What do you think about Hybrids?

I wouldn't know why Hybrids would be deemed unacceptable and unethical? They're dolls, and if you wished to switch the bodies and heads around, it's your choice. Especially if you're the owner. Personally, I just want Hybrids' skin tones to match each other and their sizes to be proportional, but that's just my preference. Some other people pay attention to that. Some don't.

 

I'm totally up for hybriding I don't have one myself, but as I like a particular style aesthetically, and I crave posability, I feel that if one company can't provide both, then why not support 2 artists?

 

I've done it myself, so yeah I think hybriding can be a good thing! It made the MSD I wanted since before I started this hobby possible (and kinda got me into the hobby in the first place), by buying the head sculpt I wanted and putting it on a cheaper body that the resin matches. And sure enough, that was a good call because now the head sculpt is being discontinued, so if I had waited too much longer I would have really been out of luck!

 

I would really take the time to do research. I'm not sure you know how the hybrid doll concept works. If it isn't something you are intoxicated anyway, why post such negativity here?

 

I personally have hybrid dolls. At first I bought an Angel of Dream body for my CP SS EL head but since the resin didn't match I had to go on a shopping spree to find the fitting body secondhand. I thought it was smart to save costs but in the end it was more expensive as I was too naive.

I have a CP Yder heady on a Fantasy Doll body. Originally I purchased him as a full doll but some years ago I thought I had lost interest in the hobby and sold the body. Since then I found that I regretted selling the body but it was pretty much impossible to find a new body for the old CP Yder head. That made me have no other choice than to go for a hybrid solution. I am quite happy with this hybrid, although I still sometimes knock myself on the head about selling the body back then.

I have a Ninodoll IZ head which is on a SDF body. The resin match is pretty good and I had no other option than to buy any body which had the same skintone.

I also have two event heads, both of which have been given SDF bodies. I don't know if this is called hybrid since they are from the same company but neither of them could be purchased as full dolls.

I personally don't mind hybrid dolls, I think they can be as fine as dolls that have been purchased as full dolls, but personally I still prefer to purchase full dolls rather than hybrids. not because i look down on hybrids or think that there is something wrong with it, however it usually becomes very stressful to find the perfect resin match and I don't have the skill to blush a face to the same colour

 

I just can't understand why some people hate hybrid dolls and attack people who collect/have them. I really don't mind about this.

I always prefer to buy a complete doll, but I've already planned to have some hybrid dolls before because I don't like bodies of some companies (like dollmore, I hate their bodies). It happens a lot that I like some head of a company but hate their body and want this especific head in another body that I like more (like luts). So why not make a hybrid doll? l don't want to have a doll with some part that I don't like.

 

Wow this seems kind of crazy to me. What right does anyone have to tell you how to spend your money. As long as the parts are legal nobody has a say in whatever you put together.

 

I have a mess of hybrids. Some were unintentional, like my Dollmore head on a DZ body--perfect fit, by the way, both color and size to the point you'd think they came together, so I don't know where this perception of cutting and hacking is coming from--some were very intentional--older Leeke SD heads are absurdly oversized on the Leeke bodies to the point of being ridiculous, nor am I a fan of the Leeke body aesthetic or posing. Then there are the hybrids from "sister" companies--the resin is the same, the sculptor is the same, the only difference is "this line is called this, and this line is called that." I have older heads where the original bodies are impossible to get. I plan on hybridizing those too.

Plenty of companies sell *JUST* the heads. Some sell *ONLY* heads. What are we to do, have boxes of bodiless heads because there is no company body available??

Hybrids have ALWAYS been a part of this hobby, for the 11+ years I've been in. Getting upset or "offended" by hybridization is not defending the original artist, but deriding the ingenuity and creativity of fellow doll enthusiasts.

TL;DR: It's your doll, if hybridizing it is the way that you enjoy it best, then please, by all means do so.

