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

I will only buy a complete doll.

 

I prefer buying complete dolls, but i one day i found just the of my dreams dolls, i will buy the bodies separetly ;-)
But for example when i was customising my little pullips i was buying obitsu bodies alone!

 

I prefer full dolls, although I do have a couple of floating Minimee heads (one of which I'm going to be buying a body for next month). As others have elaborated on, there is the problem with resin- and proportion-matching if you're opting to buy heads and bodies separately. And even if you do find information all over the forum on the best fit, a lot of the times you do get contradicting and/or outdated answers since companies change their resin batches over time.

There is also the question of how much time and money you're willing to invest in such a quest, because as you buy and wait, there'd be times you'd find yourself disappointed about the nonmatch, and then you'll have to go through the whole buying and waiting cycle all over again.

 

So far (though I am quite new and don't quite yet have my first BJD) I prefer full dolls. I don't want a head without a body or to order them at separate times. I want the resin to match nicely, and I don't want to have to mod a head onto a different brand's body either.

I can see changing my mind in the future though. As there is a doll head I love from a company where the bodies are not quite as nice as the Fairyland's I have fallen in love with. I could possibly see myself doing a "frankendoll" to get the other company's head someday.

 

I've done both and I have to say I prefer getting the complete doll all at once. The majority of my BJDs are complete, but last year I wound up with three heads. Two were only available as heads so I didn't really have a choice in the matter. The third was on sale. However, by the time I eventually add the body, I didn't really save anything. Purchasing the body separately can be more expensive, especially if you calculate the extra postage your going to have to pay for making two separate purchases.

Also, finding the right resin color match and the right body for each head can be a bear. A very costly and time consuming thing. I still don't have bodies for my three heads and I am seriously thinking of selling the heads. It isn't worth the effort to try to get bodies for them. Plus, sometimes the batches are a slightly different color so if you wait too long, the right body still isn't going to match the head that normally would come with it. Another thing to consider is that with some head/body combinations, you might have to sand or alter the neck to fit a particular head that doesn't normally go with that particular body.

I did recently purchase another two other heads, though, because again it was the only way I could get the molds I wanted. The only reason I finally went for it was because the heads needed a CH or equavalent body and CH had their wonderful sale on the bodies. In this case, I did save quite a bit even after the shipping and considering the sales a CH, but again this was an isolated case.

If I were just starting out, I would go for the complete doll. Once you get more comfortable with customizing, etc., then you could venture out into buying the heads separately.

 

I prefer a complete doll only! =)

 

So far all my loves are in full..
I dare not to assemble any part of my son by myself yet...I'm still a beginner -.-||.....
but I do prefer dolls in full

 

For me being so new to this hobby; that's totally dependent on the character I'm created, the company's heads and bodies individually and my wallet. I thought about doing a hybrid with Volks and another company's resin head but I decided on just buying a complete doll from one company. I can hybridize later when I get more experienced handling and caring for my resin kids.

 

There's a really great feeling about opening a complete doll for me. When a head and body are just perfect together, and I get to open that box and see them lying there, I just love that moment. That said, sometimes working out what parts work together is really gratifying, too. So, I guess it depends on the situation.

 

I like and have, both. For the most part, I own a doll for the head sculpt, and I like to try it out with it's "real" body first.
If the "real" body isn't poseable though, it's replaced with one that is.
I recently fell in love with a head sculpt and bought the head only. I put him on a very poseable body that I already had.
I then got really stuck on the idea of having his head put together with his "real" body. I sold his hybrid body and bought the "real" one. Waited 3 months for the "real" body, spent a fortune on it and in shipping, and completely regret having sold the hybrid body. It suited my boy so much more than the "real" body.

One of the coolest things about this hobby is that it is so personal. Some people collect a certain brand and must have that brand, in whole. Some people don't care about the brand, and will mix and match to save money or to achieve a look or poseability that they want. All in all, one must figure out what works for them, and appreciate others who do the same.
As a first time buyer, I think it makes sense to buy a whole doll. If you are not happy with the head, or not happy with the body, you can move forward from there to figure out how to keep the part you love and replace the part you don't. You will learn what works for you by doing. You might find out that you must have the whole doll to be happy, or you might find out that you have to mix it up a bit to get the exact head and body that you want. You might end up like me, some dolls are whole, some are hybrids, but all of them bring you joy!

 

I prefer buying full bodies dolls then parts but I am one for buying wigs and eyes

 

BUT i do see the point in buying hands also for different potions and such~

 

I like buying a whole doll when possible. There is more to match then resin. Some doll heads are really big, like Volks, and so they're better suited on Volks bodies, which are a little chubbier. Put a Volks head on, I don't know, a Fairyland body, and it looks really bobble-headed. It's just so much easier when everything is from the same company.

But sometimes it can't be avoided. I have a Minimee head that I really love, and she's currently on a body I really hate. I'll eventually get one that I like better, but I can't say I like the shopping around aspect.

 

I like mixing and matching bodies since most of the time there is one particular company's body mold I like best of all. I don't really care about resin matching, since most of their skin will be covered the majority of the time, anyway. If you're a first-time buyer with no modding experience/courage to start modding, you may want to avoid mixing/matching. Many times you'll find head molds don't have the right size hole to fit on another company's body.

 

My doll is a hybrid. He didn't NEED to be, but I really wanted a body with better posability...so I bought his head and body from two different places. If the body offered was a nice one, I would've loved to buy him all at once, but since it wasn't, hybriding was the way to go for me. ^^;;

 

I think complete dolls are better, but sometimes, i really like the heads but the body is really useless, at that time i'll choose to by the head only and match with a useful body^^

 

Up until now I've only bought complete dolls, since I prefer to get a full doll to play with instead of painfully searching for a nice match ^^;
Yet, I cannot say that I am happy with all of them. There is a floating head waiting for a body from a different company, a doll whose sculpt I adore but hate the poseability, and another doll to come where I will need to decide if I like her body or not.

This is why I've been researching all sorts of things lately. Also, when speaking about hybrids, I mostly look at proportions. The color match can be corrected by blushing and clothing in most cases - it's not like I'd buy a pink body for a cream white doll or a tan for a normal

 

I just ordered my first doll, which i wasn't to crazy about
Her head sculpt so I ordered an extra head that I really liked
only to realize later that her neck hole is .3cm too small.
Although I've been told that with some sanding I can get it to fit.
but I'd say getting a complete doll you really like as your first would be best.
The more I look at my dolls head the more I love it, so
I'm really happy with my buy. I just have an extra head, that I may
or maynot use. Xd
Maybe I'll try matching her a body later on. ^_^

 

I prefer buying whole dolls.
It's easier.
But I bought new Boy & Girl hands for my Angel Fantasy Xun.

 

Although I prefer buying the dolls complete - I seriously dislike floating heads - all my dolls, aside from my SwD Lucas have come in parts. One of my main rule is that each doll I own has a different body and I belief the body is just as much a vital part of portraying a doll's personality as is his/her face, so my dolls are all hybrids.

Still, if I had the chance to buy them complete I'd take it any day.