Super Dollfie

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Super Dollfie is a ball-jointed doll (BJD) manufactured by Volks, a Japanese model figure company. Althuogh ball-jointed dolls made by other comapnies are referred to as "Super Dollfies", the term is a registered trademark of Volks. The dolls are anatomically correct, about 22 inches/57~60cm in height, strung together by thick elastic and are made of polyurethane resin. Super Dollfies (SD) are highly customizable - wigs, eyes, face paint, hands, feet, heads and other body parts may be changed, if desired.

Super Dollfie Nono 10

Volks has since then introduced many different types of Super Dollfie, including the child-like Mini Super Dollfie (MSD) circa 2000^{[citation needed]} and a more mature Super Dollfie 13 (SD13). In 2004, Volks introduced Super Dollfie Cute (SDC) and Yo-SD.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Volks introduced the Super Dollfie-16 (SD16) size doll.^{[citation needed]} Currently a boy and girl body have been released.^{[citation needed]} Both bodies are much more mature in looks, taller, and have a more complex joint system, than the SD13 dolls. The SD16 girl comes with both solid high-heeled lower legs (sculpted in a "high heeled" shoe position) and an optional lower leg with a traditional jointed ankle.

The latest edition to the Super Dollfie family is the SD17. Only one doll in this new size was released in July, 2007 at Dollsparty 17--a boy, Reisner.^{[citation needed]} This SD17 boy is both more posable (with an entirely new joint configuration in his knees and thighs) and taller than his SD16 counterpart.

Volks has also produced a curvier and less expensive vinyl counterpart of SD/SD13, Dollfie Dream. They look more anime-esque.

The Sei-Tenshi, or Spirit Angels, are the second-smallest dolls and can only be won at special events such as Dolpa, a convention-like event that takes place several times a year in various cities in Japan, put on to promote the products put out by Volks, inc. especially Super Dollfies.

Rei-Tenshi are the smallest and newest doll type released by Volks. Standing at 10 cm tall, they were released for the first time during the Huis Ten Bosch Tour on February 22-23, 2007.^{[citation needed]} Much like the Sei-Tenshi, these minute dolls are presented as gifts or won at special events. They are distinguished from the Sei-Tenshi by their slightly smaller size, their thumb-sucking mouth, and their lack of ball joints at the elbows, knees and wrists. They also do not have the waist joint.

An announcement was made at Dolls Party in LA on November 24, 2007 that Volks is in the process of developing dolls that are even smaller than the Rei-Tenshi. They were referred as Ai-Tenshi and Star-Tenshi. It was hinted that the Star-Tenshi doll would be the smallest of the Tenshi line-up.

In addition to the standard, assembled models, Super Dollfie buyers can also create a customized doll through the Full Choice System (FCS), a service available at Volks stores, called "Tenshi no Sumika", or Angel's nest. Through FCS, the buyer chooses various options from head mold, eye colour, wig colour, eyelash colour, hand type, body type, 'skin tone' colour (fresh, snow, and sunlight), and make up style among other options and have it assembled by Volks. This process takes approximately one to two months and is available from the Tenshi no Sumika stores in Japan, Korea and the United States.

The introduction of Super Dollfies has led to the creation of an increasing number of other BJD companies, most of them based in South Korea. The number of companies has grown rapidly since 2003.^{[citation needed]}

The term "dollfie" is a contraction of "doll figure".

[edit] Super Dollfie - Brief History

The first Super Dollfie was sculpted by a sculptor at Zoukeimura, Akihiro Enku and was the Standard SD 'Four Sisters' head (Kira, Nana, Sara & Megu).^{[citation needed]} These four dolls had the same head mold and face paint, but different default plastic eyes and distinctive wigs. These first generation SD bodies were sculpted with a lot of attention to detail and rather obvious 'ball-joints'. SD13 girls were introduced in December 2001^{[citation needed]} with improved bodies and less obvious joints.

In Spring 2003,^{[citation needed]} Volks released a new 'skin type' (resin mixture) of the dolls called "Pure Skin". Pure Skin (PS) has a fresher, healthier tone that looks translucent in pictures especially and feels different to touch. This new skin tone was pioneered by dolls like SD13 Tachibana Shirou and SD Anais. The body is improved even further with better posture and various other changes. In the same year, one change was made to the new PS body which was the knee shape as there were some complaints about how it looked. During the change, Volks phased out production of "old skin" dolls gradually and move to Pure Skin. Most previous standard editions were discontinued and then re released again in Pure Skin.

As for the FCS system, it was revamped in 2004^{[citation needed]} and the new FCS system was put into place with new head molds, bodies and implemented the MSD FCS which was previously unavailable. Tenshi no Sato's (Volks headquarters + SD museum) FCS has its own exclusive FCS head molds and the Pure Skin tone colour of "Sunlight" (tan). Volks then brought forth SD Cute and Yo-SD.

On November 20, 2005 Volks USA opened their first salon in the United States in Los Angeles, California. The salon is only open on weekends and sells dolls and accessories as well as other services.[1]