Blythe 102 is part 2 of a 5 part series directed towards people who are new to Blythe. In part 2, commonly used abbreviations and words in the Blythe community will be explained.

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ADG – Ashton-Drake Galleries, the reproduction Blythe dolls produced from 2005-2008. They were reproductions of the original Kenners with similar style dresses, hair and boxes.

BK – Blythe Kingdom, a popular English-language forum for Blythe collectors.

BL – The original dolls produced by Takara (starting with Parco) from 2001-2002. Some were produced with matte faces and boggled eyes. BL dolls came on Licca bodies.

Boggled – Blythes with ‘boggled’ eyes have wide eyes (no eyelid showing). Can be either stock (see: BL) or a custom feature with altering the eye mechanism.

Boil Perm – Use of hot water to ‘set’ the hair of Blythe.

Chunky Bangs – Commonly used term in reference to Kenner Blythes that have bangs (or fringe) that span the entire forehead.

Custom – A Blythe doll that has been altered so that it is no longer in its original stock/retail condition.

CWC – Cross-World Connections, the company that licensed the rights to use the Blythe trademark in Asia.

Dome – Plastic piece that provides structural support to the scalp.

EBL – ‘Excellent’ Blythe, produced from 2002-2005. EBLs came on the ‘Excellent’ body (rigid arms, legs that bend at the knees). Also came with the ‘Clover’ stands that are now standard with all new Blythe releases. EBLs came with wispy eyelashes and black rings painted underneath the eyechips to add depth to the colour.

Eyechips – Small pieces of plastic that are fitted into the doll’s eyeballs. Each Blythe has four sets. You can purchase

FBL – “Fairest” Blythe mold, produced from 2009 to present. The first FBLs produced had matte faces, this was later changed to shiny due to manufacturing problems with the matte finish.

Flange – Flange is the “lip” of the scalp that is hidden when the scalp is properly in place on the head. It’s thinner than most of the scalp material and can tear when being removed (this is especially true for BL and EBL dolls). Flange is important because it enables the scalp to stay on the doll’s head without the use of glue or other adhesives.

Gaze Correction – Also called “gaze lifting”, a custom feature that involves shortening of the t-bar to “lift” the gaze of the doll so that she doesn’t look down all the time.

KB – Kenner Blythes, the original Blythe dolls that were produced in 1972 by the toy company Kenner.

Kenner – The toy company that produced the original Blythe doll in 1972. It is no longer existing, having been sold to Hasbro.

LPS – Littlest Pet Shop, generally refers to the LPS Petite dolls that have been produced since 2010. Some LPS Petites come with the pets, some are sold by themselves.

Matte – Refers to the face of the Blythe doll not being shiny. Dolls can come matte (some BLs and FBLs were produced with matte faces) but can also be customized to be matte – either with sanding (‘sand matte’) or with a matte spray/sealer.

Middie – Middies have been produced by Takara since 2010. Middies are in between Neo and Petite sizes. They lack the same eye mechanism as Neo, but have a dial at the back of their head to move their eyes from side to side. Middies also have the ability to tilt their head.

Neo – Refers to the modern Blythe dolls produced by Takara. They have been in production since 2001.

Petite – Petite can refer to either the Petite Blythes by Takara or LPS Petites. Both are similar in size and can wear each others clothing and shoes. Takara Petites have ‘sleep eyes’; eyes that close when the doll is laying down and open when the doll is standing up. LPS Petites do not have eyes that are able to move or close.

RBL – “Radiance” Blythe, produced from 2006 to 2013. RBLs have the distinct feature of being the first Blythe produced by Takara that is easy to open. RBLs are also the most abundant when it comes to number of dolls released. The RBL mold was discontinued following damage due to long-term use, the RBL+ mold was created to replace it.

RBL+ – “Radiance Plus” (or Radiance +) Blythe, produced from 2013 to present. RBL+ is very similar in appearance to the RBLs – from look to the method of assembly. Some RBL+ releases have been found to have an excessive amount of glue which makes basic customization attempts difficult.

Reroot – A custom feature when you remove the hair that the doll comes with and replace it with something else.

SBL – “Superior” Blythe, produced from 2003-2008. The first SBL dolls had a severe downward gaze. Later SBL releases are said to have a “joker” smile that some also say looks like a smirk. SBLs also had some of the best variety of hair colour and stock items that came standard with the dolls.

Sleep Eyes – A custom feature that adds another string to the doll. It replaces the function of the spring that enables you to leave the eyes closed after changing the eye colour.

Stock – A Blythe that has not been altered from her original state (from box).

Takara – The toy company that is currently responsible for producing Neo Blythe, Middie and Petites.

T-bar – A small plastic piece (in the shape of a T) that is inside of the head, it controls how high (or low) the doll looks.

