Wobbly head on new DDP body (but OK on MDD)

Today, I took delivery of a new DDP body that Mochi will split time in. I put her head on, and it’s wobbly / bobbleheaded. The position holds if I don’t touch her at all, but even a slight tap or grabbing her will shift it. I'm pretty sure it's fully inserted.

She came from an MDD 2.0 body where her head was and still is secure.

Is this normal?

I'm not sure how normal it is, but I will say, my DDH21 started going wobbly on his Mochi Ashi V1 within months of owning him. And he was a brand-new doll, straight from Volks. I never removed his head. I didn't aggressively handle him. There are no signs of stress on the neck hole. It just happened on its own. Meanwhile, my pre-owned 19 on her pre-owned F3 MDD is tight as a drum, and has been since the day I put her on it. She's traveled all over with me in my backpack; it makes no sense. Makes me wonder if it's a thing with the newer dolls? But then, how much newer do they have to be? And I'm sure tensions on a neckpeg vary between heads. 

As far as fixing it goes, you could thicken up the neckpeg slightly with masking tape- the kind that easily peels off- or you could do the same to the hole itself with a thin layer of glue. But personally, before either of those, I'd try two or three of the Imomo rubber washers; they definitely helped my Smart Doll with the same issue.

Mochi is a DDH-27, right? My newest Dollfie is also a DDH-27 on the DDP, but her head is not particularly wobbly. The only thing I can think of is perhaps the neck piece on the MDD 2.0 is slightly larger than the one currently being used for DDPs, and the neck hole got stretched out? Idk if this is the case, it's just speculation on my part, but unfortunately I don't have an MDD 2.0 to check.

2 hours ago, ragnamuffin said:

Mochi is a DDH-27, right? My newest Dollfie is also a DDH-27 on the DDP, but her head is not particularly wobbly. The only thing I can think of is perhaps the neck piece on the MDD 2.0 is slightly larger than the one currently being used for DDPs, and the neck hole got stretched out? Idk if this is the case, it's just speculation on my part, but unfortunately I don't have an MDD 2.0 to check.

Yep, she's a 27.

The neck piece on the MDD 2.0 (right) appears to be narrower than the one for DDP (left).

Hmm, then it's odd that the head is okay on MDD but not DDP. I would try the rubber washer and the wingnut @PolitelyNefarious linked. My 1/4 TinyFox Fillion uses both of those (well, the TF versions) and they add enough friction to keep her head secure.

I'm not sure how useful this will be, but I've actually noticed kind of the opposite with my dolls? Having a bigger neck socket than neck, my MDD has a full range of motion in her head, but my DDP's head can only turn side to side.

I haven't handled any of the 2.0 bodies yet, but I do know that on the regular F3s, the "brain stem" neck peg wiggles around a lot if you don't hold it correctly while trying to attach the head. Maybe that's somehow causing it? I do think that adding washers should help alleviate the issue, though.

This is an issue more people seem to be having now. My mom's MDD 2.0 that i got her in Japan had it as well. A few rubber discs inside the head on the peg seem to be helping for now. I don't know what it is that's causing it but definitely is an issue we should probably keep bringing up to Volks so they're aware and will hopefully fix. It's definitely a 2.0 issue as the boy DD I got at the same time, and none of my older ones have the issue.

Thanks all for the washer + wingnut recommendation!

I'm going to start by writing in to Volks since I'm in the 14 day period for an exchange (honestly, if it ends up being the neck peg, all they'd need to do is ship me just the relevant piece(s) from their USA store).

I own a fair bit of outfits that require a head takeoff to work (which in turn means pulling the wig off, so while I'm sure the recommended solution will work great, I'm going to see what they say first before I decide on anything.

Edited August 19 by chef_mai

11 hours ago, Giallo_Gatta said:

Ithe "brain stem" neck peg wiggles around a lot if you don't hold it correctly while trying to attach the head. Maybe that's somehow causing it?

Could you elaborate on this bit?

I've noticed that this stem is quite curved, and I have a bit of trouble taking the head off after it leaves the "grooved" part but is trying to get past that final bit at the top. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong going the other way too. 

Just to be doubly sure, is there supposed to be this much of a gap between the head and the neck? It does seem a little more than expected, but I'm fairly sure I've pressed in enough... or does this go back to not inserting it right?

 

From a normal angle, the neck looks fine to me. If it were any more down, it'd teeter on too short to my eye.