 

I've got one hybrid, and I made him a hybrid to -- EGADS -- save some money. As it turned out, the body was a perfect resin match and a much better proportion -- to my eye -- than the one he would have originally come with. (Bizarrely enough, it's precisely the same hybrid as @Nico Robin has up there -- a Yder head on a Fantasy Doll body. Hot damn.) There's not a damn thing wrong with hybrids. Slap your doll together however you want. It's your doll; it's your money. It's your call as to what to do with it, and I think the whole concept that dolls were never meant to be split apart is bullpucky. You make your doll into your vision. If that involves a hybrid, then go for it!

 

Honestly this thread is the only time I have EVER seen any animosity toward making hybrid dolls. I've been in the hobby since 2009 in two states and been often to several big cons and lots of meetups.
So no, it's not a Thing, it's one person's feelings, out an entire hobby based around customization.

 

THIS.
Honestly, every time this thread resurfaces, I'm amazed that it still exists to keep stoking unnecessary angst and hard feelings.

 

I love hybrids and I think most BJD companies don't care as long as you're buying from them instead of buying recasts. Some companies don't offer heads and bodies separately (looking at you Iplehouse) but I think that's more down to production than it is a dislike for hybrids.

This hobby is about customization and nothing celebrates that more than a really well done hybrid! Most people love to make their dolls their own, or have a very specific image of the character they're shelling, or want a body that doesn't pose like absolute garbage (looking at you soom!), and hybriding is the way to do it!

I, myself, have two hybrids:
a migidoll vampire miho head on a spiritdoll elegance body - because migidoll bodies are unattractive but that head was everything and spiritdoll elegance body is perfect in every respect except for its wobbly ankles and terrible elbows (but I didn't know about those when I bought it or I would've gone for a luts delf body).
And a Soom Wolf head on a DC old 70 cm body, which I got second hand and was ten thousand kinds of excite to find because it combines a head that I adore with a body that I always wanted to own since I joined the hobby, and the resin match is absolutely perfect.

Do what you want as long as you're not hurting anyone, I say.

 

Hybriding is a good way to find your perfect doll. I have heads that never looked quite right on their own bodies. When I put them on another company's body, they settled in with a happy sigh and looked better than the original.

Agreed with @Rosslyn and @Cynthia in FlintHills , this thread is the only place I've seen anti-hybrid animosity. I'm not sure where the perception comes from that it's widespread in the hobby. If I had to guess, I'd say that half of BJD owners have hybrids instead of full dolls.

 

It does come up occasionally in other threads... the most recent one I can think of is the now-locked "What if someone bought a recast?" thread.

Thankfully "hybrid haters" aren't a *common* issue, but it really isn't just confined to this one ancient thread alone.

 

@Brightfires forgot about that one.

 

@Alewife and @Brightfires, the anti-hybrid position really did stem from just one person in that other thread, though, didn't it? And iirc, that person misrepresented *this* thread as being evidence of widespread rabid anti-hybrid sentiment, in the course of that discussion.

Here, the OP started the thread from the idea that maybe something is "wrong" about hybrids -- based on an even older thread about "elitism" in the BJD hobby. While clearly the overwhelming consensus is in the opposite direction, the original post and the periodic resurrection of this thread still foster that misconception.

I'll cling to my stuffy old-lady view that this thread doesn't do anyone any service by now, if it ever did. Which is why it's a damn good thing I'm not a Mod, because I would argue for locking and deleting it with extreme prejudice.

 

It never seems to be more than one person per thread... But it's always different people.

Like I said, it's not a wide-spread thing, but it is out there. Like a lot of the other issues that people fret and wring their hands over in this hobby, it's really not common enough to be worth worrying about, but getting rid of one thread's not going to make it go away as a concern, either.

 

I don't have any hybrids, but I've seen a lot of nice ones. And even if I didn't like them, they're not my doll, not my problem; I'd just move right along.

 

I have something to say! and even a question! Does one think a angel fantasy lina head would look good with a resin soul rong body? i just dislike the breasts on the angel fantasy dolls :c i think hybriding would be a good choice for my first dollie

Head: AF Lina Head

Body: RESINSOUL--Rong body

 

I see you've already found the Photo Reference forum, and posted your question -- you'll be much more likely to get an answer there, or else in the Discussion threads for Angel Fantasy and Resinsoul.