TIB – This is Blythe, a English-language forum. Also can refer to the This is Blythe book by Gina Garan, published in 2000.

Wispy Bangs – Commonly used in reference to Kenner Blythes. Some dolls had thin bangs that were centred in the forehead, most had a curl to the ends.

WPWD – We Play With Dolls is an English-language forum with primarily Australian Blythe collectors, but they also welcome hobbyists from other countries.

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Want to learn more?

• Blythe 101: A Guide for Newbies
• Blythe 102: Commonly Used Abbreviations and Words – You’re reading this!

Welcome to Blythe 101, part 1 of a 5 part series directed towards people who are new to Blythe!

In Blythe 101, I will be going over the shortened history of Blythe and how to go about buying your first Blythe.

History of Blythe
Blythe first came out in 1972 from the toy company Kenner. They were produced for one year and disappeared from shelves after doing poorly on the market. One of the theories behind why Blythe didn’t do well on the market is because her features (oversized head and eyes, changing eyes) were deemed creepy by children.

This is Blythe by Gina Garen came out in 2000. The following year, the toy company Takara came out with the Neo Blythe dolls. They started producing Petites shortly after that and the Middie dolls in 2010. Takara has been successful in bringing Blythe into Japan and then into the international market after the following that came after the release of the This is Blythe book.

Ashton-Drake Galleries came out with their own reproduction Blythes, modelled very closely after the original Kenners. ADGs were produced from 2005-2008 and reproduced the original 1972 outfits, boxes and hair styles.

Hasbro introduced Blythe Loves The Littlest Pet Shop dolls in 2010, commonly referred to LPS Petites by collectors. The major difference between LPS Petites and Takara Petites is that the Takaras have sleep eyes (the eyes close when the doll is laying down) while the LPS eyes do not move.

Buying Your First Blythe
A lot of people buy their first Blythe online, either through the forums or a website like eBay. I bought my first Blythe in a retail store that had a few Blythes in stock and I picked the one that I did because she was the only one who was not priced higher than on eBay at the time.

Forums are a great way to go as you are more likely to find used dolls (second hand, gently used)  if you’re not too picky. Some fellow collectors also sell new dolls through the forums as well. Generally speaking, many fellow hobbyists will price their dolls to sell – generally not to make a profit.

On eBay, you could run into people who try to sell for a profit and those who overprice their items by several hundred. Be wary of high pricing, it doesn’t mean that they sell at those prices. If you’re truly interested in a specific stock doll, I would recommend watching the listings for the doll you want and seeing the prices that the auctions really end at. Doing your research for a Blythe is a good idea, considering the expense of one.

You can also find Blythes through online retailers. Some offer pre-orders for new releases and others carry releases that have already come out that they’re trying to sell. The thing with online retailers is that they’re less likely to mark down pricing for customs (which is the legitimate thing to do…) but also they’re not likely to haggle with you. You do have the option of haggling when you’re buying via the forums, if you feel comfortable doing it.

If you’re looking for your first Blythe doll, about half of the people that you meet will encourage you to buy a cheaper doll ‘just to see if you like Blythe’ and others will encourage you to buy the one that you really want. Some of the less expensive stock dolls include the Simply Vanilla and Simply Chocolate dolls (both FBL). Some of the RBLs are still fairly inexpensive (eg. Simply Lilac, Simply Peppermint) as well as some EBLs (eg. Love Mission, Very Cherry Berry/Cherry Berry). It all really depends on what you want to get. I’d recommend getting the doll that you want, provided that you can stomach the cost. If I had went out and gotten a Kenner for my first Blythe, I probably would have had sticker shock over the final bidding that it would close on. So there is no “perfect” first Blythe for everyone. Some people do get Kenners as their first Blythe, others get the cheapest Blythe that they can find and others find a Blythe somewhere between those two.

Some things to note about Blythe is that the head does not seem as big in photos as it does in person. I thought that the head was massive when I first saw her in person. I’m used to the head-to-body ratio now (and other dolls look strange to me, or just ‘off’ somehow), and they’re quite charming. And it’s okay if you don’t like Blythe all that much after seeing her in person – some people just like Blythe to look at in photos on the internet and that’s okay too.

After realizing her claim to internet fame last week, Sophie the self-proclaimed fashionista has decided to dedicate some time towards educating the masses on her ways of being a plastic fashionista. Sophie has already stated that she will not be writing every single week, but her new column will be called Love, Sophie and she’s entirely interested in knowing about your favourite designers and shops because she seems to think that she’s getting paid to write this column (she’s not).

Hi everyone! My name is Sophie. You may recognize me from 365, which took me very, very long to complete (against my will). I’m the first Blythe in the House of Chelleshocks, which entitles me to be the first to wear new clothes in the house. I have a bunch of annoying sisters and I live with Michelle, who doesn’t always buy me new clothes. This is my new column, Love, Sophie.

