About Option Heads
WHAT IS THIS?
The concept of Option Hands and Option Busts are easy to grasp, but "Option Heads" needs some explanation.
An Option Head is a Smart Doll character *minus* their body - for example, "Option Head - Fortitude (Tea)" will be her painted head, head cap, installed eyes, and wig - *minus* the body, sports bra set, stand, and canvas bag. Do note that Vision has her eyes closed so she does not come with eyes ;-)
Just like folks can swap out the hands or busts, folks can now swap out the head with Option Heads for additional customization.
Heads are packed in a fruit cap. Even though they look cute and delicious, they should not be eaten.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
The realization has dawned on me that our body production capacity is unlikely to catch up with our character selection any time soon.
Our small team of nine production members can only produce a fixed quantity of Smart Doll bodies, which are the most labor-intensive component of a Smart Doll.
We could cut corners, accept a dive in quality, and work late nights to make more - sure we could make more money - but money is not the name of the game at Smart Doll Land.
I have no aspirations of growing this company into a megacorp with legions of employees and shareholders - the team and I just want to make cute quality stuff while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
However! We are working on new technologies (and have been doing so for many moons) that will hopefully enable us to increase production capacity without the need to work late nights - or cut corners on quality.
WHAT OPTION HEADS ARE AVAILABLE?
Not all characters will be available as Option Heads. Some Option Heads will be unreleased frontline candidate girls that have been waiting their turn for many moons. Some will be frontline characters that we have not had the chance to wake up from cryosleep due to the lack of bodies.
Some Option Heads will be of characters that we prepped for a release but decided to cancel them. Instead of sending them to the grid at a higher price point without the wig, we will release them as an Option Head.
Preparing a Smart Doll for a release is a complex process that uses many resources. Option Heads are also a way for folks to get hold of yet-to-be-released girls sooner rather than later.
If body production catches up with character selection, we may not continue to sell Option Heads as we prefer to have our girls venture out into the world with their own bodies.
The social media hashtag for unreleased Smart Doll characters are #smartdoll+nameofcharacter - for example #smartdolltimeless
OPTION HEADS ALSO HAVE A PRODUCTION CAP THOUGH...
Even though we use paint masks, heads are still hand painted, so they also have a production cap.
Characters that are removed from the listing are retired. If the character shows "Sold Out" for a few days, it usually means we are trying to make more - or deciding whether to retire them.
REASONS NOT TO BUY
- Option Heads are only available to those who have already bought a Smart Doll on this site - or who are buying another Smart Doll at the same time.
- Option Heads are priced at 39000 JPY, but a Smart Doll with a body costs 52000 JPY. Folks who want the full Smart Doll experience should wait until they become available when body production levels are healthy. However, not all Option Heads will be available as a full Smart Doll, and we do not publish schedules of who becomes available and when.
- Option Heads do not include the body and its accessories, which are the stand, sports bra set, and canvas bag.
- Because the option heads have not been attached to a body before, you will need extra hulk strength to put the head on the neck peg.
Many folks contact us insisting that the hole is too small. If the hole was bigger by default, the head would spin around and scare the kids next door. Please do not buy this product if there is a possibility that you may not have enough strength to push the head down on the neck peg. - Some Option Heads will be characters we have not officially released due to the body production cap. While these girls have a name, they do not have a product detail page or story. Some folks may regret purchasing an Option Head only to find out later that the character represents something that does not resonate with the owner.
- Some unreleased characters may get a design change if they get a full release as a Smart Doll.
- Option Heads may get a wig and eye change without warning - but the photo at the time of purchase will represent what you will be getting. We usually do wig or eye swaps when there are no outstanding orders.
- Some characters have not had their official photos in the sports bra taken yet and may be wearing apparel which is also not included.
- It may be quite a while until body production can catch up with our character selection. If we do manage to catch up, we will sell bodies standalone - but if not, depending on how friendly your Smart Dolls are with each other, you may end up with your girls arguing over a body that may keep you awake at night. When they argue, they tend to give off a blood-curdling scream that may break glass.
However, the soon to be released cyborg torso (sold separately) could home a head which may resolve the arguments. - Did I forget to mention that Option Heads do not include the body and its accessories, which are the stand, sports bra set, and canvas bag?