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Archive for October, 2010

Happy Halloween from Volks USA!

Sunday, October 31st, 2010

Hello, everyone!

Happy Halloween!

I hope that everyone is having a great Halloween weekend, with lots of treats and not so many tricks! As usual, we here at Volks USA really enjoy Halloween whenever it rolls around, and we try to make sure that all of our customers who come visit us enjoy it, too! The showroom is decked out for the holiday, and we have a basket filled with yummy Japanese candy and treats (including Pocky!), so feel free to swing by and nab some goodies while you can! Our special autumn- and Halloween-themed photo space also won’t be around for much longer, so why not come and take some snaps of your SDs?

Also, if you have a costume prepared for either yourself or your SD (or matching costumes, even!), we’d especially love to see you today — with your consent, we’ll take your picture and update this blog post for everyone to see! Of course, if you’re the photo-shy type, that’s OK, too. ^_~

Finally, we have a limited selection of Hometown Dolpa Osaka 6 Regular Items still available for purchase — if you haven’t checked them out already, why don’t you come in and browse around? You just might find that perfect new outfit for your SD!

Happy Halloween, everyone — stay safe, and we here at Volks USA hope there’s lots of spooky fun in store for you today!

~Jane

ETA:

Look who came to visit! B.M., one of our lovely regular customers, brought her twin Yo-SD Alice girls to get their picture taken in the photo space! Just FYI, B.M. made the adorable little mask herself. ^_~

Next was a visit from two more of our regular customers, A.J. and M.Y.C., who brought M.Y.C.'s adorable SD Michele boy with them! M.Y.C. is a very talented customizer -- this picture unfortunately doesn't show it very well, but she painted her Michele's gorgeous faceup, and also gave his hands a beautifully delicate blushing job!

Next was a visit from two more of our regular customers, A.J. and M.Y.C., who brought M.Y.C.'s SD Michele boy with them! M.Y.C. is a very talented customizer -- this picture unfortunately doesn't show it very well, but she painted her Michele's gorgeous faceup, and also gave his hands a beautifully delicate blushing job!

Next was D.L.Y., and our first visitor in costume, her adorable daughter S.! S. is wearing a dress and shirt that D.L.Y. modified, as well a mask made in Italy. Don't you think she looks lovely?

And next was R.R., also in costume as a pirate! This picture unfortunately does not show most of the small details in her costume, which was elaborate from head to toe! As you can see, R.R. also brought the Volks USA staff some yummy Halloween candy as a gift -- thank you so much!

A close-up of R.R.'s cute Halloween candy -- aren't the little ghost ornaments adorable? One of them is a pirate! Thanks again, R.R.!

A close-up of R.R.'s Halloween candy -- aren't the little ghost ornaments cute? One of them is a pirate! Thanks again, R.R.!

And last but not least, J.K.'s boys came for a visit -- it was a Shinsen-gumi kind of day at Tenshi-no-Sumika in L.A.! Pictured are an SD13B Okita Souji (1st release) and an SDCB Toki.

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Taking Flight (Zoukei-mura Super Wing Series)

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

Hello, everyone!

Jane here – I hope everyone is having a great Halloween weekend so far! Are any of you planning to dress up your dolls (or yourselves!) for the holiday? If so, please feel free to come by Tenshi-no-Sumika in L.A. if you happen to be in the area, as we’d love to see, and our special autumn- and Halloween-themed photo space is also ready and waiting!

Now, most of you reading this blog are most likely Dollfie fans of one flavor or another (27cm Dollfie, Dollfie Dream, and/or Super Dollfie) – have you ever heard of the Zoukei-mura Super Wing Series? No? Well, let me give you a brief introduction!

If you’ve ever been to a Dolls Party, you’re probably familiar with the President of Volks Inc., Mr. Hideyuki Shigeta. Mr. Shigeta has been a lifelong fan of airplanes, and scale models of airplanes, for nearly his entire life – and for a very, very long time, it has been his dream to produce scale model airplanes through his own company. That dream has finally come true via the Zoukei-mura Super Wing Series (SWS).

