Middie was first introduced as Blythe’s newest sister in September 2010, a month before Macaron Q-Tea Party was released. The dainty blonde doll made many people apprehensive at first. Questions were thrown around about the presence of a mid-sized doll in the Blythe family. Why is she so expensive? Why were there limitations to the doll’s mechanism?

If I include Nellie Nibbles (the April 2013 Middie release), there have been eleven different Middies released. One of them (Cherish Me Always – June 2011) was even an anniversary doll, which was pretty neat when they made a full Neo-Middie-Petite set for the 10th anniversary of Neo Blythes. But now, as it has been over two years since the release of Middie, has your opinion of Middie changed?

For me, I was a little skeptical of her at first. And I thought about how difficult it would be to find clothes for a Middie sized doll, so I put off the idea of buying one. I even told myself that they were a little bit ugly(!) and expensive. But then I came to see them in person and became a little bit charmed. It did not help that members of my local Blythe group had started acquiring Middie and bringing them to meets! Getting to see them in person was a treat. For the Neos, I was unable to hold the Neo Blythes in my hands before buying one – but I was able to see them in person first (in box, behind a glass window). I was also able to see custom Middies in person as well, but that (so far) has not swayed me into getting one. Then again, it took me a while to get a customized Blythe. I’ve been following Middie Flickr groups for a while now, and it’s actually be hard to stop myself from buying Nekogutsu Zukin with her cute red kitty shoes. Getting to see photographs online has been a fantastic help – especially photos of the doll outside of the box, outside of promotional set-ups.

I’ve come to love the Middie mold. I find the smaller size charming, and it is very cute when the heads are tilted to one side. I do wish that they had been able to adapt the eye mechanism to a smaller size as I think it would be adorable if there had been a mini pull ring at the back of Middie’s head. But as I consider the overall cuteness, size difference and the even tinier shoes to be fun. Not that I needed another shoe collection, but I am slowly growing a shoe closet for my Middie… and I do hope to continue adding to my doll family with additional Middies.

How has your opinion of Middie changed?

You have a doll-related website and I’ve got your target audience!

BlytheLife.com is an active doll website with a high readership that primarily consists of women who are Blythe and other doll collectors. By advertising your doll-related site or business with BlytheLife, you can ensure that your ad is being seen by the people that are your potential customers. Sponsorship costs are kept low to keep advertising accessible to people in the doll community.

There is one spot currently still available for the month of May and three spots available for the month of June and all sponsorship funds go towards keeping BlytheLife up and running!

I will be without internet access on May 31st and June 1st, so I’m offering up a discount to purchase 2 months (or more) for the large ad spot and a discount for the small ad spots (to be put up on June 3rd 2013 instead of June 1st 2013). If you want to take advantage of the pricing below, contact me for May and June (July will have regular prices).

Large – 1 spot available for May, 1 spot available for June! (325×200 pixels)

• $10 – 1 month
• $18 $15 – 2 months
• $26 $20 – 3 months

Small – 2 spots available from June 3rd to June 30th 2013! (160×160 pixels)

• $5 $4 – 1 month
• $9 $8 – 2 months
• $13 $10 – 3 months

If you’d like more information on how you can advertise on BlytheLife, click here.

I recently got the chance to interview Olga, the creative mind behind Blythemia – a lovely Etsy shop that sells crocheted items for Blythe! As English is not Olga’s primary language, I edited some of her answers for clarity only, and maintained the meaning of her answers.

Hi Olga! What can you tell us about yourself?
What first thing I have to say about me is that I am very reserved. I am 50 years old and I have two teenage children who live with me. I married twice. The relationship with my ex-husband is great. I’ve always loved everything about art, children’s artwork, toys … the one hand, and on the other, the gothic, dark, cemeteries, abandoned places…

How did you discover Blythe? Who’s in your doll family?
I discovered these dolls for a TV commercial, Babaria, and from the first moment I fell in love with them, looked on YouTube and there it all began. My first intention was to open a store for Blythe, but I did not have to look far to realize that was impossible. For a while I abandoned this hobby because it was preparing a competition for City Hall my city for now I have only one Blythe, a Simply Lilac.

