Dollfie Guns

Good afternoon all!

What a story to tell - I bought 2 of SAIMECS guns from YJA for my DD & MDD and what a drama did Buyee kick-up over it! When they arrived at their warehouse I received an email advising I need to choose between having the item destroyed or shipped to a Japanese domestic address as it is a "Prohibited Item - Model Gun" and couldn't offer any refund.

The first customer support staff member I had contact with didn't want to listen to reason, but I persisted and eventually got a more reasonable customer support member.

Anyway, long story short - I told Buyee customer support the items don't violate any of their listed prohibited items to ship internationally - it only states Ammunition, Gas Guns, Airguns, Sword Replica & Gun Parts (Metal) none of which applied. I then quoted the Japan Post webpage (from a link on the Buyee website) for specific countries - Australia. Which advised the following for weapons & ammunition:

- firearms, weapons, ordnance, including grenades and mortars, and parts thereof; These inert ones.
- Items that are similar or misidentified as the above items, including replicas and props.
- Items that may endanger persons or property, whether harmful or not.

I then basically said I believe it applied to full size replicas or items of similar size to real firearms - not these smaller scale guns (the 1/4 scale shotgun is 15cm & the 1/3 rifle is 30cms or so). I then stated that the items were no different to accessories shipped with GI Joe or Hot-toys figures, and scale firearms for figures are also available separately for sale & shipped internationally by Japanese retailers (TomyTec Little Armory as an example), and could not in anyway fire projectiles or be reasonably be mistaken for a real firearm. I also mentioned the Dollfie Dream Sinon which was shipped with a 1/3 scale rifle by Volks domestically & internationally (also linked one on YJA). They eventually agreed but stated they couldn't ship by courier & it would have to be by Japan Post only. They also advised that it could still be "intercepted by domestic customs" and to avoid any "inconvenience" they are going to paste pictures of the item with the description "The item is not a real gun but it is a toy" on the package.

Well, it cleared Japanese customs without a hitch & both packages were opened for inspection by Australian Border Force (our customs) - probably because of the "This is not a real gun" labels. I'm sure whoever did probably laughed when they saw the actual item - can't really rob anyone with these "Model Guns".

Makes me wonder if you try to buy the Volks katanas through them if they'll say its prohibited due being a "sword replica" which is on their list.

Anyway, thanks for reading this somewhat funny story (though frustrating at the time) and maybe it might help someone in the future. As for the guns themselves, though expensive they are of pretty high quality - especially for 3D printed (then painted) items. Here's SAIMECS twitter if interested: twitter.com/saimecs - he has some pics of DD & MDD posing with his items.

Will post some pics of my MDD when I have some free time.

 

*EDIT* Original photos deleted - better pics in following post.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Tango_Six
Orginal photos deleted.

@Tango_SixMy gosh, what a fiasco. I've known Buyee to be expensive, but never difficult like this. You would think that someone in customer service would know the contraband policies posted on their own site. Makes me apprehensive. I bet customs had a heyday seeing a cute anime girl in a maid dress carrying a large firearm on the sorting line. Thank goodness it all got to you safe and sound!

That sounds like an absolute nightmare. It's kind of ridiculous how nervous everyone gets about toy/model firearms. I buy pretty frequently from a 1/3 scale company called Goatguns here in the US and they repeat over and over that these are non-firing model kits. Like...

Thanks for the clarification, I though this was a real gun 

Glad it all worked out for you in the end though.

That G36 is really impressive. Is the detailing as good as it looks?

34 minutes ago, Heshiko said:

I buy pretty frequently from a 1/3 scale company called Goatguns here in the US and they repeat over and over that these are non-firing model kits. Like...

 

Ah, another Goatguns collector! I have that AUG as well, but in white. It's a shame they mislabel some models as 1/3 scale when they're actually 1/4 or even 1/5 though...

Edited December 17, 2022 by Emil

2 hours ago, Heshiko said:

That G36 is really impressive. Is the detailing as good as it looks?

It is impressive - it's almost 40cm long - it's the light machine gun version. The details are fantastic - folding bi-pod, the action works, removable mag, safety moves, a folding stock and has the dual-drum magazine. It doesn't weigh as much as the goat guns (they're sold here in Australia as well - love the RPG!) so can be easily held by dolls (maybe about 100-120g? 200g or so with the drum mag). The Keltec KSG also has the same amount of detail (though has a little rougher finish as it was a prototype). I have a diecast 1/3 scale MP5 and that thing is heavy as hell.

Some pics from the actual YJA listing:

And photos of the G36 (1/3) & Keltec (1/4) being held (for sense of scale) by a DD &  MDD. The MDD pic was what Buyee stuck on the package with "Not A Real Gun" label haha. Pics (not mine - I hope that's ok) from SAIMECS Sales twitter account.

Edited December 17, 2022 by Tango_Six