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Dollfie Dream Lottery & Purchasing FAQ

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Priss_Asagiri

Thank you very much for the article! It helped me!

I was very afraid to participate in the lottery. But your article gave me confidence!

I almost missed the chance to win my doll. Letter about the win was in spam.

Thank you for these particulars!

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SaraInJapan

This is so helpful, even for those who live in Japan! Insta Bookmark!

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SakuraSylph

Tonight I updated the top few posts to reflect the current realities of how Volks is doing business. A lot has changed in the 2 years since the FAQ last needed to be updated!

 

Below this line is the old information that I'm archiving here for curiosity's sake, or in case business practices change back to these methods in the future.

 

*Entry at Japanese physical stores used to be a separate pool from online entries. Back when they actually delivered the dolls to the stores for win/pickup at the AfterEvents along with the clothes.

 

When are lotteries held?

There is a general pattern you can expect if the event is a Dolls Party though. If a Dolls Party were held on Day X this is when the lottery entry periods will be:

 

Dolls Party: Day X

Japanese online: Day X + 3 weeks

Japanese in-store: Day X + 3 weeks

International: Day X + 3 weeks

 

Entering the lottery at dolls party

If you want to be the first in the world to get a new doll, this is where you do it. I didn't put it first in the list since it won't apply to many readers, unless of course they come to Japan for vacation. Dolls Party is a specific event on a specific day, and you must go it in person in order to do the following.

 

It is important to note that Dolpa is a line-order lottery and not an individual item lottery like the online ones are. Your number will dictate what place you are in line, and those at the head of the line can buy as many of the limited items as they want (one copy of each). So, you could go home with all the dolls or none of the dolls. It's not winning on a case-by-case basis here. So, you should bring lots of money just in case.

 

  1. Buy a Dolpa Guidebook before the day of the show, either online or from a Japanese Volks store. This is your entry ticket and also your ticket to draw a lottery number. The book costs 2200 yen for Tokyo Dolpas.
  2. Arrive at the venue during the number drawing period, usually 7:30-9:00 am. Even though it's a lottery, earlier is better so less of the good numbers will be taken and you can more easily do something else in Dolpa if you lose.
  3. Find the Limited Items Entry Line and get at the end. Eventually when you get to the door, the line will split off into three separate line at three large boxes. Pick any of them.
  4. Hand your Dolpa Guidebook to the first person at the table, and they will snip a specific corner off the back cover.
  5. Draw a paper roll from the box yourself, any is fine, and then hand it to the next person at the table. They'll open it and give it to the last person at the table.
  6. The last person stamps it with an official Dolpa stamp for authenticity, then hands it to you.
  7. Take this paper and read the number on it. This determines your fate. There are papers with numbers up to 6000+ on them. 400 or less and you're extremely likely to get your doll(s); 400-500 is a maybe and probably worth sticking around; 501+ then forget about it because everything will be sold out. If you lose, go and do something else at Dolpa.
  8. If you get a decent number, then go inside to the holding area and stand near the sign that has your number within the range printed on it. Wait.
  9. Between 9 and 10am they'll start processing all those who are waiting. When you get to the front of the actual line there will be a table there with tickets for each of the limited items. Ask for a ticket for each Limited Item that you want.
  10. Take your tickets over to another line where the actual cash registers are. At 10am they'll start processing payments.
  11. Once you've paid, hold on to your ticket and receipt. You can exchange it at any time you want, up to 4pm, over at the redemption booth to get your actual dolls. Yes, you get to take them home that very day, and even spend the rest of Dolpa getting to know them if you want!

 

Some people buy multiple Dolpa Guidebooks and go through the number picking line over and over to try and get a good number. That gets real expensive real fast, but if you're desperate enough it's an option you can try to up your chances.

 

Buying dolls at the after-event

The doll lottery in the Japanese stores is held during Dolpa After Event, which is a few weeks after the actual Dolls Party itself. Each Japanese store has their own specific rules and times to follow, which are announced on the After Event webpage (Japanese only).

 

The overall idea is the same as Dolpa, where you draw numbers from a box, line up in that order, then tickets get passed out starting from the front of the line. There's also a redemption counter for after you pay, very similar to Dolpa. Please see the previous question for more details. The biggest difference, however, is that drawing a number is free at the After Event; you don't need a guidebook.

 

One useful strategy is to bring a group of friends to all draw numbers, then give you the best one as you all congregate around waiting. There is an opportunity for people who didn't like their number to give that number back and go home, so the only cost to the group is a little time. The Japanese use this strategy frequently.

 

Late in the afternoon on the same day of the After Event, you can go back to the same store for a rock-paper-scissors game (janken taikai) to win the right to buy extra copies of things that were sold out during the day. This is where Volks sells the display items that were set out during the day as models for the event. Look for signs in the store and / or announcements from the staff about the time for this taikai.

