Soom Idealian 75cm Discussion Part 10

It's possible that Soom may release a few more units with extended production time, but it is absolutely possible that it is sold out.

The popularity of ID75s in China grows more and more and the release of popular dolls is an endeavour which can turn a profit for resellers over there for anyone who missed out at initial release.

When Hugh was released, he sold over 1000 units on the first day, and Soom released more with an extended production time due to this. The same can also be observed with Serin and Rico on their Little Gem line, who sold all 5000 units before the first day ended. Again, Soom released about another 1000 or so of these dolls with increased production time, which once again sold out. Because they can't produce more without it having serious delays on all their productions.

Popular dolls in China can be sold immediately for a profit on the 2nd hand market as soon as order period ends, basically preying on those who did not have the money capital at the time to place an order, and those who decided they didn't want it at first, but changed their minds later. It has become a serious problem these days, and many players buy impulsively with a lot of FOMO, which is further fuelled knowing that if they change their mind, they can sell it for a higher price later.

Edit to add that it sold out once today already earlier and they 'restocked' it, and it's sold out once again now. I assume any additional units from here on, if sold, will be sold with an increased production time.

Edit 2: Soom has officially added 'The sale has been ended due to large number of orders' on Hyperon's page.

 

Yeah I thought it was weird the non-limited was listed as sold out. That seemed odd. I hope it get resolved if it not really sold out, but I'm not sure I don't buy id75 that frequently.

 

Oh wow I can't believe he sold out so quickly on all fronts--glad I saw him when I did!! They dropped him so suddenly and I just happened to see it as I was getting ready for bed lol.

I did end up grabbing his artist version, so super excited!

 

Care to cite your sources? Has Soom made this information public somewhere?

 

You can 'reverse' engineer how many they put up by putting them into your shopping basket, sometimes... and yeah, seems Hyperon actually did sold out super fast O.o

 

I don't think that's an accurate way to determine how many were made/ordered. I have an online shop and I can put whatever quantity I want, and mark it as sold out at any point. If I only have 20 units of something in stock, that's what I would put and I don't have to worry about overselling. However if it was a preorder I might put something ridiculous like 500, but if I feel overwhelmed after getting 50 orders I can mark it as sold out in order to stop getting orders. Using that "reverse" shopping cart method would lead someone to think I sold 500??

That method would work for something specifically marked as limited quantity or in stock. But if it was time-limited or an unlimited preorder, Soom can put whatever number they want, change it any time, and mark it as sold out any time.

 

I've noticed this! I see order transfers here every once in a while but I noticed they are super popular on xianyu not just for Soom either but in general. Depending how many end up popping up though sometimes prices aren't too much higher, if at all, then the original price. I've bought from a few myself for different clothes or heads I missed and the price difference wasn't much but never did one for Soom so likely a steeper increase there. There's always rare Soom dolls on there and the markup is hefty (they also love to bundle I noticed lol).

But if I tend to like waiting until the doll comes out to buy on there cause there are some amazing faceups people get from local Chinese artists then resell, especially if I don't have a super particular faceup in mind for my character. I've gotten some gorgeous heads with faceups from there. I paid almost $500 for my V.Amor head on there but he came from Inklinginging with their faceup so worth it to me, he's so gorg.

Thats interesting to find out about Hugh though cause he didn't seem to be that popular in the west had no idea he was such a big hit in China!

-------------
@fate_xo You got the artist version? Ah! Super excited for you congrats! I am glad someone from the west managed to get him so we can see more pics.

I was also up late too when he came out but I forced myself to be good so I will live vicariously through you haha.

 

These numbers came from the Chinese agents who have direct contacts with soom and have been organising group orders with them for years now. Although I cannot confirm it with certainty, I don't doubt the information as they seem to always know the upcoming releases slightly before it happens and have info beforehand shared to their chat groups usually. They would also be able to measure the volume ordered through themselves as well, even if they're not numbers coming directly from Soom.

Serin and Rico have always busted sales in China, and there's many well know cases where players bought up to 5 in the previous releases only to sell them all later to desperate buyers at a higher price. If you play the market, Soom is profitable in China, and if you win a limited edition doll, it can sell for up to 60,000RMB (such as LE10 scar garion). The recent brown tan voids are going for 50,000RMB.

@RebelViva Hugh busted sales because everyone begged for years and years for a release of Hyun in a human skintone, and Soom did not deliver that with the latest Hyun release. Hyun is worth more than grey Hwain in the 2nd hand Chinese market these days. His prices range from 12,000rmb to 16,000rmb, and he will sell on the lower end of that, too. Because Hugh looks similar to Hyun, many people jumped on to it and they had spare cash to blow after being disappointed with the fantasy only Hyun release.

While it may be beneficial for us overseas to buy dolls with makeup already applied from Chinese artists, it's a hard market for local Chinese players who don't find that makeup markup worth it since they're domestic to the artists.

