Your opinion on Volks?

volksusa.com? I just buy clothes or ZM spray, stuff like that. Actually, the clothes I like on their Japanese site are not available in the USA site. I like their dolls, but the ones they used to have, and currently have on the English site are so plain, IMO. Actually I only like some of their limited dolls, and you have to get those in lotteries and their secondhand prices are usually through the roof, so unfortunately I've pretty much written off Volks dolls. I stalk the MP for clothes, but the ones I like are 3x the price they used to be, so, pfft.

Good luck. Sorry I'm not any help.

 

Volks USA is in English and prices are in USD. They are located (items ship from) California.

Volks international webstore has an English version but has a few irregular links. It's in English with the prices in Japanese Yen. However, sometimes when I click on a link or refresh a page it will redirect to the Japanese version of the page. It doesn't happen often but once in a while the languages would switch. But I find that I could get back to the English pages without too much trouble.

 

Not nearly all Volks dolls have 22-24 mm eyes! I have a Cecile, and he has 18 mm eyes, just like some of my other SD's. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen a Volks with eyes that huge..I know they're there, but not nearly all of them have eyes this huge! As to how to get them, I always look at the marketplace, sometimes you can find really good deals there, especially now the new bodies are getting so popular and dolls with the older bodies sell for less. Much easier than the website ^_^;;

 

I think Dollfie Dreams are the only ones with 22-24mm eyes. Some older dolls like SD Four Sisters take around 18-20mm.

 

SlaveDan, are you asking about the dolls and their eye holes, or about the eyes that Volks sells? I'm starting to think that you're asking about buying the actual eyes (which is a relief; do we really need yet another Volks-bashing GD thread?).

VolksUSA has a few 22mm glass eyes for sale: http://volksusastore.com/dollfie/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=392 But yes, most of Volks' 22 and 24mm eyes are the acrylic Animetic style, aimed at Dollfie Dreams. They are lovely, if you want an anime-style eye, but if you want a realistic eye in that size, Volks doesn't offer a wide selection.

Try the Marketplace; try eBay, in the "dolls and bears" category; try the dollmaking supply businesses, such as Antina's, Kemper, and Audrey's; try Etsy. I've found a decent selection of 22 and 24mm eyes in all those places.

 

My overall opinion of volks is meh. I like their limited dolls, their SD 16 and SD 17. I own one volks, a volks iris. I got her secondhand so she was pricy. Her eyes are big but I think they are 18 or 20 mm. She has the best paperweight eyes I've ever purchased...she just claimed them. I find volks to have really large heads which I'm not a huge fan of but I do love my iris...i find her to be my prettiest...will I purchase another volks...meh

 

The majority of the Volks dolls are just not my style. Their aesthetic is not the same as my aesthetic.

That said, I have a lot of respect for their artistry and I think their dolls are well made.

 

They seem to be really nice dolls. I would love to order some of their clothes! It is just so hard to buy them! I found their US site very confusing. They seem to be very well made but they are difficult to buy because of the complicated ordering process and the availability of particular sculpts. I try to not look at them very much in case I fall in love with one. I am sure I would just end up broken hearted. Maybe someday...

 

Sounds like another Volks bashing thread is on the way. *grabs popcorn and settles down to watch the drama unfold*

ontopic:

I don't know which dolls you are looking at SlaveDan, unless you link to what you are looking at. Can't really help you unless you can give more specifics then that.

 

I own a Ryoma Sakamoto (yep, 2nd hand of COURSE) but I didn't pay more than I would have if I had won the lottery for him - due to shipping costs being less. I also have a Kanata (oh, AGAIN 2nd hand) which is, or was, one of their standard sculpts. Plus I have a Hisaku (second hand...). I've ordered stands, wigs, & other supplies from Volks. I do love the quality of the dolls - my Ryoma & Kanata do not have huge eyes either. HOWEVER their marketing is Japanese - which equals Byzantine..... ~sigh~ As for the clothes, I have some - decent quality but not blowing my socks off like, say, Freedom Teller. Also pricey - some are one-off & some of the props are to die for so if I see them on the MP I try to grab them.

