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

The idea of a hybrid just doesn't seem to sit right with me. I don't know why, but it doesn't. I like getting my dolls whole. Of course, though, if I had to buy a body for a doll I have- like let's say their body is destroyed and they need a new one- I guess I might. Or, if I just can't get the doll to pose right, I would maybe consider a new body. But, I doubt I would ever just buy a head and attempt to get a body later.

 

I actually just bought a head with no body : ) the faceup was too amazing to ignore! I know it will be hard work finding a body for this head, but it will definitely be worth it in the end.

 

Generally I tend more toward buying head and body all at once, more so I don't have to worry about resin matching or floating parts. I do have four who were acquired as just heads, though, but all were a "special" head, at least at the time. (Three Minimees, and one LTF Pukisha faceplate from the release event, before Pukisha was an available sculpt.) I've finally gotten three of the four paired with bodies, but it takes so much longer to find that perfect body that, unless I have a reason for it (heads available only as heads, or a specific build or feature I'm looking for), I probably will keep buy future dolls as a complete unit, so to speak.

 

I have an Iplehouse Tania. She is my favourite doll that I own, but she's not a "slim" body so she doesn't fit in alot of pants that you buy, so I would advise you to buy her head seperately. You will have to see what resin of which company fits her. I am thinking of hybridding my Tania with a minifee ^^

I personally have always bought full dolls because i'm scared of having miscoloured body to head, but if you do your research, buying seperate can be cheaper.

 

I have Eva Louise (Dollmore) head and I dont like the body of Dollore. So I plan to buy my girl another body. I laso think that it will be better for me to create the hybrids, becouse I like head and bodies from different companies

 

I saw many heads that I like, but not as many bodies .. probably in the future I will be tempted by buy a head without a body, especially for this reason.
I'd like to put a body that I like on an head i like too!
But for the moment i prefer to buy a complete doll! is more easy!

 

It all depends! I've gotten a few heads (one's a MnM so no choice, one's an Elfdoll & I only had the $$$ for her head at the time, one's a freebie, one was an awesome custom faceup job only offered on the MP as a head, etc). I have NO problems switching bodies around, however - my Elfdoll head will NOT be going on an Elfdoll body (too short) & I'm currently looking for a body I like for my Limwha Mano because I want the Limwha for my MnM head (because I think that body looks like an old man's & the MnM's character is in his 50s). Funny thing about the custom head - its a Souldoll Key & I ended up buying a Key body off the MP for him - really wasn't planning on that LOL - just serendipity!
I've switched my IH old YID body w/a DZ one to make my Frannie taller (going to give the IH body to my DZ free head).

 

I love hybrids so i prefer buying
Separately. But sometimes when
you only want to buy head but theres no seller selling the head, so in that case i buy completely :3

 

I tend to buy fullset dolls because I don't want to see the color mismatch of head and body...

 

Having done both myself, it is of course EASIER to get it from the same company. Unfortunately some companies only make heads, or the bodies they come with are disproportionate, or the body doesn't fit for a character, etc.
In my dream land, the BJD industry would sync skintones so mix-and-match would be worry-free

 

In the past I have bought full dolls but recently I have bought two heads. One is really rare and the other is really hard to get too due to limited release. I got both from the marketplace. It's both exciting and a bit frightening to think of finding bodies for them. I'm not up for doing mods so I need a pretty good resin and size match. I have found that there is heaps of info in the databases as well as at meetups. I'm looking forward to completing them as the hybrids feel even more like I will have chosen how they look and I can match a character that I had in mind more accurately. I love my whole dolls but it's nice to be able to put a head on a slimmer or more muscled body etc...

 

I usually prefer to buy complete dolls, even if the dolls body/head is not quite what I'm looking for (as long as it's at least "close enough"). However, there are a couple of doll factories that create absolutely gorgeous bodies, but the heads are not to my taste, or other way around. In those cases, I would order only the part I like, and find the other parts from somewhere else.

So far only my Tiny Fairy Nicky (female body) is of, hm, "mixed blood" xD Her head and body are from blue fairy, but I ordered her seperate hands from fairyland, because I didn't like the look of tinyfairy hands, too childlike for the character. The body is somewhat childlike as well but I can live with that for now xD

 

I have four hybrids, three of which have heads from a company that simply doesn't sell bodies for them. What was I supposed to do XD? The fourth is a doll of which I liked the head but didn't think the default body suitable for my character.

