Volks 50th Anniversary Project

They are preparing various special projects to celebrate. No details on anything doll related yet, but there is almost certain to be something.

https://www.volks.co.jp/50th/

I kinda assumed this was exclusively for their model department, since the doll side has its own special anniversaries to celebrate.(like the recent 20th)

But it would be interesting if they did something to unite the two departments as a commemoration of this. They made that prototype of a DD version of VLocker Fiore a while back (was actually a repainted Towa apparently?) and I always wondered if they would expand on that idea eventually, or if there wasn’t enough interest.

44 minutes ago, Monty said:

 

I kinda assumed this was exclusively for their model department, since the doll side has its own special anniversaries to celebrate.(like the recent 20th)

 

The text says they want to express gratitude to all their customers, so I am pretty sure that means us too.  

I always forget about the model side of Volks's business, and I hadn't realized they've been around since the 70s! Whether or not there's a DD component to the celebration, that's really cool, congrats to Volks.

By reading this, I'm fairly sure there is going to be something doll-related

 

VOLKS Group is developing various businesses with hobbies as the starting point.

• Nationwide expansion of hobby shops
• Holding various events
• Development of doll products
• Development of GK products
• Development of plastic model
• Development of soft vinyl products
• Development of Vallejo
• Development of Tools and supplies for plastic models

We will continue to pursue customer satisfaction and support the development of the hobby world.

Posting this here, although it isn’t strictly speaking a 50th anniversary thing, it does seem like icing on the cake. 

https://www.volks.co.jp/cs/news/20211228_01.html

I’m not quite sure why auto translate picks “flapping” but maybe it’s something along the lines of “really taking off.”

to commemorate; one of VOLKS' early, pre-Super Dollfie "Ultimate Figure Series" 1/6 doll offerings, To Heart's "HMX-12 Multi"

 

 

 

 

 

given whole new lease on life, thanks to OBITSU's magnificent 26cm doll body;

 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by Tasuke

Wow my Dollfie Towa has that 2Heart outfit. Is a 1/8 scale doll quite unusual? I've not seen that size before.

I see Volks announced some new Dollfies today. The new SD is really nice but I'm a little put off because looking at Mandarake SD's don't seem to age very well. I might be tempted to buy an older girl (or boy!) for a great price and attempt a restoration job though.

6 hours ago, Xiongmao said:

The new SD is really nice but I'm a little put off because looking at Mandarake SD's don't seem to age very well.

SDs can yellow, but my Belldandy was made in 2013 and she’s still a beautiful creamy white. She’s kept in a room that gets little sunlight and has low UV lightbulbs. Other than that, just avoid dropping them because resin can crack. 

9 hours ago, Xiongmao said:

Wow my Dollfie Towa has that 2Heart outfit. Is a 1/8 scale doll quite unusual? I've not seen that size before.

I see Volks announced some new Dollfies today. The new SD is really nice but I'm a little put off because looking at Mandarake SD's don't seem to age very well. I might be tempted to buy an older girl (or boy!) for a great price and attempt a restoration job though.

anti-yellowing technology in the resin doll area has improved insanely over the last decade thankfully!  the poorly yellowed ones you see are likely to be either very old (pre 2012-ish) or were left in the sun on display, lol.  also sometimes it's the lighting of the photograph imo

i have resin dolls that i display out of the sun that've been there for a long time and are basically the same colour they came as and match new releases well.  dolls will also at some point stop yellowing (due to how the breakdown of reds that causes yellowing works) and there are ways to de-yellow if it bothers you a lot (basically some scrubbing and a very light dye bath).
when i was starting in the resin hobby i was VERY paranoid about yellowing and such, but i think it's been "over-hyped" as a problem.   if you aren't leaving your dolls in harsh lighting or sunlight there shouldn't be a problem, especially with very high quality resin like volks has. 
and honestly, volks collectors in jp can be SUPER picky about their quality, like i got an SD body (which came with a head I wasn't expecting!) for like 200 bucks and all i had to do was pick out his old sueding and give him a good scrubbing with a magic eraser and the stains on him were basically gone, plus i sold the head for what i bought the body for since it was actually in almost pristine condition!  so if you're looking for a restoration project, a resin volks with a bit of staining could be a pretty easy starting place.  😉

i'm curious where volks posted the new dollfies to tho, i checked their instagram and the posts here and didn't see anything, and that's basically everywhere i know to check lol 😅

39 minutes ago, milkmoth said:

also sometimes it's the lighting of the photograph imo

That’s a really good point. Most businesses are probably using fluorescent lighting, and that does make them look yellow. I always check their color at a window with the indoor lighting off.  

Got Volks’ New Years Card and as it has the 50th anniversary on it I thought I’d share it here. Nothing here to help us figure out more info though! 
 

22 hours ago, Xiongmao said:

Wow my Dollfie Towa has that 2Heart outfit. Is a 1/8 scale doll quite unusual? I've not seen that size before.

 

 

i'd say that she's actually 1/6, and for whatever reason, someone at VOLKS at the time got their scaling off.

after all, she is (was, in my specific case) based around VOLKS' 1/6 "EB Mini" doll body...

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2022 by Tasuke