Custom dolls are a bit of a rarity in my doll collection. A lot of people are into custom dolls and I think that’s fantastic. I find that I really enjoy stock dolls, or ‘lightly customized’ dolls. By lightly, I tend to mean minor changes that I can do myself (sleep eyes, gaze lift, eye chip changing – the extent of my customizing capabilities).

There are a lot of customizers that I admire because of the amount of talent and beauty that they can put into a Blythe doll. Or the addition of a reroot in kitten-soft alpaca, lightly carved lips with a slight smile to go with it. Customizers are talented. I just don’t tend to see myself as someone with want nor the need to start taking a knife to my dolls.

I own exactly two custom dolls, both aren’t considered “extreme” in my mind. To me, extreme customs are the ones that have been carved to look like cats or dogs. Or they have vampire/monster teeth, or just teeth in general. And maybe a reroot, or scars, or something. Light carving does not necessarily an extreme custom make. There are some beautiful extreme customs though, and some not-so-beautiful extreme customs. I love dolls that tell a story behind their eyes, or are so amazingly beautiful in an fantastical kind of way. Much like the customs to the left, I love the artistry that goes into extreme customs like that – so much talent, so much more talent that goes into a single doll than I could ever hope to achieve.

The thing to remember with truly one-of-a-kind (OOAK) art dolls is that the prices can also be OOAK in the way that they will make you wish you fond that OOAK money tree. Because of that, I will not be adding an extremely customized doll to the family any time soon. Maybe one of these days, but it would definitely have to be at the right time, and the right doll.

Do you own any extreme customs?