"toxic Smart Doll community"?

@That_Dollfie_Dude

I mean, that kiiiinda makes sense.

On top of the other stuff you bought (of which you can take plenty of pics I guess), he gave you for free an extra item, that was otherwise discontinued, on the condition that you keep it between the two of you.

Given how sensitive the smd community is, that's not that absurd as a request, as other collectors may get upset that a "newbie" got a discontinued item & this may lead to polemics, discussions, and more hate in general.

TBF, among the other questionable things that Danny did/said, this sounds one of the most reasonable to me...?

Edited April 21, 2021 by Bellatrix

This "grown man" (Choo) behaves like a child. 

2 hours ago, kranberrijam said:

That is insane. Once it's yours, it's yours, he has no right to tell you what you can and can't do with your purchase. Also sounds like he still has some, why not sell them since people want them? I seriously don't get it.

Agreed.

2 hours ago, That_Dollfie_Dude said:

I He was going to include a set FOR FREE with my order as a special service!  I thought that was amazing!  However, he included a condition.  I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of my doll while she had the painted bust on, even if she was wearing clothes.  He said not to show her to anyone.  

I have my doubts. He is a salesman, he's not doing things out of the goodness of his heart, he *ultimately does it for the money (even if he gave something to you for free, he's keeping up appearances. He still gets some money, and is likely sitting on a pile of the part he gave you. Treating something he gave you as a "playground secret" is dumb).

Edited April 21, 2021 by AzDoll123
Clarification

5 hours ago, That_Dollfie_Dude said:

However, he included a condition.  I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of my doll while she had the painted bust on, even if she was wearing clothes.  He said not to show her to anyone.

This might have to do with the whole current kids angle... nude boobie shots with a factory blushed body might go against that, and there is sheer clothing to consider too in this regard.

with that in mind it seems like a reasonable request, maybe a bit awkwardly worded, but perhaps busy senpai and such, and didnt have time to go into details.

4 minutes ago, finnleo said:

This might have to do with the whole current kids angle...

Yup. No nudity! Instead talking about "hanky panky" bars and stuff is a-ok, and more suitable for kids!

It does not make sense to me. You do not have to prove or disclose to anyone where you got the painted bust! You could just as well have found them secondhand.
Barring you from posting pictures of them is indeed stupid and controlling!
Much like what @Bellatrix said, I could understand being asked to keep it a "secret" that you got them as a bonus, or to not show them in a box-opening. That'd sure invite entitled-brats who'd demand to be given free stuff too.
But to not show them off at all..?? Then he shouldn't give them out!

9 hours ago, That_Dollfie_Dude said:

Danny gave me a surprising reply!  They were apparently not coming back to they store, BUT He was going to include a set FOR FREE with my order as a special service!  I thought that was amazing!  However, he included a condition.  I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of my doll while she had the painted bust on, even if she was wearing clothes.  He said not to show her to anyone.

I'm with the others in thinking that once the item is yours, you can do with it as you please. If there were NO Smart Dolls with painted 'headlights', okay that makes more sense. But how is someone going to immediately know that you got your painted bust for free as a surprise gift as opposed to the people who have them and regularly take pictures of them with their dolls. So, it's okay for everyone else that bought a painted bust to take photos of it but not you? That sounds like a secret club Danny has. I still stand by what I say: do as like because the doll and bust no longer belongs to Danny but belongs to you. Plenty of people on insta that take nipple shots. All that said, I'm glad you were able to get your painted bust even if it was in a very odd way.

 

What @Yumeiro says makes complete sense. Danny doesn't want people begging him for free stuff, so definitely don't show them in a box opening. But saying you can't photograph them ever even with clothes on? Insanity.

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by Deyja

37 minutes ago, Deyja said:

But saying you can't photograph them ever even with clothes on? Insanity.

Yeah, here's the message.  For context, the request he's talking about is originally I was going to have the dolls shipped to my friend's house, since one was a gift, but he said that they could only ship to the billing address for first time buyers, and I said that would be ok.