 

@RebelViva I was really struggling LOL. I was going back and forth, but I think I have held back pretty well and a tan artist ver. of Hyperon is a grail for me!! Soom almost got me a few times this year though some of the releases have been so to my liking haha. Anyways I am glad I managed to grab him, I wonder if he was up for a bit longer (for an artist ver.) since the release was so sudden. I didn't even know they had dropped the artist ver. until I checked the site haha.

I'll definitely try and post some decent pics when I get him!!

 

Everything Setsura is saying is correct. From my personal experience and from talking to others, overseas friends, Soom and stuff, and my experience with the Chinese side of the market - that's exactly what's going on.

I think for where I'm at (personally) mentally with this is I just wish they would say something IS technically quantity limited. Or make is harder for people to organize G.O. or multiple shipments to same addresses, etc. Because this problem is heart breaking and thinking of it becoming the norm really sucks. Especially with ID who don't have a release calendar or give previews, it's hard for me to know right then and there if I want to buy something, as I often need to chill the hype and come to my senses and decide a bit later. I refuse to drop 2k without thinking.

Unless it's Garion.

Please give me a non CW Garion lmao

 

Yes! I cannot wait until they offer a Dokkebi Garion (romantic or not) in any color other than Peony White.

 

Slowly raised hand from the back of the room, I would buy a peony white Dokkebi Garion. Please?

 

I don't think they have ever had this problem for non-event items before though have they? For Peony White Garion they did put up a warning saying they might sell out, but I believe Garion did not sell out before the limited purchase period of like a day was over. But they released Hyperion, Ender, River (51cm), Hugh, Hyun and Void all back to back all which are popular sculpts (not sure about the Aragon demand), so they have likely had more strain then usual on production.

Personally I feel the 2023 releases have been all pretty quality for the most part with great faceups, themes, etc. Imagine they are able to be more flexible not releasing a schedule as they can then move around certain releases that aren't ready yet and allocate resources better. I do wish they would give us more warning though, seeing as it is monthly releases they couldn't give us too much and remain flexible but a 4-7 days would be nice. I believe we usually get 1-2 days lol.

I bought the white Dokkebi Garion but I would buy a fantasy color in a heartbeat. I'm still a bit sour grapes they released Hyun in fantasy colors when people wanted general/white and Garion in white when people wanted fantasy, they definitely dropped the ball there. But then we also might have experienced the sell out problem earlier.

For my wallets sake though I hope they don't release anything that tempts me too badly. Right after Garion was paid off Ender preorder started and I paid off Ender this month so I'm scared for July LOL.

 

Ha, but that was the color of their last two releases! And it was the only color. I just want a little variety haha.

 

ID51s are a crapshoot which no one likes to buy due to being an odd scale and Void/Aragon are not popular sculpts in China. What busted production is mainly Hugh, all the little gems, and the brown tan being a special colour along with the interesting skull concept of the latest Hyperon.

Unfortunately, the CEO of soom is a stubborn old man who from many various accounts (from people who have worked there/are close to those who do) does whatever he feels like, saying his company is great when a sculpt sells well and blaming the directors when it doesn't sell as well. He's also said to have no regard towards customer wants and releases whatever he feels like knowing he has the grip on the market. As well, he's been known to say that idealian is not his favourite dolls of his brand.

When Chinese customers begged for Hyun in a non fantasy colour, the response was that they release it 'based on themes' so the answer was a hard no to add a normal skin colour despite how many people begged. They dont really care that much about pandering to what we want over releasing what they feel like. Currently, the latest Hyperon in normal skin is being scalped on the Chinese market for an average of 8000RMB, straight after release.

Them not telling us what the releases are is part of their shitty FOMO marketing plan, and it pretty much further fuels the impulse buying on release, so they won't change it unfortunately. A lot of customers these days are scared if they don't buy it first day in release they'll miss out, so it's hurting everyone all around now, sadly. They seem to have a boner for Peony White this year, and there's been a lot of backlash over it, not that soom really seems to care.

 

Makes sense, especially seeing as they haven't ever updated the Idealian body type. For as expensive as they are we shouldn't have to be wiring and hotgluing. Also I saw 4 box openings of Garion and they were strung so tight when opening the box all the torsos were popped off to the left, including mine. Don't get me started on the hands. Doesn't seem like we will ever get those quality of life changes if the owner is an old coot lol.

LOL you are right though the FOMO plan they have now is shitty. That said, I'm not sure if buying something just to buy it for clout is bigger in China but I am assuming the non scalpers want certain sculpts in particular (given the demands you've told us about) and not just to have the newest Soom release. If thats not the case though then Soom's current strategy would work better for them simply for the fact its less work and people are buying everything popular anyway.

Although I still do think they would see an increase of sales overtime announcing for the less popular dolls.I've heard a lot of "passing in case xxx releases", if customers knew the popular doll wasn't releasing in the next 2-3 months they would be more likely to budget another doll in while they wait for their "grail". It wouldn't really effect Chinese market aftersales either as they would still be capitalizing on people who couldn't afford the release popular or non popular regardless given its time limited. Plus Soom usually only releases a sculpt once a year, if that, so the FOMO aspect would still be there even if you knew it was coming as it wouldn't be returning for a year or so.

