After a while, purchases in the Blythe hobby just don’t seem that expensive. It’s a really weird phenomenon that you might have noticed in your own dolly spending. First it comes with a $10 dress, then the dresses become $30 or $40 (this gets exponentially worse when you’re not actually in a country that uses USD because of the horrifying exchange rate – Canadian dollar, I am glaring at you…). When I was first venturing into the Blythe hobby, the Hasbro LPS Petites did not exist and the only Petites that did exist were of the Takara variety. These were both awesome in the fact they were (primarily) miniature versions of Blythes that already existed or created to be companion releases, and also seemed exceedingly expensive for what they were. At the time that I joined the Blythe hobby and started collecting in 2009, Takara Petites were probably around $20-40 USD, which isn’t to far off from how much some of them cost today. It just seemed like a lot because shipping alone was often roughly half the cost of the doll. And despite the fact that shipping for a full-sized Neo remains today anywhere from $30-50 CAD, it doesn’t seem nearly as bad as paying 50% of the cost of a doll on shipping. The fact remains that I didn’t get my first Petite until 2011 as a gift from a dear friend, and then later purchased my second LPS Petite from a local chain store when they were still being sold in stores.

Left to right: Pipsqueak, Shrimp, and Lark.

See the funny thing is that despite LPS Petites being inexpensive, I never really bought many of them (I bought one for myself, and another for a Secret Santa gift exchange with the local Blythe group). I think this is in part because there was no thrill involved. There’s some internalized hype when you buy a doll and eagerly check and recheck the tracking to see the progress of her arrival over the Pacific Ocean. There’s the thrill of sniping an eBay auction or being the first to contact someone on a forum or Facebook on the perfect Blythe doll for your family. Being able to go out and buy a Blythe wasn’t as exciting for me – plus at the time LPS and Takara Petites didn’t really stand out in my doll family (and at a lowly number of 3 with absolutely no wardrobe, they still don’t really stand out – mostly because I’m currently not willing to sew clothes that are that small).

My first two Petites were both of the LPS variety, and they don’t often get taken out as often as I would like despite the fact that they are very pocket friendly and quite easy to pose as they aren’t as top-heavy as their full-sized sisters and have a lower centre of gravity. I still don’t do very much with my Petites, but I do love them. After all, they make for a fantastic and cute handful. I think if I were to add a Petite into the doll family at this point, I would probably look for a Takara Petite because I do like their ‘sleep’ eyes. Plus there is a nursing themed one (Intensive Care) that I actually think would be great to have (even if she’s not a nurse for people like me).

Do you have any Petites in your doll family? How do you have?

It’s an age-old question when it comes to vintage dolls, such as Kenners. Do you restore the doll or do you leave her as-is in the manner that you found her in? If you ask me, the answer depends.

For one of my dolls, I definitely restored her as much as I could. Meet Lillian Rose (or Lily, for short). She got a fancy set of Takara legs (along with a pelvis) and her hair was restored as much as possible. I took her scalp off, secured any loose plugs, and had a trusted friend help me out with those blonde locks – now she looks fantastic! (She’s actually sporting a pretty nasty crack in her torso that she endured from BlytheCon Vancouver – no photos of that because she needs to preserve some dignity, I’m in the planning process of getting her a new modified body so I won’t be fearful of taking her out and about in the future.)

And then there’s Primrose a.k.a. Prim. She came to me with zero legs and got a replacement set (also Takara) pretty quickly and I did not touch her hair at all. One of the things that I loved about her upon first seeing a photo of her was her fantastic and epic hair – who wouldn’t fall in love with that? Since then, her hair makes somewhat regular appearances both here and on my Instagram because Prim has very quickly become one of my favourites since I got her a few years ago, initially because her fantastic hair and also because of her charming face.

I’m a fan of Kenners that don’t look “perfect” because (truth be told) the perfect Kenners are actually a bit intimidating! I’d feel worse about if I had a Kenner with perfect make-up that got scratched or hair frizzed up versus a doll that already has make-up partially worn off or hair already a bit frizzy.

If you have a Kenner, do you restore her (either yourself or have someone else do it) or leave her as-is?

Hello fashionistas! It’s Sophie here!

I don’t know what it’s like where you are right now, but the weather’s been warming up just a smidgen here in Canada – no piles of snow or igloos where I live! And I’m very much looking forward to spring. As the days go by, I need to constantly poke Michelle to remind her that I need an outfit change at least once a day. If she gets to change her clothes daily, why can’t I? She doesn’t seem to understand my credibility as a dolly fashion blogger is seriously impeded by her not buying me the latest fashions or helping me out by taking photographs of me on a daily basis.

She’s horrible and won’t let me succeed in life.

A sampling of pink from Rosiee Gelutie, Endangered Sissy, and Button Arcade.

But besides that, I guess she’s okay. My goal for spring is to wear more florals – anything light and airy is a major plus because they evoke a more spring-like quality. And I think pink will be very in this season (please do not tell Eden that). That and wearing more cute shoes, but I need new ones. Nothing say spring like a good hair of new shoes (take note, Michelle!). It’s not cheap being a dolly fashion blogger, and is certainly not for the faint of heart. I recently got a hold of Michelle’s credit card and did some shopping – like any good fashionista would do. I’m still waiting for things to arrive in the mail, but they will soon enough.

A frock a day keeps the Sophie happy!

Sophie is a mostly stock Cappuccino Chat that came to live with me in June 2009. She loves shoes, new clothes, playing with her hair, fashion, magazines full of fluff and shopping. She aspires to be a model and would like to model for some of the ‘great’ dolly fashion houses one day.

I do not often take my dolls out of the house unless I’m going to a Blythe meet (or a BlytheCon, although that doesn’t happen often), or meeting up with a friend who happens to collect dolls. I don’t take part in those photography challenges that suggests you to take photos of your dolls in a grocer store or on the sidewalk of a busy intersection. I can be terribly self-conscious when it comes to bringing my dolls out in public. As open as I am or can be about my Blythes on the internet, it’s not exactly the first thing I tell people about myself. I don’t open an introduction with “Hello, my name is Michelle and I collect dolls”. Mostly because I think people will think I’m weird or they think dolls are weird. I don’t think movies like Annabelle or The Boy have helped at all to quell the suspicions that some people have that dolls are just weird (or scary).

But most recently, I took Cameo out with me because I was meeting up with Pamela of Endangered Sissy. We did some shopping and then had drinks at a small hole-in-the-wall cafe. Having someone else have a doll out helps, I think, make you more brave about pulling a doll out. That and the realization that yes, people see your doll out, and no, they’re not making comments about it. As with many things, I think it’s a “safety in numbers” mentality that I quite enjoy on a regular basis when taking dolls out in public because having other people around helps a lot to make it seem safer to pull a doll out.

Do you take a doll out when you’re by yourself, or do you feel better about having a doll out when other people also have their doll out? Does it matter to you what kind of setting you’re in? Share below! And if you were also as nervous as I am about taking a Blythe out in public, how did you get over that?

February 8th is a joyous day for two reasons. Firstly, February 8th is Family Day in British Columbia, which is a statutory holiday (many other provinces get a holiday next Monday). It’s also the first day of the new year according to the lunar calendar, so happy new year! It is the year of the monkey!

Photo from FreeImages.com/tom s.

I love days off, days with family, and Chinese New Year. It’s a time of coming together with family for good and scrumptious dinners as well as a little bit of lucky money for those who are unmarried (which means dolly money!).

I will have a new Question of the Week next Monday for all of you!