BlytheLife.com opened in July 2010 and is a blog and resource hub for all things Blythe!
Blythe 103: A Guide to Forums
Written on September 26, 2012 at 12:00 pm by MichelleFiled under: Article with tags: blythe 103
Blythe 103 is part 3 of a 5 part series directed towards people who are new to Blythe. In part 3, an introduction to Blythe forums is made as well as my favourite sections of each.
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Blythe forums are a fantastic way to become involved with the Blythe community. Not only do you get to post and share your thoughts and ideas with others, you can read what others are thinking too! Blythe is a fairly social hobby and posting is a good way to become involved. I will be writing about three Blythe/doll forums: Blythe Kingdom, We Play With Dolls and This is Blythe. There are many other Blythe-related forums, especially if you’re looking for forums that are primarily non-English, but I will be focusing on these three mostly because I’m the most familiar with the three.
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Blythe Kingdom (BK)
BK began as a forum known as Plastic Paradise (PP). It has members from all around the world and has a good variety of boards. Some of the most heavily used sections are the Buy-Sell-Trade section that is adorably called Going Baroque. Membership is required in order to see the majority of the forums and there is a membership approval process where you will be asked to provide a referral name or undergo an approval questionnaire.
I’m quite fond of BK because it’s the primary Blythe forum that I go to. It’s fairly active and you get responses pretty quick if you ever have questions. There’s are sections for all of the types of Blythe – Kenner, Neos, Middies, Petites. There’s a section for customizing, one for sewing/crafting. There’s an off-topic section that’s also heavily used as well as one that’s just chatting about anything Blythe. There’s a very positive atmosphere and BK has a lot of active members, which is great.
We Play With Dolls (WPWD)
WPWD is a great forum, it also has a blog and a shop. My absolutely favourite part about WPWD are their boards for sewing, customizing and patterns. They have such fantastic resources for crafters, it’s a great forum to keep bookmarked. If you’re from Australia, you’ll probably want to join WPWD as the bulk of their membership is from Australia. You can find out about all their Australia events (Blythe Fest, Blythe Con, major meets) all from WPWD. There are a lot of Blythe collectors in Australia and if you’re there, chances are there’s a collector nearby!
This is Blythe (TIB)
TIB used to be the it English-speaking forum to go to. It did become inactive after other forums like PP/BK and WPWD started. TIB is ran by the Gina Garan and is still a great resource to go to. There’s a wealth of information and a lot of people do still go onto the forums. It’s a great resource if you’re new to Blythe and also great if you’re not new but just want to do a quick search to see if your question has been asked before – chances are it has been!
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Want to learn more?
- Blythe 101: A Guide for Newbies
- Blythe 102: Commonly Used Abbreviations and Words
- Blythe 103: A Guide to Forums – You’re reading this!
Just wanted to say thank you for this series of posts for us newbies! I have just, as in last night!, joined Blythe Kingdom and like the sound of WPWD.
My only concern so far is I know this is going to be one expensive hobby!
Amy
Hi Amy! I’m glad the series has been helpful for you. Are you on Flickr yet? There’s also a lot of Blythe-related groups on there as well (primarily for sharing photos, but also discussion boards). Have you gotten your first doll yet?
Hi
No I need to invest some time on Flickr, so far it just baffle’s me! I got my first proper Blythe last week! Eek a Very Vicky, she is lovely but has hair issues…. I have three Blybe/Basaak thingies which I have seriously messed about with.
Amy
Hi,
I have some customization questions, so I went to WPWD, and I can’t get past the menu and miscellaneous sites. I can’t get on the forum, if it still exists.
Help!
Thank you!
What happened to this is Blythe ?
I want to join the Blythe Kingdom forum, but I don’t know of any other Blythe enthusiasts where I live….advice?
You can join with a link to your feedback page (Ebay, Etsy, etc.) or to a profile page of a social media account (e.g. Flickr)
Is Blythe Kingdom still active or have most people gone to Facebook groups?
WePlayWithDolls seems to be gone… TIB is long dead… ooh
I like Blythe Kingdom but it hasn’t been real lively recently.