Volks Dollfie ICON

If they want the first released to be an incomplete product just to gauge potential interest, that is fine, but then the price should reflect that. They should know off a good $100 off of these girls.

With that said, I am super excited about the faces for vynil bodies! If they don't improve the colour, I will still be interested in a NS one!

 

that’s a very good point about artistic intent. with the petal and mint skintones the joint color looks ok, but with the iris tone it just looks...... off. the two colors contrast in a weird way. or something.

 

I was re-reading the description on the website for these girls, and it seems the bustier-like top shown in promo pics isn't included in the outfit? I'm also wondering if/when the half-closed eyes version of the heads will be available...

And I thought I had figured out which one I like best until I read that the eyes they come with are random as well as the wigs. Clover is shown with the prettiest eyes (IMO) but it would be my luck I wouldn't get those.

 

It's growing on me too. I like how it gives them a mechanical look, especially with that disapproving face the half closed Terra has. I think white joints would have looked nicer on the purple and mint girls though.

I said this over on another forum but in an artsy way I can understand what they're going for with the mismatched joints. It really does put a focus on the joints- which besides material is what's setting these so apart from their standard dolls.

 

That bad thing is these are NA (possibly Dolpa) exclusive and depending on how good they sell, determines if they'll be continued/further developed...

I personally am ok with the mismatched joints for the fantasy colors but sad about the tan one. That one I love the skintone and is much harder to pass off as an artistic vision...

 

There is a message from Mr. Shigeta on the Dollfie ICON website.

"This project was brought into fruition by the collaborative planning of staff members from Volks Inc. in Japan and Volks USA, Inc., and were originally intended for North American Dollfie®fans, the majority of participants in the event,

However, much to our pleasant surprise, these Dollfie® ICONs have gained the attention of Dollfie® fans from all around the globe. This wonderful achievement makes all of us here at Volks full of joy and excitement.
Given this opportunity, we want to bring Dollfie® ICON to doll fans worldwide.
No, rather, we must do so. You all have sparked that motivation inside of us."

Sounds promising to me

 

I read the random wig and eyes as well and thought that was very unfortunate. I hope they change that to the one you see at the DOLPA.

 

That "artistic license" excuse seems so convenient... They came up with it after all the complaints and the backlash, in an email, it's not even something they said on their official website or a post. To me it feels like pointing out a basic anatomy mistake on a drawing and the artist saying "well that's my style!!!!". If that's how they honestly feel, maybe they should offer different colored skeletons as a choice when buying. Then I'd believe it.
I wouldn't be mad if they weren't going to charge luxury prices while offering an unfinished product. I've been waiting since 2016 for this release and this just seems lazy and like they think we'll buy anything.
If this is their way of competing with Smartdoll, while Smartdoll is right now coming up with a new skin tone and with Cortex... I don't know how that will work out. Even Fairyland is going to make anime style vinyl dolls now. I love Volks and I really hope they step up their game now that they're not the only high end vinyl company in the market.
With all that said, I'll still buy the white colored girl if she's made available worldwide to show interest in the line, and in hopes they'll make it better in the future.

 

Will the colored vinyl fade over time or yellow like their old WS vinyl has? I did not know they stopped making WS for their DD line.

 

I absolutely love the blue girl. I'll have to see her in person at dolpa to know for sure if I like her enough to deal with the mismatched joints but I'd like to see more dolls with the blue skin (and eventually with matching joints) so I'm glad that they said they'd make them available for more than just dolpa. I'm guessing they probably saw/heard a lot of people say they really liked the dolls but not necessarily the joints so I wouldn't be surprised if they made them match at a later time.

 

One thought I've had about the joints: if they bother you, but you still want the doll, you could stain them the right color with alcohol-based ink or paint them. That way, they would be less noticeable. Even though I've gotten out of vinyl dolls, I kind of want one anyway because it's something Volks made just for us North Americans. It's like a special present.

 

It was announced that they weren't made just for North Americans and they will be going world wide.
And to say that people should stain their own joints for a $750 doll is pretty disparaging. I am disappointed that so many people are willing to give Volks a free pass at being lazy and tapping it up to artistic license when that clearly wasn't the reason for it at all. Yes, if people don't like it, they don't have to buy it but it shouldn't be okay just because they are Volks. They have always had the highest standards and if we allow them to lower them, they will. $750 goes a long way in the doll industry these days.

