Long time lurker, first time poster has questions

Hello everyone!

 

I'll try my best to make this short.

I would like to get a dollfie (or a similar doll, I've been looking at SQ and Obitsu dolls too but I'll need to think about it). I've been looking around starting a year ago or so. I can't even remember, dealing with life was crazy so buying a dollfie wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind. I was hoping that someone here could refresh my memory and answer some other questions I have.

 

1. DDIII body

From what I have read in these forums, there is quite a number of concerns about the stability of the DDIII body. I will admit, it's tempting to buy the DDIII body parts because of the added flexibility (for poses and whatnot, but I'm not the best photographer anyway). Does anyone find reinforcements to be helpful (whether you reinforce with the reinforcement parts from Coolcat or use other methods), or is there too much of a risk of damaging the body anyway?

 

2. Volks Site

I was wondering where people get the pictures of Volks outfits from. I see pictures of the available outfits on the Volks website, but I've seen pictures of unavailable Volks outfits (and links to the store pages in some cases!) being posted (examples: viewtopic.php?f=33&t=6136; viewtopic.php?f=21&t=6916). Is it a matter of guessing numbers in the URL, or do people just save the pictures and links when the items are released?

 

3. Shipping Costs

I recently bought something for my baby (my dog ) online, and the shipping ended up being about as much as the item itself! Eek. I love him so I don't mind, but when the item was delivered to my door (shipping from US to Canada), the deliveryperson asked for a surprisingly high amount of money. I've ordered from the States before, but I guess I was disappointed because I thought I finally found a decent deal for my dog's supplements.

 

If I buy a doll, I would have to get it shipped to Canada (ON to be specific). How much will the additional shipping fees cost for a DD (if it's not already included in the order through Volks)? Just a general idea is fine. If anyone from Canada has any experience with any DD order, I'd appreciate it!

 

Those are all the questions I can remember for now, thanks in advance!

1. DDIII body

From what I have read in these forums, there is quite a number of concerns about the stability of the DDIII body. I will admit, it's tempting to buy the DDIII body parts because of the added flexibility (for poses and whatnot, but I'm not the best photographer anyway). Does anyone find reinforcements to be helpful (whether you reinforce with the reinforcement parts from Coolcat or use other methods), or is there too much of a risk of damaging the body anyway?

I love the DDIII/DDS bodies, but yes, the risk of them cracking is always in my mind so I buy the CC reinforcements for all of them - haven't ever heard of a body breaking with reinforcements.

 

2. Volks Site

I was wondering where people get the pictures of Volks outfits from. I see pictures of the available outfits on the Volks website, but I've seen pictures of unavailable Volks outfits (and links to the store pages in some cases!) being posted (examples: viewtopic.php?f=33&t=6136; viewtopic.php?f=21&t=6916). Is it a matter of guessing numbers in the URL, or do people just save the pictures and links when the items are released?

Usually a bit of both. When Volks re-did their International website a lot of old photos went missing, but most stuff can be found still on the Volks USA site by tedious browsing or using Google. But it's always a good idea to keep an archive of images yourself.

 

3. Shipping Costs

I recently bought something for my baby (my dog ) online, and the shipping ended up being about as much as the item itself! Eek. I love him so I don't mind, but when the item was delivered to my door (shipping from US to Canada), the deliveryperson asked for a surprisingly high amount of money. I've ordered from the States before, but I guess I was disappointed because I thought I finally found a decent deal for my dog's supplements.

I don't live in Canada myself, but I have a lot of friends there and from what I've gathered the trick is to never have anything shipped with UPS/Fedex/etc from the US. You'll end up paying a lot in fees.

 

If I buy a doll, I would have to get it shipped to Canada (ON to be specific). How much will the additional shipping fees cost for a DD (if it's not already included in the order through Volks)? Just a general idea is fine. If anyone from Canada has any experience with any DD order, I'd appreciate it!

