dissapointment in volks?

I'm starting to collect their Dollfie Dreams, not necessarily their resin dolls.
While I love Anzu to pieces, I do wish they would give more urban clothes year long, than in limited sets. Of course, this is just a personal wish, but I assume it would make plenty of people happy!

 

I have an old (purchased in 2002 directly from Volks) MSD and she has had problems sitting (none standing, she stands like a rock) but I chalk that up to her being an older body. Every other MSD I've owned (all of which were 2003-2006 vintage) have not had that problem and all stand like rocks. I had one Yo that needed to be restrung so he could sit properly but again, all were great standers. I've also owned a few SD-13 boys and SD boys and they too could sit and stand easily. Of all the dolls I've owned my Volks tend to stand the best.

I've not really noticed the resin feeling particularly plasticy. Overall my Volks dolls are much heavier than other dolls I've owned.

I've had disappointments with Volks, but never over the quality of their dolls.

 

My only disappointment with Volks is that Pearl was a limited. And of course, that's not a disappointment, just means I need to scour the market to find one, or watch for when they rerelease her. Volks seems like a good brand. I've never owned one, but I've heard their quality is superb.

 

I hate to ask the question, but... did you buy directly from Volks? Is there a chance the dolls in question might be knockoffs instead, if you did not? The plasticy feel and awkwardly fitting parts do sound like common problems for recasts, which is the only reason I ask. No offense is intended by the question at all.

I'm not the biggest fan of Volks as far as dolls to have in my own house, since only a few of them fit in visually with my current crew, but all the ones I've seen have been of what I'd call excellent quality. If there was a sculpt from them that I liked that fit in with my current crew, and I had the money to spend on it, I wouldn't be hesitating. (There was one that fit the bill recently, save for the 'money in hand' part. Ah, well.)

 

I have had no disappointment in Volks. Even my very old Rio is a bit unnerving, but her body is from 2004, so I understand her nobby knee problem and that her head wobbles due to lack of a holder for a S-hook. But this is easily fixed. With your boy, I would agree with everyone about restringing. Maybe even get him some KIPS? Volks dolls pose very well with the KIPS.

I like the cuddlyness of Volks bodies. I don't like big posers, as I have no need for my doll to do anything huge in the posing department. I think they fall in to poses very naturally. As far as the plasticy feeling.. I am beyond confused. After handling many dolls, Volks has never been in the same department as some of the cheaper dolls I have handled. Their resin has always been very smooth and solid, I have never felt any plastic-ness in their resin texture.

 

Hmmm... I think I'm going to be the discordant voice here, but somehow, yes. I am by no meanings elitist of one brand or maker, and I am happy to own everything that catches my eye; Volks dolls were included in this. But with the passing of time, I've got more and more uninterested in their molds, and finally, I sold all my Volks dolls and purchased other brands with that money; and as thesaragina said, with no intentions of looking back ; ), I highly doubt that I will own again the sculptures I sold, and until SDGR, SD16 and SD17 are not all available in FCS, and that becomes international server, I do not plan owning more Volks dolls. My Reisner, Amelia, Yukinojos, Heath, Isao, Genji... all of them were fun to have, but definetly, not for me.

About the plastic feeling, it happened to me once, with a friend's Kun; about my other dolls, they were usually nice and heavy. But I am again the strange one, because the higest quality resin I've had in my hands, after owning more than 30 different brands, is a Chinese one: Angell Studio, wins, by far, the competition in weight, smoothness and finishing, in my huble opinion.

 

I'm not picky in posing, but my old Volks SD13 girl body can't even do that. I can't stand very solidly, and cannot hold its arms up at all.

The resin for me feels nice, but I find that it's too soft, where other dolls have had a bit of a scuff or scratch I can buff out from age and wear, my girl has little bits gouged out of her. My AOD bodies have the same weight and feel to the resin.
EDIT: thinking about the plasticy feel, I have noticed that newer hands I've bought have felt more plasticy than my doll's resin, but that's my only experience with that.

I have a YoSD as well though and have no problems with him so far.

 

Think Volks dolls are decent posers. Even my loosely strung SD13 boy will stand with little fuss (seriously I am like the world's worst re-stringer.) However the Sd13 and especially the SD10 are very simple in design so the elaborate posing just isn't there.

As for the the feel of the resin I have to admit I can't feel a difference between my Volks dolls and my Dollzone ones. Luts/Fairlyland feel slightly different to me but not much. Except for my Customhouse doll it all feels pretty much the same to me. I think my hands must be broken or something.

