My First Dollfie

What's a "Dollfie" you ask? It's a brand of Japanese Ball Jointed Doll (BJD) that is very popular amongst collectors. There are many manufacturers of BJD's and Volks makes a brand called Dollfie, amongst others that they also make. The Dollfie brand just happens to be modeled after Japanese anime type characters. And, hence, their appeal to me.

They are very exclusive and not cheap. There are only a few physical stores in the world; a couple in Tokyo, Japan, one in Seoul, South Korea, and one in California, USA. To own one entails a long procedure whereby one has to either attend a physical doll show, called a Dolpa, and enter their lottery for the chance to even buy one, and/or really luck out in finding one "left over" from those lottery winners who never picked up their dolls. To attend a show is not easy either. Long line ups and, literally, running from one location to another just for the chance to buy them. From reading one person's description of the process, it's not an easy thing to do.

Anyways, I fell into the latter category; I lucked out! Which is something that is quite rare in my life. The left over dolls end up in the showrooms of the physical stores where anyone can buy them as well as the company website. There are not too many that end up in the showrooms. There where four in the Seoul location; all different characters. By the time I left, only two remained. And, no. I did not buy two of them. They cost too much for me to do that.

Oh, yeah. There is a third option to buy the dolls. And, that's on ebay, or other auction sights, for anywhere from 100% to 300% their original cost. I saw my doll on ebay before I went to the store for over 50% more money already. Another character model I saw at the store was already almost 200% of original cost. It's nutso out there!

So, I went to the Volks store in Seoul yesterday. It's located out of exit number one at Hongik University subway station. Once at the top of the stairs, just walk straight for two stop lights. Turn left and cross the street at those lights and walk into the side streets that bustle with people and shops. From here, it's best to ask for directions as I can no longer describe how to get there. You have to be there to understand how hard it is to describe as the back streets converge and crisscross each other. Anyways, it's a right turn at those crazy streets, and a short walk later the store is located, to your left if you did not get lost already, inside a circular fronted building on the third floor.

What a NICE place! They have soooo much stuff. And, not only their own Dollfies, but all sorts of other figures, too. They even had a Good Smile Company Saber from a few years ago that I held for the longest time before putting her back down. I might still go back and get her.

Anyways, I picked up a little new mesume. She's Miu Amaha. Such a little cutie. I had noticed her on Japan's website and Korea's website this past week. Japan's website allowed me to buy her which means that she is no longer exclusive to the lottery winners. Otherwise, you must be a lottery winner in order to buy her. I was lucky they had one in stock at the Seoul store, too. They had a Mari and two others as well.

Update:

Here are some easier directions to the Volks store. You will not need to ask for directions anymore; June, 2011.

The following are some shots of my Miu ("Me-You"; I think I'll keep the name, it's pretty) just after I finally finished dressing her. It took forever! Those little clothes are hard to put on. Plus, I did not want to damage anything by being too vigorous on the zippers and stuff. There's also the obligatory cleavage shot at the end, too. LOL

Then, there are some more pix where she is shot with a relatively decent flash set up and some very simple posing. My home is not the greatest. So, I really don't have any nice backgrounds to put her in. Yes, I know. Her hair is a mess. I need to brush it. But, she still looks cute even with messy hair. LOL

Anyways, I love my new little cutie! So adorable!