Whenever I see listings for dolls that are up for sale or “adoption”, I frequently see phrases like:

I didn’t bond…

She’s just not what I expected…

She doesn’t fit in with my family…

And it got me thinking – with how often people use phrases like this, it makes me wonder why this happens. Sure, a lot of dolls are very pretty and attractive in photographs online, but it doesn’t mean that I’m going to go out and buy them just to see if I’ll like them in person as well. It’s  costly endeavor to buy all the dolls just to see if you like them. Not only will you likely be out some money if you’re the first one to remove her from the box, there’s also the costs associated with shipping (that you paid originally) and shipping materials (that you need to buy in addition to ship her out). Plus there’s the cost of your time, since time is money! This seems to happen most frequently, it seems, with new releases. Since nobody has seen them in person, or had the opportunity to buy one secondhand, it stands to reason that there may be those who decide that the doll is too far off from the promotional photography that it isn’t worth keeping around. And then you have those who buy a doll that costs nearly $200 just to “steal” the stock outfit from, and then resale at nearly the same price due to high demand of a popular doll.

Kitty Brighton, my Jackie Ramone, is the only Blythe doll that I have ever
bought based on promotional photographs alone.

For me, Blythe shopping is an event that happens far and few in between. I don’t buy new dolls frequently, and nor can I afford to do so. I also cannot afford to buy dolls just to see if I will like them, so I tend to stick with dolls that I’ve already seen in out-of-box photos. The doll itself may still be never removed from box, but I will have had the chance to see other people’s dolls out of box, and the general quality of the hair, how well they look with chip changes or new (better!) outfits. The ability to do this is so wonderful because it means that I can imagine what my doll will look like in other clothes besides the stock outfit. Older releases or secondhand dolls are great for this reason, if you’re buying them on the secondhand market, you’re more likely to get to see photos of the doll from various angles, with flaws magnified in photos taken with the macro function. And if you ever have questions, you can always ask for more photos! This is definitely something that you cannot do with brand new dolls that are still in the box. So there are always pros and cons to the condition of the doll that you’re buying.

Was it love at first sight for you? Or do you resell dolls after not bonding?

It is more often than not that when there is a new release, there are some complaints about the outfit or the accessories. There are cardboard this, and cardboard that. There’s often jokes made about how awful the hair will be straight from the box, or how some stock pieces are made out of plasticky-feeling printed fabric. So let’s be a little bit more positive today, and look at the bright side of Blythe!

Satin underwear set – Fancy Pansy stock.
They just don’t make them like they used to!

Older releases were more likely to come with more than one outfit, or items to mix-and-match. Some of my favourite stock pieces come from older releases because they were simple, but versatile. The only doll that I ever sold on, and never even played with, was Fancy Pansy (EBL). She came with what amounted to two full outfits, and had a pair of glasses, and some beaded hair clips as well. Not only that, but she came with an underwear set that was of very decent quality! Even though I never loved the doll as much as I did when I saw her in photos, I do love the pieces that she came with. High versatility and the ability to make new outfit combinations is an important aspect of my Blythes’ wardrobe.

What is your most favourite stock outfit?

With there being a non-stop influx of new dolls into the market, Takaras and TBLs, it seems like there’s always somebody out there making a preorder, winning an auction, or slyly doing a bulk order of TBLs somewhere. There’s all sorts of places that you can find Blythe now too, you’re not limited to ‘official’ channels when it comes to wanting to find an older doll, or a customized doll. There’s many favourites, and perhaps you’re out looking for a Middie instead of a Neo, or you have your eyes on a Petite. And as someone who’s been woefully not buying new dolls (out of financial necessity), I’m curious about who your latest doll purchase was!

The last Blythe that I purchased was Cedar, my Monique Magnifique, back in the summer of 2013. She doesn’t get nearly enough camera time as she should though, she’s has some gorgeously coloured hair and I still need to figure out her personality. So more time with her is much needed! The last doll I purchased, however, was a pink Petworks Usaggie, who is still a little bit nameless!

Who was your latest doll purchase? (Share photos, if you can!)

