Anyone know any good artists that do daki commissions for reasonable prices?
no -deviantart- artists please

So what'd be best for a cover 155cm in length? I have a 160cm pillow, I'm going to try them together. 5cm too large isn't going to pose a problem is it? I mean the pillow is bound to shrink, somewhat over time too, so I'm hoping they'll be ok to use with each other. What about a 150cm cover and 160cm pillow, too much difference do you think?

This site seems to have quite a lot of stuff,
http://www.milanoo.com/Anime-Body-Pillows-c1535

I think they're based in China though...
Still, the prices are pretty good I guess.

>>2033

Don't do it son.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I was wondering something. In the future, when I have the means, I'm probably going to custom order a 180cm x 60cm daki. Would it be better to get a 72inch x 20inch body pillow, or a 72inch x 24inch? Or should I try desperately searching for a 180cm x 60cm pillow? I don't own any dakimakura so I'm not sure how how important it is to get a pillow that fits exactly right.

I guess my taste in 2d women must be considered too vintage for dakimakuras.

You lucky stiffs with your vocaloid and touhou and Anime-du-jour obsessions, you got it easy!

Oh well, I should be sort of thankful, at least there are a few body pillows out there featuring Satoshi Urushihara's artwork.

Post edited on 21st Mar 2013, 7:45am

>>2397
Case is usually pretty flexible so I would get bit bigger pillow than case. At the moment my case is bigger than pillow and it is bit loose which is annoying so I have to have it tied down.

You guys seem to know what you're talking about - are hobbyheart covers good quality? I'm new to this whole daki business, my waifu just got a cover but it's over $100 and i'm sure it'll will sell out way before I can get that money (decently popular character)...

I can't seem to find a lot of info on hobbyheart's quality. From what i've gathered they are a legitimate business, but I would like some more first hand accounts.

Also, is it weird that they have a bootleg for sale even though the real one hasn't quite come out yet? I haven't been able to find a high enough resolution image of it that would seem suitable for printing.

>>2415
I have bought form them. The covers are fine. They ship fast and do take custom orders. You can pick and chose what is on each side, whether you supply the pic or use one of theirs.

I love the natural velvet material. Comfy and warm.

The inner pillows they sell suck however. Get that somewhere else.

Here is one I bought from them some time ago. Still love Luka. She has been washed many times, and still looks good.

>>2415
I bought 2 covers from hobbyheart. The printing quality was good, but the stitching wasn't. The one from janelee922 was better. I also tried out Zephyr toy store form ebay (they don't do custom orders, I think), they use a different material, looks good; although it might be less durable. I ordered a cover from shemue from ebay, it should arrive soon, I could then compare it to hobbyheart.

>>2415
I ordered from hobby heart a month or two ago. I was going to do some shitty blog-post about my experience but decided against it... but for you I'll make an exception with an abridged and candid review..

My experience with hobbyheart went smoothly. I am used to ordering things from hongkong so it wasn't a terrible wait or anything. Unfortunately the character I chose is sort of old so it was nice to have printing options hobbyheart offers. I went with the revered '2 way tricot'. I hate to demystify it but it is basically smooth spandex that seems to be very delicate (better wear socks to bed). It was probably a bad choice because I live in an arctic desert and never have the kerosene heater running. As a result the pillow case is always below freezing when it's not in immediate contact with me.

I sort of wish I went with the velvet option like >>2416 did.
but maybe the 2waytricot will pay off if we get one of our humid as fuck jungle summers.

Since the character was old I only had one choice for the design. It was sort of lewd an I was really hesitant to get it but her personality is just so cute. It hasn't nearly been as much of a problem as I thought it would be.. mainly because I keep her cocooned and we cuddle under blankets together face to face at night.

As for finding a good pillow.. good luck. I've ordered three of them off of ebay and all three sucked (two I ordered from the same seller and both were radically different in terms of quality/fill/materials used) I refuse to get anything smaller than 20x60 inches and will probably end up Frankensteining two of those shitty pillows into one super pillow when I get some spare time.

Post edited on 23rd Apr 2013, 10:32pm

I still wish I knew how they're printing it before the real one is even out.

