Posted by Leah Bayer on July 30, 2012 |
2 Comments
It looks like Volks USA is gearing up for the Hometown Dolpa Sendai lottery! Sadly, we have a lot of bad news for all you doll collectors out there. Firstly, Miki and Haruka will NOT be seeing a US release, in fact they aren’t even confirmed for an international release yet. A shame, since I was really looking forward to Miki. The second bit of bad news is that they’ve changed their exchange rate: while dolls used to be about $600 on the USA site, Sakura is $811! Which kind of negates the point of the US lottery to be honest, since not only are the prices the same but you have a 3 month wait. That used to be a fair tradeoff for the pricing, but I think the US lottery is going to fall in popularity soon enough.
The items up for lottery are DD Sakura ($811), SDGrB Hasekura ($1,581), Sakura’s Battle Outfit ($176), the Magical Ruby set ($131), the Magical Aqua set ($127), and finally DD Rise‘s glasses ($52). They open on August 12th at 11AM PST and close on August 15th at 11AM PST and you can check out all their pages here. I think Rise’s glasses are the only thing I’ll be going for this time!
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![<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-27373 slb_group[27372] slb slb_internal" href="http://www.plastikitty.com/?attachment_id=27373"></a></p> <p>It looks like Volks USA is gearing up for the Hometown Dolpa Sendai lottery! Sadly, we have a lot of bad news for all you doll collectors out there. Firstly, <a href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/dollfie-dream-miki-hoshii-is-the-cutest-idol" target="_blank">Miki</a> and <a href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/dollfie-dream-haruka-amami-is-a-rising-star" target="_blank">Haruka</a> will NOT be seeing a US release, in fact they aren’t even confirmed for an international release yet. A shame, since I was really looking forward to Miki. The second bit of bad news is that they’ve changed their exchange rate: while dolls used to be about $600 on the USA site, <a href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/dollfie-dream-sakura-shinguji-fights-for-love-justice" target="_blank">Sakura</a> is $811! Which kind of negates the point of the US lottery to be honest, since not only are the prices the same but you have a 3 month wait. That used to be a fair tradeoff for the pricing, but I think the US lottery is going to fall in popularity soon enough.</p> <p>The items up for lottery are DD Sakura ($811), SDGrB Hasekura ($1,581), <a href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/dollfie-dream-sakura-shinguji-is-battle-ready" target="_blank">Sakura’s Battle Outfit</a> ($176), the Magical Ruby set ($131), the Magical Aqua set ($127), and finally <a href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/dollfie-dream-rise-kujikawa-is-a-heartbreaker" target="_blank">DD Rise</a>‘s glasses ($52). They open on August 12th at 11AM PST and close on August 15th at 11AM PST and you can check out all their pages <a href="http://www.volksusa.com/home-town-dolpa-sendai.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.volksusa.com']);" target="_blank">here</a>. I think Rise’s glasses are the only thing I’ll be going for this time!</p>](http://www.plastikitty.com/wp-content/uploads/DolpaSendaiHeader.jpg "Hometown Dolpa Sendai Comes to Volks USA")
![<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-24530 slb_group[24521] slb slb_internal" href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/dollfie-dream-sakura-shinguji-fights-for-love-justice/attachment/sakuraddheader"></a></p> <p>We found out <a href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/dollfie-dreams-from-sakura-wars-idolmster-are-on-the-way" target="_blank">the 3 dolls that would be released at Hometown Dolpa Sendai</a> a few days ago, but it’s hard to judge them based on blurry pictures-of-pictures. Of course Volks is swooping in with some nicer shots of these lovely girls, and unsurprisingly Sakura Shinguji from <em>Sakura Wars</em>/<em>Sakura Taisen</em> is up first! This is a project that they’ve been hyping for months and months, so we can guess that a lot more work went into her than other DD releases.</p> <p>The level of detail is clear in her outfit, weapon, and wig, which look amazing. However, I am so not sold on the face as it looks nothing like Sakura. Granted, I don’t require my DDs to look identical to the character, but not only is she very un-Sakura, she also looks like several of Volks’ previous releases (the DDH-06 and Reimu). I was hoping for something unique for her, though I’m sure she will still sell very well. Her retail will be ¥59,000 and she’ll be released at the event, which takes place August 12th. There’s a nasty rumor floating around that she might be event-only (i.e. no lottery) but it has yet to be confirmed.</p> <p>[via the <a href="http://ameblo.jp/blog-dd/entry-11295007393.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://ameblo.jp']);" target="_blank">DD Blog</a>]</p>](http://www.plastikitty.com/wp-content/uploads/SakuraDDHeader.jpg "Dollfie Dream Sakura Shinguji Fights for Love & Justice")
