/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46251024
Posing is falling behind as companies like Volks and Obitsu iterate on their bodies. As for Danny, he transcends being merely obnoxious into sometimes being out-and-out insufferable with his long-winded rants and insistence that if you have any complaints about his dolls whatsoever, they just aren't for you and you ignored all the warnings on his site about their flaws (that is, you cannot criticize Smart Dolls in any way that is valid in his eyes even if you are discussing the actual mechanical issues with their engineering, like how their first generation's elbows would invariably pop apart given enough time and use.)

He has been known to stalk community spaces and block from his store anyone who criticizes either his business practices or his attitude, as well as to block unrelated third parties who might possibly know (and therefore proxy buy for) them. He has asked new customers if they know "so-and-so, you live in the same area", inadvertently doxxing random strangers to other random strangers in his pursuit to make sure only "approved" people get ahold of his works. He also goes out of his way to make various things almost impossible to get ahold of directly through Smart Doll themselves. If you want replacement parts like frame pieces, you almost have to go to the secondhand market to buy "chaos" pieces, sold in bulk and sometimes with the flash/struts still uncut, from people on ebay -- or else go through his warranty interview process, which I have lied my way through once, and would prefer to not go through again (only dolls bought directly from the SmD store are supported, if you get one secondhand you're SoL -- even if it's a discontinued doll he no longer sells, product support ain't great.) Getting replacement limbs cost me $200 in ransom money (read: I had to spend $200 on the SmD store to get the actual parts I wanted mailed along with them. It was ONE ARM, DANNY.) Compare this to other companies who will simply sell the parts directly to their customers without making them jump through hoops.

Then there is the fact that roughly half his store is inaccessible to new customers and if you buy from that section your order will be cancelled and refunded. He frequently lists (absurdly priced) prototypes of faceups and so on for sale, but if you haven't already bought a flagship model from him, your order will be refused -- and these things sell like hotcakes, so if you miss that one-off you're not getting another opportunity. He has also been criticized for selling $500+ blind boxes with the implication that you will get a random doll, only to send customers boxes of scrap fabric and so on, justified with "I told you you were buying a pebble, you have no right to complain -- it's on you for making assumptions." Which is technically true, but also an insane way to do business.

I like Smart Dolls, I have... a considerable number of them. I still want one of those new pear bodies. But I have also watched Danny go from a genuine community resource in this hobby to the sort of... "yOu JuSt DoN't UnDeRsTaNd My ViSiOn" sort of guy he's become, so I can see why he is such a polarizing individual. On a personal level, his business practices vex the life out of me. I frequently get secondhand dolls, and the inaccessibility of repair parts is a constant thorn in my side. Even if you find 'em, getting them in the right color is its own problem. And don't get me started on the actual flaws in the frames themselves.

Overall SmD are alright if you like them, though his newest frame iteration isn't to my taste, and the way Danny himself does business makes me want to shake him a bit. Some of what he posts is genuinely interesting underneath the layers of insane rambling. Dealing with him directly is not particularly pleasant, in my experience. I have avoided mentioning this for years because I don't want to get banned from the supply of repair parts, which is about as good a summation as I can give on why people dislike Danny Choo as a person.

>>43181762
Seconding that actually, what the fuck is a munchie?

>>43181674
Imagine if the biggest manbaby you've ever met had the money to fund his autism and a cult of personality strong enough that he can get away with being a lunatic on main. Unfortunately some people have all the luck! The actual dolls are alright, but the association with Danny really makes them a hard sell.

>>32423083
Oh yeah, take a gander down his instagram sometimes, he's a fucking lunatic.