Pros and cons to purchase dolls parts ?

I really like doing that actually ! I just have one advice : plan when you will get the body. Even a general idea like "this winter" is good, and do your best to make it possible. It gives you a goal, a day to look forward to. There was several months between the time I bought my unoa sist fp and headback and when I received his body for my birthday, and it all went smoothly : I made his wig, picked eyes for him... Getting the "basics" (eyes, wig, perhaps some clothes if you're sure of the body you will have) help to wait ! I loved getting him pieces by pieces.
I had an unsuccessfull experience with another head I bought, that was a really good deal ; but I didn't have the money to buy it a body, and I wouldn't have for the next years. I ended up selling it because there was characters I wanted to shell more, with cheaper dolls, and I don't regret it at all.
If you find good deals on the second hand marketplace it can be less expensive, but paying the shipping twice and sometimes the customs twice sometimes makes it in the end as pricey as buying it straight from the company even though you do pay a little less at a time.

 

I'd say my only concern is the resin match might be off if you order from the same company at different times. Resin differs from batch to batch so it can vary even you you get a doll from the same company within the same year. Also, it's often cheaper to buy the body and the head together (they discount them generally). When you buy them separate, you're often paying more in the long run. If you're planning to hybrid then it doesn't much matter though.

I've absolutely bought just a head before. A few companies I like tend to churn out limited dolls and sometimes the only way I can get them on short notice is to buy the head and get the body later. If you have dolls of a similar colour and size, they can always share a body until you save up for one?

 

Resin-matching is the biggest con to buying heads and bodies separately, as has been stated. Some companies are really great with having very consistent resin colors, but even just time will cause the color of resin to mellow, causing mismatches between an older head and a newer body. The only other real con to having just the head floating around is that it can be hard sometimes to be as attached to the doll once it is on a body. I've fallen out of love with heads that hung out bodiless for too long. Sometimes it is impossible to get a whole doll though, and if it is a head you really love, it's very worth it.

Oh, and make sure you absolutely get the body you want, not just something so that you can get the head on a body. I settled on a few occasions with bodies I wasn't 100% happy with, and it made things difficult and set me back in getting the bodies I actually wanted.

 

Pros:
-Get part of your doll without saving forever for the full doll.
-have a head on hand to keep you inspired to save for the body
-If it's a hybrid, get the head first and take it to doll meets to try on different bodies and compare to different companies' resin for the best match possible.
-If it's a really rare sculpt, you might have a better chance of acquiring it if you're open to buying just a head to start and getting a body later.

Cons:
-If it's not a hybrid, resin batches vary, and a new body may not match it.
-The rest of the doll could be discontinued before buying
-Double shipping/customs fees.
-If it takes a very long time to get the other parts, the first part you bought could yellow.
-Also, seeing that incomplete part daily could be frustrating and make you want to give up.


The only time I buy separately anymore is if it's hybrid, and then I just get what I can when I can, but still try to get the pieces within a few months of each other. If it's not a hybrid, I'll just wait until I have enough for the full doll.

 

I bought a couple of dolls as floating heads... it's a nice way to save money if you want to put them on a more affordable body like Angel of Dream or Bobobie for example. Heads and bodies can always be blushed to match

 

from my own experience - if you feel like hybridising make sure you buy the ehad first. A floating body is something which will annoy you more than anything. it's easier to find just any random/suitable body once you got the head, but the other way round? I always ended up selling my 'floating bodies' sooner than buying some suitable heads for them. I never knew what head to buy, because those that would fit in proportion didn't appeal to me, and those that did appeal to me, were always too big etc. A night mare.

Floating heads? I love those Often you may already play with the head - paint it, put some eyes into it and a wig and have something to cling to (as if). You may borrow a body from your other doll just for some photos or - as has been mentioned - go to some dolly meets and try out different heads.

 

@soulcalibur33 as far as I know FL don't sell their heads separate, but there's tons of them available second hand on the MPlace) Also, you have to be careful - they have a specific neck jointing system - so no other bodies will match but those by FLand ) Good luck

 

This, exactly! I have a bad habit of buying heads... and I have had some heads go without a body for 2+ years. This has caused problems with resin match, and the second part is definitely true for me also. The floating head I got the longest was just weird when I finally got him a body. I wasn't sure if I even liked him anymore! Ultimately I'm happy with him again, but it could definitely be a problem.

Because of my experience with floating heads, I'm going to try harder in the future to buy complete dolls. So I guess my advice is that if you can do it, to buy the head with the body at the same time.

 

If you're planning to buy a head and body that are for the same doll, and that head and body are regularly available, and the company does not sell the head and body separately (as is the case with FairyLand and their LTF line), there really isn't any advantage to buying the parts separately, especially if you're not planning to buy from the secondhand marketplace. @soulcalibur33, you may be unaware of this, but LTFs don't actually have "heads" as most other dolls do; they use a faceplate system, so getting a "LTF Ante Head" means you just get the front of the face, making them difficult to hybrid without extra parts.

The pros and cons overall depend on what you're aiming for. I have a few hybrids around; they're great for cases where the head doesn't normally come with a body, where you don't particularly care for the body that comes with the head, or you need a different style of body to match the vision you have of your character. I do have one "hybrid" that is a standard FL MNF head on a MNF body, bought at different times because I'd originally planned to use a different head on the body, and yes, because of the ages of the two parts, he is mismatched. He has an extra head that's an event item of a different age to both parts, and it is also mismatched. Most of this is disguised by faceup and blushing, but within a single company, you're still going to have mixing factors and aging factors to deal with.

I don't necessarily see getting a standard this way as "good budgeting." You may end up spending more in the end on the shipping, you may end up frustrated by the lack of a full doll, you may end up putting off that body for ages (as I've been doing with one of my own floating heads) because other things come up. So I do personally tend to see buying the parts separately, particularly if you're not aiming for a hybrid, as more "con" than "pro," but everyone does have their own opinions. This is just my own two cents.

 

I only buy the head and body separately if I'm planning to hybrid.

Because it's usually cheaper to buy the head and body together if it's meant to be a set and some companies' resin batches vary slightly. I bought some dollzone hands at separate times and the pink tone is not identical!

 

Since you say you're planning on getting the FL body to go with the head/faceplate, I'd suggest saving for the whole doll. That'll save you the dreaded Customs double dipping you on fees if you try and get them separately. What others have said about putting off getting the body for the floating head is also very true and you may find yourself putting the body off more than once in order to get a full doll that suddenly steals your heart (and money).

I currently have 2 floating heads. I was from a free head event and I was sent the wrong colour so it's sat in a box since the day I received it 7 years ago. The other is one I purposefully bought as a head only because the line was being discontinued and I really didn't like the body the head was usually sold with. I fully intended from the get-go to hybrid that doll and know that I'll need to have the head/body blushed to match each other because different companies will be involved.

 

Just to mention though, that you also mentioned a Honey Delf. Luts do sell bodies seperately, and some heads are also normally available as just-heads. (As is happens, luts is curremtly selling all their unlimited heads seperately as part of their Xmas event.) You can go to their site and compare prices - there is definitely a premium to buy them seperately.