The Facebook debacle & other issues

Huh. Looks like Sana, Gaia, Resolute, and Serenity are now on the chopping block. That's so weird, because I always see those dolls on the "most popular" list... Why would he discontinue dolls that consistently sell well?

Man, I was tempted by the 3 pack of Cortex heads just for curiosity's sake and because of all the skin tones being available. His "scare people off" tactic really does do wonders. The more I read the description, the more I felt like I was just reading the rantings of some kind of madman like...Danny, most companies just put a "All sales final on outlet items, no refunds, returns, or exchanges. Items are sold as-is." disclaimer and are done with it.

Though I'm probably still curious enough if anyone can point me towards an extra head from the 3 pack they don't want. Just won't go through the hassle of actively finding someone to team up with to order directly lol. Just throwing that out there, my curiosity gets the better of me sometimes. I could always use more heads for faceup practice.

On 7/13/2020 at 10:31 AM, Lurks said:

Huh. Looks like Sana, Gaia, Resolute, and Serenity are now on the chopping block. That's so weird, because I always see those dolls on the "most popular" list... Why would he discontinue dolls that consistently sell well?

Christ I still need Sana. I swear Danny gets rid of every doll with an ounce of personality in their faces. I'd put out a WTB, but I already know every time a doll hits the market. He has said in the past that Mirai and Gaia are literally his top-2 selling dolls, if I recall. I have absolutely no idea why he'd discontinue all the big sellers. I really do not get it.

 

He used to sell individual Smart Doll bodies on the website, too, before the Chaos Bundles, and you can still find the listing in google results, but you cannot actually get to it on the website. So even though we can finally buy blank heads! And finally people are selling customs with faceups! Now we can't get bodies. It's fine for anything in Milk because you can slap that onto a DD/Obitsu body, but if you need Cocoa or Tea you're absolutely SoL unless you want to buy the frame and shell parts on the aftermarket and put it together yourself. He sold some assembled Cortex bodies, but... I'll be honest, it's vinyl or nothing for me just personally!

I have a head that needs a body and I'm honestly just so... tired. Why does EVERY single thing with this company have to be like pulling teeth? What is the POINT of selling blank heads when you can''t get a body to go with them?

... Anyone know a good resin match for Tea/Cocoa? 😕

I just have no idea what is going on with all the discontinuations. I guess I understand not being able to keep all those dolls stocked all the time. But, if Smart Doll is serious about switching to a preorder set up anyway, I don't understand this. 

 

4 hours ago, Mothiraffe said:

... Anyone know a good resin match for Tea/Cocoa? 😕

I haven't heard anything lately, but at some point Resinsoul would do custom color matching if requested and you sent the headcap to them. No idea how well it'd hybrid with SmD though. And I know their body style isn't everyone's cup of tea. They were easy to work with when I ordered a custom hybrid from them a while back though.

My order of 2 set of chaos blank head is in the way, wish me luck, i hope they are some milk.

Quote

1-6If at anytime after placing an order, if a customer contacts us asking when their stuff will be shipped out, we will presume that they need the goodies before the shipping time we stated and we will be obliged to and proceed with canceling and refunding the order.

well, at least he's transparent about it now? 😒
 

Quote

2.234Interest for the product trails off early - meaning that pre-orders for the product peaked way before the pre-order period was due to end. The pre-order period will end prematurely so that we can focus on production.

So, even if the pre-order is 24-48 hours, and you said that, you can also cancel it early because not enough people have ordered it? I get selling out early...... but especially because you aren't announcing them ahead of time, this is just weird! This whole system is so WEIRD.
 

Quote

For this reason (and due to the amount of disappointment expressed in comments and mail), going forward to avoid further disappointment and set expectations, we won't be announcing release dates for our own original products. Licensed products are a different matter as we usually make a certain amount before pre-orders open to alleviate pressure on the team.