 

Hybriding is my favorite! I almost think it works better because sometimes I think a doll company is really good at sculpting either heads or bodies, but not both.

I can't imagine how it'd be unethical!

 

thanks... forgot i posted it here too XD a tad too exited i guess

 

All my dolls are hybrids because they have heads that were custom made for me or from companies that only make head sculpts. That means I have no choice but to make hybrids. I don't think it's an ethical issue: some companies sell separate bodies, and I'm perfectly entitled to buy one and put a head on it!

I think Angharad summed it all up pretty well.

 

hybrids or not, if they are all dolls/parts from the original companies I think all of them are great!

I don't really see why anyone would have an issue with it, part of the point of these dolls is to make them your own and change how they look, so why not mix bodies and heads and such!

 

I currently have two (soon to be three) hybrid dolls and am planning a fourth,I didn't expect to have any when I first joined the hobby but I never thought I'll of them.

I recently purchased a Minifee Lucywen head in a split and found that I didn't even consider getting a FL body for her,I simply don't think it would suit the look I'm going for.

I'm also fairly certain that any future non Moe WS Minifee will be hybrids,I actually *strongly* dislike the look of Active/Fairyline bodies.
I wish I could say the same for future TS girls but it's more difficult to find a match.

 

I honestly don't see it at unethical at all. Then again, I have a hybrid myself. I have a Dollzone Vita body with an Annie head. While they are both Dollzone, they are two difference sculps. hmm. I just see it at personalizing the doll and making it your own.

 

I'm ok with hybriding and even have one myself. I wasn't too fond of the doll leaves body so I got a dollzone one for it. I'm not too picky on resin matching since I know it can easily be covered up.

 

i like hybrids 'cause most of the time i only like the face sculpts, and the only body i like is Loongsoul's.

 

I have several hybrids, my avitar is a Leekeworld Rosemary on a Dollzone msd body and I love her to death. I have 2 more Leekeworld heads and have ordered 2 more bodies from Dollzone for them. I have some DIM SD heads that I plan to get Dollzone bodies for also. I love the hybrids.

 

Approve! Have one. It's really nice when pretty head sculpt from one company and body from another look like they made for each other.

 

I have several hybrids. Some may look down on hybrid doll but that's them. At times you can't help but to have a hybrid because some people only sculpt heads only and you have to find a body that will best suit that head.

 

My room is tiny so hybrid is my destiny. I have three full Luts boys but sometimes my three Switch boy floating heads borrow their bodies. I don't have the money and most important, space, to give each of them a body. Plus I am not really fond of the Switch body but love the Luts SDF65 body! Resin matching is not my biggest concern....as long as it doesn't look weird (like putting a NS head on a WS body...scary)

 

I had had no idea about hybriding, but I had to start it.

I found a customed head selling at Y!J and I was able to buy the head only.
Then I searched for a body fits on the head. So my first hybrid BJD had done.

Recently I did it again. But this time, the body came first and next was the head lol

 

I don't have any issues with hybrids. I think it adds a lot more variation to your collection, especially if you are a huge fan of a company that focuses on a certain doll size. I would prefer a few hybrids over multiple copies of the same body.

 

In my opinion a BJD has artistic qualities and is produced by artists, but it is a product. There is a certain amount of control that the artist/company should have. After the doll/head is purchased though their control should end. BJD's should be looked at as an artistic product. Art has been made to meet consumer demands as long as there has been art. I feel the BJD companies are not held to account for poor business practices, poor customer service, and sub par products. Hybriding should be a tool for consumers to help deal with those issues.

 

As some other people have said, if I don't make a hybrid, a company might not get my money at all! A hybrid I'm planning to make in the future would be, as mentioned in the first post, a Dollmore head with a body from another company. Would Dollmore prefer I not buy from them at all than put their head on a body from a different company?

I'm planning another hybrid using a body from one company for its posaility, but I think the heads the company makes for that line are out of proportion to the body. The head's from a different company, that makes bodies that are single jointed with limited posability. I like one company's head and another company's body, but I'd be less willing to buy from them if they didn't sell the parts seperately. Having to sell the extra peices is time I'd rather spend giving my doll a face-up and making them clothes.

