often come to Danny's defense here, but there were a lot of comments on the post saying exactly that. For once he actually listened to them and is reworking the body to look closer to a ref provided to him:

It's a lot better than the first attempt, but we'll see how close he can get it to this.