Blythe makes me happy. There’s no denying that she does, and I’m sure she makes a lot of other people happy as well. There’s something whimsical about a doll that can change expression so easily without being creepy. I grew up with having hand-me-down Barbies with heads full of frizz and a bunch of stuffed animals. I never really had a doll that I could display, a doll that I had to explain to others (because no one’s heard of Blythe before they met me). It’s an interesting dynamic, the looks people get because they want to know why a (mostly) grown woman would want a doll.

“Blythe makes me happy. Plus, just look at all the cute clothes.”

Blythe appeals to me because she’s different for everyone. Everyone has different expectations from her. She’s everyone’s friend. She’s a model, a child, a professional shopper. She’s a coy mistress with power over your credit cards and she just demands cute shoes to go with that new dress. She’s different than all the other dolls around (besides the clones, of course) and she’s got a bunch of sisters that all have cool hair colours and pullrings. Blythe is really what we put into her because if we don’t put anything into her, we really don’t get anything back.

Blythe makes me happy. And those that actually care about me enough to support me with this doll ‘obsession’ are the ones that matter. She’s definitely an interesting indicator of those who honestly think I’ve “lost it” and those who think I’m just finding myself.

How has Blythe changed your life?

I’ve thought about what it would mean to be a one-Blythe kind of girl. It would mean downsizing. It would mean selling my dolls and sending them off to new homes. It would also mean that there would be one doll to spoil, one doll to have all the clothes and shoes and accessories. But at the same time, I know I’m capable of downsizing – but do I want to?

After a lot of thought (and maybe a twinge or two of guilt over having so much money in dolls – especially after buying a Kenner), I’ve really decided that I’m probably not able to be a one-Blythe girl. At least not right now. At seven Blythes, two of them were gifts, the rest were grail dolls. And they’re still dream dolls that I don’t think I could ever let go of. There is a reason why I was attracted to them in the first place and those feelings have not faded since the dolls have arrived in my grabby-grabby hands. If nothing else, they’ve intensified.

I feel horrible with the idea of selling gifts, especially since my Punkaholic People (Eden Mouse) has become one of my favourites (but it’s also hard to not have them all be favourites when I have a relatively small dolly family). And then Tertiary Jane (Simply Peppermint) was also a gift and she’s just darling. She had the best hair out-of-box out of any of my girls and she’s got that yummy mint hair that makes me smile.

When I do look at my dolls, I get a happy feeling inside. And since I’ve only had a slight twinge over feeling bad about how much money is ‘locked’ up in dolls, I think I’m still okay. As long as no emergencies come up where I need a sudden cash influx anytime soon, I think I’ll be perfectly content with the dolls that I have right now without needing to add any new additions for a while (or doing any major subtractions).

I do sometimes wish I could be a one-Blythe hobbyist. Some people have families of under five or even just a dolly family of one. That one doll gets all the attention, gets completely spoiled (because there’s no competition) and there’s no choosing necessary to figure out who’s getting their photograph taken today. I think that’s a nice feeling, not having to choose or play favourites. I just don’t think I’m capable of downsizing right now and I’m pretty okay with that.

—

Could you ever have just one Blythe or a very small dolly family?

I know Wednesdays are usually Blythe On A Budget, I actually just moved the post that was supposed to go up this week to another week (I’m awful, I know) because I had something more important to say. There’s a lot of overwhelming things in this world. Dolls shouldn’t be one of them. If you have one doll, that’s awesome. If you have one of every single release ever, that’s awesome too (and I’m totally jealous of your Parco). I started BlytheLife.com because I wanted to give back to the dolly community. I had hobbies before Blythe and I still take part in those hobbies, but I’m not active in those hobbies. I don’t make a whole lot of new friends when I crochet or knit, because I do that in my own time and I don’t have time to head out to regular knit nights or anything like that. I never joined clubs for stamp collecting (which I still do and have done since I was 8). But with Blythe, it’s hard to avoid people. There’s dolly forums and so many people on Flickr (which is so, so, so awesome). It would be very difficult, I think, for most people to be in the Blythe hobby world and not interact with people. It’s easier with a lot of other hobbies, but not with Blythe. (And now that I’ve made myself sound like a complete hermit…)

Going to BlytheCon in Portland in June was fun. I finally got to meet other people in the doll community and it really opened up my eyes to the awesome people behind their doll avatars. I got to see people who’s photos I favourite and admire. I got to meet people who are from right where I am. Which was amazing, because suddenly I have a whole new group of friends and we all have something really, really awesome in common. We all bring something different to the group and we’re all joined by a common thread, but I’ve also found other things in common with these people too. It’s not all about the dolls anymore, not really. It’s about the people behind the dolls. And the people in this community are wonderful individuals. You are, you truly are. I know that sometimes there’s ups and downs in the dolly community and there’s a whole ton of drama that happens at times… But we’re all sorts of awesome and we all bring something really great with our love for dolls.

You may not realize it, but you are a wonderful person. You love dolls and that makes you pretty awesome.

I spend more time than I’d care to admit looking at Blythe and Blythe-related goodness online. But at the same time, it’s still probably less time than I spend looking at school-related things, so it’s probably a decent balance. Then again, I spend a lot of time online. Most of my Twitter-time is spent chatting with Blythe friends! Not always about Blythe, but that’s how I met them in the first place! And let’s not get me started on the amount of time I spend on Blythe Kingdom and Flickr reading posts and catching up on new uploads and ohhh, commenting on photos and posts and looking at photos… There’s just so much to do online these days, I really do need to cut back.

How much time do you spend on Blythe online (daily, weekly)?

I received an email from a lovely woman named Annette. Her daughter, B, is turning 12 this year and has been hooked onto Blythe since the release of Littlest Pet Shop Blythes and then her daughter discovered the bigger Blythes on the internet. And Annette asked me the following question:

What age do you think is appropriate for a child to have their own big Blythe?

The thing is, I’m not a parent. Not even close. I got my first Blythe (Cappuccino Chat) at the age of 19 and I paid for her myself. My first gifted Blythe was Simply Peppermint (also at the age of 19) where it was my birthday gift from my parents. I wasn’t born when the original Blythes were released and I didn’t have any Blythes as a child. I had a couple of Barbies, and the poor things didn’t fare too well under my tender care. They were neglected and hair turned into frizzy balls due to overcombing of the plastic hair. But that was me as a child.

What you really need to consider about your own child is not so much their age but how mature they are. There are some incredibly mature 12 year olds out there and there are some incredibly immature 12 year olds. Blythes can be pretty expensive, depending on which one your child wants. You need to make sure that they’re aware of the costs of a Blythe and also help them to understand what they shouldn’t do with their dolls (eg. not getting stock eyelashes wet or else they fall out, not leaving very dark fabrics on for long periods of time).

If your child is mature enough to realize that Blythe isn’t just some regular old doll and that she’s special, maybe they are old enough to have their own Blythe. Perhaps you could supervise your child while they’re handling their special dolly, or maybe they’ll surprise you with already knowing that Blythe is something special. It all really depends on the individual child.

If you are considering getting a Blythe for your child, just make sure that they understand that she’s special and shouldn’t be mistreated. I think the fact that your child wants a Blythe is a fantastic thing. There are a lot of young Blythe enthusiasts out there that your daughter can interact with. Keep in mind that some forums require members to be a minimum age (13, 16, 18, etc.) so keep an eye on your child’s internet activities. But remember that Blythe is all about having fun.