People who like hybrids, why?

Discontinued bodies or artist heads are normally where I have had to hybrid. So the the original body option isn't available or the head never had an intended body when made by the artist. Other than that, I've got one hybrid who's original body just doesn't appeal to me and I've bought it on the original twice (sold the full doll the first time and then just the body the second time, once I'd figured out the right body). I can't say I particularly like hybridising as it's not easy but it's given me the opportunity to own head sculpts I wouldn't otherwise have been able to pick up.

 

I have a few hybrids... but most of the time they started off as floating heads. Either they started off as an event head that happened to look great on a certain body (my Spirit Doll Jade on a 5Stardoll body) or when I first ordered them the company didn't offer bodies/have any (my IOS Jaguar - at the time IOS didn't make bodies). Sometimes a company no longer produces dolls so you're stuck with a head (looking at you 5th Motif). Some dolls I plan to forever be on a bust (which a lot of companies don't make). I live in a small apartment so space is very limited.

 

I love hybrids. Mostly because I’m very picky about bodies. So perhaps there’s a sculpt I like but their body isn’t appealing, thus the way to get it exactly as I want is to buy the head and then choose a body I really like. It also makes the doll feel more unique and closer to whatever character I might have in mind for it.

 

It doesn’t really bother me. I do my own faceups so I can color match the head to the body. ^_^ Although usually many faceup artists are able to do this as well provided you send them a hand or foot from your chosen body so they can match it. I used to be really intimidated before by the thought of hybrids but I haven’t looked back after dipping my toes in it.

 

My first custom was a hybrid the main reason for this was due to not wanting to wipe the faceup off of a super dollfie head (I LOVED the heads and bodies, and know I would feel guilty if I removed the faceup ) so I sourced just a super dollfie body and bought a head I felt fitted well, and that I wouldn’t feel guilty about painting

 

I'm more of an ancient collector, so when I first learned about BJD, the least expensive option were hybrids. Mostly female heads on Volks Dollfie Dream I bodies, because they were the least expensive options back then. The modern "inexpensive" companies, didn't exist, so only Volks DD bodies were considered as "inexpensive" options, there weren't a lot of BJD companies back then to choose from anyway. It didn't seem like many people liked hybrids back then, they were a bit looked down upon (based on my foggy memories). Nowadays it is a lot more common and seems not an issue, considering how many different companies there are now. .

I only own one hybrid, and it is the long retired Volks DDI, with a CP VDES head, but I own a lot of floating heads I use on my largest male body for photos. If I was interested in getting more BJD, I would probably also hybridize most, because I'm very picky about body proportions, but not so much about facial sculpts. I believe that might be why people hybridize dolls (not just these types), more so than just because they like hybrids. I believe it might be because you can get the perfect head on the perfect body of your personal preference, if a company doesn't already make the whole doll like that. There's no reason to settle for a body you don't like, which wasn't easy to do in the earlier years of the hobby, but it's much easier now -- more so if you don't mind modifying or color matching parts. (:

 

There are quite a few artists that only produce heads. Personally I've owned two cyclops heads from the artist Dokudoll Paradise (no bodies made by the artist) and I've got a one-off alien artist head (which was never made available for public sale) who is on a Dollshe Mystic body.
The other dolls I've had to hybrid
are a Doll Chateau Agnes, as DC discontinued the original body without notice, so she's on a Dollzone NB58-002. She's got a widened neck hole to accommodate the larger neck size. The newer DC youth bodies don't suit the Agnes head as it is much smaller than their other youth heads. DC and DZ are sister companies and as such they use the same resin, so there's no need to worry about resin matching. The doll I've bought twice is a DC Sexta. I love the head sculpt but the DC A04 is just a little off to me (I've tried owning it twice, so I gave it a fair chance). I've now got him on the updated DZ B68-001, again no worry with resin matching with DZ/DC. He's also had his neck hole modded. The last hybrid I'm about to attempt (waiting for the body but that is also coming with a head just in case my plan doesn't work), is a Dollshe Orijean on the Dollzone B70-005 (the Gene body with wings). The neck may need modification again, but I'm confident that I can to do that myself as I have with my other hybrids. The reason I'm doing the last hybrid is Dollshe discontinued their older 18M bodies and even if they did produce them again I don't want to wait up to 2 years for it to arrive! I bought the head second hand so it came to me without a body and the older body I'd like doesn't come up for sale very often at all. So as I like the DZ B70-005, but none of the head sculpts, I settled on that body as I've seen the B70-004 (original version of the B70-005 without wings/monster hands) used with an Orijean head successfully.

It's all a matter of trial and error. I don't go into a hybrid project without carefully planning things first. If modding the head/neck is unfeasible I just don't do it.

 

I fell in love with the Doll in Mind Flowne head sculpt. I could get that one on the secondhand market. The Doll in Mind company doesn't sell bodies anymore though so I was happy that I could get a Doll Leaves body which fits great and has the same resin color. Now my girl is finally complete . She might be hybrid but you can hardly tell so I don't mind.

 

I'm going to be honest... Pure laziness... Lol. But really I practice face ups on some of them. Others I use for wigs. I really like the 5th Motif Venitu sculpt so he becomes my model head for wigs and eyes. I have a Vings Reiki on the way and the company doesn't make any bodies. So I have to figure out what body to match with him :/ (I really love his sculpt too)

 

Hmmm, it's hard to say right now. I'm fine with not getting a body for a while. Who knows maybe the company will make a body later on lol

 

I also planned to do an hybrid for my first doll, cause my budget was limited and I didn't like the body that matched the head I choose.
In the end tho I managed to find a sculpt with a body i liked during a bjd company sales and got a full doll, since it was cheaper than the hybrid I had in mind and I liked both the head and the body.
For me, I'm very picky about sculpts and bodies so often I don't like the combination company offers. Hence, I would hybrid without a second thought if I found a body that matches a head I want.

 

Well, sometimes you really love a doll head but the doll itself is, say, a girl while you want to turn the head into a boy. Of course you CAN mod the body but it's usually easier to just hybrid and get a girl body for the head. My current "project", I found the perfect head, however the body won't work since it's a boy head and I want to use it for a little girl. So I'm getting the head and a girl body from a different company.