Volks USA is carrying the SWS as one of our regular lines of merchandise – SWS No. 1, a 1/32 scale version of the World War II Imperial Japanese Navy fighter aircraft “J7W1 Shinden,” is currently available for immediate order and delivery (caveat: as long as it is not ordered in combination with pre-order items), and No. 2, a 1/32 reproduction of the World War II German Air Ministry fighter aircraft “Focke-Wulf Ta 152 H-1,” is currently available for pre-order (scheduled for delivery in late autumn 2010). We also have a corner of the 1st floor here at Tenshi-no-Sumika in L.A. dedicated to the SWS, so please come have a look! We have lots of pictures and information, as well as sprues from the Shinden kit on display.

Not interested in fighter planes, or interested, but don’t know how to go about building one? Not a problem! Accessory models such as the infamous motorbike with caterpillar tracks, the SdKfz2 Kettenkrad, are also beginning to be released through the SWS, and the Shinden Concept Note is an extensive, step-by-step guidebook that will walk you through the Shinden build process (there is also a Concept Note planned for the Ta 152!). And if you’re just not interested in scale models at all – well, even if you’re not into the hobby yourself, chances are you may know someone who is, and with the holidays coming up, an SWS kit would be a great way to express your affection for a special someone, as well as show that you support their hobbies!

Finally, for those of you who may not know, if you pre-order an SWS plane, you will automatically receive one or more free bonus figures, depending on how many kits you pre-order! In this entry, as well as two subsequent entries, I will show you the special bonus figures that you will receive if you pre-order 1, 2, or 3+ Ta 152 kits.

If you pre-order one Ta 152 kit, you will receive a special bonus pilot figure, as shown below. Please note that the figure in the foreground, which is facing forward, is not included – that is an experimental test sculpt. The pre-order bonus figure is the pilot that is facing aft, not forward.

Special bonus figure for pre-ordering one SWS Ta 152 kit! (Rear-facing figure only; front-facing figure is a test sculpt.)

Side view!

Front view!

What do you think? I think that he’s quite dramatic-looking – much like the “Shinden Flight Set,” I find the rear-facing pose very evocative. It’s a single frozen moment in the midst of action, captured by the Zoukei-mura figure sculptors, and it’s yours for free with the pre-order of a single SWS Ta 152 kit!

If I’ve managed to pique your interest, full information on how to pre-order the SWS Ta 152 via Volks USA can be found here: http://store.volksusa.com/sws02ta152h1.html

In following posts, I will also be introducing the bonus figures for pre-ordering 2 or 3+ Ta 152 kits, so please look forward to it!

Happy Halloween, everyone!
~Jane

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Size Matters

Friday, October 29th, 2010

Besides aesthetic appeal, most of our customers use size as a key factor when deciding on a Super Dollfie (SD). So it seems that size is important. But for new and future customers, just learning about the various types and sizes of SD can be confusing. And for those who can not come to our Showroom to actually see these dolls in person, it may be hard to grasp just how big SD really are.

That is why we have prepared this special post for you! Here we will show pictures and talk a bit about some of Volks’ basic SD types and sizes, by using the following lovely models:

Sizec1

They are eager to show you more, so please follow the link below!

(more…)

Posted in Showcase, Super Dollfie, Tutorials | Comments Off

Wig Showcase ~ W-117D!

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

Hiya!

Have you been enjoying your week so far? It’s been rainy and cold here in LA, but that is enjoyable in its own way since we don’t get to see clouds here very often. I hope wherever you are that you’ve been staying dry and warm!

This time I’ll be showcasing one of the longest styles we currently offer regularly, the W-117D Long Natural Wave!

This wig, true to it’s name, is very long and is a soft, natural looking wave. It has soft bangs which frame the face and which are parted to the side. It looks wonderful on girls and fits very well with fantasy looks for boys, or just for your prettier ones.

w117d_001