The fascinating part of collecting Blythe and the Blythe community as a whole is that people are able to customize their dolls to suit their liking. For the longest time, I primarily had stock dolls or dolls that were nearly completely stock save for a few eye chip changes. And that’s the way I liked it. It wasn’t until Halo came into my life that I had a doll that had a body that was not factory issued.

Halo came to me on a Licca body and that’s how I kept her, Cameo (who was customized by the same customizer) also came on a Licca body. All of my Kenners are on original or original-hybrid bodies (either completely vintage or Kenner torso with Takara pelvis and legs). All of my stock/mostly stock Blythes are on their original bodies. And then there are my customized Blythes. They came to me on Licca bodies, and on Licca bodies they will stay. While I generally do not like the look of Licca bodies (the noodle arms and legs, when bent, leaves a lot to be desired at times), I quite like the look of my customized dolls on Licca bodies.

Are you a Licca body fan or a stock body fan? Or do you prefer something else?

Beyond the Takara and Licca bodies, there are also many other types of bodies out there. Some that I have encountered, others that I have not. Off the top of my head, I am aware that people have put their Blythe’s heads onto Pure Neemo bodies (of all the varieties), Obitsu bodies, and Mimi Bobeck. There are many other types of bodies out there that people have opted to pop their dolls onto for a great variety of reasons.

One of the many reasons that I prefer to keep my dolls on Takara (and Licca) bodies is the fact that I don’t want to have to start a new wardrobe for a different body type (or height). If I had a doll on a Mimi Bobeck body, I would need to have a whole new wardrobe for the doll because nothing I already have would fit. That’s also the issue that I ran into when I got my first Middie, Kitty Brighton, because I honestly had nothing that would fit her and it was frustrating at the time because I was on a self-induced budget cut on dolly spending (and I still am), so I ended up giving myself the challenge of creating the majority (or all) of her wardrobe.

This frustration is also realized in shoes. Different bodies also mean the possibility that my shoe collection might not fit. That’s one of the issues that I ran into when I first got a Blythe on a Licca body. Some of my favourite shoes and boots just would not fit because the Licca fit is just a smidgen wider and longer, so some of my absolute favourite shoes that are dainty and small? The toes can’t even squeeze in because the shoes just weren’t wide enough. For Middies, this meant that I needed to scope out some Kelly-sized shoes, because their feet ended up swimming in a ridiculous manner in the shoes that I already had. Not that I particularly minded ‘needing’ to buy more doll shoes, we all know how much I love those tiny things!

I guess in a way, I’m a bit fickle when it comes to bodies. While I might like the look of some of the alternatives to stock or Licca, I’m penny pinching in a way that makes it unlikely for me to put one of my dolls on a different body because I don’t want to be limited in clothing selection for a doll, or not be able to use some of my favourite shoes on for a doll just because of her body.

There are times when I see photos of people’s doll family photos (or collection photos, for those that don’t refer to their collection as a family like I do) and wonder if I would ever want to have that many dolls. I’m actually quite happy with the extent of my collection so far. I have nice mix of a ‘little bit of everything’ – including customs, which I honestly at one point never thought I would want or need. At this time, I’m mostly wanting to add a BL into the mix (a stock or mostly stock one), although I’m waiting on that one for a bit as I just need to save/have funds available before biting the bullet there.

I realized recently that this was my last dolly family photo that I had taken:

And it really needed to be updated, so I took another one because it was missing some new members:

The dolls are organized according to arrival.

