Souldoll Discussion

@Dybbuk Thank you, I will try that if I don't see a response in a few days.

I have been looking closely at what's been going on with Souldoll and had hoped that they'd be back on track with things again. Their Q&A board gets so little activity that I wonder if they don't check regularly anymore.* There's only been a handful of questions in the past few months.

This prompted me to have a look at Souldoll's Korean site. The Q&A board there has even less activity there. There is a public question there from May (had to use translate, so this might not be perfect) where it seems like someone is asking if they are still running their site -- the context seems to be asking if they are open for business. The response there from Souldoll is this:

"Hello? This is Souldol.

First of all, I'm really sorry for the late reply.

For the time being, we will be operating only through overseas sites and overseas business partners, so sales on the Korean site have been suspended until further notice.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

We will do our best to quickly return to the Korean fans who love Souldol.

thank you"

I didn't browse extensively, but it doesn't look like anything can be purchased from the Korean page (not the Soulkids or eyes or anything).

On the Japanese version, the Q&A board is even more sparse though, it doesn't look like anyone has asked a question in almost a year. There's not even two pages of questions either. The items available for sale on the English site are available here too though.

This might not be much of a bad sign though. I think this mostly shows that Souldoll's primary customer base is Western, and that's where they are focusing on managing their sales if they are cutting back for the sake of being able to manage things more easily.

*spoilering this since my theory since this is entirely speculation

Spoiler

For context, I became very interested in Souldoll in 2008 -- my first doll was from them. Even though I had a 15 year hiatus from the hobby, they were the one company I routinely checked in on.

Souldoll has been very consistent with their outfit designs, face-ups, and photography. Whoever this person is, they have been with Souldoll since at least 2007-2008 and most likely prior since I remember fairly well a lot of the old Soulkids that I really adored. I suspect this is the primary artist/vision behind the company. I also think this is the same face-up artist that has been ill. To manage this, they cut back on doing face-ups. Some good news, for their newest dolls, they are offering them again.

On Souldoll's IG, they mentioned a casting company that they work with so I don't believe they do their casting in house at all. This aligns with what they said about a group order if there is enough interest in the heads from that one Q&A.

My theory is that there was someone else who mainly ran the business side of things, but that this person is no longer with the company for whatever reason (I really hope it wasn't like, someone dying or something, even though that's the first thing that comes to mind ). This may have left the primary artist having to do everything themselves. I hope they can manage to find someone else to help if it's something like this that's happened.

I've seen some express concern that this is becoming another Dollshe situation. I don't think it's that at all. They're not running sales, they've cut back what they are selling, where they are selling, etc. This really looks to me like there are some legitimate struggles going on and that they're doing their best to keep things manageable.

Again, this is all speculation, just felt like I had to share some thoughts on what this all looks like to me.

 

I was wondering about where to contact them myself. I've tried via E-Mail but had no luck. I'm still waiting for my order from December 2023 and just wanted to get an update. I'm not worried, though. She'll get here eventually.

 

@Leenah : Thank you so much for this valuable insight! I had not noticed the changes to the Korean site and them closing sales there... but I'm so glad the English site is still running.

I think your theory tracks closely to many of their updates and current output. I also agree that they're trying to do their best and will complete their orders. It's just taking them a long time while they figure out a new production process with the staff changes. I love their dolls too and want them to pull through.

@Hannya : Who are you still waiting for? Your wait might be the longest I've seen reported so far!

 

A blank Elfin! So nothing special, which makes me wonder why it takes so long.

 

That's definitely out of the norm for them iirc

 

It took them almost 2 years to ship out my Millie, I'm actually used to it

 

Wow, I didn't realize the wait times had become so long. I wish they would bring back their double line - those were my favorite and I'm glad for the ones I have been able to obtain.

 

I love the Double line, too. I've managed to bring home 2 of them 2nd hand. I'd say the Vito line is my favourite in size (I own 3) but generally speaking, the 50-ish boys are my favourite overall.

 

There's a Korean wiki page I found that has some blurbs about various doll companies and I found the bit about Souldoll to be interesting. (translation - original)

"Souldoll -- is a company known for its eyes, rather than its ball-jointed dolls. Acrylic eyes are priced on par with factory-made glass eyes, but they offer just as good visual feedback, and the quality of the acrylic eyes is so good that they're practically indistinguishable from the others"

Per my prior post, I was starting to wonder if maybe Souldoll was far more popular outside of Korea than inside the country. It seems like I was right. I think their eyes have a good reputation here too, but I have never gotten the impression that Souldoll was known for them above their dolls.

The more I think about it, the less surprising this is. Someone who's been with Souldoll since forever (probably the main artist again) has had a really obvious interest in western dark fantasy, occult, and mythology, all things which have been oozing out of their style since forever, and I think that's resonated with westerners a whole lot more perhaps.

Anyway, figured I'd update again since I hope my last post didn't come off as too dooming. If they are really better known for their eyes in South Korea than their dolls, this seems even more like Souldoll is focusing more on the actual doll production while they are dealing with some hurdles.

 

@Hannya : Understandable 2 of my blank dolls took about 1.5 years to make. But still, a 2 waiting time is very very rough. Hope you get some good news soon.

@Leenah : That makes a lot of sense. On 2nd hand websites overseas (Y!J, Dollyteria, Mandarake) I rarely see Soul Doll's for sale vs other popular Korean brands. If I want to find one 2nd hand I have better luck here on DoA or eBay.

@Mu Shu & @Iron_Dog : I'm grateful I have found most of the Doubles I wanted but I am doubtful Soul Doll will every bring it back. At this point I'm wondering if/when they'll ever release the Zenith boys or Vito lines back.