Possible to mod this Super Mario figure head into a doll-suitable one?

Hello all! I've been closely following the development of the upcoming Super Mario movie, and as we get nearer the release date, a lot of interesting merchandise and toys have been released. One of which being these posable plushes with (what looks to be) hard plastic or vinyl heads: 

When I saw the heads of the plushes, their inset eyes immediately reminded me of BJDs, which lead me to wonder if they could perhaps be modded for use on a vinyl or BJD body.

All I can think that would need to be done for vinyl would be to cut off the molded neck piece, and use some sort of air-dry clay to make the bottom of the head compatible with whatever body you want to use. 

The plush bodies look similar to 1/5 scale, but I don't quite like those proportions and would prefer a chubby MSD size body similar to the Imomo 1/4 scale (which I actually have preordered, but in tan). I may still use the Imomo body as a reference to see if chubby 1/4 really is the size I would want. 

This is something of a pipedream (no pun intended), and I'm not sure if I would actually have the time or resources to see a heavy mod like this through to the end, but it seems like it would be fun, and I have been inspired by seeing all the wonderful projects here. Does anyone with modding/hybriding experience have any idea as to whether this is possible, and what roadblocks I may experience if I choose to go through with it?

It’s hard to tell from the pictures, but it does seem like the heads will be too big for the bodies (or the necks, at least), giving them that bobble-headed look. Nonetheless, I would love to see the final product if you decide to go through with it!

9 hours ago, luckyk said:

This is something of a pipedream (no pun intended),

😆

I wouldn't use air dry clay, that won't be strong enough to keep the bottom of the head together, especially once it's on a body. If you want an air dry route, always go for epoxy putty.

I'm going to assume that these dolls are built kind of like a Cabbage Patch Kid, which means these are vinyl heads. If they're not, this will be beyond my knowledge.

If I was doing this mod (and I'm almost tempted, that Luigi is cute! ❤️), I'd cut off the molded neck piece and sacrifice a big chunk of a DD or Obitsu head...probably Obitsu specifically, as DD head removal is pretty violent and puts a lot of stress on the vinyl unless you use a custom neck peg. I'd cut the bottom of the sacrifice head off so it's larger than the hole and then cut another hole in the back of the Mario head in an easily hidden location. And then I'd get crazy with the vinyl glue.

The goal is to fill in the hole, hopefully inconspicuously, which is why we have to do it from the inside, with the piece cut from the sacrifice head. That'll give you the attachment point and the socket for the neck all in one go. Vinyl glue is powerful stuff, so if you really heap it on and follow its directions for bonding the two pieces it should be strong enough to keep the head on the body.

The problem that remains is making the hole less ugly, because if Cabbage Patch Kids are anything to go by, the hole left by the molded neck will be pretty huge. You'd have to do something to smooth the transition between the edges of the hole and the layer of vinyl you added underneath, especially on the front of the head where it'd show the most. That might be doable with epoxy, but if I wanted to get really fancy I'd try melting some vinyl into there to smooth it out...that would be where the cut off part of the neck piece comes in. Melt those scraps so the color already matches!

Then just use some more vinyl glue to seal that entry hole in the back or sculpt a pseudo-headcap for it and you'd be good to go. Incredibly ambitious, but it's not COMPLETELY impossible...unless the head is hard plastic. Then I have no idea. 😂

 

(Or if you don't mind going to 1/12 scale and just want a Mario doll...there IS a nendoroid of Luigi and I'd bet there's a Mario too, because Luigi never gets anything Mario hasn't gotten first. You could skip all this and just make an hybrid with those heads and an Obitsu11 or Picco Neemo body. Much easier!)

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Oculae

8 hours ago, Oculae said:

I wouldn't use air dry clay, that won't be strong enough to keep the bottom of the head together, especially once it's on a body. If you want an air dry route, always go for epoxy putty.

I'm going to assume that these dolls are built kind of like a Cabbage Patch Kid, which means these are vinyl heads. If they're not, this will be beyond my knowledge.

If I was doing this mod (and I'm almost tempted, that Luigi is cute! ❤️), I'd cut off the molded neck piece and sacrifice a big chunk of a DD or Obitsu head...probably Obitsu specifically, as DD head removal is pretty violent and puts a lot of stress on the vinyl unless you use a custom neck peg. I'd cut the bottom of the sacrifice head off so it's larger than the hole and then cut another hole in the back of the Mario head in an easily hidden location. And then I'd get crazy with the vinyl glue.

The goal is to fill in the hole, hopefully inconspicuously, which is why we have to do it from the inside, with the piece cut from the sacrifice head. That'll give you the attachment point and the socket for the neck all in one go. Vinyl glue is powerful stuff, so if you really heap it on and follow its directions for bonding the two pieces it should be strong enough to keep the head on the body.

The problem that remains is making the hole less ugly, because if Cabbage Patch Kids are anything to go by, the hole left by the molded neck will be pretty huge. You'd have to do something to smooth the transition between the edges of the hole and the layer of vinyl you added underneath, especially on the front of the head where it'd show the most. That might be doable with epoxy, but if I wanted to get really fancy I'd try melting some vinyl into there to smooth it out...that would be where the cut off part of the neck piece comes in. Melt those scraps so the color already matches!

Then just use some more vinyl glue to seal that entry hole in the back or sculpt a pseudo-headcap for it and you'd be good to go. Incredibly ambitious, but it's not COMPLETELY impossible...unless the head is hard plastic. Then I have no idea. 😂

 

(Or if you don't mind going to 1/12 scale and just want a Mario doll...there IS a nendoroid of Luigi and I'd bet there's a Mario too, because Luigi never gets anything Mario hasn't gotten first. You could skip all this and just make an hybrid with those heads and an Obitsu11 or Picco Neemo body. Much easier!)

 

Wow, this is really in-depth! Thank you! Your custom plus size MSD was actually one of the posts I saw on here that inspired me to look deeper into mods, so it's great to hear this stuff directly from you.

The massive neck hole is probably the biggest roadblock I sussed out while theorycrafting this as well. Your plans seem like they'd work, and I definitely think the head is some form of vinyl considering the way it looks around the eye holes, and the fact that I can already picture siblings bonking each other with them and hard plastic would be cutting it close, haha 😂 I don't actually own the plush myself yet, but it is released already and available to buy, so a for-sure diagnosis isn't out of my reach.

And yes, I do want to make a Luigi nendo doll in the future -- I do like 1/12 scale, but I love the extra possibilities that larger scales offer. And while Mario does have his own Nendoroid, Luigi's actually came first, due to the Year of Luigi being a thing back in 2013! (It's about the one thing he got before his brother...)