I find Kenners to be some of the most interesting Blythes in the hobby. Some Kenner Blythe facts for those who are relatively new to the hobby:

• 1972 was the year that they were produced
• Kenners were a marketing flop – they did not do well in sales
• All Kenners were produced with the same eye chip colours (pink, blue, orange green)
• Their bodies were mimicked with the “Excellent” body that all stock Blythes (aside from BLs, who have Licca bodies) have

These dolls have survived since the early 70s, making them all 44 years old. That’s a long time for a plastic child’s toy to survive. Many of these dolls have endured time as a child’s plaything, then being stuffed away in attics and in other places in less than ideal conditions. Each Kenner is amazingly different, despite their common and very similar beginnings in a toy factory. Each Kenner has their own quirks, and that makes them very unique. Some of them have seen trauma through their time – either from children or just the elements, while others have been lovingly cared for as a favourite childhood toy of the past.

All of my Kenners have their own quirks, but they’re all still beautiful to me. My favourite Kenner quirk is one of Prim’s. She has a far left eye lash for each eye that always gets stuck inside of her face plate because they’ve been bent, and if they’re out they stick out in a way that points away from the rest of the eyelashes. If it was one of my Neos, this would bug me, but for her it’s endearing – I could not tell you why.

Do you own any Kenner Blythes? What are some of their endearing quirks?

BlytheLife HQ has mostly completed its move. I still need to get (new) furniture moved in here and assembled, so that will take probably another week or so. My dolls are, for the most part, out on display right now. Not on display are: Emmalynn (Kenner), Lillian Rose (Kenner), Halo (Friend With Blythe mohair custom RBL), my still nameless ADG, and Lottie (Mondrian). This is partially due to lack of stands, and because some dolls don’t stay nicely on stands (Halo, I’m talking about you!). In the mean time, the rest of the girls are out. The vision is to get a larger shelf unit (either a 4×2 or even a 4×2 Kallax) so I have more vertical shelf space. There are nine foot tall ceilings in this room, and it’s fairly small, so I have to go up rather than out.

From left to right there is: Chickadee, Pipsqueak, Shrimp, Bennett, Cedar, Lark, Primrose, Sophie, Eden Mouse, Joy, Kitty Brighton, Kindred, Lydia Melbourne, Belarus, Moxie, Minnow, Tertiary Jane, Molybdenum, and (below) Cameo.

The internet situation is a little bit sketchy right now, I’m tethering off of my phone but wanted to do a little update. The internet should hopefully be fixed by tomorrow or even the day after (at the latest, hopefully). I’m going to be working over the next 4 days, so really my ability to get posts up will be minimal. My goal is to get back to regularly scheduled posts here at BlytheLife in about a week or so.

You have a doll-related website/shop/blog and BlytheLife has your target audience!

BlytheLife.com is an active doll website with a high readership that primarily consists of women who are Blythe and other doll collectors/hobbyists. By advertising your doll-related site or business with BlytheLife, you can ensure that your ad is being seen by the people that are your potential customers. Every time someone visits BlytheLife, they’ll see your ad on the side!

Did you know? Sponsorship costs are purposely kept low to keep advertising accessible to people in the doll community.

There are three spots currently available for the month of August and all sponsorship funds go towards the costs of keeping BlytheLife.com live on the internet!

Large – 1 spot available for August! (325×200 pixels)

• $10 – 1 month
• $18 – 2 months
• $26 – 3 months

Small – 2 spots available for August! (160×160 pixels)

• $5 – 1 month
• $9 – 2 months
• $13 – 3 months

If you’d like more information on how you can advertise on BlytheLife, click here.

A very common frequently asked question that I get on BlytheLife is: how do you get featured here? There are so many ways!

You could get interviewed or have your Blythe wares reviewed for the website – this is the most common method that people get the spotlight shined on them here. I do a lot of interviews, and I’m always game to interview someone new!

For those with an announcement to make in the Blythe community – something new and exciting – there is Community Corner. In the past, I’ve featured fundraising efforts in the Blythe community, but I am open to sharing other types of announcements for the Blythe community.

If you’re an online shop owner and you have a sale or coupon code, I’d love to include it in Shopping Saturday! The main requirement is that the sale and/or coupon code has to last for the entirety of the week that it’s featured – super easy to do!

For those who are writing savvy, you could contribute an article by being a guest author! I’ll link back to your site/shop/profile page somewhere on the world wide web and everyone can click through to see more of your work!

The newest way of being featured on BlytheLife is through Everyday Collector. Share a little bit about yourself to the Blythe community about how you discovered Blythe and your doll family. This is open to everybody and I will feature anyone, provided that the answers are clean and “family friendly”.

BlytheLife posts over the next couple of weeks may be on different days that normal as BlytheLife HQ is a) moving, b) will be without internet at the new location for a week and a half, and c) I will be very, very busy (unfortunately). Please bear with me as I work behind the scenes in making my new house a home.

“I only need one Blythe.”

This is something that I told myself early on after buying Sophie, my first Blythe and my Cappuccino Chat. It took me a month to get my second Blythe (Belarus, a Love Mission). I also said to myself that “I don’t need another Blythe”, and then that ultimately results in me buying a new Blythe. Such is life!

“I don’t need that dress.”

“Or those shoes.”

“Or that hat.”

I tell myself those lies quite a bit. But the truth is that while I don’t need them, I want them, which then leads me to the inevitable purchase because why not?

And my most favourite doll related lie that I’ve told myself?

“I’m only going to buy one thing this month for the dolls.”

What are some lies that you’ve told yourself in regards to Blythe?