Could you really get rid of me? Or my sisters?

While I was on vacation, I was travelling with just one doll. I started getting comfortable with not having a choice in dolls, in having a single doll to take around with me everywhere. These thoughts led to the beginning of me thinking of what it would be like if I had less choices, less dolls, just less. One doll for all those clothes, shoes, hats and accessories? It may be a bit overwhelming though. This thought is hard, of course, because I have so many Blythes. I even added to my doll family after wandering around doll shops in Hong Kong. So how could I even think about downsizing? It was a fleeting thought. I thought about it primarily when I was in China, because it was a possibility. But then who would I sell? How would I downsize? And clearly (as evidenced above), I can’t even take care of the one doll that I do take on vacation… Please don’t ask what was going on with her bangs – I really don’t know, and her hair is a mess after being in a carrying bag.

The mere thought of listing dolls, figuring out pricing, not having them anymore is a level of stress that I didn’t need while I was on vacation (or now!). While it may have been nice to just have one doll to dress and tote around in my bag, I eventually (and lets not get into how long it took me…) started to miss my other dolls. I found myself unable to actually commit to the idea of downsizing, or selling anyone, because it was just that hard. I’ve grown attached to my dolls, as silly as that may sound to a non-dolly person, but I intend to keep them just where they are for the foreseeable future.

Did you downsize from a large doll family to a smaller one? Was it stressful? Did you do it for a reason other than just wanting a smaller family? Inquiring minds (or just mine!) want to know.

Can you keep a secret?

I play favourites with my Blythe dolls. Sometimes I even feel bad for doing it, but I do it anyways. It’s not always obvious, but sometimes it is. If I look at my Flickr sets, I can see that some of the dolls that I’ve had for over years have had less than 100 photos, while others than I’ve had for just over a year have double (or triple) that. Love for a doll is a finicky process, if the Going Baroque section on Blythe Kingdom is anything to go by. And yet, I have only ever sold one doll.

In the past, I’ve found myself thinking that my home was the last stop for dolls. They come in, but they don’t leave! That’s the way it has been for all of my dolls (except for the Fancy Pansy who was never named). They come in, they set up shop (figuratively) on their stands and take up space. Then comes the demands for things – shoes, hats, clothes, more shoes… But as demanding as the little plastic ones are, I do play my favourites. I listen a little bit more or cave for the demands much more for some than others.

Some dolls get a pair of shoes to themselves, others get whole outfits. I have a trio of hats that only my Kenners get to wear, some dresses that only my Kenners (or Halo – my solo custom doll) gets to wear. I have a fairly sizable collection of pink everything that only one doll gets to wear… I play favourites often, it’s just what I do – even if I don’t care to admit it. I suppose it’s like that with a lot of things though. We choose favourites throughout life. We have best friends, a favourite movie or book, a favourite boy band as a young girl (ahem, Backstreet Boys vs. NSYNC, anyone?). It’s just the way that the world works sometimes. There’s no cut and dry method of liking everything equally, no matter how hard that we try. That said, I could probably take more photos of some of my ‘lesser loved’ (but still loved) dolls from time to time.

Do you play favourites with your Blythes?

I started 365 with the best of intentions, I really did. But somewhere along the way (in part due to school, and laziness), I fell behind in uploading photos. And then I’d get caught up for a little bit, only to fall behind again. And then April happened, and I was so busy with other things (e.g. studying and preparing for finals) that I fell behind again. And then finals week occurred and I uploaded nothing.

Did I really want to continue the cycle of getting behind, catching up, getting behind and catching up yet again? I decided I didn’t want to. I love taking photos of my dolls, and I do love taking photos of Eden (because, let’s face it, pink look great on her!) but uploading photos was becoming a chore. And I just wasn’t having fun anymore with it. 365 is meant to be challenge, but it shouldn’t become a chore and it should be fun and it wasn’t anymore.

