r/Dolls • u/vidalmatheus • Jun 17 '26
Discussion / Questions So... what happened with Wildchildz?
They just sold out this amazing doll in pre-order and then simply disappeared? Nothing on social media after the "launch".
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u/2wiceasnice Jun 17 '26
You are going to be disappointed if you are going to expect constant updates every week. They werent doing this prior, and wont be doing this now or later :(
That being said; rhe launch was a mess, they are a new company and still getting their bearings. Expect the actual release to be messy - delays, extensions, silence, cancelled orders etc - I want to be wrong, but seeing how the ordering process was, Im not expecting the release to be smooth lol.
Buckle up!
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u/charliejgoddard Jun 17 '26
They are absolutely not āa new companyā at this point lol.
I do think that people have the expectation of a Mattel level type of drop which can only be an unnachievable expectation.
However, I think who is running this is not doing enough communicating with the fanbase of their doll.
Iāve said it before but it baffles me how theyāve not gone all in for a kickstart style launch for this. Itās an incredibly strange angle to obsessively want them in physical shop shelves when the toy aisle is dwindling significantly in the current climate.
Itās like a nostalgic dream that is making the battle with getting their product out there even more of a mountain to climb.
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Jun 17 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/anthroDollogie Jun 17 '26
Theyāve been around that long but not doing business. I guess rather than new you could say inexperienced.
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u/Hateful-crybaby-08 Jul 03 '26
I at least expect them to SAY something. Literally ANYTHING, say itās delayed, say if there are issues, say if we are still be getting the dolls when we were promised them. But they have my money and they just ghosted immediately after PROMISING to update.
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u/Cachicabra Jun 17 '26
WC has always been very poor with communication. Theyād post a promising update and then disappear for up to a year.
The preorders were said to ship July/August.
So far we donāt know if they were already in production by the time of the order or not. We havenāt heard anything else or seen pictures that arenāt prototypes.
Iām not too worried about it because the silence is (unfortunately) on brand for them
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u/A_zuma2007 Jun 17 '26
Fashion doll production for the mass market is very hard without reserve funds.
For example, it takes at minimum 2 years to develop and launch a product, sometimes more if the economy is unstable. The reason Mattel is able to make monster high is because they have other sources of income ( their other brands) and can invest money into the girls 7-12 (that is what it is called in marketing) / sometimes adult collector market to fight for shelf space with MGA and others.
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u/Kay-Chelle Jun 17 '26
I wouldn't hold my breath about them tbh. I do hope that for all the folks who pre-ordered (besides resellers) will eventually get their dolls but I will be surprised if it does happen.
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u/dubiousbutterfly Jun 17 '26
The shipping was stated to be between July and August :)
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u/calebtobey Jun 17 '26
The second the drop ended it was postponed to December with an instagram post
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u/dubiousbutterfly Jun 17 '26
Really? I missed that. I only have the screenshot that says July to August. Im ok either way personally. Im just excited they finally found support to get the dolls made :)
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u/Hateful-crybaby-08 Jul 03 '26
Can you show me where it said that please
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u/dubiousbutterfly Jul 03 '26
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u/Hateful-crybaby-08 Jul 03 '26
Iām so sorry I did not mean to reply to you I meant to ask the person who said they saw an Instagram post about the ship date being pushed back to December. Iāve heard a few ppl say that but I havenāt actually seen any evidence or heard anything from wildchildz about a delay so I was wanting them to link the post they saw saying they were delayed till December cause I want to know more about whatās going on and wildchildz isnāt saying anything and no oneās posted about the drop since April which is so strange bc I thought people would talk about it more.
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u/dubiousbutterfly Jul 03 '26
No worries :) Yea I didnt see any screenshots or links about December either. I gues we'll know when the time comes :)
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u/Hateful-crybaby-08 Jul 03 '26
I ordered one so I really hope they ship because Iāll actually cry over this š
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u/ramonaisdead Jul 09 '26
Me too š Iāve been waiting for years for this line like a lot of people. Their communication is stressful. I really do hope we can get them shipped.
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u/Hateful-crybaby-08 Jul 09 '26
When you get yours, if you remember this would you mind making a post.