If you're buying from Volks International it'll be shipped with EMS, and I believe the shipping rates for a full doll range between 4000 and 5500 yen depending on weight.

1. DDIII body

From what I have read in these forums, there is quite a number of concerns about the stability of the DDIII body. I will admit, it's tempting to buy the DDIII body parts because of the added flexibility (for poses and whatnot, but I'm not the best photographer anyway). Does anyone find reinforcements to be helpful (whether you reinforce with the reinforcement parts from Coolcat or use other methods), or is there too much of a risk of damaging the body anyway?

I love the DDIII/DDS bodies, but yes, the risk of them cracking is always in my mind so I buy the CC reinforcements for all of them - haven't ever heard of a body breaking with reinforcements.

 

2. Volks Site

I was wondering where people get the pictures of Volks outfits from. I see pictures of the available outfits on the Volks website, but I've seen pictures of unavailable Volks outfits (and links to the store pages in some cases!) being posted (examples: viewtopic.php?f=33&t=6136; viewtopic.php?f=21&t=6916). Is it a matter of guessing numbers in the URL, or do people just save the pictures and links when the items are released?

Usually a bit of both. When Volks re-did their International website a lot of old photos went missing, but most stuff can be found still on the Volks USA site by tedious browsing or using Google. But it's always a good idea to keep an archive of images yourself.

 

3. Shipping Costs

I recently bought something for my baby (my dog ) online, and the shipping ended up being about as much as the item itself! Eek. I love him so I don't mind, but when the item was delivered to my door (shipping from US to Canada), the deliveryperson asked for a surprisingly high amount of money. I've ordered from the States before, but I guess I was disappointed because I thought I finally found a decent deal for my dog's supplements.

I don't live in Canada myself, but I have a lot of friends there and from what I've gathered the trick is to never have anything shipped with UPS/Fedex/etc from the US. You'll end up paying a lot in fees.

 

If I buy a doll, I would have to get it shipped to Canada (ON to be specific). How much will the additional shipping fees cost for a DD (if it's not already included in the order through Volks)? Just a general idea is fine. If anyone from Canada has any experience with any DD order, I'd appreciate it!

If you're buying from Volks International it'll be shipped with EMS, and I believe the shipping rates for a full doll range between 4000 and 5500 yen depending on weight.

Thank you for your replies!

Usually a bit of both. When Volks re-did their International website a lot of old photos went missing, but most stuff can be found still on the Volks USA site by tedious browsing or using Google. But it's always a good idea to keep an archive of images yourself.

 

The Internet Wayback Machine is your friend for these! It archives old sites often with pictures

http://archive.org/web/web.php

 

Volks USA also tends to have almost all of their old pictures around! Just plug "Dolpa" or whatever event (outfit collection or Dolpa's with numbers) into their Tenshi no Sumika blog or Google, and the old site will come up. All pictures/info intact

I would point out that "stability" isn't really the right word to describe the DDS/DDIII's design challenge, since these are plenty stable bodies for standing up and moving around. The major issue these bodies has is potential cracking of shoulder sockets and hip sockets. Volks deliberately made these joints tighter in the DDIII version (over DDII) so that the doll could hold up heavier objects (like swords), but the downside is that the design puts more pressure on the joint. Just pop on some reinforcement bits to compensate and you'll be golden.

 

I was happy with my old DDIIs until I got my first DDSister and saw what she could do. I was pretty much sold on DDS and later DDIII at that point. But I only started converting everyone over once the reinforcement bits came out and washed away the last worries. You don't need to be a photographer to appreciate DDS/DDIII.

I'll agree that from what I have heard, the DDIII body is fine once the Cool Cat reinforcements are put in. I did have an early, non-reinforced DDIII (old type, they've since improved the design) crack.