It will come to a surprise to nobody that when school is in session, or midterms, or the due dates of papers roll around, I am not as active online with Blythe as I normally am. The magic of posting regularly occurs due to scheduling of posts in advanced. For instance, I wrote most of this post back in March during my week-long reading break from school. Part of me being away from online Blythe activities includes spending a bit less time on the doll forums and the Facebook groups related to Blythe.  And now that I’m done finals, I have more time to devote to Blythe, despite my online coursework.

And truth be told, I have no clue how I ended up in most of the doll-related Facebook groups. I think someone added me to them, and then my newsfeed just becomes flooded with ads for dolls available for ‘adoption’, or Etsy shop updates.

I know a lot of people prefer Facebook for dolly updates… I am not one of those people. I tend to prefer to keep the worlds separate. There’s a reason why I joined doll-specific forums instead of seeking out the existence of Blythe Facebook groups back when I started in the hobby in 2009. Facebook is where I interact with friends, family and classmates. Doll forums (like This is Blythe and Blythe Kingdom) are were I interact with dolly people, and it’s nice and contained in its own part of the internet. There was no overlap. That ended when I started interacting with doll people in Real Life. I added a few here and there on Facebook, then people started adding me to Facebook groups and the rest, as they say, is history.

I’ve recently begun the process of removing myself from some Blythe Facebook groups. It’s just overwhelming sometimes to log in and see nothing by dolls all over Facebook. As someone who doesn’t have the funds to buy dolls right now, I really don’t need to see “for adoption” posts all day, every day. Nor do I need to see everyone’s sundries posts being bumped every hour (or so it seems). That’s why going onto forums like Blythe Kingdom is a lot better for me – it allows me to use Facebook to interact with other people (e.g. classmates, relatives) and it’s more self-contained in a way. And forums are great in a way that it’s a lot easier to search for old posts. On Facebook, posts are constantly being buried or bumped, if I see it once, I’m never going to see it again with the fast pace speed of how Blythe groups change. If I want to see what dolls are for sale, I can! If I don’t want to see any of that, I can just flat out avoid going onto that section (which I can’t though, as a moderator).

Do you prefer looking at Blythe stuff (information, sales posts, etc.) on Facebook or forums?

Fakes, factories, TBLs. Whatever you call them, they’re not made by nor sold by Takara as legitimate Blythes.  ADGs, long since discontinued, have not been ‘faked’ since or during the time that they were being actively manufacturered. ADGs have, however, gained in monetary value, especially those who are still mint in box.

Let’s consider this. If a person owns a fake designer bag, it’s still a fake (or counterfeit, if you want to use that term). And it’s fairly frowned upon. And yet, when it comes to Blythe, a lot of people turn a blind eye to the fact that someone has a TBL, or just ignore it altogether. Because there’s just so much joy when it comes to owning, and playing with, these wide-eyed dolls. Is it wrong to own a fake doll? In the ball-jointed doll community, a lot of people frown upon re-casted dolls – people still own them, enjoy them love them; but as a whole they’re still frowned upon, and some BJD forums even ban the resale of re-casted dolls. Yet not a lot of public frowning seems to come along when someone is announcing a new doll that happens to be a TBL, or selling a custom doll who’s origin are less than legitimate. I will admit that since people started scalp swapping (otherwise known as hybrid Blythes), it’s harder and harder to tell which are the ‘real’ Blythes (with minor alterations) and which are the factory, TBLs or fake Blythes. After all, people have been customizing these dolls since the beginning. Blythe makes a beautiful canvas that seems to know no bounds. A scalp swap here, a change in face-up there. It can be difficult to tell the difference between what is faked and what is customized.

Is there outrage over owning a fake doll? Is there a sense of controversy? Or do people not care at all about if there’s fakes floating around? What happens when someone sells a customized TBL as a real Blythe, either intentionally or unintentionally? It can be rather hard to tell them apart. Sometimes, it’s hard for me to tell (in a photo) if the doll is a fake or not, mostly because of the way the doll is positioned or customized. It can be difficult, especially if a hybrid doll is created from TBL and real Blythe parts. A FrankenBlythe, if you will.

Is there controversy behind owning a fake?