Did they vector it or something? This is the cover...

http://www.hobbyheart.com/strike-witches-dakimakura-hugging-body-pillow-cover-p-1804.html

>>2423
IIRC that one got released at c83. I know a fellow who purchased two.

What is "Japanese Textil" like ? I mean the fabric you can choose at hobbyheart.

>>2423
Yes, some of the designs are vectorizations of sample images. If you compare them side by side there are usually some small differences, some artistic license as well, but it's typically very close except that small details may be missing. I don't know if they also buy and scan dakis to replicate them.

>>2428
They sent me samples of all materials with my first order, I'll report back on the Japanese Textile when it actually arrives, which should be hopefully next week, maybe the week after.

Does anyone know what kind of package an order from hobbyheart would arrive in?

Kind of have people living with me.

>>2430
Should be neutral, found this unboxing (2 years old) it's basically a brown envelope but obviously it says Hong Kong, the item value and probably Hobby Heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbw7RLlaG5k#t=118s

Though I'm not sure how you're planning to keep a daki secret when you have people living with you (let's not forget that you'll also have to buy a giant pillow)

>>2431
>Though I'm not sure how you're planning to keep a daki secret when you have people living with you
A)Position your bed in a way that isn't visible from outside of your room and just cover it with a blanket.
B)when you get up in the morning store it in the closet or somewhere else out of sight

>>2431

No one would probably notice or care if I just bought a plain body pillow with a white cover and had it laying on my bed.

As much as I would hate to treat my waifu's image in such a way, i'd probably take the cover off during the day and put it in a bag in my desk or something.

I guess I'll try and shed some light on the bootlegs vs legit daki discussion since it should help ease peoples minds and let them make their decisions with more knowledge.

I've bought about 20 bootlegs between ebay, janelee and hobbyheart and haven't been really dissatisfied with the results yet. Here's a picture I took of a legit cover that hasn't been used (makes for a nice wall decoration) and a hobbyheart bootleg that I ordered for the sake of this comparison (left is the brand new hobby heart, right is the legit one).

As you can see the print quality on the bootleg is just as good as the legit one. The only real difference is the sheen of the material. So if you're on a budget or are worried about a rare and expensive cover fading go ahead and order from Janelee or HobbyHeart. Sometimes it's how I like to test how much I like a cover before I search for a real one.

Anyways hope this helps people out. I'm more than happy to field any question if you guys got them.

>>2442
I disagree strongly that bootleg and legit would be even near equal quality. Print quality is probably okay, because they use same printers. The problem is the pictures they use for printing. They use high contrast ones which usually turn into pretty awful.

I've bought bootleg once and it will be my last time. I let the pictures tell the rest. Basically all details are gone because of the contrast raped picture.

>>2443
And here is close up picture. Go figure which one is the better one.

Post edited on 5th May 2013, 1:20am

>>2444
I don't think you should let one bad experience cloud your better judgment. The first bootleg I bought was shit. It was made of silk like material that ripped easily and they sewed right over the zipper. Still it was only $15 so no big loss. I tried again with a $30 dakimakura and I was very pleased with it. The material the image it was all good. Bought two more after that and I wasn't disappointed, although one did seem oddly reflective. Even if it's not perfect, When you compare $30 bootlegs to the $100+ official costs I think the difference in price makes a slightly blurry image is worth it.

Post edited on 5th May 2013, 4:07pm

>>2444
I kind of get what you are saying but it might really just be dependent on the quality of the image the bootleggers get. There are some daki's I have where the image quality isn't near on par as some of the others, they also happen to not have nearly as many high-res good quality scans or pictures available either. There's also the fact that different prints on different fabrics will come out differently. I have seen various different prints on different materials and some are really crisp and clear, while others have nowhere near the detail.

There's also the longterm quality of the daki as well. Over time no matter what you do, if you make use of it, wash it, etc... It will slowly fade, depending on the print quality and material has pretty resounding effect on the matter. If you really are that distraught by it perhaps get a very high quality picture of the daki and get one custom done so that you know the quality of the image source.

