You are blind! Kankan is talking

Text/Xue Ying

Volks was the first manufacturer to launch ball-jointed dolls (BJD for short), and Dollfie is their registered trademark. Its product categories are also rich and diverse. Super Dollfie, as the signature of Volks, has fascinated fans all over the world. Everyone is accustomed to referring to Super Dollfie as SD for short.

The origin of SD is also quite romantic: Akihiro Enku, the famous stylist of Volks, made a doll as a birthday gift for his wife. The boss of Volks saw it and immediately inspired an idea—— If you make a special doll for someone and put infinite emotions into it, the doll will become more and more beautiful. So, on February 28, 1999, the first batch of SD was born.

The stylists have devoted their passion to the SD, which was carefully dressed up and sent into the hands of the children. The children nourished it with their own emotions and made their own SD more beautiful. Unlike Barbie and Jenny, which are mass-produced plastic dolls on the assembly line, SD is made of high-grade solid resin and purely handmade craftsmanship. After each SD is poured out of the mold, Volks stylists assemble its parts one by one with their own skillful hands, and then use model paint, color powder, airbrush and other tools to make up the dolls. It is precisely because of its complex process that each SD is not exactly the same and has its own "soul", so it has such an expensive price.

Only the SD series of girls were launched first: Kira, Sara, Megu, and Nana, known as the four sisters, are all the works of Engo Akihiro, and his wife also became SD's makeup artist. With the popularity of SD and the gradual expansion of the market, more and more talented stylists and makeup artists have joined the ranks. In recent years, the most popular famous stylists include MIKEY (Tachibana Shiro, Konoe Tsukasa, Creator of Isao Nanjo, makeup artist of the Angel series), Kyon (creator of Lucas, Chris, etc.), etc.

Nowadays, when kids talk about SD, they usually refer to the original 10SD series. The height is about 57cm and the age is set to 10 years old.

On September 30, 2001, a new series was born, that is Mini SD (MSD for short). The height is about 43cm and the age is set to 7 years old, which is equivalent to SD's younger siblings.

On December 9 of the same year, the SD13 series was announced. As the name suggests, SD13 is set to be 13 years old, more mature, and about 60cm tall.

In the same month, FULL CHOICE SYSTEM (FCS for short) and SD ONE OF MODEL were launched. FCS provides various types of bald heads and body parts, allowing children to freely assemble their own SD dolls. But the prerequisite is that children must go to the SD chain store Angel Room to choose their favorites from the FCS catalog on the spot. ONE OF MODEL recruits famous stylists and amateur doll CUSTOM masters to transform a unique doll in the world to participate in DOLL PARTY (a BJD doll exhibition twice a year), and then the doll will be displayed at the event A lottery will be held, and only those lucky enough to win can purchase it.

From 1999 to 2002, SD has always been the world of girls. On May 5, 2002, in the expectation of the majority of female baby friends, Volks announced 4 men's SD: SD Michael and Ling of SD13, Lucas and Chris of SD13, and Xiang. Subsequently, every time the limited edition boys sold very well (the same as the power of women?), the exhibition limited editions that were particularly difficult to obtain were so hyped that they doubled in price, making it impossible for even those with money to buy them.

On August 1, 2004, the latest SD Cute series was announced at DollParty11, with the first one being "Maple".

Cute is about 42cm tall and looks younger than SD, but more mature than MSD. In November, Volks announced the birth of the 27cm Angel Series. These actions can also be regarded as efforts to respond to the competition from Korean manufacturers, right?

Volks created the brilliance of SD and fascinated countless people, but it has always adhered to the sales policy of customized production, limited sales, and controlled channels. To put it simply, Volks’ SD is divided into two categories: regular version and limited edition. The regular version, also known as the front-of-store version, is a doll that can be pre-ordered directly at any Volks branch, while the limited edition is only sold for a period of time or under specific conditions on specific occasions. Because it is rare and difficult to obtain, the limited edition is The price is often increased by 2-3 times. Even so, the regular version may not be available in stores on the spot, let alone those limited editions. Volks also exerts great control over sales channels and only allows SD purchase orders to be accepted in its chain stores. The conditions for foreign agents are also very strict. It is precisely because of Volks' marketing policy of high-quality products that the price of SD remains high, making it difficult to buy at the original price. There are even various businesses that specialize in making money by speculating on SD.

Volks has expanded SD to all over the world, especially South Korea, where Volks established a branch and held DollParty, sweeping the SD craze. Immediately afterwards, the Koreans began to manufacture their own ball-jointed dolls based on SD's experience and advantages and disadvantages. After several years of development, they also established one brand after another - AI, DELF, DOD, etc. Each brand has its own characteristics, but most people are easily confused and refer to all such ball-jointed dolls as SD. In fact, this is just like WALKMAN is a registered trademark of SONY, SD is a registered trademark and brand of Volks, and there are also many other brands of dolls.

