Have you ever "upgraded" your doll?

Not the whole doll, just the body so far. To me the head is the doll so I can't really part with that once I've named a doll. But I do like very flexible bodies so some of my dolls have been upgraded to better ones as time has gone on.

 

I've replaced my IH SooRi for a Elfdoll K-SS head, to be the same character. SooRi just didn't work for me and it turned out that his new shell was a much better 'fit'.

 

Not with the same doll but I've certainly upgraded characters to molds that fit them better over time. A prime example of this would be Bosschan who went to become an IoS Chaos after being an IoS Sezz first.

 

I've upgraded several dolls, in different ways. My former DZ Mo, Loki, started out as MSD Mo, then upgraded to SD, and after a lot of yellowing, I bought a new SD Mo head to replace it.

Others have been upgraded in size--Parker went from yoSD to MSD to SD!

And still, others have been reshelled. Justin is currently getting a new shell. The old one was great when he was a young teen but now he's an adult and I wanted something a little more mature and not so skinny.

I don't feel guilty about it. You should do what you need to do in order to love your doll. If an upgrade makes you appreciate them more, go for it! I'm sure there is someone else who will love the old shell.

 

It's basically the same story here; the head is the "heart and soul" of the character, but the body is an aesthetic portion similar to the wig, eyes, etc. I currently have two dolls who've had their bodies swapped out (my first doll swapped to a shorter, slimmer body to reflect the body type of his character, and one who's always been a hybrid swapped to a more animal-like body from her very human one), and one who had first his body, then his head swapped.

I don't necessarily "get rid" of the parts when I swap them out, though; the first body is waiting for a new head to be ordered (I have it selected, just haven't done the order yet), the second has gained a new head after a half-hearted sales attempt, the third actually did get sold (after some checks to see if it would suit other plans), and the last head is displayed on a bust as an art piece now.

Each of the body swaps was meant to "upgrade" the doll to make it better match my vision for the character. The first had a rather average, even a bit stocky, body, but his character is short and frail, so I tried out a couple of bodies before finding a well-suited "short and frail" for him. The second is an anthro character, who'd been on a human body due to a lack of anthro bodies at the time I first got her; they've since become more available (if still limited), allowing me to upgrade to an anthro body. The third needed a body that was short, muscular, and flexible, and the original body fit none of those factors, so I researched around, and eventually settled on a short, muscular, flexible body that suits him perfectly.

 

I haven't done this, since my characters are based on the doll, not the other way around. And I'm fairly new to the hobby and haven't had any dolls long enough to need to upgrade them! When I shell my OCs, though, there may come a time when I decide a new sculpt suits them better, and would upgrade them with no problem.

 

I used to like the more stylized dolls more but lately I've been thinking that my Luts Yder(first doll from 2005) and Shiwoo who are fraternal twins would be better as a pair of Iplehouse Felix(-es?). That's a lot of money though lol

 

I have personally not done this before. But I know some companies, such as Little Monica offers these services. You can upgrade the head,faceup, or even body for a reduced price. And I don't think it's anything to be feeling guilty about since no one would want a very yellowed doll or a doll that's not pleasing to their own eyes.

 

I've reshelled a character before
My little sickly ghost boy Thomas started out as a Dollzone Fei and later became a Doll Chateau Hugh-the sculpt was a lot closer to my original vision for him and I still adore him to pieces

 

Yup-totally new! Thomas wasn't an existing character really-he was one that I created around the doll when I first got my Dollzone Fei. But after a few years, I realized that I wanted a better posing, more frail looking version of him

 

The only thing like this I've done so far is deciding to replace my Bluefairy Emilie's body, because I dislike the single joints I don't feel bad about it, but then again I'm not replacing an entire doll. I love the face sculpt, so I don't ever plan to replace that, but the body had to go lol.

 

hm... have you thought about just trying to blush the body or head to make it match?

 

Aw well, replacing sounds like the best idea. I hope you can do it without feeling too guilty >.< just find a good home for the old doll