Super Dollfie - Overview

Overview

Super Dollfie dolls are made to be easy to customize. The hair is a wig that can easily be changed. The head can be opened to change the eyes and adjust the stringing. The face paint can be removed and the head repainted. Optional hands and feet are available, and heads and other body parts are removable and interchangeable. The resin parts themselves can be carved or sanded to reshape them.

Super Dollfie are not widely distributed, and, with a few exceptions, new dolls are only available directly through Volks own events or stores, either online, or through their brick and mortar stores called Tenshi no Sumika (angel's nest), located throughout Japan, in South Korea and Los Angeles, California.

Super Dollfie are collectible, customizable dolls marketed to adults. They vary in price from about 30 000 yen (about US $400) for the smallest, unassembled standard models, up to about 150 000 yen (about US $2000) for the most exclusive larger limited dolls that come with outfits and accessories.

On the secondary market, limited and skillfully customized Super Dollfie often fetch a price far higher than the original. There is a thriving second hand market online, where dolls are bought and sold on auction sites, as well as forums.

New models are regularly released at Dolls Party, or Dolpa, (ja:ドールズパーティー) promotional convention-like events organized by Volks several times a year in locations around Japan. Here fans can buy and sell limited and customized dolls, accessories and clothes. Dolpas have grown in scale over the years and the Dolls Party held at Tokyo Big Sight regularly has 15 000 attendees.

Tenshi no Sato (angel's home) in Kyoto is Volks headquarters and Super Dollfie museum. Here exclusive doll models are sold, and events are held where special limited editions are released. Doll repair services are also available and classes are held teaching various customization methods. Tenshi no Sato is surrounded by a traditional Japanese garden where visitors can photograph their dolls. To gain entrance visitors have to book reservations in advance.

Following the introduction of Super Dollfie an increasing number of Asian ball-jointed doll companies have been established, most of them based in South Korea.