The Koreans’ strategy is different from that of Volks. Because SD has become a symbol and effect of ball-jointed dolls, they will not follow the high-quality route of limited-edition production like Volks. The Koreans have cleverly seized on online sales. They also have limited edition dolls, but the varieties are limited (except for AI). They focus their efforts on the regular version and open it up without restrictions on regions. You can use international credit cards directly on their official website. Mail order. This strategy has allowed several Korean brands to become popular quickly in just 1-2 years. In addition, the price is much lower than SD, attracting many children from other countries who cannot buy SD but like BJD very much. Among them Mainly DOD and Luts.

The former’s products are limited to 43-45cm ball-jointed dolls, but their body shape and face shape are more mature than those of MSD, which is also 43cm, and they have successfully won the love of countless doll friends around the world. Since DOD opened its English website in the first half of 2004 to accept overseas online mail orders, its sales and popularity have increased steadily. Its current appearance rate on several major auction websites is second only to SD. The latter Luts also follows the same route as DOD, but has a 60cm DELF and a 43cm KID DELF. Its price is much cheaper than SD, and it also has unique goblin ears and vampire teeth-shaped dolls, plus The excellent cost-effectiveness has made Luts popular among many children.

The oldest ball-jointed puppets in Korea are AI. If you have watched the Korean horror movie "The Doll Master", you will be very impressed by the puppets in the movie. That’s right, those dolls are not Volks’ SD, but CUSTOM HOUSE’s AI. All the dolls in the movie are provided by CUSTOM HOUSE, and even the Mina owned by the heroine is one of the many products of AI. AI's marketing strategy is similar to that of SD, focusing on limited editions. The difference is that AI's limited editions are mainly sold on its official website, and you can still buy them as long as you are quick enough.

SD is completely different. Most of the limited edition SD direct purchase conditions are very harsh - you can only participate in the Japanese DollParty (doll exhibition) and draw a lottery to get the chance to buy the exhibition limited edition, and you can only be a Volks. Register as a member and make a reservation in person to order the limited edition "Kyo Angel" series at the SD Kyoto Main Store Angelsato... This kind of SD scares many Japanese and foreign enthusiasts. The easiest way to get it is to go to the Japanese YAHOO auction. Fighting online, but its price is much higher than the original factory price. For example, the exhibition-limited edition of Isao Nanjo, originally priced at 96,600 yen (equivalent to about 7,500 RMB), is priced at 13,000 to 15,000 RMB on the auction website. What's more, after the SD has been modified by experts, the head alone will be snapped up for more than 300,000 yen (equivalent to about 24,000 yuan)! Therefore, Chinese children's children all call the Japanese YAHOO auction website "Mars" - that is really not a place we earthlings can go - -;

Currently, most domestic BJD children own DODs from Korea. , followed by the regular version of SD, the limited edition SD is quite rare, the number may not exceed 20 (of course this is just the author's guess, please forgive me if there are any differences). After all, for Chinese people where even international credit cards are not yet very popular, the convenience and cost-effectiveness of purchasing channels are very critical.

Even though it is extremely difficult to obtain and very expensive, SD has conquered many people with its unique charm. SD's photos are widely circulated on the Internet, and some people even cosplay SD. However, there is a misunderstanding among some cosplayers. They think that as long as they wear Gothicamp or Lolita-style clothes, they are SD, and then they show smiles and movements that SD does not have. In the eyes of children's friends, these are not considered SD COSPLAY at all. In fact, Gothicamp; Lolita is just a style of clothing, and it is difficult for real people to wear this type of clothing, and there are many SDs who wear this type of clothing. Variety is one of the charms of SD, not only Gothicamp; Lolita, Punk, Fantasy, Chinese and foreign costumes and folk costumes from all over the world can be best interpreted on SD, and the beautiful face shape and beautiful figure of pure Japanese comics can also be perfected Local COSPLAY Japanese anime characters. For the same SD, if you change his or her wig, eyes, or clothes, he or she will have a completely different feeling. Even more powerful people can achieve a real "makeover" by applying makeup and grinding their faces.

There is a famous saying among baby lovers: It is easier to buy a baby than to raise a baby. Although the price of SD is expensive, what really costs money is "maintenance". SD is different from ordinary plastic dolls and requires careful care from the owner. In addition to constantly purchasing wigs, clothes, shoes and other equipment, we also need to polish the side lines of the SD, clean it regularly, spray protective paint, disassemble and assemble it, etc. After many children have SD, they are forced to gradually hone some skills - the use of model paint, sewing, bunting, makeup, etc. As the owner's skills continue to improve through training, her (his) SD will also benefit and become more beautiful. This is another unique charm of SD - allowing you to grow with your SD.