 

As for shipping to Canada, first, hi neighbour! Where in Ontario are you? There's a large Toronto group that does group orders and meet-ups. I'm in SW Ontario myself. To minimize shipping costs, always choose USPS and not UPS, FedEx or another third party -- you will get charged fees for these. Also, I find that Volks USA orders always get hit with customs, whereas I've been much luckier with custom fees when ordering from Volks Japan. Unfortunately, the high shipping costs are just something we have to deal with. You can ask for the sender to undervalue or underdeclare the value of the contents (sometimes they do this, sometimes not), but it would be risky in that if the item is lost or damaged you would not be compensated.

 

I'd love to see pictures of your dog, BTW.

Thanks for the advice and info everyone.

 

What a great resource, thank you!

 

As for shipping to Canada, first, hi neighbour! Where in Ontario are you? There's a large Toronto group that does group orders and meet-ups. I'm in SW Ontario myself. To minimize shipping costs, always choose USPS and not UPS, FedEx or another third party -- you will get charged fees for these. Also, I find that Volks USA orders always get hit with customs, whereas I've been much luckier with custom fees when ordering from Volks Japan. Unfortunately, the high shipping costs are just something we have to deal with. You can ask for the sender to undervalue or underdeclare the value of the contents (sometimes they do this, sometimes not), but it would be risky in that if the item is lost or damaged you would not be compensated.

 

I'd love to see pictures of your dog, BTW.

I also live in Southern Ontario.

My avatar is what I'm using as my phone background now (since I can't link or post pictures for now). He was falling asleep, but when I tried to take a picture (hand in the shot and everything), he started to wake up and I ended up getting a picture of him blinking.

Your baby is adorable! I'm in London if that helps at all. One option in the future might be group orders to reduce shipping costs.

I had cracked joints when my DD3 first arrived almost a year ago but I sanded the replacement parts down a bit before putting the doll back together and have had no issues with the body since then. I have a DDS too and have had no problems with her body.

 

I've had the same experience as PrettyCranium with shipping, whenever you order from the States try to get it mailed through USPS because then it will transfer to Canada Post. At that point the extra fees are only typically some sort of shipping & handling fee and tax on the declared price of the item.

I had cracked joints when my DD3 first arrived almost a year ago but I sanded the replacement parts down a bit before putting the doll back together and have had no issues with the body since then. I have a DDS too and have had no problems with her body.

Thanks for the tip!

lol lurker havent heard that a loong time.

 

1. DDIII body

It really depends on you newer base body are expensive, if you're looking for a poseable body then go for the newer body, DD2 body are fine, usually I just buy a joint modifier to make them more posable cheaper option.

 

2. Volks Site

clothes can be bought in different marketplaces as well, Den of Angel has a lot of users willing to do it for you, ebay , Yahoo japan though you need to get a deputy like SMJ , etsy to name a few but it will gonna cost you.

 

3. Shipping Costs

Expensive directly from Volksusa, a Millhiore Biscotti I got for 650+ or something a year ago..first doll I bought directly complete from VOLKS, taxes from US to toronto cost me 150$ that alone is a price of the dog food you mention. Its better to check other users post here and in other community Figurefm, flickr, Ebay, DOA, YJP to save you on taxes and shipping.

 

Also an another advice coming from a fellow canuck

 

The question is why would you like to get into this hobby? think deep and hard since its a really expensive okay lets say you get a doll but would it stop from there? Do you like to acquire to take pictures just to brag? for projects and stuff? or just for companion like a dog or something to feel dependent on? ( other people here treat them as daughters) or your just a collector of nifty things.

 

If your decided to go with this hobby! Let me the first to welcome you and sorry for your wallet!

lol lurker havent heard that a loong time.

 

1. DDIII body

It really depends on you newer base body are expensive, if you're looking for a poseable body then go for the newer body, DD2 body are fine, usually I just buy a joint modifier to make them more posable cheaper option.

I have never heard of the joint modifier. Can you link me to one of those please :3

And sorry Capty for jumping in your thread ^^