How did you get started with crafting for Blythe?
Unfortunately I could not work in City Hall. The month of July 2012 was held DollyOlé in my city and I went with a friend who is really into this Blythe world. There I came up with the idea to make clothes and hats for Blythe, because two months earlier had begun to crochet. I’m entirely self-taught, I learned everything myself with the help of YouTube and Pinterest.

Where do you find your creative spark for your designs?
I guess the things that I like. Also bought patterns from other vendors. Right now my best selling product is not an original design of mine, the viking hat, it is a pattern I bought on Etsy.

Which design that you have made so far is your favourite? Why?
I have much enthusiasm when I do something new, I make two or three of the same model. But none is like another, they always have differences among themselves.

How did it make you feel when you made your very first sale?
I was very nervous and very excited. I called the friend who I accompanied to DollyOlé to tell them before answering the customer.

How has starting you own business influenced the way you interact with others in the Blythe community?
The first thing I did was to have a store on Etsy. I began to interact with it (circles, treasure, etc.). In Facebook, I was pointed at Blythe groups and letting me know.

What was the most challenging part of starting your own shop?
Language, as everything is in English. Despite having knowledge of the language, it becomes difficult to communicate.

What kind of new things do you have planned for your shop that you can tell us about?
Every day I discover new ways to let me know, like your website. In this moment I am working in  a style challenge on the Blythe Kingdom forum.The theme is: Mori Girl! Also I am make rugs, garlands, cushions for Blythe scenes.

Thank you so much for doing this interview with me! What kind of advice do you have for someone who’s starting up their own business online?
The advice you need from me? Lol. I think “if I like it, someone else will have to like” and conversely, “I do not like it but I’m sure someone if” is a matter of who you know. I warmly thank you to give us a chance.

You can find out more about Olga and her fantastic crocheted works on her Etsy shop, Blythemia.

Flowered Hat Giveaway!

Olga has generously decided to giveaway a flowered crochet hat for one lucky person here on BlytheLife!

The giveaway runs until Saturday April 27th 2013 at 11:59pm Pacific. The draw will be held on Sunday April 28th 2013 and the winner will be announced on BlytheLife.com. Remember to use a valid email address for all comments. If you win, your email will be forwarded to Olga so she can get in contact with you regarding sending you the prize.

Please only use one email address per person, those using multiple email addresses for more entries will be disqualified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My dolls are, for the most part, standers.

I have more dolls that I do stands, so some of my dolls are neatly wrapped in white cloth and they hang out in drawers (‘they’ being the Kenners and a custom). All my other full-sized Blythes stand on their clover stands, because there are the stands available for them. But occasionally my dolls will sit, depending…

My Middie, seeing as how she is my only one and she came with a stand, stays on her stand. It’s almost comical to me that the Middie has the same stand-arm issue that the Neos have. I find that neither the Neos or the Middies have arms that can be put down while on the stand – unless the doll is wearing shoes or boots – something that raises the doll enough, in which case the arms can be put down and not look funny.

As for my Petite, whom I received as a gift back in 2011, she hangs out in a comfy arm chair. I don’t have a stand for her, but then again she’s fairly small and doesn’t take up a lot of room! She hangs out with my only BJD, Joy. Let’s ignore the fact that they’re both still in what they wore to a Halloween meet in 2012…

Do your Blythes sit or stand?

It’s been brought to my attention that on blogs, Flickr and Facebook, some members of our online Blythe community have been gathering information regarding poorly manufactured Blythe dolls. This includes Neo Blythe and Middie Blythe dolls that are new and old releases in poor condition – either with stock make-up, hair, clothing, etc. I sympathize with the fact that people are upset about poorly constructed dolls. Blythe dolls are not inexpensive items – they are expensive. At a minimum of ~$100-150USD per doll, they are not an inexpensive item. I myself have unboxed Blythes that have had problems with their stock make-up or hair. My own Simply Peppermint has severely lopsided blush, my Punkaholic People had a very poor haircut that resulted in me putting a hat on her all the time. This was before I knew that people were able to return the dolls – returning dolls to a company on an international basis was not something that I had considered.

