Buying a Head when you just can't afford a whole doll

Oh god I do it so often that I'm surprised if things happen in way that leave me without any floating heads! I thought I was getting a body for my last floating head, but of course I've already got more parts and heads in my plans! Gah! Can't I just complete all my heads before starting more?

 

Actually I think if for your first doll, as part of the BJD experience, you will be more happy to receive the whole doll together cause you can play with her instantly:3 Also if you get the head n body separately, their resin might have a little differences (the head resin came contact with air and sunlight,and also caused by colour differences in the production process...) Of course you can brush it or to keep the head in its box to avoid this~ Again, this is just my own opinion, you can choose the way that suits you the most.

I am usually a "get the whole doll or none" type of person, but there are always exceptions, like for the CP Luts Delf, I have purchased the Lishe sp. back in 2011, which include an extra dreaming head as part of the package, and I have leave it in the box for 2 years (originally I did not hv plans to get a separate body for her), but then came the Fairyland 10th anniver. event a year ago, for which I managed to get my hands on a new body. I meant to give it to my normal Lishe and the Delf body to the Dreaming Lishe head but then the resin didn't match, cause of the yellowing going on... So at last the brand new Dreaming Lishe is born, as she has been stored away from air n sunlight, she is like brand new and she matches with the newly purchased Feeple 60 body. A happy ending for a story

 

Lolz yes! I purchased 2 heads recently TAT
I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot of floating heads around.

 

I only bought whole dolls at first. After about a year of collecting, I started painting and buying heads. I bought a new Soah head to put on my older Soah body and the new head was way way too pink, doesn't match at all. So I'm waiting around to see if I can find a body that pink or if it will mellow out over time. I also bought a Napi doll head ( i luv their heads) and it was probably a year before I found a body that I luv for it.

I think you have to have a certain amount of experience before you can make hybrids quickly, successfully, and inexpensively. But now that I'm starting to do it, I luv it. My hybrids are my favorites of all my dolls.

So if you buy heads just know that finding bodies can be frustrating, take time, and may be very hard to get 100% color match.

Layaway is an excellent option too if you really want the doll, but don't have funds yet. I almost always have a doll on layaway lol!!

 

I do this all the time- I am more of a head collector then anything and very picky with bodies. Not so much color match- it doesn't have to be 100% but anatomy wise. Besides I really do love my hybrids more then my whole dolls. XD

 

I might be turning into a head collector :P I have already ordered two and im just waiting on my first doll still. But I want the heads just to paint them not to make whole dolls out of.

 

Picking a body for hybrid purposes depends on what your immediate priorities are -- poseability? Resin match? Certain body proportions? Cost? They're all factors. You decide which is most important and go from there.

Everyone's priorities are different; for me, resin match is HUGE (and it's actually why I chose NOT to hybridize my most recent doll; pretty much nothing ever made matches Elfdoll's old homme skintone so I just rooted around until I could get an Elfdoll body secondhand).

 

Considering how much consuming my first BJD "real" waiting revealed to be, (my first BJD came from a reseller, so I didn't experienced a long waiting) I'm not sure I'll ever buy only an head. After the long waiting, shipping price and custom taxes I'd prefer to have the whole doll to enjoy...
I have a Fdoll Yolanda on my wishlist: I don't really like the look of her body for such a mature face, and I'm considering hybridizing her, but I'll probably order the whole doll anyway.
But, returning to the main topic, if it's a limited one or a good deal from the company or on the Marketplace I'll probably consider buying only the head despite my preference for having as soon as possible the whole doll.

 

This! For example I'll take poseability over resin match any day! I've been spoiled dirty by my first doll who, being a doll leaves, outposes each and every of my other dolls. It's also the reason I opted for a Withdoll body for my minifee Shushu and a luts one for my soon to come home minifee Juri. I can blush a head to match a body but can't make a body pose better on its own.

Sometimes you can also find really good deals on secondhand bodies, or buy cheaper bodies directly from companies. To give an example, my Immortality of Soul Chaos will go on a Fantasydoll SD body because the poseability is superb and the resin match is good. The body is very basic as far as its sculpt goes but my Chaos' character wears so many layers it's impossible to tell what his body is like under them anyway.

 

I would never buy just a head myself. I never get around to purchase a body for the head. I have a few floating heads already, event heads that I got for free with other dolls and all of them are still blank and bodyless... If I can't afford a doll at once I use layaway, I need a complete doll to arrive at my house. But that's just me

 

Hm, I've only bought separate heads if the head is going on a different company body (which I buy as soon as I can), or if the head is only being sold by itself. I don't like to have half put together dolls around the house if I can help it!

 

I have a few floating heads. It's easier to buy head first because then you can save up more money for body later. The head needs to get a faceup first too so I can wait for faceup to be complete, that way I wouldn't be left with a headless body.

 

I do a lot of research here in the picture requests, databases and company specific discussion threads. It does depend on the size of the head- and the characters height. Usually if I find a head I like I do a search on here or even google and see what info on hybrids pop up.

Also it really does help to see a body you like in person- via a meetup or a friend and try the head on it to see how it looks. Good luck tavendano!

 

I've considered doing this, but then I always end up worrying about hybrid matches.

 

Well, personally, I usually don't do this, unless it's a limited mold.
The reason is simple this: If it's from the same batch, it's guaranteed to match. If you have to wait too long, the color mix might not match. This can be only a little difference or a rather obvious one. If it's from the same company, I want it to match and not have to trick around.

If it's a hybrid, that's different. Then I see no reason to hold back if I can snatch the head now, body later :3

Then again, if either of them has a lo~~~~ng waiting time and neither is limited in general or time periods, I'd buy first whatever takes longer :3
Or where I'd need a layaway due the price.

Also you don't really get gratification from it - at least I don't. You have this head or body sitting around. Ok, with a head you can check eyes, wig, do face-up or have it face-upped (but then you don't have the head around anyway). With a body you can start working on clothes already.
But I'd get impatient at wanting to have a COMPLETE doll - and that would end up frustrating me, if it isn't financially possible ^^°

 

The Picture Request subforum is your absolute one hundred percent best friend when you're looking for a resin match. The odds are excellent that someone, somewhere, has requested the match you're looking for, and if you search for it you can find those pictures; if it happens that your match has NOT been requested, you can go ahead and post a thread looking for comparison pics. It is much, MUCH easier to make an informed resin-matching decision after you've browsed as many comparison pics as you can get your hands on.

Every company's resin is just a little bit different with regards to color tones and undertones. "Normal" from one company isn't guaranteed to instantly match all other "normal" skins, because there's a massive range in the varieties of flesh-tones out there. Not even white skin is guaranteed to match; there's as many variants on white as there are on normal (anything from whites with pale pink undertones to creamy ivory whites to white-out Bright Freaking White and everything in between -- and that's not even touching on certain older whites that turned GREEN over time!). You're much more likely to find a match you're satisfied with if you spend some serious time searching resin comparison pics before you take the plunge and buy something.

 

its annoying the doll i am saving for has recently be discontinued but the head is still available so I bought the head now I need a feeple60 girl body