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Post by melkorjunior on Sept 8, 2011 22:34:05 GMT -5
Hi all,
This is my first post and I know I'm coming extremely late to the game--in fact, the game seems to be over. Nevertheless...
I just started collecting Buffy stuff--statues, figures, you name it--and although I have no actual customizing skill I do have some slight ambition to do a bit of “polishing”--namely in the form of head and/or body swaps. My problem is, the 6-inch Buffy figures seem to have been created by two different companies, Moore and Diamond, and I’m not at all certain the heads are compatible between lines. Specifically, I want to swap Vampire Buffy’s head onto a Moore wave 2 long-haired Buffy (with the black top and the red pants) because I already have an Ikon Buffy with the same headsculpt anyway, and because Vamp Buffy’s outfit, while nicely episode specific, is still pretty lame. I think Vamp Buffy would look alot better with that black top and red pants (not to mention actual hips.) But is it actually do-able? Does anyone have any advice?
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Post by henz on Sept 9, 2011 9:39:09 GMT -5
It wouldn't be a clean swap. The Moore figure has a simple rotating peg joint, whereas the DST one has a ball jointed head. Also, proportionately DST's Buffy's are proportioned like lolly-pops. I've not tried it myself, but I expect the vampire head would look pretty huge on the Moore body.
There's probably a couple of members who have more experience, but I hope I helped.
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Post by melkorjunior on Sept 9, 2011 10:14:02 GMT -5
Thanks for the advice! I assume there would be no problem switching Vamp Buffy's head with another DST figure then? I think she'd look pretty slick in Dark Willow's all black outfit, or maybe in Doppelgang Willow's dominatrix outfit, and both those figures also have decent hips. Vamp Buffy is proportioned like a little man.
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Post by henz on Sept 9, 2011 14:49:05 GMT -5
Sadly, no.
While the Dark Willow figure was released by DST, it is actually among the few figures still sculpted by Moore (hence the hips lol). The Anya and Tara figures were also Moore. All 3 have rotating peg joints also.
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Post by melkorjunior on Sept 9, 2011 14:56:50 GMT -5
Okay, a few questions then;
Is a Tara-Red Dress Glory head swap possible?
How about a Cheerleader Cordelia - MAC season two Buffy?
How about Vamp Buffy - Red Dress Glory?
My main desires are: to create a cheerleader Buffy that actually looks good (the DST figure was awful) and to do something about Vamp Buffy's outft and lack of a pleasing female shape. Are there any DST figures you know of with fuller figuires than Vamp Buffy that could swap heads with her? Thanks for your help!
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Post by henz on Sept 10, 2011 5:36:23 GMT -5
Tara - Glory head swap would be messy for the same reasons as above.
Cheerleader Cordy - MAC Buffy is theoretically possible because the joints will be similar. I've never tried it myself though.
Vamp Buffy - Glory could well work. The Glory figure is a lot taller than the Buffy, but because of Buffy's big head you probably wouldn't notice.
DST did mostly awful work in my opinion. The heads were pretty good but the bodies always sucked. Red dress Glory/Wish Cordelia (same body, repainted) is probably the best looking female.
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Post by melkorjunior on Sept 10, 2011 9:55:08 GMT -5
Thanks for all your help, Henz, it's been instructive and invaluable. I wanted Tara in the Glory dress but instead I'm going to settle for Tara in the Anya outfit with the skirt. (I have an extra Tara; I love Hush Tara and will keep her as is but I want my second Tara in an interesting outfit to draw the eye away from the fact that they both have the same headsculpt.) Vamp Buffy should look pretty nice in the Glory dress anyway, especially considering her big head. And as for the height, scale issues don't bother me that much because some of the best 6" Buffy figures have been out of scale--the MAC Vamp Drusilla, for example, is too short, but she looks great on her base. Same goes for the Gentlemen. I also have some of the statues (Essence Buffy and Willow, Dark Willow, Welcome Faith) displayed with my 6" figures in a sort of continuous diorama stretching across two shelves and they all fit together pretty well even with the various height differences.
I'm actually considering using the Vamp Buffy body for a Gift Dawn headswap. All Dawn figures are far too tall for my liking, especially since I prefer the younger season five Dawn, and Vamp Buffy's shortness and lack of hips should fit Dawn pretty well. Of course Dawn's head might look too big (though thankfully not as freakish as Lessons Dawn), but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. (And don't kids have big heads anyway?)
Anyway, thanks again for the help! Soon I'll be boiling and popping. One thing I wanted to mention though--you said that the season five Willows were sculpted by Mac and so should have different head pegs, but to me their heads look like they fit the same way the DST Buffy heads do. I thought the figures that have the long neck post coming up out of the torso all have a noticeable horizontal line at the neck (like season one Willow, or Dru.) But my season five Vamp Willow head doesn't have that horizontal line and looks just like the Buffy head in the way it connects. Since Vamp Willow is completely awesome though, I haven't tried removing her head to investigate.
You're right about the DST bodies. I pretty much uniformly hate them. And not just the females--the male figures are far too blocky. Wesley looks like a football player.
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Post by melkorjunior on Sept 15, 2011 20:28:52 GMT -5
Hey Henz,
Just wanted to thank you again for the red dress Glory-Vamp Buffy head swap idea. I just made the swap and my new red dress Vamp Buffy looks awesome! I took off Glory's monkey arms and replaced them with Vamp Buffy's arms as well, so now she's not only awesome but also in proportion. My new red dress Vamp Buffy is standing next to Vamp Spike on my shelf, looking right at home (and also quite fetching with her newly curvaceous bod) next to him. I also switched a Mac season two Buffy head with a Cheerleader Cordy head to make a good looking cheerleader Buffy (who is currently on her knees next to Vamp Willow, wearing Vamp Willow's handcuffs and being Vamp Willow's new toy. I don't play with my figures, but I like my display to tell an interesting story.) Next up: a Chosen Buffy/Gift Dawn head swap to give Dawn a decent outfit and correct proportions, and a New Moon Rising Tara/Anya wearing skirt head swap.
You were right about the various figures' pegs and their tendency not to match up. There seem to be four different head peg types! And the pegs used for the season two Mac figures are so flimsy one of them broke on me even after heating the head in boiling water.
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