I think danny forgets people complain. They will ALWAYS complain. Having an issue and a set back is ok and most of us (like many people already in the forums have stated) are ok with REAL life deadlines being pushed back. A heads up, a public release, what have you, is all that's needed. Saying we are not announcing things because we got so many complaints about not making deadlines.....

Complaints will happen with or without hard deadlines. sustainability of return customers, and whatever this means:

Quote

characters who have been more successful in new customer acquisition will have a survival advantage over characters who sold more in quantity - but didn't do as well in creating new customers.

includes giving your customers hard deadlines, and sticking to them only if your product sells out early. Stopping early because "it wasn't popular enough" is weird. Just let it run the 24-48 hours? Not everyone can buy it the second a pre-sale opens. I was late to a pre-order sale by 5 minutes and lost out. All of us have had that happen. Having that happen with NO warning is even more heartbreaking. i'm not going to be watching smartdolls like a mad person WAITING for preorders. i have a life. I barely can make pre-orders when i can expect them! hahaha

I've lurked this board for so long after my first posts about the shoes (I talked to the person directly and found this site MONTHS after all of that happened). I have my chitose and as much as I love some of the new fantasy things, I cannot in my right mind buy anything from this man. I have stopped even telling people about smart doll. I only talk about the company on this forum (and this is only my second post). he has devolved more and more abusive and into just weirdly narrow controlling lines in the sand. It's sad  because danny really did have a love and a passion, a great product, and a great team behind him. He still has all of that, he just needs to stop, step back, and realize it's not ok. If he treats his japanese customers without all of this nonsense, there is no excuse. The purity test for new shoppers, the miles and miles of disclaimers, the back handed compliments and ableism. it just needs to stop. This is beyond needing a PR person to take over.
I already have all of smart doll stuff blocked (social media) i think it may be time I actually stop posting on this forum and go back to my resin only forum. I don't rememebr who said it, but we're all just going in circles and it's sad.
He has a beautiful product and a wonderful team and a niche market, and he's driving it insane.

(tried to edit my first post)

Mod Edit: Removed political reference from the post.

I really, really want a Justice for myself - and I've always planned to buy her one day - but I'm genuinely worried that I'll inadvertently break a secret rule while communicating with the company and have my order cancelled, or find myself with no recourse if there's a problem with the product. Running a business means that you will have to field some complaints and some queries (you can't ask when your stuff will ship out? What??). It feels like he's playing a mad game of whack-a-mole, trying to control any concern, query or piece of negative feedback that anyone on earth might utter about his dolls. Which feeds back nicely into his bottomless need for praise, because the fans will try harder and harder to please him for fear of being blacklisted themselves.

I had those fears too. I guess I was lucky 'cos I managed to get my doll, and there was nothing wrong with her. (And I am being super mega careful with handling because I know "customer support" is more like "customer shut up" at this point heh.)

I know Danny harps on about not hiring a pr person, but he could at least have some customer service people if he can't deal with it himself. o_o;

(Or maybe if we all learn Japanese, Danny will treat us better. でも日本語は難しいです)

 

On 7/6/2020 at 4:51 PM, Deyja said:

He can't ban you if he doesn't know who you are. If you are in the Facebook groups, just avoid mentioning doll names if they are unique and don't use the name you go by here anywhere else (i.e instagram). I've blocked Danny on all social media, but that wouldn't stop his extreme loyalists from trying to find out who you are. You don't need to keep quiet.

You know what is weird? I have an Instgram account that I have never used to post with (I don’t think). I read some friends posts every so often and some celebrity stuff I like. My account is in no way related to my name here nor is my name here related to the Facebook account my Instagram is associated with.  I also have never purchased anything directly from Danny, nor will I.  I have one girl I bought secondhand and I love her to bits, but I have never even posted her photo to my recollection.

Anyway, I followed a link on here recently that went back to his Instagram to “read more” and I found I was blocked!!! What the heck?!? For a minute I thought he had closed his account or better yet had it closed for him! But no, I found my old old Instagram account from way back, which did have a doll related name on it and was able to see his account that way.