This week I’m going to be telling all of you about how to get new clothes. And this isn’t just ‘new to you’, although being thrifty and wearing vintage is a very ‘in’ thing to do right now. This is all about getting new-new clothes.

The first thing you need to do is to either have access to your human’s wallet, Paypal account or credit card. Once you’ve gotten that, it’s super easy! Once you have any of those three, you just need to go onto the computer when your human isn’t around and buy things! And they just come in the mail to you! Yes, it’ll likely be addressed to your human, but if your human is nice (or forgetful), they’ll just think they bought it instead.

If you don’t have access to your human’s wallet, you’ll need work your human until they say yes. My favourite methods are:

• Bait and Switch – Ask for something really expensive and ask for it repeatedly. After they tell you no because it is so expensive, bring up something that’s not as expensive. Chances are they’ll say yes!

• Complain – This doesn’t work all of the time, but sometime it does. Like when my sisters are constantly borrowing my shoes and not putting them back properly, I just mention it to my human that they’re not really “mine” anymore (even if they are) and how I really wish there was more than one pair of white boots around, for example. Next thing you know, she’s offering to buy you a pair to compensate for your troubles.

• Woeful Woecakes – Be really sad about the fact that your human keeps bringing in more sisters, or the fact that she doesn’t have time for you anymore. Be very sad. And when your human asks what would cheer you up, point them in the direction of that cute outfit (don’t forget to include a link to new shoes!).

I hope these methods are helpful to you in your quest for getting new stuff! Sisters can be okay sometimes, but most of the time they’re just busy touching all your things! Don’t try to mail off one of your sisters though, humans frown upon that unless they’ve already lined up a new human for your sister (ask me how I know…).

Until next time, stay fashionable!

Sophie is a mostly stock Cappuccino Chat that came to live with me in June 2009. She loves shoes, new clothes, playing with her hair, fashion, magazines full of fluff and shopping. She aspires to be a model and would like to model for some of the ‘great’ dolly fashion houses one day.

Every month’s last Friday (almost every month…) is part of a feature on BlytheLife.com, Friday Five. Welcome everyone to this month’s instalment! I mention 5 things I love every month..

If you have any suggestions for next month’s Friday Five, please don’t hesitate to email me! Maybe you have a site you think that I should feature or a pattern that’s free and up on the web? Tell me!

For the month of August, I found 5 places on the internet that I kept going back to again and again and I decided to share them with you!

1. Blythopia.com – the Blythe community’s answer to an easy to read guide to what stock doll is that? Also has great sections on Kenners, Petites and Middies as well as dress sets, shoe sets and accessories that were officially produced by Takara.
2. Blythe Directory – a great Tumblr website that’s easy to navigate! You can look up various Blythes to see photos, find release information. You can also search via appearance (hair colour), by mold type and by release date. At the time of writing, some details are still missing (particularly under release dates), but you can still find a lot of information regarding various stock Blythes of your choosing!
3. I’ve been obsessed with looking at photos of Middies lately! For those who are also in love with Middie, there are several Flickr groups – the one I’ve recently joined is called Middie Blythe.
4. Junko Wong‘s blog has been fun to read in August. It’s bilingual and has lots of fun photos, not necessarily always about Blythe. It’s interesting to see what she has to say about new releases though!
5. Lastly, I’ve been looking at more and more photos of customized Blythes (uh oh!) and there’s another Flickr group that I frequent as well that’s all for custom Blythes.

If you know of a site, group or activity that you think I should highlight in next month’s Freebie Friday Five, let me know! Comment below or email me.

Hello, BlytheLife fans! Today’s post is going to be a little different. For starters, it was written by me, Sophie!

For those who aren’t familiar with me, I’m a Cappuccino Chat RBL. I’m also the Queen Bee in the house, ahem, and I’m here to talk to you about my favourite shoes. Now, I have a pretty extensive shoe closet that my annoying sisters keep borrowing from, but they’re all mine.

I’m going to show you my top ten pair of shoes and I also want to know what your favourite shoes are! And, if you could be so kind, encourage Michelle to buy them for me? After all, I’m writing this article and I’m not getting paid! (Michelle: I don’t get paid either!)

Pair #1 & 2 – Simply Lilac and Simply Peppermint boots

Pair #3 – Vintage lace-up boots (non-squishy)

Pair #4 & 5 – Black and white Mary Janes

Pair #6 – (Vintage) Brown riding boots

Pair #7 – Thigh-high white boots (Hollywood)

Pair #8 – Black flats (vintage Skipper)

Pair #9 – (Barbie) Ankle boots (assorted colours)

Pair #10 – Granny-style boots (Velvet Minuet)