The standard Kenner Blythe eye chip colours were described as bouncy brown, groovy green, pretty purple and beautiful blue. We know the colours better as orange, green, pink, and blue. Many people end up swapping them out for something else, I am no stranger to that either as I’ve done that quite a few times for colours that I just don’t think ‘fit’ well with a particular doll.

My favourite of the four standard eye chip colours would have to be pink, surprisingly enough. I’ve actually switched out stock blues and greens for softer versions of them in Brainworm or Cool Cat varieties, I find that the blues and greens don’t necessarily look good in all of my dolls, but I actually quite like the pinks!

Some dolls are lucky as they came with special eye colours, which I find tend to be very pretty. Middies and Petites are interesting in that there is no ‘standard’ eye chip colour for them, as they just have that one set. They do, however, end up with some beautiful colours that I wouldn’t mind finding one day for the Neo Blythes in my doll family.

What is your favourite stock eyechip colour?

There have been many collaboration dolls that CWC has done in the past for Blythe. To point out a few:

• B2 HOLic was a collaboration with Clamp,
• Ribbonetta Wish was a Hello Kitty meets Blythe release,
• Doronjo x Blythe was a Yatterman collaboration,
• Hoshinonamida Hime and Yuki No Namida Hime were both designed with Baby, the Stars Shine Bright,
• Strawberries & Creamy Cute was created with Emily Temple cute,
• And my beloved Margaret Meets Ladybug was a collaboration with Mamechiyo

Yes, pretty much all of the collaboration dolls have been with Japanese companies – but it is nice to dream about what other collaborations there could be.

For instance, they’ve already done a collaboration with Clamp… I wouldn’t say no to a Cardcaptor Sakura collaboration. Or perhaps an official Sailor Moon Blythe (or any of the other Sailor Scouts)? Or even a cross-over with American comics – I could see Poison Ivy being a pretty awesome Blythe!

What would be your dream collaboration Blythe doll?

 

Back in the day way back when, Kenner Blythe dolls were $6-7 (regular price). Can you imagine picking up at a Kenner Blythe doll at that price now? That’s the dream though, isn’t it?

When Takara got into the game with the BLs, the majority of the BLs were ¥8,400 (~$70USD today). Parco, who has the luck of being the first BL produced by Takara, was priced at ¥10,290, or approximately at ~$86USD today. Fast forward over 14 years later and Les Jeunette (the May 2015 release) is ¥14,900 (~$125USD) while the 2015 anniversary Neo Blythe doll (Dauphine Dream) is ¥24,900 (~$209USD).

Given the issues that people have had with quality control, it does draw my interest to know how you feel about today’s release prices. Despite the surplus of fakes on the market, there will still always be collectors who want to own and purchase official releases, or have customs produced with official releases. If you consider the cost of an official regular release at approximately $125, it doesn’t actually seem that far off from the original BLs. Why? Because you have to factor in inflation and the changes of the economy. While you could have bought a BL for ~$70USD then, the majority of them go for 4-5 times that amount. When you consider that, $125 doesn’t seem like that bad of a price for a brand new doll today. I may also think this because the majority of my Blythe collection were NRFB and many of them were not at $125 (unfortunately).

How do you feel about the new release prices? Do you think that they are worth it?

One of my favourite Blythe dolls on the internet is a doll named The Mighty Quinn a.k.a. TMQ (owned by irulethegalaxy) fights aliens and loves the colour orange. One of my favourite dolls that I own is Eden Mouse, a younger girl in terms of maturity who loves tea parties, dolls, and the colour pink. Everything she wears is pink and she even has a baby pink clover stand. A newer addition to my doll family, Cameo, has somehow become my resident cat lady. I put her in this kitty tights and a cat dress one day and I honestly cannot find a better outfit for her. I really do think that she needs some kind of cat charm!

The pink loving Eden Mouse & Cameo the littlest cat lady!

Eden Mouse is wearing Buttonarcade (dress) and tights (unknown maker). Cameo is wearing Plastic Fashion (dress) and Endangered Sissy (tights).

Do any of your dolls have a “theme”?

With the tail end of Easter long weekend winding down, it’s made me acutely aware of how many people dress up their dolls for the holidays. This is something that I often mean to do, but frequently do not do. Holidays come and go for me, especially ones that aren’t overly celebrated in my life. Post-holiday celebrations come in the form of discounted chocolates though, and I very much celebrate those moments in my life! Occasionally though, and it’s very rare, I do make a little effort for the holidays.

Do you dress up your dolls for the holidays?