Sorry to keep you waiting folks! Introducing our first licensed Smart Doll - Miho Nishizumi who is the heroine of the hit anime series Girls Und Panzer. This is a huge milestone for my company and marks the beginning of an exciting era where Smart Doll once again changes the fashion doll scene.
The reason why I'm releasing photos of her just a week before her release is that not only Bandai Visual but the anime studio for Girls Und Panzer were also involved in the supervision of the first ever fashion doll modeled after the characters.
Another reason is that I have a policy of only taking orders on actual product photos and not of prototypes. As a consumer, I know what its like to order something online based on prototype photos only to receive something that looks nothing like what I originally put my money down for. Now as a manufacturer I never want to put somebody through the same first world ordeal. These photos are taken on the Sony RX1R II and are completely unedited.
Read on to find out how to order your Miho Smart Doll.
If you have not seen Girls Und Panzer check out the PV below.
This post contains a video, click here to view.
DETAILS
- Product Name : Miho Nishizumi Smart Doll
- Product Explanation : The heroine of the popular anime series "Girls Und Panzer" Miho Nishizumi is brought into the real world in the form of the industry standard in articulated fashion dolls - Smart Doll.
- Category : Articulated fashion doll
- Material : Soft Vinyl (body), Polyoxymethylene (internal frame)
- Release date : 2016/10/23
- Size : About 60cm tall
- Price : 65000 JPY
- Developed and released by : Culture Japan
- Country of Produce : Japan (body in Yamagata Shinjo, Tokyo Katsushika, Tokyo Gotanda / Apparel items in Kyushu and Tokyo Nakano)
- Comes with 1 year warranty (you know you really should not accept less than a year for 1/3 scale fashion dolls)
- ©GIRLS und PANZER Film Projekt
- SMART DOLL designed by DANNY CHOO
ITEMS INCLUDED
- Smart Doll Body + Miho head (obviously with eyes n makeup)
- Wig
- Telescopic Stand
- Oarai Girls High School Uniform (Blouse, Scarf, Skirt, Socks, Loafer）
- 2 piece white bikini (hip cords are removable)
BEFORE YOU BUY
- Each product is hand made so do expect slight variances in build, torque and paintwork. This is because the Star Gate is not ready to bring robots from the future to work on production.
- If you are ordering on our online store, do not use Hotmail, QQ, Yahoo.com, Yahoo.co.jp as our mails to you get bounced for some reason.
- Miho is not a limited edition and won't be for at least a year. However, due to our production capacity, it may be the case that you will have to wait a while before we can send out your Miho depending on how fast (or slow) you was on proceeding to checkout.
- We will start to display Miho at Mirai Store Tokyo from 17th October - come to see the actual product before you buy.
- If there are any changes to the schedule or product then I will announce it on our Twitter account - pls follow if you want updates.
Design Philosophy
Not only do we make Smart Doll in Japan, we also employ Japanese design principles in its creation - there are 7 zen aesthetic design principles known as Wabi-Sabi of which we focus on three:-
FUKINSEI (不均整) Imbalanced. Beauty in imperfection, asymmetry.
SHIZEN (自然) Naturalness. Absence of pretense or artificiality.
DATSUZOKU (脱俗) Unworldly. Unconventional.
Wabi-Sabi (no not Wasabi!) states that beauty can only be achieved if there is a correlate amount of imperfection. Smart Doll is beautiful because it has imperfections which have been factored into the design not only on the 3D modeling level but also because we decided to use a traditional casting method called Slush Casting which by its nature introduces imperfections.
If you are working in design then understanding these values may inspire some of the work you do.
Learn more about our design philosophy >
AFTER YOU BUY
Make sure you read the Welcome Guide - actually it would be a good idea to do so now. Miho comes wearing her bikini but you need to put on her school uniform yourself. Proceed to put on her blouse by removing her arms and head (gulp).
NOW THAT YOU GOT A SMART DOLL
Smart Doll was designed to be a fashion doll - so much so that KADOKAWA uses Smart Doll in their schools as a sketch reference, Sony uses them in their showrooms as a photo subject and Smart Doll has even walked fashion shows and is in fashion schools too. With Smart Doll by your side, your creativity can be further stimulated!
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT SMART DOLL
I've saved the most important thing for last - not only will Miho egg you on while you work - with Smart Gear, Miho can also turn into a mobile battery, the worlds cutest USB hub or even a desktop computer.
