It’s a simple, yet complex, question – all at the same time.

For me, Blythe has allowed me the opportunity to make new friends, to be creative, to have something positive in my life that I’m able to maintain – all on my own. I was content (and happy) to have Blythe all to myself before I met people (offline) who also shared the same affinity for the big-headed dolls. And now I have a whole group of friends (online, offline – local and far) who also love the same doll – and we’re able to talk about a whole lot more than dolls! Which, I personally think, is the best part of all.

Why is Blythe important to you?

I find the fact that so many people have embraced making their Blythes unique to be a fascinating aspect of the hobby. There are a great number of dolls that Takara has produced and that the dolls have been customized pretty much since the BLs have been in production. Since the dolls have been produced, the molds being created had begun to become more and more easier to customize (recent releases that have been found to be glued not withstanding). Gone are the days where Blythes were soaked to peel up the scalp – now, for the most part, there’s a few screws to remove, a spring to remove and ears to press to release the clips. As Blythes had gotten easier to customize, this made RBLs the sudden favourite for customizers to use.

Photos by mydollies4.

While my first love in the world of Blythes are the stock Neos (and Kenners), I’ve become more and more enamored with the custom work that people do. I think that, for the most part, that customs cost more than I can afford right now, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have my favourites when it comes to customizers in the Blythe community. I think that Blythe dolls can be made quite beautiful after the hands of an artist have gotten through with the doll. Me? I am not a customizer, I think the dolls would be happy with that fact. The most I do will change chips, gaze lift and add sleep eyes. I’m still debating on painting some eyelids of my dolls, maybe giving some girls some ‘chapstick lips’ instead of solid coloured lips that were likely stenciled on. I would like, one day, to have a dolly family with more customs… Not at this time, unless I stumble across a treasure trove of gold coins to exchange for dolls, but one day! I will have more custom Blythes.

Photo by irulethegalaxy.

Do you prefer light customs or extreme customs?

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?

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?

Image from sxc.hu user sqback.

I had a blog (not this one) before Blythe. I also had a Facebook account, a Twitter username and I frequented (non-dolly) forums before Blythe. It could be safe to say that I had established some sort of online presence prior to Blythe and dolls. But since Blythe? I gained a Flickr account, Instagram, a few forum accounts (all doll-related) and this lovely little slice of the internet. I’ve also become more active and I’ve actually managed to use the same username everywhere… Unlike what I used to do, which was to make-up a new username whenever I was opening up a new account. So not only am I more consistent on the internet now, I just talk about dolls everywhere. Probably to the chagrin of people who follow me who aren’t interested in Blythe (did you know there were people like that?).

How has your web presence changed due to Blythe?