ElysionGear, ask yourself WHY so many people have a problem w/Volks - do you REALLY think the more reasonable objections are lies made up by haters & trolls?

 

I never cared all too much for Volks dolls myself. They looked okay to me, some a bit too stylized, most of them quite a bit too childlike (except for the SD16/SD17 limiteds). That was before I found that Link head here on the Marketplace. I never liked Link - he and Mark were the two Volks sculpts I always liked least. But that face-up - oh man, that FACE-UP! So I got the head. And then, I got him a body. And then, I found that great deal on Mandarake for what looked like an F-16 but actually turned out to be an old F-28 (basically, old-version F-16). Oh, and let's not forget about the Ryoma Sakamoto head (also on Mandarake - THE address if you're looking for great deals on Volks dolls - some of them are on the expensive side but all the dolls I got from them were a real bargain). And things pretty much went "downhill" from there and now I got five Volks dolls (two SD13, two MSD, one SD16 with SD/SD13 heads) and one Volks hybrid (my Ryoma head - he's on a Classy Doll body). More on the way, actually.

I've come to really appreciate them. None of them was especially expensive, except for the SD16 body I got here on the Marketplace (but then, I wanted one from a particular year so it would match a particular head and SD16 girl bodies are kinda pricey in general due to not being as common as, say, SD13 boy bodies) - and all I can say is that I don't regret one single penny spent on Volks dolls or Volks stuff. Love the quality! The resin's got a really nice and solid feel to it, not like some other dolls I have where I'm almost afraid to break them by just looking at them wrong. And what I find most impressive is how they still can stand even when their stringing is really, really loose.

As for eye sizes what seems to work best, so far, is 14mm for the MSDs and at least 16mm for the SD/SD13s. Maybe 18mm for those with especially large eyes but I don't think you'd have to go larger than 20mm (unless, of course, it's a Dollfie Dream).

 

I'm not a big fan of the Volks USA website (it's not the easiest to navigate), but it's definitely in English and you can definitely order stuff on it.

Volks tends to release its dolls during their Dolpa events. If you check out the schedule for those, and then find the right part of the website, you can have some sort of shot at getting their latest releases... They tend to be popular and get sold out quickly, though, so aside from the basics and the dolls they happen to have in stock, it can be hard to get particular dolls. But people who do their research seem to manage pretty well in getting hold of Volks dolls.

There are Volks dolls available in the Marketplace and on Ebay (from private sellers, not the Company).

Not all Volks take eyes that large. As others have said, many fit 18mm or less. It depends on the sculpt.

Like all doll companies, there are sculpts I like and sculpts I don't. I'd think that would be somewhat true of just about anyone... unless you love the style and tend to love most all their dolls--or conversely, dislike their style and just buy from other companies. BJDs are a very personal thing and everyone has their own opinions.

If you don't like their eye size, then don't buy them. Or if you're able, you can try modding or have someone else mod... There are always options!

 

I actually like dolls with slightly larger heads and thought my doll's head looks a little small without the wig, lol.

Do all Volks dolls have larger heads compared to other brands? Which companies are known to have large heads and which have small heads?

 

I really like some of their dolls, but the standard models don't appeal to me. Lieselotte is gorgeous to me and I hope to own her someday but I just didn't have the money to set aside last month. It really is just personal preference when it comes to Volks. I also love their DDs but that's mostly due to my love for anime. My boyfriend much prefers the anime style dolls to all the other dolls I look at so it is a person by person basis.

Their dolls all seem very nice though, and I don't think it would be something you would be very displeased with. Even if you were it seems like they're pretty easy to resell.

 

It may be that i have an sd 16 and from what I've noticed she's got a large head. What I like about volks is they have nice resin and a classic bjd look. What I don't like about volks is their SD size have immature bodies which I find strange since i think teens or adults when i think sd sizes. Which I guess why the sd 16 and sd 17 dolls appeal to me....i also like the angel dolls they released.

As a note...my iris had a larger head than my Souldoll girl had.

 

I really like my Kanata because he looks like a tall middle schooler which gives variety to my doll group He & my DZ MSD Mo look the same age (except for Mo being shorter) which is great & reminds me of my grandson & his best friend in middle school