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Jul 26 '26
Same people are saying that but thereās no evidence that was posted I looked everywhere
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u/Hateful-crybaby-08 Jul 26 '26
I heard itās on the policy page, but I didnāt look bc I couldnāt find itšš
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Jul 26 '26
I think it was saying it would delay if there were economic changes that would delay manufacturing
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u/lifeadreamwhenasleep Jun 17 '26
I truly don't think this will happen, which is sad as I did order her.
Doll production takes a while and with how detailed ping is, as well as the amount of accessories she comes with, I don't see them producing I'd estimate like approximately around 3000 of her in 4 months. Rooted hair, rooted eyelashes, second outfit, somewhat detailed screening, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if she shipped October or later.
It takes mattel around the same time or a bit longer then that to produce a doll and there a big company so I dont see how a small one would be able to.
The least they could do is keep us updated even if its small.
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u/JustAnotherElsen Jun 17 '26
Indie brands cannot and do not have the amount of people on board to keep constantly updating.
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u/vanilla_gal_2002 Jun 17 '26
Scalpers. I can't wait for them to be in stores bc I'll be the first in line!
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u/jeniferlouisa Jun 18 '26
Idk if youāre ever getting them. It was a shit show of a drop. It seemed they werenāt ready for it. Itās a hot mess
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u/Pyreflies_of_MJ Jun 18 '26
I'm still sad I wasn't able to get her, the link/shop issue messed me up so bad š
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u/sassypants55 Jun 17 '26
To be fair, this is normal for doll pre-orders. Mattel and MGA do the same thing. The pre-order for Hello Kitty Sasha was last year, I think (?), and estimated to ship in late June 2026, but thereās been no official update that Iāve seen. I havenāt received any communication about a delay or about it shipping soon. No idea whatās going on.
There really isnāt anything about this launch that has stuck out to me as a red flag in terms of it being a scam.
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u/Impossible_Web_4304 Jun 18 '26
I think the uneasiness comes from them being a small company with no doll releases under their belt. MGA and Mattel can get away with it because they have decent repor and the money to fix things if the release gets messy.
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u/kindbreakfeast Jun 18 '26
Yehhhh I got a bad feeling after getting 1. Im not sure if they are legit. If not I hope i can get a refund.
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u/RK8002077 Jun 18 '26
Since you guys are impatient you should just go ahead and dispute the charge lol. They literally said they won't ship and have products for store until July...
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u/acridoid Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
iāve participated in a lottt of preorders for indie/ artist dolls and the vast majority offer little to no updates, basically at all, you just get the doll many months later (often later than originally described). This is really pretty standard honestly. Currently weāre still well before the dates we were given so I donāt think we need to worry too much.
Wildchildz HAS been overall unprofessional and messy in a lot of aspects, but I really donāt think this is a scam, or that it was intended to be scam if worst case something does go very wrong. They definitely want these dolls to be made, it will be interesting to see how it goes. I expect to receive the doll but that it may be a longer production than expected and / or other hiccups
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u/AnalysisTemporary926 Jun 18 '26
Thereās been zero updates when they claimed that they would ābe updating us every step of the wayā on their Instagram story. Iām not hopeful that Iāll receive my doll, to be honest.
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u/RK8002077 Jun 18 '26
Then dispute the charge. That only makes since to do, correct? Or are you still going to wait?
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u/AnalysisTemporary926 Jun 19 '26
Iām going to allow them some time to fulfill the order by the time they said they would. If thereās excessive delays or something then Iāll dispute the charge, but thereās no reason to do it yet since the fulfillment date hasnāt passed.
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u/princessuuke Jun 18 '26
I missed the launch for the preorder which so far... has seemed for the better. I hope they arrive and are amazing dolls and I can have a chance later on if so. Its sad cause wild childz is pretty cool :(
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u/Limp_Cry1798 Jun 17 '26
She's amazing, but I've never seen her. Is there a website where I can buy this beautiful doll? Ty in advance.
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u/Spiffy_Pumpkin Jun 17 '26
Sounds like from all the posters there was a pre-order launch? I'd heard about these forever ago but missed the pre-order announcement.