![<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-18730 slb_group[18729] slb slb_internal" href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/take-a-closer-look-at-dollfie-dream-haruka/attachment/dddyharukapreviewsheader"></a></p> <p>With Hometown Dolpa Kyoto 9 fast approaching, it’s time for some fancy previews of the new Dollfie Dream girls! Of course we’ve already seen <a href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/volks-dollfie-dreams-lucy-haruka" target="_blank">official pictures of Lucy & Haruka</a>, but Volks often doesn’t do the face sculpts justice in these shots. We can usually rely on their DD blog to give us a look at these girls in different wigs and outfits, and it seems like Haruka is up first!</p> <p>I loved her face originally, but she looks much better here–you can see how sweet she is, and she reminds me of a mashup of Nellis and Yuki. It’s kind of hard to see what the new DDdy body will look like in this outfit, but I do think it’s more subtle than the first one which will certainly make dressing them a lot easier. The wig really brings out her eyes, and I think I know what shade I’ll be going for if I win her in the lottery. Volks USA <a href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/volks-usa-gears-up-for-hometown-dolpa-kyoto-9" target="_blank">will start their lottery</a> on the 11th, so you have a bit of time to make a decision on these girls–though these images make Haruka tough to resist!</p> <p>[via the <a href="http://ameblo.jp/blog-dd/entry-11178834501.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://ameblo.jp']);" target="_blank">DD Blog</a>]</p>](http://www.plastikitty.com/wp-content/uploads/DDdyHarukaPreviewsHeader.jpg "Take a Closer Look at Dollfie Dream Haruka")
![<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-18406 slb_group[18405] slb slb_internal" href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/volks-usa-gears-up-for-hometown-dolpa-kyoto-9/attachment/volksusakyotodolpa9header"></a></p> <p>Hometown Dolpa Kyoto 9 is about 2 weeks away, which means sites are preparing for the lottery entries! Volks USA has put up <a href="http://www.volksusa.com/home-town-dolpa-kyoto-9.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.volksusa.com']);" target="_blank">pages for all of the limited items</a>, including <a href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/volks-dollfie-dreams-lucy-haruka" target="_blank">the 2 lovely new Dollfie Dreams</a>. DDdy Hauka Niimi will retail for $594 while her tennis outfit (which includes a wig) will be $141. DD Lucy Misora is a tiny bit more at $605, though I’m not sure why there is an $11 difference between the two since their sets seem really similar. They will also be releasing <em>ToHeart2</em> uniform sets for the DD and DDdy ($86) and MDD ($75). Of course there are SDs too–SD16 Megu ($1,078) and Yo-SD Megu ($506).</p> <p>The lottery will open on March 11th at 11AM PST and will close on the 14th at 11AM PST. Good luck to anyone who chooses to enter–all of the dolls this time around are so lovely!</p>](http://www.plastikitty.com/wp-content/uploads/VolksUSAKyotoDolpa9Header.jpg "Volks USA Gears Up For Hometown Dolpa Kyoto 9")
![<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-17608 slb_group[17607] slb slb_internal" href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/volks-dollfie-dreams-lucy-haruka/attachment/ddharukalucyheader"></a></p> <p>Last week we got <a href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/volks-shows-off-the-new-dollfie-dreams-for-dolpa-kyoto-9" target="_blank">a sneak peek at the guidebook for Hometown Dolpa Kyoto 9</a>, and two new Dollfies were unveiled–Lucy Misora and Haruka Niimi! The pictures were really blurry though, so most collectors were waiting for Volks’ official pictures to decide whether or not they wanted to splurge on a new doll.</p> <p>Now we do have nicer shots of these girls, and they are both lovely! Lucy is on a white-skinned DDIII with an S bust, and Haruka is on the new DDdy which will have improved joints. Haruka also has an alternate tennis outfit with a ponytail wig which will be ¥12,800. Lucy is priced at ¥55,000 and Haruka at ¥54,000 so thankfully there are no crazy-expensive dolls this time! I think Stephen and I will be going for both of these girls once they hit Volks USA next month! The event takes place on March 11th, and lotteries should start shortly after that.</p> <p>[via Volks <a href="http://www.volks.co.jp/jp/th2_lucy/dd_lucy.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.volks.co.jp']);" target="_blank">1</a>, <a href="http://www.volks.co.jp/jp/photokano_haruka/dd_haruka.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.volks.co.jp']);" target="_blank">2</a>]</p>](http://www.plastikitty.com/wp-content/uploads/DDHarukaLucyHeader.jpg "Volks Dollfie Dreams Lucy & Haruka")
![<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-16786 slb_group[16781] slb slb_internal" href="http://www.plastikitty.com/home/volks-shows-off-the-new-dollfie-dreams-for-dolpa-kyoto-9/attachment/kyoto9dollspreviewheader"></a></p> <p>With Dolpa Kyoto 9 right around the corner, it’s time for Volks to surprise us all with some new Dollfie Dream releases! The first is Lucy Misora from <em>ToHeart2</em>, who is a white-skinned DDIII. Her faceup looks uncannily similar to Sasara, only younger. The second is Haruka Niimi from <em>PhotoKano</em>. She’s on a DDdy, and I simply love her eyes and face sculpt. This is actually the new DDdy, which is an upgraded body that will have joints similar to the DDS and DDIII.</p> <p>Both of these girls have a rather sad or at least shy expression, which is really my cup of tea–while they don’t seem that popular among collectors in general, I have quite a few similar girls in my collection! Lucy is priced at ¥55,000 and Haruka’s price isn’t visible in these shots, but we can assume that she will be around the same range.</p> <p>[via <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/mao_hobby/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com%2FwmYZ1akn" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://twitter.com']);" target="_blank">mao_hobby's Twitter</a>]</p>](http://www.plastikitty.com/wp-content/uploads/Kyoto9DollsPreviewHeader.jpg "Volks Shows off the New Dollfie Dreams for Dolpa Kyoto 9")
