BlytheLife.com opened in July 2010 and is a blog and resource hub for all things Blythe!
Question of the Week: Would you want Blythe to be easily accessible?
Written on November 21, 2011 at 12:00 pm by MichelleFiled under: Question of the Week
I’ve seen this debated on various forums. People post photos from their vacations in South-East Asian countries where you can find Blythe in actual stores and there’s displays of Blythe in storefronts, boxes and boxes of new dollies just waiting to be bought and opened up. And there’s a certain thrill about that idea.
After all, how awesome would it be if you could just walk into the toy department of a store and pick up the latest Blythe release off the shelf, pay at the cash register and go on your way home?
And on the other side of the debate, people have said that they’d probably spend even more money on Blythe. Maybe the dolls would lose some of her mystique if everyone knew who Blythe was. After all, one of the things about Blythe is that she isn’t well known at all. Then again, if everyone knew who she was, maybe I’d stop getting strange looks whenever I pull out a big-headed doll. Or maybe I’d get more strange looks because people would start thinking that she’s a child’s plaything like they do with the average Barbie doll.
It’s kind of a freeing thought, the idea of the possibility of getting to just walk into any old store to pick up a new Blythe. But at the same time, would Blythe being easily available be the beginning of the end of the community as we know it? If you could go into any old store for a new doll, there’d be more new people all the time along with a huge influx of people selling things all the time and we’d lose the close-knit feeling of the dolly community.
Would you want Blythe to be easily accessible? Why or why not?
Being new to Blythe (August), I have to say I love the thrill of discovery and how she is the doll community’s ‘guilty’ little secret! I like her exclusivity. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to travel to Japan or Thailand and go mad in the shops, though!
I think that I might actually be a bit better about not buying dollies if they were around in person. That way, you can get a look at them every day and (maybe) you wouldn’t feel that overwhelming lust to have a new doll around, because you could go ‘visit’ them. Haha.
I feel like ultimately, I wouldn’t mind a few releases around. If Hasbro ever decides to put out full sized Blythes, it should be interesting.
I think it is cool that Blythe isn’t sold in the U.S. because it makes the dolls rare and valuable. If Blythes were available at every Target store in the country, their novelty and cult status would definitely wane. Another thing about Blythe being rare that is cool is the dolls are unique in appearance. If they were marketed to kids in the U.S., I am almost positive the dolls would look much different. They would have to make them with outfits that are currently fashionable in the U.S., and they might decide to make Britney Spears Blythes or something in order to appeal to the U.S. market.
I think it’d be neat if Blythe was available at high end North American store, like FAO again. I don’t think it’d mesh well with the costs of Blythe to have her in Walmart, but she’d do well in higher end collectible stores. But if I could see her more often, I may end up buying more!
It would just be wierd to have blythe in shops! I’m so used to needing to wait and crazily check tracking numbrs. Imagine if I coudd just go to Target or Walmart to find a blythe?? Then again, I couldn’t imagine a Britney Spears blythe. I’d like to think that blythewouldn’t beome a sell out, but you never know! I think more collabs would be neat though, ad maybe select higher end stores like lulu suggested! then blythe could stay special, but easier to buy!
I know I personally wouldn’t be as interested in Blythe if I could go into Target or Wal*Mart and just get her. A lot of people on Flickr also collecte Monster High dolls, for example, and they sell those in the grocery store, so for me, there’s nothing new or interesting about it. There’s no value in it, as a collectible, if you can get it that easily.
I have been in love with Blythe for 3 years. They are so cute and YES I would like them to be easily accessable for me or to walk to watch them in toy store. It is true, that maybe they could lose their exlusivity, but I don´t have any possibility to get one in my (europian) country.