Any time of year is a time when scammers come out to play. A good rule of thumb is that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. This includes, but is not limited to, dolls that are listed at abnormally low prices. Another good rule of thumb is to ask for additional photos of the doll (or dolly items), and to see what kind of feedback the seller has.

I suppose if I had a million dollars, I could afford to gamble a bit on potentially sour deals…

If they’re on eBay or Etsy, it’s a little easier to see if they have good feedback as a buyer or a seller as it’ll be right there on their profile. If it’s a person on Facebook or Blythe Kingdom, it’s a little bit more difficult as the feedback pages don’t come with alerts to let you know that you can leave feedback for someone, and it’s strictly on a voluntary basis at this time. Make a note of their feedback (positive? neutral? negative?) and read it. Take note of when their account opened. An account opened a week ago with 100% feedback as a buyer and doesn’t respond to messages may not be as reliable as an account that’s been open for a few years, has 100% feedback as a buyer and a seller, and is communicative about any questions you have.

Tips for Buyers:

• If something seems off or you get a vibe about the transaction, don’t go through with it. If it seems off, that’s because it is off. Listen to your gut feeling, why put yourself in the position to potentially lose your hard earned money if you don’t have to?
• Never pay as “gift” for something over PayPal. Not only does it go against the Terms and Conditions of using PayPal, but you will also lose your ability to file a claim as the payment was a “gift”.
• Avoid doing direct deposit or another form of payment that is not PayPal (or Google Wallet – I’ve heard this is fairly reliable as well).
• Avoid paying in installments if possible. Unfortunately, PayPal’s buyer protection does little to offer protection for those who opt to pay in installments. Make one-lump-sum payments whenever possible.
• Consider paying with a credit card through PayPal. This way you can get both buyer protection from PayPal and the option of filing a complaint through your credit card (and doing a chargeback to get your money back). This is an additional option that you don’t have when you pay with funds that are already existing in your PayPal account.

What are your tips for potential Blythe buyers?

Like most Blythe enthusiasts, I keep up with the news of new releases. Who’s limited, who’s an RBL+ or an FBL, who has fantastic stock that I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on? And occasionally, these dolls catch my eye in an “Ohh, I wouldn’t mind adding you to the family at all!” but sometimes those feelings are rare. Sometimes it seems that the same old dolls are being released – similar hair colours, similar clothing. And then I end up looking at the older releases, to consider what I had missed.

Older releases are great in that they had some wonderful colour combinations and some wacky outfits (do you all remember Goldie’s jumpsuit with the green accessories) and they just came with more stuff. Belarus (Love Mission) came with two full outfits – including shoes! Bennett (Margaret Meets Ladybug) came in a box shaped like a house and came with a full picnic set with some amazing details.

My wishlist hasn’t changed too much. I’m still wanting to add a BL to the family (Mondrian, Sunday Best, Aztec Arrival), perhaps a few EBLs or SBLs. Of the newer releases, the one that most recently caught my eye was Scotty Mum (for the doll) and Bling Bling Party Fur (for the clothes).

Who is on your wishlist?

I adore thrift stores. One of my dreams in life is to one day stumble across a minty Kenner Blythe. Maybe she’d have frizzy hair, maybe she’d still have both shoes on. But my dream is to find that elusive thrift store Kenner. Previously loved, and then so carelessly tossed into a box to be sent to a local thrift store. I’d come across her and pay the amazing price of $1 and be gleefully on my way.

Short of that dream, some pattern books for Barbie-sized furniture is always welcome. I came across these ages ago at a thrift store, bought them, and then promptly forgot about them until I was recently cleaning. The last time I did anything with plastic canvas would have been when I took a textiles class in high school, so I was a bit nostalgic when I came across these books and then I was super excited because Blythe fits pretty well with Barbie-sized furniture as they are technically the same scale (1:6).

While some of the colour combinations are bit dated, I think the overall furniture shapes can be mostly be used for a more ‘modern’ set. The nice thing about plastic canvas projects is the ease of it, and plus it’s fairly easy to thread a yarn needle (as opposed to a needle for cross stitching). I do plan on getting my hands on some plastic canvas soon, and see if I have the right type of yarn and then maybe I’ll make some living room accessories in bright colours to go with the IKEA HUSET pieces.

Will there be new furniture in my dolls’ future? Most likely!

As mentioned in January, I was temporarily relocating for part 1 of my practicum this term. I brought two dolls with me, what I consider to be a small selection of clothes, and some shoes. Now that the practicum is almost over, I’ve started the process of packing things up to get ready for the move back home.

All the clothes are accounted for, both dolls are accounted for – my current problem is the shoes. I’ve seem to be misplaced one of the white vintage squishy boots (featured in the photo below) somewhere in the apartment…

Eden and Primrose are both wearing Kult of Kulta, vintage squishy
Barbie boots, and travel in Sew Pixie carry bags.

I’m not entirely sure how, because I took care to make sure to put shoes when not in use into a zipped bag. But right now Prim is hanging out without a boot on. I should probably swap them out with something else to spare her the indecency… at least I didn’t photograph her with only one boot on!

If you were a missing boot, where would you be?

UPDATE: I FOUND THE BOOT.

It was somehow inside of my pillow case. Not on the side where I lay my head, but the underside. How it got in there, I have no idea.

Warsaw. Madrid. Paris. Vancouver. Gold Coast. London. Chicago.

What do all of these cities have in common? They are all playing host to their respective BlytheCons this year (for Australia, it is their annual Blythe Fest!).

I will personally be attending the one in Vancouver, Canada (my attendance is mandatory, seeing as how I’m helping organize it!), and haven’t fully made decisions on the other ones. As it currently stands, the Canadian dollar is weak so it’s hard to justify trips outside of the country. However, with the weak Canadian dollar, that means it’s a lot more affordable for people to travel to Canada (bonus!). I love going on trips though, and would love to figure out a way to attend one of the other major Blythe events that are happening this year if I can swing it. That and I’m considering my trips for the next few years based on when and where there will be scheduled events. It’s a nice excuse to go to new-to-me places while having something to do beyond playing tourist.

Are you planning on attending any BlytheCons or other big Blythe events this year? Which ones?