 

It is permissible to go through the line multiple times in order to buy multiple copies of things. It's one per person at first, but once everyone has had their first go, it's opened up to as many as you want. Of course many things are sold out by the time the line's first pass is done, but on the off chance something isn't, it's worth a second look.

 

Sumika Items at JP Stores

The limited dolls and the Sumika Items are both sold at the same time in the physical stores, so if you're there for one you'll be there for the other. The general process of what happens is described above in the lotteries section. Where the Sumika Items come in is in what happens to the line.

 

After the lottery tickets are handed out, the line will be led up to the shop front. You'll have an opportunity to get out of line with your Limited Item ticket if you don't want any Sumika Items, but only a few people actually do that. [...]

 

It is one copy per person per item at first. Once the line has made its first pass through the store, it is permissible to go back and get seconds if you want to.

 

Volks physical stores closed: Ikebukuro, Shinjuku ALTA


SakuraSylph

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Aruku

Would like to say that this helped me a lot

Maybe it was just me but I feel Volks didn't explain all the things properly or sometimes at all, so thank you very much ^^

Little question, after the lottery is over will the order status update or will the image of no winning the lottery haunt me forever (?) xD

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hats

Thank you so much for posting this article! I've been out of the hobby for a while it seems - the last time I entered a lottery for a doll it was through VolksUSA site. Helpful to know things have changed a bit.

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knibitz

I need help. I think volks screwed up my lottery win and I have no idea what to do.
I was sent two emails, I noticed (just now) that the second email is noted as "corrected link"
But when I click the link it takes me not to my lottery winning but to seemingly the after-sale of anything that didn't sell out during the lottery.
https://volksusastore.com/webstores/dollfie/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=1727
and is called "HTD Kyoto 16 After Event Limited Items"
I had my friend, who has never been on the volks site in his life and lives on the other side of the world, go to the link and add the shirt to his cart to see what happens, and it lets him, so this isn't a unique to me link.


The first email I got (that supposedly had a bad link [?]) opens to nothing in stock, but the section is called: "HTD Kyoto16 Outfit Collection Lottery"

I was already logged in and I also tried logging out, clicking the link, and then logging in once on the page. 


The lottery rules say they won't answer questions about the lottery if you don't understand. I'm scared I'm not going to pay properly or that emailing them will just make them angry and I'll get banned from further lotteries 😭

Note: I won a black camisole. I ordered it together with Sakura miku which I seemingly didn't win. My order in my order history is still "pending" with both items.

My shirt I won is one of the items in stock in the "HTD Kyoto 16 After Event Limited Items", but why is it letting me put all items (that are not sold out) in my cart not just my camisole? I want to make sure that if I purchase my camisol from that listing and check out, that it will be considered that I did honor my lottery entry and pay on time. But it looks like this is not where I'm supposed to be buying my winning from. 

Edited by knibitz

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Monty

I would ask them about that. I think by not answering questions, what they really mean is ‘please don’t ask us if you won or lost if you didn’t receive an email’ as I imagine they get a lot of those. (EDIT: And also stuff like asking 'how many winners are there? how are the lottery results decided?' etc.)

Edited by Monty
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Sewb

Glad I bought my girl on the second hand market and that I am not after any Anime character dolls.

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ateliervanilla

Hello! I'd like to ask if anybody here has won in the recent VolksUSA lottery (just this September)?

I fortunately won and paid recently. If they say they will sequentially ship out starting Winter, they really strictly start shipping only by then?


Twitter: lostgormotti Instagram: atelier.vanilla Facebook: AtelierVNL

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BeyondTime
3 hours ago, ateliervanilla said:

If they say they will sequentially ship out starting Winter, they really strictly start shipping only by then?

The dolls come over from Japan by ship, presumably a large container ship, so they won’t have the dolls in hand for another 6 to 8 weeks.

In the past Volks USA has inspected the dolls on arrival at their shop in order to make sure everything arrived intact. I say in the past only because they haven’t formally mentioned doing that lately, but they haven’t given any reason to believe they’ve stopped either. Inspecting all the boxes would take a bit of time too. 

Expect that customs at the Port of Los Angeles may have substantial delays starting in late November too.


The difference between Dollfie Dreams and Heroin? Heroin is illegal, Dollfie Dreams probably should be.

“Empty wallets, full hearts.” That’s probably an apt description for the effects of DD addiction

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Gwandak

VERY informative post! I learned a lot about how this system works now. I was always curious about the lotteries when I saw them, but didn't know anything about them.

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DollyInsider

Very helpful!

Thank you for creating one place for all this valuable info to reside

It answered all the questions I had and filled in all the gaps

If I receive any questions about the Dollfie Dream Lottery or how to purchase one I’m sending them here 🙂
 

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