So from now on – no more feeling bad about not uploading photos because I shouldn’t feel bad about it! I’m going to continue taking photos of Eden Mouse, and all of my other dolls, on a schedule that I decide for myself. As hard as it was to make this decision, I know it’s the right one. I barely got through March even with a week-long break in the term because of all the coursework and studying that I had to do for school. And while I’m “only” taking distance ed courses this summer, I just know that I wouldn’t be able to make the time to do 365 as well as keeping up (or even getting ahead) in my studies and my education is always going to be a priority over 365 (no matter how much I love Blythe). And you know what? This decision feels great. It’s one less stress in my life – and that is wonderful.

When I first joined the doll hobby, I told myself that I was going to go into the doll hobby with a strict maximum that I would spend on things. I can’t remember how I came up with the numbers, they may be completely arbitrary. But I told myself that I wouldn’t overspend, that there was no doll worth that much. By the numbers, I told myself that I wouldn’t spend more than…

• $5 for a pair of doll shoes
• $10 for a doll dress, pair of pants, shorts, hat or coat
• $200 for a Blythe

And I bet quite a few of you are laughing at the fact that I thought that I could adhere to those limits. Arbitrary limits that I give myself in order to keep myself in check. As I got more involved in the community, and more interested in learning how to sew, I learned why people charge what they charge. When it took me nearly 3 hours to sew one doll dress, $10 seems like a bargain. Heck, even $15 for a doll dress is a bargain – and no, I’m not dropping big bucks on doll clothes on a regular basis. I wish that I could, but I don’t.

I’m a lot more selective with my purchases now. Mostly because I’ve just become more picky in what I dress my dolls in, that and after I’ve built up a bit of a wardrobe (and shoe closet), I can afford to be more thoughtful of each piece that comes into my dolls’ closet. It helps that I spend more time with research now, and thinking about how each piece goes with what I already have. Like “Oh, cute pants… but it would go with NOTHING that my dolls’ already own…”, much like I do when I go clothes shopping for myself these days. The combination of having a limited spending capacity results in me being able to afford to be picky. Nowadays, the “upper limit” is a bit more like:

• No more than $50 for a pair of doll shoes
• No more than $60 for a doll dress, pair of paints, shorts, hat or coat
• Erm, no more than $1000 for a Blythe (Kenner…)

Yeah, lets just say that the limit was raised – significantly. Raising the limit isn’t something that everyone is capable of, but nor is it something that needs to be reached – either consistently or even once. Do I need to spend $50 on a pair of doll shoes? Not every day, and nor is it healthy to do so (in my opinion) for the bank account. But it sure can be fun to splurge from time to time on something really special, even if everyone in your life (that doesn’t collect dolls) thinks that you may be completely insane.

I have become quite the fan of Middies. If I had the availability of funds, I would have much more than one. For instance, I would get the mini-Zukin Middie (Nekugutsu) with her adorable cat shoes. And then there is that new one (soon to be released!) Iris Linea with her long, flowing platinum locks and blue princess dress! At times, I like to allow myself to fall into the role of the stereotypical girl and dolls is one of those areas. Especially when the doll just fits the bill and comes with some fantastic shoes and great hair colours.

A lot of people have said that Blythe, of the Neo variety, has gotten boring of late. A lot of the releases have had similar styles in terms of hair colour or cut. How many times have we seen that pink-brown mix over and over again? Or the same shoe mold being used that it just gets so repetitive? But Middie hasn’t been around nearly as long so there is still so much room for improvement and growth and, for the most part, there’s been little repeats in the hair colours that Middie has been given. Granted, they could have had a greater range in variety of eye colours (which would be fantastic), but I think most people are pretty happy with the variety that has been produced so far. And they make such gorgeous customs. It always amazes me how much a doll can look differently with the right person!

Custom Middie and photo by Kate/Moofers.

What I would personally love is for Takara to come out with a shoe pack or accessories pack for Middie. They did for the Neo in the past (shoe packs, accessories packs with glasses, outfit packs that came with a full-on outfit and one set even had a scooter), and I think it would be very fun (and would probably do very well) if they came out with more accessories for Middie. After all, if the doll is doing well and selling well, why not kick it up a notch and give the people what they want? I’d also love to see so much more in terms of hair colours, styles, and outfits! It would be nice to have more fun things for Middies – like headbands, headphones, new shoe styles and accessories that would be well-received by the community as a whole.

And if they happened to do an Alexis Emerald in Middie form? That would be wonderful.