 

I love hybrids! A good hybrid is just another way of customizing a doll to fit your idea. Also, it's a great way to have expensive heads without spending a ton of money on the expensive body. I'm currently waiting on the new 1/4 girl body from Doll Leaves to use for my Spiritdoll Smart Liana head. The resin match is near perfect, and the proportions and size is close enough to the original body to work for me.

 

Ethan, the dude creeping in my profile picture, is a hybrid of a Dollshe Saint head on a Resinsoul body. There are two reasons I made him a Franken-doll (a hybrid) of sorts. One was the price difference. $600+ is just a bit too much for me to drop on a doll in my current economic climate, whereas just under $400 was better. The second was the aesthetics. I did not like the Dollshe bodies; I'd seen videos of those 'butt' joints and how they stick out. The only problem I have with the Resinsoul body is the torso. I'm still working out how to get him to slouch.

 

I like hybrids! I feel like at this point the discussion of whether or not they're 'ethical' has kind of been addressed, but I agree with the people who said without hybrids a company might not get their money at all. I had a floating head for like 3 years because I didn't have the right body for it, and then very recently, the perfect body just sort of fell into my lap. Different company, but the resin matched up amazingly well, considering out old both separate pieces were! Something like that is really fortuitous and it seems hard to believe many people would pass it up. Hybridizing is really a great way to just make your doll that much more unique.

 

I think that selection head and body, color of skin is difficult. I`ve seen a lot of failed attempts. Because body and head from the same company I like more.

 

Reviving an old thread but need help please.

I like the Norman 2.0 head from ringdoll but preferably on Angell Studio 74 or Loong Soul 73 body. Would it fit well? Like the neck is not too long or thin, head not too small or big? Also are the clothes from AS 74cm and LS 73cm's fit interchangeable with each other? (measurement wise seems okay) Added bonus if ringdoll clothes also fits (but I doubt it)

Can anyone confirm if my plan would work or doesn’t work? I’ve looked at the measurements, hoping to get pictures from anyone that has similar ones!

If all else fails, anyone have a picture of a RD 70 guy next to a LS 69cm lady?

Much appreciated

 

After purchase, the head is technically ypurs, You can do whatever you want with the head/the doll part/whatever. I may understand Dollmore´s concerns as artists... but this is just ridiculous. If I don´t like a default body or any heads of a company I´d like to purchase a body from of course hybriding is a pretty goos option. Companies although do have to cope with the fact that after purchase it is the customer´s choice on what to do with it, if they are gonna hybrid or not. THey can´t just control what happens to it afterwards.

 

As long as they're legit, this shouldn't be an ethical issue.

I love seeing what kind of hybrids people come up with too, honestly! They're oftentimes not something I would expect and are just really fun to look at. I also love that there's such a strong resource here for people who are looking to hybrid dolls, though I admit most of mine have come about by trial and error.

 

Not to be rude, but I fail to see how hybridizing legit BJD components to create one's vision of a perfect doll could possibly be construed as immoral. Maybe offputting or potentially tasteless to some BJD companies, but immoral? I mean, that's a strong word. I just finished putting together my grail doll a couple days ago; she's a hybrid. Like quite a few people, I have an Unoa faceplate hybridized onto another company's body. Full Unoas are expensive, even secondhand. And their bodies, while absolutely stunning aesthetically, have a rather limited posing range, imo. Hybrids give owners a plethora of different customization options to tailor the perfect doll, at their ideal budget. And as for companies taking issue with hybrids, at the end of the day, the customer should be able to make those choices themselves, with the product that they paid for. The biggest stumbling blocks for hybridization of BJDs are resin-matching and neck size, but fortunately, forums like this are a repository of helpful information. Most of my dolls will end up being hybrids because their various parts are generally purchased secondhand. Again, I don't intend any rudeness, but I just think no one should be made to feel that they've made an immoral choice by hybridizing.