Yeah, it's just very odd, and it makes me believe that a lot of the other actions like bans and stuff are true. 

@Selenae and @bbotss Thank you both for your input! I'm only in one SMD Facebook group right now and it seems pretty positive. The discussion is usually pretty uplifting and the times I have seen people be rude it is quickly addressed by the mods and other members, no ganging up that I've seen. Plus people have mildly criticized Danny (especially as it relates to the blue dolls) and it was discussed maturely without incident. Other then that I usually just browse Instagram and being myself in-between good cameras I'm not posting anything yet. All things considered though I will be careful in the future. I don't know that I will be following SMD as much once I've gotten the dolls I want, then I'll just be sewing for and playing with them without being in the online community too much. 

@BeyondTime I think I must have inferred that he didn't like dolls changing hands from other things I've seen. Like that the company doesn't re-sell dolls that were returned, you can't get replacement parts separately if you've bought a doll on the aftermarket, and just a general sense about it I suppose. While I do appreciate people who want to deter re-sellers, I don't like a sense of ownership after you've sold something to a customer, it seems immature. 

I haven't done much research into Obitsu, so I'll definitely look into them. For Volks I think I would like to get a Mini Dollfie Dream, but I just need to look up where to start. Ideally I'd like a fullset that I can update later. 

@Yumeiro I agree! Smartdoll has a lot of dolls that I really like, especially the semi-real are pretty unique. I was actually looks at Azone 50cm the other day and I'm like "you can't even see the mouth in official photos!" At least SMD's have lips (though the Azone outfits I like a lot better). I do see what you mean about the way DC cultivates these attitudes though. Another thing I think we should all consider is that his father's brand is also based on a "cult following" at least that is how it is often described in fashion magazines (probably not as cult like as SMD). So maybe he only knows how to think in luxury product terms and is missing the customizer/artist aspect. I mean it isn't a lot of people who buy something designer and then change it! (unless it is just basic tailoring). 

 

 

2 hours ago, ladyroselie said:

I haven't done much research into Obitsu, so I'll definitely look into them. For Volks I think I would like to get a Mini Dollfie Dream, but I just need to look up where to start. Ideally I'd like a fullset that I can update later. 

With Volks you have a few options. 

They sell standard models that are pre-made Volks original characters. They come with pre-painted doll, a slip & panties, a wig and eyes. There isn’t as large variety of standards as there is with SmartDoll, but their standards are cute. They have a huge variety of clothes for sale and new outfits are released every few months. The outfit quantities are limited, but generally aren’t hard to get - with some exceptions. Their Tenshi-no-Koromo line is specifically for Dollfie Dreams, and the Tenshi-no-Koromo Standard line is regularly restocked. You can put SDGr & SD13 clothes on DD / DDS but Dollfie Dreams have a smaller waist than Volks resins. MSD clothing works on MDD, and sometimes on DDP.

There are ton of third party clothing makers who produce SDGr/SD13/MSD sized clothing, so you have a lot of options with Dollfie Dreams.

They also sell limited edition character dolls several times a year. These are licensed characters from anime & games made in limited quantities. Those are sold in a variety of ways including click war, pre-order, and lottery sale. 

You can see the currently available standards and some left over limited edition DD here: https://dollfie.ec.volks.co.jp/category/D_DD.html?select_category_button=D_DD&search_type=header_button

Meiko & Rena are an ongoing pre-order with delivery in Autumn if ordered from Japan, and Winter if ordered through the USA store. The cutoff date is May 5th Japan Time. If you want to order one of these two from Japan you need a GL membership, which is inexpensive but takes a few days to process.

Lastly, you can buy parts and build your own doll using their blank heads. 

There are some other methods like Dream Choice and D’Coords, but those are Japan only so you would need a proxy to buy those. Occasionally D’Coords are available through Volks USA during special events. There is a guide to Dream Choice here. https://www.jadepixeldoll.com/dream-choice-guide/

Volks sells option hands and busts for all their vinyl dolls except DDP. 