I don't buy heads separately unless I know which body I will buy for them though. I don't want to take the risk of not knowing beforehand which body will fit the head. So I do my research first.

Resin match is not such a big thing for me. I would be bothered by, say, an NS head on a WS body, but if body and head are a shade different, I don't really mind. I care more about correct(ish) proportions. I'd rather have a hybrid with an imperfect resin match than a complete doll with a bobblehead.

 

For me it just really depend. I would prefer a full set since I wouldn't have to do any digging on what works and what doesn't. Though I'm sure it would be worth it in the end.

 

I really prefer to buy the head and body together if possible. However my doll collection is getting pretty big and taking up space, so I'm at a point where I've started buying heads to swap around a little bit. I would prefer them to all have bodies but I have to be reasonable!

 

Complete dolls...the idea of a hybrid appeals to me but trying to find a body that matches the resin of this MNM head is stressing me out! So much easier to just buy them together

 

Definitely a fullset. That way when they do arrive, all I have to worry about is a faceup, or clothes;the cheaper things. I already have a floating head and I hate having to wait to save up to have to wait again for the body to ship.

 

Putting a head with the right body when you're mixing companies is definitely harder, but then again you can save money doing that too. So far I've only done that once and it's really been a bit of a chore figuring out what body I'm going to put that head on. But in the end I'll have saved a nice little bit of money and I'll have body I definitely like better than the one he usually comes on. I do want the resin to match as well as possible. That's important, but I don't mind working a little to make that happen by blushing. Better a little blushing than a body I do not like.

I used to be totally anal about having things as perfect as possible. Particularly when it came to my doll, their faces, their clothes etc. But I've learned about a lot about having patience and having limits and being realistic lately. I've had a health problem for a while now that's really been kicking my butt. It's really taught me that striving for perfection all the time is just a huge waste of time and energy. Sometimes just getting my real work done, paying the bills, that means letting the fun things I'd like to do otherwise slide for a while.

Barbies are pretty easy to dress and display. But when it comes to the bigger dolls I'm not nearly as fast as I used to be with working on them. I used to feel horribly guilty if a doll wasn't all perfectly wigged, dressed and faced properly displayed on a shelf all done within a day or two of arrival. Now if the doll makes it to the shelf within a week in a sock dress and a wig I'm not all that unhappy and it might actually stay there for a few months that way until I can get the energy to work on them, laugh. I've been perpetually sick now for months. I'm not sewing like I was. I'm not making shoes. I'm not making jewelry. I made a sock dress and a wig for Annie and it wore me out so darned bad I haven't touched her since. I'll eventually get there but she probably won't be what I envisioned for a long while yet.

Ditto my MSD Miro dolls. Doing all that work on Alba was quite a task. By the time I was finished with all the soaking and sanding and facing her up I needed a break. I still haven't figured out what clothes for her. She's still in a nightgown but she's better off than the Miro dolls. At least she has a face. The the doll and the head I'm getting now they're already faced up and I'm kind of glad for that. I might change them around a little eventually but for now at least they already have a face and all I have to do is dress them and put them on the shelf.

Kelly will need a little more work than the RS vampire, but still I don't have to completely do him up from scratch and right now that's a big plus. Yeah I'd like him to totally match his body, to have a perfect face up, the perfect wig, the perfect clothes but that's a process and sometimes it can take me a while and that's okay. When we get there, we get there. Life is all more about the journey now than the end results and perfection sometimes that's just asking for too much. I've learned to relax, to be content with and even love the imperfect.

 

Only complete, it is important to me...

 

I am an Iplehouse addict w/o even possessing one yet (2 girls and an EID man body ONLY on the way). Having said that... I bought my EID man body separate so I would have the option of body types without having to buy 2 FULL dolls and swapping for character images. Anyone who knows the price of IH big guys will understand the cost prohibition of getting many male EID's (at least not very fast). And just knowing I will have a headless body, for who knows how long before I can get lucky with a spare head, is already making me nuts. If it wasn't a necessary thing to do (for me at this point) never again would I not get a full doll. The only exception (maybe???) might be a body with interchangeable heads as in human and fantasy that would come that way to start with. Even then I think I might be hunting out a body for the spare head LOL. I feel twitchy at the idea alone... I may have to resort to a cheap temporary head before I find the right one O_o.

EDIT: on a side note... i bought the 'body only' on a super rare upgrade event that only lasted 5-7 days... I didn't have a choice about getting the body only first (instead of a full doll) since I already had 2 girls just ordered -_-. That is if I wanted the 2 body options for one doll.