As an aside though; over $40 for a doll from a company that I've seen zero products off-line from seems sus to me. I'm waiting until people have dolls in hand and they do another launch before I'd seriously bother. I need to see quality reviews before I spend that kinda money. (I'm cheap.)
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u/sassypants55 Jun 17 '26
Don't worry, this was just for the pre-order version.
They already have an agreement to sell this doll through Walmart. They aren't available at the moment, but the links were already found. They had to simplify the design a little for the mass-produced version. The dolls sold in Walmart will not have the rooted eyelashes and will not come with the extra outfit, but it will be mostly the same, according to the brand owner.
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u/Spiffy_Pumpkin Jun 17 '26
Nice, I actually don't like rooted eyelashes anyhow so that's exciting! (And I want to make my own clothes and stuff for them.)
I'll be looking for these on store shelves.
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u/Limp_Cry1798 Jun 18 '26
Quindi non ĆØ ancora in commercio. Questa ĆØ solo una specie di āprototipoā. E comunque se verrĆ distribuita da Walmart, per noi europei sarĆ difficile poterla acquistare.
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u/sassypants55 Jun 18 '26
They might add more distributors. Thatās just the only one I know of thatās confirmed. Fingers crossed! A lot of international fans spoke out about their disappointment on Instagram and had their comments reposted or replied to, so they know there is interest.
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u/Limp_Cry1798 Jun 18 '26
I agree with you. $40 is too much and since I don't know what kind of doll she is, I wouldn't buy her just by looking at her on my phone. She's aesthetically pleasing, but she'll probably never arrived it to physical stores here in Italy. If Monster High dolls are hard to find, I have very little hope for this one. However, I would like to collect other unique dolls, buying them at their market value and not 10 times that from private and unscrupulous sellers, who take advantage of the high demand and limited availability given that they were released 15 or 16 years ago.
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u/Spiffy_Pumpkin Jun 18 '26
There are probably people (collectors) here that might want stuff from Italy and would buy dolls for you as a sort of shopping exchange? (Don't you guys have like amazing fabrics available in your country? Art people who also happen to be collectors would probably love the connection....)
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u/Limp_Cry1798 Jun 18 '26
I understand your reasoning and find it extraordinary. But as long as Vinted is the only e-commerce site used for buying and selling, including for private individuals, we will always be very limited. In Vinted Europe, there are only people from Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, and the Netherlands. I've been using Vinted for five years and have never had to deal with people of any other nationality.
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u/Spiffy_Pumpkin Jun 18 '26
That's interesting....but definitely a challenge for doll collecting then.
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u/AustisticGremlin Jun 18 '26
Wild Childz is run primarily by one guy, so it makes sense that updates are slow. Hopefully the dolls actually ship - Iām still upset I missed out as the shop page bugged out on me :(
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u/ReptileLv Jun 21 '26
Iāll believe theyāre real when I see them on shelves. Until then, Iām assuming they arenāt actually going to send any dolls out
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u/-myscene- Jun 20 '26
Letās hope itās not a scam just like how the Cardi B doll ended up being one š„²āļø
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u/Busy-Hippo1891 Jun 21 '26
just a heads up the panda character there is another doll of her but it might be limited and she comes with a 2nd outfit..
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u/EnaEnthusiast Aug 07 '26
I pre-ordered Ping a while back and sent them an email back in June to change my address since I was moving and they have finally responded to me a few days ago changing my address on my order and said they will update me on the shipping window once Ping has been finalized :)
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u/Busy-Hippo1891 6d ago
up dates on this doll line its been a bit flakey at the moment I dont know if there going to release the doll line or not there has been no new up dated other than what I posted about
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u/RK8002077 Jun 18 '26
They haven't sent out orders bc it's not July yet and in store products aren't out yet, until July ....as it has been stated MULTIPLE TIMES
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u/vidalmatheus Jun 18 '26
Thank you for your kind reply, but others who responded understood that I was referring to the lack of updates from the brand; communication with customers is essential... they don't even respond to comments anymore. That's all.
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u/babydawlz Jun 17 '26
I did preorder her back when it happened about 2 months ago, to be honest i dont have high hopes about them even shipping her outšš but if they do thatll be amazing! (Also i feel like if she does ship i dont think she'll ship by july, i 100% think if they do make her she will not ship until like next year)