Which do you prefer: Buying heads and bodies separate or complete dolls?

It depends on what I need for a character as to which I do. There's something nice about opening a box and having a whole doll ready to enjoy. However, I like creating hybrids too, and find that it can be a bonding experience -- it feels like I'm building my own doll, and it's more unique to me. One of my favorite dolls has parts from three different companies.

Sometimes making hybrids is more expensive, sometimes it's less -- it depends on the body and head you use (or if you managed to get a really good deal in the market place ). I've never been deeply concerned about resin matching -- if the match really bugs me, I can always blush the head. Granted how much someone is bothered by a nonexact match is a very individual thing. Getting the body type I want is far more important, because that's not so easily fixable. You can always compare measurements (most companies list them somewhere on their site), or ask here if anybody has the dolls and can compare. There are lots of threads dealing with creating hybrids in the picture request section of the forum.

Creating hybrids is very doable -- it just takes a little extra research to figure out which heads and bodies will work the best for what you want.

 

Well, I used to own a beloved Elfdoll Soooah, I loved her face and hated her body so the body had to go. She became a hybrid and that's how I imagine it starts for most people. You find a head or body which you absolutely love but the other half just doesn't match your needs. I would love to have more elfdoll head sculpts in the future but i'm still not keen on even the newer bodies so it would be hybrids again. Plus often hybrids can be a LOT cheaper than buying the full doll from one company

 

Out of four dolls, only one is a complete doll company wise. Two I bought head and body separately, and one I bought head and body together from the same previous owner, despite the head and body not belonging together initially.

For me, I guess I suppose buying a complete doll is more fun because the box opening is like a real box opening, but I tend to Marketplace shop, and when I fall in love with a head, I want it. It doesn't matter if it has a body attached or not.

It's more about what's available to me and what's my price range, really.

 

I guess it depends what you are looking for. Sometimes, I've found that I might like a head sculpt but I'm not too thrilled about the body it comes with so I love that you can hybrid it with a body you actually like/prefer. Doing it that way does mean there's a certain amount of research required in terms of trying to find a close resin match but generally, I've been pretty lucky so far in that regard.

Buying a complete doll is easier because you don't have to worry about resin matching and most times, it does work out cheaper than a hybrid but sometimes a complete doll may not be everything you want so the hybrid option allows you to get what you want.

I only have three dolls at the moment and two of those are complete dolls although I may end up swapping out one of the heads eventually for something else. One of my dolls is a hybrid and I have a floating head on the way which will also end up as a hybrid so I guess that means I seem to like/prefer making my own hybrids.

 

I'd love to be able to buy a full doll every single time. Unfortunately, it's impossible for companies to offer every possible combination or for your luck to be that good on the marketplace, so hybriding is necessary.

 

Any dolls I own so far are full dolls from the company. I think, for your first purchase, if you're uncertain how you would go about hybriding a doll, then it's probably better to do your research and find one doll you think you'll really love and go with that.
At least then you're getting that full doll box opening and can jump headlong into the hobby, you'll have one doll to dote upon and style and whatever else you're going to do with it....Then if you want to try adjusting and making a hybrid well you always can!
But I think I'd have been disappointed if I bought a head and body seperate, got them and they didn't match up to my satisfaction to have to go hunting for another body. Sure I probably wouldn't mind doing it NOW, but not for ones very FIRST doll.

Even now I'm debating a new body for my model doll if I can find one for her. Love the head, not so fond of the body.

 

So far I've only really focused on how the face looks on the doll, but buying them whole is how I've always thought of it. I would buy things separately, but the more I learn about the dolls, the more paranoid I'd be about doing that. For instance I might find a doll body I like from LUTS and a face I like from Angell Studio, but I'd be so scared of the resin not matching! I haven't done this yet, but I'd rather focus on a whole doll rather than getting them separate.
The only thing I'm seriously considering would have to be hand parts and feet parts. Like for high heeled shoes and jointed hands. But it all boils down to the character I want for them, so that will determine whether I'll go the extra lengths to purchase all parts separately. And you wouldn't see their feet anyhow, so I suppose buying feet would make any of my resin matching fears invalid! LOL

But I suppose it's only because I have not found a head that I love yet that isn't on a body...