 

Short answer: Nope!

My doll family is very diverse, I only have two dolls from the same company. Funny enough, that company is Volks! It isn't because of favoritism or anything, I just love their molds. I do agree that posing SD13 bodies can be frustrating and their backs are always SUPER straight (I'd love a slouch once in a while) but my Volks boys seem to be the most durable. And they're so cuddly! I love Volks so much that if I had to pick a personal "MUST HAVE A DOLL FROM THIS COMPANY", it would definitely be them. Or SoulDoll ;P

 

(Repeating what had been said before) One's own preference and previous experience with other dolls probably have more to do with the question posed by the OP.

I have had more than a handful of Volks dolls since Dec 2007, 1/3 of which were second hand and 2/3 direct from the company, I have never had an issue with any of the doll (either on the quality nor service.) None of my dolls feel "plastic" to me. In this regards, as your Lucas is an older doll, I think how the previous owner(s) handled the doll may have altered the feel of the doll. The cheapest Volks head that I have gotten off MP here was over 6 years old and the price was less than the usual price for that head but that head was passed from owner to owner and was out of the house a lot, thus that head did feel different and had significant yellowing. But I did get what I paid for and I knew what I was getting so I have no issue with that.

Volks earlier bodies cannot do acrobatic acts, but I find them to be decent poser as dolls. My SD17 boy can stand alone (without any support or doll stand) with one of his knees bended but he has a more advanced body design and the new knees. However, all of my SD13 boys and YoSD can stand, sit and poke their noses without any difficulty. The stringing tension, the KIPS of course do help in that aspect. So I think you may just need to rework the string etc before the wiring (again this is TOTALLY MY personal preference as I really really dislike the stiffness that wiring adds to the doll.... )

 

NO, I think I am in love with their doll so much that I do not think of that too much. Love makes me blind...

 

Well, I thought I wouldn't chime in but I will.

It is entirely possible that first impressions have a lot to do with it, because my first doll was a DZ and my first 70 cms were DZs. While I don't have the Shuang anymore, I do have my Yuu and the others, and I still love them to bits. I *also* had at one point a mini Volks body that was just excellent in terms of that nice solid resin feel; but it didn't pose any better (or any worse) than the DZ mini bodies.

I now have just one Volks thing in the house - a School B head that was a long-sought after item. It, of course, can't pose... I did, however, have and then sell a Hijikata. While his face and his hands were among the most glorious doll bits I've ever come across, I really didn't care for his body -- the shoulder hunch bothered me.

All of these observations are matters of personal preference, as others have noted. I do think, though, that in general ALL of the dolls I've handled that were made 4-5 years ago have nicer, heftier resin than nearly ALL of the dolls being manufactured right now; it has nothing to do with the company of origin (except for a few notable examples of extreme low-end dollage). They used to make 'em all better - even if they didn't have the posing bells and whistles.

My biggest disappointment with Volks has been that nothing I've gotten from them has been, in my opinion, enough more special than any other doll to justify the difference in price point. (Even the 1/6 vinyl Volks dolls are pricier than their Obitsu counterparts with no noticeable -- at least to me -- difference in quality).

They're beautiful dolls, wonderfully made; but so are lots of others. It all boils down to what floats your particular boat.

 

Never been disappointed in Volks quality in terms of their dolls ever. I started with Volks, and now having tried several other companies, I find myself leaning back towards them. A high range of poseability is not nearly as important to me than a doll that can sit and stand straight when asked, and that's what I get from Volks. My MNF might be able to do crazy poses, but he is not designed to sit or stand straight, and even with extensive re-stringing, sueding, and wiring efforts is still a complete pain in the whatsit to try to get to stand at all. My currently floppy pair of MSD boys both stand and sit with little trouble. And on the resin, Volks is the standard I base everything else on. I've felt very nervous with LUTS and Soom and Iplehouse dolls at first because they feel so much lighter and more brittle that I felt like they'd break very easily. MSC and other materials go on Volks resin noticeably better (Crobidoll resin is also good for this, while LUTS and Iplehouse don't take MSC nearly as well, requiring more layers). I got used to LUTS and Iplehouse, and have come to quite like the LUTS body I have, but the Soom just had to go partly because of resin quality.

