What do you think about Hybrids?

I think hybrids are great. It give the possibility to own from several companies or artist that you love. with out to pay a lot for many dolls or don't have the space for them or even take a cheaper body option for a expensive head (or other way around).. that said I have only one hybrid. the head came from an artist, no body. the body and head don't resin match 100%, but do close enough for me. I have been thinking of dye the doll.. So fare I love the head on there.. so dyeing have to wait.

 

I love hybrids to help keep my full doll collection to a reasonable quality. I collect heads and they share bodies, usually from the same company so I’m not sure that’s strictly hybrid.

I have two dolls from mixed companies: Dollmore Lilis Liv on a Glorydoll body and Dollstown
Lucille on a Volks body.

 

How have I never posted on this thread before?

Obviously I like it when I like both head and body from the same company, because that makes it easier, but I love hybrids! My owned doll list is out of date right now, but I'd say a good 1/3 or more of my dolls are hybrids. A couple of them used to be hybrids, but I later ended up getting them a body from their parent company, and some are "hybrids" in the sense that their bodies and heads were meant for different dolls, but were made by the same company.

I'm picky about what I want for my dolls, and what sort of body types and styles I want them to have. Hybriding allows me to make my dolls look exactly how I imagined them to look, even if it's weird. It's great!

 

Hybrids can be the particularly interesting when trying to shell particular characters into doll form and sometimes they are the only possibility when it comes to keeping the characters looking right with each other.
I have 2 hybrids out of 7 dolls in my resin family, and they would be 3 if I hadn't invested too much money already to get clothing and accessories that fit the body of that one (and the current second-hand marketplace being as slow as it is).
It can be quite challenging to be able to decide which body is going to better fit your needs and the proportions of the head, but I've had good luck in that field so far. Also, it is amazing how a good blushing can match the head to the body seamlessly.

 

I like hybrids although I don't personally have any, I think I just get too stuck on a perfect resin match. I have definitely planned many hybrids though and will absolutely work them into my collection at some point!

 

The potential for hybriding is another reason why I love BJD's, as long as the parts are from legit companies. All of my large dorries are either hybrids (head and body are from different companies) or frankendolls (head, body, hands, other resin parts from different companies).

 

Hybriding is my favorite sport

 

I like hybriding as well!

 

i currently own 18 full dolls...15 of them are hybrids. it's safe to assume i am very pro-hybrid.

some of it was affordability. i never have a very big doll budget-- i've collected what i have over a period of 12 years, and the vast majority of my dolls were bought secondhand in separate pieces.

but tbh affordability has not been the only or even the main reason i've constructed my collection the way i have. reason #1 is i think it's fun! it adds so much more customization and makes it into more of a creative project and less of a buying/collecting hobby, and i enjoy the challenge of modding things to make a hybrid work. i've done everything from use dye to tint one part to match another, to spray paint both parts so everything matches, using milliput to make a smaller neckhole on a head so it fits the body i want to put it on, shortening or resculpting a neck to make it fit a head, and then there's a super simple little piece of extra detail hybriding-- putting a different company's hands on a body i otherwise like but hate the hands on. i do that one a LOT-- i'm picky about hands!

for example: i have a Dollmore girl on an Angel of Dream body that looks awesome-- the proportions of the head and body are great and the sculpting styles are super compatible-- but in order to make it fit, i had to dremel quite a bit off and reshape the top of the neck, and then do tons of finish sanding. it turned out great and i love the end result! that head and body combo create an overall figure that is much more how i envisioned that doll's character than the body the head was "supposed to" come on would have been.

hybriding is how i get the exact dolls i want as well as a way i have been able to afford. it's a huge part of the fun of bjd for me-- i just really like approaching my dolls like building little plastic people from spare parts, i guess

 

I’m sure as in any hobby there will be the purists who see a hybrid as some sort of blasphemy but to most of us it’s all part of the fun and creativity of the hobby.

It’s a great way to bring a character to life or even a cost effective way of obtaining a complete doll by way of adding a head from a company you admire but haven’t the budget for one of their full dolls to a cheaper body. Sometimes you just don’t like the bodies but admire the head sculpts from a particular maker or even the other way around.
It’s not without its problems though as it can take many failed attempts to get the right mix or resin shade match but as a whole it adds another level of customisation to BJD collecting.

 

When I first joined this hobby, hybriding seemed like this really daunting task. Trying to get the right resin match, making sure the proportions worked; it all sounded way too complicated and stressful to even entertain. Now, hybrids are basically all I do.

 

I don't have anything against people who make hybrids, but I hate it so much. So much uncertainty and a high risk of failure and having to buy another body! I dread the thought and I hope I never have to do it again.

 

I'm also on team "really intimidated by hybrids as a newbie, now owns several hybrids." I think it's worth taking the chance on hybriding to get a doll you're truly happy to own rather than settling for what comes standard/together.

I also recently forayed into buying artist heads, which necessitates some level of comfort with hybriding since you can't get a body from the same maker anyway. It opens up a whole new frontier of sculpts and possibilities!

 

I have nothing against hybrids and love seeing other people's, but I don't personally own any, and I don't (currently) plan to. I think it has to do with the way I choose dolls; I'm not someone who had OCs before the hobby, so I rarely seek out dolls to represent a specific character. I think a lot of hybriding (from what I've seen at least) is done to make a more faithful representation of an existing character.

Maybe you find a perfect head for the character, but the same company doesn't have a perfect body. I'm sure that's not the case for all hybrid-makers, but it seems like it's pretty common.

I just never really created OCs before this hobby, or if I did, they were short-lived and used only for writing purposes. When I started collecting BJD, I was only looking for dolls I found overall aesthetically pleasing and interesting, not seeking to represent anything specific. I've more or less stayed like that, though I have a couple of OCs now that are also dolls.

I think I also prefer the aesthetic of having a head and body that were designed to go together, so I tend to only buy dolls whose head and body both appeal to me. The idea of resin matching and making sure the proportions match stresses me out, too. And the few times I've had "floating heads" sitting around waiting for bodies, it's bothered me so much I ended up selling them. The only one I kept was my first grail, who I ultimately found a body for!

This is all not to say I'll never own a hybrid... there are certainly heads out there that I'm interested in, that aren't sold with bodies, or are old and hard to find as full dolls, etc etc, so I may well end up owning a hybrid someday!

 

Personally for me it's to each their own - whatever floats your boat, as long as you are not hurting anyone or stepping on toes then that's totally fine. I will say though, that hybrids can be very personable / customized since you can mix and match different brands.

 

If for some reason, the doll becomes damaged and you need parts, then sure, hybrid away. There are times you can't find the exact part, so you might as well use compatible parts. Other times, a vision of a doll is a hybrid that is the best part of the hobby, the imagination that everyone has to bring a doll to life.