 

I much prefer getting full dolls if possible, because I'm quite picky about the resin match, but since I've been picking up limiteds off the marketplace lately, I will have a few more hybrids in the house. I'm also kinda super-picky about the body and proportions, so recently, I've been leaning more towards hybridisation.

Some people prefer to buy heads if their budget is currently tight, because bodies are usually more readily available to be picked up at a later date. Sometimes, dolls can share bodies too, in a pinch, before you get a proper body for the floating head.

For someone who is new to the hobby, it might be better to just get a full doll first and see how it works out, but if you're adventurous, there are many, many resin matching threads here on DoA that can help you with your hybridisation. ^_^

 

i prefer buying full doll because it is less trouble and i hate having floating heads. and i hate when resin doesnt match too well :/
but there are many dolls i want to hybrid so... xD
i think i prefet having not so great match rather than a body that i hate

 

I have enough hybrids in my collection at this point that I realize I honestly don't prefer one way or another. Sure, there is something very gratifying about opening a new doll and seeing it completely whole, absolutely perfect from the start, but on the other hand, there's that same sort of joy in finding just the perfect match and creating a doll that truly lives up to your taste. I'm very picky about having the entirety of my dolls match which character they are meant to be and sometimes the default body just isn't going to work so I find a different one instead. Yes, resin matching and proportion can be a pain and possibly not worth it to some people, but I would choose to go through it to have a doll that truly matches my vision of it in the end. I realize now only 4 of my 10 dolls are not a hybrid in some way, yet I in no way find my hybrids to be superior as I simply lucked out that my full dolls suited their character from the start.

For a first timer I would recommend buying a whole doll as resin and proportion matching might be a bit of a learning curve for some that could become frustrating quite quickly. Also because I personally feel I would not have been as attached to my first doll if he had not come whole as a bit of the 'magic' would have been lost at seeing my first as nothing more than bits and pieces. That's only fom my personal view however and I'm sure there are plenty of others who don't feel the same.

 

I prefer to buy the head and body together -- that way I know the proportions will be right and the resin match will be perfect, since when you buy them together they're generally cast from the same batch. Also it's generally slightly less expensive.

I do have two dolls that are on bodies I bought separately from the heads, but the heads and bodies are from the same company and because I got them used and scrounged around for good prices they were considerably less expensive than buying the head and body together (which would have involved doing FCS, eek). Volks resin is probably the most consistent of any company, color-wise (do they use computerized pigment stuff like they use for house paint or something? It's kind of amazing how consistent the resin match is), so match hasn't really been an issue.

 

This is a good question! Do any of you more knowledgable Angel Keepers have an opinion about what company's resin matches are the best with another company's?

 

Bishonen Judge, this is not the thread for that sort of thing. If you're looking for resin matches, try searching the pictures request forum.

 

Definitely try Picture Request forum -- it's way to general a question for this thread. However, I will tell you a good place to start if you're trying to find a body for a head. When it comes to NS heads, some are a pinkish color and some are yellowish color. You can begin narrowing your choices by automatically cutting out which ever color group doesn't go. Then pick your faves from the remaining bodies and start looking up and/or requesting pics of that combination.

However, I have put bodies and heads together that really didn't match color wise -- one head I blushed to match (the head was paler than the body, so it wasn't too difficult). The other I was just so happy to find a short boy body that could handle Lorry's Chiwoo melon head of doom, that I didn't care about the color by that point. However, it is less work if you start out with a head and body that's at least in the same color family.

 

I would much rather have a full doll. Obviously, I don't want to have to go through the process of resin matching; but there is also something very appealing about opening the box and having a full doll all ready to play with and love.

 

I would actually not care. If i was to order a migidoll head then so be it, but if i find a doll that has the head that i need then i wouldn't have a problem with buying the whole doll. (:

 

Both have advantages. My first doll will (hopefully) be a complete doll. Maybe in a few years, my second doll may be a Puki, or a Bobobie head on a different body, since I hear BBBs are hard to restring.

 

My first doll I bought the head then the body. Then I bought another head and just recently I have recieved my first full doll. I have to say, buying a full doll is just easier. Everytime I look at my floating head, the only thing I can think about it 'I'll buy you a body... eventually'. Buying a head and body seperately can often be cheaper, and allows you to really customize your character but sometimes it can be a hassle.