It honestly seemed like everyone was bouncing off the walls over the idea of the Anna Sui Blythe collaboration doll (if you haven’t seen the promotional illustration yet for this doll, click here!), who is due to come out in January 2017. While I’ve gotten more selective with the additions that I make to my Blythe collection, I had the feelings of grabby hands when I first saw the doll’s illustration (much like what I felt when I first saw Devi Delacour’s promotional illustration images).

So what does this mean if a doll if region exclusive?

The doll is only officially sold/shipped to retailers within that region. In the case of the Anna Sui doll, it was reported by Tuesday that the doll is a Japanese exclusive. The doll will only be officially sold to retailers in Japan. Anyone outside of Japan will have to either a) travel to Japan to buy the doll, or b) buy it secondhand at a marked up price.

With the doll being region exclusive, and likely quite limited as it is a designer collaboration, the doll is likely to be quite expensive after everything is taken into consideration (cost of doll, mark-up, shipping, potential for customs/duties). A doll that is tentatively priced at 29,300¥ (~$265USD) might end up being closer to $500USD by the end of the purchase due to the difficulty in getting it to other countries, the cost of (registered, tracked) shipping, and just price inflation based on popularity.

As a fan of stock dolls (nearly all of my dolls are stock or mostly stock), I can see why the Anna Sui collaboration doll will be popular – when I first saw the images, I send it to my family to go “This is what I want for Christmas”. Now that I know that the doll is region exclusive, it makes it a lot more difficult (and more expensive) to justify the purchase. Of course, there will be those in the community who will rise to the challenge to bring that doll to areas outside of Japan (and truthfully, I do hope people are successful because I want to see this doll in person!).

Keep in mind that CWC pays for and licenses the right to use the Blythe trademark from Hasbro (an American toy company) and they pay for the licensing rights for Japan and Korea only. Hasbro utilizes their Blythe trademark in North America with the Littlest Pet Shop mash-up.

What do you think about region exclusive releases? Share your thoughts below!

Winning a doll, I feel, is like winning the lottery in the Blythe world. This is not to be confused with winning a purchasing lottery (e.g. you enter in an lottery for a new Blythe release, and then you win the opportunity to purchase a doll), which is not nearly as fun as you still have to spend money to get that doll in your hot little hands. I’ve definitely won a couple of purchasing lotteries before, but then thought the better of it after I thought about it some more (and saw promotional images) – did not regret not buying those dolls at all!

I’ve sort of won a doll before – the I.G. Sirenita custom Petite Blythe for BlytheCon Vancouver. My sisters were unable to attend, but they wanted to support O.W.L. so they gave me money to purchase each of them a raffle ticket. Both of them won (!) and one of them had one the I.G. Sirenita Petite. I wound up getting the doll as a birthday gift later that year, and then I named her Lark.

Very soon, some lucky BlytheLife readers will be able to say that they’ve won dolls as well… Check back for updates on that! *spoilers* But it may be important to both follow the blog and BlytheLife on Instagram (@blythelifecom). Just a suggestion…

Have you ever won a doll? Share below!

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Since the addition of fakes in the Blythe market, I’ve been asked time and time again why I “bother” with buying legitimate Blythe dolls. Here are some of the arguments that I often get presented with that are pro-fakes:

• They are less expensive/more affordable. This is true – a decent fake can be had for as low as ~$40-50 USD while a legitimate Blythe doll may be as low as ~$100-125 USD.
• There is a wider variety in hair colours and colour combinations in fakes than legitimate Blythe dolls. Also true – rainbow scalps had become quite popular since they started to pop up!
• Most people don’t use stock clothing anyways, so why not buy a nude fake? Sometimes I feel that this is a poor argument, because I can be quite fond of a lot of stock clothing. I may be one of those rare collectors that will actually reuse the stock clothing and have my dolls dressed in them over and over again. I am a huge fan of separates and find that quite a bit of the stock clothes are good quality. (Stock underpants do not qualify.)

I started collecting Blythe in 2009. Back then there were no known fakes on the market. Fakes didn’t really start rearing their ugly heads in the community until early 2011. The problems that I had with the fakes is that they were made to look like legitimate Blythe dolls – down to the stock clothing and boxes. It’s a recipe for disaster, as I feel that I would be very disappointed if I had bought a doll thinking that it was legitimate (due to the fact that it came in a proper box and the clothing looked right) and would feel incredibly ripped off. The majority of my dolls have been NRFB when they arrived, I am a bit spoiled that way because I really enjoy the act of unboxing a Blythe doll. There’s something really exciting about taking out all the new bits and bobs of stock, to brush a doll’s hair for the first time, to set her up on a stand. I’ve bought a secondhand Blythe before, but it isn’t as exciting and I don’t get the same sense of anticipation when unboxing a secondhand doll as I do a NRFB doll.

For me, I am acutely aware that Blythe is an expensive hobby. I started collecting Blythe while I was in post-secondary and have continued with it despite having pressing necessities like tuition and textbooks. Now that I have a Real Grown-Up Job, I haven’t gone incredibly crazy with buying more Blythes yet. I think that some of the fake Blythes are cute (I find some of the colour combinations are quite… odd at times), but at this time none of them have enticed me to the point of buying one to add to my Blythe collection. At least not like stock dolls have, considering the majority of my collection is all stock. Part of this is also due the lack of space, I’ve gotten more selective with new additions as my collection has grown. Funds don’t factor into my decisions, for the most part, because I save if I’m wanting a more expensive doll – either a custom, a stock doll, or a Kenner. For me, at the present time, I find that it if is something worth having, it is worth it to me to save up for it.

Do you find buying real Blythes worth it? Share your thoughts below in the comments.

Often when I get a new doll I admire her in the box for a short while. Devi Delacour arrived on October 25th (technically the 24th, if the building buzzer actually worked properly…). Beautiful box, although I do miss the boxes that have the proper flaps/covers in the front. But this is Devi Delacour, and I’m quite excited because she’s my first translucent Blythe, and my first preorder (from an illustration). For those curious, because I think this is the first time that I’ve seen it, Takara Tomy includes this information sheet regarding returns:

Her box is beautiful, her stock is amazing. I just love how creative it is with all the components – the corset waist cincher, the bat wings, the pitch fork, and those strappy boots! She’s so pretty, I am over the moon with my decision to preorder/buy Devi Delacour.

Yes, new dolls these days are packaged with a lot of plastic wrap on the bodies. She comes with protective plastic over both arms, both legs (which goes underneath the underpants), and underneath the hair. Her hair was actually divided in half, curled and also in protective plastic as well! So much plastic, so bad for the environment!

My favourite details about this doll are the black glitter stand (and pullring), her deep blue eyelashes, and the winged eyeliner. These are my favourite of her all special eye chips, she also has light blue, a deep pink, and an olive green. My first translucent doll, and she’s so pretty! Readers, this is Maple Reed:

Do you photograph the unboxing process of a new doll?