But from everything you told us looks like as long as they can get money through the door they don't care about anything else.

 

Are there any idealian bjd groups on facebook?

 

The ID75 is, technically, an update - although a very, very, very late one (single jointed knees from 2010 to 2016 for +70cm dolls, like... guys, please). The ID75 does pose better in some regards, and I didn't have to wire or suede mine to be honest. The ID72 though needed some work to be... well, poseable.

Thanks for the insight @Setsura - that pretty much explains the whole soom-only thing with the constant rereleases. It makes money? (Another) Rerelease in a year! It doesn't? Rerelease in a few years to see if people still don't want it.

I'm keeping tabs on Sooms releases for a few years now in a handy spreadsheet, where its very, very obvious that Hyperon is the most rereleased doll in Sooms history ever (18 rereleases at the moment, followed by Gluino [15] and a tie between Ender and Shale/Adamelli [both 13]).
Which makes me wonder why they were so seemingly unprepared for the recent Hyperon release? It's not rocket science to allow only 2 dolls per person and do a background check on addresses (to avoid people using multiple accounts to get more dolls) - there are tools for that. But well - in the end, money wins.

 

Hyperon has long been plagued with problems prevalent in the Chinese community but not in other doll communities nearly as much. This has lead to a decrease in his popularity among older players (but not newer players who do not want to pay the market premium for him and those who do not care as much). As far as what these 'problems' are, players in China are very very very sensitive to the shrinkage, resin changes and mould differences of rereleases. Let me explain the situation a little -

Since the mould is fresh and new for new dolls and dolls that haven't been cast as much, it stays very true to the original image of the doll. This is considered the 'true' image of the doll and the closest to the original image of him that everyone in China wants. Because Hyperon has been cast over and over again (being arguably one of, if not the most, popular ID sculpt), he has experienced many minor changes in his look. To mention a few top differences that are consistently mentioned in China, the resin on the old sculpts, while not as high quality, was thicker and more durable. The head of Hyperon has shrunk more and more in subsequent releases. In the latest FCE release of him, his nose came out wonky and his eyes and lips look different. There is minor increasing loss of detail overall in his face. It's simply exactly what it is - the original mould is deteriorating over time, and SOOM hasn't taken any measures to fix it.

As a waterfall effect, this has lead to the price of many early releases being more expensive and coveted than new dolls in the Chinese second hand market. Old heads with the jagged 'sawtooth' design tend to have thicker resin - this is worth more. Dolls prone to mould changes and shrinkage over time such as Hyperon, Amor, Narmer, Zak are also worth more in their older versions.

I think if it wasn't for the brown tan skin colour which is a rare release for SOOM and the new skull head design, the latest Hyperon wouldn't have been nearly as popular with the chinese market due to the aforementioned reasons. People were already very upset over their FCE OE Hyperons having wonky noses. Another reason is that brown tan Scar Hyperon did very well, and those who missed him and didn't want to wait longer bit the bullet and bought a brown tan OE Hyperon instead.

With regards to who is popular, I can't speak for the west because I don't see that many idealians here, but the leading sculpts in China are without a doubt Hyperon, Hyun, Hwain (for those who can snag one), Narmer and Garion. Zak and River are probably somewhere pretty high up the list, too. As for the unpopular ones, aside from those that barely ever get released, Gluino and Void are probably quite low down.

--

Regarding the update of the ID75 body, it's actually not the worst to be honest. With a little work it's fine, and it's not actually that much worse than a lot from many other companies. A lot of mistakes or difficulties come from handling it, which can be overcome if you get a feel for it and learn how to balance him properly. An ID75 is capable of carrying another ID75 on its shoulders with 0 wire, 0 sueding if you just string it correctly and centre the balance correctly.

I do not know how much truth is in the following statement, but I have heard that the ID75 will never be updated due to the original sculptors not working with it anymore. The rumour is that the original sculptors main expertise was not large male dolls, so it is not an area that they wanted to rework on again. However, you can take this with a grain of salt.

 

@meanae Oh yeah I was only referring to the ID75 body only and getting an update for that specifically. With all the new bodies coming out so much more functional and even different versions (more slim/muscles) it's just a shame ID75 is being left in the dust design wise. Would love even to see some variations from them.

--

But Idk my ID75 bodies are more recent since 2022 so ymmv but mine cannot stand unassisted right out of the box. The are by far the worse posers/standers I own compared to LUTS, Volks, LoongSoul (68 & 73), TD, TheVoice, Vings and DFH 68cm+ bodies I have owned. They are functional after some adjusting but for the price point I still stand by it being insane we have to adjust at all. My Luts SSDF and my TD 74cm body stood on their own from me plopping them down right out of the box with 0 adjustments. My big top heavy The Voice dolls can lean back in heeled shoes with little to no adjustments other than getting them in the pose.

I have 3 teenies from back in the day around 2008-10 and got another one last year and they've always were stable and functional for the size but they are smaller so easier to design I imagine.

I'm not holding my breath at all for an updated body or any body variations but it would be a nice surprise if they did.

Not having too much faith in how my Ender will come tbh.