 

I know this is an ancient thread, but it's sort of an interesting time capsule for earlier in the hobby when (I have to assume) Hybrids were less commonplace.

I would say that a company trying to guilt customers out of customizing their products is far more unethical than buying a hybrid. I have to wonder what Dollmore was thinking if they really were arguing something like that, it's absolutely ludicrous and pompous beyond belief...

 

If what you mean by "time capsule" is "accurate representation of most DoA members' views," then the original post in this thread is a very long way from being anything of the sort. It's important to read through the whole thread, not just the first post, to grasp just how extreme and unrepresentative the view reflected in the first post actually was, and is.

Hybrids were not "less commonplace" in the past -- again, something that's obvious within the development of the thread.

 

I am not going to read every page of a 30 page thread and it's not at all necessary for making a judgment of it. I read the first 5 or 6 pages, and from that alone I gathered that ways of speaking about hybrids seemed to be somewhat different from what I've seen today- enough so that I felt like commenting on it. At the very least it very literally is a look into the past- this is how the community conversed 10 years ago, and internet communities tend to age and change fast.

If you think by "time capsule" I would ever mean "representation of most/all DOA members' views" I have to assume that you think I literally only read the OP, and I don't appreciate the condescension.

 

I know one thing for sure, and that's that I now have the strange urge to find a Dollmore head and put it on a Barbie Made-to-Move body. I'll jumble my doll parts up any way I please, thank you very much!

 

I don’t have any hybrids but I would absolutely love to. For example there are some face sculpts I adore like fairyland minifees but I thoroughly dislike the bodies!

 

Except that those first pages do NOT show us that hybrids were less commonplace at all. In fact, in those first 5 pages, only Usagi had an issue with hybridizing, and they were (don't know if they still are) very brand loyal. Everyone knew this and they were a minority even then.

Cynthia was not being condescending, she just mentioned that your conclusion of what it was like 10 years ago wasn't accurate.

As for what the OP mentioned:

Elitism - Lower end companies like BBB had just emerged and this caused a shift in the market and in views of what was and was not considered part of this hobby. Some believed only higher end dolls should be accepted. But their views were not shared by many.
Still, elitism was a big topic, and every so now and then rumors someone heard from a friend's cousin twice removed would stir things up again. Hence the thread the OP mentioned. It started after yet another one of these stories, and the main question it discussed there was about whether elitism was real or not. It asked about experiences from either side. In that thread some people spoke of negativity they encountered when they talked about their BBB. Other hobbyists shared how they were being accused of elitism and looking down on others, simply because they owned a Volks doll.
Like any topic, it turned out there were several sides to the story and that some things were being inflated by rumors nobody could verify. Because this is the internet.

Then, there's the term 'Frankendolly' - This wasn't a slur, but a code of honor started by customizers to underline the fact that these dolls were created from different 'body parts'. And Frankendolls were very commonplace. Almost everyone was into customizing and modding. There were people who owned dolls where every part of the doll was from another company (heads, torso, arms, hands and feet).
Modification was something people were proud of. And more than today, it was considered the basis of this hobby. Not so much owning dolls, and collecting, but changing it to something unique. So when Dollmore's answered a customer's question with the answer that they'd rather not that their dolls were hybridized, that reply was met with a shrug. And this thread shows it.

 

The way they were spoken about seemed different to me. I understand that if you were there (which you both were) it may seem like it isn't different at all, but it definitely struck me as different from how I've seen it spoken about today. Perhaps my judgment about hybrids being less common wasn't accurate (perhaps), but it was clearly a guess.

It was condescending, honestly. Taking a musing/guess as a declaration that the entirety of DOA MUST have thought exactly like the opinions expressed in the OP is a helluva leap of logic. There are ways to say "actually this thread might be a misrepresentation of the reality of the community at that time" without basically implying that someone didn't do the bare minimum and read even the first page.

 

^^ All this
Like everyone has said, the views of a few loud people who don't seem to care how they look on the internet are not the views of the whole hobby.