A lot of time bootleggers end up just taking custom orders they've done and start reprinting them from whatever picture was sent in so it's probably an issue of image quality that they come from.

You are right in that the printers are the same so the only difference in quality would be from the base image.

Honestly if I had the budget and could more readily find another dakimakura that I wanted a couple copies of I'd test this out getting an official version of a daki that I know the material of and then getting another bootleg of same material and submitting the image myself. Unfortunately all the covers I want either don't have known scan or artwork to submit, are of an unknown textile, or very rare and or expensive.

But as the other poster said don't let one bad experience ruin it for you, and they are significantly cheaper, and infinitely easier to replace.

>>2445
>>2446
Maybe it is matter of situation. If you are poor and desperately in need for daki, maybe bootleg is better choice then. Money is basically irrelevant for me in this matter. I am not trying to brag up, but I could easily spend from hundreds to thousand euros so I could have enough of my favorite dakis stocked up for if the primary one loses its colors or get damaged. Selection, availability and access are problems for me in this case, not the price. I already have one unopened duplicate of my primary one in case something happens, but I am still hunting for more, because I can never be too prepared.

Still I refuse to buy bootlegs until all legit versions of my favorite dakis in the world have been consumed. Legit versions have guaranteed quality, and it is the most important thing for me in this matter.

>>2442

Why is the image so much darker/high contrast? Is this typical of all hobbyheart prints? Should I expect the shipped product to appear different than the pic on the store page (related)?

>>2448
Bootleg printers don't have access to original picture so they have to photoshop from sample pictures, and increasing contrast and decreasing brightness will hide some of the blurriness.

>>2448
Typically not, no.
Original: http://i.imgur.com/RQlo1Un.jpg
HobbyHeart: http://imgur.com/a/V3K0y
Obviously lit differently, and HobbyHeart is Peach Skin whereas the original is 2WT.

>>2449
>they have to photoshop from sample pictures
Not always the case. some people will scan their official daki and upload the image online. bootlegers might even do it themselves, buying a daki just to scan and reproduce.

>>2428
>>2430
Alright my daki arrived now. The packaging is completely neutral, it doesn't say HobbyHeart anywhere. Also it says clothing on the description.
Needless to say the 2WT daki is absolutely flawless in my estimation. The print is excellent and the fabric is really nice.

Unlike the other 3 materials, the Japanese Textile is a little textured because the yarns are not woven as closely as with the others. It is not smooth like 2WT or soft like Velvet, but it definitely feels nice. Still it's a matter of preference, personally I probably wouldn't choose it for a daki over 2WT and Velvet.

The natural velvet feels extremely cozy and soft and I'll definitely pick that for my next order.

>>2454

Did any of them come creased? I think i've read that 2WT doesn't crease in packaging, but what are your experiences?

I once bought a polyester Imperial German flag and the creases were unbearably annoying, and I don't know if I could easily find the privacy to remove them from a daki cover.

>>2455
There are a couple very slight straight horizontal creases from being folded for 2 weeks, but they're barely noticeable since the print is more dominant. No idea what it will look like after machine washing, but it doesn't seem to get creased from use. I hope you don't intend to never wash your daki for privacy reasons.

I think the only minor downside is that the 2WT material gets rather cool, as already stated previously, cooler than your cotton or whatever you typically have in your bed already. For summer that can actually be rather nice, but for winter I'll probably go with velvet. Of course this only applies if you live in a location that has actual summers and winters.

>>2454
Was it perfectly stitched? I might give hobbyheart another try in that case. Maybe I was just unlucky.

Post edited on 13th May 2013, 7:59am

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAKIMAKURA-BODY-PILLOW-20-X-60-WHITE-POLYESTER-FILL-/251158018524

Would this pillow work for a 50x150cm daki cover? The dimensions are just slightly oversized (.8cm and 2.4cms). I'd be using it for a 2 way tricot daki from hobbyheart.

>>2458
Yes

>>2458
You'll soon find out that all those (made in the USA) pillows have about half as much polyester filling as they should. Especially since the dakimakura is 2 way tricot She might look a bit deflated until you find a way to 'stuff the sack' a little better.