As has been pointed out, Volks offers both highly poseable and less poseable bodies. My SD10 boy really can't do much but remains one of my favourite to photograph because he looks so alive. And I agree with other posters, there is something highly huggable about Volks dolls. I'd also agree that a lot of Volks hands are not that great, and sometimes the ability to slouch is nice. I just like slouching or dramatic stances to be an option, not the default way the doll stands or sits.

 

The Volks SD13 body cannot pose, believe me, I really tried!!! However, the Soom SG body cannot pose either and the Luts Senior Delf body is also not as flexible as I've hoped!! However, at least, the Soom SG and Luts Senior Delf can sit like a Japanese with legs folded. The most disappointing thing about the SD13 body is that it cannot sit like a Japanese with legs folded. This is unacceptable. I know Amakusa Shirou was up on the Volks USA website for adoption for a while and I almost ordered him except that the SD13 body really put me off. Similarly for SD13 Link.

However, I see that SD16 boy's body with its prized muscles, broad shoulders, body height, joints and big hands makes the body far more superior than SD13.

I like Volks resin quality, the touch and feel of Volks resin, overall design and quality is hard to challenge.

 

I've seen Volks, never handled one before, but the only thing I can I'd be "disappointed" in from my personal experience is that they don't give you the option have having a JOINTED TORSO on their basic SDs >__o! Their bodies are lovely, and I am head over heels in love with their Mark sculpt, but is it so much to asked for a jointed torso? Dx;

 

Sparrow: Out of curiosity is the volks doll you are talking about the black cat you mention in your signature?
If that is the case I would just point out that black cat lucas is quite old and his resin has probably aged a lot. He might feel a little different than new resin would just because of the number of times he has been handled and cleaned. The older volks dolls also sometimes have posing issues simply due to their age. A little cleaning and sueding should take care of it.

 

Certainly, I haven't been disappointed in Volks' quality. I have handled dolls from at least a dozen companies and I truly find Volks resin to be of marvelous quality, very sturdy and lovely. Their faceups, wigs, clothing, and all their other BJD products are also, for the most part, excellent quality to my eyes. And if you want a basic body, Volks' really are superb. My SD10 girl, with her unjointed torso, is so stable and sturdy and huggable!

I have been disappointed by Volks in other areas, but of course, these are very much due to my own preferences and notions.

My SD17 Reisner's body was a big disappointment, as I found it to be a royal pain to pose. I was also a little disappointed in the SDGr body as I found the knee joints, for all their beauty, to be awkward to handle. Given their high price tag, I expected better engineering -- something on par with Shinydoll's bodies, really. Which brings me to the other thing I have been disappointed in: the price of their more highly jointed models. I fail to understand why the SDGr costs $200-300 more than an SD13, and why SD17's have such a high price. Other companies often do charge more for larger dolls and for their "new" type bodies, but not nearly so much as Volks does.

 

No, not really. I just received my first Volks girls last week and they're spectacular. The resin is heavy and has a nice texture, my SD16 girl's body poses pretty nicely (but I'm not really interested in doing crazy complex poses), and the sculpts are just beautiful. I'd say my only complaint is that their default face-ups usually leave something to be desired (although I LOVE my Rinon's default).

 

Nah. My only disappointment is the huge size of most of the heads I like, which has led to me selling the Volks heads I have had in my possession. I had the SD10 boy body, SD13 boy and girl bodies, and handled their MSDs and Yo's, and while I love how the resin feels, they just cannot pose. That's part of the reason why I sold those bodies, and opted for more poseable options for my SDs. (SDGr and Little Monica Harmony girl body) My MNF and LTF are the acrobats in the house; they can do all sorts of crazy expressive stuff but the resin quality is a little lacking compared with Volks. I'm a pose-freak, and I love dolls that can pose.

The resin feel is really personal opinion. Some people love toothy resin and others love smooth resin.

 

Can't say I feel disappointed in Volks. My favorite resin is Volks especially the sunlight skin tone. I feel the resin is nice and weighty, I do prefer the pureskin resin to old skin as I have one oldskin doll.

They can't bend like pretzels but I'm ok with that and some bodies do seem to be designed more for sitting than standing and vice versa. MSD swaricco tends towards sitting than standing and the old msd bodies stand better than sit.

Is it possible that your Lucas being second hand might have been exposed to something that damaged the resin surface? Sometimes people use the wrong products for face ups and body blushing or environmental factors. Sadly also not everyone treats their dolls well.