So I am not sure why or how he thought I was threatening enough to warrant blocking since I am not even a customer and this is even my first post in this thread.  It is just weird.  I was a vocal champion of his for a long time because he kinda brought me to anime dolls back with Culture Japan.  I used to think he was so cool. His site really fueled my interest in Japan. I even had a custom Mirai before SmartDoll ever came out.  Can I sue him for copying me??? Teasing. But still. I even sent him a pic of her...hmmmm.  Lol.  But then he went off the reservation with his issues of the shoes, the wig and VOLKS’ Dolpa.  He is just not the same person at all anymore and everything he has ever said about his company, his philosophy, what he would/would not do...he has gone back on everything.  He also grew way too fast.  But none of excuses his behavior.  I can see why he doesn’t do well in Japan and if he ever turns on his cult, he will be out in the dark alone.

 

Popcorn anyone? That would be interesting.  As vicious as they sound, can you imagine if they got mad at him?  Truly though, I wish he could get help and get himself straightened out.  Gotta lay down some of that pride first though.

@Misheru You are not the only one. I discovered that he blocked me on Instagram somewhere at the end of June. I didn't realize it immediately because I read most of my SmD on this forum. But I assume that it has to do with my comments in this thread since my username here and on Instagram don't differ much. It made me very sad because I really liked SmDs a lot since the beginning. 

- Ah yes, a good old passive-aggressive "maybe if I say people don't like this thing enough the customers will stop demanding I make it".

- You know damn well there is a severe lack of "other brands" for us to choose from when it comes to vinyl boys sir.

- If you know the body has problems then f i x  t h e m

- w h y  a r e  y o u  a l l e r g i c  t o  m a k i n g  m o n e y

- also i luckily already spent all my doll $ this year by winning an Icon so even though i REALLY wanted this guy when i first saw him i guess i'll just have to pass on this and conveniently not have to deal with your stupid ridiculous convoluted preorder system oh well too bad i guess 

(- maybe someday he will be released again when Danny gets his sht together, or someone wanting a SmD boy body will be willing to do a split with me because he does still have a really cute face...

actually didn't Danny say he would be released as a boy and a girl? maybe I just wait for the "more popular" girl and hybrid the head onto a different body. mua ha ha.)

@Misheru o_o that's weird. I guess maybe if you have no posts on that account then he might have thought it was a spam account or something... but it's unusual for people with a big public presence to worry about things like that. Either way, that's a special kind of paranoia from Danny! O_O;

@monkeypizzasonic argh the "even the female customers prefer to buy girls" is annoying. If he doesn't make boy dolls, no one can buy them! If the boy dolls were more reliably available, I might have chance to start liking one and decide to buy. (Plus why always on about the feet. It's not that unusual dude.)

I actually feel like an oddity because I have ended up with so many girl dolls. o_o At least my perception of the bjd/doll community is that boy dolls are most popular. Might just be confirmation bias from the people I know irl lol. (I just ordered the first boy bjd of the year haha. Every other doll has been a girl or an anthro/pet.)

Danny: "Guy SmD dolls don't sell as well as the girls."

*recalls when the SmD store barely had any clothes for the guys (by comparison to the girls) , hardly mentioned the guys at all, and the guys weren't easily available for purchase within the last year or two*

Well... gosh Danny, I wonder why? 😅

5 hours ago, monkeypizzasonic said:

actually didn't Danny say he would be released as a boy and a girl?

 It honestly wouldn't surprise me if he decided to only release Gemini as a boy, despite saying/hinting otherwise. I remember when Genesis was going to come out, he originally said that she would be released in Milk (and told people to sign up for notifications for her release), only to announce later that she'll only be in Cinnamon, with no plans for a Milk release.

The bait-and-switch "joke" about the feet being what he is getting complaints for is pretty uncomfortable! Besides, as someone who owns one of the boys with the new smaller feet, I like them because they're a lot easier to guarantee a shoe will actually fit. All 3 of my dolls can share shoes, it's super easy to deal with.

