I see it in for sale listings all the time:

“I just got her and I didn’t bond” or “Not bonding, doll for sale”

The Blythe community, and other doll communities really, are interesting in the way that people become affectionate and attached to their dolls. They form a bond with a manufactured item that they happen to play with and clothe. As a child, I became easily attached to stuffed animals and I had a polar bear teddy that I carried around with me everywhere. As an adult, I can still become attached to a doll, but not to the point where I feel the need to carry one around in my bag all the time.

For some, bonding means that they feel some kind of connection with the doll. For others, not bonding is realizing when they see the doll that they just don’t love her – and why should anyone keep a doll that’s worth a hundred or hundreds of dollars when they just don’t like her enough? Blythe is quirky in that way, especially when the dolls are expensive. For me, I’ve resold exactly one Blythe since I started (a Fancy Pansy) and she was the only doll that I ever bought that didn’t come right out of the box as soon as she arrived. In fact, she sat in her box (still NRFB) for months before I decided that I couldn’t afford to just have her sitting there, in her box, in the shipping carton, not doing anything. I sold her to a lady who had been searching for a stock Fancy Pansy to replace the one that she sold. She had a bond with Fancy Pansy, I did not. And honestly, I’m kind of glad that Fancy Pansy didn’t stay – having her stick around might have changed the composition of what my Blythe family looks like now.

I formed a near instantaneous sense of affection towards one doll in particular: Primrose. First saw her in a photograph without any legs and I just knew that I had to have her. I bought her, got her some legs, and now she’s one of my all-time favourites and it would take a lot for me to even consider selling her.

I form attachments to my dolls, just not in the way that I used to with stuffed animals as a child. Then again, things are a lot different now. I still form connections though, and I have dolls that I would not sell unless I absolutely had to and even then I’d be hard pressed to do it because there are some dolls in my collection that I just know that I would never be able to find another like her.

I love stock Blythe clothing. Some of my favourite Blythe clothing pieces are stock items. Off the top of my head, I adore: Fancy Pansy’s lingerie set and white capris, Simply Peppermint’s black top, Love Mission’s police pants, everything from Velvet Minuet, Nostalgic Pop’s hot pink flowered jacket, Monique Magnifique’s coat, Enchanted Petal’s butterfly dress, and the champagne dress that came with Cappuccino Chat.

Stock items are super useful, especially items that are solid coloured and not overly decorative – they are great for mixing and matching, they come with the smooth, thin dolly velcro for closures, and you know that they’ll fit Blythe = the most important thing. Having clothes that fit well is a glorious thing in the doll world – much like how I prefer clothes that fit me and look good on me, I love it when a dress fits Blythe amazingly.

Primrose is wearing Simply Peppermint (top), Fancy Pansy (capris), and Simply Guava (shoes).

Another nice thing about stock items is that you can visualize them on your doll a lot easier, especially if you have a stock doll, by going onto a photo sharing site like Flickr and seeing if someone else with the same doll has tried those clothes on their doll. You can also see more photos of those specific clothing items on a larger variety of dolls than you can if you’re buying something that is one of a kind. That isn’t to say that I think that stock clothes are better than one of a kind handmade items, but you do get a larger range in ‘models’ than you would with a unique piece. But I do love my one of a kind items as well, because they’re special in the way that stock items would never be.

What are some of your favourite stock clothing items?

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?

 

You have a doll-related website/shop/blog and BlytheLife has 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/hobbyists. 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. Every time someone visits BlytheLife, they’ll see your ad on the side!

Did you know? Sponsorship costs are purposely kept low to keep advertising accessible to people in the doll community.

There are three spots currently available for the month of May and all sponsorship funds from now until July 2015 will be donated to BlytheCon Vancouver 2015!

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

• $10 – 1 month
• $18 – 2 months
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Small – 2 spots available for May! (160×160 pixels)

• $5 – 1 month
• $9 – 2 months
• $13 – 3 months

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

There are always pros and cons to the idea of a ‘bring a doll to work’ day (or week, or month, or even year). It all has to do with the type of work that you do and how safe you feel about having dolls out. If you work in retail or some place where members of the public are constantly traipsing in and out, it’s probably not a good idea to have dolls out because you cannot control if someone has sticky fingers or not. On the other hand, if you work in an office setting or a cubicle, you might be able to get away with having a doll out – but it all depends on the type of office setting and the professional tone that the office has.

For instance, I used to work doing data entry in an office where I had my own cubicle. If I brought a doll in, she’d sit by my computer and she’d go home with me at night. While I trusted the office staff not to swipe or damage my dolls, I wasn’t able to leave a doll that cost a hundred dollars (or more!) overnight there, much like I wouldn’t leave any other valuables at work for prolonged periods of time if I’m not there to watch over it. Now that I’m primarily in the hospital setting, I don’t have my own desk and my things are stored in a tiny locker – there’s really (sadly) no point in bringing in a doll just to stay in a carry bag and be tucked in my locker for 12 hours at a time. I digress, because I’m supposed to be talking about the reasons to take a doll to work, and here they are:

1. Having a doll at work means that you personalize your work space.
2. Having a doll at work means that you have something fun to look at, and will hopefully curb the amount of time you browse eBay, Facebook, or Blythe forums for dolls or sundries for sale. Ahem.
3. Need an excuse to leave the dimly little building? Take your doll (and your lunch!) outside to enjoy some sunshine and to take some photos!
4. If you work in a creative area, you can introduce your equally creative colleagues to Blythe and then you’ll have someone at work to chat dolls with. *One of us, one of us*
5. Had a bad day at work? Blythe will already be there to cheer you up and put a smile on your face before the end of the work day.

What are your best reasons for bringing a doll to work?