>>2463

I've been unable to locate a decent pillow. I've heard hobbyheart's is shit, and I kind of need to be able to disguise it as a normal body pillow.

>>2464
>I've been unable to locate a decent pillow
Ha ha, Story of my life.

I did end up frankensteining those 2 ebay pillows I talked about earlier. Despite doing it outside and with a bandanna on I still managed to a bunch of the filling all over my clothes.(and possibly in my lungs)
I am very pleased with the end result.

Does anyone know a place where I could order custom 2-way tricot material and 160x50 sized dakimakura cover?

>>2033
Shit, what happened to body pillow selection at Milanoo?

I spent all that time saving enough money for a dream harem and now they are all gone.
Any equally shady/shitty sites out there where I can get dakimakuras for cheap?

I don't suppose anyone knows where to find decent artists willing to do dakimakura artwork for reasonable prices? (-$200).
For years I've desperately wanted to have a daki of Minagi but it seems to be a real challenge to find artists who aren't horrible and who wont charge an arm and a leg. Around a year ago I found an artist on pixiv who spoke English did commissions and had reasonable prices. (eventh7) They said they'd be interesting in doing mine, and told me they'd send me the first sketch in a week but they ended up blowing me off I guess because I spent months checking my inbox every day waiting for them to respond. They ignored my messages and changed their profile removing the pricing of art commissions. I've tried hunting endlessly to find new daki artists on deviart but after digging through mountains of furry porn and absolute garbage I was only able to find a small handful artists worth considering. The main two being "kimmy77" and "tonee89". kimmy77's got reasonable pricing but their quality isn't very high and feels as if only minimal effort is put into the art to rush them out. tonee89 is much higher in quality but also much higher in price with commissions costing $300+
I also came across an artist called "kahookashii" who's prices indicated a daki would cost about $150, but when I messaged them they told me it would be $300. In asking why this was their response was "Because that's the price that Japanese studio usually pays me to do Dakimakura for them. It's irrelevant to my price list in my Journal "
Aside from that most of the decent-good artists I've found stopped doing commissions years ago.
I've heard from many sources that there are countless good Japanese artists willing to work for peanuts, but I clearly have no clue how to find them.
If anyone can help it would really really mean a lot to me. This is kinda like a holy grail thing to me.


someone was nice enough to draw this for me recently after seeing me struggle with this issue. (I hope they don't mind me posting it) It was an extremely really nice gesture of them which I really appreciate but obviously isn't exactly what I was looking for.

Got it from Cuddly Octopus, very happy with it and it was definitely worth the money.

The lewd side. It's nice and soft, it makes sleeping in very enjoyable though I sleep with the non-lewd side more often. The only inconvenience I have with it is that I usually sleep on my right side but this was made for left-side sleepers. Otherwise, it's a wonderful cover to have as my first daki. Completely worth.

Tentacles > hung boyfriend.

I got my first yesterday. I'm very pleased with it. Way more than I thought I'd be.

I bought another cover. I don't like it as much as my first cover, but I'd like to give the first cover a break from myself. Maybe I'll bring it out for special occasions.

I didn't foresee the slippery slope and ended up owning over 30 dakimakura covers.

I bought this Kanbe Kotori Daki off of Ebay yesterday. It should arrive sometime this month. I think I'll be quite happy for a while after receiving this cover, because I'll finally have Kotori in my arms, not just on my screen. I'll update you once it's here.

>>4066
It arrived. I made a quick picture before throwing it into the washing machine. Soo, basically

What could be better:
I don't like how she is holding her hands next to her mouth, which could be annoying while kissing
Also, it has no backside, the backside is just empty, but that's okay, I didn't except there to be one anyway.

What I like about it:
The fabric is very soft.
It fits the pillow I already had perfectly
ITS KOTORI!!!!!!!

All, in all, it's great and hopefully she will stay with me many, many nights to come (once she is out of the washing machine, that is).

>>4067
can you post more? cute

>>4067
>>4068
I compiled a bunch of pictures of my daki into a little collage, so here you got more.