Edited August 19 by chef_mai

1 hour ago, chef_mai said:

Just to be doubly sure, is there supposed to be this much of a gap between the head and the neck? It does seem a little more than expected, but I'm fairly sure I've pressed in enough... or does this go back to not inserting it right?

I think perhaps you’re not pushing it down far enough. The head is a bit big on the neck, but I find it odd that the writing on the neck is visible. Here’s what mine looks like:

 

1 hour ago, ragnamuffin said:

I think perhaps you’re not pushing it down far enough. The head is a bit big on the neck, but I find it odd that the writing on the neck is visible. Here’s what mine looks like:

 

 

2 hours ago, chef_mai said:

Could you elaborate on this bit?

I've noticed that this stem is quite curved, and I have a bit of trouble taking the head off after it leaves the "grooved" part but is trying to get past that final bit at the top. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong going the other way too. 

Just to be doubly sure, is there supposed to be this much of a gap between the head and the neck? It does seem a little more than expected, but I'm fairly sure I've pressed in enough... or does this go back to not inserting it right?

 

From a normal angle, the neck looks fine to me. If it were any more down, it'd teeter on too short to my eye.

That's kind of what I was getting at, too. Maybe the head is still attached to the wiggly stem, instead of having it entirely inserted. 

I tried but can't push the head further in. It feels like the tip of the peg is touching the other side of the head (?), or if it isn't, I feel some friction.

If I pull the head *out* slightly, so that the hole is wedged in the area with the ridges vs the smoother area below them, the head holds well enough that at least her head doesn't bobble when I grab her. While not as secure as when she was on MDD, it's acceptably secure.

Wrap the Stem in a single pass of PVC Tape? this method has Always Worked for Tightening all of my 1/6 Girls...

Edited August 20 by Tasuke

On 8/20/2025 at 1:07 AM, chef_mai said:

I tried but can't push the head further in. It feels like the tip of the peg is touching the other side of the head (?), or if it isn't, I feel some friction.

 

I haven't followed the entire thread, but you have tried tightening the neck screws, correct?

15 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

I haven't followed the entire thread, but you have tried tightening the neck screws, correct?

I haven't, but wouldn't that only tighten up the peg itself? The wobblyness is coming from some fit issue between the head and peg when the head is fully inserted to the bottom. 

The head stays (adequately) in place if I pull it up to where the ridges are in the peg (second "click" from the bottom does the trick). But I don't know if that's the right thing to do. The neck looks a touch longer than I'm used to, but glancing at the stock pics and unbox videos, it doesn't seem out of line.

So far, Volks JP has been slow to respond. Sent out something on Wednesday, and I've yet to hear back...

Volks got back and asked me to check the both the lower and upper neck pegs. They are fine.

They asked me to take off the wig and cap to have a peek inside. There really is a gap when I push it all the way down to the bottom.

The head tightens up if I lift it up to where the ridged parts are. But then the neck looks longer. Is this the correct way to place a head?

Edited August 27 by chef_mai

On 8/26/2025 at 3:28 AM, chef_mai said:

I haven't, but wouldn't that only tighten up the peg itself? The wobblyness is coming from some fit issue between the head and peg when the head is fully inserted to the bottom. 

 

I think the neck peg protrudes a bit too far from the torso, so I would check the torso frame for proper fit. If the head goes down to the narrow part of the peg it's going to wobble because it is meant to sit on the ridges. The DDP skeleton is a bit different because it snaps together, so it's possible that something in the torso is seated too far down, or even something with the hips and their connection to the thighs could be misadjusted. 

Good catch and thanks for confirming the part about the ridges. I'm going to pick apart the frame and see what happens.

I took the bust off to have a good look. I also compared what I saw to stock pics in the DD Concept Note (manual). Besides a black screw on the neck (?), what I saw didn't look out of the ordinary.

What did help a little was deliberately pulling the bust up a little. That gets the neck covered just enough to get an OK but not great fit. 

Wrap a Swatch of PVC Tape tightly around that bare shaft base. That will Do the Trick.

6 hours ago, chef_mai said:

What did help a little was deliberately pulling the bust up a little. That gets the neck covered just enough to get an OK but not great fit. 

The bust should sit properly, and you shouldn't be having this issue. 

Both my Iori and Yayoi DPPs have wobbly heads. I just stuck some blu-tac in their heads. I think it is a design flaw. The DDP bodies generally are a bit awkward, just like actual teens.