There are a few things to consider when buying your first Blythe doll:

• New or used?
• New or old release?
• Where will you buy her from?
• How do you protect yourself?

When buying new, you have options of buying older or newer releases. Newer releases can be more easily found from official retail shops (all found online, or in-person in Asia). Older releases that are completely new, and minty, can be found via collectors selling online, or on sites like eBay.

When buying used, I would recommend joining a Blythe-oriented forum (such as Blythe Kingdom), or looking up ‘Blythe dolls’ on Facebook and seeing what Facebook groups pop up as many people list their dolls on Facebook as well. You can find both stock or customized Blythe dolls for sale when looking for used, at a very large range of price points.

I thought she was so innocent back then. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

A lot of people do buy a stock doll for their first (myself included! My first Blythe doll was a Cappuccino Chat, you all know her better as Sophie), while some do opt for a custom doll. Whomever you choose for your first Blythe doll, there are always a few things to keep in mind:

• Ask others in the doll community for tips of online retail shops. There are quite a few that will ship internationally, these retailers will often sell brand new, in-box Blythes. (e.g. Junie Moon, CC Toys, Hobby Link Japan)
• Join a forum or Facebook selling group to get a better feel for the prices of the type of Blythes that you like. You do not need to buy the first Blythe that you come across.
• When dealing with an individual person (rather than a business), you always have the option of asking for references/feedback. Ask whom they’ve sold to in the past.
• Buyers should never be responsible for covering PayPal fees. The sellers should not ask you to do this. They should be pricing their dolls accordingly to cover this themselves.
• Buyers should never pay for anything as a “gift” via PayPal, or be asked to pay as a “gift”. Protect yourself first. Pay in the correct category (for goods) and protect yourself in case someone is a scammer.

A Beginner’s Guide is a feature on BlytheLife.com that is all about going back to the basics of collecting Blythe, and being a reference tool for new and experienced collectors alike. If you have any suggestions for what you would like to see in A Beginner’s Guide, send me your suggestions!

Meets for the Vancouver Blythe Bunch usually consist of the following:

Chatting

Eating food that everyone brought

Oohing and ahhing over dolls

More eating

More chatting

Arranging dolls together for a big group shot (sometimes)

More chatting

And did I mention eating?

Sometimes, if it is a themed meet, there may be a contest (e.g. Halloween costume, ugly Christmas sweater) or a swap (e.g. for Valentine’s, Christmas) and these are also super fun because it involves seeing how creative some other people are, and just how enthusiastic (and competitive!) people get for prizes. We’ve done meets at each others’ houses, in lovely parks (when the weather is good – it does rain quite a bit when it isn’t the summer in Vancouver), and at tea houses. There’s something fun about getting together with a group of friends, and to chat about dolls and eating fun stuff.

What do you do at meets?

So this going to be an incredibly embarrassing post. You remember way back when I challenged myself to work on a wardrobe for my Middie Blythe doll, Kitty Brighton? (If you don’t, it was back in April…) Back then, this is all Brighton had for clothes (and shoes):

Jogging some memories now, I bet! I told myself that I would make her wardrobe by myself. So no buying things, except for shoes. And what have I managed to get done from April until now?

Two nearly identical dresses. Both knitted.

I’m a bad dolly owner, poor thing should really go into Dolly Protective Services. Hopefully the next update will be better, and she’ll have more than dresses to wear. Or at least another dress to wear. I’m so bad at this! Hopefully the next update in a couple of months will be a lot more fruitful for her.

Tiny things make me happy. This is probably obvious from my love of dolls, doll shoes, and other miniature items. Have I mentioned that I love small things?! I love my dolls and toys, and this extends to the toys for my dolls. This, of course, works best for dolls who are ‘young’ in personality.

This is realized with mini Lalaloopsy dolls, plastic toys that come from chocolate eggs, and other miniature loves that come into my life.

My favourite are the mini Lalaloopsy dolls. There is just something incredibly charming about the idea of a doll that has her own dolly. I don’t have very many mini Lalaloopsy dolls, I have exactly two, but they are very charming and I’m always on the look out for them on sale (I recently saw them in a shop that has a small toy aisle and they were marked at $20 for 1 doll with a few accessories – way too pricey for me!).

What are your favourite doll-sized toys? Do your dolls have toys?

I’ve been asked this once or twice or dozens of times. Some dolly enthusiasts seem to think that other dolly enthusiasts have similar buying and selling patterns as they do. For instance, I used to get more than a few messages asking if I was selling my redheaded Kenner, Emmalynn.

She’s beautiful and lovely – and most definitely not for sale.

“Yes, I am wonderful, aren’t I?”
Emmalynn is wearing Plastic Fashion.

But it doesn’t stop people from asking me I’m selling her (or another one of my dolls). Or even just asking if I’m ever going to sell a doll.

Honestly, at this point in my doll collecting, I find selling a bit needless for me. I’m not in a position right now where I need to sell a doll, nor am I constantly thinking that I want to sell a doll. So I don’t because I currently don’t need to nor do I want to.

When I’m asked if I’m selling a particular doll, my usual responses are usually “Thanks for asking, but she is not for sale” or to just choosing to not respond at all. I don’t feel rude for doing the latter because the original inquiry was unsolicited. If I had listed a doll for sale and ignored the messages that resulted, I would feel incredibly rude. However, none of my dolls are available now (or in the foreseeable future) so I don’t feel that it’s necessary to respond sometimes. That and sometimes I’m overcome by a sense of laziness, which adds to it.

Do you get asked if you’re selling any of your dolls? How do you respond?