Also I know it's related to the molding and casting casting process, but the mentioning of shrinkage before the bad joke is, uh. Hm. (And yes, I am aware that shrinkage is legitimately a thing that happens with plastics - I work with resin.)

On 7/13/2020 at 10:31 AM, Lurks said:

Huh. Looks like Sana, Gaia, Resolute, and Serenity are now on the chopping block. That's so weird, because I always see those dolls on the "most popular" list... Why would he discontinue dolls that consistently sell well?

He might have changed his mind? Looks like only Courage and Serenity are there now.

...Or they sold out already idk.

13 hours ago, RainbowNanaki said:

The bait-and-switch "joke" about the feet being what he is getting complaints for is pretty uncomfortable! Besides, as someone who owns one of the boys with the new smaller feet, I like them because they're a lot easier to guarantee a shoe will actually fit. All 3 of my dolls can share shoes, it's super easy to deal with.

Also I know it's related to the molding and casting casting process, but the mentioning of shrinkage before the bad joke is, uh. Hm. (And yes, I am aware that shrinkage is legitimately a thing that happens with plastics - I work with resin.)

Honestly, the nose-picking jokes annoy me a lot more than...that. (Maybe because I hang out on the resin side of the hobby as well and sculpted/detachable boy bits are fairly common there.)   

 I don't understand why people can't voice their feelings on fb groups without being kind of passive aggressively told to stfu. Someone posted a pic of a doll that had a slight make up defect, and people used the "handmade", "wabi sabi", "they are unique this way" and one said "you are 1 million percent nit picky". So my question is, why is it nit picky when someone pays what they do for these dolls, but the "creator" has made many posts about the make up plates being off by one tiny smidge of a line so it was delayed or scrapped altogether etc but when we pay good money for them and state something, even just as a conversation starter not meaning ANY negativity by it at all, we are told basically stfu and made to feel like we have no right to feel the way we do?! This blind acceptance, and putting others down for daring to say anything that another person can even remotely find negative is really grating  

24 minutes ago, CrazyDollPerson said:

 I don't understand why people can't voice their feelings on fb groups without being kind of passive aggressively told to stfu. Someone posted a pic of a doll that had a slight make up defect, and people used the "handmade", "wabi sabi", "they are unique this way" and one said "you are 1 million percent nit picky". So my question is, why is it nit picky when someone pays what they do for these dolls, but the "creator" has made many posts about the make up plates being off by one tiny smidge of a line so it was delayed or scrapped altogether etc but when we pay good money for them and state something, even just as a conversation starter not meaning ANY negativity by it at all, we are told basically stfu and made to feel like we have no right to feel the way we do?! This blind acceptance, and putting others down for daring to say anything that another person can even remotely find negative is really grating  

It's because Danny has built up a totalitarian cult of personality around himself and the dolls.  You're new?  Excellent, tell me why you bought this doll, and if I don't like your answer I'll cancel your order.  Something wrong with your order?  Nothing can be wrong, and if it is, it's on purpose and you should appreciate what was given to you.  Danny made a statement on social media about something he can't deliver on?  He never said that, the post doesn't exist, and you should be ashamed for asking for something unreasonable like blank heads and proper quality control.  Keep asking questions and have demands?  You disappear, can't comment, post or buy from shop.  

His minions have adopted this as well, which is unfortunate, as SmartDolls make a great entry level doll. But I can't help but wonder how many people get turned off of dolls all together because of his and his fans antics. 

3 hours ago, monkeypizzasonic said:

He might have changed his mind? Looks like only Courage and Serenity are there now.

...Or they sold out already idk.

