What do you think about Hybrids?

I love hybrids.
Some of the most creative and beautiful dolls I have seen are hybrids.
I think for someone who has a specific character in mind, they should absolutely have the choice of customizing their doll exactly how they want.
The only time I would be more hesitant to make a hybrid is if the company specifically expressed it, but really, they can't stop you anyway.
My Minimee is, like most Minimees, going to be on an Iplehouse EID model body. Even if I have to buy it with a head, I'm still going to use it for Eric and probably just keep the extra head for face-up practice.
Some companies only sell heads as well, so in those cases there really is no way to go around making a hybrid.
All in all, we pay a LOT for these dolls, they are OURS, and we have every right to customize them as we please (as long as we're not doing things like re-casting, etc.).

 

All my hybrids are in the databases for their head sculpt. I just stated that they are on a different body - and mine aren't the only hybrids in the databases either. Resin mismatches can be corrected by blushing. Hybrids aren't the huge complicated issue lots of people think they are.

 

As are mine. Damned if anyone's going to tell *me* that I can't put my Xs in the DZ database because their bodies are fdoll or my El in the El Army thread because he's on a Domuya body (and they aren't the only hybrids in their respective threads, either). I don't get why anyone fecking cares in the first place.

 

I had never given much thought to hybrids one way or another. That is, until recently when I found that I had a brewing, raging, undiagnosed addiction to MigiDoll heads. Now I am planning to leap headfirst into hybrid land, and I too don't know what the fuss is about.

This hobby, unless I am gravely mistaken (and I might be, at that) started way back as an evolutionary offshoot of the action and doll figure modification hobby that Volks still has a huge hand in.

 

making your doll into a completly one of a kind doll is the point of customization, so yes hybrids are perfectly acceptable

 

I've posted in here before, but as I really am too lazy to hunt down the original post to edit it, I'll just post again XD

I posted before I'd gotten my first doll I think, so I hadn't really figured out much about the hobby yet. From my current standpoint as the owner of 3 full dolls, and 3 heads, I have to say: hybrids are my new best friends. I don't see anything unethical about it. Nor do I think anything's wrong with it- for me at least, it's a way to make my dolls even more 100% unique to me. Someone mentioned this somewhere before, and it really struck a chord with me- I don't like having my dolls who are from the same companies have the same bodies. I don't see why I should have to pay for the same thing twice! I've got 2 lati red boys, and I plan to have all 4 at some point. However, only one of them will have the Lati Red body. I want to pick separate bodies for the other three- from all different companies, so that they'll vary in height and build. My dolls represent a bunch of teens, so they absolutely need to look different from each other- and I love the idea of the diversity! Plus, in a lot of ways it's been the cheapest way for me to achieve my dream collection without spending thousands and thousands- I've bought some of my floating heads for as low as $50! So even if I buy a $300 body, it's still $120 cheaper than buying a fullset from Lati. Same with some of my more expensive dream dolls. I don't mind them not being entirely from their company usually, and if I do, I'll save up the extra and get the full set. Otherwise, hybrids are wonderful! Especially since I can be pretty picky about bodies...

 

Teruchan, my thoughts exactly. hell I have a pair of twins in my collection, one is an elfdoll wysteria boy on a dolkot boy body and the other is a CP Moon on a Lost Angels body...yes...one of the boys is BUFF and the other is skinny, but they are still twins, I wanted that varience to express something in their characters. My dolls all differ in height and build and really I do not want them matching, because humans don't

 

I actually never really thought about my ever having a hybrid doll. All my dolls came with a body that I was happy and satisfied with. Still, that being said, I didn't think hybrid dolls were bad. I actually thought it was a high form of customization.

Still, very recently I purchase second-hand (though it'd never been touched) a Luts Wintery head. I found that I wasn't fond of the Luts bodies, so I'm going to put it on a Resinsoul body. It's new and exciting and I know he'll be unique.

It doesn't make me love my non-hybrid dolls any less, but it's something new and interesting to try and learn about. I think that's one of the reasons that this hobby (I consider it one) is so great. There's so much you can do and there is people to share it with.

 

It really comes down to what the buyer wants. If they absolutely love the head of a doll a company put out but can't stand the way they do their bodies, why not get a body you do like from a different company? You do have to deal with the mismatches some but (as already stated) they can be fixed. You end up with a totally unique doll that's exactly what you want it to be. I don't see what's wrong with that

 

Owning a few hybrids myself, I'm under the opinion of; it's your money, do with it what you want....I own hybrids usually because the company sold the head alone, or I want the head as a different gender, or I just don't like the body the company sells the head with. Though hybrids have cost me problems; I've been ostracized at my own Meetup group because I happen to own an Elfdoll Soah head on a male body, and they went hysterical, telling me that "Soah is a female not a male, and what was I thinking put her head on a male body, there are no male Soahs"....... I own over 30 dolls with 4 more on the way, and as I said to the Meetup; I can afford the full dolls where they're available, I just choose not if I don't like the bodies, doesn't fit the character, or just plain doesn't work.