SMART DOLL THE FASHION DOLL
Because we don't make apparel big enough to fit various dolls on the market - our apparel is specifically for Smart Doll and fits perfectly around the body enhancing the model-like silhouette. Choose from a ton of apparel items for Miho to don when you take her out n about.
Smart Doll is leading the fashion doll scene - the leading fashion department store Isetan chose Smart Doll to be their campaign girl and even starred in one of their commercials.
Here are the items that come with Miho Smart Doll - don't forget to read the Welcome Guide before attending to Miho. Dayum even the packaging is made in Japan.
These stickers are issued by Bandai Visual for products released to the Japanese market - we only put these stickers on domestic orders. Hakuhodo manage the license outside of Japan and I managed to get it for all regions.
Previously I said I wouldn't make anime dolls - I lied Muhahahahaha!
Only joking - its because we didn't have the resources to do so but now our production capacity has increased and we have much more routes to develop apparel in Japan. To let you know that I only develop Smart Doll for titles where I can get the worldwide license.
Now I am working with Bandai, Sunrise, KADOKAWA and various other publishers on licensed Smart Dolls.
There is no change however in the vision for Smart Doll which is to lead the fashion doll market and we continue to do so by working with brands like Isetan and are now in talks with beverage makers, automobile manufacturers, theme parks and so on.
THE MAKING
I'm only going to cover just a part of the making of Miho Smart doll in this post - for a more detailed insight read the other post (albright slightly old). The video below provides a more visual compact insight into the making.
While we use the current 60CM tall Smart Doll body - the apparel has to be developed from scratch. In our Gotanda office, we develop the patterns and samples before sending off instructions to the factories that we use in Japan.
This post contains a video, click here to view.
Samples of the uniform are made several times - each one an improvement upon the previous. While we make the samples, the first sample is left on the Smart Doll body to test for staining.
For Miho's uniform, we teamed up with Tsuji-Yosoten in Tokyo Nakano who handles production for brands like Jun Ashida - they also did the production for the Isetan Smart Doll uniform too.
This is what Tsuji-sans studio looks like - now they are right in the middle of making Miho's uniform.
The cross symbol is silk screen printed by Happy Printers in Harajuku.
All the uniforms are then re checked at our studio in Gotanda before we package them.
Our label does not stain so you don't need to cut it off - even if it did stain then we would give you another S bust as a replacement for free. Miho comes with S bust as standard and the uniform only fits S bust.
Our molds are made by mold maker Kamijo who's family has been making slush casting molds in Japan since 1907.
The actual slush casting is done in our own facilities in Katsushika Tokyo.
Many moons ago I worked with my father Jimmy Choo in his studio making shoes - for this reason, the footwear that we make for Smart Doll is made in the same was as we make human shoes. We include Lining, Toe Puff and Stiffener into the manufacture process - the only bad thing about this is that our shoes are a bit hard to put on at first - but loosen up after time - just like human shoes!
QC and assembly is all done at our studio in Gotanda Tokyo - from here everything goes down to the first floor where Mirai Store is located.
HOW TO BUY
- Miho Nishizumi Smart Doll will be released on 2016/10/23 first at Mirai Store Tokyo at 11AM - do note that we will close at 4PM.
- Payment in Mirai Store is by cash or credit card (Master/Visa only).
- I together with staff arrive at 9:30AM to setup - if you want to come early then line up along the side of the shop where the vending machines are.
- If Mirai Store is packed then folks will have to wait outside.
- Miho is not a limited release so resellers will have a hard time reselling for a profit.
- We will have 100 pcs ready on that Sunday - if we sell out then you can put your money down and wait until we can make more - waiting time can be anywhere from 1 week to 2 months - if there is a tidal wave of orders then the wait can be 4 months.
- Online orders will start at 8PM on that Sunday. Depending on how quick you are on the clickety click - your Miho will be sent to you within a week - but if you are not so ninja quick then 2 months (or 4 if we get a tidal wave).
- We are always working on improving our production efficiency meaning that we may be able to ship sooner than later - for the latest updates.
We will start to display Miho at Mirai Store from 2016/10/17 - avoid lunch and check opening times before coming.
You may want to pick up some goodies fitting for Miho - especially in the military department. Extra hand parts would be good together with the Air Stand.
Miho Nishizumi Smart Doll is the first product to be released from the Bandai Visual X Smart Doll collaboration - what do you want the second one to be?
- GIRLS und PANZER official site
- Bandai Visual official site
- Smart Doll Online Store
- Mirai Store Tokyo
- About Smart Doll
- About the founder & designer of Smart Doll - Danny Choo
©GIRLS und PANZER Film Projekt