Yeah... because Sana is sold out ☹️

Edited July 21, 2020 by Yumeiro

9 hours ago, CrazyDollPerson said:

 I don't understand why people can't voice their feelings on fb groups without being kind of passive aggressively told to stfu. Someone posted a pic of a doll that had a slight make up defect, and people used the "handmade", "wabi sabi", "they are unique this way" and one said "you are 1 million percent nit picky". So my question is, why is it nit picky when someone pays what they do for these dolls, but the "creator" has made many posts about the make up plates being off by one tiny smidge of a line so it was delayed or scrapped altogether etc but when we pay good money for them and state something, even just as a conversation starter not meaning ANY negativity by it at all, we are told basically stfu and made to feel like we have no right to feel the way we do?! This blind acceptance, and putting others down for daring to say anything that another person can even remotely find negative is really grating  

Unfortunately Danny has conditioned his hardcore fans to view any and all flaws or defects as the beauty of wabi sabi. There was one person who got an Infinity head without the lower lashes painted on, which was clearly a QC issue. When they posted about it, the main reaction was more of "oh you're lucky to get a ooak doll" than "it must be a mistake, go contact CS and get it rectified". Although Danny did send them a new head, I find the general response frankly terrifying. If it had been a Vooooooolks head, his fans would be criticizing the company for their sucky QC. But with Danny, no way, all flaws or defects are wabi sabi, and if you can't accept that line of reasoning, you're a hater.

11 hours ago, monkeypizzasonic said:

He might have changed his mind? Looks like only Courage and Serenity are there now.

...Or they sold out already idk.

Yeah. Sana, Gaia, and Resolute are now all sold out and gone. u__u

9 hours ago, DesertPhantom51 said:

It's because Danny has built up a totalitarian cult of personality around himself and the dolls.  You're new?  Excellent, tell me why you bought this doll, and if I don't like your answer I'll cancel your order.  Something wrong with your order?  Nothing can be wrong, and if it is, it's on purpose and you should appreciate what was given to you.  Danny made a statement on social media about something he can't deliver on?  He never said that, the post doesn't exist, and you should be ashamed for asking for something unreasonable like blank heads and proper quality control.  Keep asking questions and have demands?  You disappear, can't comment, post or buy from shop.  

His minions have adopted this as well, which is unfortunate, as SmartDolls make a great entry level doll. But I can't help but wonder how many people get turned off of dolls all together because of his and his fans antics. 

It really is unfortunate, I don't understand, and I can't see them being around for too much longer at this rate. Especially if it is just a core group buying everything up, while everyone else gets put off of buying them. What will happen once the comic licensed dolls come out? I am SURE people will have opinions, and may not be up on all his rules and such. With all the dolls now being discontinued, I feel like something is going on.

33 minutes ago, bbotss said:

Unfortunately Danny has conditioned his hardcore fans to view any and all flaws or defects as the beauty of wabi sabi. There was one person who got an Infinity head without the lower lashes painted on, which was clearly a QC issue. When they posted about it, the main reaction was more of "oh you're lucky to get a ooak doll" than "it must be a mistake, go contact CS and get it rectified". Although Danny did send them a new head, I find the general response frankly terrifying. If it had been a Vooooooolks head, his fans would be criticizing the company for their sucky QC. But with Danny, no way, all flaws or defects are wabi sabi, and if you can't accept that line of reasoning, you're a hater.

I understand wabi sabi, and I get some are critical just to be critical, but for legit issues this is definitely off putting. These dolls cost way too much to slap wabi sabi on every problem, and being unhappy with quality control issues doesn't make a person a hater, and seeing people get raked over the coals for speaking up is disheartening

@CrazyDollPerson I dug this up. This was from the SDL group during one of the "wabi sabi" discussions. Completely "rational" discourse from one of his most ardent supporters.

5 hours ago, bbotss said:

@CrazyDollPerson I dug this up. This was from the SDL group during one of the "wabi sabi" discussions. Completely "rational" discourse from one of his most ardent supporters.

 

This is WRONG in so many ways I don't even know where to start...

@bbotss, I remember seeing that post. I think it was one of the few posts or 'discussions' right before the admins shut the group down. I still don't really understand that temper tantrum. Why not just make other people admins? The same fierce loyalty is just in Smart Doll Appreciation now.