New body for head from another company

Yes - I've bought heads separately before, not because I wanted to, but because they were bought secondhand and that's how they were available. I have bought one a body that I knew would match (advertised as such from the company), and one happened to match another body I already had, so that was lucky.

The Reference section here has a tag for Resin Comparison and it's super helpful in narrowing down what will probably fit, what might fit, and what definitely won't.

 

I have a lot of RML heads and they didn't make bodies.

My main reason for hybridding different bodies and heads togehter is to get the build/body style I want for a particular head (most of my SD size dolls are CHILDREN, so I don't want the girls on mature-figured, big busted bodies... Ugh! that would be creepy).

Since I don't expect perfect colour match between face and body (after all, real people seldom have exacty the same coloured face and body) a slight difference doesn't bother me, and it's easier to get a hybrid I'm happy with.

Teddy

 

I recently bought an old Souldoll head. It's old enough that the resin doesn't match Souldoll's current resin, and I want to make it into the head of a female character. I've identified Migidoll as a perfect resin match, but Migidoll doesn't make female bodies, so Luts normal skin is the closest match I can get. I'm currently doing research to figure out if the neck circumference of a Senior Delf female body will be large enough that the head doesn't look too big.

 

I'm more about proportion than I am posing, and I have definite ideas of what I want in the build and height for all my dolls. Therefore many of them are hybrids.
There are also a few companies that I just don't care for the bodies, so I'd rather hybrid - or companies with bodies I love and therefore want all the dolls to have them XD
And sometimes I'm feeling cheap and want a less expensive body for a head that I'm not 100% I'll end up keeping and don't want to spend a small fortune on only to turn around and sell.

I do some research on DOA when I'm going to hybrid, but sometimes I just wing it and hope for the best. Usually it's worked out ok, I've only had a few instances when I've had one that just won't work (and I ended up buying a new head I liked better so it that worked out great!). I don't care that much about resin matching, I can blush things to work pretty well.

 

Some artists over the years have made heads, but never made bodies so you have to do a hybrid. Hunting down the perfect body for the head can be challenging though. The early minime heads were in the same boat, DIM made heads before they made a suitable body, and some of the earlier heads are a bit of an odd size. I have one of those early minimees and the body search has taken years. Body number 6 is about to arrive, so fingers crossed. This is due to proportion problems as i'm not worried about colour matching, sometimes you can't tell if a body really works with a head until you put them together, even if all the measurements sound right.

 

I have a few Minimee heads that didn't come with bodies; one's still floating as I reconsider body options for her, and another's on his second body (unfortunately, they sculpted their heads at odd sizes, so he's just slightly bobble-headed, but I can't find a better look for a body than what he's got now). In the process of working out those bodies, I ended up with a spare... and that will probably get a head from a different company, too, somewhere down the line. Sometime's it's for specific aesthetics, and sometimes it just works out that way!

 

Ι do that all the time; one of the reasons is I have several limited heads I had to acquire secondhand so I have to find bodies for them later. Another reason is I have very specific ideas of my characters in my mind. Some are taller and lankier, some are short and stocky, some are toned, really muscly or none at all... so I have to find bodies for them that match. And then there's poseability... I had to sell my minifee Shushu's body because she was so very terribly limited -despite all the praise I've heard everywhere- and am currently looking forward into buying her a body that can actually pose.

 

Most of my dolls are hybrids, because I like how this gives them a new look. Some heads are quite big on their Original bodies and I like a more mature looking doll proportion-wise. I also dislike having too dolls with the same bodies, because it looks odd to me. As a result, I've given myself the rule to give every doll I purchase a different body.

The main problem with hybriding is to find a body that matches your doll's head. DoA has a ton of information and usually I'm searching through the picture request thread to see if I can find something about the resin match I'm looking for. If not, I'm posting a new thread with this specific question.

Another thing to watch out for is the size of the neck vs the neckhole and the size of the head versus the body you put it on. Volks SDGr, for instance, is a fantastic looking body, but it's quite a bit slimmer than the older Volks body. A smaller head will look better on it than a bigger one. Most companies have a size chart for their dolls, so looking up the measurements shouldn't be too hard. If I'm still not sure about the match, again I post a thread in the Picture Request subforum asking people to show me pictures of the specific head and body combination I'm looking for.

 

Another reason is cost. Say, your grail doll is $800, and you just CAN'T justify spending that. However, you can get the head for $200, and put it on a cheaper body, maybe spend $400 total, and still have the sculpt you love. Some people don't care about the body posability or shape, just want that pretty face on a complete doll. If the doll is a display doll or stays mostly clothed, the body type really isn't that important.

 

I was going to post something very similar to VampireAngel13, so I'll keep it short. I currently have one hybrid with plans for several more. I went with a hybrid because I just didn't care for the original body aesthetic-wise and my goal is to have a body that fits my character, both in stature and build.

 

It comes down to cost and aesthetics, really. I would have gotten Cord with the DollZone 009 body, but I couldn't afford it. I'm currently looking at cheaper bodies for him. Eventually, I may get him a DZ body and pass his body onto another head. I also want to hybrid the MNF girl I want, since a MNF body wouldn't work for her. She's supposed to be a little stocky/chubby. Also, a MNF head with body is way outside of my price range.

 

I want my dolls to have different bodies (and I'm really particular about the body features I want.) I had a female character in mind, and the best head I found was SoulDoll Kanguk (a 'male' head.) Since I also want a Hye, I figured I'd stick with SD body for her, and get a different one for Kanguk. Ended up with a Fairyland F60 female body (loveee their dolls but I can't see myself owning an SD head from them.) The resin match isn't that great as SoulDoll recently made their resin pinker, I heard, but it's a lot lighter than the FL body so I figure I'll get a face up artist to blush it to match. I want to get several Supia heads, so I'll be getting bodies from different companies for at least one of them, just so all my girls are slightly different.