 

I love my hybrids. A lot of my boys are. Sadly, I HAVE been verbally attacked via MSN by a girl on here saying my hybrids were disgusting and that I was not good enough to own a Volks doll and such. It hurt, but it never made me love my boys less. Plus I heard from many others that the same girl has done the same to them. I am not in HS anymore. It is my life, my money, my dolls. hybriding just becomes part of the creativity... As for the whole 'can't bring your other dolls into the LA store" thing. I brought my lishe once and my chiwoo another time. They loved both, even helped me pick out things for them.

 

I love hybrids! For the amount of money that is generally spent in this hobby, why not go with an option that gives you a one of a kind doll? If I can spend money on a doll that there are 500 of, or the same amount on making a doll that there is only 1 of, I'm definitely going to go for the 1.

My big hybrid project right now will have parts from 5 or 6 different companies by the time I'm done, with an estimated cost of $700. So a hybrid doll definitely doesn't automatically equal less expensive.

 

I personally don't have any hybrids - bodies aren't really a big factor for me in purchasing a doll - but I can see why some people have them. I don't think it's a problem, and if someone can get more enjoyment out of a doll they like by switching the body out for a better one, I think it's great.

 

Well... if a doll company is having trouble selling bodies because everyone just buys their heads, (or whatever) from their perspective, I might take that as a cue to make better bodies. XD;
In other words, if it's to be seen as unethical, I wouldn't put all the blame on the customer who created the hybrid.
Although it does seem slightly unethical or rude to buy a cheaper body when you buy a head from a company you respect just because it's cheaper. It's always good to support the companies you admire, in dolls or in any other business. But if their bodies just suck or something, that IS their problem.

But from a company standpoint, you could think of it as "this person loves our body/head so much she went out of her way to buy it instead of use one from the company she got the head/body from!" lol. This may not always be true, but sometimes it will be.

Anyway, in a hobby that's so involved with customization, I don't think it's really appropriate for any of the companies involved to say hybridizing for the sake of customization is wrong. It's a way to create an even higher level of unique and individual doll. The person may just be buying the other company's body/head because it suits their vision of that particular character, so it's not appropriate to offer your product to them and then force them to buy something they don't want to get the part they DO want. (Other kinds of companies do this too and it's stupid in all cases IMO. Although of course there's a point at which breaking a product down gets ridiculous, but usually it's easy to tell where that point is, generally.) They may still like your product and buy it for a different doll. If you don't want your customers to mix and match, you should be a different type of company.

 

I would totally put a male head on a female body - no question. Sometimes, I wonder if companies pair the nicer sculpts with male bodies to sell more male bodies. I would also put a head I loved onto a body I loved - no question. Have I? Not yet, but I would never say never.

To be honest, I don't understand what the fuss is. If a company's sales figures show they have good bodies then they realize they need to work on heads. If the sales figures show good headmold sales, they know they need to work on bodies. By selling pieces it helps companies define strengths and weaknesses and as such would help companies improve and better design their products and expand their customer base.

As for the "purists" who want only company-defined dolls, that's great, too. Part of doll-collecting is appreciating different forms and interpretations of beauty even if it's not something one prefers him/herself.

 

Personally, as long as the hybrid is well thought-out and well-done, more power to the hobbyists who take the time and energy to make a more fitting, unique doll. This hobby is about customization, and as long as it looks like a whole doll, it is a whole doll.

 

W-O-W

There is a word for customization? I kind of don’t get it, like any company, there out to turn a profit and on one hand the reason any one company would ‘disallow’ someone from Hybrids would be to make more money so that makes senses.

But as for ethics: well. Once you have paid for something, they really have no say one way or another. You paid for something and now you are allowed to do whatever you are allowed to with it.

The only real problem I would have with it would be, well, say you got something costume made or say something that was made by an artist. If its an art pieces, an example I would say Enchanted Dolls, I would find that wrong, as as art you are destroying something created, not altering mass market produces.

My two cents.

 

I've got a Soah and she looks too feminine to me to gender-switch really well, but I've been pleasantly surprised before, by really creative people who can do all sorts of things with the right face-up. I bet your boy is handsome! People are silly-what you do with your doll is your own business. And hybridizing is an art-form-it's really hard matching proportions and resin from two different companies to make a harmonious whole. Some of the most beautiful, unique dolls I've seen have been hybrids.

 

I'm continually surprised that there are people out there who want to muscle in on other people's doll choices Sometimes the Company A body just won't work for what someone is trying to achieve with the Company A head, so you look at bodies from Company B and/or Company C instead.

 

Wow I didn't know that there are ppl that actually hates hybrid, I always thought it was acceptable in the BJD community. But to be honest i really don't care if you like it or not, you don't have to like it but bashing someone and calling them or the doll a monster is uncalled for. I think hybrids are cool and I understand why would somebody would want to switch their dolls head or body for another company's, for example, I love iplehouse EID females except for the arms, legs, and their feet, because to me it looks action figure like not feminine. I like DM's arms, legs, and their high heel feet, because it looks very feminine. If I could find a body that has both EID female torso and DM's arm, legs, and feet, Ill buy it in a heart beat! I think hybrids are cool and i don't see how it makes the doll or the person a monster. Maybe someone that dislike hybrids could tell me why.