Back row: Sophie (Cappuccino Chat), Belarus (Love Mission), Tertiary Jane (Simply Peppermint), Bennett (Margaret Meets Ladybug), Eden Mouse (Punkaholic People), and Kindred (Velvet Minuet). Middle row: Emmalynn (Kenner), Moxie (Simply Bubble Boom), Molybdenum (Simply Sparkly Spark), Lillian Rose (Kenner), Primrose (Kenner), and Halo (RBL custom by Friends With Blythe). Sitting on the sides: Kitty Brighton (Jackie Ramone), Cedar (Monique Magnifique), Minnow (Hi-Ho! Marine), Cameo (RBL custom by Friends With Blythe), and Lydia Melbourne (Yellow Marshmallow)

I have 3 Kenners, 12 Neos, 2 Middies, and 2 Petites (LPS). That’s 19 dolls altogether that are of the Blythe variety (my non-Blythe dolls aren’t being counted here). I didn’t include either Petite in the photo – not because they’re not important, but (sorta) because I may had forgotten then when I was putting the dolls together for this photo. You know you might have too any dolls when you begin to forget some… Is that too many? Some people would probably say it is, others are probably shaking their heads at me going Michelle, you haven’t hit too many until you’ve broke through the triple digits. If I had 100+ Blythes, where would I even put them all?! (If I could afford 100+ Blythes, I’d probably have more shelf space. And a doll room. Or two.)

How many Blythes are too many Blythes (for you)?

Originally when I started the challenge of hand crafting a Middie-sized wardrobe, I only had one Middie – a stock Jackie Ramone by the name of Kitty Brighton. (For those curious, Kitty is for the Pride and Prejudice sister, Brighton for the town that I’ve never been to). And then a darling Yellow Marshmallow came into my life with a flair – she also came into my life naked – and I named her Lydia Melbourne (Lydia for yet another Bennet sister, and Melbourne for yet another place that I have never been to).

But I have been making things lately! I recently made two cute little empire-waisted knit dresses (still a bit short, I really need to learn to carry a doll around to measure to make sure it isn’t too short before I finish it off!) and a knit top (that was meant to be a dress but was definitely too short!).

I’m still crafting away when I can. I’m thinking of making some little Middie-sized knitted rompers next, just in time for the summer weather. Hopefully the next time I will have many more new additions to share!

As you might know, I am one of the organizers for BlytheCon Vancouver and I’m so excited that it’s happening this summer! Sunday, August 9th, to be precise! As a blogger, I nominated myself for the task of updating and writing up the majority of the posts for the BlytheCon Vancouver website. I do posts on the donations and vendors, and it’s just so much fun to see what goodies are coming in and what will be going into the goodie bags!

It’s been a long time coming with all the progress and planning, and it’s made me really excited to announce contests because there’s some really great prizes (1st place prizes for both contests is a brand new, in box, stock Blythe doll!) – because who doesn’t want to go home from a convention with a new doll?! If you haven’t already gotten an entry in, that’s totally okay because you have until July 15th to enter!

What I’m most excited to be working on is actually my donations for BlytheCon. I’ll be putting together little bags for the goodie bags (much like what I had done for BlytheCon Seattle that I passed around) with my cards and some cute fun stuff – hair ties, miniature Canada flags, doll-sized clothespins, as well as putting together some really awesome (I hope) things for the raffle prizes. No photos of those yet, but when it’s all done, I’ll be sure to share here and over on the BlytheCon Vancouver blog as well.

If you haven’t already gotten your tickets, they are available over at Brown Paper Tickets! For those not in Canada, a $60CDN ticket works out to be just under $50USD – an awesome deal! The currency exchange rate is definitely in the favour of international travellers visiting Canada right now.

I love being crafty and creating things for Blythe – it’s a fun thing to do and the end result is something that my dolls can actually wear. It’s a pretty awesome feeling to be able to make something that looks cute and fits the dolls when I put them on. However, I’m not interested in the logistics of running an online shop at this time – mostly because of time, the additional costs of running a business (packaging, taxes, etc.) and just not thinking that people would want to buy what I make at a price that seems ‘worth it’ to me to put that time and effort in. But, I digress. There are many online shops that put out a lot of fantastic items every single day – and that’s good for people like me that don’t necessarily do those crafts.

Do you own a Blythe-related shop online? Share it below!