Volks Dollfie Dream Mini discussion part 1

Thanks for the warning. I decided to swallow the extra postage cost (£13 EMS shipping for £26 worth of items!) But I do need them. I'll have to see about whether I do that again in future. I also ordered some MSC from Hobbylink (At least they offer SAL for cheaper items). I ordered the SD white cap from Volks. I hope it fits OK. I'll use that to protect the head instead of the gel for dark wigs. The body stockings should also be useful. I am going to get a few things from Dollmore and that will be it for quite some time as this is all adding up to be a very expensive hobby!

 

I was wondering, what do the inside of the MDD heads look like? And how are they kept on? o_o;

 

Inside their heads are just hollowed out vinyl. She doesn't really have eyewells, its just holed for eyes literally. There is a small hole at the bottom.

The body and head connect with a long ribbed pole, you can see it on the mdd body pics here: http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-70052297082953_2007_69590256

You just push the head on and off that pole.

 

I see. o_o Thanks!

 

I've found out my fiance really likes the new Etherelda mdd, which is very exciting as it gives me some ideas for Christmas pressies

He's usually really awkward to buy for so any ideas I get from him is a big deal xD

Edit: Although, I just remembered, getting a hold of her could be a problem ^__^;

 

Etherelda is really cute. Hopefully you can find one second hand for a okay price?

 

Well I emailed Volks yesterday asking about availibility of the eva girls, since we have it licensend here, so maybe it won't be a problem.

As for Etheldreda, I think I may have found someone kind who is able to help me get her from volks.

 

Ok so I finally got some kips today in the mail (yay).

I set upon mdd mirai right away to operate on her broken knee. However, it turns out that a kip will not fix her bad knee at all. It has helped for posing of her sitting down, however she still cannot stand.

The reason why? I have actually discovered and I am glad to find out it is not a problem of my own doing, I am still sad that I can't fix it though. I took a photo to better illustrate the problem.



As you can see, the part on the top is the good knee, you can see the small hole and even see some of the grooves for the screw to latch onto. However the part below is the bad knee, and as you can clearly see, the hole is visibly larger, it looks significantly bigger in real life. Also you can see, its just a hollow large hole, there are no grooves for the screw to latch onto.

So that's my problem, it looks like the part was made faulty this way, there's now way I could have done this myself. I tried injecting some hot glue down the hole to create something to latch onto but it didn't help much and I don't know what else I can do.

Does anyone else have any ideas? I don't think I can ask Volks for a replacement, because I got the doll second hand. Will that be a problem?

edit: I have emailed volks international to ask about the part. I figure it doesn't cost or hurt to ask and the worst that can happen is that things will stay as they are. Hopefully though Volks can advise me on what to do, or send me a replacement part ;__ ; I'm just so sad right now to think my mirai may never stand or play again.

 

Well that is interesting but it sucks for you My Mirai can stand a bit so I don't think she has that problem. Sadly Volks doesnt sell the internal skeleton parts separately at the moment... they started selling all external parts though for DD for there might be hope in the far away future....
I feel sorry for you, I hope you find a way to make it work so she can stand. *hugs*

 

Maybe you could like.. uh use clay or sculpey or whatever and glue it in there? D: I'm tired atm and am having trouble describing what I mean.. ;_;

Hot Glue was my first idea actually. Did you like squirt the stuff in there and then put the leg in while it was still gooey? (Though if it failed it'd be hard to get the glue out..) Or was the problem that the hot glue wouldn't stay attached to the vinyl?

 

Well the response I got from volks is as follows:

'Dear Ms. Jones,

Thank you for your email.

I am very regretful to have to inform you that unfortunately, we are only
able to exchange parts within 2 weeks of the item being purchased from us.

However, I do have two possible suggestions for your consideration.

1. You can purchase a new MDD base body
2. You can attempt to fix the parts yourself

I will endeavor to explain #2 in greater detail.

1) Fill the worn-out screw-hole in the left knee with glue.
* I recommend you use a glue with a fairly minimal degree of shrinkage.
2) After the glue dries, create a new screw thread by inserting and rotating
the screw.
* Please be aware that if the glue dries too much, it may become too stiff
to be shaved out in this manner.

If you restructure the broken knee joint in this manner, she should be able
to stand more easily.

However, we cannot take responsibility for the results of this endeavour,
nor any changes to her overall form that may occur.
We ask for your understanding that the responsibility will entirely be your
own before you decide to do this.

We hope that you and your Mirai may have many happy times together.

Sincerely

VOLKS Web Site Service Center'

Its not really a great help, since I already tried what they suggested and I can't buy a whole new body for the sake of one faulty piece of skeleton, thats just an outrageous suggestion.*sigh* I just don't know what to do with her anymore.