People have posted about communicating with the CWC and Takara Tomy about the concerns they had regarding the quality control with Blythe. I’d like to remind everyone that CWC is the design company, they come up with the concepts, but Takara Tomy is the company that manufactures and produces the finished product. Therefore, complaints of quality (or lack thereof) should be directed towards the manufacturing company (Takara Tomy). I believe that it’s important for Takara Tomy to know that the people who buy Blythe dolls and products are unhappy with the quality of what they are producing. As the consumer, we have a right to expect to receive a product that matches the promotional photos, and an expectation that the dolls do not arrive with irreparable damage. However, it is important for us (the general ‘us’) to write in a manner that can be easily understood.

Image from sxc.hu user eduardtrag.

Consider in the event your friend is upset with you. Would you be more likely to hear about why she/he is upset if your friend is angrily ranting, or would you be more willing to listen if she/he explained, in a calm and collected manner with evidence to back that up? In order to strive for, and get, any change in the quality control methods in our favourite doll, people who are choosing to write to Takara Tomy need to write their letters in a way that gets their point across, and with evidence to back up their claims. Being calm and not emotionally charged is the best way to write a letter that gets the best possible response in a manner that doesn’t result in insulting people – which would be rude. Use of profanity would not endure the customer service people to take complaints seriously.

As for returning dolls, I’d like to remind people that you would have much better luck with returning (and getting a new replacement) for a newer release. Given that older doll releases are no longer being produced, you’d be unlikely to be able to get a doll that was last produced many years ago. It would be reasonable to think that Takara Tomy would be able to find, for example, unblemished Jackie Ramone or University of Love dolls in their warehouses, but it would be unreasonable (and improbable) to expect that there would be Prima Dolly Amaryllis or Asian Butterfly dolls in boxes, hidden away on a dusty shelf waiting to replace one that had been poorly produced. It would be difficult to expect this of limited edition Blythes as well.

Things to consider include in writing in the letter that you may decide to write, I would recommend that people include the following information, if possible:

• when (date) and where (either website or shop) the doll was purchased
• identifying numbers on the shipping carton (if you have it) so the doll production information could be tracked
• photograph(s) of what is wrong with the doll (as detailed as possible – use macro if possible)
• what you are expecting to occur (e.g. doll to be replaced with a new one of the same type, if possible)

If you are writing with photographs or other evidence from other people, I would highly recommend seeking permission from those individuals prior to using those photos. Some people may not wish to be included in your communications. Identifying information about the doll (e.g. numbers on the shipping carton) can help Takara Tomy with checking their manufacturing information. For instance, numbers that are meaningless to us could correspond with date of production, who packaged the doll, factory workers who had put the doll together or production lot information.

For those who are going to write to Takara Tomy regarding the quality of their products, I would recommend that those individuals send these letters via official channels to send in letters regarding complaints, as the action of posting on personal Facebook profiles, blog sites or contacting via personal email addresses could and would be construed as harassment:

• Contact form from the blythedoll.com website
• Direct email to Takara Tomy (Japan)

After all, you don’t want to offend people. Whoever ends up reading your email is another human begin. For those that have been in a position of working in customer service before, we all know about those customers. The ones that end up being featured on Not Always Right, the ones that do not come off as reasonable nor rational – I doubt that any Blythe hobbyist would want to end up on there. Nor do we want Takara to decide that it isn’t worth their time/effort to sell to international addressees outside of Japan or other parts of Asia.

Sometimes I think we need to take a step back and take a breath. We all love Blythe. That’s the reason why we take photos, sew tiny dresses, collect dozens (upon dozens!) of small shoes. We love a big-headed doll with that sparkle in her eyes. She does come with flaws at times, but we should remember that those who made Blythe also love a big-headed doll and they are human, they are not flawless. Issues come up at times, and yes, quality control has been lacking at times. But we still love that doll, and we should show some respect to those who work on the dolls on the other side of the computer screen.