Quick Update on Materials and Sofubi Supply
A few weeks ago, I shared how the situation in the Middle East was affecting the availability of materials we use to make Smart Doll. While the headlines seem to change daily, the reality on the ground for us hasn't changed much yet.
That said, we've made some progress behind the scenes.
Recently, we connected with another sofubi slush-casting house in Saitama — one I'd known about for over a decade but assumed only worked with larger corporate clients. After finally reaching out, I discovered that wasn't the case.
This isn't us suddenly discovering a huge pool of alternative suppliers. The number of sofubi casting houses in Japan has been gradually declining as owners retire and fewer people enter the trade. The Saitama factory was simply one I already knew existed but had never approached directly.
Adding them doesn't increase the amount of sofubi material available in Japan, but it does give us another trusted production partner with their own supplier relationships — and in times like these, that flexibility can make a meaningful difference.
We're currently working with them to bring their output up to our quality standards; every factory has its own equipment and finishing characteristics, so there's a learning curve on both sides. We're not there yet, but we're hopeful.
In the meantime, we've been advised to focus our limited sofubi allocation on a smaller range of skin tones to make the most of what's available. Since the supply situation began, we've prioritized Cinnamon, Tea, Cocoa, and Coffee.
Milk was always intended to be a more limited skin tone, but because many folks had been waiting for a lighter tone for years, we decided to align its pricing with our other human skin tones rather than position it as a premium or special-edition product.
The situation around oil supply and shipping routes remains uncertain — some of yesterday's news sounded encouraging, today's reports tell a different story. Rather than trying to predict what happens next, we're planning for the possibility that material constraints remain in place for some time.
This brings me to a question for you.
Right now, our limited material allocation only gives us room for one additional lighter skin tone beyond Cinnamon, Tea, Cocoa, and Coffee. So we need to choose between Milk, White, and Blue — two of which we've offered before with folks asking for their return.
If you had to pick just one, which would you want us to prioritize?
Milk — keep it available as it is now.
White — retire Milk and bring White back instead.
Blue — retire Milk and bring Blue back instead.
I'm genuinely interested in hearing what you think.
As always, thank you for your support, feedback, and patience while we navigate all of this. We've been through plenty of challenges over the past twelve years, and we'll continue adapting to whatever comes next.
#smartdoll
Hey folks!
I should probably get around to writing the “Before You Buy” page for Cyber Shell Cortex that I’ve been putting off for far too long.
One of the reasons these pages take so long is that I try to address concerns that folks have raised about previous products, while also trying to anticipate questions that haven’t been asked yet. The funny thing is that some of the things I’ve spent paragraphs explaining turned out not to be concerns at all — just me overthinking things. :-)
So, what questions or concerns do you have about Cyber Shell Cortex?
I’ll gather the feedback and cover the topics that I think will help the most folks make an informed decision before release.
As always, Cyber Shell Cortex isn’t for everyone, and part of my job is helping folks who are on the fence stay on the “don’t buy” side if it’s not right for them.
#smartdoll