Also, just as an FYI, Dollmore stopped caring about this ages ago.
They used to not sell heads separately, way back in fall of 08 (october or november I don't remember it was 10 years ago!) I pretty much begged them to sell me a head (Thinking Kara Klum) and they did question me as to what body I was planning on using. I already had a Kara Klum and was intending for it to be his extra head...and they sold it to me. Before the year was out they started selling heads on their site.

I've had so many Dollmore hybrids in the 10 years I've been collecting dolls and they still sell me all the parts I want!

 

I love hybrids! It gives you the freedom to choose the body and their height. Definitely needs a lot of research before jumping on it.
Here's a picture of my Rion on Angell Studio's 74cm body next to my Hui. And he still have to do a split XD

 

I am looking for a 73-75 torso info to replace just the torso of a loongsoul 75 older 3 part torso on a dragon boy.
I really hate the loongsoul 3 part torso but love the legs and arms.
maybe the newer loongsoul 2 part boy torso might work??
I really want more options ..ideas..I dont want to throw money away on bodies I cant use.
a little modding or sanding wont hurt but I just need to know where to start.
if you have ever hybrided a 73-75 loongsoul boy body I really need your input please

 

@YOUKAIMOON Best place to ask this question would be the Photo Reference subforum

 

I think hybrids are fine for people to own. The good thing about BJD's is how customizable they are. You can switch out any part of them and Frankenstein them if you want. You can dremel parts away, or modify parts on to them. I think all of that is fine. You bought the doll/parts what you do with them after your purchase is up to you.

I only have a single hybrid. But this is because I am bad at keeping them hybrids. I once got Doll Family head and a Resinsoul Gang, whole doll and gave the Resinsoul body to the Doll Family head. It fit, okay, but I wasn't happy with it, so I bought a Doll Family body and then had two full dolls, Resinsoul Gang was restored.

I also did this with a Yo-Carter. I won the head on an auction, bought him a resinsoul body, and I was fine with it, until I bought a Dollzone Daomiao, I had wanted the boys to be brothers, and the bodies didn't work because they were mismatched. So I ordered a Dollzone body, and now the twins match.

Then I got stuck with a Resinsoul Body, so I went searching for a head. I saw a Resinsoul / Dika Doll hybrid, and that is was supposed to be a good match. Clover Singing had a Dika Doll Aron head in stock, so I bought it. It did not match in the slightest! I painted the Aron head really light with acrylics to match the pale Resinsoul body, and gave him freckles. I think he is adorable, but he is also my only hybrid.

IMG_7410 by Rabbid Bunnies, on Flickr

 

I love hybrids. I live for them!
I can see how a company would be a little miffed if you asked them about hybriding a doll, though - the artist had a very specific vision, and you're basically asking them to, hmm, interrupt that vision? Is that a good choice of words?

Hybriding can indeed be very expensive. I have a weird obsession with buying more expensive bodies to go with more affordable heads and vice versa. I'm just weird in general. I have an FID Iplehouse doll (Nancy) and a new Impldoll 1/4 girl doll. Promptly swapped heads. Why? Cuz I liked how each looked on the other body better.

But the real danger is buying specifically for a hybrid and not being absolutely positively 100 percent sure that the hybrid will work before you do (Fairyland Chicline head, my nemesis). I chased a hybrid for that head and spent I don't want to know how much trying to find the perfect body, before I gave up in total frustration. (And then companies started releasing 1/5 scale bodies, lol.)

 

In my opinion they’re great, and you’re supporting two artists at the same time. Personally I might get a hybrid if I like the head but not the body, or the other way around.
There are also some artists who only sell heads so hybrids are inevitable there.

 

Thinking hybridizing is unethical is a bit weird in my opinion. It would be unethical if you were mixing legit parts, then buying fake parts and playing them off as legit, but that's not what most people do. I have a hybrid and I changed her body because I prefer the proportions and style of the new body and I think it fits what I want better. I will always respect others' opinions but saying it is a bastardization is rude. It's that person's doll and money. Customization like this is what makes this hobby so unique. If you wouldn't say that about people customizing clothes then don't say it about their dolls either.
I think hybrids are a great thing and something I love about this hobby, it is so flexible.