Blythe Information

I’m going to talk a bit about Blythe dolls and what I know about them, since several of you have asked this question lately.

We needed a new family photo, as four new dolls have arrived in the past couple of months. So I decided to take the girls outside yesterday, two or three at a time, during the hottest part of the day. What was I thinking? Anyway, they all climbed on the glider and here’s their picture.

From left to right (for reference): Katie, Olivia, Madeleine, Pippa, Zoe, Lily, Sophie, Wren, Maeve, Mei, Lucy, Holly, and Imogen.

Lily and Wren are not Blythe dolls. They are BJDs. BJD stands for ball-jointed dolls. Unlike Blythes, which are made of plastic, BJDs are made of resin. There are all sorts of BJDs out there – it’s a huge collector’s market – but I only know the basics about them. Wren and Lily were designed by a woman in China who goes by the handle (at)eatzongzi on Instagram. Her dolls are very popular with Blythers. Their bodies are very flexible in terms of posing and the dolls themselves are delightful. Eatzongzi designs a doll and then a limited number are available, and that’s it. Usually, she does a pre-order and then, a couple of months later, the dolls are shipped out. I’m not a BJD collector, but I do love these two little ones. And their resale value is high.

On to Blythe dolls. The original Blythe doll was designed in 1972 by Allison Katzman. It was sold by Kenner – a toy company that most of us if a certain age are familiar with. They were sold for one year in the United States, Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom. Those original Kenner Blythes – only in circulation for a year –  are highly collectable and go for lots and lots of money.

Gina Garan, a photographer, was given a Blythe as a gift and eventually published a book of her photographs of Blythe  out and about in NYC. (Side note: Don gave me a copy of that now out-of-print book called This is Blythe  last year.) Eventually, the book and the dolls came to the attention of Junko Wong of CWC and Hasbro (the current trademark owner) gave a license to reproduce the dolls to CWC and Takara (both of Japan) in 2001. This new edition was called NeoBlythe. Takara kept producing the dolls until 2021. Now they are produced by the Good Smile Company, which is still associated with Junko Wong. You can follow her on Instagram.

The rest you can flesh out on Wikipedia.

I have three dolls that have been customized from Takara dolls. Takara dolls are more expensive. When looking at dolls and doll prices, you might see Takara base doll, Nicky Lad (for example.) Nicky Lad was a particular doll issued by Takara. Pippa, Olivia, and Mei are Takara dolls. They were customized by VegaDolls and they’re definitely the most expensive dolls of my group. But they are customized by Natalia, who I think is brilliant, because in addition to the Takara base, which, frankly, is not at all a requirement for me, they have Natalia’s signature look. There are various molds also: EBL (Excellent) and RBL (Radiance) and SBL (Superior) etc. These terms are also referenced in listings.

There are dolls that you’ll see with the listing “Fake doll” or “Fake Base Doll”  or “Factory Fake” Blythe Doll. This means that the doll was made from another mold and/or molds taken from Blythe base parts. They aren’t recasts and they’re perfectly legal and acceptable. The term “fake” is unfortunate but that little description has been changing – more often these days, they’re called factory. They’re just fine. I have 11 dolls and 8 of them would be termed fake. They’re far more affordable and, frankly, I wouldn’t know the difference. To me, it’s all about the customizer, the person who takes the base doll and carves the face, changing the lips or nose, then painting the face, and adding realistic eye chips.

Most customizers start out working on fake dolls because they’re more affordable. They’re also more affordable for collectors. I am not a collector who cares about the provenance of the doll. I collect a doll because I fall in love with it. But there are some collectors out there who collect only Takara dolls. Or original Kenners. And some who only collect the basic doll and don’t want a customized doll.

Sophie, my first doll, was a fake. Like many of you, I had a lot of questions about the doll itself. The customizer, (at) CandyFlossRose, patiently answered all of them. The main thing to remember is the word “Fake” doesn’t mean anything other than the mold isn’t a Takara mold. Who cares when it’s going to be customized anyway? So don’t worry about that. I’ve found that customizers are very honest and list every bit of information about the doll. And I haven’t noticed any difference between my dolls in terms of quality.

A few other things to remember. The eyes are controlled by pull strings. There are 3 different positions, but four different pulls. Two are facing forward, one goes to the left, one goes to the right. The quality of the eye chips is important. I have a few that I don’t like and I’m going to be replacing them with something more realistic.

Also: the neck. Blythe dolls have big heads and they look downward. For years, customizers have been adding neck joints to Blythes to make the head more posable. Neck joints make a huge difference. Sophie and Maeve do not have neck joints and this year is the year I’m going to give them one. As it is right now, I have to shoot both of those girls from below, in order to really see the face.

Synthetic hair will be less expensive than mohair or angora. Mei, Madeleine, and Lucy have mohair/angora scalps. The rest are synthetic.

There are different body types as well: Azone, NeoBlythe, Obitsu 22, Licca – I’m sure I’m leaving something out. Most of my girls have Azone bodies, a few have Obitsu (considered more flexible) and one (Olivia) has a Licca body. I’m not especially enamored of Licca, but I find it suits Livvy, so I’ve kept it. That’s why she looks smaller than the rest of the dolls.

All of this information has been found through my research. Blythe customizers are remarkably friendly and are happy to answer any questions you might have.

Blythe dolls do well in the resale market. The investment I’ve made in them would most likely come back to me in full, if not more – especially for the VegaDolls. I’ve no interest in selling any of them at the moment. They mean too much to me. But, if I needed the cash, or if Don does when I’m gone, I’ve listed every bit of information about them and the price they should go for. A lot of sales are done on Etsy or eBay or Mercari, but most of them happen within the Blythe collectors on Instagram. That’s how I found Holly and Lucy and the Vega girls. In the case of Holly/Lucy, they were being put up for adoption (FA) via Instagram by the first or second owner of the original doll. I found my first girl, Sophie, on Etsy.

Let’s see, what else? The market has changed a bit since Russia attacked Ukraine. Etsy will no longer let Russians sell on that platform, so the Russian customizers have had to sell via other methods.

The Blythe community on Instagram is terrific. I have come to know so many wonderful people there. Everyone is supportive. And it’s a truly international hobby. My girls have come from Spain (4), England (2), Mexico (1), Russia (2), Ukraine (1), and Belarus (1).

The most important thing I can say is don’t let the word “Fake” worry you. Unless you’re a purist and are investing for resale, it simply doesn’t matter. I had that initial panic about Sophie, but Rose answered all my questions and that all went away. For a customizer who puts in so much work on each doll, having a more affordable base doll to start with helps. If you fall in love with the doll, if it speaks to you, that’s what matters. If you ever want to ask me about a specific customizer, feel free. I certainly don’t know about all of them, but I do know a fair amount.

I’m sure I’ll think of something else when I hit ‘Publish’ but that’s an introduction, at the very least. I hope this helps.

In the meantime, we had heavy rain for about 15 minutes yesterday. Not enough, but boy, it was satisfying! The heat wave continues through tomorrow. When it breaks, we’ll still be in the high 80s, but will avoid heat indexes of over 100 degrees, which we’ve had for days and days now.

On to my deductions.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.