IMO the Volks dolls have better facial depth than SmartDoll, and their f3 body is very sturdy and posable. Obitsu are supposed to have better posability at the elbows and knees. One other observation about Volks, they are basically a hobby company at heart so customization of the dolls they sell is a core part of their business. They sell lots of things to make customization possible.

I don’t know as much about Obitsu, so I can’t give you any details. Our Obitsu section is very active, and some of our most experienced members are active in that section. 

Oh My now we have separate thread for the "cult" behaviour

As for free boobs i think positive, Since he market the doll for children these past couple year,  it make so much sense that such parts discontinued and yes he no longer want such thing to be shown online for this brand image .... you can't market sex appeal to kids

12 hours ago, AyaToyBox said:

As for free boobs i think positive, Since he market the doll for children these past couple year,  it make so much sense that such parts discontinued and yes he no longer want such thing to be shown online for this brand image .... you can't market sex appeal to kids

I don’t know, I was an avid watcher of Charlie’s Angels when I was still in elementary school. XD

2 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

I don’t know, I was an avid watcher of Charlie’s Angels when I was still in elementary school. XD

Considering these social media boycott and cancelling trends.. if i were him I will play save

ah now I think about it if SJW to attack the girls, it would be about their body variety XD where the plump smartdolls ahaha

14 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

With Volks you have a few options. 

Thank you for all the wonderful information! This is fantastic 😍 I know what I'll be doing this weekend, going through all this and starting my dolly wishlist! ☺️

I've always like the SmartDolls, always wanted to buy one so I remember asking Danny if he would sell heads and body separately, I don't remember his answer but it was positive because I felt hopeful. Now I can see he would probably hate me if I get one because I never keep the default looks/names/backstory for any of my dolls and I have a thing of changing their genders too. Mirai would make a cute boy, many of the girl sculpts would. I wonder how he and the hardcore fans would react after seeing a Mirai boy 😆

I've been thinking about all this and what it feels like to me is that DC doesn't actually want to sell anything to anyone. He talks about how he is the main customer he is always trying to please, the stigma about customizing his dolls, the email after you but where you gotta write out why bought a SMD.

I think if he could just make dolls and get praise he would do that, but never sell them. It often feels like he thinks of his customers as advisories.

It really seems like he needs a business manager to handle the sales, and he can keep unveiling new products and get the attention, but the bm can maybe make it so the products people want are accessible.

Just sure musings after the 15 minute sell out of Singularity yesterday. There's no reason why that doll should sell out so fast (and only "perhaps/possibly/maybe/we won't say" have a restock) when they have tools to track demand. Because I saw the people miss out and start offering $1,000 for her 😑

Edited April 22, 2021 by ladyroselie
Grammar

Because he needs to "not overwork his team". Except he could always hire more people. And then make more blue dolls/boys/stuff people really want to support the new hires. Or put dolls on a rotating release/preorder schedule so they don't have to work on keeping so many in stock at once and can focus their energy and resources on specific dolls and people would be able to know and save up for when the doll they want comes out. Which I think he said he was going to do at one point and then never did.

Or he's just addicted to the feeling of "exclusivity" and "look at how popular I am and how fast my dolls sell out" and "I need to control the amount of product I put out to make sure I have the time and resources necessary to personally interview every single person who buys one of my products to make sure they're Doing Things The Way I Want and I can't have that amount of control if I expand my business".

On 4/21/2021 at 3:05 PM, Yumeiro said:

Yup. No nudity! Instead talking about "hanky panky" bars and stuff is a-ok, and more suitable for kids!

It does not make sense to me. You do not have to prove or disclose to anyone where you got the painted bust! You could just as well have found them secondhand.
Barring you from posting pictures of them is indeed stupid and controlling!
Much like what @Bellatrix said, I could understand being asked to keep it a "secret" that you got them as a bonus, or to not show them in a box-opening. That'd sure invite entitled-brats who'd demand to be given free stuff too.
But to not show them off at all..?? Then he shouldn't give them out!