I guess I'm just gonna have to mess around with her and hope. Its not like I could possibly make her posing any worse after all. I'm still upset about it though.

 

If I remember correctly you used hot glue... I think they are saying to NOT use that kind of glue (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

 

I have also tried general use glue that takes time to set. It didn't really work either.

 

These bodies can be awkward to stay standing. I also tightened the knee and ankles. However what I have noticed is that the soft vinyl tends to slide across the skeletal joints regardless. Because they are soft they have a lot of give in them. If it was hard then it would not be able to move and stretch at the joints. This appears to be a fundamental design flaw. Also at the hips there is no screw to adjust because the top of the thigh pushes onto a hard plastic peg. That loosens up with wear and there is no means to widen the peg without breaking it.

I am trying to figure out a way to suede the insides of the vinyl at the joints (some hot glue perhaps?) and something to help the thigh joints adhere to the internal pegs more (Something sticky?) without causing the vinyl to stain or gum up at those points.

Tricky. I am sure someone with more experience working on these kinds of things could work something out but I am no handyman. :P

 

Well, I have tried several types of glue now (about four I think) and none of them have worked. Even though the hole is too big, its still a small space to work with.

Any glue I put inside just gets cut up into strips by the screw once I put it back in so the leg is still floppy.

I also tried cutting up a kip and putting a chip of it in the hole, and cutting up a matchstick and filling the hole but again (this is an old diy remedy for if you drill a hole to big for a screw, or if your screw is too small. Because it fills the gaps in the hole and gives the screw something to latch onto) but it did not work. The kip was just cut into strips by the screw like the glue did and the matchstick just got all mangled because I had to cut a strip so small to actually get it in there.

In addition to that, I tried coating the actual screw in a layer of hot glue, in hope that when inserted into the hole, the glue will fill out the gap and create tension/friction so the joint moves as it should. But again, even though the hole is bigger, its still a tiny hole for me to work with. I couldn't get enough glue on the screw to create enough friction.

The next thing I'm gonna try, I'm thinking of wiring her leg as you would with a resin doll. In theory, even if her knee is still completely loose, the wire, once inserted will force the knee to stay in place and not collapse, because the wire will not cripple under her weight like her knee does. It should also help with posing, because even if the leg wants to flop, it will be supported by the wire so it can't (I think?)

As of yet though I have no idea if this will work on a dollfie dream body and it may damage the vinyl, so I am still worried.

 

Well, I wouldn't put wire in her if I was you... it'll go right thru the vinyl!!

I'd take her part and screw over to a hardware store and try and find the SAME screw (same threads/lenght/etc) in a wider diameter to fit the larger hole.

 

I asked Volks if there was any possibility for male Dollfie dreams or Mini Dollfie dreams.

"Dear Customer,
Thank you for letting us know your idea.

In regards to your inquiry about the availability of Male
Dollfie Dream, we are sorry to say that we do not have
a plan at the moment.

We are not sure whether if we would be able to offer it
as our future item, but we would like to send your request
to our Head Quarters so that they might consider it.

Thank you so much for your understanding and support.

Sincerely,

VOLKS USA Web Service Center
VOLKS USA, INC.
URL: www.volksusa.com
E-mail: [email protected]"

Well, I tried! At least they are much nicer about suggestions like that than some companies I have tried!

Maybe we need to see if there is a real interest in male Dollfie dreams? (Especially the adorable Minis!) I think I might prefer a male mini (since I don't really want an overly muscled anime guy. It almost seems unnatural...)

 

I don't think they will appeal to the japanese audience. Most of the people who collect dollfie dreams are male and most of the men want cute/sexy anime girls, not other men. Its the same with other dolls in japan like Azone, mamma chapp. There are no boys, only pretty girls.

It also translates into the anime figure market too. If you look online shops at anime figures, the majority of them are of females, there aren't nowhere near as many male figures. I think this is maybe because girls like the girls because they are cute and guys like the girls too because they are cute/sexy/pretty.

 

Maybe it won't appeal to the Japanese audience. That's probably quite true.

But that won't stop me from hoping! Half the reason I think there is not as many women collecting those Azone-type dolls and anime figurines is precisely because there is no male options for them. I have to wonder if there was males...

I mean, there is definitely a fanbase for cute males. I guess I have to actually have to see boy Dollfie dreams fail before I'm convinced!

 

I'd love to see male dollfie dreams too, for sure I would, just like I would like there to be more cute anime guy figures. I was just saying sadly I don't think they will =(

If they made a male DD though, heck I'd be all over that like a fly on poop