Fans who are not satisfied with this, please don't be hushed by those just wanting to be all rainbows and sunshine. Look at what happened to the video game industry once people started buying things made by big name companies just because of the brand. We get sloppily, incomplete made stuff at full price now and people just buy for the sake of the name. Sometimes the best form of support is not to buy at all and keep companies accountable for quality. Just my perspective.

 

@Septunie I full-heartedly agree. Again, I don't want to come off rant-y with a pitchfork and all, but I'm honestly calling it like it is. Sure, if people don't like it, then they just don't buy it. But this whole "its starting to grow on me" thing is just sad imo. People are now starting to put up with it either because:

1) It's a special "english" NA release (which even though they've later announced it to be worldwide, the initial vibe I got from the English-only website was for NA customers exclusively).
2) They've already announced there won't be a change in joints
3) For aesthetic reasons (i.e. robotic/android look)

It doesn't seem fair. It feels like we as the consumers just now have to put up with it because that's what they're offering, which sounds about right in theory but what about consumer loyalty and trust? Level of quality? This upsets me because as neither a resident of Japan nor NA, and like many other international fans, I have to fight to get the chance to acquire a Volks product. I have to rely heavily and almost exclusively on the secondhand market to get what I want, all the while feeling uncatered to. And what I want and have come to expect was one of the best quality products where all the love and care went into it, a Volks product, which in the end made it all worth it. And now when it just got a little easier, they offer an "incomplete" product. Seems like a slap in the face. It feels like they're just giving us the scraps.

I highly doubt this would've been released the same way in Japan. But Volks is smart. Because it seemed to be an English NA release, instead of the usual Japan release first, it gauged interest because of this pseudo-exclusivity, and Volks' fans LOVE exclusivity. I crave it too, all the time. It's very smart, I'll give them that. But I'm starting to get tired of it.

 

This is very true, and I'm not saying that it's ideal, or that you have no right to be frustrated. But, the original announcement said that it was designed with North America specifically in mind. I just was excited that maybe, after being more or less an afterthought market, it's beginning to change. Hopefully, they will improve the product in the future.

 

What’s disappointing to me is people who aren’t getting exactly what they want are jumping straight to vilifying Volks. Let me explain. Customization has always been in the forefront of BJD ownership - especially for Volks, and I don’t see why this line should be seen as any different. The ICON girls are coming with several different pieces of clothing so that the owner can mix up and style the dolls to their liking. The eyes and wigs are still removable, still changeable. They’re vinyl, yes, but they aren’t character dolls like Miku/Saber/Sailor Moon DDs, they are meant to be made unique. So why is it so shocking to suggest changing the way the joints look yourself? The price point? It’s Volks. They don’t make “affordable” dolls and we all know it.

Look, I get that their handling of this new US-centric offer is a bit awkward. This isn’t the most elegant campaign, but is anyone surprised by that? There has been plenty of discussion on the matter of Japanese business practices: foreigners don’t get the priority of service that Japanese customers do. This is new for them, and I’m honestly a bit shocked (happily) they’ve reached out to us with something like this!

Now, I’m not saying this as an insult to anyone. But it’s just this simple. If you don’t like them, don’t buy them.

As to why I personally changed my mind about the joints? They really did grow on me, I think they look kinda neat.

 

I think that's exactly what people are saying in this thread. Most of us won't be buying them because of the combination of a high price point and the sloppy appearance of mismatched joints. Even the outfit looks unfinished and not up to the standard I'd expect from Volks.

 

I don't think 'villifying' is quite the right word. Personally, I don't feel that Volks is a villain suddenly. I have several Volks dolls and still love and appreciate them. For me, it's more of a disappointment and let down. I love love love purple so the prospect of a purple Volks doll made my heart leap. I was so psyched. But the more photos that come out with completely lackluster communication about the development and details from the company, the more crestfallen I am. Volks refuses to respond to any comments on social media and though they say the hype is significant, I think they might be misreading the confusion and questions for excitement, at least based on other platforms outside of here.

I would like nothing more than for them to take this issue and rise to the occasion to respond more professionally and appeal to all. For those that like the joints as they are, the best thing they could do is provide options. Heck, if they allowed buyers to chose their color of skeleton and skin separately, how awesome would that be? Now that's true artistic integrity.

 

I just found out about the Dollfie Icon and I am very interested in their release! Serra has my attention.