Agreed except for the logic on hiding that he gave it for free. I remember a few years ago there were multiple times that Danny gave out entire dolls for free and he himself talked about it on IG. It was as thanks for making clothes, or doing this or that. My memory is a bit hazy but I know for a fact he did it.

Considering that the BJD hobby very much revolves around photography and like you said, it could have been found secondhand, I really don't understand these rules. I can understand "Don't go screaming to the world you got it for free from me" but everything else is just...bizarre.

  

2 hours ago, monkeypizzasonic said:

Because he needs to "not overwork his team". Except he could always hire more people. And then make more blue dolls/boys/stuff people really want to support the new hires. Or put dolls on a rotating release/preorder schedule so they don't have to work on keeping so many in stock at once and can focus their energy and resources on specific dolls and people would be able to know and save up for when the doll they want comes out. Which I think he said he was going to do at one point and then never did.

Or he's just addicted to the feeling of "exclusivity" and "look at how popular I am and how fast my dolls sell out" and "I need to control the amount of product I put out to make sure I have the time and resources necessary to personally interview every single person who buys one of my products to make sure they're Doing Things The Way I Want and I can't have that amount of control if I expand my business".

In fairness, it's not just about his team but also the factories. Your rotating stock idea would be perfect for someone like Danny and his flit-about focus though.

I do think a lot of it is forced exclusivity though.

 

Edited April 22, 2021 by DreamDollDesign

1 hour ago, DreamDollDesign said:

I remember a few years ago there were multiple times that Danny gave out entire dolls for free and he himself talked about it on IG. It was as thanks for making clothes, or doing this or that.

Oh, it is still ongoing. And he apparently sends dolls to kids to stresstest as well.
Anyway, sending free dolls as thanks, and free parts to newbies are two different matters, in my books.

6 hours ago, ladyroselie said:

Just sure musings after the 15 minute sell out of Singularity yesterday. There's no reason why that doll should sell out so fast (and only "perhaps/possibly/maybe/we won't say" have a restock) when they have tools to track demand. Because I saw the people miss out and start offering $1,000 for her 😑

There were only 8 blue girls up for sale yesterday. There was enough time to do a stock check (see how many you can add to cart).

I stand by my belief that he photoshopped blue girls to prove that he is better than Volks by being able to make matching joints compared to Dollfie Icon, but when speculation started in the debacle thread about him photoshopping, he decided to actually make the dolls to prove the haters wrong. I still don't believe that he had any intention to sell them at all. If there were more, he's probably keeping them to release them in the garage at a marked up price. Remember the Moonlights!

5 minutes ago, bbotss said:

There were only 8 blue girls up for sale yesterday. There was enough time to do a stock check (see how many you can add to cart).

That's an absolute shame. I know those blue girls were in seriously high demand, and every time he's shown his workshop it seemed like he had crates and crates of them. Here's to hoping more blue girls soon!

I didn't get to screencap it either, but I tried adding Singularity to cart myself and the popup was very strange. It had like four different check boxes for conditions, and one for a passcode of sorts. No clue what it was supposed to be.

Maybe he sent out most of the blue girls to customers he likes that take lots of SmD pics on instagram, because he wants to choose who gets the "privilege" of having one of his fancy "exclusive" dolls from people who are willing to play nice with him, and not send a bunch out to the "entitled" masses who might do "terrible" things like repaint them or dress them in Volks clothing or something.

...Damnit, now I really wish SmD sold blank dolls in regular stock, I bet the customizers/faceup artists could do some amazing things with those blue gals if they had the chance.*

(* tbf I could say the same thing about Volks and Dollfie Icons, but there's a lot higher chance Volks would actually do it if enough people asked.)

1 hour ago, bbotss said:

I stand by my belief that he photoshopped blue girls to prove that he is better than Volks by being able to make matching joints compared to Dollfie Icon, but when speculation started in the debacle thread about him photoshopping, he decided to actually make the dolls to prove the haters wrong. 

