It was easier to say what Blythe is my favourite when I only had one (or even two). But when you have more than that, it’s hard to go “Yes, I do have a favourite” because they’re all here for a reason. I considered this question a lot when I thought about downsizing. While I’m not in a position where I need to sell any of my dolls, it’s always interesting to consider who I would be willing to let go, if I absolutely had to. I ended up looking at my dolls more critically, considering who’s little face I’d miss the most looking back at me.

So when pressed, I considered each doll one at a time. I considered who I would never sell, unless very hard pressed, and I came up with four (of the twelve). This is a thing going around Flickr, so you can share your ‘forever four’ there.

Top row is: Primrose (Kenner) and Eden Mouse (mostly stock Punkaholic People)

Bottom row: Sophie (mostly stock Cappuccino Chat) and Emmalynn (Kenner)

Who is your favourite Blythe in your doll family?

A lot of people in the Blythe community refer to their intense want (or need, depending on who you ask!) of a particular type of Blythe as having a fever. The way you lust after a particular doll and spend your time on Flickr looking up photos of that doll, you join the Flickr groups for those dolls, favourite all the fantastic photos that you see and then comment on all of them about how much you want the doll because she’s just so cute.

Kenner fever, Kozy fever, Goldie fever, Mondie fever, BL fever, PAM fever, fever for a particular custom doll.

I’ve had it before, Kenner fever. But I cured Kenner fever by getting a Kenner and while it was effective, it’s not necessarily the cheapest option there is. Kenners are expensive – so far Kozy, Goldie, Mondie, most of the BLs and certainly PAM. Blythe isn’t a cheap hobby, but what do you do when you decide that you want/need a particular Blythe?

How do/did you cure the fever?

One of the things that I love about the Blythe community is how nice a lot of the people who collect dolls are. Sure, I’ve come across people who won’t play nice or share – and they ruin it for a lot of people. Thankfully, most people in the doll community aren’t like that. The golden rules of childhood – share and be a friend; treat others as you’d like to be treated – apply throughout life. For me, Blythe is a happy place. You get cute dolls, beautiful clothes, tiny shoes and the joy of sharing all of that online with other like-minded people if you’re too far to meet other doll people in person. And even if you do get the chance to meet doll collectors offline (e.g. local meets, BlytheCon), you still have online interactions.

I’ve met (online, offline) a lot of fantastic doll collectors since I started with those whole collecting-dolls-thing. Some of the nicest people I’ve met are dolly people. When I couldn’t find the Simplicity pattern locally, a dolly friend found an extra copy in a fabric store in the US and mailed it up to me. I’ve gotten some cute little things from giveaways run by other people. Someone who shared a love for Olympic mascots exchanged souvenirs with me. There are some amazing people in the doll community and I think I’m very lucky to have some of them as my friends. There are some wonderful, generous dolly people out there and I think they all deserve a shout-out!

Have you ever received an act of kindness towards you by a fellow doll collector? Show your appreciation with a comment below!

Since the Littlest Pet Shop Petites have come into play, Blythe hasn’t been the same. Suddenly there’s products being sold in North America with Neo-sized Blythes on them. Granted, we still can’t pick up new Takara releases in the local Toys-R-Us, but it’s a nice change from only being able to see Blythe merchandise online, in specialty stores or in Asia. That’s one of the things that I love about Petites, especially the LPS ones, they’ve allowed Blythe into the North American mind and isn’t that a wonderful thing?

With the new show from The Hub that just premiered just this past weekend on the 10th, there have been some changes in the LPS world. The show features a girl named Blythe Baxter and that has led to a revamp with what the LPS Petites look like. They’ve moved away from the original LPS Petite look to have her look more like the character. From website of The Hub, you can learn more about the show, Littlest Pet Shop, and the characters.

Other things I love about Petites include:

• How Petites are pocket-sized and therefore easy to carry around
• How they don’t have a string that I end up getting caught on velcro (sorry, Blythe!)
• The mildly dopey look that some of them have on their face (that’s a good thing, I promise!)
• How designers have challenged themselves into making tinier and tinier clothing works of art.
• That Petites make a good photo model if you’re not comfortable with taking out a Neo in public
• How inexpensive they are, compared to a  Takara Blythe
• I can finally use some of the smaller dolly clothes found in bags of clothes from the thrift store

What do you love about Petites?

There are a lot of dolly clothing designers out there – it’s amazing the talent that exists in the Blythe community! I love seeing photos of dolls in beautifully designed outfits, original designs, and fun prints put together. Blythe is essentially the perfect model – I think that’s why people are so drawn to them and love to take photos of them. Generally speaking, she can listen pretty well, can pose without much of a fuss (although she is a bit top-heavy at times!) and looks good in just about anything. Plus a model who doesn’t demand payment all that often (besides my Sophie, of course), it’s no wonder that people are inspired by her to create, dress and photograph.

I have a couple favourite designers, can you guess who they are?

Who is your favourite designer for Blythe?