That same thought crossed my mind. If that is what happened, then @Cauldroness unintentionally executed the perfect troll by calling bull$#!% on his claims. XD

33 minutes ago, monkeypizzasonic said:

Maybe he sent out most of the blue girls to customers he likes that take lots of SmD pics on instagram, because he wants to choose who gets the "privilege" of having one of his fancy "exclusive" dolls from people who are willing to play nice with him, and not send a bunch out to the "entitled" masses who might do "terrible" things like repaint them or dress them in Volks clothing or something.

I think this is exactly right. I have actually seen owner pictures of a bunch of blue girls in really random places, so there really are a bunch of people that already own them. The other day I ran across an Etsy review for a fur wig maker featuring a blue girl. The maker is in Russia, and mail from there is really slow, so this person has had the doll for a while.

I've sadly resigned myself that since I'm a nobody and am not connected enough to even know when you need to camp until 4am, I will never own any of the special things like boys (which shouldn't be a special release anyway) or blue girls. Not unless he would actually do a full run with enough dolls to get a stock email and still have time to get the order in, or maybe like one of the character releases where he allows a preorder period.

I love my two Smart Doll boys, and although I've struggled to bond with my one Smart Doll girl I'm finally nearly there after some additional customization. Without the customization she felt kind of flat and lifeless to me. Since I've customized my girl I would be nervous to share her anywhere but here. Fortunately(?) for me I do like to take pictures for my own enjoyment but I tend to be fairly lazy about posting them online, so I'm likely to avoid bullying anyway. That's also why I'm nobody though- I don't work as free advertising. 

3 hours ago, bbotss said:

There were only 8 blue girls up for sale yesterday. There was enough time to do a stock check (see how many you can add to cart).

I stand by my belief that he photoshopped blue girls to prove that he is better than Volks by being able to make matching joints compared to Dollfie Icon, but when speculation started in the debacle thread about him photoshopping, he decided to actually make the dolls to prove the haters wrong. I still don't believe that he had any intention to sell them at all. If there were more, he's probably keeping them to release them in the garage at a marked up price. Remember the Moonlights!

Sorry but... nope, there were more than 8. One Facebook group has a poll to see who got one, and there's 24 yes answers (excluding people who got them as pebbles or from the prototype garage). So... there were at least that many. Probably more as it's just one fb group and not everyone is on there.

I'm guessing there weren't many more though especially considering how fast they went. I was always worried seeing pics of the studio, how few boxes of blue dolls there were. :< I'm so sad that they went so fast, even though it was obvious there was a lot of demand and hype for this doll. I really hope they get restocked, because missing out is just too sad after having them teased over and over for 6 months.

(It's not often I'll stand up, but I wanted to note that there were more than 8 dolls)

On 4/22/2021 at 7:36 PM, sunlightandtea said:

That's an absolute shame. I know those blue girls were in seriously high demand, and every time he's shown his workshop it seemed like he had crates and crates of them. Here's to hoping more blue girls soon!

I didn't get to screencap it either, but I tried adding Singularity to cart myself and the popup was very strange. It had like four different check boxes for conditions, and one for a passcode of sorts. No clue what it was supposed to be.

I actually got a screen grab of that screen. 50% of the checkboxes are pure weird, the other 50% are obviously targeted at the "entitled customers."

Edited May 30, 2021 by KittyFields

55 minutes ago, Katsudon said:

Sorry but... nope, there were more than 8. One Facebook group has a poll to see who got one, and there's 24 yes answers (excluding people who got them as pebbles or from the prototype garage). So... there were at least that many. Probably more as it's just one fb group and not everyone is on there.

I'm guessing there weren't many more though especially considering how fast they went. I was always worried seeing pics of the studio, how few boxes of blue dolls there were. :< I'm so sad that they went so fast, even though it was obvious there was a lot of demand and hype for this doll. I really hope they get restocked, because missing out is just too sad after having them teased over and over for 6 months.

(It's not often I'll stand up, but I wanted to note that there were more than 8 dolls)

Ah my bad. Probably I wasn't fast enough when checking and most of the dolls were gone by then.